By Brittany Tiplady
@yellowbird888
It’s eight o’clock on a Wednesday evening and I am alone in my living room laughing hysterically into my computer.
Logged into a Google Hangout with Pop This! producer Andrea Gin—and the show’s co-hosts Andrea Warner and Lisa Christiansen—we go straight for the comical banter.
“For some reason, everyday, I am looking at Craiglist’s free things,” says Christiansen.
“WHAT?” Gin replies.
“I’m obsessed with things like ‘wheelbarrow without wheel.’ Isn’t that just a barrel?’”
“So,” Gin reples, “did you get it?”
Less than two minutes into our interview and the four of us, separately in our own homes, are busting a gut.
Outside of Pop This!, each of these women are household names in their own right: Gin is a CBC Music producer, Warner is an author, culture writer and associate producer at CBC Music, and Christiansen is a CBC veteran.
The pre-interview ribbing feels much like the opening of a Pop This! episode, where Christiansen and Warner typically start their show with a short set of unscripted, humorous conversation about anything from recent ailments, to personal gripes and current affairs.
But eventually, just like on the show, we segue semi-gracefully into the good stuff.
With passion, fervor and, of course, humour, Warner and Christiansen have hosted Pop This! for more than four and a half years. The concept of their show is simple: two women talking about everything feminism and pop culture. They record at the Vancouver Public Library (sometimes accompanied by guests like the inimitable Vivek Shraya and Louise Burns), and release weekly episodes that discuss and dissect popular and classic film and TV, by exposing tropes, sharing opinions, and ultimately, deciding, does it pop?
Warner and Christiansen have a rare chemistry behind the mic—one that has withstood more than 200 episodes, a yearly argument over Love Actually versus The Holiday, and Warner’s comical distaste for James Marsden.
“As a producer, you see a lot of people who want to start a podcast. [But] to be a host or a personality, you have to have some chemistry between the hosts,” says Gin.
Christiansen interviewed Warner at her book launch for We Oughta Know five years ago; during that onstage interview Gin knew she was witnessing something that deserved a platform.
“When I saw them at the book launch, I saw how much the audience loved them, they had everybody laughing and crying,” she says. “People just thought they were great, and I had that moment where I was like, ‘These two have amazing chemistry. They could talk forever together and they should have a show.’”
“She felt a chemistry that was oozing all over the venue!” chimes Christiansen.
Longtime listeners of Pop This! know that Christiansen and Warner’s charismatic relationship on the mic is far from saccharine. As the two dive into discussion about classics like Titanic and Ghost or popular, streaming shows like Dead to Me and Russian Doll, the conversation can get spicy and, sometimes, deeply emotional—but Warner assures, it’s always fun.
On stage, during live shows hosted by Pop This!, (in the glorious pre-COVID era when live events were in fact, still a thing), Christiansen and Warner bring the same intellect and energy as they do to the studio. Every time I’ve attended a live performance, the rest of the theatre and I are in stitches.
“We have overlapping and intersecting interests but we also have very different interests as well. So things that I love, sometimes Lisa super hates, and sometimes things that Lisa loves, I’m not the biggest fan of, or I come to appreciate them later…In fact, some of our arguments have only gotten stronger,” Warner shares. “Even though I am ridiculously optimistic sometimes—and [Lisa is a] bit more of a realist—we have these opposite mentalities when it comes to the pop culture we consume.”
The content discussed and reviewed on Pop This! is coupled with a larger conversation about feminism, gender stereotypes, and whether or not old favourites hold up.
“It’s so fascinating to listen to people who are so intelligent and so passionate and so thoughtful, talk about why they’re feminists and how they see type of pop culture through their own lens and try to have a conversation with each other about how they see things and why,” shares Gin.
“We’re all just a bundle of likes and dislikes. That’s all we are,” says Christiansen.
“And also, pop culture resonates so seriously with so many people. Sometimes you find answers about yourself, or sometimes you just find escape. Whatever it is you’re there for, why shouldn’t we take that seriously?” adds Warner.
So, what makes Pop This! so popular? And how does an independent podcast continue to thrive after four-and-a-half years of consistent episodes? The secret ingredient—so it seems— is the casual nature of the show, the way Warner and Christiansen’s laughter feels comfortingly familiar, and ultimately, the core values that they share with respect to intersectional feminism and representation in culture.
“I think most people love the podcast format because maybe you are home alone or out for a walk, and it’s like bringing some friends with you. If you like pop culture and you like obscure weird things and you like hanging out with very passionate people, it’s fun,” shares Christiansen.
“Friends will often say ‘It’s like I’ve been hanging out with you, even though we haven’t been able to see each other!’ and that’s a really lovely thing to say,” says Warner. “The reason the tagline is ‘two women talking about pop culture’ is because for so long, I really do think that podcasting was so male-dominated and it’s changed substantially. I think that the more that we can diversify who we see as authorities on things, or who we see as passionate defenders of things, who we turn to as tastemakers and commenters, our culture [will be] so much richer.”
“Here, here!” chimes Christiansen.
Every Wednesday, tuning into Pop This! is like an adventure. Will you be team Lisa, or will your viewpoints be more aligned with Andrea? Either way, we avid listeners know: the takes are hot, the conversation is good, and the critical eye is sharp.
“The three of us are really different people; it’s quite wild. But that’s what makes it so much fun. I feel very protective of the thing we’ve created,” says Christiansen. “There was nothing and then there was something and that’s pretty amazing. It still dazzles me. And I feel very privileged that I get to work with this team. We take it seriously, we have a lot of fun and it can be a bit of hard work sometimes, but it’s been such a great thing in my life.”
“After four-and-a-half years I’m still super excited when we tape stuff, I’m still super excited when we edit stuff, I just never get bored of listening to this conversation with two extremely smart women and I feel like I learn something new every time I listen,” echoes Gin.
And, for the listener, after nearly five years of plugging in almost every week, this podcast still pops, every time.
Pop This! is an independent podcast produced by Andrea Gin, co-hosted by Andrea Warner and Lisa Christiansen. Episodes are released weekly, wherever podcasts are found.
Brittany Tiplady is a writer, editor, former ballet teacher, and the co-founder of Loose Lips Magazine. She loves the indoors, fast wifi, collecting maps, and a generous glass of red wine. She’s a self-proclaimed wizard of time management and a notorious loud talker with a penchant for all things Internet and pop culture.
