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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
Pop Culture Happy Hour

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

From NPR

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

Here come 'The Brothers Sun'

Michelle Yeoh as Eileen "Mama" Sun in The Brothers Sun. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

Here come 'The Brothers Sun'

The new Netflix series The Brothers Sun is a fun genre mashup of action, comedy, and family drama. Michelle Yeoh plays Eileen Sun, who married into a powerful Taiwanese crime family, and then secretly raised her youngest son (Sam Song Li) in the U.S. to protect them both from being targeted by rival gangs, while her oldest son (Justin Chien) was left in Taiwan and is now a remorseless killer. But when danger threatens the family, they must band together by any means necessary.

Here come 'The Brothers Sun'

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Books We Love: No Biz Like Showbiz
Luke Medina/NPR

Books We Love: No Biz Like Showbiz

NPR's Books We Love is a roundup of favorite books of the year, sorted and tagged to help you find exactly what you're looking for. Today, we're highlighting books about show business, including a memoir, a history of the Oscars, and a biography about two iconic film critics.

Books We Love: No Biz Like Showbiz

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Are you there Greek gods? It's me, 'Percy Jackson'

Walker Scobell in a scene from Percy Jackson and The Olympians. Disney+ hide caption

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Disney+

Are you there Greek gods? It's me, 'Percy Jackson'

The delightful new Disney+ series Percy Jackson and The Olympians is a new adaptation of a beloved series of books by Rick Riordan. The series tells the story of how Percy (Walker Scobell) finds out the startling truth that his father is a Greek god. Percy soon discovers what that means, with the help of some faithful friends. The series also features Jason Mantzoukas and Megan Mullally.

Are you there Greek gods? It's me, 'Percy Jackson'

Listen · 16:41
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How to get the most out of your library
Kaz Fantone/NPR

How to get the most out of your library

Your local library is a great source for books. But it can also be a great resource for helping you with your new year's resolution. Perhaps you want to learn a new language, take a cooking class, or research your family's genealogy. Or maybe you just want to save a ton of money. Today, we're presenting an episode of the podcast Life Kit all about the ways to get the most out of your library.

How to get the most out of your library

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Our 2024 pop culture resolutions
Wanida Prapan/Getty Images

Our 2024 pop culture resolutions

Do you make resolutions in January? We do. Today, we make pop culture resolutions for 2024, and we check in on what we resolved to do this last year, and whether we are inclined to bask in our victories or fret about our defeats.

Our 2024 pop culture resolutions

Listen · 22:36
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Our 2024 pop culture predictions
Anna Blazhuk/Getty Images

Our 2024 pop culture predictions

What do we do at the end of every year? We hope, we fear, and we make wild guesses. Today, we're checking-in on how we did making predictions for 2023, and then we boldly make new ones for 2024.

Our 2024 pop culture predictions

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Great 2023 movies you may have missed

Monica Bellucci and Toni Collette in Mafia Mamma. Fabrizio Di Giulio/Bleecker Street hide caption

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Fabrizio Di Giulio/Bleecker Street

Great 2023 movies you may have missed

We cover a lot of new movies around here, and some even become our new faves of the moment. Yet at the end of the year, we always have a list of gems we didn't get to talk about, and now's our chance to show them some love. Today, we're making recommendations for great movies we missed in 2023.

Great 2023 movies you may have missed

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'Ferrari' is a stylish study of a flawed man

Adam Driver in Ferrari. Neon hide caption

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Neon

'Ferrari' is a stylish study of a flawed man

The new film Ferrari tells one chapter in the life of a man who wanted everything to go as fast as possible. Starring Adam Driver, the film is a portrayal of Enzo Ferrari's complex personal life, defined by relationships with his wife (Penelope Cruz) and his mistress (Shailene Woodley). Ferrari is the latest film from director Michael Mann, but how does it stack up to his previous work such as Heat and Collateral?

'Ferrari' is a stylish study of a flawed man

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A family tragedy plays out in the ring in 'The Iron Claw'

Zac Efron in The Iron Claw. A24 hide caption

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A24

A family tragedy plays out in the ring in 'The Iron Claw'

The very good new film The Iron Claw tells the tragic story of the Von Erich family. They were professional wrestlers in the early 1980s, with patriarch Fritz (Holt McCallany) directing several of his sons into the sport, with disastrous consequences. Directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White as two of the sons, the film considers the way their father's version of masculinity and strength echoes in their lives.

A family tragedy plays out in the ring in 'The Iron Claw'

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The 'All Songs Considered' holiday extravaganza

All Songs Considered returns to the cabin in the woods to throw a festive holiday extravaganza. Mike Brinson/Getty Images hide caption

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Mike Brinson/Getty Images

The 'All Songs Considered' holiday extravaganza

The Pop Culture Happy Hour team is off today. So we're bringing you a very special holiday extravaganza from NPR Music's All Songs Considered podcast. In this festive episode, All Songs' annual celebration of the season returns with a trip to a snowy cabin in the woods – as they attempt to throw a party for the ages. Eggnog will be had, plenty of delightful holiday music will be played – and some special guests might just drop by, including Carly Rae Jepsen, Robert Glasper, and Olivia Rodrigo.

The 'All Songs Considered' holiday extravaganza

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