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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
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Pop Culture Happy Hour

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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

What makes a good sex scene?

Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon star in the 1996 film Bound. Alamy hide caption

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Alamy

What makes a good sex scene?

It's easy to notice when a sex scene is bad. But what makes a sex scene good? Today, we are recommending films with good sex scenes, including Bound, Love & Basketball, Magic Mike's XXL, and Oppenheimer.

What makes a good sex scene?

Listen · 21:29
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'Mary & George' is full of schemes, schisms, corsets, and collars

Julianne Moore and Nicholas Galitzine in Starz series Mary & George. Rory Mulvey/Starz hide caption

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Rory Mulvey/Starz

'Mary & George' is full of schemes, schisms, corsets, and collars

In the new Starz series Mary & George, Julianne Moore plays a low-born, scheming woman who recognizes that her handsome son George (Nicolas Galitztine) could seduce the king and become his favorite. Inspired by the true story of King James I, the series is packed with seduction, vicious dialogue, and ruthless political intrigue.

'Mary & George' is full of schemes, schisms, corsets, and collars

Listen · 15:40
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On 'The Tortured Poets Department,' Taylor Swift spares no one

The Tortured Poets Department is the latest album from Taylor Swift. Beth Garrabrant/Republic Records hide caption

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Beth Garrabrant/Republic Records

On 'The Tortured Poets Department,' Taylor Swift spares no one

Taylor Swift dropped an epic new album that spans two hours — and two high-profile breakups. The Tortured Poets Department delves deeply into two of the singer's recent relationships — one with the English actor Joe Alwyn and the other with Matty Healy, who's the lead singer of The 1975. And while Taylor Swift indulges in a few beefs on this record, the target she returns to most often is herself.

On 'The Tortured Poets Department,' Taylor Swift spares no one

Listen · 30:50
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'Fallout' is bleak but funny science fission

Ella Purnell stars as Lucy in Fallout. Prime Video hide caption

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Prime Video

'Fallout' is bleak but funny science fission

The new show Fallout is based on a hugely successful video game series known for its sardonic, very dark comedic sensibility, and its violence. It's set in the game's post-apocalyptic world – an America divided into factions wrestling for control of an irradiated wasteland. When the hopeful Lucy (Ella Purnell) steps out of the comfortable life she's known in an underground vault, the world she's confronted with is harsh, brutal, merciless – and kinda funny.

'Fallout' is bleak but funny science fission

Listen · 23:38
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How 'Hot Ones' took wing(s)

Comedian Conan O'Brien at TBS Night Out in 2016. He recently appeared on YouTube show, Hot Ones. Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for TBS hide caption

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Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for TBS

How 'Hot Ones' took wing(s)

Hot Ones is the YouTube show where famous people answer questions while eating increasingly hot chicken wings. Hosted by Sean Evans, the series is a phenomenon. And Conan O'Brien is its most recent high achiever, and possibly the best guest ever. What exactly makes a good Hot Ones guest?

How 'Hot Ones' took wing(s)

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'X-Men '97' validates your nostalgia while looking to the future

Jean Grey and Cyclops in the new Disne series X-Men '97. Marvel Animation/Disney hide caption

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Marvel Animation/Disney

'X-Men '97' validates your nostalgia while looking to the future

For millions of kids, the popular 1990s X-Men animated series served as a gateway drug into the world of the X-Men and comics in general. Now, the new Disney+ series X-Men '97 picks up right where the original ended. But changes are also taking place: secrets get revealed, the team roster gets shuffled, and characters meet shocking fates. What hasn't changed is everything fans expect from the X-Men: big fights, big powers, and lots of mutant melodrama.

'X-Men '97' validates your nostalgia while looking to the future

Listen · 19:13
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Books We Love: Love And Romance
Luke Medina/NPR

Books We Love: Love And Romance

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. From the meet cutes to the happy endings and through all the ups and downs in between, we're recommending great books for people who love love and romance.

Books We Love: Love And Romance

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'Civil War' envisions a too-near future

Kirsten Dunst as Lee in Civil War. A24 hide caption

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A24

'Civil War' envisions a too-near future

The new film Civil War depicts a contemporary America torn apart by a military conflict between the federal government and an alliance of secessionist states. Directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina), the film follows a small band of journalists led by Kirsten Dunst's jaded war photographer. They embark on a harrowing journey to the heart of the conflict, encountering brutality and bloodshed along the way.

'Civil War' envisions a too-near future

Listen · 22:50
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'Girls State' provides hope and disappointment for the state of our democracy

Nisha Murali in the Apple TV+ documentary film Girls State. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

'Girls State' provides hope and disappointment for the state of our democracy

The new Apple TV+ documentary Girls State asks: how would high school girls do things if they were in charge? The film is a follow-up to 2020's Boys State, and this time, follows an annual high school program that gives hundreds of girls a chance to create a mock government, complete with elections and a Supreme Court. It was made during the 2022 session, which ended days before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and the case is very much on the minds of the girls in the program.

'Girls State' provides hope and disappointment for the state of our democracy

Listen · 22:24
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'Shōgun' is a fascinating epic about power and honor

Hiroyuki Sanada in FX's Shogun. Katie Yu/FX hide caption

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Katie Yu/FX

'Shōgun' is a fascinating epic about power and honor

The sweeping historical epic has roared back with Shōgun. The FX miniseries takes place beginning in 1600, in a fictionalized but historically inspired feudal Japan, where the previous ruler has died with an heir not yet old enough to be in power, and everything has become chaotic. Shōgun has war, power struggles, violence, impossible love, beautiful naked people, and thorny questions about whose story it really is.

'Shōgun' is a fascinating epic about power and honor

Listen · 22:56
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