Pop Culture Happy Hour - Y2K Pop Culture

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

We are 25 years into the 2000s, so we wanted to debate: what’s the most definitive piece of Y2K pop culture? We try to pinpoint the essence of that period when teens ruled the culture, viral internet memes first became a thing, and everyone was freaking out about stocking up on duct tape. We talk about Spice World, Get Over It, Britney Spears’ “Oops… I Did It Again” music video, and Janet Jackson’s “Empty.”See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

True story, a couple of years ago, American Girl introduced a pair of new historical characters from, wait for it, 1999. The dolls accessories were as Y2K as they could possibly get. A Tamagachi, a purple inflatable chair, a portable CD player. Basically, my 11-year-old life. I felt so old when I saw that. Now we're officially a quarter century into the 2000s, and it's our turn to be a little bit nostalgic here on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. We're going to try to pinpoint the essence of that period when teens ruled the culture. Viral Internet means first became a thing, and everyone was freaking out about stocking up

on duct tape. I'm Aisha Harris, and today we're debating what's the most definitive piece of Y2K pop culture. Join me today is Christina Tucker. She's the co-host of the podcast, Wait. Is this a date? Hello, Christina. Hello, hello. Thrilled to be here. Thrill to have you here. Also with us is Culture writer Margaret H. Wilson. Hello, Margaret. Hi, Aisha. Delighted to be here. It's so lovely to have you. And making their pop culture happy hour debut, I am so excited, is the host of the podcast, Pop Pantheon, DJ Louis the 14th. Welcome to the show, Louie. Aisha, this is a true honor. Thank you so much for having me. It's so great to have you here. So we're here to argue for the piece of culture that we think best captures the spirit of Y2K. And for our purposes, were going to be defining the Y2K era as being bookended by two very arbitrary but monumental cultural

moments, the international launch of the Tamagachi in May of 1997, and the shutdown of Napster in 2001. So whatever we chose had to fall within that time period. Christina, I'm going to start with you. Tell us what is your pick? Folks, it's Spice World. It's the movie Spice World. I consider doing the album Spice World. But when I thought about the film Spice World, there were some obvious things that made a very Y2K culture to me. One, the fashions. The fashions are extremely of the Y2K era in a way that I find so comforting and takes me simply right back to being an 11 year old once again. The notion of girl power, huge for Y2K. I don't know what we had happening in the culture, something that I'd love to bring back maybe. But for me, the most definitive thing that makes this

Y2K culture is the way the paparazzi are obsessed with stalking. those girls. And to me, that spooky man is like one of the horsemen of like the apocalypse. And then like right on his heels is, you know, we've got Perez Hilton coming down the line. You know, Dumois is coming later. I think the way they talk about privacy and what we demand from celebrities as people, it was just like a shockingly prescient way of thinking about what pop culture would become. And for me, that makes it very definitive of Y2K culture. because Y2K and paparazzi culture, baby, tight as heck. I mean, that was also, 97 was the same year as the death of Princess Diana, right?

And that had its own paparazzi storyline. Christina, look, I love this. I named my first book after a Spice Girl song. Like, this is very dear to me. I'm curious, Louis and Margaret, how do we feel about this? Does this feel like an apt pick? Does it feel Y2K enough? It's such a strong pick.

This is such a good pick. Like, I'm actually sort of kicking myself that I didn't think of it, to be honest with you. Like, I have so many core memories tied to this. Like, definitely as a queer person, as a queer man, spice world. And in my pick also are points of, like, deep conflict manifesting themselves because I wanted to love the spice girls openly, but I couldn't because of maybe what that meant. And I remember trying to find, like, roundabout ways to, like, see this movie without, like, letting too much on.

So a lot of psychological fraughtness. I don't know if it's Y2K to be like. a certain version of closetedness, a certain version of closeted kid. And also, I would say, this sort of like glossy, almost naive, bright-eyed optimism of the teen pop movement and like how teens were represented. I mean, the Spice Girls themselves were not teens, but they were geared towards that culture. And in some ways, I think, like, calcified or were the precursors to, like, the teen pop explosion that would happen a couple of years later. A hundred percent. And that particular sort of teen milieu, I feel.

like is so Y2K to me in the most quintessential way. I feel like the Spice Girls taught us to love Europop again. Like as a country, we lost our way. As a country, we like only wanted something that had like aesthetic grit to it that like thought how much we were going to enjoy listening to it. And the Spice Girls swooped in and they were like, what if it was just fun to listen to and you could dance to it all the time. Right.

And for a heady moment, we were like, yeah. Well, it's like the time. timeframe that you all have presented of like 97 and 2001 is really interesting in sort of like the pop musical trajectory because you're sort of like dealing with the exact moment where there's sort of this like retrenchment towards pure pop sort of frivolous pop after sort of this dominant period for gangster rap for grunge for like these more kind of for Lilith fair for these more sort of like cred driven raucist ideals of centralized pop music and back towards something that sort of celebrated artifice, celebrated lightness, celebrated, again, like I think a certain

European sensibility that tracks through also the American teen pop of that moment via Max Martin and all these Swedish men. So, yeah, I think that's a really quintessentially Y2K thing too as well, this sort of like version of pop music. Especially the Spice World album was such a disco-inflicted piece of work. It was like a look back to 20 years prior. Yeah. So it was like that weird moment.

And then, of course, like in that same period, you have VH1 launching its I Love the 70s and I Love the 80s. So it's both of its time, but also it's like a complete rewind and a remix. Right. It's like a postmodernism version of pop music in a way. Like, and that's what you could also say about a lot of this team pop music that was essentially being like, I'm going to take this from disco. I'm going to take this from rock. I'm going to take this from reggae, whatever it is, and sort of like take them.

stickiest parts of everything and like just blast them out to a thousand. Right. Yeah, absolutely. I also think it's crucial to remember that Spice World includes aliens. That's also very Y2K culture. Deeply Y2K to be like what's happening in space and like what's going on up there. And the future, like a very specific sort of glossy version of like what the future could look like maybe. I feel like in the last seven or eight years, that's when like Y2K fashion has starting to become cool again among actual young people.

and I remember just how chilling it was. The first time that I saw Y2K as a descriptor on a secondhand site, and the way it was like, they were presenting the clothing that I had been traumatized by as a teenager. And they were presenting it like, no person who had been personally victimized by it was ever going to encounter it. It was like an archaeological find. It's like, from nowhere, we bring back butterfly clips. And I was like, no. They come back from somewhere.

Well, it was my understanding that when I was 11 years old and wearing bell bottoms, that everyone who lived through that already was like, why are you doing this again? Right. I finally understood how everyone who was young in the 70s felt about my Delius catalogs. Right. Yep. What was also interesting about the Spice Girls versus some other, like, members of this boom, right? Was that they presented a version of quote unquote diversity that, like, I feel like wasn't that common.

Like, I mean, you had a person of color in the group. their body types. I mean, like, now we look back at it and we're like, those are five skinny women. Like, you know what I mean? At the time, you know, given how messed up our body standards were. Well, sporty was so sporty. Yes, she was sporty. She's kind of queer, right?

Right. And also when you contrast them with the Britneys and Christina's, you know, who had this very particular version of sort of like ultra thinness and all that kind of stuff. Like, the spice schools were kind of like this. Be yourself. Like, be different. Yeah. Be outside the norm.

That was what girl power was in a way. Yeah, it was like, here's five versions that you can be pick what. Right, exactly. Exactly. Which was more than a lot of our pop culture at that time was selling us. Yeah, this is true. This is true. Well, it's sort of taking the actual, like, challenge and complexity of the early 90s and, like, fully commercializing it.

Right. And defanging it. Right. And being like, yeah, be yourself in a sexy way. Yeah, be yourself in a sexy way. Yeah. Be you as long as it's hot. Yes, yes.

Right. I mean, Christina, that is a very very. very worthy pick for most definitive. That is Spice World, the movie, of course, which came out in 1997. And now we're going to move to Margaret's pick. And we've got another movie here. And there's so many movies you could have chosen from this era. I'm so excited to hear. You're so excited to hear why I chose this one? Seriously. Yes. Yes, I am. I started seventh grade in 1997. So I feel like that gives me a frame of reference where like this is like peak teen years. And this is also, I feel, the apex of the second way.

of teen movie culture. If we have like John Hughes is our first wave or like maybe Gidgett is our first wave, then we have John Hughes, right? And then we have Y2K. And there are so many movies in this period I could have talked about. Obviously, Josie and the Pussycats was in the conversation. But I already talked about them on the fictional band episode and I do have to have like more than one personality trait.

I can't just talk about them all the time. But 10 things I hate about you, bring it on. Even She's All That. There are so many incredible teen movies. why did I pick this medium terrible one, get over it? Which, if you've never heard of it, get over it. Don't be surprised. It's because I think if something achieves escape velocity from its time period, right?

I think it gets re-contextualized and like we incorporate it into our own aesthetics now. Right? Like I couldn't pick Bring It On because Bring It On is already being made in part of our time because it's in the thank you next video by Ariana Grande. Right. But if you find something that stayed trapped in the amber of its period, right? Like, you can extract the DNA and, like, you could make Y2K again with the blood of Get Over It. Okay. So, remind us all what Get Over It is about. So Get Over It is part of the proud Y2K tradition of retelling Shakespeare plays as teen movies.

Of course. In this case, it is... That was a movement. Yeah, a huge movement. Bring it back. A midsummer night's dream, a boy gets dumped by the girl he wants to be with at the beginning of it, and he ends up with a different girl by the end. The different girl is Kirsten Dunst. The boy is Ben Foster. We have Milakunis up in the mix. We have a lot of people, but we also have figures who exist basically in this time period and have never come back again. Like, the opening credits are for some reason, vitamin C. Vitamin C. with a marching band.

Yeah, that sounds right. That is Y2K. That is Y2K. You know what else is Y2K? Ben Foster's best friend slash sidekick. One of them is Colin Hanks, right? Y2K, absolutely. Nepo Baby, a new generation.

And to the other one, Cisco. Cisco of the song. The outward credits are a duet between Cisco and vitamin C. And if that's not Y2K, I don't know what is. However, the most Y2K thing about this is, this is one of those classic teen dramas where they're like in a play, but then their lives are also mirroring the play. So there's a lot of Shakespearean nonsense, but the most Y2K thing is, the theater teacher

who is running this musical version of a Midsummer Night's Dream is played by Martin Short, and I am going to send a picture in the chat. because I just think it's really important for you to see how Martin Short is costumed. For the listeners at home, we have Martin Short. He has the classic straight up in the front styling of male hairstyle with frosted tips. Frosted tips. Those are frosty. Frosty frosted tips.

He is tanning bed tanned a crispy orange. He's Marka McGrath. He has Marka McGrath sideburns, those skinny ones that are like really, really sharp at the bottom, very shaped. Yeah. And he has a soul patch. The man is wearing not one but two studded leather cuffs on his wrist. And he has a shirt that has a sort of psychedelic, fiery leaf print on it that is made out of some kind of absolutely egregious polyester with those huge lapels.

And what is important about this image is not even at the height of Y2K mania presently. Not even now would anyone choose to dress like this. This is not the part of Y2K, but like you're excited to show off to other people. Like, this is what it was really like when you were in it. That is why I chose to get over it because I'm not over what this time did to me. And I want other people to understand it better. The crusade that you're on. I mean, Cisco, in and of himself makes this such a great pick to me.

Like, in some ways I'm like, is the thong song like the ultimate Y2K moment? literally sitting here and thinking, it might be. I honestly considered it. I did consider the thog song. But no, when you open the DVD case for this and you have to open a DVD case because you can still smell Gap, Dream, just emanates out. K1 hits you right in the face. I love it.

Love it. Okay, Margaret, that is a great pick. That was the movie, Get Over It. And now we're going to throw to you, Louis. Louis, what is your pick? Okay, well, I'm going to come in on a unique angle and I'm going to say a word that, you know, may not be everyone's favorite, but I feel like should be mentioned in this conversation, which is 9-11. Yeah. Not everyone's favorite.

I'm sorry to like bring up 9-11 in the chat, but. Yes, I mean, that was part of our cutoff for this experiment. That feels like the end of an era in a way. Yeah, right. That's the end of Y2K to me. And it's sort of that loss of innocence, right? I mean, I think that, like, that is the end of whatever this moment is for culture, for our world. And so when I was thinking about this, I was like, what is sort of emblematic of that particular brand of sort of like pop macro naivete or whatever it was?

And to me, that's Britney Spears and everything that surrounds her. So I picked the oops. I did it again, music video, which came out in 2000, directed by Nigel Dick, who had also. directed her previous music video for Baby One More Time, her infamous debut music video, where she tied her shirt up, we all know that. That could easily also be on this list. But I think that Upsite did it again captures the things that sort of are emblematic to me about Y2K aesthetically, and specifically as it's framed through that sort of naivete, this sort of like futurism with this glossy edge, this sort of knowingly artificial futurism, like in the video,

Brittany is in some sort of like space age something. Mars Lander, what's happening up there? And she was hot, too. I mean, let me tell you. I mean, she is at the peak of her very specific version of sort of like, I'm an innocent teen, but also I am beckoning you sexual. Not a girl, not yet a woman. That is 100% correct.

And what that sort of represents to me is this sort of techno-optimism, right? that we were in this moment of like, the future is here. Like, that's the thing about the turn of the millennium that was such a big deal. It's like, we're in the future. Like, we've arrived in 2000. Whoa, like the word 2000 in and of itself

was like this kind of mind-blowing idea. And I think this video really captures that sort of like, oh my God, the forward march of technology, like the internet, like whatever it was. I feel like that version that sort of like almost like completely service level, like not grappling with any of the danger of this, just thinking about like the fun of technology. Right? Like, I feel like that's a big part of that. Doesn't it look cool?

Yes, exactly. I think that's what we did. I think we were all like, yeah, doesn't tech look cool? And now we're kind of like, wait, what? I think palette-wise, both as a song and a video, it really represents like what Y2K was about, like bright, iridescent silvers, like hot pinks, blues. Like Britney's in that obviously like super red. Latex. Latex jumpsuit. Plastic in latex jump suit. Plastic is. Y2K culture. Yeah. A hundred percent. Latex and also her body, right? Her body's very clearly shown in that outfit and that body is the Y2K in some ways.

Ideal. The emblematic Y2K female ideal body, right? Brittany was that for so many people. You know, I think the idea that Christina you were getting at in yours, which was sort of this idea of postmodernism, like this idea of like the music in particular, oops, I did it again when I think about like what. sort of Swedish pop mastermind Max Martin was doing at that time. God bless him. God bless him. But Max Martin's music was sort of this post-genre, post-modern ideal of like what pop could be. There were no boundaries. It kind of gets into the techno-futurism for the whole thing where it's like, we're not beholden to tradition. We're not pulled into boundaries. We're making R&B music,

but with like this white girl in the front. Like, you know, roots don't matter. Like history doesn't matter. We're back to Y2K. Combine everything. Everything's got to be two things. It even has a Titanic reference. Like, come on now. Yeah. Right. Exactly. And the video has a literal titanic reference in it. Like for like no apparent real reason except to just sort of say like, what if there was a Titanic reference on this? But it all serves this idea of like, you know, shameless capitalism in a way. Like we're not here to talk about roots. We're not here to talk about history. We're not here to think about anything besides like what will grab and sell the most. So if that means like, you know, a wah-wa funk baseline and big electronic guitars from

arena rock and it means like, you know, culling from black musical traditions with really no black people involved or like respect for where any of this is coming from. Sure, sure. It didn't matter. And like, let's throw the Titanic reference in. Like, we have flames. We have keyboard slams.

There's nothing that can't be in this, right? Like there's no boundaries. There's no history. We're in the future. We're in this spaceship of some sort. And Titanic's here also, you know, utopian dreams, right? And I think that that's why I bring up 9-11 because I think that that in some ways in relief highlights the sort of foundational elements of this moment, which were that, like, there was this naivete.

And to me, Brittany, miss, you know, I'm not that innocent, but like, you know, you are that innocent. You know, that kind of dichotomy. She embodies that very clearly to me and especially in this video. I mean, even to your point about capitalism, this is like peak teen pop explosion, right? Like, it was the year 2000. You had millennium. Backstreet Boys had just come out the year before. Smash records. And then, you know, you have no strings attached, celebrity. the Insinct album that came out in 2000, 2001. So it was just kind of like this moment where it crested and then it went away. But it was also as capitalistic as it was, the idea that teens could propel the culture in a way that felt not very new, but it felt like a different version of that because it was the very early internet version of that.

Oh, man. I mean, this is a great pick. I mean, all of these have been excellent picks. I think we're definitely touching on a lot of ways both different and the same that the culture was kind of aligned aesthetically. And like that's really well represented by the Titanic reference. Yeah, totally. Because it's not like she's like, oh, you brought me the heart of the ocean from the movie Titanic,

directed by James Cameron. Right? Yeah. Heart of the ocean. Everyone knows what that is. Everyone knows what it looks like because everyone's seen that movie. Yeah. Everyone still knows what that looks like.

Totally. Because this is sort of the last time we had a monoculture, this mono. Yes, for sure. Absolutely. So I think that that's just an important sort of like element of. this that then begins to fracture. I mean, the Napster thing is powerful because of the minute people start being able to download music and choose their own adventures musically, that's part of the dissolving of this whole idea. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, great pick, Lily. You went with

Oops, I Did It Again, the video for Britney Spears. And now we're going to go to my pick from Britney to arguably one of her mothers, one of her forebears, her pop forebears. I chose a Janet Jackson song. As I already hint, I went in the kind of the complete opposite direction of Margaret in terms of how I thought about this, which is, like, I wanted to figure out what kind of both lived in this space where it was forward-thinking and really predicted the way that we interact and what also felt like very much, you know, of the moment at and of that time. And so I chose a deep-cut Janet Jackson song called Empty from her fantastic, very forward-thinking album, The Velvet Rope. And I just want to start by saying the opening of this song sounds like this. So anyone who's listening to this who's probably under the age of like, I don't know, 25, 30, you might not know what that sound is, but that is a sound of your modem booting.

And having to connect your phone, like your phone line was connected to the internet. And if you were on the internet, you couldn't also use the phone. It was very much a point of contention in many households, including mine. And your parents were like, get off the internet. you know, that alone. This song came out in 1997. The album came out in 1997. And so the internet existed, chat rooms existed, but it was still very, very nascent. It was still very, very early in that time. And that sound alone to me is very Y2K. But then the concept of this song is internet connection with someone you've never met in real life. And this is like specifically

more about love than it is about necessarily like friendship. It's like a very lusting and very yearning song, but also this can apply to, you know, any sort of relationship. So here's one of the verses which will tell you everything if you can understand, because look, I love Janet, but sometimes her enunciation, you know, but here we go. The way she sings, we've never met, like, oh my goodness. Because this song is like, it's a discovery, right? It's like, I've never felt this way before. I've never connected to someone without having met them before. Like, is this a new way to love?

Girls, you don't know. Like, I met my partner slash husband, whatever I'm calling him now. Like, I met him on the internet some couple decades later after this album came out. But, like, it happened. And the way that this song predicts online dating, but also just how now this is how so many people interact. And Catfish came out of people finding love on the internet and being scanned. This idea of connection and the way she talks about it and the way she frames it as this is very exciting and fun, but it's also kind of depressing and leaves me empty.

I feel empty. And she keeps saying, I feel empty. That just hits. Yeah. Especially in a post-COVID world, you see all these studies about younger people, Gen Z, Gen Alpha, who like don't know how to communicate in real life because they only connect on the internet. Look, Tumblr had some great moments, great connections. Live Journal was my thing back in the day. I had a lot of people I never met who I was like, oh, I know you on LJ.

Like, what's your handle? It's just to me, I don't know if you can get more Wichukave and talking about how we connect over the internet and how the internet has worked our sense of belonging, our sense of understanding, our sense of just like having internet personalities that are different from perhaps the way we are in real life. Yeah. Yeah. And the song is just a frigging bomb.

Janet wrote it with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and her then husband at the time, Renee Elizondo Jr. like it's just like it sounds very 2000s. It does. It just kind of comes in that same mix of that era of R&B especially, but also pop, like, InSync had digital getdown. I was literally thinking about digital get down. Just you and me, baby.

The entire fan mail TLC album is like, you can draw that line. It has an entire internet, roboti voice interludes and things about connecting with fans. I just think it's both, it was part of a musical moment and led to more songs and more musical culture happening. in that vein in a very Y2K way, but also, like, almost all of it can apply just as much to the present day as it did then. Yeah.

Yeah. I think that's what's really interesting for me about it is, like, thinking about her in 97 thinking, like, but I feel empty, even having all of these connections when I think, like, digital get down for me is like, oh, this is like sexy and fun. Like, there's no negative. You know, you're 20,000 miles away, but I can see you. And, like, there's excitement there. And here, I love in this one that she's like, this is interesting and new and fun.

but it's not doing anything for me. And I think that is really interesting that it took us this long to get to where she's kind of at right now. Well, leave it to Janet's, like, ultra sensitivity to capture something more nuanced in a moment that was often about sort of like maximalist overload. I think that, like, this song is unique in that way because Janet was at this moment of, like, creative zenith. This album is perhaps, like, maybe my all-time favorite album, but also one of the most influential.

It's one of the best albums ever, right? It is one of the best albums of all-time, period. and this is maybe the best song on the record, so like incredible pick. Like, of everything that we've spoken about, maybe this entire day, I feel like as much as this sounds Y2K,

I think you hear this song in contemporary music so clearly. The innovation that was going on here is something that is very directly referenced by so many artists today. And like, what do you even call this? Like, it's R&B, it's electronic music, it's pop, it's avant-garde,

It's mainstream. It's sexy. It's sad. It contains so many multitudes. It's so layered. I'm feeling emotional. Just thinking back at somebody at the dawn of this moment, looking out over the horizon and wondering about what this is going to mean for us. And like how dark it is for all of us sitting here, like, knowing what it's manifested and, like, how bad things have become because of all of this stuff.

And just, like, thinking about her sheer, like, prescience and brilliance in that moment. But also the naivete that we were talking about earlier. Like she is grappling with this in layered ways, but she can't possibly really know what's coming, you know what I mean? And just sort of that sense of wonder, you know what I mean? I feel like we live in a moment that feels like we don't have a lot of wonder. And like I feel like even in all of her fears and anxieties that she expresses on this song, there's still that sense of like possibilities of what could be maybe good, maybe bad.

She doesn't really know. And there's something sort of sad to me about thinking back on that moment and like what the song encapsulates in that way. Woo, Y2K. Also, everyone, like, listen to the Velvet Rope because, wow, like, any excuse to listen to that album. Absolutely. Well, we want to know what you think is the most definitive piece of Y2K pop culture. Find us at Facebook.com slash PCH.

And that brings us to the end of our show. Margaret H. Wilson, Christina Tucker, DJ Louis the 14th. Thanks so much for being here. You did not leave me empty. I feel full and full. build. Same. Girl power. And let's just say Y2K was better. Here, here. This episode was produced by Carly Rubin, Jenei Morris, and Mike Katzv, and edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy. Hello, Come In, provides our theme music. Thanks so much for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. I'm Ayesha Harris, and we'll see you all next time.