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Pop Culture Happy Hour

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A New Podcast Explores 'Dolly Parton's America'

Dolly Parton arrives at the 53rd annual CMA Awards Evan Agostini/Invision/AP hide caption

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Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Pop Culture Happy Hour

A New Podcast Explores 'Dolly Parton's America'

Dolly Parton might be one of the most famous women in the United States. She's one of our great country singers, she produces television including an upcoming Netflix series, and she has her own theme park. And now, inevitably, she's the subject of a podcast. The nine-episode series, Dolly Parton's America, from Jad Abumrad of Radiolab, talks about Parton's life, her music, her home, and what she means to other people.

A New Podcast Explores 'Dolly Parton's America'

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'Last Christmas' Might Warm Your Heart, Or Not

Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding in "Last Christmas," directed by Paul Feig. Jonathan Prime/Universal Pictures hide caption

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Jonathan Prime/Universal Pictures

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Last Christmas' Might Warm Your Heart, Or Not

There are a lot of Christmas movies with a lot of different inspirations. The new film Last Christmas, is inspired by Wham! song of the same name. The film is directed by Paul Feig and written by Bryony Kimmings and Emma Thompson, and stars Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding. It tells the story of a woman who's struggling to get back on her feet after an illness knocked her out.

'Last Christmas' Might Warm Your Heart, Or Not

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The Cozy Snowbound Sweater-Wearing Guide To 2019 Holiday Movies

Josh Whitehouse and Vanessa Hudgens star in a movie in which an actual knight comes to modern-day Ohio, and if that's not enough for you, I can't help you. Brooke Palmer/Netflix hide caption

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Brooke Palmer/Netflix

The Cozy Snowbound Sweater-Wearing Guide To 2019 Holiday Movies

Yes, it's here again: the season when cable and streaming networks offer a deluge of holiday stories — 61 in all! — full of happy couples, moppets and people learning the true meaning of Christmas.

'Doctor Sleep': Is This Sequel Equal To 'The Shining'?

Ewan McGregor as Dan Torrance in Stephen King's Doctor Sleep. Jessica Miglio/Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Doctor Sleep': Is This Sequel Equal To 'The Shining'?

Stephen King's novel the shining was about a haunted hotel and a boy named Danny Torrance with psychic powers. In 2013, Stephen King wrote a sequel. In that book Danny Torrance is all grown up, but still haunted — literally and figuratively — by the ghosts of his past. He's played by Ewan MacGregor in the new film Doctor Sleep, which adapts King's novel.

'Doctor Sleep': Is This Sequel Equal To 'The Shining'?

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We're Watching 'Watchmen'

Regina King plays Tulsa Police detective Sister Night in the new HBO series Watchmen. Mark Hill/HBO hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

We're Watching 'Watchmen'

HBO's series Watchmen is not strictly an adaptation of the landmark comic book series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons — it's technically a sequel. It stars Regina King as an ex-cop in Tulsa Oklahoma who's not-so-secretly the masked vigilante Sister Night. It also stars Don Johnson and Tim Blake Nelson, alongside Jean Smart and a very odd Jeremy Irons, who are both playing characters from the comic. Showrunner Damon Lindelof has set the show within a big, weird world that keeps getting bigger and weirder, even as it seeks to comment on some very contemporary, real-world issues.

We're Watching 'Watchmen'

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Pop Culture Comfort Food To Help You Get Through The Election Year

Teddy Pendergrass Matt Long/Flickr hide caption

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Matt Long/Flickr

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop Culture Comfort Food To Help You Get Through The Election Year

We know — you're tired. The next presidential election is still just over a year away, but it feels like the last one never ended. And if that's how you feel, imagine what it's like for folks who cover this stuff for a living. We asked Ayesha Rascoe and Danielle Kurtzleben from the NPR Politics Podcast to tell us what pop culture they turn to when they need a break.

Pop Culture Comfort Food To Help You Get Through The Election Year

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My Name Is Dolemite: We Dig It

Eddie Murphy, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph in Dolemite Is My Name. François Duhamel/Netflix/Courtesy of NETFLIX hide caption

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My Name Is Dolemite: We Dig It

Dolemite Is My Name is a new Netflix biopic about comedian Rudy Ray Moore, who created a flamboyant alter ego and became a blaxploitation legend in the 1970s. The film stars Eddie Murphy, who's joined by a fantastic cast that includes Keegan-Michael Key, Tituss Burgess, Craig Robinson, Mike Epps and Wesley Snipes. It's a behind the scenes look at the making of the 1975 cult hit film Dolemite.

My Name Is Dolemite: We Dig It

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'Jojo Rabbit': Should You Go, Or Waititi To See It?

Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) has dinner with his imaginary friend Adolf (Taika Waititi), and his mother, Rosie (Scarlet Johansson). Kimberley French/Twentieth Century Fox/Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation hide caption

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Kimberley French/Twentieth Century Fox/Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Jojo Rabbit': Should You Go, Or Waititi To See It?

Jojo Rabbit is already an Oscar favorite. The dark comedy from director Taika Waititi won the audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival. That's preceded a best picture nomination in 10 out of the last 11 years. Based on a 2004 novel by Christine Leunens, the film follows Jojo, a German boy who remains loyal to Adolf Hitler as World War II winds down. In fact, he envisions the leader as his imaginary friend.

'Jojo Rabbit': Should You Go, Or Waititi To See It?

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'Parasite' Is A Genre-Bending Look At Capitalism

So-dam Park and Woo-sik Choi in Parasite Courtesy of NEON CJ Entertainment hide caption

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Courtesy of NEON CJ Entertainment

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Parasite' Is A Genre-Bending Look At Capitalism

Even if you've seen a lot of movies about class struggle, you can bet you've never seen one like Parasite. From director Bong Joon-ho, it tells the story of two families, one with a lot of money and one that's just struggling to get by. Parasite won the top prize, the Palme d'Or, at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and it's South Korea's entry into this year's Oscars race.

'Parasite' Is A Genre-Bending Look At Capitalism

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'El Camino' Continues The 'Breaking Bad' Story

Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie Ben Rothstein/Netflix hide caption

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Ben Rothstein/Netflix

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'El Camino' Continues The 'Breaking Bad' Story

The Emmy-award winning series Breaking Bad chronicled the transformation of Walter White, a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher played by Bryan Cranston, into a ruthless and deadly crystal meth kingpin. It ended in 2013, after six seasons. The show also starred Aaron Paul as Cranston's punching-bag of partner-in-crime, Jesse Pinkman. Now, series creator Vince Gillgan has written and directed a new Netflix movie that explores what happens to Jesse in the immediate aftermath of Breaking Bad's finale.

'El Camino' Continues The 'Breaking Bad' Story

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A Conversation With Terry Gross

Terry Gross on stage during Advertising Week in New York on September 23, 2019. Mark Von Holden/Advertising Week and Shutterstock hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

A Conversation With Terry Gross

Last month at an Advertising Week event in New York, Linda Holmes had the chance to sit down with a legend of public radio and of good conversation. Terry Gross has hosted Fresh Air since 1975. She still brings listeners daily conversations about news and books, film and science. Today, we're sharing an edited version of that conversation.

A Conversation With Terry Gross

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Does Netflix's 'The Politician' Deserve Your Vote?

Georgina Hobart (Gwyneth Paltrow) in the new Netflix series The Politician Courtesy of NETFLIX hide caption

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Courtesy of NETFLIX

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Does Netflix's 'The Politician' Deserve Your Vote?

Ryan Murphy and his collaborators are responsible for everything from Glee to American Horror Story. And now, they've made their first project for Netflix. It follows Payton Hobart, a high school student determined to be president of the student body, and one day the United States. Murphy has gathered another of his impressive casts: Ben Platt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bob Balaban, Bette Midler, and of course Jessica Lange.

Does Netflix's 'The Politician' Deserve Your Vote?

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Our Fall Book Preview

Some of the books recommended in Pop Culture Happy Hour's fall book preview. Beth Novey/NPR hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our Fall Book Preview

Summer is turning to fall where we are, and that means it's time for a couch, a blanket, and a book. Fiction and nonfiction, essays and memoirs, we've got some ideas for things you can read this fall. And we're bringing in a couple of our favorite book lovers to help us out.

Our Fall Book Preview

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