The podcast Into It will update you in a pleasant way about what’s going on in pop culture

How are abortions portrayed in American films and series? How well do we know Taylor Swift, the singer-songwriter who delivers one self-portrait after another with her albums? Are we serial killers not giving it too prominent a place in popular culture? Why are fantasy fans so concerned about black characters in The Rings of Power? And does the summer hit phenomenon still exist? And if so, what was the summer hit of 2022?

A handful of topics from Into It with Sam Sanders, the new podcast from the american cultural website Vulture, which kicked off on July 28 this year with a conversation about how Beyoncé had changed the music industry. The new album Renaissance appeared a day later. The formula of Into It is clear. What’s going on in the pop culture world that week? What more can you say than a thumbs up and down? The smartest (and funniest) people in Vulture and mothership New York Magazine let their light shine upon it.

Each episode begins with a number of headlines from the world of culture and social media, briefly vetted by a rotating panel that lets you know whether or not they catch on. It’s an attractive way to catch up. Even if you’re not that deep into the American themes, you’ll be carried away by the enthusiasm of the conversation.

But the podcast stands or falls with the tone and style of host Sam Sanders, always engaged, witty and informed. He mainly tries to let his guests shinebut when he himself is a guest on other podcasts (often with journalist Kara Swisher nearby), he turns out to be an enthusiastic speaker, with a world view that moves smoothly between politics, art and society, with ample attention for black and queer culture.

In the opinion circus that cultural podcasts are also sometimes, the journalistic angle of Into It the more up. In that first episode, music journalist Danyel Smith explained that Beyoncé started a revolution by blowing the publicity circus in 2013: she put a new album online from one moment to the next, without the usual run-up. Special focus on the episode with serial genius Damon Lindelof (creator of lost and The Leftovers) on how to end a series: Damon Lindelof Knows When to Wrap Up the Party.