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Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'
Dia Dipasupil; Neilson Barnard; Antony Jones; Arnold Jerocki; Emma McIntyre; Saul Loeb / AFP; Brandon Bell; Kevin Winter/Getty Images

It's Been a Minute

Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'

It is the first week of July, which means we are officially halfway through the year. And what a year it's been! Brittany sat down with NPR Politics reporter Elena Moore and co-host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour Stephen Thompson, to take stock of what's happened so far in 2024.

Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'

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'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

Mia Goth and Halsey in MaXXXine. Justin Lubin/A24 hide caption

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Justin Lubin/A24

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

The new movie MaXXXine stars Mia Goth as an adult-film actress who gets her big break in Hollywood, only to be revisited by horrors from her past. Set in 1985 Los Angeles, it's the final film in director Ti West's beloved horror trilogy that began with the movie X. MaXXXine also features performances from Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, and Giancarlo Esposito.

'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

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Music Interviews

'I can only give the best': Jon Bon Jovi on vocal surgery and the road to recovery

A few years ago, Bon Jovi stopped performing due to a vocal cord injury. The Hulu docuseries Thank You, Goodnight highlights his surgery and return to stage. Originally broadcast April 24, 2024.

'I can only give the best': Jon Bon Jovi on vocal surgery and the road to recovery

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Ted Danson has embraced the light, but he's still grateful for the dark

Ted Danson on Wild Card Jesse Grant/Getty hide caption

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Jesse Grant/Getty

Wild Card with Rachel Martin

Ted Danson has embraced the light, but he's still grateful for the dark

Ted Danson has mastered the role of the happy-go-lucky guy with a quick wit and a quicker smile – who nevertheless has a few cracks in his sunny demeanor. It's there in Sam Malone on Cheers, in Hank Larsson on Fargo and in Michael on The Good Place. And that same duality is there in Ted's real life. He goes deep with Rachel on the light and dark sides of aging, marriage and what he calls "karmic poo."

Ted Danson has embraced the light, but he's still grateful for the dark

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Bowen Yang thinks being present is overrated

Bowen Yang on Wild Card. Mike Coppola/Getty hide caption

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Mike Coppola/Getty

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Bowen Yang thinks being present is overrated

The Pop Culture Happy Hour team is off today, so we're bringing you an episode of the NPR podcast Wild Card with Rachel Martin. This episode is an interview with Bowen Yang. He is the first Chinese American cast member on SNL, the co-host the podcast Las Culturistas, and he starred in the rom-com Fire Island. He talks to Rachel about living too much in the present, hard truths from Tina Fey, and why the afterlife should have a rollercoaster.

Bowen Yang thinks being present is overrated

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The Caesar Salad was born 100 years ago, on July 4, 1924, in Tijuana, Mexico. Above, a Caesar Salad from the Boucherie restaurant in New Orleans.

The Caesar salad was born 100 years ago, on July 4, 1924, in Tijuana, Mexico. Above, the grilled romaine Caesar salad at Boucherie, a restaurant in uptown New Orleans. Randy Schmidt/Boucherie hide caption

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Randy Schmidt/Boucherie

Hail Caesar salad! Born 100 years ago in Tijuana

The Caesar salad was invented at a hotel in Tijuana, Mexico, on July 4, 1924, to feed hungry American tourists. We've been enjoying it in various incarnations ever since.

100 Years of Caesar Salads

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Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

Megan Thee Stallion performs during the 2022 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival. Rich Fury/Getty Images hide caption

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Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

A lot has happened to rapper Megan Thee Stallion over the last couple of years including a highly publicized trial after being shot by a former friend, a messy breakup, and a feud with artist Nicki Minaj. She confronts all of that and more on her boastful and vulnerable new album Megan. But she also has fun on playful tracks like 'Down Stairs DJ' and 'Otaku Hot Girl' that are odes to self-pleasure and her anime nerddom.

Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

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A member of the 'T-Shirt Swim Club' chronicles life as 'the funny fat kid'

"The first place I learned to be funny was on the schoolyard trying to defuse this weird tension around my body, says Ian Karmel. He won an Emmy Award in 2019 for his work on James Corden's "Carpool Karaoke" special with Paul McCartney. Kenny McMillan/Penguin Random House hide caption

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Kenny McMillan/Penguin Random House

Author Interviews

A member of the 'T-Shirt Swim Club' chronicles life as 'the funny fat kid'

Comedy writer Ian Karmel has been making fun of his own body since he was a kid. He wrote T-Shirt Swim Club: Stories from Being Fat in a World of Thin People along with his sister.

Ian Karmel

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A man orders surf and turf while everyone gets a salad and hopes that his party will split the check with him.
Malaka Gharib/NPR

Life Kit

Dining out with a big group? Learn the social etiquette of splitting the check

Five common scenarios you may encounter while dining out with a large party — and how to handle the bill fairly while being considerate of your server.

Check, please! How to fairly split the tab

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Yes, chef: 'The Bear' has a lot going on in its third season

Jeremy Allen White in The Bear. FX/Hulu hide caption

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FX/Hulu

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Yes, chef: 'The Bear' has a lot going on in its third season

The Bear just returned for its third season and it's still one of the most stressful and most interesting shows on TV. Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) are launching their new fine dining restaurant, but he's estranged from some of the people who are closest to him just as he sneaks up on a new level of success. The series is streaming now on Hulu.

Yes, chef: 'The Bear' has a lot going on in its third season

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A taste of Black Appalachia

Crystal Wilkinson's praisesong biscuits Felix Cruz hide caption

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Felix Cruz

It's Been a Minute

A taste of Black Appalachia

Too often, our attempts at nailing the family recipes end up in disaster and disappointment. This week, host Brittany Luse is joined by former Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson, author of Praisesong for the Kitchenghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks. The two talk about Appalachian food culture, turning oral recipes into written ones, and the emotional relationship between food, family and memory.

A taste of Black Appalachia

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A rental DVD is dispensed from a Redbox at a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles in 2009. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the owner of Redbox, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday.

A rental DVD is dispensed from a Redbox at a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles in 2009. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the owner of Redbox, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption

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Damian Dovarganes/AP

Business

Redbox owner Chicken Soup for the Soul files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

As of March of this year, Chicken Soup for the Soul had about $414 million in assets and $970 million in debts. Shares for the public company have fallen more than 90% over the last year.

Contestants on Love is Blind live apart from one another and do not see each other before agreeing to be married.

Contestants on Love is Blind live apart from one another and do not see each other before agreeing to be married. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

Television

'Love is Blind' is mired in lawsuits. What does that mean for reality TV?

New Yorker writer Emily Nussbaum discusses the lawsuits brought forth by the Love is Blind cast members, and reflects on how reality TV has impacted our culture. Her new book is Cue the Sun!

Emily Nussbaum

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In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

Lupita Nyong'o in A Quiet Place: Day One. Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures hide caption

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Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

In the post-apocalyptic world of A Quiet Place, aliens kill anyone who makes a sound, forcing humans into a near-silent existence. The new movie A Quiet Place: Day One takes us back to the beginning, but this time through the eyes of a terminally ill cancer patient played by the excellent Lupita Nyong'o.

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

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