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S1E871 Top Gun- Episode #871
Cathy and Todd kick off their summer blockbuster series with Top Gun (1986), directed by Tony Scott and produced by Simpson and Bruckheimer, which turned a $15 million budget into $357 million…
S1E870 Spaceballs Episode #870
Cathy and Todd discuss Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs for Zen Pop’s space month, a 1987 Star Wars parody following Lone Starr and his half-man half-dog sidekick Barf as they rescue Princess Vespa from Dark…
S1E868 Interstellar Episode #869
Cathy and Todd discuss Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar for Space Month – the dying Earth, the wormhole near Saturn, the black hole that swallows decades of a man’s life while his daughter grows old…
S1E868 Apollo 13 Episode #868
Cathy and Todd discuss Apollo 13 (1995) for Space Month, Ron Howard’s docudrama starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris, based on the true story of NASA’s…
S1E867 ET- the Extra Terrestrial- Episode #867
It’s Space Month on Zen Pop, and Cathy and Todd are talking about E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the Steven Spielberg film he called the first movie he ever made for himself. They discuss why it…
S1E866 Rocky IV- Episode #866
Cathy and Todd discuss Rocky IV, the 1985 film that Sylvester Stallone wrote, directed, and starred in, grossing $300 million on a $31 million budget and spending six weeks at number one over…
S1E865 Rocky III- Episode #865
Cathy and Todd discuss Rocky 3, the 1982 sequel where Stallone ditched everything that made the first two movies feel real and ended up with the biggest hit of the franchise anyway. They talk about…
S1E864 Rocky II- Episode #864
Cathy and Todd discuss Rocky II (1979), the Sylvester Stallone-written and directed sequel that earned $200 million worldwide and briefly became the highest-grossing sequel ever made. They break down…
S1E863 Rocky- Episode #863
Cathy and Todd discuss Rocky (1976), a film that feels more like a documentary than a traditional sports movie, set in the working-class neighborhoods of Philadelphia and made on a shoestring budget…
S1E862 Major League- Episode #862
To celebrate spring and baseball season, Cathy and Todd discuss Major League, the 1989 baseball comedy that wasn’t supposed to be a huge hit but ended up sticking around for decades. They get into…
S1E860 Dirty Dancing- Episode #861
Cathy and Todd discuss Dirty Dancing and how a low-budget film about a summer romance became a cultural phenomenon and why it still resonates. They explore how it’s not just a love story between…
S1E860 Billy Elliot- Episode #860
Cathy and Todd discuss Billy Elliot (2000), the British film set during the 1984–85 miners’ strike about a working-class boy who secretly pursues ballet while his community expects him to box and…
S1E859 Flashdance Episode #859
Dance month continues as Cathy and Todd discuss the 1983 film Flashdance, directed by Adrian Lyne and written by Tom Hedley and Joe Eszterhas, a movie that helped define the early-1980s MTV-style of…
S1E858 Footloose- Episode #858
Jump back! Cathy and Todd discuss Footloose to kick off Dance Month! Directed by Herbert Ross and released in 1984, Footloose made Kevin Bacon a star and helped define the MTV-era teen movie. But…
S1E857 The Wedding Singer- Episode #857
Cathy and Todd discuss The Wedding Singer and why this Adam Sandler–Drew Barrymore rom-com lived fully inside the 80’s, the music, the clothes, and all that emotional earnestness. They talk about the…
S1E856 Misery- Episode #856
In this episode of Zen Pop Parenting, Cathy and Todd dive into the psychological thriller Misery and explore what makes it so deeply unsettling decades later. Through the intense dynamic between Paul…
S1E855 Best Movie and TV Romances Episode #855
Categories Best 80’s RomanceBest 90’s RomanceBest Romantic ComedyBest Dramatic RomanceBest Forbidden LoveBest TV RomanceWorst TV RomanceBest Romance, Right Now (2026) Some Ways to Support Us Sign…
S1E854 Best in Show- Episode #854
Cathy and Todd discuss Best in Show to honor Catherine O’Hara and dive into America’s Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show in Philadelphia, where nothing “big” happens and that is exactly the joke. They…
S1E853 The Sure Thing- Episode #853
Todd and Cathy discuss The Sure Thing (1985), Rob Reiner’s early, quietly subversive road-trip rom-com starring John Cusack as Gib Lloyd, a smart, restless college guy chasing a guaranteed hookup…
S1E852 Why Heated Rivalry Matters- Episode #852
Cathy and Todd discuss Why Heated Rivalry Matters, digging into why this hockey romance has become such a cultural lightning rod and emotional touchstone. They talk about Rachel Reid’s novel and the…
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Zen Pop has published 904 episodes since January 2011, covering topics in Arts, Society & Culture.
Zen Pop is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 52m.
