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PODCAST

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Get obsessed with us. Four days a week, Pop Culture Happy Hour serves you recommendations and commentary on the buzziest movies, TV, music, books, videogames and more. Join arts journalists Linda Holmes, Glen Weldon, Stephen Thompson, and Aisha Harris - plus a rotating cast of guest pop culture aficionados. The Happy Hour team leaves room at the table for exploring a range of reactions and opinions on every bit of the pop universe. From lowbrow to highbrow to the stuff in between, they take it all

tv & film film reviews

All Episodes

23:25

Kinds of Kindness and what's making us happy

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/28

Kinds of Kindness is a weird, dark, and bleak film. It's directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and it re-teams him with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, along with Jesse Plemons. Each actor plays different characters in three different stories — which all involve someone going to extreme measures to regain something they've lost.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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17:18

Lily Gladstone's Fancy Dance is a road trip worth taking

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/27

The new film Fancy Dance offers something all-too-rare on screen: contemporary Indigenous perspectives, front and center. Lily Gladstone plays a woman trying to keep it together under stressful circumstances. Her sister's gone missing, and she steps in to look after her young niece (Isabel Deroy-Olson). The pair take what turns out to be a rocky road trip and a unique bonding experience.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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23:08

Will they or won't they? Unpacking TV's eternal question

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/25

Jim and Pam. Mulder and Scully. Janine and Gregory. Carmy and Sydney. Meredith and McDreamy. You know how it goes: two television characters with obvious chemistry who fight or look at each other longingly. You know that there's only one question: will they, or won't they? Today, we break down the different types of will-they-won't-they couples and discuss some of the best and worst couples in television, including Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Cheers, Grey's Anatomy, Dawson's Creek, and more.Learn

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23:18

Is Star Wars' The Acolyte a force to be reckoned with?

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/24

The new Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte is a murder mystery. Someone is killing great Jedi masters, and while we learn the killer's identity early on, the real mystery driving the series is why they're doing it. It stars Amandla Stenberg as Force-sensitive twins Osha and Mae, and Squid Game's Lee Jung-jae as Osha's former Jedi master. By the time it's finished its eight-episode run, The Acolyte may shed new light on the nature of the Force, and the hidden history of the Jedi.Learn more about

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18:14

Thelma And What's Making Us Happy

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/21

Financial scams are an unfortunate phenomenon, but what happens when a fraudster messes with the wrong grandma? The very fun action-comedy Thelma imagines exactly this scenario. The movie stars June Squibb as a woman scammed by someone pretending to be her grandson. She then enlists her old friend (the late Richard Roundtree) to help get her money back.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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17:58

HBO's Fantasmas is new and different and uniquely itself

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/20

The brilliant and idiosyncratic new HBO series Fantasmas has a simple plot. Creator and star Julio Torres searches New York City for an earring he lost at a club. In the execution, that quest gets transformed into something epic and surreal and queer in every sense of the word. He keeps bumping into random New Yorkers whose stories play out in a series of sketch-like vignettes. They are played by actors including Emma Stone, Bowen Yang, and Tilda Swinton.Learn more about sponsor message choices:

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18:48

Bridgerton closes out a crowded third season

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/18

The second half of Bridgerton's latest season just dropped on Netflix, and naturally the course of true love continues to not run smoothly. Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) may have finally declared their feelings for each other, but there's still a lot left to figure out. We previously talked about the first part of the third season in May, so today, we're diving in everything that happens in the conclusion.We want to hear your opinions about summer

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22:10

It's getting hot. So what's sweatiest movie ever made?

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/17

Whether they're lightly perspiring, gently glowing, or soaked through from sweltering, people in the movies sweat a lot. But what movie has had people sweat the very most? With summer underway, we are debating what is the sweatiest movie of all time — including Do the Right Thing, Dog Day Afternoon, Y tu mamá también, and Body Heat.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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21:21

Inside Out 2 And What's Making Us Happy

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/14

Pixar's Inside Out introduced us to the core emotions inside an 11-year-old girl named Riley. We met Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), and Anger (Lewis Black). In Inside Out 2, Riley is experiencing puberty and a whole new crop of emotions have popped up. Most notably Anxiety (Maya Hawke) who has literally bottled up Riley's original core emotions and sent them hurtling into the back of her mind, where they plot to get back and set things right.We want to hear your opinions about summer

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23:03

Jake Gyllenhaal's Presumed Innocent updates a legal...

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/13

Presumed Innocent was a blockbuster legal thriller as a novel, and then a hit movie starring Harrison Ford. Now, Apple TV+ brings back the story of the accuser turned defendant as a limited series. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the lead this time, as a prosecutor who is accused of the murder of the colleague he'd had an affair with. David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, The Practice, Ally McBeal) created the show.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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23:58

Our favorite graduation moments in pop culture

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/11

This is the time of year when so many students graduate. Whether it's graduation episodes of our favorite TV series, high school songs, or movies about the last wild night of high school, we're revisiting our episode about the best moments about graduation in pop culture.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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14:36

Am I OK? is a coming-out movie for adults

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/10

Am I OK? is a about what happens when you finally come to accept your sexuality much later in life than many do. It stars Dakota Johnson and Sonoya Mizuno as two women in their 30s who have been best friends a long time. But Johnson's character is grappling with the possibility that she's queer – and with the fact that her most treasured friendship is in trouble. Directed by Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne, it's streaming on Max.We want to hear your opinions about summer snacks. Are you Team Hot

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25:39

Hit Man And What's Making Us Happy

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/07

Netflix's entertaining dark comedy Hit Man is not about a hired killer. It's about a guy who pretends to be a hired killer. Director Richard Linklater co-wrote this film with movie star of the moment, Glen Powell. Based very loosely on a real guy, Powell plays a mild-mannered professor who also works undercover for the police as a fake hitman.We want to hear your opinions about summer snacks. Are you Team Hot Dog or Team Hamburger? What's better: churro or a funnel cake? Click here to cast your

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26:36

Doctor Who is enlivened by its new Black, openly...

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/06

The venerable British science fiction series Doctor Who is back with a new season. Ncuti Gatwa — who is Black and openly queer — brings a vibrant energy to the story of an alien who travels through space and time in a blue box. The series, now streaming on Disney+, also features the return of showrunner Russell T. Davies, who birthed the modern era of Doctor Who. But what does this mix of new and old mean for the sci-fi institution?We want to hear your opinions about summer snacks. Are you Team Hot

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21:20

Clipped recreates an embarrassing NBA scandal

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/05

The new FX limited series Clipped tells the story of Donald Sterling, the then-owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, who was outed as a racist. Sterling's girlfriend – who was Black and Mexican – secretly recorded their conversations. When those tapes leaked, he was embroiled in a scandal that upended the NBA – an industry that profits off the star power of its majority Black players. The series stars Ed O'Neill and Laurence Fishburne as the owner and the head coach who clashed as it all went

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25:10

Looking back at The Sopranos, the godfather of...

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/06/04

The Sopranos changed television. The HBO series was centered on mobster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a deeply flawed male antihero. That then- innovative approach cast a long shadow on television, but what really set The Sopranos apart was the fact that Tony was in therapy — a genius touch that granted viewers special access to his inner conflicts. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the show's premiere, so we're revisiting our conversation about the series.Learn more about sponsor message

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1:31

Welcome to Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/05/31

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27:13

Best Fictional Bands And What's Making Us Happy

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/05/31

Sometimes, our favorite musical artists are too good to be true because they're sprung from the imaginations of Hollywood screenwriters. But what makes a fake band great? Today, we are debating the best fictional bands in TV and film — including from Mamma Mia!, Josie and the Pussycats, It's Your Move, and Miami Connection. We want to hear your opinions about summer snacks. Are you Team Hot Dog or Team Hamburger? What's better: churro or a funnel cake? Click here to cast your votes. The results

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12:27

We Are Lady Parts rocks with bracing honesty and nuance

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/05/29

The Peacock series We Are Lady Parts is a bold and very funny comedy about an up-and-coming London punk band called Lady Parts. The members of Lady Parts, and its manager, are all young Muslim women, from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Over the course of its first season, each member experiences triumphs and setbacks – including its lead guitarist, who strives to overcome stage fright. The show is about to return for a new season, so today, we are revisiting our conversation about it.Learn

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23:08

Terrible but bingeable TV shows

Pop Culture Happy Hour ·

2024/05/28

What is it about a show that turns you into a bitter-ender, that keeps you dutifully watching every last episode, long after the train has jumped the tracks? Even when you know it's not good, but, for you anyway, it's just good enough to muddle through, all the way to the finale? Today, we're talking about terrible but bingeable TV shows.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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