Kate Winslet returns to HBO but this time tries her hand at comedy with The Regime. Chris, Hillary and Richard discuss what they’re looking forward to in this six part limited series. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Night Country's showrunner, Issa López, discusses True Detective season four, revealing surprising Easter eggs and character backstories. Topics include character naming process, evolution of murderer identification, symbolism of oranges, severed tongue mystery, and legacy of director John Ford. Insights on themes like the night country, ancient sea creatures, spirals, and flat circle time concept. Teaser for upcoming project The Regime starring Kate Winslet.

Richard, Chris, and Hillary discuss how Night Country reveals both what happened to the scientists and who really killed Annie K. Plus, Jodie Foster joins to dig into how the ending reinforces all of the show's themes, filming her big underwater scene, and why time, truly, is a flat circle. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As episode five premieres early on Max to avoid the Super Bowl, Richard, Chris, and Hillary break down Night Country's biggest twist yet, while John Hawkes stops by to talk about writing Hank's unbelievably bleak song and staging a very tense standoff. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Richard, Chris, and Hillary discuss Ennis's incredibly depressing holiday, complete with death, breakdowns, and a heart-wrenching romantic diss. Plus, Kali Reis joins to talk all things Evangeline Navarro, and how this episode's major tragedy will drive her going forward Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Richard, Chris, and Hillary dig into the reason behind Danvers and Navarro's rift, Hank's hillibillies, and a theory that climate change could be responsible for the Tsalal deaths. Plus, Isabella LaBlanc joins to talk about bringing Leah Danvers to life. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Actor Christopher Eccleston joins the hosts to discuss a sex scene with Jodie Foster. They delve into cliffhangers, mysterious relationships, and season four's connection to True Detective. Topics include character dynamics, hidden relationships, and the impact of Black Twitter on American political culture.

Actor Finn Bennett joins the hosts to discuss playing the character Peter Prior on True Detective. They explore the small-town setting in Alaska, character dynamics, and climate change concerns. The podcast also delves into the acting journey of Finn Bennett and speculations on suspects in the mystery plot.

Can a new showrunner and Jodie Foster reinvigorate one of prestige TV's most beloved franchises? Richard, Chris, and Hillary are about to find out with an all-new season of Still Watching dedicated to True Detective season four. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the highest-grossing movie of 2023, Barbie, a literal doll, leaves the comforts of Barbieland and ventures into real-world Los Angeles, where she discovers the myriad difficulties of modern womanhood. This arc from cosseted naïveté to feminist awakening is a narrative throughline that connects some of the biggest cultural products of the year. In this episode of Critics at Large, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss how 2023 became “the year of the doll,” tracing the trope from “Barbie” to Yorgos Lanthimos’s film “Poor Things,” whose protagonist finds self-determination through sexual agency, and beyond. In Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” a teen-age Priscilla Beaulieu lives under the thumb of Elvis at Graceland before finally breaking free, while in Emma Cline’s novel “The Guest,” the doll figure must fend for herself after the trappings of luxury fall away, revealing the precarity of her circumstances. The hosts explore how ideas about whiteness, beauty, and women’s bodily autonomy inform these works, and how the shock of political backsliding might explain why these stories struck a chord with audiences. “Most of us believed that the work of Roe v. Wade was done,” Cunningham says. “If that is a message that we could all grasp—that a step forward is not a permanent thing—I think that would be a positive thing.”Read, watch, and listen with the critics:“Barbie” (2023) “M3GAN” (2023) “Poor Things” (2023) “Priscilla” (2023) “The Guest,” by Emma Cline “The House of Mirth,” by Edith WhartonNew episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices