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

Pop Culture

Friday

Diversity On 'The Walking Dead' Wasn't Always Handled Well

Chad Coleman, left and Sonequa Martin-Green star as Tyreese and Sasha on AMC's The Walking Dead. Frank Ockenfels/AMC hide caption

toggle caption
Frank Ockenfels/AMC

Analysis

Television

Diversity On 'The Walking Dead' Wasn't Always Handled Well

AMC's hit zombie drama The Walking Dead airs its midseason finale Sunday. It's now one of TV's most diverse shows, but critic Eric Deggans says it hasn't always served non-white characters well.

Diversity On 'The Walking Dead' Wasn't Always Handled Well

Listen · 3:55
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/366655295/367244352" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Gold-Plated Gowns And 8-inch Pumps: The Stuff That Made Starlets Shimmer

Mae West is said to have worn these super platform shoes both on screen and off. Brian Sanderson/Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston hide caption

toggle caption
Brian Sanderson/Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Art & Design

Gold-Plated Gowns And 8-inch Pumps: The Stuff That Made Starlets Shimmer

Actress Mae West was petite, but on screen — thanks to a pair of platform shoes — she looked larger than life. A show in Boston examines the fashion and jewelry of Hollywood's golden age.

Gold-Plated Gowns And 8-inch Pumps: The Stuff That Made Starlets Shimmer

Listen · 4:37
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/363545181/367154384" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

The Holiday Films Are Coming, From 'Moses' To 'Annie'

Rameses (Joel Edgerton) and his wife Nefertari (Golshifteh Farahani) try to save their stricken child, a victim of one of the plagues, in Exodus: Gods And Kings. Kerry Brown/Twentieth Century Fox hide caption

toggle caption
Kerry Brown/Twentieth Century Fox

Movies

The Holiday Films Are Coming, From 'Moses' To 'Annie'

Bob Mondello offers a selective preview of what Hollywood has in store for the holidays. There are musicals, there are biopics, and the seas literally will part.

The Holiday Films Are Coming, From 'Moses' To 'Annie'

Listen · 8:02
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/366832046/367047196" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Christmas Bells Are Ringing, And Cable Holiday Movies Are Unrelenting

Candace Cameron Bure and David O'Donnell star in Hallmark's Christmas Under Wraps, which airs Saturday on The Hallmark Channel. Fred Hayes/Crown Media hide caption

toggle caption
Fred Hayes/Crown Media

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Christmas Bells Are Ringing, And Cable Holiday Movies Are Unrelenting

Christmas cable movies are a genre unto themselves. We take a look at some of the Hallmark (and other) romances that are surprisingly big business this time of year.

Christmas Bells Are Ringing, And Cable Holiday Movies Are Unrelenting

Listen · 4:17
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/366836224/366851934" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

The American Origins Of The Not-So-Traditional Celtic Knot Tattoo

Not-so-authentic Irish: a Celtic knot tattoo. Tattoo parlors in Ireland say almost all the customers requesting this are American. Christa Burns/Flickr hide caption

toggle caption
Christa Burns/Flickr

Parallels

The American Origins Of The Not-So-Traditional Celtic Knot Tattoo

The Celtic knot — a pattern of interlocking lines — is centuries old, carved into ancient stones all over Ireland. But that tattoo on your biceps? Like the fortune cookie, American born and bred.

The American Origins Of The Not-So-Traditional Celtic Knot Tattoo

Listen · 3:35
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/366584255/366620609" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Take A Bite Out Of Ringo: Giant Cookies Honor Pop Culture Icons

Brittanie Reed and her mother, Wendy Fitt, the two pastry chefs behind Snickety Snacks, took their inspiration for these sugar cookies from a series of Beatles finger puppets by the artist Hanasaurusrex. Abram Landes/Courtesy of Snickety Snacks hide caption

toggle caption
Abram Landes/Courtesy of Snickety Snacks

The Salt

Take A Bite Out Of Ringo: Giant Cookies Honor Pop Culture Icons

Two self-taught pastry pros specialize in hand-painted cookies of musicians and other cultural icons, from Calvin and Hobbes to Fall Out Boy. Their creations seem almost too beautiful to eat. Almost.

Monday

The Rise And Fall Of Comedian Bob Hope

Bob Hope performs for servicemen at Munda Airstrip, New Georgia, Solomon Islands, in 1944. U.S. Army/AP hide caption

toggle caption
U.S. Army/AP

Author Interviews

The Rise And Fall Of Comedian Bob Hope

Fresh Air

Hope was a comedy trailblazer, but in his twilight years he alienated young audiences with his political views. "He had, unfortunately, stuck around too long," says Hope biographer Richard Zoglin.

The Rise And Fall Of Comedian Bob Hope

Listen · 38:41
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/366137941/366366572" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

'Getting On' Star Niecy Nash: 'I Never Wanted To Be Funny'

Niecy Nash (right) plays DiDi, a nurse at an extended care facility, in the HBO comedy series Getting On, which was modeled after the hit BBC series of the same name. Betty Buckley plays one of her patients. Lacey Terrell/HBO hide caption

toggle caption
Lacey Terrell/HBO

Television

'Getting On' Star Niecy Nash: 'I Never Wanted To Be Funny'

Nash says it took her a long time to see her comedic side as a gift, but she finally embraced it. Now her role as Nurse DiDi in the HBO comedy series has opened the door to more serious opportunities.

'Getting On' Star Niecy Nash: 'I Never Wanted To Be Funny'

Listen · 6:09
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/365469594/366166228" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Terrible Video Game, Great Fundraiser: Meet Desert Bus For Hope

This is Desert Bus. This is it --€” plus the occasional bus stop. Desert Bus hide caption

toggle caption
Desert Bus

All Tech Considered

Terrible Video Game, Great Fundraiser: Meet Desert Bus For Hope

Desert Bus, a parody game invented by magicians Penn and Teller, consists of driving a bus on a featureless road for hours. A comedy troupe in Canada has turned that monotony into money for charity.

Terrible Video Game, Great Fundraiser: Meet Desert Bus For Hope

Listen · 2:50
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/365753387/365910588" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Thursday

Mike Nichols: Remembering The Ellipses After The Story Ends

Mike Nichols, seen here in 2013, died Wednesday at 83. Dario Cantatore/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Dario Cantatore/AP

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Mike Nichols: Remembering The Ellipses After The Story Ends

We consider the work of writer-director-performer Mike Nichols, who died Wednesday.

Mike Nichols: Remembering The Ellipses After The Story Ends

Listen · 6:42
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/365425662/365501775" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Mike Nichols, Award-Winning Director Of 'The Graduate,' 'Silkwood,' Dies

Mike Nichols was an ultimate Hollywood insider who won every major show business award directing for stage, film and TV. But his life in America began as an immigrant from Germany. Nichols was honored with an AFI Life Achievement Award in June 2010. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI hide caption

toggle caption
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI

Analysis

Performing Arts

Mike Nichols, Award-Winning Director Of 'The Graduate,' 'Silkwood,' Dies

Mike Nichols was an ultimate Hollywood insider who won every major show business award directing for stage, film and TV. But his life in America began as an outsider immigrant from Germany.

Award-Winning Director Mike Nichols Dies At 83

Journalist Diane Sawyer and director Mike Nichols arrive at the AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards honoring Nichols on June 10, 2010, in Culver City, Calif. Nichols died Wednesday at the age of 83. Chris Pizzello/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Chris Pizzello/AP

The Two-Way

Award-Winning Director Mike Nichols Dies At 83

Nichols died suddenly Wednesday, ABC News said in a statement. The director of The Graduate and Death of a Salesman was one of the few people to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.

Mike Nichols On 'Talk Of The Nation'

Listen · 16:42
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/365403720/365423394" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">