As 2024 comes to a close, critics, reporters and editors at The New York Times are reflecting on the year in arts and culture, including music.

Today, The Times’s pop music critics Jon Pareles, Lindsay Zoladz and Jon Caramanica talk with Melissa Kirsch, the deputy editor of Culture and Lifestyle, about a new generation of women in pop, how the rapper Kendrick Lamar beat Drake in their feud, and why so many pop stars went country.

Guest: 

• Melissa Kirsch, the deputy editor of Culture and Lifestyle for The New York Times.
• Jon Pareles, the chief pop music critic for The New York Times.
• Jon Caramanica, a pop music critic and host of the “Popcast” podcast for The New York Times.
• Lindsay Zoladz, a pop music critic and writer of The Amplifier newsletter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Best Albums of 2024
• Best Songs of 2024

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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