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Switched on Pop Joins New York Magazine’s Vulture

Photo: Switched on Pop’s new art.

Vulture editor Neil Janowitz announced today that the award-winning Switched on Pop podcast, co-hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding, will join Vulture. Switched on Pop, about the making and meaning of popular music, joins New York Magazine’s entertainment site from its home at Vox. Switched on Pop launched in 2014, quickly growing a devoted audience before joining Vox in 2019, where it moved from a biweekly to a weekly schedule and more than tripled its downloads. At Vulture, Switched on Pop will remain the same show fans know and love, but with the expanded reach and benefits of Vulture’s music team, which includes music editor Dee Lockett and pop music critic Craig Jenkins. The show will be integrated into Vulture’s music coverage and included in editorial packages on relevant topics, with each episode posted on the site, in addition to SwitchedOnPop.com.

Switched on Pop joins New York Magazine’s growing slate of podcasts, which includes Vulture’s Good One about jokes and the people who tell them, as well as New York’s Pivot, and The Cut. 

“I’m over the moon about being able to introduce our readers to Switched on Pop. Charlie and Nate are very much cut from Vulture cloth, approaching music and culture with the sort of intelligence, enthusiasm, and curiosity found in everything we do — and their breadth of interests means we’ll be able to incorporate them into our coverage in a variety of exciting ways,” says Vulture editor Neil Janowitz. “Keep your ears peeled for an upcoming episode on the music of Bridgerton, for one.”

“We are thrilled to be joining Vulture, home of the most cutting-edge culture reporting,” say Switched on Pop co-hosts Charlie Harding and Nate Sloan. “We’ve had many Vulture contributors as guests on the show and we’re looking forward to bringing the voices of Dee Lockett, Craig Jenkins, and all its talented writers to your ears. Vulture and Switched on Pop is a dream collaboration.”

Harding is a music journalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is the executive producer and co-host of Switched on Pop and the co-author of Switched on Pop: How Popular Music Works and Why it Matters, published by Oxford University Press in 2019, and nominated for a 2021 PROSE Award for Excellence in Humanities by the Association of American Publishers. His music criticism has appeared in Vox, Paper, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, Genius, and WNYC, and he has provided expert commentary for NPR’s All Things Considered, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, ABC’s Good Morning America, and BBC News.

Nate Sloan is assistant professor of musicology at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, and the co-author of Switched on Pop: How Popular Music Works and Why it Matters, published by Oxford University Press in 2019, and nominated for a 2021 PROSE Award for Excellence in Humanities by the Association of American Publishers. Nate has written academic articles on George Gershwin, Cab Calloway, and Taylor Swift, and an op-ed piece on the resurgence of funk music for the New York Times. He has provided expert pop commentary for NPR’s All Things Considered, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, ABC’s Good Morning America, and BBC News. Nate is currently working on a book about the history of the Cotton Club.

About the Vox Media Podcast Network:

Named by Adweek as 2020’s “Podcast Network of the Year,” Vox Media Podcast Network has over 200 active shows featuring industry-leading editorial voices and storytellers from Vox Media’s networks and beyond. From daily news and tech, to culture and sports, and from talk and interview shows to news and rich narrative storytelling, the Vox Media Podcast Network is one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most topically diverse collections of premium podcasts. Learn more about the Vox Media Podcast Network here.

Switched on Pop Joins New York Magazine’s Vulture