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Our 2024 pop culture predictions
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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 2024 pop culture predictions

What do we do at the end of every year? We hope, we fear, and we make wild guesses. Today, we're checking-in on how we did making predictions for 2023, and then we boldly make new ones for 2024.

Our 2024 pop culture predictions

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Thursday

Learning to love to draw with Commander Mark, the Bob Ross of drawing

Mark Kistler, aka Commander Mark, stars in a new documentary, The Secret Cities of Mark Kistler, that tells the story of Kistler's legacy and how it all happened. Corgan Pictures hide caption

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Corgan Pictures

Education

Learning to love to draw with Commander Mark, the Bob Ross of drawing

A new documentary celebrates how millions of children learned the power of drawing from PBS television art educator Mark Kistler.

Learning to love to draw with Commander Mark, the Bob Ross of drawing

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Editing Reality (2023)
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Throughline

Editing Reality (2023)

We live in divided times, when the answer to the question 'what is reality?' depends on who you ask. Almost all the information we take in is to some extent edited and curated, and the line between entertainment and reality has become increasingly blurred. Nowhere is that more obvious than the world of reality television. The genre feeds off our most potent feelings – love, hope, anxiety, loneliness – and turns them into profit... and presidents. So in this episode, we're going to filter three themes of our modern world through the lens of reality TV: dating, the American dream, and the rage machine.

Editing Reality (2023)

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Wednesday

The year in review: 50 wonderful things from 2023

Clockwise from left: Cocaine Bear, Luke Macfarlane in Platonic, Danielle Brooks and Fantasia Barrino in The Color Purple, Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies, the cover of the book Starter Villain, Jessica Williams in Shrinking. Universal Pictures; Apple TV+; Eli Adé/Warner Bros. Pictures; Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images; Tor Books; Apple TV+ hide caption

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Universal Pictures; Apple TV+; Eli Adé/Warner Bros. Pictures; Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images; Tor Books; Apple TV+

Pop Culture Happy Hour

The year in review: 50 wonderful things from 2023

Pop culture critic Linda Holmes has been making this annual list since 2010. Big, small, inspirational, silly — what these items have in common is that they are all wonderful and brought her joy.

The year in review: 50 wonderful things from 2023

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'Ferrari' is a stylish study of a flawed man

Adam Driver in Ferrari. Neon hide caption

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Neon

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Ferrari' is a stylish study of a flawed man

The new film Ferrari tells one chapter in the life of a man who wanted everything to go as fast as possible. Starring Adam Driver, the film is a portrayal of Enzo Ferrari's complex personal life, defined by relationships with his wife (Penelope Cruz) and his mistress (Shailene Woodley). Ferrari is the latest film from director Michael Mann, but how does it stack up to his previous work such as Heat and Collateral?

'Ferrari' is a stylish study of a flawed man

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Tuesday

A family tragedy plays out in the ring in 'The Iron Claw'

Zac Efron in The Iron Claw. A24 hide caption

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A24

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

A family tragedy plays out in the ring in 'The Iron Claw'

The very good new film The Iron Claw tells the tragic story of the Von Erich family. They were professional wrestlers in the early 1980s, with patriarch Fritz (Holt McCallany) directing several of his sons into the sport, with disastrous consequences. Directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White as two of the sons, the film considers the way their father's version of masculinity and strength echoes in their lives.

A family tragedy plays out in the ring in 'The Iron Claw'

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Monday

Beyoncé's childhood home goes up in flames in a Christmas morning fire

Beyoncé accepts the Best Dance/Electronic Music Album award for "Renaissance" onstage during the 65th Grammy Awards on Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy hide caption

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Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Beyoncé's childhood home goes up in flames in a Christmas morning fire

Queen Bey lived in the brick house in Houston until the age of 5. The family who lives there now managed to get out of the house unharmed.

The 'All Songs Considered' holiday extravaganza

All Songs Considered returns to the cabin in the woods to throw a festive holiday extravaganza. Mike Brinson/Getty Images hide caption

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Mike Brinson/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

The 'All Songs Considered' holiday extravaganza

The Pop Culture Happy Hour team is off today. So we're bringing you a very special holiday extravaganza from NPR Music's All Songs Considered podcast. In this festive episode, All Songs' annual celebration of the season returns with a trip to a snowy cabin in the woods – as they attempt to throw a party for the ages. Eggnog will be had, plenty of delightful holiday music will be played – and some special guests might just drop by, including Carly Rae Jepsen, Robert Glasper, and Olivia Rodrigo.

The 'All Songs Considered' holiday extravaganza

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Saturday

Friday

What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend viewing

Elizabeth Debicki and John David Washington star in director Christopher Nolan's time-warping film, Tenet. Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

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Warner Bros. Pictures

What's Making Us Happy: Recommendations From 'Pop Culture Happy Hour'

What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend viewing

Each week, Pop Culture Happy Hour guests and hosts share what's bringing them joy. This week: The movie Tenet, ventriloquist Megan Piphus, Season 3 of Virtual Big Brother, and Christmas decorations.