Hello and happy weekend! First, some business. It’s the 4th of July, so the team behind the show is off our normal production schedule. Which means we’re giving you a very special episode this Independence Weekend to mark perhaps the most American tradition: a flop. More specifically, a flop fueled by misplaced nostalgia. 

I’m talking about Woodstock ‘99. I recently made an appearance on a podcast called The Big Flop to recount all the failures of Woodstock ‘99 with host Misha Brown and author and podcaster Lindy West. Check out this very fun episode for the history, but also for the reminder that nothing good has ever come from Limp Bizkit. (The band is widely credited with inciting the worst of the violence at the 1999 festival.) 

Snow White (live action) — Many tried to blame the film’s failure on pro-Palestinian posts from Snow White’s lead, Rachel Zegler, but the fault could be placed in soooo many other places. The depiction of the seven dwarfs was controversial as far back as 2022, and the changes the film’s creators made to that initial backlash made them even worse. They ended up, as Vulture described them, “animated into CGI monstrosities.” (There was also the racism Rachel Zegler got for daring to be a Latina playing Snow White, and Gal Gadot’s Zionism, AND a really awkward press tour… I could go on.) The movie flopped, big time, and now it seems Disney could get out of the live-action princess movie remake business… for good? (This would be great, please make it so!) 

Hurry Up Tomorrow — The Weeknd made a feature-length film this year, co-starring Jenna Ortega. But I bet you didn’t even hear about it. Because it’s really awful and just as tone deaf and sexist and retrograde as his HBO show, The Idol. With that one, we all tried to hate-watch. But this time around, it seemed everyone was onto, and turned off by, The Weeknd’s sad cocaine energy aesthetic. The film only made $7.6 million worldwide.

Will Smith’s new album — Another one you may have missed because, whether we know it or not, we were all willing this one away. NO ONE needs a new Will Smith album. Pitchfork suffered through it so the rest of us didn’t have to, and they called it “a pointless apology tour for the dumbest Oscar gaffe in history… as corny as it is calculating.” If you’re craving more, this video of Will Smith performing outside, in front of a relatively nonplussed crowd in King’s Cross in London (why?!), featuring Rita Ora (why?!) might be all you need. 

Alright, to CLEANSE the palette, let’s look ahead. Next week I’ll be taping a very special episode looking back at the BEST pop culture of 2025 so far. I’m not sure what my guests’ picks are, but I for sure already know one of mine: Episode 7 of the Apple TV+ Seth Rogen vehicle, The Studio. Seth plays Matt Remick, a newly appointed Hollywood studio head. It’s a job he’s wanted forever. The only problem is that Remick sees himself as a true cinephile, preferring arthouse over blockbusters, while the studio needs him to make as much money as possible, preferably by recycling well-known IP. A running gag the entire season of The Studio is Remick’s effort to make a live-action Kool-Aid movie happen without it being bad. In episode seven, he and his team face an almost existential crisis for the film: is it bad, horrible, and racist to make the cast of a live-action Kool-Aid movie all-Black? Or is that actually the best way to do it? For about 23 minutes, in what’s made to look like one, single shot, Remick and his team (which includes an absolutely hilarious Lathryn Hahn as marketing executive) trip and fall into several racial landmines, with more punchlines than I ever thought possible on such a topic. Ice Cube even makes an appearance. It’s truly a marvel of writing, comedic pacing, and Hollywood navel-gazing. Go watch it. Now! 

And while you’re at it, lemme know what’s been your favorite pop culture of 2025? I am curious and would love to highlight your picks on the show! 

Happy 4th,

– Sam

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