Pop Culture Happy Hour

First a novel and a 1989 hit film, the story of The Roses has been told before. This time around, Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman play a couple whose love curdles into resentment and then hatred. The film features Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon, and is directed by Jay Roach (Meet the Parents, Austin Powers) and written by Tony McNamara (Poor Things, The Favourite).Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Steven Spielberg's Jaws turns 50 this year. It's been called the perfect movie, the first blockbuster, and the film that changed why we go to the movies. As it returns to theaters, we head back into the water to revisit the classic creature feature with fresh eyes – lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureTo access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

If you travel by plane with any regularity, you've been there: stuck in an airport because your flight is delayed. So we thought it best to give your most stressful travel moments a soundtrack. Today, we're recommending three songs for when your flight is delayed.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Long Story Short is a very funny and surprisingly moving new Netflix animated comedy series from the folks behind BoJack Horseman and Tuca & Bertie. The show follows members of one Jewish family by hopping around in time. We see the three siblings (voiced by Ben Feldman, Abbi Jacobson and Max Greenfield) as kids, young adults and in middle-age, as they start having kids of their own. They deal with all the things families deal with – the ups and downs of romantic relationships, parenting, work and, ultimately, loss – but it's also very funny. To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Fame does strange things to people. In the new film Lurker, Théodore Pellerin plays a young retail clerk making his way into the inner circle of a popular rising musician (Archie Madekwe). This friendship is not really built to last and things between them become uncomfortable. Who is manipulating who, and who holds the power, become complicated and painful questions. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

There's a new TV version of The Rainmaker out, so today, we're ranking the five best John Grisham adaptations – including The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and A Time To Kill. But which one is the very best?Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureTo access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We launched Pop Culture Happy Hour 15 years ago this summer, and we had a lot of pent-up hot takes. To celebrate this milestone, today we're breaking open a time capsule to revisit some of our memorable early moments and see how they've held up. To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Spike Lee's new crime thriller Highest 2 Lowest reunites him with his favorite leading man, Denzel Washington. The film is based on Akira Kurosawa's classic High and Low, and it's a tense story about a very rich man with a very big problem. Part morality play and part action movie, Washington plays a music mogul who confronts questions of responsibility and power when he believes his son has been kidnapped.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Alien: Earth is a new TV spinoff of the Alien movie franchise, and as one might expect, it has plenty of Facehuggers, chestbursters, and dark metal corridors. The show brings the infamous Xenomorph to our planet – along with a host of other creepy crawly off-world species – and has them tangle with humans, cyborgs, synthetics and something new. The series comes from the idiosyncratic mind of Noah Hawley (Legion, Fargo) and is airing on FX and streaming on Hulu.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The cheerleading film Bring It On spawned direct-to-video sequels and a Broadway musical. And with an all-star cast of Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, and Gabrielle Union, the movie remains a quotable classic. But a lot has happened since that might make it feel very timely, or very dated. Bring It On turns 25 this month so today we're revisiting our conversation about the movie.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the breezy comedy series Platonic, Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play former best friends who reconnect years after a falling out. The Apple TV+ show follows their misadventures as they try to navigate their respective midlife crises and become friends again. Platonic is back for a second season, so today we are revisiting our conversation about the series.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The intriguing and seriously creepy new film Weapons follows what happens after 17 third-graders get out of their beds on the same night, at the same time, and disappear. The community points fingers at the students' teacher, played by Julia Garner. The latest film from Zach Cregger (Barbarian), Weapons explores why one student was spared that fateful night. There's a clear answer – but we guarantee it's not one you'll see coming. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureTo access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis first switched bodies over 20 years ago in the beloved Disney body swap movie, Freaky Friday. They return in the long-awaited sequel, Freakier Friday, which offers twice as many body swaps, fights galore, and a whole lot of jokes about being old and kids these days. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We are 25 years into the 2000s, so we wanted to debate: what's the most definitive piece of Y2K pop culture? We try to pinpoint the essence of that period when teens ruled the culture, viral internet memes first became a thing, and everyone was freaking out about stocking up on duct tape. We talk about Spice World, Get Over It, Britney Spears' “Oops… I Did It Again” music video, and Janet Jackson's “Empty.”Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Every couple goes through certain rites of passage. You date, maybe you move in together, maybe you get married. And maybe a visit to a mysterious cave makes your bodies start to fuse together. That's what happens in the new horror film Together, starring real-life married couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Wednesday is one of the most popular Netflix shows of all time, and it helped make Jenna Ortega a star. It takes the breakout Addams Family character Wednesday Addams and breaks her out of her home environment. Gomez (Luis Guzmán) and Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones)  pack her off to their alma mater, the gloomy, gothy Nevermore Academy, and she's soon drawn into the investigation of a series of grisly murders. Wednesday is about to return for a second season, so today we are revisiting our conversation about the show.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Naked Gun franchise has always been a rapid-fire delivery system for gags, delivered straight-faced by a cop who doesn't know that anything is funny. In the new Naked Gun movie, that role is handled by the very straight-faced Liam Neeson. With Pamela Anderson as his femme fatale, Neeson tries to save the world from, quite literally, a plot device. And like the original franchise, this Naked Gun is all about a joke pileup.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Netflix series The Hunting Wives is a soapy murder mystery full of nudity and intrigue, about a group of Texas women who are up to no good. It stars Brittany Snow as a woman who follows her husband from the East Coast to Texas for a job working for a rich businessman and budding politician (Dermot Mulroney). Sophie is immediately enchanted by his sultry wife, played by Malin Åkerman. If you always thought Desperate Housewives would be better if more of the housewives were having sex with each other, this might just be the show for you.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's been almost 30 years since Happy Gilmore gave Adam Sandler one of his best-loved movie roles. The rowdy golf comedy gets a belated sequel on Netflix — full of callbacks, flashbacks, fan service, and so many cameos from the golf world and beyond. But how does Happy Gilmore 2 compare to the original?Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureTo access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Last year was Brat summer and saw the rise of Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, and Sabrina Carpenter. But is there a song of the summer for 2025? Today we're talking about the competing songs of this summer from Justin Bieber, Morgan Wallen, KPop Demon Hunters, PinkPantheress, and more.We'd love to know what you think about Pop Culture Happy Hour. Please help us out by telling us what you like and how we could improve by completing a short, anonymous survey at npr.org/pchhsurvey.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Fantastic Four are back again in a new movie--and it's an eye-popping good time. The Fantastic Four: First Steps stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn as the famously fractious family with amazing powers who tangle with a godlike being who wants to eat the Earth. We've seen this story before, but the vibe is different this time. It's a brighter, boldly colored retro-future with flying cars, semi-helpful household robots and lots of talk about the importance of family.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureWe'd love to know what you think about Pop Culture Happy Hour. Please help us out by telling us what you like and how we could improve by completing a short, anonymous survey at npr.org/pchhsurvey.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Today we're recommending a few of our favorite YouTube channels. These are the ones we find ourselves returning to again and again on subjects including board games, culinary history, silly tasks, celebrity interviews, urbanism — and ear gunk.To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the original I Know What You Did Last Summer, some very '90s teenagers are targeted by a killer clad in fisherman's garb and armed with a hook. Nearly 30 years later, a new sequel fires up a very similar plot. The movie includes a new group of young people — including Chase Sui Wonders and Madelyn Cline — and a few key survivors from the first go-'round (Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr.) But does it live up to the legacy of the original?Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Sorry, Baby is a refreshingly disarming movie. The film was written and directed by Eva Victor, who also stars a newly minted professor at the liberal arts college where she received her graduate degree. The school is also where she was once sexually assaulted. The movie takes on a traumatic experience with wry humor and vulnerability — and it announces Victor as a filmmaker and performer to watch. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureTo access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Act now to ensure public media remains free and accessible to all. Your donation will help this essential American service survive and thrive. Visit donate.npr.org now.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Eddington plunges us back into that familiarly distressing time of the early days of the pandemic. Directed by Ari Aster (Hereditary and Midsommar) Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal star as political rivals in a small southwest town. Their conflict collides with the news of George Floyd's murder, which brings tensions to a full-on boil for the whole community. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Netflix animated movie KPop Demon Hunters is a phenomenon, with a soundtrack that's climbing the Billboard charts, and a fandom rivaling that of just about any K-pop idol. The film is loads of fun, it's packed with some of the catchiest bangers you'll hear all summer. It's about a superstar girl group called HUNTR/X, who also keeps busy protecting humanity against an army of demons. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureTo access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This year's Emmy nominations are out, and it was a good year for familiar favorites like Hacks, The Bear, Abbott Elementary, The Last of Us and The White Lotus. There were also some newcomers that got some love as well including The Pitt, Adolescence, The Studio, The Penguin, and Paradise. We'll unpack this year's the notable nominees and make some predictions in the major categories. To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When your long-term boyfriend leaves you for an Instagram influencer, what can you do? In the new Netflix romantic comedy series Too Much, the answer is to go to London for work, and meet a struggling musician who happens to be very, very handsome with a life almost as messy as yours. Starring Meg Stalter and Will Sharpe, and co-created by Lena Dunham, it features a cast full of comedy MVPs, a meet-cute, and a very unusual dog.To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

After much anticipation, there is a pretty great new Superman movie. And he's bringing exactly what we look to him for: hope. Writer and director James Gunn and new Man of Steel, David Corenswet, team up for a new tale of the eternal struggle between evil billionaire megalomaniac Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) and some people in colorful costumes who combine all their powers to stop him. And this time, there's a dog.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This summer marks Pop Culture Happy Hour's 15th birthday. We decided to re-watch the movies we loved at 15 with fresh eyes, and of course, some of them have aged better than others. Today on the show, we revisit the movies we loved as teens — including Chicago, Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club, and The Hunger. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Love Island USA is pure chaos, and admittedly: we love it. It's one of many spinoffs of the long-running British hit series, Love Island — and it might be the closest thing we've got to a watercooler event. The latest season of Peacock's knowingly trashy reality dating show has fired up the group chats thanks to this messy batch of conventionally sexy singles. Sometimes, for better or worse, fans even get to stir the pot and decide who stays or goes. To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

If you're thinking about taking a road trip, you're going to need some road trip music. You might need a pick-me-up, a distraction, or something for when you need a break from podcasts. But if you're headed out on the road, we're here to help with three songs to blast on your next road trip.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jurassic World Rebirth is the latest reboot of the beloved franchise. This time around Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey head to a fresh island of mutant dinosaurs, where they experience a familiar mix of splashy kills and not-so-subtle morality tales. But can the film live up to the magic of the original Jurassic Park? Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Netflix's Korean drama Squid Game became a worldwide phenomenon, winning six Emmys and inspiring countless Halloween costumes. The series has now reached its bloody finale. As the current game concludes, more people die and we find out whether Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) and others can finally end the games for good.To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Bear is back for a new season. The FX on Hulu series sees Carmy and Sydney (Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri) trying to get the restaurant they opened together on its feet before they run out of money. Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is thrown by his ex-wife's approaching wedding and what it's going to mean for him. Plus there's scallop drama, secret negotiations, and guest stars both new and old. To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The horror comedy M3GAN spawned memes, made a fortune, and even taught us a lesson about the dangers of outsourcing our humanity to AI. The sequel, M3GAN 2.0, pans out to tell a bigger story about an even deadlier AI killing machine — and brings back the original M3GAN for some hi-tech robot-on-robot violence. Though M3GAN was defeated at the end of the original film, her tech remains — and it's found its way into a rogue AI assassin named Amelia.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

If you like cars that go fast, you'll be glad to know they go very fast in F1 The Movie. The film stars Brad Pitt as a veteran Formula 1 driver and Damson Idris as the young hotshot, who's very talented but a little too cocky. With nine races left in the season, they have to win one, or the whole team could crash and burn.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ironheart is a fun new Marvel series following Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a brilliant young woman we first met in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. To fund her inventions – including a suit a lot like the one Iron Man used to wear – she falls in with a gang of criminals who rob from the rich led by The Hood (Anthony Ramos). But when her ambitions place the people she loves in danger, she's forced to reckon with her past and her grief. Ironheart is streaming now on Disney+.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's been nearly 30 years since Toy Story kicked off a historic run of animated films. So now seemed like a good time to discuss the best of the best — YOUR picks for the greatest Pixar films of all time. Thousands of you voted, and we've got the results. To see our listener's full ranking of Pixar film, check out the list on Letterboxd - at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureTo access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the new Pixar film Elio, a lonely kid dreams of being abducted by aliens. And then one day, it happens. Eager to find a place to belong, Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) volunteers to save the aliens from a dangerous enemy. Along the way, he makes a friend and starts to think about Earth a little differently. The film was directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi (Turning Red) and Adrian Molina (Coco).Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureTo access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The new apocalyptic horror film 28 Years Later takes place in the same world as 28 Days Later, where a deadly virus transformed the citizens of the U.K. into rabid blood-spewing creatures. The new film brings back the original's director and screenwriter, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland. It's set on a small island where a group of survivors (including Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson) eke out a modest existence. A desperate expedition reveals new allies and new horrors – because the infected have evolved.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy