Popspotting

“I want to get back to my city by the bay…” We have a great Feedback Friday show, thanks to you! We’re so glad you enjoyed our last music show, and today we talk about some great songs about California that didn’t make Jen’s list last week, and get a couple of listening recommendations. We turn to TV to talk the ill-fated NBC show “The Event,” the shortlived Joss Whedon show “Dollhouse,” and the controversial season finale of “The Killing.” Finally, we can confirm that the official “Breaking Bad” podcast will return with the upcoming fourth season, premiering July 17. Subscribe in iTunes today!

Joining us this week for "PopTalk & Trivia Thursday" is Colleen Glatfelter, a long-time friend, blogger, and veteran podcaster. A New Yorker at heart, she's now in North Carolina thanks to true geek love, having recently married podcasting powerhouse Jay of "The LOST Podcast with Jay & Jack."

We hope you're not hungry when you listen to today's show... and we're not even sure if our topic will make your stomach growl, or turn! Jen, born and raised in a small Florida town, shares the five foods she discovered in Hawaii that she says changed her life. The menu includes Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and of course, Hawaiian.

It's been over a decade since the crew of the Serenity first took flight on FOX. The short, sporadic, eleven-episode run of Joss Whedon's "Firefly" is now the poster child for all smart television that's prematurely killed by stupid networks. A "space western" may have been impossible to categorize, but the show is impossible to resist, with colorful, fleshed-out characters, brisk and brilliant writing, and a tragically huge sense of potential that sadly was never realized. The 2005 movie "Serenity" helped to continue the story, but fans are still eternally left wanting more.

It's been five years since we've heard from Lightning McQueen and his friends from Radiator Springs. The original "Cars" wasn't the strongest Pixar film, but still a favorite of our family. "Cars 2" picks up the pace and takes us around the world, and into the world of international intrigue, with a spy plot that director John Lasseter says was inspired in part by the Jason Bourne movies. Tow Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) takes a more central role, and we meet new characters (including a British pair voiced by Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer). There's car geek trivia and movie references, and like "Wall-E," there's even a subplot of social commentary. Even a so-so Pixar flick is a good flick by any other measure, so this sequel offers a pretty good ride.

It's Feedback Friday! As usual, the show is packed with great stuff today. You tell us about "Raising Hope" on Fox, seeing Lady Gaga live (rest in peace, Clarence Clemons), iPhone camera app hoarding, "Justified," "Terriers," "Torchwood," "The Hunger Games," "Jennifer Government," and the official "Breaking Bad" podcast. You got us thinking... what musicians or bands do you most want to see live?

For today's PopTalk & Trivia Thursday, we check in with Albert Ross in Charlotte, North Carolina. He shares his love of "Moon," a 2009 gem by Duncan Jones starring Sam Rockwell, "Bar Karma," a choose-your-own-adventure series on Current, and "Walking Dead," AMC's smash hit from earlier this year. Then, it's time for trivia!

With less than a month to go until Comic-Con in San Diego, Jen is in a California state of mind. So going back to our "Pith of Pop" roots, we explore a musical Top Five for today's "Wildcard Wednesday." She shares her top five songs about the Golden State

Last week we talked about a series in which a devoted parent turns to illegal drug sales to make ends meet for the family. Why not continue the theme? For TV Tuesday, we discuss “Weeds,” a series on Showtime created by Jenji Kohan. While the setup is similar, “Weeds” is almost the opposite of “Breaking Bad.” Whimsical, hilarious, shiny and sexy.

This week, we take a break from the multiplex and dig into our movie collection to share our love for two great films: "Jackie Brown" and "Out of Sight."

For this “Feedback Friday,” Jen issues a big mea culpa for her hockey faux pas, we hear from yet another fan of NBC’s “Parenthood,” we’re encouraged to read some Jeannette Walls, and fellow geek Steve Bryson shares a list of his favorite iPhone apps. It was a relatively quiet week, and listener Amber notes that it can be tricky to keep up with a daily podcast. To help, we’ve set up the ability to subscribe to our show via email. Using the form on the right, you can get each new Popspotting episode emailed to you, so you can easily see what’s on tap or catch up if you’ve missed a few days. We also want to thank our listeners who are checking into “Popspotting” on GetGlue, and to send our deepest gratitude to those who’ve written reviews of our show in the iTunes music store. Hard to believe this episode already marks four weeks of daily shows. And so far, it’s been a fun and rewarding experiment. But we rely on you and your feedback to know how we’re doing, to know what we should be doing, and to keep going. We appreciate every comment, tweet, like, email, and call. Thank you for all your support!

It’s our first international PopTalk & Trivia Thursday! Joining us all the way from Huntingdon near Cambridge in the United Kingdom, Catherine Parkinson (@catparky on Twitter). It’s great to hear the perspective of someone outside the American bubble, and she shares her favorite TV shows with UK roots… but can she hold her own in our very America-centric trivia round?

And now for something completely different. Finally pushing the envelope for our "Wildcard Wednesday" show, we go geeky with a look at our favorite smartphone photography apps. As iPhone users, these picks are iPhone centric, but several of them are also available on Android.

When it comes to solid drama and knockout performances, our absolute favorite show right now is “Breaking Bad” on AMC. It was the series most often recommended to us when we were wallowing in a post-“LOST” fugue state, and it deserves all the acclaim it gets. No, there’s no science fiction, and just a smattering of science. But “Breaking Bad” is intense, gripping, mesmerizing television. Some of its lightest moments are also its darkest, and some of the humor is beautifully painful. We can’t recommend it enough. The Season 3 DVD just came out last week, and Season 4 premieres on July 17. So if you’re not yet aboard, you’ve got just enough time to catch up. And if you love “Breaking Bad” as much as we do, Gavin here in Honolulu points out that you can’t miss the “Breaking Bad Insider Podcast.” If you’re not watching, why not? And if you are, how much do you love the show? Jen suggests that Aaron Paul (as Jesse) has an even tougher job than Bryan Cranston (as Walter)… and given where Season 3 left off (no spoilers!), I think things will only get more amazing for both of them this year.

As "slobbering fanboys" of J.J. Abrams, we've been looking forward to "Super 8" since the moment we first heard about it last year. Written and directed by Abrams, and with Steven Spielberg aboard as executive producer, the movie has been shrouded in secrecy and promoted with an air of mystery. Now that "Super 8" has finally hit the big screen, was it worth the wait?