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If you stroll into the “Popcast (Deluxe)” recording studio on the second flooring of the New York Occasions workplace in Manhattan, the very first thing you discover is 2 colourful chairs within the heart of the room with black microphones perched on the seat backs.
“We have been considering ‘elevated basement,’” mentioned Jon Caramanica, a pop music critic for The New York Occasions and a bunch of the present, a weekly tradition evaluate on YouTube. “It’s a bit of ‘Wayne’s World.’”
Mr. Caramanica and his co-host, the Occasions 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 Occasions, a number of junk meals — that, just like the present, mix a intellectual and lowbrow aesthetic.
Each Mr. Caramanica and Mr. Coscarelli have been treading new floor after they started internet hosting “Popcast (Deluxe),” The Occasions’s first video podcast, collectively one yr 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 thought was to take one thing that was already working — the simple and playful rapport between Mr. Caramanica and Mr. Coscarelli, a frequent “Popcast” visitor — and adapt it for YouTube, a video platform that podcasts have been more and more shifting into.
“We need to go the place good, curious, pop-culture-interested persons are dwelling,” Mr. Coscarelli mentioned. “YouTube was the plain subsequent place.”
The pair data 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 Might 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,” and so they allowed a Occasions Insider reporter to watch.
They’d a planning assembly the earlier Friday to debate what they needed 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 evaluate the subjects trending on social media. Round 12:30 p.m. on Monday, they arrived on the studio to tape the episode.
“We all the time have at the least two prep conversations,” Mr. Coscarelli mentioned. “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. Every digicam displayed a special perspective — a zoomed-out view of the complete 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 section on Drake and Kendrick Lamar was recorded nearly multi functional take. Instantly afterward, Ms. Roque despatched the footage to their editor, Jamie Hefetz, aiming to put up it to YouTube by 7 p.m. that evening.
“We used to tape straight by and drop all of the segments without delay, however we’ve been experimenting with posting segments all through the week as a result of YouTube rewards consistency,” Mr. Coscarelli mentioned.
“Plus, it’s well timed,” Mr. Caramanica mentioned 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 achieve viewers on these platforms.)
Whereas Ms. Roque uploaded the footage, Mr. Caramanica and Mr. Coscarelli pulled out their laptops and commenced brainstorming headlines for the section. This course of — informal, chaotic and collaborative — is how they make many selections concerning the present.
“What about ‘The Kendrick-Drake beef is over — or is it?’” Mr. Caramanica mentioned, grabbing a bag of chips off the snack desk.
“Perhaps ‘Why the Kendrick-Drake beef gained’t die,’ or one thing like that,” Mr. Coscarelli mentioned.
“I feel it needs to be a query,” Mr. Caramanica mentioned. “In the end, 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 section, so Mr. Caramanica took the chance to survey the choices for Snack of the Week, a recurring section 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 mentioned — 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 company like Lil Jon, Jelly Roll and Maren Morris, who additionally take part within the snack evaluate.
“We hold a working pantry,” Mr. Caramanica mentioned. “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 predominant 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 check.
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. Take a look at all that mud!”
With the recording wrapped, all that remained was to edit the remainder of the footage, which Ms. Roque mentioned would take till the top of the day on Tuesday.
Whereas there are various hours of behind-the-scenes preparation that go into placing out a weekly video podcast — even an unscripted one like “Popcast (Deluxe)” — Mr. Caramanica mentioned it was price it to interact with an viewers that may not in any other case discover their work.
“A number of our listeners are youthful and don’t pay for The New York Occasions,” he added, “however they’re to know a spot like The New York Occasions covers these topics severely.”
