You Leik That?: Recent Episodes
Emily Leiker
Emily and a variety of friends discuss the pop culture issues and moments of today in this fun, conversational, Gen Z-oriented podcast.
"You Leik That?" host Emily Leiker is back with an hour-long peek at the current state of the Star Wars universe. Joined by guest and fellow Star Wars nerd Brent Axe, Leiker covers everything from all-time favorite Star Wars moments to the newest installments to the franchise, The Mandalorian (Season 3) and Bad Batch (Season 2). The pair also talk about what's coming down the road and what they hope to see from Star Wars down the line.
"You Leik That?" host Emily Leiker is joined by first-time guest Sola Kantai to dive into the first four episodes of Ted Lasso's third season, hitting on major character plot lines and the show's honoring of beloved journalist Grant Wahl. Then, the conversation turns to the current season of the English Premiere League – in which Sola is much more well-versed than Emily – and how soccer (and sports in general) has leaned into the streaming world. The episode wraps with a Pop Culture Fast Five featuring THAT episode of Succession, Taylor Swift's latest amicable(?) breakup and more.
Production: Emily Leiker
Cover: Emily Leiker
Main Cover Photo: Emmalee Reed
Episode Cover Photo: Sola Kantai
Music: 'Baddies' (Lunareh via Soundstripe)
Emily Leiker is joined by 70s music enthusiast Emmalee Reed to talk about the book-to-TV show adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid's "Daisy Jones & The Six." The duo discuss their overall thoughts on the show, what it means to have unreliable narrators, comparisons to Fleetwood Mac and TJR's obsession with a "twist." Then, Emily and Emmalee go through a pop culture fast five that includes Harry Styles' hot make out with EmRata and Hozier's latest release.
Emily Leiker is rejoined by McClain Baxley to recap and breakdown the 95th Academy Awards which occurred Sunday night from the pre-show red carpet interviews to the Vanity Fair after party fashion.
Emily is joined by friend of the pod McClain Baxley to briefly preview the 2023 Oscars. The duo hits the Big Three categories (Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress) as well as a handful of other categories in this mini episode. McClain will rejoin Emily after the Oscars to recap the winners and any ensuing discourse Tuesday.
Production: Emily Leiker
Cover: Emily Leiker
Main "You Leik That?" Cover Photo: Emmalee Reed
Music: 'Baddies' (Lunareh via Soundstripe)
Emily Leiker is BACK for a new season of "You Leik That?" and kicking things off talking Harry Styles with certified One Direction stan Ella Brockway. Specifically, the pair talk Harry's history (10:10), his 2023 Grammy's AOTY win and ensuing debacle (21:56) and Emily's new theory: Is Harry being Elvis'd? (37:20). Then, Emily and Ella cover some recent pop culture happenings including Joshua Bassett's Christianity arc and the upcoming Oscars. (50:20).
Production: Emily Leiker
Cover: Emily Leiker
Cover Photo: Emmalee Reed
Music: 'Baddies' (Lunareh via Soundstripe)
"You Leik That?" is back with an episode on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 3 with Kyle Williams. After chatting a bit about how they got into the show back when it premiered in 2019, Emily and Kyle chat about this season's interesting music choices (~10:10) and character relationship choices (~21:45). They chat more about the season's major plot lines, and then close with predictions for S4 (~40:00).
Emily kicks off this episode of "You Leik That?" briefly sharing her thoughts on a number of movies, TV shows and albums from throughout the summer (0:39). Then, she's joined by first-time guest and Chicagoland native Andrew Moore to chat about one of the summer's hottest shows: Hulu and FX's "The Bear" (18:03). The pair talk extensively about Ep. 7's cinematography and Carmy's 7-minute monologue in Ep. 8. Afterward, Emily wraps up the show by outlining what's coming next (1:14:40).
Host Emily Leiker is joined by David Thompson to chat about Jordan Peele's latest film, "NOPE." From their initial reactions (7:11) to the film's biggest themes (32:11) to how it stacks up against Peele's other films (50:10), the pair cover all the bases. Plus, Emily shares a questionable take on what happened to OJ's character that has David wanting to head to the theater again (47:11).
On the latest episode of "You Leik That?" host Emily Leiker is joined by friend and former coworker Melanie Rau to talk about Sabrina Carpenter's latest album, "emails I can't send." After going through their initial thoughts on the album, the conversation quickly derails to the murky love triangle timeline between Carpenter and fellow Disney kids Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo. Finally, Emily and Melanie close by ranking the album from worst to best – and have very different takes.
On this episode of "You Leik That?" host Emily Leiker is joined by first-time guest and new-found friend Mari Faiello, a lifelong Thor fan (2:15). Before jumping into the most recent Thor solo film, Emily puts Mari on the spot by asking about her hot take on MCU Chrises hot take (5:08). Then, the pair get into overall thoughts, plus the individual character arcs of Thor Odinson (15:19) and Jane Foster (26:56). Finally, in the summer of needle drops (46:11), how does Thor: Love & Thunder stack up? (This podcast episode is alternatively titled "The Gronkification of Thor: Good or Bad?")
In this emergency bonus episode of "You Leik That?" host Emily Leiker and friend of the pod Kaleigh Feldkamp try to determine Taylor Swift's sexiest songs. They break down the first iteration of the Taylor Swift's Sexiest Song Graph, which ranks songs on a Y-axis of "Sexy" to "Unsexy" and an X-axis of "Yearning" to "Satisfied." Then, they re-evaluate the original selections and add more songs to beef up the graph. Do you agree with their placements?
This jam-packed, extra long episode of "You Leik That?" focuses on the jam-packed, extra long final two episodes of Stranger Things Vol. 4. After an intro by host Emily Leiker, there's a "call-in" from friend of the pod Cory Stewart to talk about the biggest and most tear-jerking musical moments of Episodes 8 and 9 (2:59). Then, McLain Baxley and Kennedi Landry join for a full recap and discussion of the events of V4 Pt II (14:18). From an impassioned speech about the Steve/Nancy/Jonathan love triangle (29:12) to pop culture references in the show (48:18) to everything we know about Season 5 (1:06:10), Stranger Things fans will have a blast listening to this breakdown.
Emily kicks off the fourth installment of this season of the "You Leik That?" podcast with some important programming updates. Then, she's joined by friend and fellow Star Wars enthusiast to recap season one of Obi-Wan Kenobi. What were their thoughts? Who had the best character arc? Where could the show go in S2?
After apologizing for releasing this week's podcast later than usual, Emily is joined by Kennedi Landry to talk all things "The Summer I Turned Pretty." From plot additions in the TV show to the stellar soundtrack, they cover every single thought and feeling they had about the show and books. Plus, find out who's Team Conrad and who's Team Jeremiah – if you know Emily or Kennedi, you probably already have a good guess.
Emily is joined once again by her MCU buddy and good friend Jake Fein to chat Episode 1 of "Ms. Marvel." From chatting fandom to what an Avengers victory parade would look like, laugh along as the pair chat Marvel's newest project and young new heroine.
Is that new intro music we hear? The "You Leik That?" podcast is back and better than ever for season two. Emily is joined by Kate Bush enthusiast Emmalee Reed to talk "Running Up That Hill," the song that's skyrocketed to Billboard success thanks to its role in saving Max from Vecna in Stranger Things 4. Then, Emily brings on friends of the pod Christina Long, McClain Baxley and, eventually, Cory Stewart to recap the season from start to finish, talk theories for its final two episodes and more.
For the last episode of S1 of "You Leik That?" Emily talks about the difference between scores and soundtracks, plus her take on "Euphoria"'s Season 2 score composed by Labrinth. Then, she's joined by Jonas Pope to chat about their Marvel movie and TV show rankings, hot takes and more. Emily's five pop culture things to pay attention to this week include the NFL Draft, Netflix's "Heartstopper" and an odd comment from Lea Michele.
Emily kicks off the lengthiest episode of "You Leik That?" thus far with an instant, live reaction to the "Stranger Things" Season 4 trailer. Then, she chats with her very good friend Jake Fein about each of their ideas on how to fix the disastrous Star Wars sequel trilogy. Together, they rework the plot lines for Episodes 7-9, each sharing their own plans and combining them to create a plan worthy of being pitched to Disney — at least in their opinions. Finally, Emily shares her top 5 pop culture things to pay attention to, including an upcoming Netflix project and Lizzo's new shapewear line.
In this quick-hit episode, Emily briefly defends her "Macklemore is hot" stance before welcoming on Missouri School of Journalism freshman Wyatt Nun to talk about the 2022 Grammys.
After a midweek news drop from one of music's biggest names, Emily reworked her intro to talk briefly about Pixar's 25th film, Turning Red, before breaking down the announcement of Harry Styles' third studio album. Entitled "Harry's House" and set to release May 20, how does this potentially final album from one of pop culture's favorite boys tie back to his previous work? Then, Emily is joined by friend and movie-musical fanatic McClain Baxley to chat about the Oscars. From takes on the best picture nods to predictions on which celebrity announcers will be paired together, Emily and McClain spill a lot of what any casual Oscars or film fan needs to know ahead of the weekend. Plus, Emily's pop culture five things to know includes Taylor Swift's new song, "Carolina."
Emily kicks off the third episode of "You Leik That?" by talking about leitmotifs and the use of "Ave María" in The Batman. She's then joined by Christina Long and Cory Stewart to continue talk of the new DC installment as a whole, Robert Pattinson's portrayal of the character and other moments within the film that they enjoyed. Finally, after saying she wouldn't do five pop culture things to pay attention to this week, Emily gives them to you anyway.
Emily kicks off the second episode of You Leik That? with a brief discussion of the Euphoria season two finale and where she thinks the show is headed. Then, she's joined by Olympics enthusiast Kaleigh Feldkamp to chat about Tokyo 2022 and what makes a celebrity couple a "hot couple." Finally, Emily shares the five pop culture topics you should be paying attention to this week, including upcoming Apple TV show The Crowded Room, Aaron Rodgers' cryptic Instagram and more.
On the inaugural episode of You Leik That?, Emily introduces the pod's concept before chatting with friend Camille McManus about matcha lattes, Tom Holland and Zendaya's relationship, DeuxMoi and more. Emily also gives listeners her top 5 pop culture topics to keep an eye on this week, including Kanye's Instagram blowup and the start of The Batman press.