2023 Pop Culture Roundtable: The Pitch interns share their favorite binges and bangers of the year
The 2023 Winter Internship roundtable. // Photo by Brock Wilbur
2023 was a rather eclectic year for pop culture—nearly as much so as this group of interns. Though all of us are in our early to mid 20s, most of us have very different interests. Therefore, there was quite a discussion that took place when we sat down to discuss some of our favorites of 2023. In fact, we ended up having two separate discussions that totaled three hours in length altogether. We’d love to say that those three hours were entirely productive, but we spent a lot of that time on random tangents we went off on. Nevertheless, many of those tangents led to some interesting discussions both about pop culture in 2023, and how much it’s changed since we were kids.
Music
It’s impossible to talk about music in 2023 without talking about Taylor Swift, and her iconic Eras Tour that took the world by storm this year. There was also Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour around the same time, which intern Mar’Che Boggess attended. However, it’s been an interesting year for music all around.
All of our music tastes are pretty different, but one thing we agreed on is the rise of TikTok as a music platform. Just last February, intern Zoe Strohm saw Noah Kahan in an intimate show at the Truman, and by June, he’d blown up on TikTok—marking a resurgence in indie folk music. Zach Bryan was another artist who blew up on TikTok, which has made country music more popular again. But we all agreed that we still hate stadium country.
Perhaps one of the most interesting artists to go viral on social media was Oliver Anthony, whose single, “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which criticized politicians in Washington D.C., made Anthony the first artist to debut at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with zero prior chart history. The single was played at a Republican presidential debate and, ironically, was praised by some of the very politicians it meant to criticize—though Anthony made clear in a subsequent YouTube video that his song was about politicians of both parties.
“That is something, like a guy who had no following can blow up that big to the point where his song is being played at a political debate,” says intern Joe Ellett.
Overall, social media has changed the way we consume music, along with streaming apps like Spotify. Because it’s constantly at our fingertips, it’s easier for people across generations to enjoy the same music.
“When I went to the Gregory Alan Isakov concert, I was like, ‘I’m going to be one of the youngest people there,’ and I definitely was not,” says Strohm.
“I’ve noticed that too with a lot of the millennial emo bands that I like,” intern Emily Jacobs says. “I was like, ‘It’s gonna be a bunch of 30-somethings,’ but I was surprised when I went to go see, like, Underoath or The Used or Senses Fail—[bands] that were more popular in the early 2000s—and I saw a lot of people my age and some younger. There’s really been a resurgence of popularity around that kind of music.”
While we pretty much agreed that the new Fall Out Boy album that came out this year was just okay—good by the standards of their new music, but doesn’t hold up against the albums they put out during the 2000s—it’s definitely made a huge contribution to the recent revival of emo music.
Hardcore punk has become more popular in the last year too, with Turnstile and Knocked Loose—who released two bangin’ singles this year—being a couple of favorites between interns Hayden Kalp and Emily Jacobs. In general, “alternative” genres have become more mainstream because of the accessibility of music.
“Before the ‘90s, alternative music was fucking liked by weirdos,” says Kalp. “So now it’s cool to see how much, like, there is no alternative music anymore. Everything’s alternative to everything. It’s kind of cool to see how everybody feels comfortable in their space and I think that’s a big shift.”
We said goodbye to some artists this year, with Aerosmith and Bob Dylan both doing farewell tours this year.
“It’s just cool to see that these guys are so old and still kicking,” says Ellett.
We’re looking forward to music in 2024, which entails both listening to the same shit we’ve been listening to since middle school and new releases from our favorite artists.
Movies
2023 was full of highly anticipated releases. From prequels like The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to family-friendly animations like Super Mario Bros and Wish, to horror movies like Knock At The Cabin and The Exorcist: Believer, it was quite the year. We had a couple of faves and some that just didn’t live up to the hype.
Every few years or so, a creepy robot movie is released, giving us all the more reason to be freaked out about the future. This year, we got M3GAN. While it was pretty predictable, it definitely reinforced the fact that robots, no matter how technologically advanced they are, still aren’t the best substitute for human interaction and connection.
“It’s just somehow another one of those movies that’s like perpetuating fear of AI which is honestly pretty reasonable,” says Jacobs. “I thought it was hilarious,” says Boggess.
For the record here, we don’t like AI. It’s the reason we’ll be out of jobs within the next ten years.
While Ellett thought Cocaine Bear was awesome, Kalp thought it fell a little short and was expecting a little more from O’Shea Jackson and Jeffery Tyler Ferguson’s performances. Other than that, the overdosed bear was hilarious.
With the summer months came the live-action Barbie movie. Aside from giving everyone an excuse to dress up in their best pink fashions and causing an uproar among conservatives, it was definitely the women empowerment movie we needed.
Not only did it shine a light on the reality that women are deemed less valuable in society as they get older and men making decisions that impact women’s everyday lives, but it also showed us that aging as a woman can be empowering. We all agreed that it was really good.
After all, we’re journalists. Of course, we love a good social commentary.
Despite all the rave, we thought Five Nights at Freddy’s didn’t live up to the hype at all. “I was really annoyed. I spent time googling shit because all my friends were like, ‘You got to look up the lore.’ And I was like, ‘I didn’t need to know anything’.” says Strohm.
Overall, it was a good year, and it’ll be interesting to see what’s coming in 2024.
TV Shows
We can’t have movies without recognizing our favorite TV shows from the year.
2023 was a big year for television, with every streaming service fighting to have the number one spot for the year. HBO had a great run with House of the Dragon and The Last of Us, while Amazon threw in a great contender with the book to TV adaptation inspired by Fleetwood Mac, Daisy Jones and the Six, but when Freevee pulled a “Truman Show” with the unsuspecting Ronald Gladden on Jury Duty, we just couldn’t get enough.
“We’re just watching a guy get gaslighted by these wild situations and absolutely insane character arcs.” says Ellett.
The newest addition to the Scott Pilgrim Cinematic Universe (SPCU if you will), Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, gave us a completely new perspective on the original story. This fully animated, video game inspired Netflix show brought back the original movie cast to voice their respected characters and made the anthology so much more fun.
The Last of Us taught us what cordyceps were and gave the most beautiful, heart wrenching love story between Ron Swanson and Armond from The White Lotus. Who would have thought we would learn what it means to love and to be loved from the apocalypse. The Last of Us also ignited the internet love of Pedro Pascal and his line of work.
“I didn’t realize it was the same person in Game of Thrones,” says Jacobs. “He was great as the prince, but he looks and sounds completely different with the accent and the fancy clothes.”
Quinta Brunson gave us a spin on the mockumentary style of The Office and Parks and Rec with Abbott Elementary. The dumb humor and characters you can’t help but love really interrupted the doom scrolling and fear of the future we all have.
In a surreal turn of events, Korean drama Squid Games got turned into a game show, proving the point of the anti-capitalist original storyline and producing some unironically hilarious clips of contestants being super out of touch, including Kalp’s favorite of Contestant 299 rolling in the sand after being eliminated while the mic picks up the sound of some bubble guts.
2023 gave us some great content, and the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes gave better deals to to writers and actors. 2024, we look forward to the television you have in store.
Food
It would not be a complete round-up of our favorite aspects that 2023 had in store without mentioning all of the great food that nourished us through deadlines and commitments. From sushi all the way to Home Depot hot dog stands, here is what we considered some of the best food around.
Looking into the group’s favorite fried chicken places throughout KC, Wings Cafe, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, and The Peanut all came up as fan favorites for poultry. While we do enjoy fan-favorite localities, as students and recent graduates, sometimes fast food is our only option. That being said, we still aren’t complaining.
“I’m not spending $25 on a single meal,” Strohm says. “But I am gonna go and get Popeyes and have a stomach ache an hour later.”
As far as breakfast fixes go, Mother Earth Coffee and Post Coffee, just across the street from The Pitch’s offices, have provided us with caffeine and carbs more than most of us are proud to say.
Our friend across the pavement kept the staff supplied with countless hangover cures throughout the entirety of our internship, finding ourselves making coffee runs everyday that we were in the office. Mother Earth Coffee’s everything bagel and smoothies are among the savored items on their menu that the interns enjoy.
“They have really good breakfast sandwiches,” Strohm says. “Yes, the everything bagel sandwich,” Jacobs chimed in. “It’s so good,” Strohm concluded.
Tacos were a topic that couldn’t be avoided in this discussion with Taco Naco, Don Rudy’s, and a mysterious Independence Avenue food truck emerging as the front runners in the category amongst our dysfunctional group.
With Taco Naco opening a second location in Westport this year, we had to snag lunch a couple of times. “I was pleasantly surprised because I usually only like the traditional street tacos, but it’s pretty good,” Jacobs says.
Don Rudy’s taco truck off of Lamar and I-35, is a hidden gem sitting right next to a set of railroad trucks. According to some members of the group, their birria tacos take the cake for best in the city.
“This place has the best birria tacos that I’ve ever had,” Ellett says. “This is the spot. I’ve had them at other places, and no one beats them.”
Following in the food truck line, Kalp mentioned an unnamed food truck that parks in a KFC off of Independence Ave. provides quality food, although it could mean enduring some creepy vibes, risking your peace for a bite to eat.
“It’s got the best fucking food I’ve ever had in my life,” Kalp says.
Fuji Sushi and Grill also came up among the wide variety of food options brought into conversation. Located in Liberty, Fuji has an all around great menu, with all of their options hitting for par.
“They have the best fried rice and homemade salad dressing,” Strohm says.
Pizza was the last center of discussion as we conveniently were consuming Minsky’s as the timer ticked on our audio recorder. Indulging in their crab rangoon and Kansas City Joe’s BBQ Z-Man za, we found ourselves in agreement when rating the slices. The syrupy impressions of the crab rangoon slices mixed with savory barbecue notes of the z-man were a perfect pairing for a deadline roundtable.
“It kind of tastes almost like a breakfast pizza, how it’s kind of sweet,” Kalp says about the crab rangoon pizza.
It’s safe to say that Minsky’s continues to live up to their incredibly high expectations as one of Kansas City’s best pizza places.
KC Related or People
If anything makes a year, it’s the people you spend it with. Luckily, KC was able to come together and spend it with a few of the good ones. We may have lived, laughed, and loved together, but we also hated together, and that’s a tune we can all dance to.
Much like when all of Kansas banded together to boycott the state’s new proposed license plate, and the colorful commentary about the new “observation wheel” that was somehow greenlit not only to erect in a historic neighborhood but at one of the lowest points of the city. A true eye sore that many of our beautiful residents came together to collectively shit on.
And how can we forget the Kansas City-based Jan. 6 insurrectionists? I’d say pour one out, but I don’t like to waste my drink.
However, the biggest moments of unity came from our victories. Such as when both Kansas and Missouri came together to celebrate yet another Chiefs Super Bowl. As a matter of fact, the year was full of more togetherness than you may think.
Yet, no one has won as much as our good ole number 87, Travis Kelce. Love her or hate her, Taylor Swift has now claimed Kansas City as a home, and we’re proud to have her.
And how could we forget about all of our Best Of picks for 2023? A timeless tradition that unites the city more than anything, proving that at the end of the day, we can all get down with local favorites like Joe’s BBQ and… Raising Cane’s chicken?
The latter of course was much to Joe’s Chagrin. “Has no one tried Gus’s Fried Chicken? We can end the discussion right there because if you haven’t had Gus’s, you haven’t had fried chicken,” says Ellett.
Kansas City is second to none in terms of passion and potholes, and we’re excited to see what’s next.
