(Reprise) “Cats”: Crime of the Century?

(Reprise) “Cats”: Crime of the Century?

Author: Tess Barker November 27, 2025 Duration: 40:04
Happy Holiday week everyone! This week we’re visiting the Pop Mystery vault for a look at “Cats” an absurd show that really keeps giving. Highly recommend the movie version for that post-meal fever dream period if your Friendsgivign is cool.  “Cats” is a musical so ridiculous that it often drives people to anger. So why has this absurd show made so much money, and how does it keep taunting us all with its reemergence into culture? Jellicle journalist, comic, and pop culture junkie Tess Barker is on the case.  Featuring interviews with actress Sara Jean Ford (On Broadway:  “Phantom of the Opera; “Finian’s Rainbow;” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying;”  “Cats:” ) and musicologist and dramaturg Dr. Lynda Paul (professor, Yale University; PhD music history/ethnomusicology/performance studies).  Follow Pop Mystery Pod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @popmysterypod  Pop Mystery Pod is written and produced by Tess Barker @tesstifybarker. Produced by Tyler Hill. Theme song by Rick Wood @Rickw00d. Abigail Keel was a consulting producer on this episode.  Special thanks to voice actors Sean Green and Babs Gray.  Clearance Counsel is  Dale Nelson and Jacqueline Swett at Donaldson Callif Perez, LLP Support independent pop journalism and join us on Patreon at Pop Mystery Pod. Get access to ad free episodes, bonus content, and polls about upcoming topics. patreon.com/PopMysteryPod Follow Tess’s other podcasts Lady to Lady and Toxic wherever you get your pods.  Make sure to leave us a review! And tell a friend about the show! 

Ever find yourself rewatching an old awards show clip or remembering a bizarre celebrity headline and wondering what really happened behind the scenes? That’s the territory explored in Pop Mystery Pod. Hosted by investigative journalist Tess Barker, this podcast applies a reporter’s rigor to the glittering, often baffling world of pop culture. Barker, whose own deep research and firsthand reporting were instrumental in the #FreeBritney movement, brings that same tenacious curiosity to each story. Rather than just rehashing gossip, she treats these cultural moments like unsolved cases, digging into the archives and seeking out context that was missing when the story first broke. You’ll hear episodes that dissect events everyone talked about but maybe never truly understood, or incidents that seemed to vanish from the headlines a little too quickly. It sits at a compelling intersection of documentary, history, and societal observation, all filtered through the lens of film, TV, and celebrity. The result is a series that feels both like a detective story and a time capsule, revealing how these mysteries shape our collective memory. Tune in for a thoughtful, thoroughly researched deep dive that changes how you see the stories we think we already know.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Pop Mystery Pod
Podcast Episodes
Jerry Springer Fakes It (Throwback) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:12
This week, we revisit a classic American story. For better or worse, “The Jerry Springer Show” changed television as we know it. Were the guests on this trainwreck real? Or fakers?
The Secret Life of Canned Laughter (with Holly Brown) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:51
One of the most divisive figures in television history is not a person, but a box. One that was kept under lock and key for most of its owner’s life: The Laff Box.
The Top Pop Independence Days [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:52
Pop history is full of notable independence days. If the red, white, and blue isn’t doing it for you, this year, here are some iconic moments of libration to celebrate instead.
James Cameron’s Quest to Pester Ghosts  (with Caitlin Durante) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:33:04
The Titanic is one of the most famous and chilling disasters of all time. The movie “Titanic.” could have also been a lesson in hubris. It was helmed by James Cameron, whose reportedly maniacal behavior may have been the…
The NFL is Bravo (with Megan Gailey) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:45
You don’t have to be a sports fan to appreciate the wild and jaw dropping tale of a sports reporter and a head coach whose affair may have changed the direction of the entire football league.
The TMZ Secret Sauce (with Lauren Vino) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:32:58
When TMZ reports on a tragedy in Los Angeles, chances are, it’s true. How does this tabloid source its seedy confidential information, and why do TMZ and its founder Harvey Levin remain such powerful forces in the land o…
A Literal Captive Audience [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:07
After Tess learns about a shocking method of filling live studio audiences, she is sent on a long journey to get to the bottom of a clandestine and widespread practice.
Exposing “Girls Gone Wild” (with Courtney Kocak) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:14:47
Few commercials were as ubiquitous in the early aughts as the ones for the video series “Girls Gone Wild.” The premise of these videos was so dumb it seemed funny: girls being treated as zoo animals as they flashed the c…