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Stephen Thompson Stephen Thompson is a host, writer and reviewer for NPR Music and Pop Culture Happy Hour. He appears frequently on All Songs Considered and NPR newsmagazines.
Washington, DC - May 03, 2016: Stephen Thompson CREDIT: Matt Roth
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Stephen Thompson

Friday

Wordle is a daily dose of delight, despair, and sometimes smugness
Screenshot/Mike Katzif

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Wordle is a daily dose of delight, despair, and sometimes smugness

The daily online word game Wordle has absolutely exploded in popularity in recent weeks. It's a game that gives you six chances to guess a five-letter word, giving you clues along the way about which letters are right and whether they're in the right places. It's addictive, but it can drive you mad.

Wordle is a daily dose of delight, despair, and sometimes smugness

Listen · 25:15
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Monday

Books We Love: Recommendations For Music Fans
Becky Harlan/NPR

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Books We Love: Recommendations For Music Fans

If you're looking to discover a new book, NPR has a marvelous mechanism to help you out: It's called Books We Love, and it's a sortable guide to hundreds of great books from 2021, as handpicked and recommended by the NPR staff. Today we're talking about some of the music-related books we loved in 2021.

Books We Love: Recommendations For Music Fans

Listen · 11:02
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Friday

Everyone should be attending 'Abbott Elementary'

ABC's Abbott Elementary stars Sheryl Lee Ralph, Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams and Lisa Ann Walter. Gilles Mingasson/ABC hide caption

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Gilles Mingasson/ABC

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Everyone should be attending 'Abbott Elementary'

The fantastic new ABC series Abbott Elementary is a sitcom set at a severely underfunded Philadelphia public school. Quinta Brunson is the creator and very funny star of the mockumentary-style comedy, which follows a cast of teachers who are dedicated, but burnt out as they make do with limited resources and a hilariously incompetent principal.

Everyone should be attending 'Abbott Elementary'

Listen · 23:10
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Wednesday

Great 2021 Music Documentaries We Missed

Tina Turner performs with the Ikettes in 1973 in the HBO documentary Tina. Rhonda Graam/HBO Max hide caption

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Rhonda Graam/HBO Max

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Great 2021 Music Documentaries We Missed

Today we're recommending some of the great music documentaries we missed in 2021: The Velvet Underground, Framing Britney Spears, Controlling Britney Spears, and Tina.

Great 2021 Music Documentaries We Missed

Listen · 14:44
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Thursday

On 'Dawn FM,' The Weeknd crafts a synth-pop epic

The Weeknd returns with his fifth studio album Dawn FM. Courtesy of Republic Records hide caption

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Courtesy of Republic Records

Pop Culture Happy Hour

On 'Dawn FM,' The Weeknd crafts a synth-pop epic

The Weeknd's album After Hours was one of the biggest hits of 2020, and now the elusive artist is back. He's had a decade of massive highlights from "Blinding Lights" to last year's Super Bowl Halftime Show. His new album is Dawn FM, and it's a set of sleek synth-pop songs with assists from Oneohtrix Point Never and comedian Jim Carrey.

On 'Dawn FM,' The Weeknd crafts a synth-pop epic

Listen · 15:32
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Wednesday

Music News

A look ahead at some good music coming out in 2022

What new music is coming out this year that is worth checking out? A preview of two albums that just might make it on to 2022's best of list.

A look ahead at some good music coming out in 2022

Listen · 3:41
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Tuesday

Three Favorite Video Game Recommendations
Angela Hsieh/NPR

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Three Favorite Video Game Recommendations

This winter, we've been at home, playing games. And we've been exploring games for the Nintendo Switch. We've been trying adventure games and puzzle games, beautiful games and silly games. And in this encore episode, we have a few to recommend.

Three Favorite Video Game Recommendations

Listen · 13:49
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Monday

Remembering Betty White

Betty White accepts a lifetime achievement award during the 2015 Daytime Emmy Awards. Jesse Grant/Getty hide caption

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Jesse Grant/Getty

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Remembering Betty White

Actress and icon Betty White died Friday at the age of 99. Her career as a comic actress – on TV, on radio, in movies, and more – lasted more than 80 years. She was probably best known for her work on The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. But White was a trailblazer, a record-setter, and one of the most venerated figures in the history of television.

Remembering Betty White

Listen · 14:59
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Friday

The NPR Politics Podcast

Our Favorite Political Music of 2021

Miles Parks, Juana Summers, and Ayesha Rascoe are joined by Stephen Thompson of NPR Music to discuss their favorite political music of the year.

Our Favorite Political Music of 2021

Listen · 17:13
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What's making us happy: What to watch, read and listen to this weekend

Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth and Anya Taylor-Joy as Olga in director Robert Eggers' Viking epic The Northman. Aidan Monaghan/© 2021 Focus Features, LLC hide caption

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Aidan Monaghan/© 2021 Focus Features, LLC

What's Making Us Happy: Recommendations From 'Pop Culture Happy Hour'

What's making us happy: What to watch, read and listen to this weekend

Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: the trailer for The Northman, the novel The School for Good Mothers and more.

Thursday

Our 2022 Pop Culture Resolutions
Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 2022 Pop Culture Resolutions

It's the end of 2021, and the cusp of a new year — which means we're looking back, and we're looking ahead. It's time to see how we did sticking to our pop culture resolutions we made a year ago. And it's time to make some new ones for 2022.

Our 2022 Pop Culture Resolutions

Listen · 25:22
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Wednesday

Our 2022 Pop Culture Predictions
Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 2022 Pop Culture Predictions

If there's one thing we can tell you about 2021, it's that we didn't see it coming. And we might not see 2022 coming either, but we're going to try — by making some pop culture predictions for next year. And on top of that, we'll look at last year's predictions and see how things turned out.

Our 2022 Pop Culture Predictions

Listen · 21:53
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