Pop Culture Happy Hour
NPR
Trying to keep up with the latest in pop culture? We’ve got you covered. The Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast helps you find the best new binge-worthy tv shows, movies, music, and videogames.Join hosts Linda Holmes, Aisha Harris, Stephen Thompson, and Glen Weldon four episodes a week - plus a rotating cast of guest pop culture enthusiasts. It’s your fix for reviews, recommendations, and recaps of the pop culture everyone is talking about. From lowbrow reality TV to Oscar-winning movies to the stuff in between, we take it all with a shot of cheer. On the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, we watch everything so that you never miss anything. Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 23, 2026 • 31min
Wicker and What’s Making Us Happy
A fiery medieval romance pairs Olivia Colman with a husband made of wicker, sparking debates about patriarchy, desire, free will, and artificial intelligence. The conversation also explores the film’s tactile visuals and unapologetic sexuality, before turning to a science explainer, nostalgic rap from Anderson .Paak and Cordae, Theranos commentary, and Tinashe’s vibrant pop.
Oct 21, 2026 • 16min
Youth
Roxana Haddadi, a television critic for Vulture, joins a lively discussion of Sharon Horgan’s HBO series Youth. They explore its portrayal of divorce, aging, parenting, sex, career crossroads, and midlife desire. The conversation also considers Horgan’s signature appeal, the publishing-world setting, uneven comedy, Rory’s storyline, and whether the series lives up to her earlier work.
8 snips
Oct 20, 2026 • 21min
Sense and Sensibility
Bob Mondello, longtime film and arts critic, and Waylon Wong, co-host of The Indicator from Planet Money, join a discussion of a new Sense and Sensibility adaptation. They explore its lush visual style, sisterly bonds, romantic yearning, and the financial insecurity shaping Austen’s women. The conversation also covers updated character ages, Mrs. Jennings’ matchmaking, restrained performances, and the pleasures of a tactile period romance.
Oct 19, 2026 • 17min
Whalefall and What's Making Us Happy
Rihanna Cruz, a freelance music and culture journalist, dives into Whalefall, the wild survival thriller where a diver is swallowed by a whale. They explore its claustrophobic horror, striking sound design, father-son drama, and spiritual whale imagery. Cruz also recommends a Beck biography, while Gwennifer Raymond’s acoustic guitar brings unexpected metal energy.
16 snips
Oct 16, 2026 • 25min
You Can See Everything
Bob Mondello, an NPR film critic and longtime arts journalist, and Ronald Young Jr., a film and TV critic, unpack Nathan Fielder’s strange documentary about Elizabeth Holmes and Billy Evans. They explore its ethical questions, missing context, persuasive portrait of Holmes, Amanda Seyfried’s reenactments, and the murky line between documentary, scripting, truth, and performance.
7 snips
Oct 15, 2026 • 18min
The Lowdown
Soraya Nadia McDonald, a culture critic and journalist, joins a lively discussion of FX’s The Lowdown. They explore Ethan Hawke’s truth-obsessed Tulsa muckraker, the show’s literary noir influences, Sterlin Harjo’s gritty love letter to Oklahoma, Lee’s complicated fatherhood, and an exceptional ensemble featuring Keith David, Killer Mike, and Peter Dinklage.
7 snips
Oct 14, 2026 • 15min
Other Mommy
Trayvill Anderson, a film and pop culture journalist, and Rihanna Cruz, a music and culture writer, dissect the viral horror hit Other Mommy. They debate its grisly set pieces, goofy tonal shifts, wasted Jessica Chastain performance, thin family secrets, and lack of supernatural buildup. Is it truly one of the year’s worst films, or simply a crowd-pleasing scare machine haunted by better horror?
8 snips
Oct 12, 2026 • 18min
Carrie
Jordan Crucchiola, a film and television critic who writes The Action Desk newsletter, joins the conversation about Prime Video’s Carrie. They explore Mike Flanagan’s expanded take on Stephen King’s story, its surprising strength as a drama about bullying and abuse, and Margaret White’s modern extremism. They also examine how social media intensifies cruelty, parents’ rights politics become supernatural fuel, and what a second season might uncover.
17 snips
Oct 9, 2026 • 26min
The Social Reckoning and What’s Making Us Happy
Danielle Kurtzleben, an NPR political correspondent covering elections and policy, joins a lively discussion of Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning. They unpack its fictionalized Facebook whistleblower story, investigative-journalism ambitions, gender politics, scrambled timeline, and overstuffed exposition. The conversation wraps with recommendations, from Janice Hallett mysteries to a journalism documentary and The Try Guys.
9 snips
Oct 7, 2026 • 23min
East of Eden
Greta Johnson, host of Happy to Be Here, and Andrew Limbong, an NPR culture and books reporter, discuss Netflix’s ambitious East of Eden adaptation. They explore its multigenerational Trask family saga, Florence Pugh’s dark reimagining of Kathy, Hoon Lee’s tender Lee, and the series’ old-fashioned grandeur. The conversation also tackles its overexplained script, modern morality, and flawed but compelling performances.
