Episodes

Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Everyone is gearing up for the holidays and some much needed time off, and let’s be real. We are all checked out! So Brooke breezes through this week with a look at Taylor Swift, Time’s Person of the Year and reactions to this monumental moment. Hint: some men can’t handle it.Brooke also talks about some of her fave content right now including the new Julia Robert’s apocalyptic movie, “Leave the World Behind”.
Happy Thursday!
Pop Culture Mondays Newsletter: https://medium.com/popculturemondays
Brooke’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooke/
Brooke’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooke
Brooke’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brookehammerling
Potato’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potato/

Thursday Dec 07, 2023
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
This week, Brooke takes a look at the very pricey things the kids want these days and have on their holiday wish lists. From expensive makeup to high-end jewelry, it’s truly time for parents to lock up their wallets! She then goes into the latest sorority craze taking over the socials, but this time it’s dominated by AKA, the largest and oldest Black sorority in the country. It’s the perfect antidote to the BamaRush RushTok we were inundated with at the end of the summer. Grab some candy and settle in for this week’s PCMoT!
Pop Culture Mondays Newsletter: https://medium.com/popculturemondays
Brooke’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooke/
Brooke’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooke
Brooke’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brookehammerling
Potato’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potato/
Link: Congressional hearing with university heads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuTfzcNIeDI&feature=youtu.be

Thursday Nov 30, 2023
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
Back due to popular demand, Brooke’s bestie, Britt Morgan-Saks joins this week’s pod. Brooke relays to Britt her feelings about “Napoleon” the movie (hint: NOT good) and then they talk DOLLY DOLLY DOLLY. And some more Dolly. They do touch on some other pop culture things happening this week, including the 4-year-old boy TikTok fell in love with from the South Korean reality show, “My Golden Kids”. It’s a fun, banter-filled convo this week!
Pop Culture Mondays Newsletter: https://medium.com/popculturemondays
Brooke’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooke/
Brooke’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooke
Brooke’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brookehammerling
Potato’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potato/

Thursday Nov 16, 2023
Thursday Nov 16, 2023
On this last podcast before we break for Thanksgiving, Brooke only has two stories to talk about and they both involve couples with highly public relationships, but which have received very different reactions. On the good side, we have Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce a.k.a. our mother and father… On the bad, we have Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez and their ill-advised Vogue story. There is no gray area here. ONE works and one does NOT. Sit back and enjoy!
Pop Culture Mondays Newsletter: https://medium.com/popculturemondays
Brooke’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooke/
Brooke’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooke
Brooke’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brookehammerling
Potato’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potato/

Thursday Nov 09, 2023
Thursday Nov 09, 2023
This week, Brooke goes down a mostly escapist route, summing up some of the moments dominating the pop culture airwaves, from AI bringing The Beatles back together and Home Depot’s viral, and polarizing, Christmas Tree (yes, it’s already that time of year), to yet another reincarnation of Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag.” And we end on the campuses of Mormon schools like BYU, where the students have some pretty dark responses to “would you rather” questions. It’s short and sweet one this week!
Pop Culture Mondays Newsletter: https://medium.com/popculturemondays
Brooke’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooke/
Brooke’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooke
Brooke’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brookehammerling
Potato’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potato/

Thursday Nov 02, 2023
Thursday Nov 02, 2023
Brooke kicks off the pod talking about all things Halloween, from the celebrations in LA vs NY, to the horror movies, and her own childhood trauma from horror movies. She then returns to her despair over what’s happening in the Middle East and her frustrations with the lack of humanity and rise in antisemitism.
But she DOES eventually get to pop culture. And there’s a lot of it this week starting — of course — with Taylor Swift’s 1989 drop and other Taylor/Travis happenings. And then we have BAGELGATE 2023, when an LA guy tried to order a gluten free scooped out bagel in NY?? FORGET ABOUT IT.
It’s a slightly unhinged episode…and that’s what makes it FUN!
Pop Culture Mondays Newsletter: https://medium.com/popculturemondays
Brooke’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooke/
Brooke’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooke
Brooke’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brookehammerling
Potato’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potato/
Sam Lessin Post:
https://x.com/lessin/status/1718810964060156243?s=20

Thursday Oct 26, 2023
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
Brooke returns after taking last week off and acknowledges it’s still tough for her to dig into pop culture with everything going on in the world. But we all need a brief escape, so Brooke dives into the topic of Britney Spears and her new memoir, “The Woman in Me.” There’s a lot of bombshells that are tragic but enlightening. And if you get the Audible version, it’s read by Oscar winner, Michelle Williams.
While Brooke covers some more fun recent pop culture moments, she also explains that not all pop culture is fun. It encompasses what’s trending in the world, what’s capturing people’s attention, and what’s causing people to speak out. And right now, that includes things that are distressing and tragic.
Pop Culture Mondays Newsletter: https://medium.com/popculturemondays
Brooke’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooke/
Brooke’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooke
Brooke’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brookehammerling
Potato’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potato/
Everytime Video (Britney Spears)
Britney Spears - Everytime (Special Edition)
youtu.be

Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Brooke steps away from pop culture this week to share her feelings about what’s going on in the world.
PCM: https://medium.com/popculturemondays/pop-culture-mondays-10-9-23-f81fd96851f3
Brooke’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooke/
Brooke’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooke
Brooke’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brookehammerling
Potato’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potato/

Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
This week, Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz joins Brooke to talk about her new book, "Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Power and Influence on the Internet."
This is the book EVERYONE is talking about. And even though Brooke lived the story herself and knows most of the people Taylor writes about, she couldn’t put the book down. PCM exists because of everything in it. Our obsession with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce can be traced back to the beginning of the Internet. We were destined for this moment.
Pop Culture Mondays Newsletter: https://medium.com/popculturemondays
Brooke’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooke/
Brooke’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooke
Brooke’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brookehammerling
Potato’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potato/
Buy the book:
https://www.amazon.com/Extremely-Online-Untold-Influence-Internet/dp/1982146869?nodl=1&dplnkId=54b86aba-86d6-4ea7-803c-594703026e64

Thursday Sep 28, 2023
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
This week, Brooke can’t focus on anything else but Taylor and Travis. The world stood still when Taylor Swift showed up at the Kansas City Chiefs game with rumored BF Travis Kelce's family. Why is this Trump’s worst nightmare? Brooke discusses her theory.
Pop Culture Mondays Newsletter: https://medium.com/popculturemondays
Brooke’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooke/
Brooke’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooke
Brooke’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brookehammerling
Potato’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potato/

Pop Culture Mondays...on Thursday
I AM NOT A REPORTER. I do not cover the media industry. I’ve written a weekly newsletter, published every Monday, for over 3 years in which I try to condense and make sense of all the most interesting things happening in the world of pop culture. I’ve now transformed my beloved newsletter into a podcast to cover even more of the wacky and wonderful — and often horrific — events of pop cultural significance happening throughout the week!