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Clockwise from top left: We Are Lady Parts, City of Ghosts, Bachelorette (Season 18), The Wonder Years, and Reservation Dogs. NPR hide caption

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NPR

What We Watched in 2021

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Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves return as Trinity and Neo in The Matrix Resurrections. Warner Bros. hide caption

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Warner Bros.

Much of the movie 'Contact' was filmed at the Very Large Array in New Mexico. Erin Slonaker/Moment Editorial/Getty Images hide caption

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Erin Slonaker/Moment Editorial/Getty Images

Last year, after announcing he'd run for president, Joe Biden gave his first extended interview to ABC's The View. AP hide caption

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AP

'The View' is cultural (and political) canon

In an era when social media and streaming reign supreme, how has a daytime talk show on network television managed to stay relevant? With help from Ramin Setoodeh (author of the book Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View) and writer Amanda FitzSimons (who covered this for The New York Times Magazine), Sam explores why — and how — ABC's The View continues to trend on Twitter, regularly lands presidential candidates in the guest chair, and turns its Hot Topics roundtable into a microcosm of modern-day American politics. Here's looking at you, 2022 midterms!

'The View' is cultural (and political) canon

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A truck carrying Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin and Residente joins with thousands of other people as they call on Puerto Rican Gov. Rosselló to step down. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

In the third part of our series exploring crossover in pop music, we reexamine the so-called "Latin explosion" of the '90s: what it was supposed to be for audiences across the U.S., and what it actually came to represent. Blake Cale for NPR hide caption

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Blake Cale for NPR

Bonus Episode: The blessing and curse of the '90s Latin Pop Explosion

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This artist concept shows NASA Dawn spacecraft arriving at the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn travels through space using a technology called ion propulsion, with ions glowing with blue light are accelerated out of an engine, giving the spacecraft thrust. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

Happy Science Fiction Week, Earthlings!

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Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper in Nightmare Alley. Kerry Hayes/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Kerry Hayes/Searchlight Pictures

In Sing 2, a troupe of singing animals take a big gamble on hitting it big in a Vegas-like resort. Illumination hide caption

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Illumination

Scarlett Johansson, Tori Kelly and Bono gamble big for superstardom in 'Sing 2'

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Rita Moreno, whose portrayal of Anita in the 1961 West Side Story earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, attends the premiere of the 2021 remake. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images

Looking back on the original 'West Side Story' and its impact on Nuyorican identity

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Models walk the runway during Gucci Love Parade in Los Angeles in November. (1) Amy Sussman/Getty Images; (2,3) Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Gucci hide caption

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(1) Amy Sussman/Getty Images; (2,3) Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Gucci

Dust off the sequins and unpack the bedazzler — sparkle is back

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Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez got back together this year after nearly two decades apart. FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images

Did that really happen this year?

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