Accessibility links
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
Stories By

Stephen Thompson

Wednesday

Taylor Swift's Isolation And Artistry Fuel 'Folklore'

Taylor Swift surprised fans with her eighth studio album, Folklore, released on July 24. Beth Garrabrant/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Beth Garrabrant/Courtesy of the artist

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Taylor Swift's Isolation And Artistry Fuel 'Folklore'

Taylor Swift was supposed to spend this summer touring with songs from Lover, an album she'd put out last August. Instead, she wound up cooped up at home. The isolation sparked her creativity, leading her to write and record an entire new record in collaboration with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner of The National. It's called Folklore, and it's a massive left turn in terms of style and subject matter. And it's already earned Taylor Swift some of the best reviews of her career.

Taylor Swift's Isolation And Artistry Fuel 'Folklore'

Listen · 20:34
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/894667431/896389423" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Tuesday

Let's Talk About Taylor Swift's 'Folklore'

Taylor Swift's eighth album, Folklore, was surprise-released Friday. The record features production by The National's Aaron Dessner and a new set of songwriting tools. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artist

Music Features

Let's Talk About Taylor Swift's 'Folklore'

Three critics dive into a new album full of surprises — released on a day's notice, co-produced by The National's Aaron Dessner — and ask how it fits into an arguably unprecedented career.

Friday

New Music Friday: The Top 10 Albums Out July 24

Taylor Swift. Her surprise new album, Folklore tops our picks for the best new albums out on July 24. Beth Garrabrant/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Beth Garrabrant/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The Top 10 Albums Out July 24

Taylor Swift's surprise new album, Folklore tops our list of the week's best releases, along with new ones from Lupe Fiasco, a 50th anniversary edition of Roberta Flack's debut album and more.

New Music Friday: The Top 10 Albums Out July 24

Listen · 38:56
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/894943340/894946892" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Udder Western Skies: 'First Cow'

Orion Lee as "King-Lu" and John Magaro as "Cookie" star in director Kelly Reichardt's film First Cow. Allyson Riggs/A24 Films hide caption

toggle caption
Allyson Riggs/A24 Films

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Udder Western Skies: 'First Cow'

Sometimes, all it takes to change your life is a cow. In the new film First Cow, director Kelly Reichardt follows two men who meet by chance and come up with a plan to get rich. All they need is a couple of ingredients. First Cow is a western, a friendship story, a caper movie, and even a meditation on nature.

Udder Western Skies: 'First Cow'

Listen · 23:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/892230301/894663237" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out On July 17

Blu & Exile. Their new project, Miles: From An Interlude Called Life, is on our shortlist of the best albums out on July 17. Zack Mack/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Zack Mack/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out On July 17

The week's best new albums include old-school hip-hop from Blu & Exile, a transformative record from singer Lianne La Havas, the existential rock of Protomartyr, pop singer Ellie Goulding and more.

New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out On July 17

Listen · 34:57
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/891877560/892165757" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
War Is Forever In 'The Old Guard'

Marwan Kenzari, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlize Theron, Luca Marinelli, and KiKi Layne star in Netflix's The Old Guard. Aimee Spinks/Netflix hide caption

toggle caption
Aimee Spinks/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

War Is Forever In 'The Old Guard'

The big summer action movie is one of the things we've been missing this year, and now, we've got one. And it's a good one, too. The Old Guard stars Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne as members of a squad of fighters who have been in the battle game for much, much too long. The Netflix film is based on a series of comics by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández, and Rucka wrote the screenplay. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood is much loved for films including Love and Basketball.

War Is Forever In 'The Old Guard'

Listen · 22:52
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/891774607/891823861" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Wednesday

We Needed 'Floor Is Lava' Right Now, And You Might, Too

Inspired by the classic kids game, Netflix's Floor Is Lava asks contestants to navigate obstacles in a room filled with, you guessed it, lava. Patrick Wymore/Netflix hide caption

toggle caption
Patrick Wymore/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

We Needed 'Floor Is Lava' Right Now, And You Might, Too

There's a new game show so silly, so stupid, so low-stakes that we can't stop watching it. Teams of three try to cross a course made of furniture and obstacles without touching the ground. It's called Floor Is Lava, it's based on a game played by children, and let's be honest — it couldn't be played by anyone else. You won't want to miss a minute of the craziest, the wackiest, the goofiest game show on Netflix, because the Floor! Is! Lavaaaaa!

We Needed 'Floor Is Lava' Right Now, And You Might, Too

Listen · 16:46
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/890781195/891087860" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

New Music Friday: The Top Ten Albums Out July 10

The late rapper Juice WRLD. His posthumous full-length, Legends Never Die, tops our list of the best new albums out this week. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The Top Ten Albums Out July 10

The best new albums out this week include the first posthumous full-length from the late rapper Juice Wrld, singer Margo Price's best record yet, the return of Rufus Wainwright and more.

July 10, 2020

Listen · 35:51
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/889612197/889634700" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

'Hamilton': Look Around, Look Around, It's On Disney+

Daveed Diggs, Okieriete "Oak" Onaodowan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., and Anthony Ramos star in Hamilton, filmed on Broadway in 2016. Disney+ hide caption

toggle caption
Disney+

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Hamilton': Look Around, Look Around, It's On Disney+

Let's cut to the chase: the Hamilton film has arrived, and it's great. Four years after Lin-Manuel Miranda's show won 11 Tony Awards, you can watch an original Broadway cast performance at home. The film is now available on Disney+. It's a chance to see already legendary performances from Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., and Phillipa Soo, among others, and to see how this sweeping historical story was staged.

'Hamilton': Look Around, Look Around, It's On Disney+

Listen · 25:16
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/884925808/886562618" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out June 26

Arca. Her latest release, KiCk i, is on our shortlist of the best new albums out on June 26. Alex Raduan/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Alex Raduan/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out June 26

This week's "best new albums" shortlist includes the genre-defying sounds of Arca, Carlos Niño & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson's transporting improvisations, HAIM, sacred soul and more.

New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out June 26

Listen · 37:24
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/883420592/883772520" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
In Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods,' The War Never Ends

Isiah Whitlock Jr., Norm Lewis, Clarke Peters, Delroy Lindo and Jonathan Majors star in Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods. Netflix hide caption

toggle caption
Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods,' The War Never Ends

In Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, four Black war veterans return to Vietnam. They're there to retrieve the remains of a fellow soldier, who died on the battlefield. They're also after millions of dollars' worth of gold bars they'd hidden during the war. Da 5 Bloods was supposed to roll out in theaters this summer; instead, it dropped on Netflix earlier this month. But it's still a major Oscar contender — a war epic that's grand in scope, with generational scars that run deep.

In Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods,' The War Never Ends

Listen · 24:14
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/882977911/883544641" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

New Music Friday: The Top 7 Albums Out On June 19

Phoebe Bridgers. Her sophomore full-length, Punisher, is on our shortlist of the week's best new albums. Frank Ockenfels hide caption

toggle caption
Frank Ockenfels

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The Top 7 Albums Out On June 19

Our shortlist of the week's best new albums includes a celebration of love from John Legend, a stunning release from Phoebe Bridgers, a long-lost Neil Young record, the Malian singer Oumou Sangaré and more.

use this one

Listen · 33:53
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/880681908/880727281" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Wednesday

'The King Of Staten Island': Outer Borough, Inner Mess

Marisa Tomei and Pete Davidson star in the latest Judd Apatow film, The King of Staten Island. Mary Cybulski/Universal Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Mary Cybulski/Universal Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The King Of Staten Island': Outer Borough, Inner Mess

In The King Of Staten Island, comedian Pete Davidson plays a wayward stoner whose life isn't going anywhere. He still lives with his mom, he doesn't have a job, and his plans for his life involve a vague — and foolish — plan to open "a tattoo restaurant." The film is directed by Judd Apatow, who also made Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Trainwreck. Apatow's movies often involve a protagonist who faces some sort of need to grow up, and The King Of Staten Island may feature the biggest reclamation project yet: Davidson's character barely functions as an adult, and through much of the film, we see a manchild with a lot of growing up to do.

'The King Of Staten Island': Outer Borough, Inner Mess

Listen · 19:55
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/877847015/877893902" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out On June 12

Chloe x Halle's Ungodly Hour is on our shortlist of the best new albums out June 12. Robin Harper/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Robin Harper/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out On June 12

From new jazz albums from Ambrose Akinmusire and Norah Jones to soothing works from Gia Margaret, Eighth Blackbird and Noveller, here are the best new albums out on June 12.

New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out On June 12

Listen · 47:09
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/875365177/875385433" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">