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Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia
Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture Edition
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A special Hit Parade announcement: Like many media organizations at the moment, Slate is getting hit pretty hard by what's going on with the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to continue doing our work, providing you with all our great podcasts, news and reporting, and we simply cannot do that without your support. So we're asking you to sign up for Slate Plus, our membership program. It's just $35 for the first year, and it goes a long way to supporting us in this crucial moment.
As part of this effort, we're going to be making Full Hit Parade episodes available to Slate Plus members only. To listen to the episode in full, and episodes in future months, you'll need to become a Slate Plus member. This is the best way to support our show and our work, and we hope you will pitch in if you can. Your membership will also give access to everything on Slate.com, you'll get ad-free versions of this and other shows, and you'll get bonus segments and bonus episodes of other Slate podcasts. Plus, once you become a member, you can sign up to do trivia with Chris Molanphy on Hit Parade—“The Bridge” episodes. Please sign up today at slate.com/hitparadeplus. We thank you for your support.
On this preview episode: Outkast is inarguably one of the most important acts in hip hop and pop music history, but their impressive chart runs, and the brand of Atlanta hip hop they championed, was far from inevitable. This is the story of Outkast and how they established Atlanta as a major center of hip hop culture in the United States while racking up some of the most unexpected hits in the history of popular music.
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Feet on the Ground, Reaching for the Stars Edition Part 2
52:13|The 100th episode of Hit Parade has put host Chris Molanphy in a reflective mood. So in Part 2, he unfurls the story of the late, great American Top 40 host Casey Kasem—a perennial inspiration for this podcast and the chart king that Chris calls “the original poptimist.” Enjoy this long-distance dedication, as Chris pays tribute to a radio hero with a preternatural understanding of the power of pop to unify.Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.This episode will be available for free on March 27, 2026.
Feet on the Ground, Reaching for the Stars Edition Part 1
56:13|To mark Hit Parade’s 100th episode, host Chris Molanphy is doing something he’s never done: He’s going to talk about himself—and just how nerdy you have to be to host a show like Hit Parade. Chris reflects on the origins and depth of his chart fandom, and ponders existential questions like: What makes a person want to track these rankings? Why do we care about what, or who, is No. 1?Join Chris for this exploration of how the charts have informed, inspired and infiltrated his life—and yours, too.Coming up in Part 2: Chris pays tribute to one of his heroes and a huge influence on Hit Parade: the chart king who counted down the hits every week ... from coast to coast. Available on March 27, but Slate Plus members can listen right now!Not a Slate Plus member? Get early access, bonus episodes of “The Bridge,” and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.
Country Roads and Summer Nights Edition Part 2
55:24|These days, country and pop acts regularly invade each other’s territory. But in Nashville during the 1970s, “crossover” was a dirty word. Then came two rising stars who offered up a new hybrid of Americana-style pop.John Denver infused his folk balladry with homespun lyrics about country roads and wide-open skies. Olivia Newton-John sang over twangy melodies that belied her British-Australian roots. Both faced backlash—especially when they started topping the country and pop charts simultaneously and winning prizes that used to go to Nashville legends.Eventually, both artists outgrew country music. Denver became a ubiquitous entertainer and beloved Muppet wingman. Newton-John dazzled in the film Grease, then reinvented herself as a leather-clad siren unafraid to get physical.Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the parallel rise of two country-pop titans from the Rocky Mountains to Xanadu.Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.Country Roads and Summer Nights Edition Part 1
01:04:03|These days, country and pop acts regularly invade each other’s territory. But in Nashville during the 1970s, “crossover” was a dirty word. Then came two rising stars who offered up a new hybrid of Americana-style pop.John Denver infused his folk balladry with homespun lyrics about country roads and wide-open skies. Olivia Newton-John sang over twangy melodies that belied her British-Australian roots. Both faced backlash—especially when they started topping the country and pop charts simultaneously and winning prizes that used to go to Nashville legends.Eventually, both artists outgrew country music. Denver became a ubiquitous entertainer and beloved Muppet wingman. Newton-John dazzled in the film Grease, then reinvented herself as a leather-clad siren unafraid to get physical.Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the parallel rise of two country-pop titans from the Rocky Mountains to Xanadu.Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.Starman to Blackstar Edition Part 2
57:14|Chameleon: That’s long been the word used to describe David Bowie, pop music’s shapeshifting extraterrestrial. He shifted personas, genres, and looks, emerging from swinging London with psychedelic folk before steamrolling through glam rock, disco, funk, new wave, alt-rock, and even jazz.Less remarked was Bowie’s savvy about shifting through commercial phases—he wore pop stardom like a costume, too. He drifted in and out of the spotlight, and on and off the charts, before one final chart-topping farewell 10 years ago this month.Join Chris Molanphy as he takes us from station to station across the chart career of David Bowie, on a journey from Starman to Blackstar.Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.Starman to Blackstar Edition Part 1
01:04:32|Chameleon: That’s long been the word used to describe David Bowie, pop music’s shapeshifting extraterrestrial. He shifted personas, genres, and looks, emerging from swinging London with psychedelic folk before steamrolling through glam rock, disco, funk, new wave, alt-rock, and even jazz.Less remarked was Bowie’s savvy about shifting through commercial phases—he wore pop stardom like a costume, too. He drifted in and out of the spotlight, and on and off the charts, before one final chart-topping farewell 10 years ago this month.Join Chris Molanphy as he takes us from station to station across the chart career of David Bowie, on a journey from Starman to Blackstar.Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.The Bridge: Slate’s Music Club 2025
40:10|The Slate Music Club returns, in this special year-end edition of Hit Parade’s The Bridge! Host Chris Molanphy joins New York Times pop music critic Lindsay Zoladz, and Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Hearing Things in a critics’ roundtable led by Slate’s own Carl Wilson. They discuss their favorite albums and singles, as well as the trends that shaped music in 2025. Among this year’s big musical questions: Have we reached peak Bad Bunny yet? Did those animated Demon Hunters reinvent K-pop? Are Geese the saviors of rock, or just muppets with guitars? Is hip-hop ready to move on from Kendrick and Drake? Plus: Rosalia, Water for Your Eyes, Gaga, Wednesday—and of course, Taylor Swift. Note: Slate Plus members can hear this special episode in full. Ad-supported listeners will hear the first half. Want to hear the whole discussion? Sign up for Slate Plus! Unlock monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of “The Bridge,” and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Don’t miss the rest of this year’s Slate Music Club episode! Become a Slate Plus member! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.Hooked to the Silver Screen Edition Part 2
52:45|If you need confirmation of Hollywood’s vast influence on mass culture, look no further than the pop charts. From the 1937 classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through this year’s KPop Demon Hunters, soundtracks have launched hits, defined genres—and sometimes even eclipsed the films that inspired them in the first place. Rock classics, funk jams, rap bangers, even Christmas standards: all became hits because we heard them first at the cinema. Join Chris Molanphy as he unspools nearly a century of hit movie music, from Simon & Garfunkel’s groundbreaking ode to “Mrs. Robinson,” to the, ahem, titanic tin whistle of “My Heart Will Go On.”Hooked to the Silver Screen Edition Part 1
01:06:15|If you need confirmation of Hollywood’s vast influence on mass culture, look no further than the pop charts. From the 1937 classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through this year’s KPop Demon Hunters, soundtracks have launched hits, defined genres—and sometimes even eclipsed the films that inspired them in the first place. Rock classics, funk jams, rap bangers, even Christmas standards: all became hits because we heard them first at the cinema. Join Chris Molanphy as he unspools nearly a century of hit movie music, from Simon & Garfunkel’s groundbreaking ode to “Mrs. Robinson,” to the, ahem, titanic tin whistle of “My Heart Will Go On.”