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Tuesday

Presenting 'Pop Culture Happy Hour': is 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' stuck in nostalgia?

A view of a Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man figurine at the GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE World Premiere on November 15, 2021. Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Sony Pictures hide caption

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Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Sony Pictures

Review

It's Been a Minute

Presenting 'Pop Culture Happy Hour': is 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' stuck in nostalgia?

In this special episode from our friends at Pop Culture Happy Hour, guest host Ayesha Rascoe joins co-hosts Glen Weldon and Stephen Thompson as well as NPR contributor Cyrena Touros to talk about the new movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife. They discuss why it's hard to recapture the original Ghostbusters magic and if the latest installment of the franchise added more to its world — or not.

Presenting 'Pop Culture Happy Hour': is 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' stuck in nostalgia?

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'Encanto' is a Disney film filled with charming visuals and lackluster songs

Stephanie Beatriz voices Mirabel in the new Disney film Encanto. Disney hide caption

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Disney

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Encanto' is a Disney film filled with charming visuals and lackluster songs

Encanto is the latest animated Disney musical that tells the story of the Madrigal family, whose members are tucked away in the mountains of Colombia. The film is stuffed with characters who wield magical powers and perform lavish musical numbers written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. But for all its magical realism, it's also a fairly simple story about a family whose bonds need healing.

'Encanto' is a Disney film filled with charming visuals and lackluster songs

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Sunday

Renowned fashion designer Virgil Abloh dies at 41 after a private battle with cancer

Virgil Abloh was the artistic director for Louis Vuitton menswear and the founder of the label Off-White. He died on Sunday after a private battle with cancer. He was 41. Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Qatar Museums hide caption

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Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Qatar Museums

Obituaries

Renowned fashion designer Virgil Abloh dies at 41 after a private battle with cancer

Abloh was the artistic director for Louis Vuitton menswear, but the 41-year-old designer had already made a name for himself prior to joining the luxury label.

Friday

New docuseries gives fans unprecedented access to The Beatles

The Beatles, seen preparing for their final show on Jan. 30, 1969 in London. Evening Standard/Getty Images hide caption

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Evening Standard/Getty Images

Music

New docuseries gives fans unprecedented access to The Beatles

NPR Music critic Ann Powers reviews a new docuseries called "The Beatles: Get Back". It centers around hours of unseen footage of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

New docuseries gives fans unprecedented access to The Beatles

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Thursday

Wednesday

HBO revolutionized TV, but the next few years are tipped to be pivotal for its future

Steven Van Zandt [left], James Gandolfini and Tony Sirico starred in HBO's hit television series, The Sopranos. HBO/Getty Images hide caption

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HBO/Getty Images

Author Interviews

HBO revolutionized TV, but the next few years are tipped to be pivotal for its future

Journalist James Andrew Miller and NPR TV critic Eric Deggans talk about how HBO changed television and why the next few years are pivotal for the network's future.

HBO revolutionized TV, but the next few years are tipped to be pivotal for its future

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Tuesday

From Taylor Swift to Thanksgiving, Dear Prudence gives the gift of advice

Jenée Desmond-Harris gives advice as Slate's Dear Prudence columnist. Courtesy of Slate hide caption

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Courtesy of Slate

It's Been a Minute

From Taylor Swift to Thanksgiving, Dear Prudence gives the gift of advice

What better gift to give this holiday season than the gift of... advice? And solicited advice at that! For this episode, Sam is joined by Jenée Desmond-Harris, Slate's Dear Prudence advice columnist, to help answer everything from how to deal with a partner's overbearing adult daughter to a boyfriend's recent conversion to becoming a Swiftie (read: a fan of Taylor Swift) to the group dynamics of the Thanksgiving prayer in an atheist household. Happy holidays, everybody.

From Taylor Swift to Thanksgiving, Dear Prudence gives the gift of advice

Listen · 26:35
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King Richard is Will Smith at his Oscar-iest

Aunjanue Ellis, Mikayla Bartholomew, Will Smith, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton and Danielle Lawson in King Richard. Warner Bros. hide caption

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Warner Bros.

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

King Richard is Will Smith at his Oscar-iest

King Richard is a sports movie about the early days of superstar tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams. But, as its title suggests, the film focuses on their demanding and ambitious father, Richard Williams. Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, the movie stars Will Smith as a man who'll do anything to get his daughters from Compton to Wimbledon.

King Richard is Will Smith at his Oscar-iest

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Monday

Will you dig 'Cowboy Bebop'? Anime-be so, anime-be no

John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda in Netflix's Cowboy Bebop. Geoffrey Short/Netflix hide caption

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Geoffrey Short/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Will you dig 'Cowboy Bebop'? Anime-be so, anime-be no

The new Netflix series Cowboy Bebop is a live-action remake of the wildly popular Japanese anime about bounty hunters in a neo-noir future. Stylish and satirical, violent and cynical, the show is a bold mashup of genres – western, crime, science-fiction, buddy comedy, melodrama, thriller, and martial arts. It stars John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda as bounty hunters with dark pasts. But does the series hold up to the original?

Will you dig 'Cowboy Bebop'? Anime-be so, anime-be no

Listen · 20:25
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Sunday

Meet the mullet queen of Lansing, Michigan

Ashley Medina at Bliss Salon Spa & Boutique in Lansing, Mich. Heather Kanillopoolos Photography hide caption

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Heather Kanillopoolos Photography

Meet the mullet queen of Lansing, Michigan

Ashley Medina is so busy cutting mullets for all kinds of people in her Lansing, Michigan, shop that she may have to give up other styles.

Meet the mullet queen of Lansing, Michigan

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