Pop Culture Confidential

Guest Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch.com) and Christina journey into Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey! Join us as we review, discuss, and dissect Nolan's latest epic.

He was Player of the Year for Norwich City Football Club in the 1970s. Then he vanished, for decades.
Directors Ramiel Petros & Nicholas Freeman found him hiding in plain sight, managing a motel in Los Angeles that was about to close for good. His name is Tony Powell, and his story became the heart of their doc, The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel.
In this episode, Ramiel and Nicholas join me to talk about their doc and about Tony & his story: a story about escaping a homophobic culture, the price paid, the power of family, and the long road to self-acceptance. It's a story with twists you won't see coming.

We are thrilled and honored to be joined by Widow's Bay's own Ruth, the incredible K Callan (Widow's Bay just got 19 Emmy nominations!!!). At 90 years old, K Callan is a LEGEND , over 7 decades working in TV, from Norman Lear shows to Bosom Buddies with Tom Hanks, Martha Kent in ABC's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Dawson's Creek, Veep, Great Nana in Knives Out and more. She is INCREDIBLE in the breakout show Widow's Bay, a scene stealing perfomance.
In our wide-ranging conversation we talk about the show, working with Katie Dippold, the great female characters on Widow's Bay, working with Matthew Rhys, an alternative ending they filmed, how TV has changed over the decades, roles for women, staying in the Hollywood industry means being persistent, the highs and lows, her fabulous party-planning skills, and much more!
Watch or listen on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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 has acquired an AI filmmaking start-up founded by Ben Affleck. Have the tech companies taken over Hollywood? Is AI Hollywood's big dilemma? 
John Bleasdale. Film critic. Writer. Author of Darkness Visible the Cinema of Jonathan Glazer. Instagram @drjonty

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