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

Pop Culture

Monday

Rihanna is pregnant, and the internet is understandably abuzz

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are expecting their first child. Here, they attend the Met Gala on Sept. 13 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for the Met Museum/Vogue hide caption

toggle caption
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for the Met Museum/Vogue

Rihanna is pregnant, and the internet is understandably abuzz

Global superstar and savvy entrepreneur Rihanna is expecting her first child, with rapper A$AP Rocky. She debuted her baby bump during a photo shoot in New York City.

Your favorite celebrity could be playing your least favorite tech villain on TV

On March 3, Hulu will premiere the series The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes, the Theranos founder recently convicted of defrauding her investors. Beth Dubber/Hulu hide caption

toggle caption
Beth Dubber/Hulu

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Your favorite celebrity could be playing your least favorite tech villain on TV

There's a lot that unites these projects: high-profile stars playing people who fell from grace. Specifically, people who shared the trait of having been being ambitious when it came to money.

'Station Eleven': A Home At The End Of The World

Jeevan (Himesh Patel) and Kirsten (Matilda Lawler) brace for a looming pandemic in Station Eleven. Parrish Lewis/HBO Max hide caption

toggle caption
Parrish Lewis/HBO Max

Short Wave

'Station Eleven': A Home At The End Of The World

Today we're bringing you an episode from our friends at NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour.

'Station Eleven': A Home At The End Of The World

Listen · 18:30
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1076492856/1200394411" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Highlights from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival

Daryl McCormack and Emma Thompson star in Good Luck To You, Leo Grande. Nick Wall/Courtesy of Sundance Institute hide caption

toggle caption
Nick Wall/Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Highlights from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival

When it comes to the Sundance Film Festival, you never really know what you're going to get. Each year brings a chance to stumble upon surprises and delights from filmmakers both well-known and emerging. Today, we've picked a few films, touching on everything from misogyny to arrested development to racism, that we think are worth keeping on your radar in the coming year.

Highlights from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival

Listen · 17:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1076360032/1076389164" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

Bonus: Getting real (like, really real) with Gabrielle Union

Gabrielle Union. Photo illustration by Renee Klahr/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Photo illustration by Renee Klahr/NPR

Perspective

Code Switch

Bonus: Getting real (like, really real) with Gabrielle Union

We hear the phrase "unapologetically Black" thrown around a lot. But what does it actually mean? In this bonus episode from our newest play cousins at NPR's The Limits podcast, actress, businessperson, and author Gabrielle Union talks about what it meant for her to stop paying so much attention to what white people wanted from her.

Bonus: Getting real (like, really real) with Gabrielle Union

Listen · 48:47
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1075675880/1199265008" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Saturday

Amy Schneider's run on 'Jeopardy!' may be over, but her fans are as thankful as ever

Amy Schneider's Jeopardy! run ended Wednesday night after 40 consecutive wins. Schneider is now holds the second-longest win streak in the show. She is also the highest-winning female contestant and the first trans contestant to qualify for the tournament of champions. Casey Durkin/Casey Durkin/Sony Pictures Television hide caption

toggle caption
Casey Durkin/Casey Durkin/Sony Pictures Television

Amy Schneider's run on 'Jeopardy!' may be over, but her fans are as thankful as ever

After 40 consecutive wins, Amy Schneider's run on Jeopardy! ended Wednesday. Since then, her fans have taken the opportunity to thank her for the joy and trans representation she brought to the show.

Amy Schneider's run on 'Jeopardy!' may be over, but her fans are as thankful as ever

Listen · 2:35
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1076423607/1076489159" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

Lifetime and A&E's Janet Jackson docuseries promises more than it delivers

Janet Jackson speaks in her new docuseries, Janet Jackson. A&E hide caption

toggle caption
A&E

Review

TV Reviews

Lifetime and A&E's Janet Jackson docuseries promises more than it delivers

The famously private music legend has the opportunity to open up in a two-part docuseries. But the show leaves many stories left untold.

Lifetime and A&E's Janet Jackson docuseries promises more than it delivers

Listen · 4:07
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1076164474/1076514326" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Wordle is a daily dose of delight, despair, and sometimes smugness
Screenshot/Mike Katzif

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Wordle is a daily dose of delight, despair, and sometimes smugness

The daily online word game Wordle has absolutely exploded in popularity in recent weeks. It's a game that gives you six chances to guess a five-letter word, giving you clues along the way about which letters are right and whether they're in the right places. It's addictive, but it can drive you mad.

Wordle is a daily dose of delight, despair, and sometimes smugness

Listen · 25:15
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1075352735/1076139033" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

The ins and out of Peloton culture

Peloton is a fitness and media company that makes stationary bikes, treadmills and workout videos. Peloton hide caption

toggle caption
Peloton

Pop Culture Happy Hour

The ins and out of Peloton culture

What do Dancing With The Stars, the Sex and the City spinoff, and one of the most viral ads of 2019 have in common? They represent some of the many pop culture touchpoints of the ubiquitous fitness brand Peloton. We talk about the Peloton universe, including it's star-making stable of instructors complicated relationship with the wellness industry.

The ins and out of Peloton culture

Listen · 31:30
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1075326738/1075759656" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Dolly Parton's new line of Southern baking mixes is already sold out

Duncan Hines says its Dolly Parton cake mixes and frostings will hit grocery stores and mass retailers starting in March and sell for about $2 each. Conagra Brands Inc. hide caption

toggle caption
Conagra Brands Inc.

Food

Dolly Parton's new line of Southern baking mixes is already sold out

The limited-edition collections from Dolly Parton and Duncan Hines have been snapped up, but their Southern-inspired cake and frosting mixes are expected to hit grocery store shelves in March.