The lovely new animated film The Boy and the Heron is the first film in 10 years from visionary Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki ( Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro ). The heron in question is part-heron, part-man who serves as a guide for a boy as they navigate a realm somewhere between life and death. The English dubbed version features the voices of Robert Pattinson, Mark Hamill, and Florence Pugh. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 14, 2023•19 min•Ep 1760•Transcript available on Metacast Taylor Swift has had a very big year. Her career-spanning Eras Tour is on pace to become the biggest and most lucrative concert tour in history, and the subsequent concert film set box office records. She's been streamed on Spotify globally more than any other artist in 2023, and was named Time Magazine 's Person of the Year. Today, in honor of her birthday, Taylor Swift is releasing The Eras Tour film digitally, so we thought it was the perfect time to revisit our conversation about what made t...
Dec 13, 2023•23 min•Ep 1759•Transcript available on Metacast As we come to the end of 2023 we find ourselves in the familiar position of wrapping up the year. From the sublime to the slightly ridiculous we're talking about our favorite TV, movies, memes, and music from this year. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour , or donate to your local NPR station at donate.npr.org/happy Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 12, 2023•37 min•Ep 1758•Transcript available on Metacast Last month, a civil lawsuit was filed against rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs by his ex-girlfriend and former protégé Cassie Ventura. She alleged to have suffered years of emotional and physical abuse during the course of their relationship. Diddy denied the allegations and settled the suit quickly, but other damning claims have resurfaced in its wake. His reputation seems to have been tarnished — at least for the moment. And it has us wondering: Is this a crucial turning point for a long-awaited r...
Dec 11, 2023•27 min•Ep 1757•Transcript available on Metacast In the wild and wonderful new film Poor Things , Emma Stone plays a woman brought back to life from the brink of death. She's a clean slate, unconcerned with the bonds a repressive society tries to put on her. The film reunites Stone with director Yorgos Lanthimos ( The Favorite ) and shares that film's darkly comedic sensibility, but it's even weirder. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour , or donate to your local NPR station at donate.npr.org/happy Learn more abou...
Dec 08, 2023•26 min•Ep 1756•Transcript available on Metacast What would the end of the world actually look like? That's the creeping fear behind the new Netflix movie Leave The World Behind . The movie stars Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke and Mahershala Ali, in a story about strangers who are alone together as things get eerie out in the world. The film was written and directed by Sam Esmail ( Mr. Robot ). Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 07, 2023•18 min•Ep 1755•Transcript available on Metacast Beyoncé's album Renaissance drew on generations' worth of Black and queer dance music — and the subsequent tour packed stadiums with an epic, lavish spectacle. Now, with the new concert film and documentary Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, she's shows the work that went into putting on the tour while also providing a sense of her journey as a highly driven artist. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 06, 2023•23 min•Ep 1754•Transcript available on Metacast What's the best Christmas gift you ever received? You probably didn't have to think about it; you knew it in your bones. Today, we're talking about the actual, tangible gift you found waiting for you under the tree and still think about it from time to time. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Dec 05, 2023•22 min•Ep 1753•Transcript available on Metacast The fun new Australian series Colin From Accounts is part raunchy comedy, part romantic comedy, part friendship story, and part very cute dog. It begins with a chance encounter between two strangers (played by Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall) who meet after accidentally injuring an adorable dog. They reluctantly decide to take joint responsibility for the pup, and form a strange bond. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 04, 2023•17 min•Ep 1752•Transcript available on Metacast In the campy film May December Julianne Moore stars as a tabloid fixture who was at the center of a scandal after she sexually abused a minor she later married. Charles Melton ( Riverdale ) plays her husband and Natalie Portman plays the famous actress who's preparing to play her in a movie decades later. It's directed by Todd Haynes ( Carol ) and is streaming on Netflix. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 01, 2023•21 min•Ep 1751•Transcript available on Metacast 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/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Nov 30, 2023•10 min•Ep 1750•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Recommendations come in from critics and contributors and today, we're highlighting picks from NPR staff. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 29, 2023•13 min•Ep 1749•Transcript available on Metacast Since the holiday season is upon us, it's time to talk about an action classic that many consider to be a Christmas classic: Die Hard . The Bruce Willis movie turned 35 this year, so today we're bringing you this encore episode about the film that was recorded back in 2018. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour , or donate to your local NPR station at donate.npr.org/happy Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 28, 2023•22 min•Ep 1748•Transcript available on Metacast It's been said that a dream is a wish your heart makes. But what happens when you entrust your dream to a charismatic but shady leader? That's the premise of Disney's latest animated movie Wish . It's a musical fantasy that stars Ariana DeBose as an idealist who goes head-to-head with Chris Pine's selfish King. There are catchy songs, cute talking animals, and a few heartfelt moments — in other words, the Disney blueprint. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NP...
Nov 27, 2023•15 min•Ep 1747•Transcript available on Metacast Regional Mexican music has taken the music industry by storm. Earlier this year, Mexican artist Peso Pluma and band Eslabon Armado made history when their song "Ella Baila Sola" topped the Billboard Global 200 chart. But this musical trend didn't come out of nowhere. In this episode of NPR's Alt. Latino , hosts Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras head to Peso Pluma's performance in Nashville and try to understand the root of the phenomenon. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices...
Nov 24, 2023•34 min•Ep 1746•Transcript available on Metacast Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon is everything an Oscar contender might be: long, epic, morally complicated and expensive. While many movie-goers left theaters moved, others called the film a problematic disaster. Today, we're bringing you an episode of NPR's It's Been A Minute, where host Brittany Luse and guests talk about what Killers of the Flower Moon got wrong and how it fits into a broader history of Native Americans on screen. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcast...
Nov 23, 2023•20 min•Ep 1745•Transcript available on Metacast The delightful Netflix animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off starts off in the same way as the 2010 movie Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and comic. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a dim-bulb young Torontonian who falls in love and must fight to win the hand of Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). But in the animated series, the show's focus shifts to Ramona. The show reunites the entire cast of the film including Chris Evans, Jason Schwartzman, and Aubrey Plaza. Learn more about sponsor mess...
Nov 22, 2023•14 min•Ep 1744•Transcript available on Metacast In the new film Napoleon , director Ridley Scott tells the story of French leader Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix). It's a lavish war epic that tracks Bonaparte's rise to power through epic military battles, and explores his tumultuous marriage to the love of his life Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby). Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 21, 2023•22 min•Ep 1743•Transcript available on Metacast Saltburn is a provocative and fun thriller. Barry Keoghan plays Oliver, an outcast at Oxford University who befriends one of his popular and posh classmates, Felix (Jacob Elordi). When Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at his family's lush estate, a twisty game of obsession and manipulation ensues. The film is written and directed by Emerald Fennell ( Promising Young Woman ), and it seems safe to say it will leave audiences in heated debate. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podca...
Nov 20, 2023•26 min•Ep 1742•Transcript available on Metacast The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is the latest adaptation in the beloved blockbuster franchise. The new prequel film follows the early life of Coriolanus (Tom Blyth), the man who would one day become the evil President Snow, and Lucy Gray Baird, (Rachel Zegler), the singer who becomes his mentee. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 17, 2023•25 min•Ep 1741•Transcript available on Metacast The underdog sports comedy Next Goal Wins is based on the true story of American Samoa's soccer team and its attempts to improve its status as a worldwide laughingstock. Directed by Taika Waititi, the film stars Michael Fassbender as the real-life coach tasked with helping the team compete in a World Cup qualifying match. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 16, 2023•17 min•Ep 1740•Transcript available on Metacast The new Netflix movie The Killer is a stylish new thriller starring Michael Fassbender as a stoic and ruthlessly efficient international hitman. When a hit goes wrong, his very detached and methodical life begins to fall apart. The film from director David Fincher and also features Tilda Swinton. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 15, 2023•14 min•Ep 1739•Transcript available on Metacast The sweeping new Showtime series Fellow Travelers chronicles a relationship between two gay men played by Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey. It spans the McCarthy Era of the 1950s through the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. One is perfectly content to stay in the closet and live a lie, and the other wants more out of their relationship. As the years pass the two men keep coming back together only to find the power dynamic between them shifting back and forth. Learn more about sponsor message choices: pod...
Nov 13, 2023•15 min•Ep 1738•Transcript available on Metacast The new movie The Marvels is one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's breezier outings, full of energy and jokes and zappy light powers. Brie Larson returns as Captain Marvel, and sees her teaming up with newer characters, Monica Rambeau (played by Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (played by Iman Vellani). They must team up when their powers become entangled and cause them to switch places whenever they try to use them. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Priv...
Nov 10, 2023•25 min•Ep 1737•Transcript available on Metacast In the trippy new A24 absurdist comedy Dream Scenario , Nicolas Cage plays a schlubby, unremarkable biology professor. Suddenly and inexplicably, he starts appearing in the dreams of people around the world. This phenomenon brings him a weird and difficult-to-manage kind of fame for a while–until the dreams turn into nightmares. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 09, 2023•15 min•Ep 1736•Transcript available on Metacast The movie Quiz Lady is a fun new take on the classic comedic trope of polar opposites: Awkwafina plays Anne, an uptight, lonely trivia nerd. Her sister Jenny, played by Sandra Oh, is the outgoing, perpetual screw up. Together, they must set aside their differences to try and win a TV game show and save Anne's kidnapped dog. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 08, 2023•22 min•Ep 1735•Transcript available on Metacast The Max series Rap Sh!t feels like a comedy for The Moment. Created by Issa Rae, the show focuses on Shawna and Mia (played by Aida Osman and KaMillion), two aspiring rappers from Miami, and documents the challenges they face as young women trying to break into the music industry. The show is about to return for a second season, so today we're revisiting our conversation about the series. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 07, 2023•21 min•Ep 1734•Transcript available on Metacast The new film Priscilla tells the story of Elvis Presley's wife, but it's not a by-the-book biopic. Written and directed by Sofia Coppola, the movie shows how Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) and Elvis (Jacob Elordi) first meet, fall in love, get married, and eventually split in the early '70s. But it's also a moodier look at the way Priscilla is walled off, isolated from family, and kept at a distance from his life of superstardom. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices ...
Nov 03, 2023•26 min•Ep 1733•Transcript available on Metacast The Golden Bachelor is the latest show in ABC's long-running Bachelor franchise, in which the bachelor is a 72-year-old widower named Gerry Turner. Gerry's potential matches are also significantly older than the usual crop, so the priorities are a little different. But the weird dates, the awkward conversations, and the fixations on who has kissed remain. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 02, 2023•23 min•Ep 1732•Transcript available on Metacast In the new movie Five Nights At Freddy's, Josh Hutcherson plays Mike, a down-on-his-luck security guard who winds up getting hired to keep an eye on a family-friendly theme restaurant that's gone out of business. It also happens to be haunted by murderous animatronic mascots. The film is based on the hugely successful video game series, and now it's a box-office sensation. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 01, 2023•15 min•Ep 1731•Transcript available on Metacast 
