Accessibility links
Pop Culture News and commentary on popular culture trends. Download the Pop Culture podcast.

Pop Culture

Sunday

Kim Cattrall, More Than Just A Murder Victim In 'Witness For The Prosecution'

Kim Cattrall as socialite — and murder victim — Emily French in The Witness for the Prosecution. Robert Viglasky/Acorn TV hide caption

toggle caption
Robert Viglasky/Acorn TV

Television

Kim Cattrall, More Than Just A Murder Victim In 'Witness For The Prosecution'

Cattrall — best known for her role on Sex and the City — plays a murdered socialite in a new TV adaptation of Agatha Christie's play. She says she wanted to open up the character and understand her.

Kim Cattrall, More Than Just A Murder Victim In 'Witness For The Prosecution'

Listen · 8:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/512000407/512268777" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Whose Sunny Smile Masked Steel

Actress Mary Tyler Moore filming First You Cry in 1978 in New York City. Marty Lederhandler/ASSOCIATED PRESS hide caption

toggle caption
Marty Lederhandler/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Opinion

Simon Says

Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Whose Sunny Smile Masked Steel

Many women in the news business cited Mary Richards, the role Mary Tyler Moore played on her eponymous show, as an inspiration. NPR's Scott Simon notes she inspired men, too, and showed a lot of grit.

Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Whose Sunny Smile Masked Steel

Listen · 3:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/512129896/512129897" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Cast As Brooding Leads, Rufus Sewell Says His Real Talent Is Comedy

Brooding? Just a bit. Rufus Sewell stars as American Nazi leader John Smith in The Man in the High Castle. Liane Hentscher hide caption

toggle caption
Liane Hentscher

Television

Cast As Brooding Leads, Rufus Sewell Says His Real Talent Is Comedy

Rufus Sewell is seemingly everywhere these days — on stage and on the small screen, including Amazon's alternate-history series The Man in the High Castle, in which he plays an American Nazi leader.

Cast As Brooding Leads, Rufus Sewell Says His Real Talent Is Comedy

Listen · 9:26
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/511886261/512130006" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
John Hurt, 'Elephant Man' Star And Character Actor, Dies At 77

John Hurt waits for his photo to be taken in 2014 during a publicity tour for Snowpiercer. The British actor's death was confirmed Friday by his publicist. Ian Gavan/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ian Gavan/Getty Images

The Two-Way

John Hurt, 'Elephant Man' Star And Character Actor, Dies At 77

Hurt recovered from a career lull in the '90s to take key supporting roles in movies such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Snowpiercer and last year's Jackie, and was a recent incarnation of Doctor Who.

Friday

Television

Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, The Smart, Comic Actress Who Inspired A Generation

Fresh Air

Moore, who died Wed. at the age of 80, played a single professional woman on the 1970s show named after her, and became beloved for her role on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Originally broadcast in 1995.

Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, The Smart, Comic Actress Who Inspired A Generation

Listen · 37:13
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/511908581/512017999" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

'Grey's Anatomy': The Secret Sauce Is Blood ... And Friendship

Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) have been through a lot together across 13 seasons. Eric McCandless/ABC hide caption

toggle caption
Eric McCandless/ABC

Television

'Grey's Anatomy': The Secret Sauce Is Blood ... And Friendship

The ABC series Grey's Anatomy, set in a hospital full of possibly cursed doctors, has been on TV for 13 seasons. We talk about what has kept it popular with its fans for so long.

'Grey's Anatomy': The Secret Sauce Is Blood ... And Friendship

Listen · 3:49
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/511809036/511851797" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Archie Got Hot' Is A Sentence You'll Hear In New, Noir 'Riverdale'

Riverdale: These are not the innocuous Archie comics of your childhood. Courtesy of The CW/Archie Comics hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of The CW/Archie Comics

Television

'Archie Got Hot' Is A Sentence You'll Hear In New, Noir 'Riverdale'

The CW's new show takes the sunny, optimistic teens of the classic Archie Comics and drops them into a re-imagined hometown full of sex, secrets and murder — and yes, Archie now has great abs.

'Archie Got Hot' Is A Sentence You'll Hear In New, Noir 'Riverdale'

Listen · 5:26
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/511672776/511851815" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
7 Pieces Of Unsolicited Advice For Those Rebooting 'Queer Eye'

From left: Ted Allen, Jai Rodriguez, Carson Kressley, Thom Filicia and Kyan Douglas celebrate Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's 2004 Emmy win for outstanding reality program. Chris Pizzello/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Chris Pizzello/AP

Pop Culture Happy Hour

7 Pieces Of Unsolicited Advice For Those Rebooting 'Queer Eye'

Netflix announced it will bring back the wildly-popular-until-it-wasn't Queer Eye for the Straight Guy for eight episodes. Production will start in the spring. We have notes. (Note #1: Don't.)

Mary Tyler Moore: On Her Own, Single And Singular

Mary Tyler Moore (left, as Mary Richards) gives a 'thumbs up' sign as she sits at her desk with Betty White (as Sue Ann Nivens) in a scene from 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' in 1975. CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Mary Tyler Moore: On Her Own, Single And Singular

Actress Mary Tyler Moore helped redefine women's roles on TV. She starred in one of the first hit shows to feature a single career woman — The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Moore died Wednesday at age 80.

Mary Tyler Moore: On Her Own, Single And Singular

Listen · 4:01
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/511682118/511745461" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

'A Funny Ingenue': Rachel Bloom On The Influence Of Mary Tyler Moore

(Left) Rachel Bloom as Rebecca and Donna Lynne Champlin as Paula in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. (Right) Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1971. Lisa Rose/The CW; CBS via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Lisa Rose/The CW; CBS via Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'A Funny Ingenue': Rachel Bloom On The Influence Of Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore died Wednesday at 80 years old. Host Linda Holmes talks to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star and co-creator Rachel Bloom about how one very funny woman of television influenced many others.

She Turned The World On With Her Smile: Mary Tyler Moore Dies At 80

Actors Mary Tyler Moore and Ted Knight laugh in a still from The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1976. 20th Century Fox Television/Fotos International/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
20th Century Fox Television/Fotos International/Getty Images

The Two-Way

She Turned The World On With Her Smile: Mary Tyler Moore Dies At 80

The comedic actress was loved for her roles on The Dick Van Dyke Show and, later, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. To this day, however, it's her comedy that endures.

She Turned The World On With Her Smile: Mary Tyler Moore Dies At 80

Listen · 5:25
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/461947952/511655899" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

For Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, A Second Life On The Small Screen

Colombian actor Andres Parra (left) plays Hugo Chavez in the new telenovela, El Comandante. Manuel Rodriguez/Sony Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Manuel Rodriguez/Sony Pictures

Parallels

For Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, A Second Life On The Small Screen

A new TV series recounts the life of the late strongman — and suggests his rule laid the groundwork for the food shortages, hyperinflation and political polarization plaguing Venezuela today.

For Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, A Second Life On The Small Screen

Listen · 3:54
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/511415477/511468534" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript