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When you stroll into the “Popcast (Deluxe)” recording studio on the second flooring of the New York Times workplace in Manhattan, the very first thing you discover is 2 colourful chairs within the middle of the room with black microphones perched on the seat backs.
“We had been considering ‘elevated basement,’” stated Jon Caramanica, a pop music critic for The New York Times and a bunch of the present, a weekly tradition overview on YouTube. “It’s a bit of ‘Wayne’s World.’”
Mr. Caramanica and his co-host, the Times pop music reporter Joe Coscarelli, picked out the furnishings for his or her studio at Horseman Antiques on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. The chairs are amongst many quirky private touches they’ve added to the area — books, pictures from their work at The Times, a number of junk meals — that, just like the present, mix a intellectual and lowbrow aesthetic.
Both Mr. Caramanica and Mr. Coscarelli had been treading new floor after they started internet hosting “Popcast (Deluxe),” The Times’s first video podcast, collectively one 12 months in the past. The present is a derivative of “Popcast,” a weekly pop music podcast that Mr. Caramanica has hosted since 2016. For the “deluxe” model with a broader view of popular culture, the concept was to take one thing that was already working — the straightforward and playful rapport between Mr. Caramanica and Mr. Coscarelli, a frequent “Popcast” visitor — and adapt it for YouTube, a video platform that podcasts had been more and more transferring into.
“We need to go the place good, curious, pop-culture-interested individuals are dwelling,” Mr. Coscarelli stated. “YouTube was the plain subsequent place.”
The pair information on Mondays and releases segments of the dialog all through the week on YouTube, in addition to a full audio episode on Wednesdays. For the week of May 13, Mr. Caramanica and Mr. Coscarelli had determined to cowl the feud between the hip-hop giants and rivals Drake and Kendrick Lamar, in addition to Zendaya’s star flip within the tennis movie “Challengers,” they usually allowed a Times Insider reporter to watch.
They had a planning assembly the earlier Friday to debate what they wished to cowl and determine which new songs they need to hearken to over the weekend. Then they checked in over a video name on Sunday to debate their ideas and overview the subjects trending on social media. Around 12:30 p.m. on Monday, they arrived on the studio to tape the episode.
“We all the time have no less than two prep conversations,” Mr. Coscarelli stated. “Nothing’s scripted, however we don’t need to hit the bottom chilly.”
As Mr. Caramanica and Mr. Coscarelli went over some last-minute notes, Sawyer Roque, the senior producer for “Popcast (Deluxe),” flitted between three cameras mounted on tripods in a semicircle across the two chairs, checking the angles on a monitor to the left of the set. Each digital camera displayed a distinct perspective — a zoomed-out view of the total set, a close-up on Mr. Coscarelli or a close-up on Mr. Caramanica — and Ms. Roque would toggle between them on the monitor throughout recording.
The 30-minute phase on Drake and Kendrick Lamar was recorded nearly multi functional take. Immediately afterward, Ms. Roque despatched the footage to their editor, Jamie Hefetz, aiming to publish it to YouTube by 7 p.m. that night time.
“We used to tape straight by way of and drop all of the segments directly, however we’ve been experimenting with posting segments all through the week as a result of YouTube rewards consistency,” Mr. Coscarelli stated.
“Plus, it’s well timed,” Mr. Caramanica stated of the diss tracks exchanged between the 2 rappers. “The information on that is altering by the hour.” (The present additionally posts shorter clips to TikTok, Instagram and X to succeed in viewers on these platforms.)
While Ms. Roque uploaded the footage, Mr. Caramanica and Mr. Coscarelli pulled out their laptops and started brainstorming headlines for the phase. This course of — informal, chaotic and collaborative — is how they make many choices in regards to the present.
“What about ‘The Kendrick-Drake beef is over — or is it?’” Mr. Caramanica stated, grabbing a bag of chips off the snack desk.
“Maybe ‘Why the Kendrick-Drake beef received’t die,’ or one thing like that,” Mr. Coscarelli stated.
“I believe it needs to be a query,” Mr. Caramanica stated. “Ultimately, we’re asking it — we’re not saying we all know the reply.” The eventual consensus: “Is the Kendrick-Drake beef actually over?”
Mr. Coscarelli needed to duck out for a fast assembly earlier than taping the subsequent phase, so Mr. Caramanica took the chance to survey the choices for Snack of the Week, a recurring phase that’s in style with listeners. Mr. Caramanica and Mr. Coscarelli share a ardour for junk meals — “although my style is a bit more excessive,” Mr. Coscarelli stated — and their candid evaluations of the bizarre and wild snacks they discover at bodegas round New York function an entertaining send-off to every episode.
The present has welcomed visitors like Lil Jon, Jelly Roll and Maren Morris, who additionally take part within the snack overview.
“We hold a working pantry,” Mr. Caramanica stated. “Any time we see one thing unique, we purchase it.”
Mr. Coscarelli quickly returned, and round 5 p.m., they recorded the second of their two principal segments, on Zendaya and “Challengers.”
Then it was time for the grand finale: Snack of the Week. They tapped a bag of Buckin’ Ranch Takis for the style take a look at.
Upon smelling the within of the bag, Mr. Caramanica proclaimed, “Oh, that’s gross.” Mr. Coscarelli was extra forgiving: “Oh, there’s a lot taste, although. Look in any respect that mud!”
With the recording wrapped, all that remained was to edit the remainder of the footage, which Ms. Roque stated would take till the tip of the day on Tuesday.
While there are lots of hours of behind-the-scenes preparation that go into placing out a weekly video podcast — even an unscripted one like “Popcast (Deluxe)” — Mr. Caramanica stated it was price it to interact with an viewers that may not in any other case discover their work.
“Lots of our listeners are youthful and don’t pay for The New York Times,” he added, “however they’re to know a spot like The New York Times covers these topics severely.”
