Pop Culture : NPR

'The Boys In The Band': Raging Gracefully

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest ... you know what, never mind. I'm good." Michael (Jim Parsons) and Donald (Matt Bomer) in The Boys in the Band. Scott Everett White/NETFLIX hide caption

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Scott Everett White/NETFLIX

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The Boys In The Band': Raging Gracefully

September 30, 2020 • Netflix's adaptation of Mart Crowley's 1968 play about a gay birthday party that goes off the rails features hard liquor, sharp tongues and broad types.

Bowen Yang and the rest of the Saturday Night Live cast and crew return for the season premiere Oct. 3rd. Mary Ellen Mathews/NBC hide caption

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Mary Ellen Mathews/NBC

It's Been a Minute

Bowen Yang on 'SNL' and Diversity

September 29, 2020 • Sam chats with comedian Bowen Yang about becoming the first Chinese American cast member on Saturday Night Live, what it was like to do the show during a pandemic, and why Adele Dazeem is the number one moment in the history of culture. Watch Sam's extended interview with Bowen here: https://youtu.be/1KMRAhxeDpA

Bowen Yang on 'SNL' and Diversity

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Rio's Joyous Carnival, The World's Largest, Is Postponed Due To COVID-19

Dancers partake in the Carnival celebrations earlier this year at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro. Silvia Izquierdo/AP hide caption

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Silvia Izquierdo/AP

Coronavirus Updates

Rio's Joyous Carnival, The World's Largest, Is Postponed Due To COVID-19

September 25, 2020 • The postponement will cause financial hardship for people who depend on the celebration — but "financial loss doesn't justify human loss," says one musician. Brazil has been hit hard by the virus.

Sir David Attenborough Reaches 1M Instagram Followers In Hours, Breaking World Record

Sir David Attenborough, shown here during a ceremony last September, broke the world record on Thursday for the fastest time to reach one million followers on Instagram. Asadour Guzelian/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Asadour Guzelian/AFP via Getty Images

Sir David Attenborough Reaches 1M Instagram Followers In Hours, Breaking World Record

September 25, 2020 • The famed naturalist and broadcaster beat out actress Jennifer Aniston for fastest time to reach 1 million followers on Instagram, according to Guinness World Records.

Amazon's Violent, Cynical 'Utopia' Just Wasn't Made For These Times

(Center to Right): Samantha (Jessica Rothe), Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), Ian (Dan Byrd) and Wilson (Desmin Borges) are bunker buddies in Utopia. Amazon Studios hide caption

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Amazon Studios

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Amazon's Violent, Cynical 'Utopia' Just Wasn't Made For These Times

September 25, 2020 • The US adaptation of a 2013-14 British series about comic book nerds attempting to save the world from a viral pandemic dials back the humor and cranks up the violence.

You Think Your Favorite Video Game Is Hard? Try Speedrunning It

Chris Tomkinson — known online as ShinyZeni — streaming a speedrun of Super Metroid. Courtesy of Chris Tomkinson hide caption

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Courtesy of Chris Tomkinson

Games

You Think Your Favorite Video Game Is Hard? Try Speedrunning It

September 24, 2020 • Speedrunning is the quirky subculture dedicated to playing through video games as fast as is humanly possible, exploiting glitches in game code and advanced techniques to barrel ahead.

In The Lively 'Enola Holmes,' Sherlock's Little Sister Goes Sleuthing

"The train's afoot!": (L to R) Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft (Sam Claflin) literally look down on their younger sister Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) in Netflix's Enola Holmes. Alex Bailey/Legendary/Netflix hide caption

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Alex Bailey/Legendary/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In The Lively 'Enola Holmes,' Sherlock's Little Sister Goes Sleuthing

September 23, 2020 • This bright and breezy Netflix adaptation of a YA novel finds Millie Bobby Brown starring as the brilliant, fourth-wall-busting little sister of Sherlock Holmes.

From 'SNL' To Workout Videos, How RBG Became A Pop Culture Icon

A cardboard cutout of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The late Supreme Court justice was also a pop culture phenomenon. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

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From 'SNL' To Workout Videos, How RBG Became A Pop Culture Icon

September 22, 2020 • Outside the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had another life in pop culture as a symbol of dissent and feminism. The Notorious RBG was celebrated in memes, movies, T-shirts and tote bags

Microsoft To Buy Bethesda In $7.5 Billion Deal, Acquiring Fallout, The Elder Scrolls

Microsoft announced Monday that it will acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of popular video game publisher Bethesda, for $7.5 billion. Here, a Microsoft store is shown in March in New York City. Jeenah Moon/Getty Images hide caption

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Jeenah Moon/Getty Images

Business

Microsoft To Buy Bethesda In $7.5 Billion Deal, Acquiring Fallout, The Elder Scrolls

September 21, 2020 • The deal is set to be one of the largest ever acquisitions in the video game industry. Once the deal is finalized, Microsoft will own popular franchises such as Wolfenstein, Quake, and DOOM.

The Emmys Pull Off A Good Show As 'Schitt's Creek' And 'Watchmen' Shine

Eugene Levy accepts his award for lead actor in a comedy series for Schitt's Creek as his son (and creative partner) Dan Levy looks on at Sunday night's Emmy Awards. ABC via Getty Images hide caption

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ABC via Getty Images

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

The Emmys Pull Off A Good Show As 'Schitt's Creek' And 'Watchmen' Shine

September 21, 2020 • Sunday night's Emmy Awards, which featured neither a large crowd nor a red carpet, managed to achieve a charming intimacy as Watchmen, Schitt's Creek and Succession all won major awards.

Sophie Okonedo plays Charlotte in Ratched. Saeed Adyani/Netflix hide caption

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Saeed Adyani/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Ratched' Is Pretty, But Very Silly

September 18, 2020 • Produced by Ryan Murphy and packed with his signature gory excess, Ratched makes a great series of still photos but tells a very disappointing story.

Celebrities Boycott Facebook And Instagram For A Day Over Disinformation, Hate Speech

The campaign, #StopHateForProfit, is aimed at Facebook and Instagram and has attracted celebrities such as Kim Kardashian West. Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP hide caption

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Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP

Technology

Celebrities Boycott Facebook And Instagram For A Day Over Disinformation, Hate Speech

September 16, 2020 • Some of the most prominent users of the social media platforms called for a boycott to protest Facebook's failure to control disinformation and hate speech as part of the campaign #StopHateForProfit.

Predictions Of How COVID-19 Will Impact Pop Culture

What will be the visual cues that film and television will one day use to depict 2020? Malorny/Getty Images hide caption

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Malorny/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Predictions Of How COVID-19 Will Impact Pop Culture

September 16, 2020 • It's hard to predict how the current pandemic will affect the work of artists in television and film and theater, but that doesn't mean we can't try. What will change? What won't change? How might creators react? Today, we're stepping back to make some guesses about the future of pop culture and think about what's to come.

Predictions Of How COVID-19 Will Impact Pop Culture

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