This week, we welcome author and communication professor Michael Serazio to talk about authenticity in pop music, especially with the arrival of A.I.-created music. Can a machine be a tortured artist… or at least fake it better than a human? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

This week, Mark and Nichole enjoy all the Philly steaks they can eat with Boyz II Men’s iconic 1991 jam “Motownphilly.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

In this Sidetrack, the hosts share their top three songs with main characters that you really wouldn’t want to hang out with, whether they’re just awkward, or full-on evil. The most important rule, though: the songs have to be good! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

This week, we don’t regret listening to the 2013 jam “If I Could Change Your Mind” by the sisters of HAIM. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Hey! Bandcamp Friday! If you want to support Mark’s band, The Slackademics, if you preorder their new record today (digital format), they get 100% of the revenue: theslackademics.bandcamp.com/album/pass-f...

This week we welcome Chris Fafalios from the band Punchline and the One Hit Thunder Podcast to talk us through how a band chooses which of their songs to put on an album. Chris gets into nuanced band dynamics that have been a part of Punchline’s ten-album run. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n... When can a bit of nursery rhyme cost you six figures of royalties? In this episode, the hosts deep dive on Men at Work’s 1981 international hit “Down Under” and the crazy story of its authorship and accusations of plagiarism.

In this week’s Sidetrack, we come back once again to discuss the eight nominees for “Album of the Year” at the 2026 Grammys. Tune in to hear our hosts deep-dive on the high and low points of this year’s crop of nominees. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

In this episode, we are lied to by the fun 2000 hit “It Wasn’t Me” by Shaggy and Rikrok. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

This week we are joined by podcast super-host Matt Kelly from the Geekscape network to talk about the mid-90s! For a wild few years, it seemed like the record labels were signing every quirky band they could to try to recreate the magic of Nirvana. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

In this week’s episode, we rock out to Metallica’s 1991 metal powerhouse “Enter Sandman.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Is it flutist or flautist? Would you want to know the setlist before you see the concert? What’s going to be our hosts next side-hustle? It’s Season 2 and time for listener questions! See you next week for our next regular episode! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

This week, there are many things that we would like to say to you about Oasis’ 1995 sing-along classic “Wonderwall.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Can we predict the next musical revolution? We welcome Lorehounds co-host David as we unpack the Generational Music Theorem, which links major changes in popular music with the coming of age of each generation’s youth. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Mark’s band, the Slackademics, released a new single, “This Dance”. Check it out and give them a follow! music.apple.com/us/album/thi... open.spotify.com/album/50nqGQ...

In this episode, we pine after “Hello,” Lionel Richie’s 1983 mega-hit. While Nichole falls hard for obsessive romantic delusions, Mark yearns for classic chord patterns used in interesting ways. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Is Thanksgiving week already too late to start talking about Christmas music? In this Sidetrack, Nichole and Mark put on their festive sweaters, spike the eggnog, and share the greatest holiday songs. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

This week, the team nod their heads to The Chainsmokers’ catchy dance hit “Don’t Let Me Down” from 2016. While Mark shows off some shifty rhythms, Nichole is let down by all-or-nothing thinking… and some therapists. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

We welcome Lorehound and Wool-Shift-Dust co-host Elysia Brenner to do what she does best: we talk the literary movement “hopepunk” as a new form of counter-culture, and wonder at the musical aspects of this unique way of looking at stories. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Here our hosts follow along with the 1978 punk anthem “One Way or Another” by Blondie. Mark marvels at the simplicity and unity between the song’s tune and chords, while Nichole wonders if the modern world has lost all its toughness. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Our guest on this episode, Steve Hogan, is musically responsible for three World Series championships with the San Francisco Giants. We talk with Steve about the way music plays an important role in sporting events and, we have to get deep into the details. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

This week, the light hits the gloom on Seal’s 1994 baroque pop gem “Kiss From a Rose.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

On this Sidetrack, we talk with Bree Nguyen about the crazy story of how one Mariah-obsessed teen was put in charge of online marketing for one of the greatest performers of all time, and turned it into a full career. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Can a song be a hit when everyday people aren’t good enough to sing along? In this episode, we embarrass ourselves following along with Mariah Carey’s 1991 classic “Emotions.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

What songs explain the twisted minds of our co-hosts? In this sidetrack, Mark and Nichole share the soundtracks to their own life stages. What toys was a young Mark obsessed with? Just how evil were Nichole’s middle school bullies? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Welcome to season 2 of Nevermind the Music! Here, we look under someone’s bed and pickup that old “Cardigan,” Taylor Swift’s vibey hit from 2020. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Check out this Spotify playlist with ALL the songs from NTM season 1! Which is your favorite? open.spotify.com/playlist/2Oo...

What were the best moments of NTM Season 1? In this finale podcast, Nichole and Mark rate their favorite songs, funniest moments, deepest thoughts, biggest misses, and more. Come back next week as we start Season 2! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

In this episode, we finally turn to Nirvana, with their iconic 1994 anthem “Lithium.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Can we nap to heavy metal? Did Evanescence save a plane full of people? Did we really miss the mark with Weezer? In this super-sized episode, we hear one last batch of listener questions for Season 1! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Check out Mark as he joins the awesome podcast One Hit Thunder, talking the 1983 hit ‘Always Something There to Remind Me’ by Naked Eyes! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Here we break down Post Malone’s 2019 summer jam “Circles.” Mark has some thoughts about how the melody feeds on itself, but Nichole would rather talk about what it would be like to “check out” and completely disengage from society. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

For some reason, we have a fun conversation about paranormal mental abilities, what exactly we believe, and how it all connects to psychology. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Here we pray to Dionne Warwick’s sneaky-fancy hit from 1967, “I Say a Little Prayer.” While Mark wants to marvel at the changing time signatures in this song, Nichole is most interested in what the song shows about the life situations of military families. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

What do pop stars and 19th-century opera composers have in common? Some of them are awful people! After avoiding it for months, we finally have the conversation about what it means to love music created by potentially terrible people. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Here we listen closely to Green Day’s rock radio earworm “Waiting,” from 2000. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

In this sidetrack, we reminisce about some of our favorite concerts, some from years ago and some much more recent. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

In this episode, we dig up Billie Eilish’s mysterious 2019 gem “Bury a Friend.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

To all "Weird Al" Yankovic and The Beach Boys fans out there, Mark recently guested on the awesome Weird Al-gorithm podcast talking about the track ‘Pancreas’! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w... RIP Brian Wilson

In this sidetrack we celebrate the unusual instruments that grace us in pop music. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Here we meet in outer space with Incubus’ 2000 rock radio staple “Stellar.” Mark can’t get enough of how rhythmically confusing the song is, and Nichole tries to figure out why that kind of thing tickles us so much. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Male flautist? Here we talk about how some instruments are weirdly gendered, find out which girly instrument Mark tried to learn, and hear a bit from Nichole about the brain differences between the biological males and females. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Grab your college degree and geek out with us about Lizzo’s 2019 soul/hip-hop hybrid “Cuz I Love You.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

What do artists owe the audience? In this sidetrack, we talk about when fans only want to hear an artist’s old material, even when they keep making new great music.

What’s a better introduction to an artist, a ballad or a bop? With all due respect to “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” we’d rather overthink Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 hit “Time After Time.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Nichole guested on the awesome podcast One Hit Thunder, talking Gary Jules’ morose version of ‘Mad World’! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

What are all these hashtags all over my sheet music? In our final music review session, Mark and Nichole talk sharps, flats, scales, and chords. Get your head on straight with all things pitch before the class withdrawal deadline! Another full episode next week! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Which one of us was learned good? Nichole gushes about Mr. Joe Mulligan, her amazing high school music teacher, while Mark laments the sad story of <NAME REDACTED>, his below-average high school music teacher. See you next week for a full episode! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

In this epic episode we unravel Weezer’s 1994 hit (in some universes, at least), “Undone - The Sweater Song.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

In this bonus episode, Mark and Nichole convene the study group just in time to help with your homework. In this meeting, the hosts talk through the terms and concepts associated with how music sounds! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...