Pop Culture Junkie®

Shauna has the Back-in-America Blues and has found the cure is watching one horror or thriller film per day, and she and Olivia go down memory lane remembering the best and worst flicks from inconsistent filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. Both Junkies agree that the real horror show these days is called "the news," including the Cornell 7 case, which then leads to this episode's topic: Feminist Rage Anthems. Women have always had reason to protest, and sometimes they even sang about it, in songs dating back to the suffragist movement of the 1910s and '20s, to the civil rights protest...

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Olivia binged every episode of Sterling Point on Prime. It’s a darling coming-of-age story of twins Annie and Connor (Ella Rubin and Keen Ruffalo) who are bequeathed and entire Canadian island by their mysterious grandfather. 

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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday. 

Shauna is popping the 2016 book My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. The tongue-in-cheek story set in the Satanic Panic era of the 1980s tells the tale of a lifelong friendship put to the test when one of the BFFs gets demonically possessed. 

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Shauna debriefs Olivia (and us) on the details of her European Vacation, and Olivia reveals a surprise visit of her own. Then the Junkies take a deep dive into the Hulu documentary called The Swan: Behind the Mirror, which looks at the 2004 reality show The Swan. The show had a jaw-dropping premise: take "ugly ducklings" - women who are unsatisfied with their appearance - and put them through 3 months of makeovers, including plastic surgeries, dental work, dieting, exercise, therapy and sessions with a "life coach" to make them the beautiful women they always wanted to be. The documentary features some...

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Olivia continues to manifest a wedding and so watched the 2001 film The Wedding Planner, starring a luminous Jennifer Lopez and the most handsome iteration of Matthew McConaughey, in a twisted tale in which you find yourself rooting for the cheaters. You can find it on Netflix.

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Shauna recommends 1988’s Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, the film debut of Elvira, the Horror Hostess extraordinaire, a character created by actor/comedienne Cassandra Peterson. It’s available to stream on Amazon Prime.

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After a little travel talk (someone's going to Europe!), Olivia and Shauna get ready for Spooky Season by talking about the marriage of their two favorite cinematic genres: comedy and horror. They go back to early comedy horror blends like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and other films that poke fun at horror films and their conventions, like Young Frankenstein, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, the Scary Movie series, and Shaun of the Dead - to name but a few. The Junkies discuss why they (and we) love these kinds of films so much, and break down the different types...

n PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Olivia rewatched one the underrated rom-com Made of Honor, starring Patrick Dempsey as the maid of honor to his best friend (and love interest, naturally) played by Michelle Monaghan. It’s now available on Amazon Prime. 

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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Shauna is still powering through the Marvel Cinematic Universe and this week is popping Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings from 2021. Starring Simu Liu and the always funny Awkwafina, Shang-Chi was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and can be seen on Disney+.

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We lost some important cultural icons recently: Dolly Parton, Gloria Steinem and the subject of this episode. Shauna and Olivia remember the one and only Tim Curry in an episode that covers his long career as an actor on the stage and on the big and small screens, and his distinguished voice acting career. Then the Junkies look at four of Curry's best roles: Dr. Frank-N-Furter from Rocky Horror Picture Show, Wadsworth the Butler in Clue, Pennywise the Clown in the TV miniseries version of It, and as the Concierge in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. 

We h...

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Olivia recently enjoyed the combined hotness of Jessica Alba and the late Paul Walker in Into the Blue from 2005. Directed by John Stockwell, the film follows divers who get more than treasure when they find a sunken plane loaded with coke. The film is available on Amazon Prime.

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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Shauna is gearing up for Avengers: Doomsday by watching all the Marvel content she’ll need to consume to know what’s going on in that movie, so she’s popping the Bryan Singer-directed X-Men (2000) and X2 from 2003. Both films feature Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen (amongst others) and can be seen on Disney+. 

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Olivia and Shauna get together in the Pop Culture Junkie studio to talk the good, the bad and the ugliest of Halloween costumes (looking at you, clowns) before getting to the main discussion: aging in Hollywood. There's long been a double standard when it comes to older actors, where men get stay visible in powerful and romantic roles, while women are relegated to playing mom to an actor five years their junior. And while things have changed to a certain degree, there's still a lot of discourse whether actresses of a certain age should get cosmetic procedures to look younger...

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

The end of August means Spooky Season is upon us, so Olivia recommends the terrifying and poignant Netflix limited series The Haunting of Hill House from 2018. Based on the Shirley Jackson novel of the same name, the series was written and directed by Mike Flanagan and starred Henry Thomas, Carla Gugino and a cast of Mike Flanagan players.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Shauna binged the first season of the anime series Marriagetoxin, based on the manga by Joumyako, about an assassin who enlists the help of a matchmaker when he needs to find a wife for business purposes. It’s available on CrunchyRoll. 

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Shauna and Olivia are joined by producer, essayist, and screenwriter Daniel de Boulay for this episode. Daniel has worked as an Acquisitions Executive at Sony Pictures for several years and is an alum of the Academy Awards Gold program. He is also an accomplished music producer and composer and is currently working on an essay about James Bond for the website The Splice. Daniel tells the Junkies about the film acquisitions process, what he's working on currently, and how open mic night at comedy clubs is its own kind of therapy. He talks about how he became an essayist and...

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Olivia recommends the raunchy 2015 comedy Trainwreck, starring Amy Schumer as the title character and Bill Hader as the one man who could really love her. Judd Apatow directed from Schumer’s script, and Brie Larson, Colin Quinn and LeBron James also appear. It’s streaming on Netflix. 

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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday. 

Shauna gives props to the scariest movie she’s ever seen: Hereditary, directed by Ari Aster and released in 2018. This story of a devastating family tragedy compounded by a horrifying possession stars Toni Collette, Alex Wolf, Gabriel Byrne, Ann Dowd and Molly Shapiro and is available on Netflix. 

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From Olivia's Hawaiian adventure to Shauna's obsession with social media mascot Jimothy the raccoon, the Junkies cover it all in this pop culture-themed gabfest. Find out about Gwyneth Paltrow's perfect salad, the latest in romantasy and 'Bromantasy', and an obsession with 'Obsession' in this fun conversational episode. 

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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Olivia says if you’re high, or really need a good laugh, or both, you must watch Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. It’s a 2002 movie written, directed by, and starring Steve Oedekerk, who inserted himself into a 1976 Hong Kong martial arts film with hilarious results. It’s available on Amazon Prime. 

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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Shauna suggests you ignore the haters and find a theater that’s still showing 2026’s Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock as the Girl of Steel, along with her adorable dog Krypto. It’s based on the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic series and is a worthy part of James Gunn’s DCEU.

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So far in 2026, the big-budget superhero flick Supergirl tanked while quirky indie projects like Backrooms and Obsessionbecame mega-hits. Who knows what's going to be trending over the remainder of 2026? The Pop Culture Junkies know! The second half of the year is often when the year's top films come out: Oscar-bait, holiday movies, sequels, prequels and blockbuster action-adventure flicks will soon be turning up in a cineplex near you. Shauna and Olivia look ahead to predict which films are going to be hits, which movies are must-sees, and discuss a few that really didn't need to be made at all. 

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Olivia ugly-cried at the 2026 Netflix romantic comedy Voicemails for Isabelle. Starring Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson as two strangers from different cities who meet after he gets the voicemails she left on her late sister’s phone. 

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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Shauna suggests you check out 2008’s found-footage zombie flick Quarantine, starring Jennifer Carpenter and Jay Hernandez, on Prime. It’s a gory but good story about a reporter following firefighters on a distress call and gets quarantined with them following a disaster. 

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Olivia and Shauna recount their weekend in San Francisco enjoying the best that Pride Month has to offer there: Drag acts, wig snatching contests, music, brunch - all the good stuff. Then they get serious and talk about a topic that some could find triggering - the rise (once again) of the "thin is in" movement, especially in today's media. Please use caution if you would rather avoid discussions of eating disorders and diet. The Junkies have lived through this before: in the '90s and 2000s we were told that Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones' Diary and Anne Hathaway...

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Olivia binged the hilarious 2014 HBO comedy Silicon Valley, created by Mike Judge and starring Thomas Middleditch, Martin Starr and Kumail Nanjiani. It’s available on HBO Max.

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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Shauna rented 2025’s dystopian drama The Long Walk, based on the Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King) novel. Starring Mark Hamill, the film follows a group of kids literally walking for their lives in a totalitarian regime. It’s available for rental on Prime. 

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Live from Phoenix Fan Fusion, Olivia and Shauna head a panel to discuss a serious topic with their characteristic dark humor and feminist sass. Womansploitation - using violence against women as entertainment - is found in movies, in television shows, in books, in true crime documentaries and podcasts. Obviously, there is money to be made in victimizing women for the enjoyment of an audience. The Junkies look at the history of this sub-genre, discuss some examples and go into why it’s so popular and the effects this has on society. With the help of the audience and research, they as...

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday. 

Olivia recommends the riveting Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, a new book that offers a science-fictional look at today’s tradwife movement by time-traveling a tradwife-influencer poser back in time to 1855, forcing her to do without modern conveniences. Find it at your local library or independent bookstore, or stream on Spotify with a subscription.

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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday. 

Shauna has finally taken Olivia’s advice and read the Crescent City book series from A Court of Thorns and Roses author Sarah J. Maas. You can find the first three books - House of Earth and Blood, House of Sky and Breath, and House of Flame and Shadow - at your local library or independent bookstore, or stream on Spotify with a subscription. 

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Shauna and Olivia are in the studio together live and in person, so naturally this episode revolves around artificial life forms. Robots and Artificial Intelligence are hot topics right now, as so-called AI actresses threaten to take over Hollywood, large language models steal our creative endeavors, and humans are demonstrably losing brain power because we need AI programs to compose simple emails for us. Looking back almost 100 years ago at Metropolis to the 1980s' Terminator-style killer robots through today's "good for her" sex-bot revenge movies, the Junkies look at the pop culture robots that want to help us, kill us...

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Olivia recently watched I, Robot, the 2004 film starring Will Smith as a “technophobic” cop investigating robot crime in the far-flung future of 2034, and found it to be a great film for anyone concerned about the dark side of AI here in the present. You can find it on Hulu or rent it on Prime Video. 

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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Shauna went all the way back to 1997 to watch the anime series Berserk. Based on a long-running manga, Berserk the anime series only had a single season, but that one season was hyperviolent and completely addictive. (And also very triggering, as the hero, a swordsman named Guts, goes through hell over the course of the series.) You can watch it on Crunchyroll. 

You can watch the Pop Culture Junkie Podcast on YouTube! Click here: https://www.y...

Shauna and Olivia want to share their favorite movies with each other, and you! This time Olivia shares one of her favorite movies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Directed by Michel Gondry from a screenplay he wrote with Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth, Eternal Sunshine asks and answers the question 'If you could totally erase an ex-lover from your memory, would you?' Jim Carrey plays mild-mannered Joel Barish, who meets and falls for free-spirited Clementine Kruczynski, whose hair changes to match her moods. They fall in love then fall out again, and after their break-up, Joel discovers Clementine...

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Olivia is completely obsessed with the series Peaky Blinders. Set in 1919 Birmingham, England, Peaky Blinders stars Cillian Murphy (a man who can really rock a flat cap) as the boss of a gang of street criminals and all six seasons (and a movie) are available on Netflix.

You can watch the Pop Culture Junkie Podcast on YouTube! Click here: https://www.youtube.com/@popculturejunkiepod/videos  

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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Shauna finally watched the 1991 classic Oscar-winning psychological horror film Silence of the Lambs with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster from start to end, and wants you to watch it again or for the very first time, whatever the case may be, You can catch it on Tubi among other platforms. 

You can watch the Pop Culture Junkie Podcast on YouTube! Click here: https://www.youtube.com/@popculturejunkiepod/videos 

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This week, Shauna and Olivia get a little witchy and expose the history of witches in pop culture. Going back as far as Shakespeare's trio of witchy prognosticators in Macbeth through the domesticated witches of the mid 1900s, today's heroic and/or villainous Marvel witches, the Junkies talk about how witches can be representative of themes like female identity, adolescence, autonomy, sexuality and power. Then they dish on their favorite witches, the worst witches, and what powers they'd love to possess if they were magical. 


You can watch the Pop Culture Junkie Podcast on YouTube! Click here: h...

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Olivia’s pick is The Truman Show from 1998. Starring Jim Carrey and Laura Linney, The Truman Show and its focus on the blurred line between reality and entertainment is more timely than ever right now. You can catch it on Netflix.


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In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.

Shauna shares how much she learned from the 2024 Netflix documentary Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy, which exposes the subtle (and diabolical) ways the purveyors of fast fashion keep us consuming products that we don’t really need or even want. 

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Olivia and Shauna gird their loins for the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, a 20-years-in-the-making follow-up to the iconic Meryl Streep/Anne Hathaway film about a naive wannabe journalist working for the toughest editor in fashion journalism. The Junkies discuss watching the movie for the first time some 20 years ago and how their perspective the film has changed over time. Was Miranda really such a bad person? Would the position of her assistant really be that hard? And who really is the film's villain? The discussion does contain some mild spoilers to the original, so be warned. But nothing...