Podcasts & Radio Appearances
Waiting To X-Hale
Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh & Karen Tongson
A Gen X-themed show with podcast veterans, Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh and Karen Tongson (Pop Rocket), W2X revisits the pop culture & social issues that defined Generation X from a queer/woman of color perspective, shedding new light on both then, and now.
The Gaymazing Race
A limited podcast series on The Amazing Race from an LGBTQ point-of-view, hosted by authors, profs & professional queers Nicole J. Georges & Karen Tongson.
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public Culture
This faculty-led initiative brings together researchers from across USC to explore and contextualize shifts in gender, race and sexuality in pop culture, while also translating our research to the public square. We aim not only to solve problems that might seem complex and remote to the public, but that are instead accessible to all of us, rooted in the cultures of our everyday lives, and in the languages of our everyday lives. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Consortium is functioning as a start-up podcast network within the Department of Gender & Sexuality Studies, and working with both faculty and students to produce informative audio stories in multiple genres.
listen on libsyn
Pop Rocket (2015-2019)
Poprocket at Crawfords!
Pop Rocket was a high-octane weekly discussion of the culture we all loved to love. Hosted by Guy Branum, with panelists Wynter Mitchell, Karen Tongson and Margaret Wappler, the show offered smart, funny, sometimes sweary chat about everything great in entertainment.
Karen officially joined the Pop Rocket Podcast panel in January 2017, though you can also hear some of her guest episodes (over a dozen starting in 2015) at the link below.
Radio + Podcast Guest Appearances
Karen speaking on Yo, Is This Racist
Gilmore Girls x Normporn with Karen Tongson - For this episode, we're joined by the incredible Karen Tongson, Professor of Gender & Sexuality Studies, English, and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. She is the author of Why Karen Carpenter Matters and Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries. Her newest book, Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us provides theory for this episode about the beloved TV show, Gilmore Girl (March 4, 2024)
‘Normporn TV Appeals to Viewers’ ‘Universal Desires for Peace’
KCRW’s Press Play with Madeleine Brand (January 23, 2024)
Feminist Frequency Radio: Interviewing Normporn author, Karen Tongson, featuring A.C. Lamberty. Kat’s “Machos: Fully Loaded” guest co-host, A. C. Lamberty, returns to Feminist Frequency Radio for a special interview with returning guest Karen Tongson to discuss her brand-new book normporn: queer viewers and the tv that soothes us. (November 7, 2023)
Time to Say Goodbye: Olivia Rodrigo and Pinay Pop with Karen Tongson - This week, we bring you more Olivia Rodrigo content–with Karen Tongson, USC professor, podcast co-host, and lover of all singable musics! [28:50] Jay and Tammy go deep with Karen on her childhood with musician parents, AzNs in California’s Inland Empire, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), transpacific music circuits, and why it’s racist to pile on a twenty-year-old Pinay pop star (September 20, 2023).
Queer: The word’s meaning has evolved since the 19th century
KCRW, Greater L.A. (June 13, 2023)
Dodgers are in a Mess Over Charity Group and Pride Night
KCRW Press Play with Madeleine Brand (May 23, 2023)
You’re Making it Worse: The Gaymazing Race (Karen Tongson and Nicole Georges) – Gaymazing Race hosts Karen Tongson and Nicole Georges join the guys to break down how they watch their favorite show through a queer lens. Also, an LGBTQ+ museum: who wants it? And the guys dish on their ideal salads. (October 27, 2022).
Feminist Frequency Radio: “TRIANGLE OF SADNESS with Karen Tongson” - The first course of this “Eat the Rich” mini-season is served! Kat and Anita are joined by Karen Tongson to sink our teeth into Ruben Östlund’s 2022 Oscar-nominated saga Triangle of Sadness. Tune in to find out how we think the movie’s satirical look at class dynamics may (or may not) have been successful. (February 8, 2023)
Feminist Frequency Radio: “Verhoeven’s TOTAL RECALL isn’t what you remember (wholesale, or otherwise) with Karen Tongson” - Special guest, professor, podcaster, and prolific author Karen Tongson joins Anita and Kat for episode five of the “Cyberpunk Summer” series, where we are discussing the 1990 sci-fi action film Total Recall, from director Paul Verhoeven. Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1966 short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” the movie stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a construction worker who receives implanted memories of his time working as a spy on Mars—or is he a Martian spy whose memories of life as a construction worker were implanted? (August 24, 2022)
White People Won’t Save You - Jordan and Cameron of White People Won’t Save You discuss 1986's Soul Man and joined by the perfect guests to discuss this train wreck, Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh and Karen Tongson. We talk about the absurdity of "tanning pills", C. Thomas Howell and Rae Dawn Chong getting married (!) after this movie and their continued defense of the film. And the fever dream of a music video that came out with the movie. (July 27, 2022)
RTE Arena “Karen Tongson on Karen Carpenter” (RTE Radio 1) - Karen Carpenter was one of the most celebrated and revered voices of her generation, and her effortless and beguiling vocal style continues to affect audiences to this day. Karen Tongson discusses her new book, Why Karen Carpenter Matters (December 2, 2021).
The American Vandal Podcast Series: “A Chair on The Chair with Karen Tongson” (Center for Mark Twain Studies) - In this episode, Matt Seybold is joined by Karen Tongson, who wrote one of the first most incisive reviews of the TV series for Slate. Dr. Tongson is also a media critic who has extensively researched the history of U.S. television. She is currently working on a book about what she calls #NORMPORN focusing on genres which The Chair is, as she puts it, “flirting.” (August 27, 2021)
NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour: “The Chair is Another Reason to Love Sandra Oh.” – Karen Tongson joins Aisha Harris to discuss the new Netflix series The Chair. (August 24, 2021).
BBC Radio 4, Soul Music on the Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun” - Fans tell their stories about the song and how it relates to their own life journeys. For Professor Karen Tongson (named after the singer), “We've Only Just Begun” is about growing up in the Philippines where The Carpenters epitomised the American Dream. When she emigrated to the USA, the song became a metaphor for the immigrant experience. (July 21, 2021)
KCRW’s Good Food: Representation, the value of labor, and activism in the AAPI community - In response to the escalating violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, Karen Tongson guest hosts this week’s Good Food, asking several women to share their stories. Tongson chairs the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies at USC, where she teaches a Food Culture and Food Politics class. Minh Phan, Esther Tseng, Lien Ta, Saehee Cho, and Dorinne Kay Kondo. (April 3, 2021)
Throwing Shade: Waiting to X-Hale with Wynter Mitchell Rohrbaugh and Karen Tongson - Co-hosts of the Waiting to X-hale podcast Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh and Karen Tongson join Bryan and Erin for this week’s Throwing Shade! They chat about living in a post-Karen world, play Yay or Nah (90s edition), and draw feminist inspiration from Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Plus, pop culture appreciation in academia, watching Fatal Attraction with your mom, and more! (August 13, 2020)
Gayest Episode Ever: Ep. 72 Superstore is Queerer Than You Think - This week, Glen and Drew are joined by Karen Tongson, chair of the Gender and Sexuality Studies department at USC and the co-host of the Gen X pop culture podcast Waiting to X-Hale. We asked Karen what show she’d most like to discuss, and she chose Superstore, the current NBC ensemble comedy. Not only does it have a queer Asian lead character, but as Karen points out, there’s a lot of ambient queerness on the show, in addition to one of the more diverse casts on a sitcom today. (August 5, 2020)
Entertainment Weekly’s Untold Stories: Pride Edition, Episode 4, Writers and Thinkers - EW pays tribute to queer writers and thinkers. Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland reveals Fran Lebowitz's early influence, author and professor Karen Tongson dives into the queer literary world, and The Queen of the Night author Alexander Chee talks about his friend, the late poet Justin Chin. (July 6, 2020)
'The Dorm Canon Episode #1: The Karate Kid with Karen Tongson - To crane kick things off we welcome special guest Karen Tongson from the Waiting To Exhale podcast for a discussion of The Karate Kid. Molly, who just saw it for the first time, compares notes with Karate Kid expert Karen. The Inland Empire, getting one's ass kicked by Zabka like bullies, and reading the Karate Kid as a text about queer desire! You're the best around on the premiere of The Dorm Canon! (June 30, 2020)
Aca-Media.Org (SCMS + JCMS) Limited Series, Talking Television in a Pandemic, Episode 3: Phenomenology – How has the pandemic (and the protests following the murder of George Floyd) affected the ways in which we consume and critique television? What are our embodied viewing experiences as audiences trapped at home, and how might these experiences speak to new ways of perceiving and understanding TV? Hollis Griffin, Suzanne Scott, Karen Tongson, Kristen Warner (June 8, 2020)
NPR / WPR, BETA hosted by Doug Gordon, Episode 301: Director Barry Sonnenfeld, 'The Office,' and Karen Carpenter Author Andy Greene takes us inside one of TV's greatest comedies, 'The Office.' Also, director Barry Sonnenfeld on making his mark in Hollywood. And writer Karen Tongson explains why Karen Carpenter matters. (May 9, 2020)
The Long Beach Press podcast, The Hi-Lo, episode 32: Why Karen Carpenter Matters with Karen Tongson
Reporter Steve Lowery interviews Karen about the Carpenters, Long Beach, and Why Karen Carpenter Matters.
February 7, 2020
KCRW’s Press Play with Madeleine Brand, in conversation with Karen Tongson
Madeleine Brand interviews KT about her book, Why Karen Carpenter Matters and explores how the singer defined American culture to a young, Filipina writer.
August 12, 2019
Who Cares About the Rock Hall? Carpenters with Karen Tongson
Writer and podcaster Karen Tongson joins Joe and Kristen to talk about the Carpenters and their Rock Hall merits. A lot of the great Carpenters stories and information from this episode are written about in further detail with insightful analysis in Karen's new book, 'Why Karen Carpenter Matters.'
July 26, 2019
LGBTQ&A with Karen Tongson
Jeffrey Masters of The Advocate interviews KT about her gender identity and Filipino-American experience, while discussing what it’s like to teach gender & sexuality in the contemporary moment.
July 9, 2019
Sentimental Garbage: Candice Bergen’s Knock Wood with Karen Tongson
KT joins host Caroline O’Donoghue to explore Candice Bergen’s autobiography, while discussing celebrity in general, and Karen’s own namesake, Karen Carpenter.
June 26, 2019
Pride on Screen: Lesbian Visibility (by Crooked Media)
Host Tre’vell Anderson, Trish Bendix and Karen Tongson discuss lesbian representation on screens big and small, from the 20th century to the present.
June 12, 2019
Homophilia with Karen Tongson
A conversation with hosts Dave Holmes & Matt McConkey on gender, sexuality, writing and “The Clooney Years.”
May 9, 2019
Slate’s Hit Parade, Live in Seattle: The Posthumous Hits Edition
Chris Molanphy hosts a stellar panel of music writers and scholars at the Museum of Pop Culture’s annual Pop Conference to discuss artists’ posthumous chart hits. KT discusses Sonic Youth’s cover of the Carpenters’ “Superstar.”
April 25, 2019
Heat Rocks: Karen Tongson on the Carpenters’ A Song For You (1972)
A conversation with hosts Oliver Wang and Morgan Rhodes on the Carpenters’ 1972 album.
April 25, 2019
LARB Radio Hour: A Tale of Two Karens (KPCC, NPR Affiliate)
A full-length interview about Why Karen Carpenter Matters for the Los Angeles Review of Books.
April 12, 2019
KCRW’s Good Food with Evan Kleiman (NPR Affiliate)
Story segment about a group Filipino food crawl in Eagle Rock, CA
March 1, 2019
KPCC (Southern California NPR Affiliate), Take Two
Story segment on Filipino food in Los Angeles
reported by Elina Shatkin, food editor, LAist
February 5, 2019
NPR (National Public Radio), All Things Considered
Story segment on “American Anthems: 'Like a Virgin'"
reported by Neda Ulaby
August 20, 2018
NPR (National Public Radio) + MaxFun.Org's Bullseye with Jesse Thorn: Karen Tongson interviews Tracee Ellis Ross
August 13, 2018
NPR (National Public Radio), Code Switch
Febuary 14, 2018
This Filipino American Life, “Pop Culture and Cultural Appropriation with Karen Tongson"
January 18, 2018
Smartmouth hosted by Katherine Spiers. Ep. 58: Filipino Food with Karen Tongson
December 19, 2017
Imagine Otherwise, Ep. 52: Karen Tongson and the Pleasures of Pop Culture
November 15, 2017
NPR (National Public Radio), All Things Considered
Story segment on “Yoko Ono Joins John Lennon With Credit Line For Writing 'Imagine'”
reported by Neda Ulaby
June 17, 2017
The Blaze with Lizzie and Kat, “Greek to Me with Karen Tongson”
November 28, 2016
The Hound Tall Sessions, hosted by Moshe Kasher, produced by Nerdist, “The Gay Normal” w/ Karen Tongson
December 5, 2015
