PopCult

We go back to late September, 2012 for Radio Free Charleston 169, “The Black Knight Rises,” which featured music from Emily Burdette, Godmode Broadway and The Nanker Phelge, plus two short films by Frank Panucci.

This episode ws hosted from The Mound in South Charleston as a bit of a preview of the very first ShockaCon.

This episode leads with the first of two shorts by Frank Panucci. “A Guide To International Road Signs” is a classic, award-winning educational short made by Frank way back in 1990, before the fall of the Berlin Refrigerator and the collapse of the Potrzebie regime in Eastern Europe. We also get a new LAX animation, which includes a subtle subliminal advertisement.

Our first musical guest this week was Emily Burdette, a talented singer/songwriter, and a filmmaker to boot. On this episode we were proud to bring you her debut music video, “Fall Air.” This video was directed by Curtis Baskerville, and shot in Lewisburg, West Virginia. A few weeks after this episode, RFC presented a music video by Amanda Brigette, directed by Emily.

Godmode Broadway made their debut on RFC earlier 2012, and burned brightly, if only for a short time, as one of the coolest bands in town. We recorded Godmode Broaday at The Blue Parrot, and they treat us to their song, “Origins.”

Our final guests on this episode of the show were our old friends, The Nanker Phelge, and they play us out with a song recorded on Christmas Eve, 2010 at The Empty Glass, “Killer Took a Holiday.”

You can find the original production notes HERE.

The PopCulteer
January 9, 2026

Earlier this week Charleston’s Mayor, Amy Goodwin, announced that the city has been engaged in talks with The Hull Group, the owners of The Charleston Town Center Mall, to acquire the mall and attempt to either revitalize it, or develop it into something more useful.

Even though this was all over the local news, it wasn’t exactly news. She said the same thing eleven months ago on 580 Live on WCHS Radio, but this time it was in an official address, so folks are needlessly excited.

This has led to endless talk and speculation about the future of The Town Center, so I figured why not join in? It’s fun! The mall is currently operating with less than 15% of its available retail space actually being used. The rest is comfortably cocooning behind drywall, hoping to be reborn. It’s estimated that as much as 70%  of the current foot traffic at the mall is from people making “ghost mall” videos for YouTube or Tik Tok.  This does not seem sustainable.

There are a few facts that have to be recognized before you jump feet-first into any discussion about the future of the mall.

First of all, you’re not just dealing with one owner. Each anchor store owned their own land, and now with all four of the original anchor stores gone, things are more complicated than they had been.

And they were already plenty complicated. The parking buildings are owned by a separate entity. I believe it’s a group of the original bondholders who bought them back out of an auction to keep them from being sold for less than they thought they were worth. Also, a different entity, one controlled by the city, owns the land those parking building are on.

I think the city also has a stake in the land that was the former Macy’s, which has been demolished to make way for the now-questionable Aquatic Center (with all the aquatic elements excised), which may never happen. The city may have bought the JC Penny, which closed last year. I’m not clear on that.

The former Sears is supposed to be a hotel. Plans were filed about a year ago, but I don’t think any ground has been broken yet. That should still happen. It’s a great location.

Is it a prize, or a boondoggle?

Doing anything with the rest of the property is going to require some serious consolidation. The Hull Group, who owns the actual mall, seem to be perfectly content to use what is now essentially a ghost mall as a tax write-off to offset profits from their thriving mall properties in other states. They don’t seem too interested in doing what might be best for the city. This is a company that bought a mall in Reading, Pennsylvania, and eventually tore it down, leaving a fenced-in grassy field between the two still-operating anchor stores because that was cheaper than trying to refurbish it and attract new tenants. In order to pry this property from their hands, it’s going to take more money that they’re getting now from their accounting gymnastics.

Making the leap into a fantasy world where all of that land: the mall; the parking buildings; the former Macy’s and JC Penny–let’s say all of that winds up in the hands of one entity, then you have to figure out what the best use of the property would be.

I see a lot of posts on social media suggesting that this land be used for low-income housing for the elderly or disabled. There are so many reasons that will never happen, many of them being very ugly reasons, that it’s not worth discussing. There would just be too much money involved to expect it to be used for any purpose that doesn’t generate revenue.

The folks who were pushing big for a sports center so they could grab some of those “sports tourism” dollars may have come back to reality now that there has been a glut of sports centers in nearby areas, and many are struggling. That market is saturated.

I just freaking hate the idea of a downtown casino. Charleston needs to do more than cater to harmful vices in the pursuit of economic development. The same goes for breweries or distilleries. Charleston has plenty of those now, even as nationwide alcohol consumption is dropping and craft breweries and distilleries are starting to shut down.

And that leaves us with retail, which is a shaky enough proposition. Let’s say they try to go with the path of least resistance and keep The Charleston Town Center as a retail space.

First, both parking structures need to be replaced. They are over forty years old and it’d be more efficient to replace them with a new design than it would to keep trying to fix their many issues. New parking buildings should incorporate retail space into the ground floor, just to boost the potential for revenue, because they should not be charging much, if anything for parking. There’s plenty of shopping down Corridor G with free parking.

Charging for parking hurts foot traffic, and foot traffic is vital to attracting tenants, and new tenants are vital to bringing in more foot traffic. It’s a cycle. Right now they charge five bucks for anybody to park at the Town Center, which is why hardly anybody ever goes there.

Lets look at what the Town Center has now. Not counting restuarants, cellphone stores or offices, there are thirteen stores, an art gallery, The WV Music Hall of Fame and The Post Office.

I’ve been to strip malls with more retailers than that.

Any new retail devleopment is going to face serious challenges to get people to even considering going to the mall. Potential anchor stores aren’t exactly clamoring to come to Charleston. The best hope for the JC Penny space would be a second-tier department store, like Dillards, Boscov’s or Belk.

Meijer would be a fantastic addition, since they also have a grocery store, but I just don’t seem them picking Charleston to be their first West Virginia location. Besides, they demand free and plentiful parking. Getting them might require bulldozing the rest of the mall.

H&M is a possibility, but I doubt they’d want both floors of the space.

Old Navy would also be a terrific choice that would bring in a lot of traffic, but they may make the more sensible choice of locating at the new Park Place shopping center currently being built in South Charleston.

The idea of bringing in local retailers is delightful and a wonderful dream. It just does not mesh well with the reality of how much rent the mall would have to charge and how big a burdon that would be on non-chain retail stores.

I have a dream list of stores, but they either aren’t likely, or just not even remotely realistic. I’d love to see Barnes & Noble, Half-Price Books, Sir Troy’s Toy Kingdom, Lush, Miniso, FYE, Van’s, Box Lunch, Duluth Trading or any of the many cool stores that they have in other cities that Mel and I travel to now because Charleston is so devoid of current hot retailers.

Add to that Panda Express, Insomnia Cookies, Potbelly, Noodles & Company, Pie Five and some newer food retailers, and you could actually see more people going to the mall again.

The problem is, everybody has a wish list, and everybody’s wish list is different, and–at least in my case–too far outside the mainstream to attract much mainstream foot traffic. I’m a bit weird that way. If a mall doesn’t have a book or toy store, or a place that sells vinyl, I have no use for it. Ask Mel. I’m sure it’s annoying.

There are plenty of thriving malls in this country that have nothing to interest me. While I’m sure some of my readers will look at the stores and restaurants I listed and think it looks great, others will shake their heads and ask about clothing, shoe, jewelry, and accessory stores that I honestly couldn’t care about less.

“Completely uncontaminated by humans” is not a selling point for prospective new tenants.

All of this speculation ignores the major issue: Nothing’s going to happen any time soon. If, by some miracle, all of the land involved in The Charleston Town Center could be consolidated tomorrow, it would still take at least three to five years before any plans could be drawn up. The only thing we can count on is that more retailers will leave The Town Center. In the eleven months since it was annnonced that plans have been submitted to build the long-expected hotel where Sears used to be, a dozen retailers have exited the mall.

By the time any development could start, the entire retail and economic landscape could change drastically. We could wind up in a great economic boom, or more likely a depression.

We’ve seen how long it’s taken to demolish the old building and break ground on the hotel on the former Sears. We’ve also seen the Aquatic Center plans, announced three and a half years ago, quietly go off the rails, first eliminating the aquatic aspects, and then putting the entire idea on hold due to a funding gap.

Unless they decide to try to preserve the old mall structure, there’s not a thing that’s going to happen with that land for at least a decade. And trying to revive the mall as it is might simply not be worth the investment.

It’s a harsh reality, but we are living in harsh times. I’ve been trying to figure out what the future of the Charleston Town Center would be in this blog for at least seven years, and I haven’t come close with any of my predictions.

That is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back for fresh content every day, plus all our regular features.

Last night Mel and I learned of the passing of another good friend, Ken “Arrow” Davis, who I first met back in the old alt.toy.gi-joe newsgroup (AKA “The Sandbox”) nearly thirty years ago.

Ken was an animator, a toy collector, a cartoonist and was one of the wittiest and funniest people I knew. And…we never got to meet in the real world. Ken lived in Canada and I don’t think he made it to the US more than a couple of times, and I have yet to cross our Northern border. Still, we clicked from day one, and stayed buddies for close to three decades.

We bonded over toys and fought in the Great Sandbox Troll Wars together, and when Ken’s passion for collecting GI Joe waned, and social media became a thing, we stayed in contact via Facebook. Ken was still collecting other toys, and it was always a treat when he’d swoop in and play off of one of my goofball posts with a hilarious and absurd retort of his own. Our comedic sensibilities were simpatico.

Mel thought his comments were hilarious, so I told her to send him a friend request a few years back, and they became fast friends. Ken filled Mel in on a lot of animation gossip (Ken worked on the pilot episode of Ren & Stimpy and worked with a lot of people we interviewed back in our animation columnist days, as well as some of Mel’s friends on the SpongeBob crew) and gave us a lot of inside info on the animation world that we’d missed back in our reporting days.

Ken and I shared a serious dislike of Canada Geese (you did not call them “Canadian Geese” around him without getting corrected immediately) and Mel has adopted his name for them, “Cobra Chickens” for her everyday use.  He was a funny and talented guy, and his friends, family and students are going to feel a huge void with him gone.

I found out last night from a mutual friend, Rob Marshall, who just found out about Ken’s passing yesterday. I have to say, I’m pretty numb at the moment. It was almost merciful that I didn’t know about Ken when it was happening. His partner, Tamara, had been posting updates about the stroke he suffered, but thanks to the Facebook algorithm shell game, even though he was tagged in her posts, nobody in the GI Joe collecting community got to see them.

Had I known at the time, it might have been too much. Ken suffered the same kind of stroke that ended the life of my friend Brian Young, and was in the hospital for his final days at the same time. Sometimes the fates team up with coincidence to just be a total dick. I feel like Ken deserves a more complete obituary than this, but I seem to be all obituaried out at the moment.

Ken was one of the good guys. We’re losing way too many of them these days. Our feature image is a self-portrait he drew. The rest of our images are lifted from his Facebook page.

So long, Ken. We’re going to miss you. PopCult sends our love and condolences to Tamara, her son, Alex and Mr. Sulu, Ken’s faithful canine companion.

One of Ken’s last pieces of art was his first attempt at drawing in the style of Chuck Jones. As with most things, he nailed it.

A new year brings a new boilerplate for this feature, which is a cursory list cool STUFF TO DO all over the state, noted as briefly as possible.

As always, you should remember that THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS.  It’s just a starting point, so don’t expect anything comprehensive, and if you feel strongly about me leaving anything out, feel free to mention it in the comments. Seriously, for the last several weeks, by the time the weekend rolls around, I discover several events that I just totally missed out on.  Also, if you have a show that you’d like to plug in the future, contact me via Social Media at Facebook, BlueSky , Spoutible, Instagram or Twitter.  I dont charge for this, so you might as well send me something if you have an event to promote. Note that some links look like they shouldn’t work because they have lines through them, but that’s just a WordPress glitch, so click on them anyway. They should still work.

We are very happy to remind you that Cristen Michael has created an interactive calendar that is way more comprehensive than this list of STUFF TO DO, and you can find it HERE. Just click on the day and the event and you’ll be whisked away to a page with more details about loads of area events.

Starting this week, I’m going to pick one event to feature up here in the main body of the article. This week it’s Through The Trees this Saturday at Unity of Kanawha Valley, in South Hills.

Most weekends you can find live music at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and Friday and Saturday shows start at 7:30 PM.  Many Sunday afternoons they also have live music.

You can find live music in and around town every night of the week. You just have to know where to look.  Keep in mind that all shows are subject to change or be cancelled at the last minute.

Among the notable music venues in town are The World Famous Empty Glass Cafe, Live at The Shop in Dunbar, Louie’s, at Mardi Gras Casino & Resort, In Huntington, there’s local institution, The Loud (formerly The V Club),  The Wandering Wind Meadery is on Charleston’s West Side, Plus there’s music in Charleston at The Blue Parrot, Sam’s Uptown Cafe and Fife Street Brewing.

You might also find cool musical events at Route 60 Music in Barboursville and Folklore Music Exchange in Charleston.

To hear music in an alcohol-free enviroment, see what’s happening at Pumzi’s, on Charleston’s West Side.  You can also visit Coal River Coffee in Saint Albans for live music in an alcohol-free environment.

For cutting-edge independent art films, downstairs from Taylor Books you’ll find the Floralee Hark Cohen Cinema by WVIFF. Each week they program several amazing movies in their intimate viewing room that you aren’t likely to see anywhere else.

Please remember that viral illnesses are still a going concern and many people who have very good reasons are still wearing masks, and many of us, understandably, are still nervous about being in crowds, masked or not. Be kind and understanding  while you’re out. And if you’re at an outdoor event, please remember that it’s awfully inconsiderate to smoke or vape around people who become ill when exposed to that stuff. If somebody asks you to refrain, please respect their weishes and don’t be a jerk about it.

Keep in mind that all shows are subject to change or be cancelled at the last minute.

Here we go, roughly in order, it’s graphics for local events happening over the next several days that I was able to scrounge up online…

Continue reading

It’s the first new program day of 2026 on The AIR  and we’re marking the occasion with a new episode of Radio Free Charleston that is winging your way despite your humble blogger and radio host spending much of Monday inside a giant magnetic tube. To listen to The AIR, you simply have to point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay here, and  listen to the cool embedded player found elsewhere on this page.  

You can hear Radio Free Charleston Tuesdays at 10 AM and 10 PM, with boatloads of replays throughout the week.

Radio Free Charleston brings you a partially-new show with the first hour loaded with great local and independent stuff, and the remaining two hours re-re-presenting the very first episode of RFC International, from January, 2016. The reason for this is that I had to have an MRI done, and accidentally scheduled it for a Monday, when I usually record the show. Rest assured that it was nothing dire or urgent. My doctor just wanted a baseline reading to aid in treating my Myasthenia Gravis.

Our opening track, Parry’s song is one of two tunes that benefit recovery programs in the state.  We ran the first one last week.

We also load up our first hour with great new tunes from The Carpenter Ants, Sgt. Van & The Highway Dogs, Gardenn, The Settlement, The Heavy Hitters Band and more.  We close out the first hour of our show with a classic track by the recent birthday girl, Ann Magnuson, in honor of her day of birth and her recent 30th anniversary live performances of The Luv Show, from which “Miss Pussy Pants” originates.

For our second and third hours we go back to the first RFC International, the series which I merged into this program six years ago to create the show you hear each week now. It’s loaded with some of my favorite tunes that I was dying to unleash into the world back then. This is the third or fourth time I’ve used this show for our final two hours, but this time at least it’s anniversary-inflected, so it makes sense instead of just being padding.

Check out this playlist, with links to the artist’s page in the first hour…

RFC V5 254

hour one
Parry Casto “It’s A Beautiful Day”
The Carpenter Ants “It”s Time”
Gardenn “Certified Crashout”
The Heavy Hitters Band “Use Me”
Moron Police “Make Things Easier”
Jim & The Sea Dragons “In Walked A Jellyfish”
Sgt. Van & The Highway Dogs “Surfing With The Sumerian”
John Radcliff  “Not Satisfied”
The Settlement “Midnight Train”
Emmalea Deal & The Hot Mess “Rhinoplasty”
Vinto Van Go “Don’s Song”
Astrodot “The Impossible Mission”
Ann Magnuson “Miss Pussy Pants”

hour two
The Beatles and Led Zepplin “Helter Skelter”
The Beetlevanias “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
The Rutles “Shangra La”
Chemical Beats “Welcome To The Black Parade”
Todd Rundgren “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
The Beatnix “Stairway To Heaven”
Be Bop Deluxe “Surreal Estate”
Kerry Livgren “Mask of the Great Deceiver”
The Buggles “Vermillion Sands”
Nightwish “The Heart Asks Pleasure First”

hour three

Ian Dury and the Blockheads “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll”
Madness “One Step Beyond”
Lene Lovich “Lucky Number”
DEVO “Jocko Homo”
ELP “Benny The Bouncer
FFS “Dictator’s Son”
David Bowie “Blackstar”
Transvision Vamp “Velveteen”
Jellyfish “Brighter Day”
Split Enz “Bullet Brain and Cactus Head”
Hazel O’Connor “Writing on the Wall”
Kate Bush “Suspended in Gaffa”

You can hear this episode of Radio Free Charleston Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM on The AIR, with replays Wednesday at 9 AM,  Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM, Saturday at Noon and Midnight, Sunday at 8 PM and  Monday at 11 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Now you can also hear a different classic episode of RFC every weekday at 5 PM, and we bring you a marathon all night long Saturday night/Sunday morning.

I’m also going to  embed a low-fi, mono version of this show right in this post, right here so you can listen on demand.

After RFC, stick around for encores of last week’s episodes of  MIRRORBALL at 1 PM and Curtain Call at 2 PM.

At 3 PM  The Swing Shift is an encore of two recent episodes.

 You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 8 AM, Thursday at 9 AM,  Friday at 10 AM and 8 PM and Saturday afternoon, only on The AIR . You can also hear all-night marathons, seven hours each, starting at Midnight Thursdays and Sundays.

Imma go lay down now.

The first Monday Morning Art of the new year is a modest cheap-marker-on-cheap-paper line drawing.  Based on a photo taken from the gym at The Wit (a very nice hotel in The Loop in Chicago), this is a depiction of the building that houses WLS-TV, Channel 7, in Chicago. It also houses a ton of other stuff (like a very tasty Potbelly restaurant) and I think it’s appeared in Monday Morning Art in the past, only from a much higher angle.  The Wit is basically across the street, a little catty-corner (with the L running between the two buildings).

Anyway, this was drawn using cheap art markers from Five Below (and a straight edge) on some cheap scrap paper, and you’re probably seeing it close to actual size if you’re looking at it on a computer monitor.

This was basically just a finger-limbering exercise because I was out of town for most of the weekend and felt like drawing a bunch of lines and not much else.  It’s closer to math than art, really.

As for the trip, we had to hit over two dozen Walmarts in four states over the last two months, but we finally found Mel’s SpongeBob Squarepants cereal. So the trip was a major success.

If you want to see this image even larger, click HERE.

Meanwhile, over in radioland, Monday beginning at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you a classic episode of Psychedelic Shack, and then at 3 PM we kick off our Christmas programming with Herman Linte’s weekly showcase of the Progressive Rock of the past half-century, Prognosis.  You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on the embedded radio player elsewhere on this page.

Psychedelic Shack can be heard every Monday at 2 PM, with replays Tuesday at 9 AM, Wednesday at 10 PM, Friday at 1 PM,  and Saturday at 9 AM. You can hear Prognosis on The AIR Monday at 3 PM, with replays Tuesday at 7 AM, Wednesday at 8 PM, Thursday at Noon, and Saturday at 10 AM.

Tonight at 9 PM we bring you our Monday night line-up featuring two hours each of Curtain Call and Beatles Blast, plus six hours overnight with an assortment of our programming from Haversham Recording Institute.

This video originally appeared in this space ten years and one day ago, but it had since been pulled by YouTube.  Now it has returned, so we can restore this post, updated with new details.

Lili-Marlene Premilovich, better known as Lene Lovich, is a true New Wave pioneer and musical treasure. An artist on the legendary Stiff Records label, Lovich blended her extensive art and dance training with Slavic shtick and New Wave inventivness to create a unique body of work. Quite simply, nobody else has a voice like hers.

Born in Detroit, expatriated to Hull, England when she was thirteen, Lovich, before signing to Stiff Records, rubbed shoulders with such random and diverse people as Salvador Dali, Arthur Brown, and French disco star, Cerrone. Her first appearance on record may have been as an audience member on Chuck Berry’s sing-along live recording of “My Ding-A-Ling.”

It was when Lovich started releasing music made with her musical and life partner, Les Chappell, that ears perked up around the world. With a five-octave range and a voice that could range from delicate and operatic to bombastic and powerful, Lovich made a huge mark on the outsider music scene.

It’s been twenty years since her last new  studio album(my review of Shadows and Dust, written for the Gazz.com‘s now-defunct “New Sounds” blog will be restored to PopCult soon), but she has formed a new touring band and was the opening act on the DEVO/B 52s tour last year, which will continue with select dates in 2026 in Europe. She’s also formed a label to reissue her back catalog. You can learn more about that at her website and on her Bandcamp page. The above concert was recorded at Studio 54 in 1981, and features an embryonic Thomas Dolby as one of her keyboardists.

This week we go back to September, 2012 for the final of our three “Tribute The To The Troops II” episodes of Radio Free Charleston. This wraps up our three-part special devoted to Tribute To The Troops II, an all-ages, all-day musical event held at The Saint Albans City Park amphitheater for the benefit of The West Virginia National Guard Foundation and The Wounded Warrior Project.

This episode brings you music from In The Company of Wolves, Point of Jerus, Deck of Fools and a very special song from HarraH. We also have a short film about The West Virginia National Guard Foundation narrated by Melanie Larch, with video contributions by Steven Allen Adams and West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

I want to take a moment to thank Dave McClanahan for his audio superheroics on these three episodes of the show. Dave is a friend, a technical genius and an incredible musician going all the way back to the original radio incarnation of Radio Free Charleston. Dave’s band project, The Mad Scientist Club, was one of the most-requested groups on the radio show, and we’re glad to bring you some of their tunes on the new RFC radio show on The AIR.  It was a surprise and a treat to discover that Dave was recording Tribute To The Troops II and I can’t thank him enough for the high-quality board recordings and the ultra-deluxe twenty-track mixes for In The Company of Wolves and Deck of Fools that he was able to fit into his busy schedule.

Playing us out we have our old friends, HarraH, also returning from episode 166, performing a special song written by Dawn Marie Wood. “Too Late” came from the pen and the heart of the lady who conceived Tribute To The Troops, and with her husband, Brad and Wood Boys Music, they helped to pump a lot of life and excitement into the local music scene. These last three shows would not have been possible without them.

This is a bit of a bittersweet show to look at now, because of the recent passing of Lee Harrah and the many life changes so many of us have had since then. It was a real kick to put these together, and I hope you’ve enjoyed watching them again.

The PopCulteer
January 2, 2026

With the week interrupted by New Year’s Eve and subsequent Day, we have a short column for the first PopCulteer of the new year. There are only two things to tell you about before your humble blogger and his lovely wife depart for a quick trip to Lexington for no particular reason.

Mothman In The Bible Belt

First up, tomorrow night yours truly will be the guest of that Fantastic Buck, Buck Fantastic, on The Mothman In The Bible Belt podcast.

Mothman in the Bible Belt is a West Virginia-based entertainment podcast hosted by charismatic organic farmer and line dance instructor, Buck Fantastic. Sprouted in 2021, the podcast initially focused on social issues, later evolving to encompass the Appalachian music and art scene. New episodes drop every two-weeks.

The wholesome Appalachian podcast is available to stream for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, IHeartRadio, YouTube, Audacy, Deezer, Audible, and Amazon Music.

Buck and I have a rambling conversation about whatever the hell it is I do, and/or have done, for the last four decades or so.

Of note: if my voice sounds a bit off, it’s because I was laying flat on my back on a heating pad during the interview. I’d thrown my back out over Christmas. So it was sort of like laying in a tanning bed and being on a pyschiatrist’s couch at the same time. I had a blast.

This is a great podcast, and it’s a bit surreal for me to be rubbing podcasterly shoulders with Buck’s previous distinguished guests.

Here’s a trailer…

You can hear The Mothman In The Bible Belt podcast where ever you tune in to such things. For more details, check out the website.

Another Friend of PopCult In Need

Last week I told you about GoFundMe campaigns for Brian Diller and Jon Raider’s mother. I have another friend who could use a hand right now.

Michael Tawney, who is known and loved by many in Charleston from his time as the manager of The GameStop in The Charleston Town Center and even moreso as the manage of the Park Place Cinema, as well as his role as the promoter for IWA East Coast(where he is known as “Fattawn”), is currently in end-stage renal failure and is waiting on a kidney transplant.

He’s getting dialysis treatment and carefully being monitored while he awaits a donor kidney, and he could use some financial help.

His brother has organized a GoFundMe to help cover his living expenses, since he can’t work while he’s dealing with this situation, so if you know Michael from IWA EC or Park Place (or GameStop), please consider donating for one of the coolest people I know.

There will be an IWA East Coast benefit show on February 21, at the Koontz Gym in Clendenin. They are still building the card for what promises to be an amazing night of wrestling and fun. You can keep up with all the latest details and find ticket information at the Facebook Event page.

Tawney has been a friend for over twenty years, and is a fixture on the regional wrestling scene. He’s the guy who booked Pat McAfee for his first pro wrestling gig. They even covered this GoFundMe campaign at Fightful Wrestling, one of the top wrestling news sites in the world.

And with that, we wrap up this week’s PopCulteer. The way the calendar falls this year, I’m gonna have to crank out 52 more of these things for 2026. Check back every day for fresh content and all our regular features.

What say that, since this is one of the least-read days of they year for PopCult, we take a look back at the damnable collection of odd months that was 2025.

It wasn’t all bad, of course, but the loss of several close friends, coupled with the current cancerous political climate definitely put a damper on things.

This was a year when we said goodbye too soon to Brian Young, Lee Harrah, Steve Fesenmaier, Greg Miller, Non Sport Update, American Science & Surplus, BOOP! The Musical, Fruth Pharmacy, Diamond Previews, several amendments and too many other things to list.

Yet, it was a good year for this blog. In 2025, PopCult had 423 posts. Those posts contained over 235,000 words, the most ever (even counting years where we had close to 600 posts). I can be wordy, sometimes.

There were 45 audio episodes of Radio Free Charleston on our sister internet radio station, The AIR.. Plus we had one video episode.

The AIR also featured close to 100 new episodes of our other original internet radio programs.

PopCult posts were viewed millions of times by a record number of unique visitors. Readership was up 110% over 2024. Listenership at The AIR also more than doubled. I’m pretty sure that PopCult now has more readers than our former home, The Charleston Gazette-Mail (I know that’s not a fair comparison, since their content is behind a paywall, but give a guy a chance to enjoy a small victory). It’s nice that, in our twentieth year, we can say that we have millions of readers. If only I weren’t too lazy to monetize this blog.

I am actually writing this in the late morning of January 1, 2026. I just wasn’t in the mood to write yesterday, and this morning my wife and I slept in, and then got mesmerized by the Twilight Zone marathon, so I got a late start.

To round things out and continue a new tradition, here are my ten favorite header images from the last year…

This STUFF TO DO header from February was adapted from a news photo of efforts to extinguish a house that exploded two blocks from where I live a few years ago.

This RFC header is a digitally-altered photo from The Embassy Suites Hotel in Lexington.

This header, swiped from a post by Bad Spit, on Twitter, just looks cool.

I ran this STUFF TO DO header while Charleston was hosting some kind of bicycle event. It amused me.

I just like the way this header for a review of the Gargon action figure looks.

One of the low-key headers based on photos I took at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.

One of several cool headers mutated from photos I took at the American Sign Museum in Cinncinnati.

Another Sign Museum shot for STUFF TO DO

Okay, so the phone number is for The White House. Caller ID is more accurate than ever these days.

And finally, a heartwarming image for STUFF TO DO from just a few weeks ago.

That is our quick and half-assed look back at 2025. Check back tomorrow and every day for fresh content and hardcore reporting on whatever the hell it is that we’re supposed to be writing about here.

Happy New Year!