Who said “best of” lists were just for the end of the year?
What about the best of 3 weeks into something?
While the Golden Globes and SAG Awards look back on the last year in film, and the grammies are around the corner trying to summarize an ever expanding universe of music, I wanted to put my small spotlight on three small pop culture artifacts in the world of twitter fan fiction, instagram artists, and TV-show-recap podcasts.
These “three” things are getting me through the winter after the coziness of the holidays has worn off, the Packers are officially not in the Super Bowl, and I’m in need of a spiritual, ramen bowl of high art broth and low art noodles.
#1. This Twitter Story from Oliver Willis
Oliver Willis is a Senior Writer for Shareblue Media, Huff Post contributor, and prolific political fan fiction writer on Substack.
On January 1st, I awoke hungover to this story he had written.
Unlike most of Willis’ writing this was not political.
It was pop-culture, hangover soup for the soul.
Willis takes the pop music universe through some kind of Westeros alt-universe, each sentence dense and heavy in tone, lightened by its personalities and references.
It’s all laid out on his substack Fanfic The News.
But I present it here in the same way it presented itself to me on the first day of 2020.
It felt like the perfect mix of high art – his narrative voice – and low art – fanfiction of pop culture.
Finding a pitch perfect balance between the High and the Low.
Making me super jealous I didn’t write it!
P.S. The Thread Reader App on twitter is there to help with these kind of things.
#2. The Pop Cultural Surrealist Art of Stevie Yeaman
Going by @cool.lodge on instagram, and purporting to be Stevie Yeaman (I have no reason to believe that’s not his name, I just don’t know anything more about him), this artist was a fun surprise at the end of an internet wormhole I found myself in.
What’s more to say?
It’s instantly satisfying, pop cultural fun with enough detail and macabre cheekiness to reward repeat viewings and lengthy pauses on his posts.
It goes just a step beyond your normal famous catchphrase on a t-shirt.
His first post was August 13th, 2019, he’s released 20 so far and I very much look forward to seeing what he does next.
#3a. Office Ladies
Two TV-show-recap podcasts with very different approaches to very different subject matter make up my #3 slot.
Office Ladies is an insider look at behind-the-scenes moments of arguably the most important sitcom of the 21st century, hosted by Jenna Fischer (Pam) and Angela Kinsey (Angela).
Office Ladies debuted in late 2019, going episode by episode in chronological order, recapping The Office starting with its pilot.
From the beginning, it’s easy to tell Jenna and Angela are longtime friends, and while that’s always fun to hear – that the cast members of your favorite show are actually friends – it doesn’t immediately guarantee a great podcast.
But Jenna and Angela only get better – getting to the point quicker, ending tangents at just the right moment, bantering back and forth before diving back into a fast fact – as the series goes on.
Not only do we get to hear about moments on the set of The Office – and often hear from other people on the show, from Rainn Wilson to prop master Phil Shea – we get to hear honestly entertaining personal stories from two self-described dorks who, while they seem like hollywood insiders from the outside looking in, are actually two very down to earth, funny women who felt out of place trying to meet Meryl Streep at the Golden Globes.
Come for the well-done The Office insights, and stay for the Office Ladies’ stories.
#3b. Watch What Crappens Does Vanderpump Rules Season Eight
I have only been listening to the all-things Bravo recap comedy show since late 2019 (as of this writing, the podcast is up to 1,167 episodes with multiple new recaps each week) and from the beginning I was a fan of the episode by episode, scene by scene, half-replay, half-re-interpretation style that Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Karam bring to Watch What Crappens.
The pair take on dozens of accents to impersonate the Bravo-lebrities they love and love to hate.
In between the play-by-play recreations, the duo weigh in with their opinions on who’s in the right and who’s completely delusional, in other words, the number one reason we all can’t stop watching Bravo.
It’s honestly impressive how they can track so many characters through so many ridiculous voices, while weaving in the narrative of each episode.
This year, while recapping the 8th season of Vanderpump Rules Ben and Ronnie have already gone in depth on a Delta Burke episode of Golden Girls that won her an Emmy for addressing her weight gain and the phenomena of white women in pop culture being sad in Seattle (Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, Meg Ryan’s character in Sleepless in Seattle)
It’s these extra, rewardingly random pop culture tangents that have taken this podcast to the next level – that “High Meets Low” atmosphere – in the first three weeks of 2020.
As a person who loves to see how different aspects of pop culture effects different people in all the different ways pop culture does, I’m excited to hear more of these tangents on Watch What Crappens as Vanderpump season eight ratchets up its insanity in 2020.