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Tuesday

Keyla Monterroso Mejia embraces cringe as comedy's newest star
Leah Huebner

It's Been a Minute

Keyla Monterroso Mejia embraces cringe as comedy's newest star

Keyla Monterroso Mejia is a dramedy star on the rise. She made audiences cringe with laughter in Curb Your Enthusiasm playing Maria Sofia Estrada and then passed the vibe check as the chaotic teacher's aide Ashley Garcia on Abbott Elementary. And to top it all off, she's leading the new Netflix show, Freeridge. Host Brittany Luse sits down with Keyla to talk about her comedic characters, her new leading role, and betting on yourself.

Keyla Monterroso Mejia embraces cringe as comedy's newest star

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'The Coldest Case' is Serial's latest podcast on murder and memory

Serial's new true-crime podcast, The Coldest Case in Laramie, revisits a 1985 murder. Above, storm clouds over downtown Laramie, Wyo., on Aug. 13, 2022. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

'The Coldest Case' is Serial's latest podcast on murder and memory

Fresh Air

In 1985, a University of Wyoming student was killed in her apartment. A new audio documentary series grapples — again — with the unreliability of memory and the slipperiness of truth.

'The Coldest Case' is Serial's latest podcast on murder and memory

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'The Forty-Year-Old Version' is about getting older and finding yourself

Radha Blank stars in her directorial debut film, The Forty-Year-Old Version. Jeong Park/Netflix hide caption

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Jeong Park/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The Forty-Year-Old Version' is about getting older and finding yourself

In the wonderful film The Forty-Year-Old Version, playwright Radha Blank plays a variation on herself. Frustrated by a stall in her theater career, Radha finds a new passion: she becomes a rapper. The film is so good that we recently added it to the New Black Film Canon – a list of the best films by Black directors that we updated in partnership with Slate. And you can watch it on Netflix.

'The Forty-Year-Old Version' is about getting older and finding yourself

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Monday

The New Black Film Canon is your starting point for great Black filmmaking
Mark Harris/Slate

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

The New Black Film Canon is your starting point for great Black filmmaking

NPR has teamed up with Slate to expand the Black Film Canon, a collection of the best films directed by Black filmmakers. The intent is to challenge both gatekeepers and makers of best of lists to consider the breadth of artistry black creators have demonstrated on screen–despite the odds being historically stacked against them. In this episode, we're picking a few of our favorite additions, and you can check out the full list of 75 movies here.

The New Black Film Canon is your starting point for great Black filmmaking

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Sunday

Friday

This is your bear on drugs: Going wild with 'Cocaine Bear'

Keri Russell stars in Cocaine Bear. Universal Pictures hide caption

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Universal Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

This is your bear on drugs: Going wild with 'Cocaine Bear'

A movie called Cocaine Bear needs two things: a bear, and some cocaine. Both are abundant in the new action comedy about a large quantity of cocaine that accidentally winds up deep in the Georgia forest. And who eats it? That's right: a bear. The movie was directed by Elizabeth Banks, and the cast includes Keri Russell, Ray Liotta, Margo Martindale, and O'Shea Jackson Jr.

This is your bear on drugs: Going wild with 'Cocaine Bear'

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Thursday

In 'The Last of Us,' there's a fungus among us

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey star in HBO's The Last Of Us. Liane Hentscher/HBO hide caption

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Liane Hentscher/HBO

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'The Last of Us,' there's a fungus among us

The HBO series The Last Of Us is a huge hit and it offers a novel, fungus-based twist on a zombie apocalypse. Civilization is in ruins, and its only hope is a young girl (Bella Ramsey) who's mysteriously immune to the fungal infection – and her gruff, taciturn protector (Pedro Pascal). Together they must travel across a desolate wasteland peppered with outposts of humanity that house violent factions competing for control, or at least, survival.

In 'The Last of Us,' there's a fungus among us

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Wednesday

Grab a tissue and get emotional with 'Dear Edward'

Colin O'Brien stars in the Apple TV+ series Dear Edward. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Grab a tissue and get emotional with 'Dear Edward'

In the Apple TV+ series Dear Edward, a plane crashes, and there is only one survivor – a 12-year-old boy named Edward, who loses his whole family. He goes to live with relatives, and the web of people grieving loved ones who died in the crash grows and connects. The show was created by Jason Katims, who has a long history making high-octane emotional ensemble shows including Friday Night Lights and Parenthood.

Grab a tissue and get emotional with 'Dear Edward'

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Tuesday

The science that spawned fungal fears in HBO's 'The Last of Us'

HBO new hit show The Last of Us takes place in post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a fungal outbreak. Liane Hentscher/HBO hide caption

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Liane Hentscher/HBO

Short Wave

The science that spawned fungal fears in HBO's 'The Last of Us'

The video game series that spawned the new hit HBO drama, The Last of Us, is the zombie genre with a twist. Instead of the standard viral pandemic or bacterial disease that's pushed humanity to the brink, but a fungus that has evolved to survive in human bodies in part due to climate change.

The science that spawned fungal fears in HBO's 'The Last of Us'

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2022 Books We Love: Nonfiction
Noa Denmon for NPR

Pop Culture Happy Hour

2022 Books We Love: Nonfiction

NPR's Books We Love is full of stories. The feature rounds up fiction and nonfiction of many different kinds, and it gives you lots of ways to find what you might love, too. Today, we're diving into the category of nonfiction and highlighting some of our favorite picks.

2022 Books We Love: Nonfiction

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Monday

'Top Gun: Maverick' puts Tom Cruise back in the cockpit

Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick. Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures hide caption

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Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Top Gun: Maverick' puts Tom Cruise back in the cockpit

Top Gun: Maverick has earned six Oscar nominations, including best picture, adapted screenplay, and original song. The movie stars Tom Cruise, and you can catch up with it on Paramount+. We really like Top Gun: Maverick, so we thought this would be the perfect moment to revisit our conversation about the movie.

'Top Gun: Maverick' puts Tom Cruise back in the cockpit

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Friday

'Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania' shrinks from its duties

Paul Rudd and Jonathan Majors star in Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Marvel Studios hide caption

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Marvel Studios

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania' shrinks from its duties

In Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly return as Marvel's tiniest titans. With their extended family in tow, they get shrunk down into a subatomic universe called the Quantum Realm, and come to meet Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror. He's a time-traveling villain who we'll be seeing a lot more of as the Marvel Cinematic Universe enters its next phase.

'Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania' shrinks from its duties

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Thursday

A daytime TV departure: Ryan Seacrest is leaving 'Live with Kelly and Ryan'

Ryan Seacrest, pictured at the 2021 Jingle Ball Los Angeles, said on Thursday that he's been thinking about leaving Live with Kelly and Ryan for a long time. Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP hide caption

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Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Television

A daytime TV departure: Ryan Seacrest is leaving 'Live with Kelly and Ryan'

Seacrest told audiences he's leaving the seat beside his "work wife" on the morning show after six years and handing the job over to Kelly Ripa's real husband, Mark Consuelos.