Widow’s Bay on Apple TV is the rare horror-comedy that delivers on both fronts, anchored by a spectacular Matthew Rhys performance.
Pop Thruster
Your pop culture afterburner – fueling obsessive pop culture projects and deeply opinionated coverage of TV, movies, and music.
The best seven Beastie Boys albums ever
The Beastie Boys made eight studio albums. Seven of them made the best 1,000 albums ever. Here they are, ranked, with a pull quote from each piece.
Pop Thruster afterburner: comedy’s back (back again)
Comedy has staged a comeback in my TV rotation — from Jury Duty: Company Retreat to Steve Carell’s Rooster, Jean Smart’s Hacks, and a surprisingly great Aziz Ansari flick.
The best 14 albums from 1984 ever
The best 14 albums from 1984 — from Cheepskates to Purple Rain to Hüsker Dü — pulled from the best 1,000 albums ever project.
Eight great albums from 2011
Eight albums from 2011 that made the best 1,000 albums ever — from R.E.M.’s stunning farewell to Foster the People, Duran Duran, and the Beastie Boys’ wild final bow.
Funny AF: Kevin Hart’s stand-up comedy competition actually is
Kevin Hart’s Netflix stand-up competition Funny AF is four episodes in and already compulsively watchable.
The best eight albums from 1973 ever
The best eight albums from 1973 span hard rock, glam, reggae, and art rock.
The best 14 albums from 2009 ever
The best 14 albums from 2009, ranked: R.E.M., Flight of the Conchords, MF Doom, Eminem, and more.
Pop Thruster’s best 10 movies ever
Pop Thruster’s best 10 movies ever: no AFI committee, no consensus picks — just a lifetime of steeping in flicks.
The best six Midnight Oil albums ever
Midnight Oil made 13 studio albums. Six of them landed on the best 1,000 albums ever — here’s the ranked list.
Deadwood Revisited
A Deadwood rewatch reveals a TV masterpiece that holds up better than ever.
The best 13 albums from 1981 ever
The 13 best albums of 1981, ranked — from Devo and Black Flag to the Go-Go’s and Rush, with a lyric to remember each one by.
The RUNDOWN: The SNL Industrial Complex’s Latest
From the Lorne Michaels biography to Dana Carvey’s podcast to the new Peacock series The Rundown, there’s never been more ways to feed an SNL obsession — and we’re not complaining.
Every R.E.M. album ranked
R.E.M.’s full catalog ranked, with New Adventures in Hi-Fi at #1 and some opinions that will absolutely start a riot at the 40 Watt.
Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: Larry David Does History
Larry David crashes V-J Day, meets the Wright brothers, and generally ruins history in his new HBO sketch comedy series.
The 50 best ska punk albums ever
Operation Ivy to The Bosstones to Rancid and beyond — the 50 greatest ska punk albums ever, ranked and drawn from the best 1,000 albums ever project.
“Because” is sublime (and it blows my mind)
“Because” by The Beatles is one of the most gorgeous songs ever recorded — and somehow it doesn’t come up enough. A walk with the dog under Seattle skies changed that.
The best 100 classic rock albums ever
The best 100 classic rock albums ever — Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Beatles and much more.
Rooster puts Steve Carell where he belongs (with Michael Stipe at his side)
Steve Carell finds his post-Office groove in Rooster, HBO’s new Bill Lawrence comedy — with a surprise Michael Stipe song to sweeten the deal.
10 Scorching Garage Punk Albums You May Have Missed
Ten scorching garage punk albums from the best 1,000 albums ever project that should be on your radar.
The Limited Series: TV’s Modern Fluidity
From ’80s mini-series to HBO’s Task and Netflix’s Adolescence, tracing the evolution of TV’s most fluid storytelling format
Netflix’s Vladimir brings the weird and the dark to campus
Netflix’s Vladimir arrives March 5th with a stacked cast — Rachel Weisz, Leo Woodall, and John Slattery — and a darkly funny campus obsession story worth your time.
Binghamton, New York pop culture hall of fame
Binghamton, New York’s pop culture hall of fame — TV shows, movies, music, and notable alumni worth celebrating.
The Ultimate Guide to Watching Love Is Blind
Love Is Blind is peak trashtastic TV — but only if you watch it right. Here’s the ultimate guide to fast forwarding your way to the good stuff.
The Long Walk Movie: Bleak, Smart, Uncomfortably Close to Home
A look at The Long Walk movie versus Stephen King’s novel, and why this bleak, smart adaptation feels disturbingly close to home.
Pop Thruster Afterburner: Guided By Voices, Descendents, Parquet Courts
How Guided By Voices, Milo Goes to College, and Human Performance became my latest album obsessions after completing the best 1,000 albums ever.
Locked Gates and Quantum Healing: HBO’s Neighbors Explores Bizarro Conflict in Trump’s America
Locked gates, cat poop, and quantum healing: HBO’s Neighbors turns bizarre neighbor disputes into a revealing portrait of Trump’s America.
Which Al Pacino is Peak Al Pacino?
Which Al Pacino performance is peak Pacino? From The Godfather to Dog Day Afternoon and beyond, a tour through his greatest eras.
Waiting for The Dark Tower
From childhood obsession to audiobook return, I’ve been waiting more than half my life for a Dark Tower adaptation worthy of Stephen King’s epic.
Industry’s Harper and Eric: the new Don and Roger?
Industry’s Harper and Eric echo Don Draper and Roger Sterling. Here’s how the Industry-Mad Men parallels run deeper than you think.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is already a pantheon half-hour drama
Just four episodes in, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms already ranks among the greatest half-hour dramas TV has ever produced.
Your Friends & Neighbors is a really good hang (and will be around for at least two more seasons)
Jon Hamm, a great cast, and a show that knows exactly what it is — Your Friends & Neighbors is a really good hang and not going anywhere.
Thank you for not selling out: a rabbit hole investigative report
Why are there so few great songs about not selling out? A Gen X rabbit hole through punk, ska, Devo, and suburban conformity.
The Biden Years: How TV Reflected Our Mood Between Trump Regimes
How TV captured the national mood during the Biden years — trauma, absurdism, capitalism, and the uneasy calm between Trump eras.
Band of Brothers’ “Currahee” is a masterclass in storytelling
“Currahee,” Band of Brothers’ opening episode, remains a masterclass in full immersion storytelling.
Warfare: modern war as messy endurance test
How Warfare reframes modern combat as messy, raw, and wildly realistic.
When Matt Damon breaks bad
Matt Damon is one of Hollywood’s most likable stars — which makes his bad and morally gray roles even more fascinating.
Pop Thruster Afterburner: Sunday night is Sunday night again
Sunday night TV is back, with thoughts on Industry, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Tubi deep dives, Black Mirror, and recent music obsessions.
“That’s one shot, kid”: the fantasy of righteous violence on Jersey Shore (and Long Island)
Jersey Shore, Long Island bullies, and Ronnie’s infamous “one shot” — a pop culture memoir about vengeance and fantasy.
The Rip is a good movie (that knows it’s a movie)
The Rip is a good, pulpy crime thriller that knows it’s a movie — not a limited series, not prestige TV, just a tight two-hour ride.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and the joy of small, talky prestige TV
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms delivers small stakes, sharp writing, and genuine laughs — a refreshing reminder of the joy of talky prestige TV.
A car door closing opens the world of The Sopranos
The Sopranos, early Netflix DVDs, and how a single car door opens up memory, pop culture, and time.
Top 50 Stephen King books ranked (by how much they’ve meant to my life)
The 50 Stephen King books that have meant the most to my life, ranked from The Dark Tower to 11/22/63 and beyond.
Five wildly underrated TV shows from the 2020s
Five astoundingly good TV shows from the 2020s that got lost in the cultural shuffle — and are absolutely worth your time.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: a different kind of Ser affair
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms teases a smaller, lighter Westeros story — less dragons, more humor, and a legit good guy at the center.
Black Mirror gets a Season 8 (or: an excuse to rank every Black Mirror episode)
With Season 8 on the way, here’s Pop Thruster’s take on every Black Mirror episode, revealing what the show does best when it’s scary — and when it’s beautiful.
Queen serves up fried chicken (and all was well)
Iron Eagle, Queen’s “One Vision,” and a fried chicken lyric collide in a nostalgic dive into ’80s movies, music, and formative pop culture.
My Battle With One Battle After Another
I wanted to love One Battle After Another. Instead, it forced me to confront my discomfort with political violence and what I want out of art.
Pop Thruster Scene Busters: Colin Hanks, the Earnest Everyman
A Scene Busters look at Colin Hanks’ TV career — from Band of Brothers to Fargo — and why his earnest everyman presence keeps showing up in great shows.
In the Industry pilot episode, “Induction,” everything happens
A lot goes down in the Industry pilot, HBO’s go-hard drama about high finance in London.