Pop Mystery Pod
Episodes
Nevertheless, Blake Lively Persists (with MJ Morley)
23 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Blake Lively’s civil case is scheduled to head to trial. As the actor is set to claim retaliation against Justin Baldoni, many of her harassment cla...
The Tom Cruise Wife Casting Couch (with Claire Lim)
16 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah’s couch and declared “I’m in love!” he may as well have been playing one of the high octane characters that ha...
Bluntly, Afroman Prevails (with Paul Danke)
09 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Finally, some good news. After being sued for making music videos based on a break in of his own home, Afroman scores a big win for free speech, and, ...
Is Spencer Pratt a Villain in Reality? (with Rachel Brodsky)
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Spencer Pratt is one of reality television’s iconic bad guys…but is he really a bad guy? What is it about this former “Hills,” cast member tha...
Shen Yun (with Jenny Yang)
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What actually is the mysterious dance show Shen Yun, whose advertisements are seemingly everywhere, always? The answer is weirder and more profound th...
The Screenwriter Who Faded to Black (with Christian Duguay)
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1990s, action screenwriter Gary Devore had the career many people dream of. Late one night after finishing a draft, though, he disappeared seem...
Free Britney Was Right.
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After a reading a slough of bad takes on recent Britney news, Tess has some thoughts on the enduring legacy of the Free Britney movement, and why atte...
The People You Meet at Groundhog Day
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Tess reports from the field in Punxsutawney, PA on Groundhog Day. This is more than just a fake holiday. It’s a singular, surreal experience. Tess g...
Britney Spears Sells Britney Spears: A Britney’s Gram Reunion! (with Babs Gray)
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Britney Spears has sold the rights to her huge music catalogue for a reported 200 million dollars. What might the sale of Britney’s music mean for B...
Angelyne (with Chris Farah)
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If Los Angeles has a mascot, it is the beautiful, busty figure who’s been flitting about our freeways for decades: Angelyne. Basically, Angelyne inv...
Babes in Hollyweirdland: Can We Keep Young Performers Safe? (with Staci Keanan and Christine Lakin)
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Clearly, there will always be a demand for young people on screen. Shows geared toward young audiences have a huge appeal, and they usually feature ki...
The Music Universal Studios Lost Forever (with Steven Ray Morris)
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When a fire tore through the backlot of Universal Studios in 2008, it took with it countless priceless music archives. Recordings from a staggering nu...
Jenna Jameson: The Porn Industry Climaxes (with Molly Lambert)
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1990s, the porn industry dominated the mainstream aesthetic and vice versa, as stars like Jenna Jameson used appearances on the Howard St...
Mary Cosby’s Church (with Will Weldon)
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most compelling and confounding cast members on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is Mary Cosby, a woman who is a reverend of her own churc...
The Bots Versus Taylor’s Bops (with Joe Romm and Antonia Romm)
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When Taylor Swift Taylor Swift’s latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” dropped, a swarm of internet haters voiced their loud and out-of-left f...
The Chicks Get Cancelled (with Laganja Estranja)
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The country and blue grass group The Chicks achieved wild success, almost immediately after the release of their album “Wide Open Spaces.” After a...
Presenting: Lady to Lady “Botox Shot to Space with Jackie Zebrowski”
01 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Tess has been co-hosting the comedy podcast “Lady to Lady” with her partners in mayhem Brandie Posey and Babs Gray for…about as long as podcasts...
(From the Vault): Dirty Disney
25 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
‘Tis the season for revisiting childhood memories. In this reissue vault episode, Tess Barker unpacks a question that’s been nagging her sin...
“Jaws”: Out for Blood
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water, Steven Spielberg created an opus that absolutely rattled human beings everywhere: “Jaws.” Th...
The Dave Matthews Incident (with Babs Gray)
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Dave Matthews Band has enjoyed a large and loyal following for over 30 years. They are a live performance giant. Perhaps nothing in the band’s l...
“Love is Blind,” Being on a Reality Show is a Job (with Giulia Rozzi)
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The guilty pleasure show “Love is Blind,” may feel like a silly love/hate watch, but according to former cast members, the experience working on t...
(Reprise) “Cats”: Crime of the Century?
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Holiday week everyone! This week we’re visiting the Pop Mystery vault for a look at “Cats” an absurd show that really keeps giving. Highly...
Bruno Mars is Maybe Stuck in Vegas Forever (with Sean Green)
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bruno Mars is one of the most prolific pop artists of our time. Is he also one of our most degenerate gamblers? Joining Tess to assess the veracity of...
It Looks Like A Child: Tilly Norwood, the AI Actor (with Gretchen Andrew)
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
AI “actor” Tilly Norwood made divisive headlines when it was announced that major agencies were circling up to sign the ingenue-looking robot. Nor...
The F**d Up World of Lisa Frank (with Tess Bellomo)
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lisa Frank became an absolute 1990s icon among children with her colorful, cheerful cartoon animals. The truth behind the Lisa Frank company, ho...
Michael Jackson, Sean Diddy Combs, and the Man in the Middle
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two disgraced superstars. One man who acted for both as their head of security. Is it just a coincidence that a man named Fahim Muhammed played key ro...
Sean Diddy Combs: An Incomplete Sentence
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A judge has decided how long will Sean Combs will serve for the two counts of transportation for prostitution he’s been accused of. Here’s a look ...
Elevatorgate (with Lauren Smith and Rachel Smith)
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The footage was silent, but it still felt like a shot heard round the world. The infamous leaked elevator security camera footage of Beyonce and...
All of the Times Harrison Ford Has Crashed a Plane (with Jon Gabrus)
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Harrison Ford is a long-time pilot. That doesn’t mean he’s a great one. The only thing perhaps more impressive than Harrison’s long acting resum...
Lisa Left Eye Lopes Barbecues Her Some Shoes (with Ashley Ray)
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
TLC was the definitive girl group of the ‘90s. They dominated both the hip hop and pop music scenes. They were pioneers of feminist music and cultur...
The Swan (with Jackie Johnson)
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A competitive plastic surgery reality show. Perhaps premise kind of sells itself. It certainly did in 2004, when 15 million people tuned in to watch t...
Us Weekly Time Capsule Mini
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This timeline sucks, yes? This week, we’re doing something a little different, a quick time travel back to the world of September 15, 2003. Tess fli...
Mariah and Mom’s Spaghetti (with Kara Luiz)
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In part two of this Mariah tale, we get into the nitty gritty of what actually went down between Mariah Carey and Eminem. Did Mariah and Marshall Math...
The Incarceration of Mimi (with Kara Luiz)
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mariah Carey is, in many ways, a definitive diva. She’s got the pipes, she’s got the style, and the attitude. Behind Mariah’s coy smile and wind...
Everyone F—-ing Everyone in Fleetwood Mac (with Jackie Zebrokwski)
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Rumors,” is an apropos name for the dream of an album that was born of two and a half couples all sharing a tiny recording studio while actively ...
Tri Star: The Combs to Spears Connection
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the past few years, two big entertainment stories stand out as exceptionally shocking and horrifying: the wrongful conservatorship of Britney Spear...
Sex and the Inequity (with MK Paulsen)
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Sex and the City,” did more than usher in the ‘golden’ era of HBO. It created characters that endeared themselves to countless viewers with t...
La Veneno: Queen of the Late Night (with Tamara Yajia)
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“La Veneno,” aka Cristina Ortiz Rodriguez, was a tour de force and a revolutionary. She delivered jokes flawlessly, covered her nipples bare...
Injustice is Served: The Sean Diddy Combs Verdict
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After weeks of disturbing witness testimony, the jury in the Sean Diddy Combs case has delivered a confounding, and frankly insulting verdict. How did...
The Framing of Pee-Wee Herman (with Erin Lampart)
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was a place where everyone was welcome: “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.” This magical fever dream of a show impacted an entire generation of people. It...
THE Dress (with Jamie Loftus)
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Was it white and gold or blue and black? The important thing is, when “The Dress” took over the internet for a glorious week in 2015, the internet...
The Mysterious Death of Kim Porter
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sean Diddy Combs’ long-time partner and co-parent died at the young age of 47. At the time, her death was ruled the result of pneumonia, but insider...
Why We’re Still Seeing So Many “Stories” About the Lively/Baldoni Case
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been half a year since anything meaningful happened in the Baldoni/Lively case. So why do we keep seeing headlines about it? Tess has some idea...
The Sean Diddy Combs Trial - Bombshells So Far
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As we cross what appears to be the midpoint of Sean Diddy Combs’ federal trial, Tess rounds up highlights from witnesses like Cassie Ventura and Kid...
The Dinosaur Movie Whoopi Goldberg Made Under Duress (with Tom Lenk)
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Making a dinosaur buddy cop movie is all fun and games, until you’re Whoopi Goldberg and you actually have to shoot this thing with sworn enemies. J...
Patti LuPone Loses It (with Paul Caiola)
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There’s only one Patti LuPone. Which is why the s**t hit the gold plated fan when Andrew Llyod Webber tried to have two Norma Desmonds. Tess is join...
Tommy Boy is Hamlet (with Lisa Chanoux)
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To be, or not to be? Aye, there’s the central question at the heart of the classic work “Tommy Boy” the 1995 broad comedy starring the late Chri...
Cassidy Ventura: The One That Got Away
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The landslide of allegations against Sean Diddy Combs was started by a singular person - R&B singer Cassie Ventura. Cassie’s allegations formed ...
Selena, Yolanda, and the Room Where It Happened (with Vanessa Gonzalez)
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Selena Quintanilla was 23 years old, and well on her way to becoming an international megastar when she was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar, the p...
It Takes Two (Episodes) - The Olsen Twins Return (With Guy Branum)
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If there is such a thing as the typical college experience, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, the two most famous child star twins of all time, were p...
The Olsen Twins: The Origin Story (With Guy Branum)
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Olsen twins are endlessly fascinating celebrities. They were selected for stardom before they could walk. They’re both an inspirational story an...
The Mall in Barbra Streisand’s Basement (with Chelsea Devantez)
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Forget skeletons in the closet. Barbra Streisand has a mall. In her basement. Like, a real one. Joining Tess to tour this fascinating and unhinged cor...
Jojo Siwa and Unhappy Pop Star Campers (with Jade Catta-Preta)
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Before she was proclaiming she’d invented “gay pop,” child dance phenom-turned heavily costumed try-hard helmed a junior girl group called XOMG....
Sean Diddy Combs: An Alleged Surprise Attack
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Plaintiff would pay for her statement regarding Tupac.” In this chilling line from an assault case filed against Sean Diddy Combs, legal represen...
Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni: It Ends Here (For Now)
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cameras wrap on “It Ends With Us.” Now, the real battle begins. After Blake Lively alleges that she’s been harassed while filming this movie, he...
Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni: The Beginning
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Betrayal. Gaslighting. Things not being what they seem. These are themes in the movie “It Ends With Us,” but they could also describe the dramatic...
The Beef That Made Billions: Taylor Swift, Kanye West, and Scooter Braun (With Amber Kenny)
09 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You don’t have to be a Swiftie to know there’s bad blood between Taylor Swift, Kanye West, and Scooter Braun. What exactly went down between these...
Diddy, Biggie, and Tupac (with Wynter Mitchell Rohrbaugh)
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Few murders have rocked the music world like the untimely deaths of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur. Neither slain rapper has ever had their killer bro...
The Babe Vegetarians
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A sweet movie about a talking pig turned a whole new generation of children into vegetarians. Those children often remained vegetarians into adulthood...
The Bromance of Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong Un (With Megan Koester)
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
So this actually happened: one of the most unpredictable and eccentric NBA players of all time put the entire United States (and maybe the whole world...
Minisode: Some Thoughts On Britney and the Biopic
28 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While we’re all lining up to see “Wicked,” Tess has some thoughts on a different upcoming Jon Chu movie musical – the Britney Spears biopic. B...
Madonna and the Kabbalah Craze (with Rachel Fisher and Desi Jedeikin)
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There was a moment in history where it seemed like every celeb was dabbling in Kabbalah - the secretive spiritual practice that set up camp at the bot...
What Dan Aykroyd Knows About Aliens (With CJ Sullivan)
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aliens: their existence seems kind of inevitable, right? So why are they such a fringe topic? They’re not, to legendary comedian Dan Aykroyd, who ha...
The Crow
07 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Brandon Lee was supposed to have a long and successful film career. Instead, he died in a freak shooting accident on the set of his breakout film “T...
The Mobster in Home Alone 2 (Minisode)
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Halloween! We don't talk much about the woman buried at Donald Trump's golf course, huh? This strange and alarming story has been on Tess' mind ...
The Hitman Who Was Woody Harrelson's Dad (with River Butcher)
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Woody Harrelson is a huge movie star. His dad Charles Harrelson was a storied hit man with a fascinating life. The two Harrelsons shared a lot, includ...
Free Winona
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2001, Winona Ryder was arrested for shoplifting clothes at Saks 5th Avenue. This resulted in the creation of a wildly trendy garment - the Free Win...
We Are The World (with Lizzy Cooperman)
10 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the ‘80s, a gaggle of pop stars pulled an all-nighter to record “We Are the World.” This fever dream of a supergroup hit changed the course o...
Pop Mystery Pod Presents: Burn This Podcast
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Special feed drop! Tess has a stand up album coming out! Brandie Posey, creator of Burn This Records and Tess’s “Lady to Lady” co-host is here...
The Gerbil Up Richard Gere's Butt
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How did leading man Richard Gere become the subject of one of the most enduring and absurd rumors of all time? Investigative journalist takes a deep a...
The Internet Versus A Missing Song (with Josh Chapdelaine)
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There’s something so unsettling about hearing a melody you can’t quite place. Thankfully, the internet is full of “lost media” detectives who ...
The Melissa Who Isn't Avril Lavigne (with Cristen Conger)
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Avril Lavigne is a grunge pop icon. Or is she? For years, a conspiracy theory has been circulating that the real Avril died shortly after becoming fam...
The Strange Disappearance of the Buffalo Jills
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ten years ago, Buffalo’s beloved NFL cheerleading squad disbanded abruptly. The dismantling of the Buffalo Jills has left this die-hard sports commu...
The Blimp Fraud That Built the Backstreet Boys (with Dave Holmes)
27 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Backstreet Boys. Nsync. It’s hard to overstate how larger than life these groups were in the late ‘90s and ‘00s. While millions of girls screame...
The Jerry Springer Crisis Actors
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For better or (more likely) worse, “The Jerry Springer Show” changed television as we know it. Were the guests on this trainwreck real? Or fakers?...
All of Lisa Vanderpump's Fires (with Haley Solar)
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Darlings, it’s a Vanderpump mystery! Lisa Vanderpump is an OG Housewife and the ruler of her own Bravo empire. She’s also been the victim of many,...
The Dark Truth Behind Those "Pass It On" Billboards
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There’s something unsettling about those “Pass It On” billboards that feature celebrities like Dolly Parton, Whoopi Goldberg, and William Shatne...
Vin Diesel vs The Rock (with Brandie Posey)
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Grab your can of nos, cause we’re revving things up! Journalist, comic, and pop culture junkie Tess Barker welcomes Brandie Posey @brandazzle (Lady ...
Cats: Crime of the Century?
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Cats” is a musical so ridiculous that it often drives people to anger. So why has this absurd show made so much money, and how does it keep taunt...
What Did Erika Jayne Know? (with Emma Gray)
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist, comic, and pop culture junkie Tess Barker welcomes Emma Gray @emmaladyrose (Love to See It podcast, Rich Text newsletter). How much did “...
Dirty Disney
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist, comic, and pop culture junkie Tess Barker unpacks a question that’s been nagging her since the ‘90s: Did someone put dirty jokes into ...
Lindsay Lohan and the Kombucha Industry (with Danielle Perez)
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist, comic, and pop culture junkie Tess Barker invites Danielle Perez @divadelux (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dicks! The Musical, Spiderverse) onto t...
The Blind Side Lie
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist, comic, and pop culture junkie Tess Barker unpacks the alleged fraudulent actions behind the 2010 hit movie “The Blind Side.” Guests ...
Brittany Murphy's House (with Babs Gray)
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist, comic, and pop culture junkie Tess Barker invites Babs Gray @babs_gray, her Britney’s Gram and Lady to Lady cohost onto the show for cha...
The Bachelor Stalker
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist, comic, and pop culture junkie Tess Barker delves into the underbelly of “The Bachelor” franchise. She uncovers exclusive information a...
Welcome to Pop Mystery Pod
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Investigative journalist and pop star advocate (#FreeBritney),Tess Barker is back on the entertainment beat. In each episode, Tess delves into the ann...