Madonna’s Pop Matriarchy

Confession: After several hours of sitting with Madonna’s new album on repeat, Sam isn’t sure he likes it…

To him, 'Confessions II' felt like a Madonna impersonation, stripped of a lot of the Madonna energy he’s loved for years. The album also raised some big questions: what even is Madonna anymore? What kind of music should we expect from a pop star who always seemed eternally young and new?

Sam breaks down these big feelings with musicology professor Louis Niebur, an expert on queer dance and music culture. He teaches at the University of Nevada, Reno. His book is called 'Menergy: San Francisco's Gay Disco Sound.'

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The Sam Sanders Show is a production of KCRW and Sam Sanders Productions.

The Sam Sanders Show from KCRW is your guide to entertainment. Find out what makes your favorite artists tick, dissect the trends that shape our culture, or just make sense of that random meme you can’t stop thinking about. Join us every week to unpack the pop culture we love.

Sign up for Sam’s Newsletter to get behind the scenes stuff from every interview each week.

Sam Sanders is an award-winning podcast and radio host. He’s been named best podcast host by both The Ambies and the iHeart Podcast Awards. He was one of the founding hosts of The NPR Politics Podcast and the host who launched both It’s Been A Minute from NPR and Into It from Vulture.