The Pop Culture Debrief Season Finale: Breaking Down September Issue covers

September is for back-to-school, changing weather, and apparently a LOT of celebrity magazine covers. For the Season 1 finale of Pop Syllabus, Christiana picks up the September issues and takes us inside their biggest covers and most interesting stories. From Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere on Vogue to Rihanna, Usher, Charli XCX, and a powerful Essence cover celebrating Black women, she explores what these magazines choose to put on their covers, what they leave inside the pages, and what it all says about pop culture right now. Thanks to our sponsor, Bilt Rewards, for supporting today's episode: https://joinbilt.com/popsyllabus Follow Pop Syllabus: YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | Substack Merch available now! Sponsor Pop Syllabus: advertise@companionarts.com If there’s a topic you’d like us to deconstruct, tell us in the comments. Email: hello@popsyllabus.com  01:30 Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere on the cover of US Vogue  02:42 Regime change at Vogue  03:30 Nepo babies  06:00 US Vogue cover  07:16 Rihanna on the cover of Elle 09:35 Rihanna’s relationship with Dior  10:47 Elle editorial with Rihanna   12:08 Jermey Strong on the cover of GQ  14:21 GQ editorial with Jeremy strong 16:33 Nicole Kidman on the cover of British Vogue  18:43 Brad Pitt on the cover of Esquire 20:04 Esquire editorial with Brad Pitt 26:18 Sanaa Lathan, Nina Compton, Mara Brock Akil and Nikole Hannah-Jones on the front cover of Essence  27:50 Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on the back cover of Essence  28:09 America at 250  30:00 Seeing Black women with mature skin and gray hair  31:30 Isan Elba  32:01 Hair styles and product recommendations in Essence  35:38 Mardi Gras  36:00 Essence editorial with Sanaa Lathan, Nina Compton, Mara Brock Akil and Nikole Hannah-Jones  37:19 Terrence Jenkins and Mikalah Sultan 39:12 Essence editorial with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson 40:57 “Letters to America” in Essence 41:30 Afro-optimism  41:52 The American flag and who gets to own it  44:20 Christiana’s relationship with England and the English flag 46:19 Black women and reproductive health in Essence  46:42 Usher on the cover of Architectural Digest 49:25 A feature on decorative plates in Architectural Digest 49:58 Usher’s Architectural Digest feature  52:58 Charli XCX on the cover of Rolling Stone  54:40 George Michael feature in Rolling Stone 55:00 Comparing Rolling Stone to other magazines 55:13 Shaboozey in Rolling Stone 55:40 James Comey profile in Rolling Stone 57:00 Charli XCX editorial in Rolling Stone  57:40 Afroman in Rolling Stone 59:00 Keke Palmer editorial in Rolling Stone 01:00:18 Adam Friedland in Rolling Stone  01:00:42 The Legend of the Plaster Caster in Rolling Stone 01:02:16 A man who wants to help people print guns in Rolling Stone 01:02:30 Assessing Rolling Stone  01:03:12 Star Magazine 01:10:00 How to keep up with Christiana Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices