Pure Innocent Fun launch dinner. Papa San, New York. 2025. Photo: Deontè Lee.

I’m Ira Madison III, host of the pop culture podcast Keep It (Webby Awards People’s Voice Award 2021 & 2023, iHeartRadio Best Pop Culture Podcast 2022) and author of the nationally best-selling Pure Innocent Fun: Essays1, called "a brilliant critical voice" by Kirkus Reviews and "humorous and perceptive" by The Washington Post. I have also written for GQ, Harper's Bazaar, New York, Interview, and MTV News among other publications My television credits include Uncoupled, Q-Force, Nikki Fre$h, and So Help Me Todd. I live in New York City.

III is a newsletter about my cultural obsessions.

Movies and television, music, theatre, books, New York, and a bunch of other shit.

How about some examples?

Is Patti LuPone Racist?

Taylor, it’s Summer!!!

The South, the Poor South!

Et tu, Nicole Scherzinger?

What do paid subscribers get?

Paid subscribers get access to all essays in full, my weekly reality TV thoughts, and culture recommendations.

Praise for my book, Pure Innocent Fun, now on sale:

“This is the most fun I’ve had reading all year. Like Chuck Klosterman before him, Ira Madison III takes seriously and analyzes the pop culture detritus that took up hours of our lives as byproducts of the late 1900’s. From Coldplay to Family Matters to Passions and everything in between, It feels like Ira has taken apart every dumb thing I’ve obsessed over and put it back together again—all my ‘roman empires.’ I laughed and cried and felt so, so seen. Buy it and KEEP IT.”—Lin-Manuel Miranda, Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award winning creator of Hamilton and NYT bestselling author of G’morning G’night

“True to the book’s title, Madison’s humorous and perceptive essays will light a spark of recognition for those who came of age glued to their televisions at the turn of the century.”The Washington Post, “10 Noteworthy Books for February”

“Ira’s wit, intelligence, and reverence for pop culture is on full display in this fantastic essay collection. What a pleasure to read.”—Phoebe Robinson, award winning comedian and NYT bestselling author of You Can’t Touch My Hair

“If you’re old enough to have typed A/S/L in AOL chat rooms this will unlock so many core millennial memories. If you don’t know what that means, this book will help you talk to your boss at work!”—Cody Rigsby, NYT bestselling author of XOXO, Cody

“A brilliant critical voice for millennials, those on the cusp, or anyone who has had their eyes open over the past few decades, Madison proves a worthy successor to his own idol, Chuck Klosterman. An engaging and often hilarious memoir-in-essays from a pop-culture fiend.”Kirkus Reviews

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Praise for Pure Innocent Fun:

“This is the most fun I’ve had reading all year. Like Chuck Klosterman before him, Ira Madison III takes seriously and analyzes the pop culture detritus that took up hours of our lives as byproducts of the late 1900’s. From Coldplay to Family Matters to Passions and everything in between, It feels like Ira has taken apart every dumb thing I’ve obsessed over and put it back together again—all my ‘roman empires.’ I laughed and cried and felt so, so seen. Buy it and KEEP IT.”—Lin-Manuel Miranda, Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award-winning creator of Hamilton and NYT bestselling author of G’morning G’night

“True to the book’s title, Madison’s humorous and perceptive essays will light a spark of recognition for those who came of age glued to their televisions at the turn of the century.”The Washington Post, “10 Noteworthy Books for February”

“Ira’s wit, intelligence, and reverence for pop culture is on full display in this fantastic essay collection. What a pleasure to read.”—Phoebe Robinson, award-winning comedian and NYT bestselling author of You Can’t Touch My Hair

“If you’re old enough to have typed A/S/L in AOL chat rooms, this will unlock so many core millennial memories. If you don’t know what that means, this book will help you talk to your boss at work!”—Cody Rigsby, NYT bestselling author of XOXO, Cody

“A brilliant critical voice for millennials, those on the cusp, or anyone who has had their eyes open over the past few decades, Madison proves a worthy successor to his own idol, Chuck Klosterman. An engaging and often hilarious memoir-in-essays from a pop-culture fiend.”Kirkus Reviews

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Host of the pop culture podcast Keep It. Author of Pure Innocent Fun: Essays, out now from Random House.