Episodes

Film critic and journalist John Bleasdale joins Christina to discuss the news that Luca Guadagnino's film about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Artificial , has been dropped by Amazon, which just happens to have a partnership with OpenAI... Also in the mix: the many partnerships forming between creators and tech. A24 has announced a $75 million research partnership with Google DeepMind. Steven Soderbergh is embracing AI. Scorsese has signed on as a partner with an AI image-generation startup. And Netflix...

TV time! Emmy nominations drop on July 8th. Christina and guest Eoin Daly make their boldest nom predictions. From The Pitt to Hacks, Widows Bay, Pluribus, and a lot of surprises. Who's getting in? Who's getting snubbed? The Emmys ceremony is on September 14th. Eoin Daly on Instagram. @eoin_daily

It's Disclosure Day! Christina is joined by Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch to discuss and review Steven Spielberg's latest film. They dig into how it fits into the director's filmography as well as his biography, exploring where his mastery shines through, where the film falls short, and how it all comes together. Includes spoilers!

Backrooms is the record-breaking horror phenomenon of the summer. Christina sat down with brilliant production designer Danny Vermette and VFX supervisor Edward J. Douglas to talk about their work on the film and their collaboration with 20-year-old YouTube creator Kane Parsons , A24's youngest-ever director. We dig into the 30,000-square-foot build that brought Parsons's Backrooms YouTube series to life on the big screen, the themes and anxieties of isolation, (and the horror of fluorescent lig...

Actor Brittany Allen ( The Boys , Dexter: Original Sin, Jigsaw ) joins the show to discuss her Emmy-buzzed performance as Roxie Hamler, a terminal cancer patient on HBO’s The Pitt . We dive into the research behind her role, her collaboration with Noah Wyle and the cast and crew of the medical drama, the emotional weight of the storylines, how the team unwinds after intense days on set, and so much more.

Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch.com joins Christina to discuss the mega-hits Obsession (directed by 26-year-old Curry Barker) and Backrooms (by 20-year-old Kane Parsons), the rise of YouTube content creators in cinema and more! Plus they talk basketball! :) Don’t miss it

524: Dispatch 10: Final Cannes Report! Guest Ryan McQuade, AwardsWatch.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cannes Film Festival Dispatch 9. Club Kid, Coward, The Man I Love & Jim Queen with guest: Erik Anderson, AwardsWatch. https://awardswatch.com Video Anton Isiukov https://www.antonisiukov.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cannes Film Festival 2026 Dispatch nr 8. A Conversation with Sean Fennessey. Guest: Sean Fennessey https://www.theringer.com/podcasts/the-big-picture https://substack.com/@seanfennessey Video: Anton Isiukov http://antonisiukov.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Wendy Mitchell Contributing Editor for Screen International and ScreenDaily.com https://www.filmwendy.com/writing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest, author and film critic John Bleasdale https://www.johnbleasdale.com Video by Anton Isiukov https://www.antonisiukov.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cannes Film Festival Dispatch 5: Review Paweł Pawlikowski's 'Fatherland' (Guest Sophia Ciminello – AwardsWatch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a special episode from Cannes 2026, Christina interviews (her husband:), screenwriter Peter Birro, and director Gustaf Skarsgård about their upcoming film. They are at the festival to introduce The Cannibal , a psychological horror film about a screenwriter who goes to the island of Fårö to write a movie about Bergman, but soon encounters a demonic presence. Production starts in 2026. Audio & Video Video by Anton Isiukov https://www.antonisiukov.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...

Review! We are excited about Jane Schoenbrun's ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson. Guest Ryan McQuade AwardsWatch.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch joins Christina live from the Cannes Film Festival 2026 to discuss this year’s jury, predictions, and some of the fests biggest stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What to expect from Pop Culture Confidential at the Cannes Film Festival 2026. Join us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emmy season is heating up, and Christina is joined by Eoin Daly (of @onofusnet) to break down and discuss the most buzzworthy TV! From the sharp humor of Hacks, to the brilliance of Beef season 2, Half Man , The Pitt , Survivor , and everything in between. With nominations just around the corner (July 8th!) make sure to tune in for hot takes, insights, and predictions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Special cross-over episode! On episode 344 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello, and Pop Culture Confidential’s Christina Birro to preview the 2026 Cannes Film Festival and also discuss the newest changes within the Academy for the upcoming Oscars and beyond. You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, ...

Welcome to the first-ever Pop Culture Confidential Summer 2026 Movie Draft! Christina is joined by Jay Ledbetter and Ryan McQuade (hosts of The Director Watch Podcast) to draft the films of the summer season. From Nolan and Spielberg to Toy Story 5, the chilling Backrooms, and so much more, who will draft the ultimate summer lineup? Tune in to find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lena Dunham’s 'Famesick' is here! On this episode, Christina is joined by Sophia Ciminello ( AwardsWatch , Oscar Wilde podcast) to unpack the much-anticipated memoir and explore Dunham’s cultural impact. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sachs, Farhadi, Almodóvar, Pawlikowski, Kore-eda, Hamaguchi, Mungiu and many more! Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch.com joins Christina to preview the Cannes Film Festival 2026 , featuring an incredible lineup of films and filmmakers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The brilliant writer/director Mary Bronstein joins Christina to discuss her film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You . The film is a raw and revelatory exploration of motherhood, anchored by an incredible, Oscar-nominated performance by Rose Byrne. Christina and Mary Bronstein dive into where Mary was in her life when she began writing the film, how she and Rose Byrne developed the character of Linda, the ongoing taboos surrounding motherhood and so much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...

This episode, Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch) joins Christina for a grab bag of news, reviews, and all manner of good stuff! They dive into 'Project Hail Mary', 'The Drama', Colbert taking on Tolkien, the Oscars venue move, Scorsese’s book adaptation, Supergirl, the Harry Potter TV series, and so much more. Listen now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emmy-nominated director Weronika Tofilska joins Christina to discuss her bold, existential storytelling, from the wildly successful Baby Reindeer to her latest project, Netflix’s chilling horror series Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen (exec-produced by the Duffer Brothers and starring Camila Morrone, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Ted Levine). They dive into her creative journey, the terrifying twists on marriage and soulmates in the series, Lynchian influences, and what it’s like to craft horro...