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Pop Culture Happy Hour Get obsessed with us. Five 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.

Make your happy hour even happier with Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus! Your subscription supports the podcast and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/happyhour
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Pop Culture Happy Hour

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Get obsessed with us. Five 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.

Make your happy hour even happier with Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus! Your subscription supports the podcast and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/happyhour

Most Recent Episodes

The delightful 'My Old Ass' seeks wisdom from hindsight

Maisy Stella as Elliott in My Old Ass. Marni Grossman/Amazon MGM Studios hide caption

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Marni Grossman/Amazon MGM Studios

The delightful 'My Old Ass' seeks wisdom from hindsight

What would you do if you met your future self, who's a couple of decades older and maybe a little wiser? Would you freak out? In the delightful new movie My Old Ass, a teenager named Elliott (Maisy Stella) faces this very scenario. Her older self is played by Aubrey Plaza, and she's got some advice to impart. But her younger self may or may not take it.

The delightful 'My Old Ass' seeks wisdom from hindsight

Listen · 18:57
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The movies, TV and music we're excited about this fall

Colin Farrell in The Penguin. Macall Polay/HBO hide caption

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Macall Polay/HBO

The movies, TV and music we're excited about this fall

Fall is beginning, and it's the perfect time to talk about all the great things we're excited to watch and listen to between now and the end of the year. Today, we're offering up a guide to spotlight some of the movies, TV, and music we are looking forward to this fall.

The movies, TV and music we're excited about this fall

Listen · 27:31
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Our 2024 Emmys Recap

Jean Smart won the Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for her performance in Hacks. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images hide caption

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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Our 2024 Emmys Recap

Last night's Primetime Emmy Awards included big wins for Hacks, The Bear, Shōgun, and Baby Reindeer. And if you're nostalgic for shows like Schitt's Creek or Happy Days, the telecast had you covered.

Our 2024 Emmys Recap

Listen · 16:25
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Never visit James McAvoy's house, and other lessons of 'Speak No Evil'

James McAvoy in Speak No Evil. Susie Allnutt/Universal Studios hide caption

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Susie Allnutt/Universal Studios

Never visit James McAvoy's house, and other lessons of 'Speak No Evil'

Never visit your weird new friends at their enormous isolated country estate. That's a basic rule that an American family fails to follow in the new horror thriller Speak No Evil starring James McAvoy. By the time they figure out they are in way over their heads, it's much much too late.

Never visit James McAvoy's house, and other lessons of 'Speak No Evil'

Listen · 21:46
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'Rebel Ridge' serves up revenge with restraint

Aaron Pierre in Rebel Ridge. Allyson Rigg/Netflix hide caption

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Allyson Rigg/Netflix

'Rebel Ridge' serves up revenge with restraint

In Netflix's new film Rebel Ridge, Aaron Pierre plays Terry, a young Black man who enters a small Southern town to post bail for his cousin. But when the local cops seize his money, he faces off against the corrupt chief of police (Don Johnson). Things escalate, and soon he uncovers a sinister conspiracy that threatens his life.

'Rebel Ridge' serves up revenge with restraint

Listen · 16:01
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Strong performances highlight the scary (and funny) 'The Front Room'

Brandy Norwood in The Front Room. A24 hide caption

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A24

Strong performances highlight the scary (and funny) 'The Front Room'

Maybe you think you've seen every scary mother-in-law fiction has to offer — you absolutely haven't. In the new movie The Front Room, a pregnant woman (Brandy Norwood) allows her mother-in-law (Kathryn Hunter) to move in. In a film that's part creepy and part very darkly funny, the two women square off for control of the house and the child on the way.

Strong performances highlight the scary (and funny) 'The Front Room'

Listen · 14:19
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'The Perfect Couple' is your next addictive beachy mystery

Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

'The Perfect Couple' is your next addictive beachy mystery

We all love a fancy wedding. The music, the flowers — the body washing up on the beach. At least that's what happens in Netflix's fun new thriller The Perfect Couple. Based on the novel by Elin Hilderbrand, the series stars Nicole Kidman as the matriarch of a wealthy Nantucket family that suddenly finds itself in the middle of a whodunit. And in this family, it seems like almost anybody could be guilty.

'The Perfect Couple' is your next addictive beachy mystery

Listen · 14:13
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Is there any juice left in 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?'

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Warner Bros Pictures

Is there any juice left in 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?'

There's a reason Beetlejuice was a hit back in 1988: it delivered both the spectacle and big stars of a major studio film, and the hilarious, weird vision of director Tim Burton. Now he returns with the sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — which stars Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Michael Keaton, and Jenna Ortega. But does Beetlejuice Beetlejuice capture any of the original's silly, surreal, singular magic? Should it even try?

Is there any juice left in 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?'

Listen · 20:38
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Songs to boost your confidence

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Brenda Chase/Getty Images

Songs to boost your confidence

Maybe you're going up for a promotion, or just got out of a bad relationship. Whatever it is, your mood needs a boost. Today, we're recommending three songs that make for great motivators and pick-me-ups when you need them most.

Songs to boost your confidence

Listen · 11:09
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'Kaos' takes on the Greek gods, but is it a hit or a myth?

Jeff Goldblum plays Zeus in Kaos. Justin Downing/Netflix hide caption

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Justin Downing/Netflix

'Kaos' takes on the Greek gods, but is it a hit or a myth?

In the clever new Netflix series Kaos, the Greek Gods are a rich and powerful modern-day family. They're led by an impulsive and deeply insecure Zeus (Jeff Goldblum), who lives on Mount Olympus with his wife Hera (Janet McTeer). But there is a plan to overthrow Zeus that depends on a slew of gods, demigods and mortals working together, whether or not they are aware of the roles they each are playing.

'Kaos' takes on the Greek gods, but is it a hit or a myth?

Listen · 18:45
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