Ana is joined by Selena Fragassi, music journalist and author of the new book: New Kids on the Block 40th Anniversary Celebration.

Ana and Selena go through the history of the New Kids, from their humble beginnings in Boston, to how they've evolved as one of the most profitable and successful legacy bands in music with the backing of one of the most passionate fanbases: the Blockheads.

• Buy "New Kids on the Block 40th Anniversary Celebration" on Amazon

During the episode we briefly touch upon Boston's desegregation program and busing crisis. Here are a couple of resources for more information:

• The Busing Battleground: The Decades-Long Road to School Desegregation (PBS)
• Nearly 50 years after the Boston busing crisis, a new initiative examines its history and legacy (WBUR)

Just in time for Hanson Day 2024! Ana is joined by Lia from The Ashlee and Jessicast to discuss Hanson. We discuss if Hanson is considered a boyband, as well as get into Lia's fan origin story and dive a bit into most of their discography. We also discuss how awesome the Hanson fandom is!

Ana is joined by Eryn Cooper (radio personality, music journalist, and self-proclaimed professional fangirl) where they break down the AMAZING multi-generational boyband collab to rule them all: Liam Payne's new song "Teardrops. They discuss how Liam's career, both in 1D and as a solo artist, has been very similar to another boybander: *NSYNC's JC Chasez, who coincidentally worked with Liam on "Teardrops" as a co-writer and 'background' vocalist.

Follow Eryn on all the socials @onairwitheryn

This week marks the one year anniversary of Aaron Carter’s passing. Aaron’s legacy within music and pop culture is often overlooked, but it certainly deserves recognition and is insanely important. In this special episode honoring Aaron, we discuss him and his music and legacy, complex and layered as it was, with two friends of the pod Ali and Cali.

Ali's portion was recorded a year ago only days after Aaron’s passing, so at the time it was obviously fresh on our minds. That portion of our conversation was never released until now.

A majority of this episode was done recently on the anniversary of his passing with another friend-of-the-pod: Cali, who had a personal relationship with Aaron.

We hope you enjoy this honest and insightful episode, honoring the life of Aaron Carter: the musician and human being. A special thank you to both Ali and Cali for their time, honesty, and respect of the topic of Aaron. May he rest in peace.

Please be aware that there are some sensitive topics touched upon in this episode regarding mental health, addiction and trauma.

It’s also important to note that this episode will NOT nor EVER be monetized. Too many people tried to, and are still trying to, profit off of his name and we absolutely are against doing anything like that.

Ana and Lizzie are joined by very special guest and fellow podcaster Kelli Williams (@laguna_biotch) to discuss her music journey with artists such as the Backstreet Boys, Taylor Swift, Aaron Carter and LFO and how bands like BSB are such a huge part of her relationship with her mother.

We also get into a more serious discussion surrounding "the dark side of boybands" aka bad managers taking advantage of boyband members, and how we as a society still have trouble with taking allegations seriously from young men (poor working conditions, financial mismanagement, and sexual assault, etc.)

Friend-of-the-pod Sasha is back! Ana and Sasha discuss the experience going to the Pop2000 show on July 15, 2023 in Webster, MA. Before the Pop2k discussion, we recap all things JC-related in the past year and answer your lingering questions from the JC series.

Timestamps:

- Intro and Listener Q&A: 00:00

- JC Updates: 7:50

-Pop2000 Recap: 19:19