Dissect

Our dissection of Random Access Memories continues with a journey through “Within,” “Instant Crush,” “Lose Yourself to Dance,” and the album’s emotional centerpiece, “Touch.” Connecting Changes Everything.⁠ https://www.att.com/connecttochange/⁠ Follow @dissectpodcast on⁠ Instagram⁠,⁠ TikTok⁠, and⁠ Twitter⁠. Host/Writer/EP: Cole Cuchna Editors: Kevin Pooler & Iulia Ciobanu Theme Music: Birocratic Additional Production: Justin Sayles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our season-long dissection of Daft Punk continues with a turning point in their catalog, as we unpack the stark minimalism and dystopian vision of 2005's Human After All. We explore how the album’s cold, mechanical sound and Orwellian themes reframe the duo’s robot personas. Then, we trace how those ideas are expanded on stage in the groundbreaking Alive 2007 tour, where Daft Punk fuse their entire discography into a single, story-driven performance. Connecting Changes Everything.⁠⁠ https://www.att.com/connecttochange/⁠⁠ Follow @dissectpodcast on⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠, and⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠. Host/Writer/EP: Cole Cuchna Editors: Kevin Pooler & Iulia Ciobanu Theme Music: Birocratic Additional Production: Justin Sayles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re taking a brief intermission from our Daft Punk season - but don’t worry, we’re still talking Daft Punk in a special episode of Last Song Standing, the show where Cole and Charles Holmes debate an artist’s catalog to determine their single best song. In this episode, Cole and Charles nominate the tracks from Homework and Discovery they believe deserve a spot in the conversation. Then, after the season finale, they’ll return for Part 2 to cover Human After All, Alive 2007, and Random Access Memories - where the final nominees will battle it out until one remains: the last song standing. Connecting Changes Everything.⁠⁠ https://www.att.com/connecttochange/⁠⁠ Visit us in stores and online ⁠⁠https://Warbyparker.com/DISSECT⁠⁠ Follow @dissectpodcast on⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠, and⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠. Hosts: Cole Cuchna & Charles Holmes Editor: Kevin Pooler Theme: Birocratic Additional Production: Justin Sayles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The LSS crew is back with a year-end draft to celebrate the quarter-century mark in music. Cole, Charles, and Justin draft songs across five different categories: Best Song, Worst Song, One-Hit Wonder, Moment Maker, and Personal Favorite. Who won the draft? Hit the comments and let us know. Hosts: Cole Cuchna and Charles Holmes Producer: Justin Sayles Video Producer: Kevin Pooler Engineer: Kayla Talley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Rakim to Kendrick Lamar, this is the story of hip-hop’s obsession with numbers. Dissect's Cole Cuchna breaks down the evolution of “number bars” - a lyrical tradition where rappers use math, numeric sequences, and wordplay to showcase technical skill and encode hidden meaning. Beginning with Rakim’s groundbreaking verse on “My Melody” (1986) - a quatrain built around groups of seven that secretly mirrors his own 21-letter name - we trace how MCs have used numbers as both a mathematical signature and a symbolic device for decades. From Melle Mel’s divine 7-count in “Superrappin” to Jay-Z’s “22 Twos”, Biggie’s “Ten Crack Commandments,” and Mos Def’s “Mathematics,” numbers became an essential part of hip hop tradition and lyricism. By the 2000s, artists like Lupe Fiasco, J. Cole, JID, Vince Staples, and Kendrick Lamar transformed number schemes into complex storytelling tools. We unpack everything from Lupe’s hidden 3–2–1 countdown on Kanye West’s “Touch the Sky” to Kendrick’s quantum-level equations on “Nosetalgia.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chance the Rapper and Dissect’s Cole Cuchna sit for an in-depth, track-by-track breakdown of Chance’s new album Star Line. We dig into the meaning behind the album’s title, the symbolism of its artwork, and the historical references woven throughout - from Marcus Garvey and the Black Star Line to the Wattstax documentary and beyond. Chance dissects specific lyrics, discusses the spiritual and political threads running through the project, and shares how themes of resistance, memory, and Black liberation shaped the sound and vision of Star Line. This is the definitive deep dive into Chance’s most ambitious work to date. Chapters: 00:00 Intro / Tour Experience 03:50 ‘STAR LINE’ Title Breakdown 14:45 Album Art Breakdown 21:25 “Star Line Intro” Breakdown 44:23 Why Wattstax Doc is Sampled 48:51 “Ride” Lyric Breakdown 01:06:00 “No More Old Men” Breakdown 01:17:36 “The Negro Problem” Breakdown 01:23:49 “Drapetomania” Breakdown 01:31:06 “Back to The Go” Breakdown 01:38:08 “Space and Time” Breakdown 01:50:27 “Letters” Breakdown 02:00:42 “Speed of Love” Breakdown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The LSS Boyz continue their journey to crown the Best Album of the 21st Century (so far) by pitting two historic albums by the same artist against each other: Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.a.a.d. city vs. To Pimp A Butterfly. Every episode this season, Cole and Charles each nominate one album they feel should be in contention for the 21st century's best. Each album is discussed individually before the two albums battle head to head, where Cole and Charles argue until they can agree on the better album. The winning album from each episode advances to the season finale Royal Rumble, where the LSS boys will face off one last time until they can finally agree on the Best Album of the 21st Century. New episodes every Tuesday. Hosts: Cole Cuchna & Charles Holmes Producer: Justin Sayles Audio/Video Editing: Kevin Pooler Video Engineer: CT Theme Music: Birocratic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices