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CNN Podcasts

Welcome to Audie Cornish and Ari Shapiro’s Engagement Party, where the hot takes are the smart takes.

After years of working side by side, Audie and Ari have made it official with their pop culture podcast. Party hopping between what you're watching, reading and scrolling, these longtime friends unpack what matters in our endless feeds.

The Assignment with Audie Cornish

With The Disappearers, Marlon James has written an explicit and violent epic that’s been called “the novel of the decade, if not the century." He joins the party to talk about queer Jamaican culture, ’80s music icons, and the gay sex scene that even his editor thought he should leave out. 

About the show: Welcome to Audie Cornish and Ari Shapiro’s Engagement Party, where the hot takes are the smart takes. After years of working side by side, Audie and Ari have made it official with their pop culture video podcast. Party hopping between what you're watching, reading and scrolling, these longtime friends unpack what matters in our endless feeds. 

Subscribe to the Engagement Party newsletter! The weekly send lets you catch up on the latest trends, obsessions and culture online.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Novel of the Century Is NSFW

Nepo babies have sparked debate for years, but chart-topping singer-songwriter Stella Lefty, who also happens to be the daughter of a billionaire, is reigniting the conversation. Audie and Ari debate how the rich and privileged should navigate fame and success — and they don't entirely agree. Plus, why an Ivy League dean wants you to be skeptical of the explosion of college admissions content online.

About the show: Welcome to Audie Cornish and Ari Shapiro’s Engagement Party, where the hot takes are the smart takes. After years of working side by side, Audie and Ari have made it official with their pop culture video podcast. Party hopping between what you're watching, reading and scrolling, these longtime friends unpack what matters in our endless feeds.

Subscribe to the Engagement Party newsletter! The weekly send lets you catch up on the latest trends, obsessions and culture online. On deck: an Emmys watch party drinking game (booze optional, laughs guaranteed).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Should Nepo Babies Embrace the Label?

The internet is full of dating horror stories and think pieces the death of traditional romance. It’s a concept built for virality. But is the moral panic real? Audie and Ari turn to relationship writer Karley Sciortino to talk navigating romance in the age of the apps.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dating Apps Were Never About Romance

Television's golden age is over, replaced by one that’s decidedly more, as they say, “mid.” Audie and Ari weigh in on whether TV really got worse, the industry's post-prestige identity crisis, and the ingredients for making some of your favorite shows with TV’s best director, Hiro Murai (Widow's Bay, Atlanta, Station Eleven).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Television's Prestige Hangover Era Is Here

This week, the internet turned its eyes to an annual 2020s tradition: watching freshman girls rush sororities at big Southern state schools via an endless stream of social videos. What does our obsession with RushTok tell us about the South, the internet, and America? Plus, what's up with the influencer backlash on Nantucket, and why is mahjong so hot right now?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

RushTok is Southern Soft Power

As generational warfare feeds TV scripts from Beef to Hacks, Emmy nominee Lauren Weedman joins the party to talk about hanging with Gen Z on the Hacks set, the art of scene stealing, and finding main character energy after 50. 
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Lauren Weedman From 'Hacks' Has Main Character Energy

"Choosin’ Texas" broke the Billboard charts – so why can’t we all agree it’s the Song of Summer? Audie breaks down why the answer may say more about the state of the music industry than Ella Langley. Plus: Boy Throb is Ari’s latest summer music obsession, and he doesn’t care if it’s a psyop. 

Like what you heard? Sign up for our newsletter to catch up on the latest trends, obsessions and culture. 

Something in your feed you want us to talk about on the show? Email us a video at engagementparty@cnn.com and we’ll feature you on the show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How Ella Langley Won the Electoral College of Culture

Writer and chef Eddie Huang joins the party for a conversation about "sad boy" literature, finding love, and the worst relationship advice he's ever received. 

Like what you heard? Sign up for our newsletter to catch up on the latest trends, obsessions and culture. 

Something in your feed you want us to talk about on the show? Email us a video at engagementparty@cnn.com and we’ll feature you on the show.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eddie Huang and the Power of "Sad Boy Lit"

The '90s are everywhere these days — clothes, music, TV — and brands are doing everything they can to capitalize on the revival. Audie and Ari explore what’s driving the modern fascination with a decade they lived through, what Gen Z's rose-colored glasses miss about the era, and what they wax nostalgic for (mix tapes!). Plus, comedian Rob Anderson joins Audie to discuss why nostalgia is so damn funny. 

Like what you heard? Sign up for our newsletter to catch up on the latest trends, obsessions and culture. 

Is there something in your feed you want Audie and Ari to talk about? Email us a video at engagementparty@cnn.com and we might feature you on the show. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gen Z's '90s Nostalgia Has Some Gaps

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey isn't just a movie — it's an event. Audie and Ari sift through the hype, backlash, and what the online chatter says about the cultural moment. Plus: how Venmo is warping our relationships with money and each other, and why Love Island watch parties rival ones for the World Cup. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

'The Odyssey' Is Epic But The Discourse Is Not

What was this year in pop culture like? A scrappy Canadian gay hockey romance becomes the internet’s obsession while big-budget, star-packed shows are dwindling. AI rage-bait memes (some from government accounts) keep hijacking the national conversation. These are just some of the pop culture moments that defined 2025. Audie and New York Magazine staff writer Rebecca Alter break it down. 

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This episode was produced by Madeleine Thompson. 

Senior Producer: Matt Martinez 

Technical Director: Dan Dzula 

Executive Producer: Steve Lickteig 
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The Year in Pop Culture: AI, Gay Hockey, and Rage Bait

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