Pop Goes the Culture Newsletter for March 2022

Who knew two years ago that we’d still be dealing with a global pandemic — and staring down a potential third world war? The meme above (Shannon, portrayed by Maggie Grace, from LOST) does a pretty good job of capturing the feeling, doesn’t it? When the pandemic started, all we could do was survey the mess and cry in disbelief. Two years later, we’re doing the best we can to live our lives while the world continues to smolder around us.

February is behind us. With it came the continued challenges of being caught in a weather cycle that dumped frozen precipitation on us almost every Thursday, which happens to be the day we record new episodes of the Pop Goes the Culture podcast. Regardless of what the glorified rat said back on the 2nd, let’s hope the worst of winter is behind us and we can end the six more weeks of winter a little early this year. With everything we’ve gone through and the existential crises we still face, I think we deserve a little less lion and a little more lamb this month.

That’s not to say February was all bad. Kenny and Joey headed out to Neosho Art Con on Saturday, February 5th in Neosho, Missouri. We had no idea what the turnout was going to be like — this was at the height of the omicron spike and only a couple of days after a once-in-a-century snowfall blanketed the area. In spite of (or maybe because of) all of that, folks turned out and had a great time. Among the panels we ran were a fantasy draft with the most enthusiastic group we’ve ran a draft for to date, a panel on how to start your own podcast, and Joey moderated the Q&A with guest of honor, voice actress Bryn Apprill, who already has nearly 250 credits in her short career.

Joey (right) with Neosho Art Con guest of honor Bryn Apprill.

That’s right, convention season is upon us, and we step it up in a big way this March. Join Dusty, Kenny, and Joey Saturday, March 19th and Sunday, March 20th at NWA Comic Con in Rogers, Arkansas. Funny story about this event. Last year, convention producers AVC Conventions asked Pop Goes the Culture to join them on their 2022 conventions tour. We thought that meant they’d let us know how many hours of panel programming they needed for the weekend after others submitted their panel ideas and we’d fill out the rest of the spots. Instead, AVC Conventions is opening the Pop Goes the Culture panel room at their comic cons this year. That’s right, we’re providing 12 hours of convention programming at NWA Comic Con in our own dedicated panel room! That means we get to bring more “how to” presentations, round table discussions, and audience-participation content like fantasy drafts, Cage Matches, and more to conventions across the mid-south in 2022. We’re so excited to hit the road and invite each and every one of you to join us. Check out all the NWA Comic Con information and purchase your tickets online at nwacomiccon.com.

Be sure to subscribe to the Pop Goes the Culture podcast and follow us on social media at @PGTCpodcast. This month, we’re fantasy drafting Batman villains that didn’t quite make the cut for The Batman, movie roles that we’d cast ourselves into, and insults that don’t have any profanity. Our March playlist builds off of our February “Our Favorite Love Songs” playlist — this month we’re exploring “Our Favorite Heartbreak Songs”. All that plus what’s new and newsworthy every week in entertainment and pop culture. Be sure to check us out in the podcast player of your choice.