World Fantasy Award and Nebula Award winning author James Morrow and Morrow superfan Andrew Wollman join Jen to talk about Morrow's body of work. From his first books in the science fiction genre to his latest book, the historical fiction novel

104: Webcomics

Nov 13th, 2014 1h 5m

Webcomic enthusiast Jake Goldman and webcomic artist John McNamee join Jen this week to discuss (what else?) webcomics! From narrative to gag a day, highly stylized to stick figures, strips that span decades to limited seasonal arcs, webcomics

103: Broken Monsters

Oct 31st, 2014 1h 21m

It wouldn't be Halloween at PrePopCulture without Dickie Copeland here to read a spooky book, and this year she and Jen tackled a doozy. Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes folds together the gritty realism of an urban crime tale with haunting sup

102: Dungeons & Dragons

Sep 29th, 2014 1h 33m

Like many of her nerdy friends, Jen spent her teen years playing Dungeons & Dragons. And while it faded out of her life after college, her love for the classic roleplaying game never waned. With the recent release of 5th edition giving her a go

101: The Modern Millennial

Sep 12th, 2014 47m 28s

In a loft in downtown Los Angeles, artist Moses Storm is currently exhibiting The Modern Millennial, a hybrid between performance art and interactive theater. Displaying his work at and living in the loft full-time, Moses is presenting an uncen

100: The Magicians Trilogy, with Lev Grossman

Aug 28th, 2014 1h 8m

Time magazine book critic and New York Times Bestselling author Lev Grossman joins Jen to talk about his Magicians trilogy. The final installment of the series, The Magician's Land, hit number one on the New York Times Bestseller list this mont

99: Two Year Anniversary

Aug 15th, 2014 23m 34s

Want to celebrate two years of PrePopCulture with updates on topics from previous episodes and unaired clips? Great! That's exactly what Jen has for you.If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook

98: Weird Al

Jul 31st, 2014 57m 11s

Andrew Wollman joins Jen to talk about everybody's favorite parody artist, Weird Al. On Billboard's charts at number one for the first time, Weird Al's latest album Mandatory Fun has gone over like gangbusters with comedy nerds as of late. But

97: To Read or Not to Read - Game of Thrones

Jul 3rd, 2014 1h 29m

Jason Greene joins Jen to discuss whether someone who's watching Game of Thrones but hasn't yet read it should delve into the books or just stick with the show alone. As an avid fan of the books, Jason has a lot of reasons why the books are sup

96: The Apocalypse

Jun 5th, 2014 1h 10m

Kevin Pedersen joins Jen to talk about the way the end of days is portrayed in movies, TV, books, and video games. With a ranking system that takes into account the devastation of the initial impact, the long-term post-apocalyptic survivability

95: 3rd Annual LA Indie Improv Festival

May 22nd, 2014 50m 59s

Nick Mandernach joins Jen to give you a behind the scenes look at this year's LA Indie Improv Festival. They take you through info about this year's fest, from details about planning and programming it, to additions like the opening panel and a

94: Guilty pleasure TV shows

May 8th, 2014 1h 10m

Jesse Benjamin joins Jen to discuss why certain kinds of TV shows make people feel so bad for enjoying them so much. From the soapy and salacious like Sex and the City, to trashy reality like The Real Housewives of Orange County, to oddly addic

93: The Sophomore Slump

Apr 26th, 2014 46m

Writing, filmmaking, art, and music are just some of many fields in which people contend with the threat of their second piece of work not living up to their first. In this episode Jen talks with Danny Mastrangelo and James Mulholland in search

92: 7 years in LA

Apr 11th, 2014 41m 4s

This spring marked Jen's seventh year living in Los Angeles, and she's a very different person now than when she moved there from Chicago. Examining her own struggle to acclimate, she talks to some friends about their experiences moving to LA,

Update: PrePopCulture returns 4-10-2014

Mar 20th, 2014 59s

There are changes in store at PrePopCulture when it resumes on April 10, 2014!If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook! You can also follow PrePopCulture on Twitter.Want to suggest a topic for

91: Trendsetting and trend chasing

Mar 13th, 2014 1h 6m

James Mulholland joins Jen to delve into what spurs the beginning of trends, and what happens when people chase them. From books to movies to TV shows (plus books becoming movies or TV shows), there's no shortage of fads that provided increasin

90: Android: Netrunner

Mar 6th, 2014 1h 4m

Clay Larsen joins Jen this week to discuss Android: Netrunner, a game they're both obsessed with. Set in a cyberpunk world, this living card game pits two players against each other in the roles of runner and corporation. A corporation tries to

89: Kickstarter and crowdfunding

Feb 27th, 2014 1h 19m

Danny Mastrangelo joins Jen to chat about the ins and outs of crowdfunding through Kickstarter. From what entices people to back things, to how often projects are successfully funded and fulfilled, to who Kickstarter is really "for," this one s

88: Apps

Feb 20th, 2014 1h 8m

Sarah Claspell joins Jen to talk about the plethora of mobile apps making life easier these days than it was in the dark ages before smartphones were ubiquitous. From big things like improving your health or keeping your schedule straight, to s

87: Text adventures

Feb 13th, 2014 59m 23s

Will Hines joins Jen to talk about text adventures, which are also known as interactive fiction. From formative classics like Zork, to the modern renaissance of the genre, there are countless amazing stories and fiendish puzzles to be experienc

86: Superhero casting

Feb 6th, 2014 1h 3m

Mark David Christenson joins Jen to dig into why fan fervor and furor are now de facto accompaniments to casting announcements for comic book movies. They examine factors that go into picking someone to bring a superhero from page to screen, fr

85: TV on TV

Jan 30th, 2014 1h 7m

Jake Jabbour and Art Tebbel join Jen to talk about the niche of television that is TV shows about TV shows. From early examples like The Dick Van Dyke Show to currently running Episodes, there's no shortage of programs exploring the behind the

84: Subculture - Life at sea

Jan 23rd, 2014 1h 3m

PrePopCulture is adding a new type of episode to the arsenal: exploring a subculture. This week, cruise ship performer Owen Wittekindt joins Jen to talk about what it's like to live at sea. From what constitutes a good cabin, to the things that

83: Antiheroes

Jan 16th, 2014 1h 4m

James Mulholland joins Jen to dig into the idea of the antihero. From why they like a morally questionable main character to why depicting an antihero isn't the same as endorsing one, James and Jen have a lot of opinions on this method of chara

82: Tattoos

Jan 9th, 2014 1h 13m

Alex Berg joins Jen this week to chat all things tattoo. With eight pieces and counting, Alex is no stranger to figuring out a design and where to put it, the tattooing process itself, and even a little tattoo regret. And while ink may be the s