The NFL is king in America. And it's starting to spread its wings even further with multiple international games in multiple countries around the world. But it wasn't always this massive juggernaut. A series of smart decisions, and a lot of luck, thrust the league into the spotlight in a major way. Journalist Ken Belson has been following the league for many years and has taken a deep dive into the NFL's insane growth in his new book "Every Day Is Sunday: How Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft and Roger Goodell Turned The NFL Into An Cultural And Economic Juggernaut. Ken joined me for this week's episode of the show.

Over the summer my family and I went on a vacation to Europe. We spent about 7 days in Spain before wrapping up in Portugal. During my time there I wanted to get a t-shirt for a soccer team from each city we stopped in. I got something in Valencia and Seville. But it's the shirt I got in Lisbon that has been creating a bit of an issue for me.

I got a shirt for the team Benfica. Every time I wear this shift out in public someone stops me to comment about their love of Benfica. I had never even heard of this team before visiting Lisbon. It's been kind of wild to see what kind of fanbase they have here in America.

One gentleman who stopped me was Billy Harte. He came up to me in a coffee shop in Towson, MD. We spoke for a few minutes and he started telling me all about his new soccer apparel company called The Pitch Performance. I mean, it's brand new. The brand officially launched earlier this year (2025).

I thought his story was really interesting. I wanted to know more, so I figured you all would like to know more as well. I hope you enjoy this conversation.

There have been a lot of inventions over the last couple of decades that have changed the world. I could spend countless words describing them. But there is one that may fly under the radar, and may not grab your attention. I'm talking about the Like button. Maybe it's a thumbs up, or a heart or some other apparatus to show your approval.

But it doesn't stop there. What maybe was created as a way to show appreciation for something has turned into the pivotal piece of any online company.

This week I'm speaking with Martin Reeves. He literally wrote the book on the Like button. It's called 'Like: The Button That Changed The World.'

When I was 18 years old I found myself, accidentally, at a Christian music festival in New Hampshire. It was called the Inside Out Soul Festival. I was invited to a weekend music festival and thought it would be fun. It wasn't until I got there that I realized what I was getting myself into.

It was a learning experience for me. It was the first time I had really experienced Christian pop culture and the machinery behind it. All around me I saw people wearing t-shirts with the Taco Bell dog saying 'Yo Quiero Jesus'. I heard music that sounded like the hits I was hearing on the radio, but the messaging in the lyrics was very different.

Fast forward a couple of decades and I came across this new book called Jesusland: Stories From the Upside Down World Of Christian Pop Culture. Joelle Kidd has put together a wonderful piece of work that takes us back to her youth in the early 2000's, a time period when Christian pop culture started to really make waves. The book talks a lot about efforts from political figures over the decades to infiltrate communities with specific messaging.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Joelle Kidd.

Do you ever talk about your favorite things through top 5 lists? Like, you have your top 5 tv shows, or top 5 songs, etc. No? Just me? Cool.

When I look back at my favorite movies and soundtracks, you'll find The Crow in the top 5 of both categories. The film still makes me feel emotions I didn't think possible. It's such a heavy film to me even 31 years after its release. Maybe watching it brings back grief from the loss of Brandon Lee. Or maybe The Crow is packed with emotional content and themes. To this day I still tear up at one particular moment in the film (which we discuss in the podcast). What's wrong with me?

In the latest installment of the Pop Classics series, Alisha Mughal has taken on the task of taking us on a deep dive of the classic film. Her book 'It Can't Rain All The Time' is available now and I think any movie fan will enjoy it.

In this episode we discuss the history and folklore about The Crow, how you can find similarities with the John Wick universe, how incredible Brandon Lee truly was and so much more.

In the same way that we use B.C. and A.D. to describe time and eras, I think we should have a new way to describe pre-2000 and post-2000. The world started to shift in ways that were never imaginable when we entered into the 21st century. We never got our flying cars and hoverboards (well, REAL hoverboards). Instead we got social media, fake news and consumerism at insane levels.

I want to continue my pop culture run this week with a conversation with author Colette Shade. She's written a really interesting book called 'Y2K: How the 2000's Became Everything (Essays On The Future That Never Was).' As someone who was 18 as the clock turned to January 1, 2000, it was fun to take a trip down memory lane. I read this through the lens of 'if I knew then what I know now' and some of the things really blew my mind.

I hope you enjoy our conversation and I highly suggest her book.

I'm still not comfortable with referencing things from my youth as 'nostalgia.' But here we are. I'm taking us on a trip down memory lane to a magical time called 'The 90's.'

With me today is educator, and author, Veronica Litt. She's penned a new book about the classic pop culture gem Clueless. The book is called, 'Ugh! As If?' Can you even think of a better title?

Despite on its face looking like a teen rom-com set in wealthy Los Angeles in the mid-90's, Clueless has stood the test of time because it is much deeper than most people think. And I'm not just talking about it's roots being based on the Jane Austen classic 'Emma.'

I hope you enjoy this conversation, and I hope you check out the book when it comes out on June 3rd, 2025.

I've been trying for a long time to find an excuse to have this guest back on the show. I'm excited to welcome back singer and podcaster Ray Harkins. He's the host of the '100 Words Or Less' podcast and he's the frontman of the new hardcore band Bloodguilt.

Bloodguilt kind of popped up out of nowhere. I just started seeing Ray posting about it on social media one day and I was shocked. But the music is great. It has a sense of urgency and it feels like it needs to be heard.

In this conversation, Ray and I discuss how Bloodguilt came together, what it's like to grow up in the hardcore scene, and how important the recommendations your friends make on social media are.