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 with a shot of cheer.
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Tv & Film
Music Commentary
Film Reviews
Books
Arts
News
After Shows
Entertainment News
Tv Reviews
Music
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 20 minutes
- Episodes
- 348
- Years Active
- 2024 - 2025
Does The Sympathizer worthily adapt its acclaimed book?
It's rare to find a series with such an impeccable pedigree as HBO's The Sympathizer. It's based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, co-created by auteur director Park Chan-wook, and features Robert D…
00:17:46 |
Thu 23 May 2024
Does IF capture the magic of its Pixar inspiration?
In the new movie IF, a 12-year-old girl (Cailey Fleming) discovers she can see other people's imaginary friends. It stars Ryan Reynolds, and directed by John Krasinski. It mixes the real world and an…
00:14:39 |
Wed 22 May 2024
The sexy sex is back in Bridgerton's new season
The Netflix series Bridgerton is back, as gossipy and over-the-top as ever. Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and her crush on childhood best friend Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) take center…
00:21:56 |
Mon 20 May 2024
Back To Black And What's Making Us Happy
The new music biopic Back to Black chronicles the life of singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse. The film stars Marisa Abela, and follows Winehouse as she records her breakthrough album, gets married, and …
00:24:04 |
Fri 17 May 2024
Babes gives us a funny (and gross) portrait of parenthood
The new movie Babes stars Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau as longtime best friends who've made very different life choices. It's also about the inherent joys, stressors, and grossness of parenthood,…
00:16:37 |
Thu 16 May 2024
Looking to the past and future of Black Twitter
For years, Black Twitter was the watering hole. It was where we could pop off jokes about Olivia and Fitz on Scandal. It's also where you could call out social injustices. It was both a state of mind…
00:22:09 |
Wed 15 May 2024
I Saw the TV Glow is weird and transfixing
I Saw the TV Glow is a strange and pleasantly unsettling new film from writer and director Jane Schoenbrun. It's about two teenagers (Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine) who bond so strongly over…
00:23:21 |
Tue 14 May 2024
Sink your teeth into Interview with the Vampire
If you're familiar with Interview with the Vampire — because you read the Anne Rice novel or you saw the 1994 movie — the AMC series has some surprises. It revolves around a young man named Louis, hi…
00:15:33 |
Mon 13 May 2024
Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes And What's Making Us Happy
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes follows Noa (Owen Teague), an extraordinary chimpanzee whose clan is enslaved by a mercenary ape king named Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand). As he sets out to gets th…
00:23:35 |
Fri 10 May 2024
The Drake-Kendrick Lamar Beef
2024 seems destined to go down as the Year of Pop Culture Grievances. Megan vs. Nicki. Beyoncé vs. Nashville. But above all: Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake, who are currently engaged in the nastiest lyrica…
00:21:47 |
Thu 09 May 2024
Dua Lipa's Radical Optimism
The British singer Dua Lipa has become one of the world's biggest pop stars. Now, she's back with Radical Optimism, a sort of concept record about moving through life with a more mature and construct…
00:21:31 |
Wed 08 May 2024
Unfrosted
The new Netflix film Unfrosted tells a fanciful invented version of the Pop-Tart's origin. The film was directed and co-written by Jerry Seinfeld, who also stars as a Kellogg's executive who's in a r…
00:16:56 |
Tue 07 May 2024
Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show
In Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, the comedian doubles down on the uncomfortable intimacy of his stand up special Rothaniel, where he came out publicly as gay for the first time. Jerrod Carmichael g…
00:26:46 |
Mon 06 May 2024
The Fall Guy And What's Making Us Happy
In the entertaining new film The Fall Guy, Ryan Gosling plays a down-on-his-luck stunt performer who gets a big new opportunity to get his career on track. And maybe get back the woman (Emily Blunt) …
00:21:51 |
Fri 03 May 2024
The Idea Of You
The new movie The Idea Of You tells the story of a boy band star (Nicholas Galitzine) who falls in love with an older divorced mother (Anne Hathaway). It's based on a hit novel that's at least partia…
00:21:54 |
Thu 02 May 2024
Baby Reindeer
The new Netflix series Baby Reindeer has a lot of people talking, including us. It tells the haunting semi-autobiographical story of a man (Richard Gadd) who becomes the romantic obsession of a menta…
00:23:11 |
Wed 01 May 2024
Summer Guide
Today, we're offering up a guide to spotlight some of the movies, TV, and music we are most excited about this summer.
Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour
Learn more abou…
Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour
Learn more abou…
00:24:20 |
Tue 30 Apr 2024
Dead Boy Detectives
The new show Dead Boy Detectives is a spinoff of Neil Gaiman's beloved series The Sandman – both the comic and the Netflix series. It's about a pair of detective ghosts (played by George Rexstrew and…
00:18:40 |
Mon 29 Apr 2024
Challengers And What's Making Us Happy
The terrific new film Challengers is about being intense about tennis, sex, and competition. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the film stars Zendaya as Tashi, a tennis coach and object of desire to two m…
00:27:45 |
Fri 26 Apr 2024
What Makes A Good Sex Scene?
It's easy to notice when a sex scene is bad. But what makes a sex scene good? Today, we are recommending films with good sex scenes, including Bound, Love & Basketball, Magic Mike's Last Dance, and O…
00:21:29 |
Thu 25 Apr 2024
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