Twenty Twenty: A Pop Culture Podcast

Award Season is a highlight of the pop culture calendar. From MTV’s Video Music Awards in September through to the Academy Awards in March, we are treated to nearly six months of red carpet looks, tearful acceptance speeches and, if we’re lucky, a healthy dose of celeb drama. What better way to end the first season of Twenty Twenty than by looking at who won big in the year 2000, and dishing out some awards of our own. Let the show begin... This is our last episode of the series, and we want to hear your feedback! Fill in this survey by Tuesday 15th December to be in with a chance of winning a copy of Sylvia Patterson’s, ‘I’m not with the band’: https://forms.gle/s5XBbYu3YSadRhCV8 And keep in touch! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for updates on Twenty Twenty Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we’re hosting a special roundtable on everyone’s favourite mother-daughter duo, The Gilmore Girls. We’re joined by critic Zarina Muhammad, who is one half of art collective The White Pube, and Anna Leszkiewicz, Culture Editor at the New Statesman.   Together we discuss Gilmore Girls’ timeless appeal and its second life as a streaming sensation. We’ll also look back at how the show was received at the time as well as the grittier themes of class and privilege tucked beneath its cozy exterior.   References  Gilmore Girls Review, Zarina Muhammad - The White Pube SRSLY Gilmore Girls Quiz SRSLY Gilmore Girls Special   Clips: Where You Lead I Will Follow (Gilmore Girls Theme), Carole King Opening Scene, S1EP1 Gilmore Girls Music - La La Song's Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pure Shores by All Saints. Independent Women by Destiny’s Child. Can’t Fight the Moonlight by LeAnn Rimes. These chart-topping tracks are some of the year 2000’s most memorable pop hits — but none of them would exist if it weren’t for movies. Designed as marketing tie-ins for the original soundtracks to The Beach, Charlie’s Angels and Coyote Ugly, the legacies of these songs have outlasted the movies they were attached to. In this episode, we explore the increasingly entwined relationship between Hollywood, pop music and the hype machine and how it’s changed over the last 20 years. We talk to legendary music supervisor and record executive Kathy Nelson (Miami Vice, Pulp Fiction, Dangerous Minds, High Fidelity, and SO MANY MORE) who tells us the story behind Can’t Fight the Moonlight.  Got a favourite culture moment from 2000 you want us to talk about? Suggest an episode idea here.  You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram References and Clips Kathy Nelson, IMDB The Muse of the Coyote Ugly Saloon, Elizabeth Gilbert  Coolio, Gangsta’s Paradise Coyote Ugly (2000) Can’t Fight The Moonlight, LeAnn Rimes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twenty years after it first launched, The Sims is still going strong. Much more than a nostalgic relic of the noughties, the game has a thriving community of fans. In this episode, Tara, a longtime player of the game, explains it’s enduring appeal to Simran — a self-identified Sims noob. We get into the tensions of escapism and introspection within the game and talk about the challenges of reflecting the ‘real world’ in a simulation. We’ll also ask: is The Sims “a beguiling capitalist fantasy” or can a more meaningful commentary on consumerism be found amongst the hypnotic tones of the ‘buy mode’ music?  Got a favourite culture moment from 2000 you want us to talk about? Suggest an episode idea here.  You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram Clips used in this episode:  The Sims 1- House Fire Sims 1: Craziest Party Ever… The Sims 1: The Tragic Clown The Sims 1 - All Places to "Play with" (Woohoo) Lily Allen - Smile (Simlish) The Sims Soundtrack: Build Mode 1 References:  The Nod, Autumn  Playing The Sims Is Better Meditation than Meditation, GQ I Think About My Painting Goblin in The Sims a Lot, The Cut My land of make believe: life after The Sims, The Guardian ,Liv Siddal Will Wright - New Yorker profile The Sims at 20: two decades of life, love and reorganising the kitchen, The Guardian  Playing "The Sims"as though you were Kurt Cobain, Miguel Sicart Inside the online communities making beautiful black Sims, Dazed The Untold Story of 'The Sims,' Your First Favorite Jazz Record, VICE    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Southampton teenager Craig David arrived into the mainstream with the help of production duo Artful Dodger in 1999, many considered him a poster boy for UK Garage. In his own work, he melded that 2-step sound with crooning R&B and even Spanish guitar to great effect. Born To Do It became the fastest-selling debut album ever by a British male solo act, a record the album holds to this day. So why was it that the following year he was snubbed at the BRIT Awards? Why, in 2002, was he already singing about fame’s inevitable ‘Rise & Fall’? And why was he the target of so many jokes? We consider the mythology and legacy of Craig David, and ask what happens when subculture goes mainstream. Got a favourite culture moment from 2000 you want us to talk about? Suggest an episode idea here.  You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram   Clips and References   0:36 - Fill Me In, Craig David   0:43 - 7 Days, Craig David 1:01 - “Soulful Craig David looks set to sweep Brit awards”, The Guardian 1:07 - No BRITS for CD, Craigs performance at the 2001 BRITS 3:34 - Re-wind, Artful Dodger 5:32 - “Mature Ravers Only: The Story of UK Garage Fashion”, Red Bull  6:19 - “How Ayia Napa transformed from a fishing village to the heart of garage music”, New European 9:11 - Pitchfork, Review of Born To Do It 11:56 - Rolling Stone Review 13:18 - What’s Your Flava?, Craig David 14:08 - Sexy Willy Wonka 14:19 - Rise & Fall, Sting and Craig David 17:38 - Melody Maker cover 18:22 - Simon Reynolds, Bring The Noise  19:20 - Bo Selecta - The Craig David Story 23:00 - Liberty X, Being Nobody 25:08 - Fearne and Craig David 27:25 - People Just Do Nothing Trailer 28:36 - Craig David on BBC 1 Xtra 29:10 - When The Baseline Drops, Craig David x Big Nastie 31:20 - Got It Good, Kaytranada ft Craig David   Special thanks to Max Palmer for providing original music for this episode! You can listen to more of his music here: www.soundcloud.com/sundensound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new millennium brought with it a fresh wave of optimism and excitement for the future. Zadie Smith's best selling debut novel White Teeth embodied this mood and symbolised a changing of the guard. Smith was lauded with critical acclaim and lavished with media attention — an overnight literary sensation at just 24 years old. With special guest Sharmaine Lovegrove, publisher at Dialogue Books, we explore the impact of the novel and the legacy of its author. Content Warning: Mention of suicide   Got a favourite culture moment from 2000 you want us to talk about? Suggest an episode idea here.  You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram Follow Sharmaine on Twitter here. Find out more about the Black Writers Guild here.    Select books Sharmaine mentions in the episode:  The Lonely Londoners, Sam Selvon Second Class Citizen, Buchi Emecheta The Buddha of Suburbia, Hanif Kureishi The Black Album, Hanif Kureishi Blonde Roots, Bernardine Evaristo Girl, Woman, Other,  Bernardine Evaristo Queenie, Candice Carty Williams Bridget Jones Diary, Helen Fielding   Select work by Zadie Smith referenced:  Fences: A Brexit Diary, NY Books Stormzy at Glastonbury Intimations Sharmaines question to Zadie in the Guardian   Clips Used:  Tony Blair wins landslide general election win for Labour (1997) - Newsnight archives America's Internet Trading Boom (1990) -   Journeyman Pictures Tony Blair on immigration (2004) -  London Business School Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The year 2000 saw the launch of two new reality TV shows. Big Brother made instant celebrities of ordinary people and was deemed the most addictive show on telly. Faking It won two BAFTAs and took home an International Emmy, but remains a cult hit. In this episode, we discuss these two shows and what they can tell us about the UK at the turn of the 21st century. We also explore the concept of reality TV fame, then and now. CW: mentions of self-harm If you're in the UK, you can watch all of Faking It on 40D or its available to buy on Amazon. The early seasons of Big Brother are less readily available, but Channel 4 did a "Best Bits" show recently where you can enjoy memorable moments from across the seasons.  Other links mentioned and clips used in this episode: 0:34 - Big Brother, Series 1, Day 22 - Davina Intro 1:00 - Faking It - Faking it Changed My Life 12:58 - Big Brother, Series 1, Episode - Phycologist comments on Mel   15:07 - Big Brother, Series 1 - Confronting Nasty Nick  19:20 - Reality TV Me, Jia Tolentino - you can find in her book Trick Mirror, and here is a video of her reading the essay 22:27 - Big Brother, The Reunion, Radio 4 - Tim Gardam quote  24:00 - Faking It - Faking it Changed My Life 28:45 - Faking It - Shop Girl to It Girl 31:09 - Faking it - Lawyer to Garage MC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“What matters is what you like, not what you are like" or so says Rob Gordon, the protagonist of High Fidelity. In this episode, we look back at the 2000 film starring John Cusack, and ask if there's value in the idea that our favourite songs, films and books reveal who we are. We talk about music snobbery, cultural gatekeeping and the politics of taste in the original film and the 2020 television remake starring Zoë Kravitz.  Films and TV referenced in the episode: Say Anything (1989) High Fidelity (2000) High Fidelity, Hulu (2020) 500 Days of Summer (2009) Almost Famous (2000)  The OC (2003-2007)   Other links mentioned and clips used in this episode:  6:00 - Opening scene of 500 Days of Summer 10:30 - John Cusack, NYT interview (2020) 17:00 - The Rap Against Rockism, Kelefa Sanneh (2004) 19:40 - Beam Me Up Softboi Instagram account 20:27 - Men Explain Music to Me, Kim Kelly 22:49 - James Acaster, Perfect Sounds, BBC Sounds  33:31 - Janet Jackson, I Get Lonely  38:21 - Fan Girls, Hannah Ewens 38:30 - Jessica Hopper tweet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kelly, can you handle this? Michelle, can you handle this? Beyoncé, can you handle this? It’s a roll-call so iconic, it’s easy to forget this wasn’t Destiny's Child’s original line-up. A decade after the band first came together under a different name, it was in 2000 that they found their final form after a brutal year of line-up changes and legal battles. We go back to relive the drama and think about how it laid the foundations for who Beyoncé is today. Got a favourite culture moment from 2000 you want us to talk about? Suggest an episode idea here.  You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram where we are running a giveaway of Sylvia Patterson’s book ‘I’m Not With The Band. Links mentioned and clips used in this episode:  4:20 - Say My Name Video 4:50 - Girls Tyme on Star Search 8:30 - No, No, No Part 1 Video  13:00 - Survivor Video 13:30 - Interview from 1998 14:20 - I’m Not With The Band, Sylvia Patterson 16:20 - Interview by Toazted Best off 16:40 - Vibe Magazine Profile 21:10 - Cribs 23:30 - Wendy Williams Radio Show 26:00 - Interview, MTV News 27:00 - Tara’s interview with Ray Blk 29:30 - Flawless remix 30:30 - Superbowl performance 32:50 - Homecoming, Netflix 35:20 - LaToya’s red carpet interview  36:30 - Beychella - From Homecoming Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are you ready to back to the year 2000? Join two culture critics in their twenties, as they delve into the most memorable pop culture from twenty years ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices