Pop Culture : NPR

'Hamilton' Comes Home, Just In Time For The Fourth Of July

Leslie Odom Jr. originated the role of Aaron Burr on Broadway in Hamilton. Like the rest of the original cast, he's available to watch at home in the film, which arrives Friday on Disney+. Disney+ hide caption

toggle caption

Disney+

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Hamilton' Comes Home, Just In Time For The Fourth Of July

June 30, 2020 • The very good movie version of Hamilton, filmed with the original cast at the height of the show's popularity, will perk up faithful cast album fans — and new viewers, too.

National

Yeezy, Meet Gap: Kanye West Announces A New Clothing Line Partnership

June 29, 2020 • Kanye West announced a new clothing line partnership with Gap last Friday, causing the retailer's stock to skyrocket.

Yeezy, Meet Gap: Kanye West Announces A New Clothing Line Partnership

Listen · 2:03 2:03

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/884958631/884958632" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Business

Hello Kitty Founder Steps Down As CEO Of Sanrio

June 26, 2020 • Shintaro Tsuji, CEO of Sanrio, will step down on July 1 and hand over the reins of the Japanese company that created global mega-star character Hello Kitty to his grandson.

Hello Kitty Founder Steps Down As CEO Of Sanrio

Listen · 2:24 2:24

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/883823730/883823731" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

'Search Party' Season 3: Jerks Brought To Justice

Dory (Alia Shawkat) faces the music (and the viewer) in the third season of Search Party on HBO Max. Jon Pack/HBO Max hide caption

toggle caption

Jon Pack/HBO Max

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Search Party' Season 3: Jerks Brought To Justice

June 25, 2020 • The darkly comic series about four entitled New Yorkers striving to cover up a murder returns for a third season, now on HBO Max.

K-Pop's Digital 'Army' Musters To Meet The Moment, Baggage In Tow

A fan of K-pop band BTS poses for photos against a backdrop featuring an image of the group's members in Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 29, 2019. Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

Editors' Picks

K-Pop's Digital 'Army' Musters To Meet The Moment, Baggage In Tow

June 24, 2020 • There's a growing narrative highlighting K-pop fans' political progressiveness. But the reality is far more complicated.

K-Pop's Digital 'Army' Musters To Meet The Moment, Baggage In Tow

Listen · 3:33 3:33

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/882867577/887540675" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Arts & Life

How Youtube Chef Tito Charly Gained Internet Fame During The Coronavirus Pandemic

June 21, 2020 • NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Tito Charly about the popularity of his Youtube cooking channel, which he started after losing his job in Mexico due to the pandemic.

How Youtube Chef Tito Charly Gained Internet Fame During The Coronavirus Pandemic

Listen · 3:20 3:20

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/881358588/881358589" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Japanese Printing Company Makes Edible Notepads, Coffee Flavored Pens

June 19, 2020 • With these notepads and pens, you'll never suffer from a lack of snacks at work meetings again. Instead, you can take your own notes and eat them too.

Japanese Printing Company Makes Edible Notepads, Coffee Flavored Pens

Listen · 0:26 0:26

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/880754421/880754425" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

'The Last Of Us Part II' Is A Gut Punch That Just Keeps Punching

Ellie is one of the playable characters — and four years later, she's not the bubbly teenager she was in the first game. Naughty Dog/Sony Entertainment hide caption

toggle caption

Naughty Dog/Sony Entertainment

Join The Game

'The Last Of Us Part II' Is A Gut Punch That Just Keeps Punching

June 18, 2020 • The hotly-anticipated, pandemic-delayed sequel to 2013's fungal apocalypse game The Last of Us packs all the visual and emotional wallop of the first — and more.

Patterson Hood of The DBTs, performing at Tipitina's in New Orleans on Sept. 3, 2011. Erika Goldring/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Erika Goldring/Getty Images

Opinion

Editors' Picks

Now, About The Bad Name I Gave My Band

June 17, 2020 • Patterson Hood co-founded his band, The Drive-By Truckers, in the mid-'90s. Some 24 years later and just a little wiser, he revisits that decision.

Hovering In The Closet Doorway: 'Love, Victor'

Espress yourself: Victor (Michael Cimino, left) bellies up to barista Benji (George Sear) in Hulu's Love, Victor. Hulu hide caption

toggle caption

Hulu

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Hovering In The Closet Doorway: 'Love, Victor'

June 17, 2020 • The makers of 2018's inoffensive Love, Simon center this Hulu series on a Latinx teen from a conservative, working-class family, but otherwise recapitulate the film's strengths — and weaknesses.

Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest To Be Held Without Audience Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

June 17, 2020 • As Independence Day nears, Americans are preparing to celebrate July 4th a little differently. Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs has already changed how it will hold its annual eating competition.

Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest To Be Held Without Audience Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Listen · 0:25 0:25

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/879041087/879041088" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

How 'Streets Of Rage 4' Reimagined Gaming's Most Iconic Rave

Axel Stone and friends return to clean up the streets once again in Streets of Rage 4. LizardCube hide caption

toggle caption

LizardCube

Games

How 'Streets Of Rage 4' Reimagined Gaming's Most Iconic Rave

June 12, 2020 • The Streets of Rage video game franchise was known for its cutting edge, club-inspired soundtrack. Composer Olivier Deriviere set out to recapture that magic in Streets of Rage 4.

'Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts' Returns, Weirder And Warmer Than Ever

Kipo (center) and friends make their surprisingly cheerful way through a post-apocalyptic hellscape beset by giant mutant animals in Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. Netflix hide caption

toggle caption

Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts' Returns, Weirder And Warmer Than Ever

June 12, 2020 • Netflix's post-apocalyptic animated series about a girl and her friends in a world of giant mutant animals is so colorful and sunny it makes the end of the world look ... kinda fun.

'Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts' Returns, Weirder And Warmer Than Ever

Listen · 3:47 3:47

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/874331469/875548126" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Aibileen And Skeeter And Mookie And Sal: Love, Work And Watching 'The Help'

Viola Davis in "The Help" Dreamworks Pictures/Kobal/Shutterstock hide caption

toggle caption

Dreamworks Pictures/Kobal/Shutterstock

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Aibileen And Skeeter And Mookie And Sal: Love, Work And Watching 'The Help'

June 12, 2020 • The Help has enjoyed a surge of popularity on Netflix, perhaps owing to its commitment to the idea that the personal matters most. But where injustices persist, that's a flawed idea at best.

My Nintendo 2DS Wasn't Designed As A Time Capsule — But It Is One Now

Sometimes, revisiting an old game can serve as a time capsule of your life when you first played it. Brittany Vincent hide caption

toggle caption

Brittany Vincent

Games

My Nintendo 2DS Wasn't Designed As A Time Capsule — But It Is One Now

June 11, 2020 • If you've got a dusty game console sitting around, why not boot it up again? You may find those old save files are more than just half-finished games — they're windows to your past.