Shows / Dissect
Dissect
Analyzing the music and meaning of one album per season, one song per episode. Join host Cole Cuchna as he dives deep into albums by Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Radiohead, Beyonce, Tyler The Creator, Frank Ocean, and more. Let's Dissect.
Episodes
DissectS9E9 - Dunno / Jet Fuel by Mac Miller
We continue our season-long analysis of Mac Miller’s Swimming with two tracks united by clouds: “Dunno” and “Jet Fuel.” Shop Season 9 merchandise here. Follow…
DissectA Conversation about Conversation Pt. 1 by Mac Miller
In this bonus episode, Cole and Cam talk through Mac Miller’s “Conversations Pt. 1.” While the song feels like one big flex, as always, there’s layers beneath…
DissectS9E8 - Small Worlds by Mac Miller
We continue our season-long analysis of Mac Miller’s Swimming with its eighth track, “Small Worlds.” Shop Season 9 merchandise here. Follow Dissect on Tiktok…
DissectS9E7 - Ladders by Mac Miller
We continue our season-long analysis of Mac Miller’s Swimming with its seventh track, “Ladders.” Shop Season 9 merchandise here. Follow Dissect on Tiktok…
DissectS9E6 - Wings by Mac Miller
We continue our season-long analysis of Mac Miller’s Swimming with its sixth track, “Wings.” Shop Season 9 merchandise here. Follow Dissect on Tiktok…
DissectS9E5 - Self Care by Mac Miller
We continue our season-long analysis of Mac Miller’s Swimming with its fifth track, “Self Care.” Shop Season 9 merchandise here. Follow Dissect on Tiktok…
DissectS9E4 - Perfecto by Mac Miller
We continue our season-long analysis of Mac Miller’s Swimming with its fourth track, “Perfecto.” This season includes discussion of substance misuse and…
DissectDissecting Mac Miller's Faces
S9 co-writer Camden Ostrander joins Cole to discuss their approach to Swimming In Circles before dissecting Faces, Mac's 2014 mixtape that recently hit…
DissectS9E3 - What's The Use? by Mac Miller
We continue our season-long analysis of Mac Miller’s Swimming with its third track, “What’s The Use?” It’s here that Mac at once asks the fundamental…
DissectS9E2 - Hurt Feelings by Mac Miller
We continue our season-long analysis of Mac Miller’s Swimming with its second track, “Hurt Feelings.” Produced by J Cole, the song finds Mac establishing one…
DissectS9E1 - Mac Miller: Swimming in Circles
We begin our season-long analysis of Mac Miller’s conceptual double album Swimming In Circles. This season includes discussion of substance misuse and…
DissectS8E13 - Epilogue: The Life of Pablo
Yeezus brought Kanye to the church steps with his divine woman. But what happened after the vows were exchanged? That's the journey of The Life of Pablo…
DissectS8E12 - Finale: The YEEZUS Tour
In our Season 8 finale, we dissect the narrative and stage design of Kanye West's 2013 Yeezus Tour. In this five act show, Kanye uses songs from his entire…
DissectS8E11 - Bound 2 by Kanye West
Our serialized analysis of Yeezus continues with its final track “Bound 2,” a song that resolves the album both musically and narratively. Back in the club on…
DissectS8E10 - Send It Up by Kanye West
Our serialized analysis of Yeezus continues with its penultimate track “Send It Up.” After the emotional journey we’ve witnessed on the album, why is Yeezus…
DissectS8E9 - Guilt Trip by Kanye West
Our serialized analysis of Yeezus continues with “Guilt Trip.” After the catharsis and breakthrough of “Blood on the Leaves, ” Yeezus seems ready to move on…
DissectS8E8 - Blood on the Leaves by Kanye West
Our serialized analysis of Yeezus continues with the epic “Blood on the Leaves.” Here Yeezus reveals that a woman he once loved was stolen by the limelight…
DissectS8E7 - I’m In It by Kanye West
Our serialized analysis of Yeezus continues with “I’m In It.” After being rejected by an ex-girlfriend, Yeezus uses his celebrity status and escapes into a…
DissectS8E6 - Hold My Liquor by Kanye West
Our serialized analysis of Yeezus continues with “Hold My Liquor.” After failing to overthrow the powers that be, Yeezus retreats into a haze of alcohol and…
DissectS8E5 - New Slaves by Kanye West
Our serialized analysis of Yeezus continues with “New Slaves.” Over menacing, pulsating dissonance, Kanye expresses his belief that our cultural addiction to…
DissectS8E4 - I Am A God by Kanye West
Our serialized examination of Yeezus continues with “I Am A God.” Written after being rejected entry into a Paris fashion show, “I Am A God” finds Kanye…
DissectS8E3 - Black Skinhead by Kanye West
We continue our track by track analysis of Yeezus with “Black Skinhead.” Produced by Daft Punk, “Black Skinhead” is our first indication that Yeezus has…
DissectS8E2 - On Sight by Kanye West
Our song by song analysis of Yeezus begins with its opening track “On Sight.” We meet the crude Yeezus character in his natural habitat at a nightclub, living…
DissectS8E1 - Kanye West: YEEZUS
Our season-long dissection of Yeezus by Kanye West begins now! After revisiting the album’s polarizing impact in 2013, we set up our song by song analysis of…
DissectBLACK IS KING by Beyonce (Part 6)
<p>Our special mini-series on Beyonce’s BLACK IS KING concludes with an examination of “BLACK PARADE.”</p> <p>Released on Juneteenth 2020, “BLACK PARADE” is…
DissectBLACK IS KING by Beyonce (Part 5)
<p>Our special mini-series on Beyonce’s BLACK IS KING continues with an examination of “Otherside,” “My Power,” and “Spirit.”</p> <p>Simba returns to the river…
DissectBLACK IS KING by Beyonce (Part 4)
<p>Our special mini-series on Beyonce’s BLACK IS KING continues with an examination of “Water,” “Brown Skin Girl,” and “Keys to the Kingdom.”</p> <p>This act…
DissectBLACK IS KING by Beyonce (Part 3)
<p>Our special mini-series on Beyonce’s BLACK IS KING continues with an examination of “MOOD 4 EVA,” “Ja Ara E,” and “Already.”</p> <p>After fleeing the Pride…
DissectBLACK IS KING by Beyonce (Part 2)
<p>Our special mini-series on Beyonce’s BLACK IS KING continues with an examination of “Don’t Jealous Me,” “Scar,” and “Nile.”</p> <p>After Mufasa is murdered…
DissectBLACK IS KING by Beyonce (Part 1)
<p>Beyonce’s BLACK IS KING is a love letter to Africa, and we’re dissecting its story, music, and many visual symbols in a special seven part mini-series.</p>…
DissectS7E14 - Season Finale: Because The Internet
<p>We conclude our season long analysis of Because The Internet with a sweeping recap of the album and script’s central narrative. We then outline and analyze…
DissectBONUS - Talking Childish Gambino with S7 co-writer Camden Ostrander
<p>Cole and S7 co-writer Camden Ostrander have a conversation about Childish Gambino, Because The Internet, 3.15.20, Glover as an artist, and more. Then they…
DissectS7E13 - Life: The Biggest Troll by Childish Gambino
<p>Because The Internet concludes with a retrospective wherein Gambino and Glover look back at the world’s main narrative and provide insights with a newfound…
DissectS7E12 - Earth: The Oldest Computer by Childish Gambino
<p>We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “Earth: The Oldest Computer.” Gambino and The Boy grapple with the meaning of life and…
DissectS7E11 - Urn / Pink Toes by Childish Gambino
<p>We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “Urn” and “Pink Toes.” Gambino continues to grapple with the loss of his father and…
DissectS7E10 - Zealots of Stockholm by Childish Gambino
<p>We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “Zealots of Stockholm.” After waking up from a drug overdose, Gambino is told that his…
DissectS7E9 - Flight of the Navigator by Childish Gambino
<p>We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “Death by Numbers” and “Flight of the Navigator.” After attempting to take his own…
DissectS7E8 - The Party / No Exit by Childish Gambino
<p>We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “The Party” and “No Exit.” Here Gambino’s existential crisis comes to a head. After…
DissectBTI’s Secret Track: 3005 (Beach Picnic Version)
In one of the more creative pieces of the Because The Internet world, Donald Glover created a secret track that fans had to assemble by connecting various…
DissectS7E7 - 3005 by Childish Gambino
<p>We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “3005.” Commonly mistaken as a love song, “3005” is a desperate plea for connection…
DissectS7E6 - Sweatpants by Childish Gambino
<p>We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “Sweatpants.” After being rejected by a past girlfriend, Gambino’s defense mechanisms…
DissectS7E5 - Telegraph Ave. by Childish Gambino
<p>We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “Telegraph Ave.” Gambino takes a long drive from LA to Oakland to visit a past…
DissectS7E4 - The Worst Guys / Shadows by Childish Gambino
<p>We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “The Worst Guys” and “Shadows.” Since witnessing the murder outside a nightclub…
DissectS7E3 - Worldstar by Childish Gambino
<p>We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with “Worldstar” -- a song with more than a few hidden secrets and surprises. We reveal all…
DissectS7E2 - Crawl by Childish Gambino
<p>We continue our season-long examination of Because The Internet with the album’s opening song “Crawl.” Here we meet the album’s protagonist The Boy - a…
DissectS7E1 - Childish Gambino: Because The Internet
<p>Our season-long analysis of Because The Internet by Childish Gambino begins with a brief overview of Donald Glover’s rise to fame and his debut album Camp…
DissectS6E14 - Coda: 4:44 & Everything Is Love
We follow up our season long analysis of Lemonade by examining Jay-Z’s 4:44 and The Carter’s Everything is Love. With 4:44, Jay-Z offers his perspective on the…
DissectS6E13 - Finale: Lemonade by Beyoncé
We conclude our season-long analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade. We begin with a sweeping summary of the album’s narrative, followed by a detailed investigation of…
DissectLemonade Q&A w/ Titi, Maggie, and Cole
The Season 6 team answers listener submitted questions about Beyoncé, Lemonade, and more. Stay in touch over the break by following us on social media…
DissectS6E12 - Formation by Beyoncé
We continue our serialized analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade by dissecting its final song and video “Formation.” The track is Beyoncé’s clarion call to the…
DissectS6E11 - All Night by Beyoncé
We continue our serialized analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade by dissecting its eleventh and final chapter “Redemption,” which features the song “All Night.”…
DissectS6E10 - Freedom by Beyoncé
We continue our serialized analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade by dissecting its tenth chapter “Hope,” which features the song “Freedom.” Beyoncé gathers her…
DissectS6E9 - Forward by Beyoncé
We continue our serialized analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade by dissecting its ninth chapter “Resurrection,” which features the song “Forward.” Having restored…
DissectS6E8 - Sandcastles by Beyoncé
We continue our serialized analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade by dissecting its eighth chapter “Forgiveness,” which features the song “Sandcastles.” Beyoncé…
DissectS6E7 - Love Drought by Beyoncé
We continue our serialized analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade by dissecting its seventh chapter “Reformation,” which features the song “Love Drought.” Beyoncé…
DissectA Moment of Silence for George Floyd
8 minutes and 46 seconds. The amount of time Officer Derek Chauvin's knee was pressed into George Floyd's neck. We encourage our listeners to use this time of…
DissectS6E6 - Daddy Lessons by Beyoncé
We continue our serialized analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade by dissecting its sixth chapter “Accountability,” which features the song “Daddy Lessons.” Beyoncé…
DissectS6E5 - 6 Inch by Beyoncé (feat. The Weeknd)
We continue our serialized analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade by dissecting its fifth chapter “Emptiness,” which features the song “6 Inch.” We find Beyoncé…
DissectS6E4 - Sorry by Beyoncé
We continue our serialized analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade by dissecting its fourth chapter “Apathy,” which features the song “Sorry.” The inside of the…
DissectS6E3 - Don’t Hurt Yourself by Beyoncé (feat. Jack White)
We continue our serialized analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade by dissecting its third chapter “Anger,” which features the song “Don’t Hurt Yourself.” Beyoncé flips…