The most recent instance I&#x27;ve seen of this pop culture&#x2F;dry theory combo was in the movie <i>The Big Short</i>.<p>They have Margot Robbie (Australian supermodel) sip champagne in a bubble bath while explaining the dynamics of the derivatives market and how it created a bubble in 2008. There&#x27;s also a scene where Anthony Bourdain (celebrity chef) is prepping food in a kitchen and talking about fish stew as a metaphor for securitization and CDO&#x27;s.<p>I find that the best teachers have such a complete mastery of a subject that they can almost perfectly translate it into a common language (pop culture) to make it more relatable and entertaining. They let inquisitive students probe deeper, past the metaphor. The worst teachers usually keep things as academic and dry as possible as a shield against understanding, which leads to questioning, which might call the teacher&#x27;s knowledge into question or derail the class.