Educate Your Earbuds

It's Mini Episode Wednesday, and the pop culture group chat is officially open. This week I dive into new reporting surrounding the Taylor Swift smear campaign and why it’s shifting the online conversation. I also touch on major moments in pop culture, including the buzz around The Moment trailer and Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour making history as the highest-grossing solo tour of the year. A few quick reactions to recent performances and a wholesome celebrity update round out the episode on a lighter note.Thanks for listening! Follow, rate, and review us! Instagram: Educate.Your.Earbuds.PodThreads: Educate.Your.Earbuds.PodTikTok: Educate.Your.EarbudsEmail: [email protected]:https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/taylor-swift-smear-campaign-busted-swifties-blame-maga-bots-say-weve-seen-this-film-before-1762411https://www.gudea.ai/https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/69370c45ee6946ee05e9618a/6938f591279bf559ec50cd1c_GUDEA%20-%20Taylor%20Swift%20_%20Anatomy%20of%20a%20Narrative.pdfhttps://www.vogue.com/article/the-moment-charli-xcx-cast-plot-releasehttps://www.nme.com/news/music/beyonces-cowboy-carter-tour-named-highest-grossing-tour-of-2025-for-a-solo-artist-3918466https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lily-allen-snl-dakota-johnson-madeline-sleepwalking-1236136850/https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/debby-ryan-baby-josh-dun-birth-announcement-1236136807/

This week on Educate Your Earbuds, we’re diving headfirst into the actor-to-musician pipeline—and yes, we have to talk about the Stranger Things stars who are secretly plotting to take over your playlists. Why are so many of them trading Demogorgons for demo tapes? And why are some… actually good?From franchise favorites who’ve made shockingly successful jumps into the music world, to the rare hybrids who can command a stage as easily as a camera, we’re exploring what makes this crossover so irresistible in today’s entertainment landscape. And naturally, we end up at the most infamous talent factories of all time: Disney and Nickelodeon. Their music labels, their breakout stars, their cultural chokehold—yes, we’re looking at the pipelines that launched names like Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande into global stardom.Thanks for listening! Follow, rate, and review us! Instagram: Educate.Your.Earbuds.PodThreads: Educate.Your.Earbuds.PodTikTok: Educate.Your.EarbudsEmail: [email protected]:https://hcpl.net/blogs/post/why-do-so-many-actors-want-to-be-musicians/https://stereogum.com/2317502/gen-z-young-millennial-actor-musicians/listshttps://www.billboard.com/music/pop/25-movie-stars-turned-musicians-513481/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/2/18/musicians-as-actors-thinkpiece-music-film-industry/https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/companies/disney-music-group/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickelodeon_RecordsNot Used:https://www.savagecontent.com/post/musicians-who-were-actors-firsthttps://www.filmink.com.au/musically-inclined-actors-rock/https://www.thegroovymoo.co.nz/post/from-mouse-ears-to-megastars-the-disney-to-mainstream-pipeline

This week on Educate Your Earbuds, we’re diving into Spotify Wrapped 2025 — the annual music event that feels like the Super Bowl for playlist people and the Hunger Games for anyone afraid of their top artist reveal.I’m breaking down how Spotify actually collects all that juicy user data (aka how they know you played that one song 147 times at 2 AM). Then we’ll get into the new Wrapped features everyone’s posting on Instagram, what Spotify randomly ditched from last year, and which classics made a surprise comeback.Of course, we can’t talk Wrapped without covering the global streaming charts — and yes, Bad Bunny reclaimed the crown from Taylor Swift in a big way. We’ll talk top artists, top songs, top albums, and what the rankings say about where music is heading in 2025.And finally… we’re unpacking my own Wrapped. The good, the bad, and the extremely embarrassing.Thanks for listening! Follow, rate, and review us! Instagram: Educate.Your.Earbuds.PodThreads: Educate.Your.Earbuds.PodTikTok: Educate.Your.EarbudsEmail: [email protected]:https://newsroom.spotify.com/2025-12-03/wrapped-top-artists-songs-albums-podcasts-audiobooks/

 This week’s mini episode of Educate Your Earbuds is a spicy little 15-minute whirlwind of music pop culture, unhinged headlines, and the chaos living rent-free in my brain. We’re talking musicians beefing with the White House (because of course they are), RÜFÜS DU SOL casually leveling up electronic music, and Bad Bunny sweeping the Latin Grammys like it’s just another Tuesday.I’m also getting into the pop culture messiness we all live for — from Ariana Grande’s unexpected Wicked press tour moment to Olivia Dean absolutely refusing to let ticket resellers win.And since it last week was Thanksgiving week, I had to chat about the NFL performances that had everyone texting the group chat, including that Jack White x Eminem moment nobody saw coming.It’s quick, chaotic, and everything you need to stay caught up on the music world.Thanks for listening! Follow, rate, and review us! Instagram: Educate.Your.Earbuds.PodThreads: Educate.Your.Earbuds.PodTikTok: Educate.Your.EarbudsEmail: [email protected]:https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/madonna-slams-donald-trump-world-aids-day-absurd-1236125792/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/nov/15/taylor-swift-silence-trump-administration-speaks-volumeshttps://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/rufus-du-sol-highest-selling-electronic-tour-1236126149/https://pitchfork.com/news/fka-twigs-announces-2026-tour-shares-new-love-crimes-video-watch/https://www.complex.com/music/a/treyalston/bad-bunny-latin-grammy-awards-2025https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd6qey9e4zohttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjwy44966w1o

This week on Educate Your Earbuds, we’re pressing pause for Thanksgiving — but not without a huge thank you to everyone who listens, shares, and supports the podcast. I’m genuinely so grateful for this community, and I never take for granted that you choose to spend part of your week hanging out with me and geeking out over music.Use this little break to unplug, recharge, and enjoy time with friends, family, chosen family, or whoever brings joy to your life. I’ll be back next week with our regular schedule: a fun mini episode on Wednesday and a brand-new deep dive on Thursday.Happy Thanksgiving, and see you soon! 🦃🎧✨