Accessibility links
Television Television

Television

Thursday

Our 2021 Pop Culture Resolutions

It's been a year like no other, but here at Pop Culture Happy Hour, we're sticking with tradition by revisiting our 2020 resolutions and making new ones for next year. Kristin Lee/Getty Images/Tetra images RF hide caption

toggle caption
Kristin Lee/Getty Images/Tetra images RF

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 2021 Pop Culture Resolutions

It's the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, as much as it seemed like we might never get here. That means we're looking back, and we're looking ahead. What did we resolve to do in 2020, did we accomplish them and what do we want to do in the year ahead? We've still got goals, plans and the willingness to look back at our ambitious plans and wonder what in the world happened to all of them.

Our 2021 Pop Culture Resolutions

Listen · 30:46
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/950866645/951475610" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

4 Ways 2020 Changed Media: The Consumer Has Never Had More Power

(Clockwise from upper left) A "Black Lives Matter" protest in Brooklyn, N.Y., a shuttered AMC movie theater, a "Stop the Steal" protest in Atlanta, Ga., and the short-form streamer Quibi. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images, Scott Olson/Getty Images, Megan Varner/Getty Images, Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images, Scott Olson/Getty Images, Megan Varner/Getty Images, Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

Media

4 Ways 2020 Changed Media: The Consumer Has Never Had More Power

All the biggest media companies are chasing viewer tastes more intensely than ever, focusing on their streaming platforms as consumers create an increasingly personalized, fractured media diet.

Our 2021 Pop Culture Predictions

2020 was an unpredictable year, but Pop Culture Happy Hour is sticking with our annual tradition of looking into the future and predicting what the new year might bring. Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 2021 Pop Culture Predictions

To say we could not have predicted the course of 2020 is a ridiculous understatement. But nevertheless, we press on. We'll check in on last year's predictions, while turning our eyes to the future to try and figure out what the next year will bring, even when that seems nearly impossible.

Our 2021 Pop Culture Predictions

Listen · 21:26
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/950864477/950910949" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Patrick Stewart On His Return To 'Star Trek': 'I'm Braver Now Than I Was'

Fresh Air

Stewart is back as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard. He says he's changed as an actor over the years: "I am not averse to risk-taking and I don't judge myself." Originally broadcast July 2, 2020.

Patrick Stewart On His Return To 'Star Trek': 'I'm Braver Now Than I Was'

Listen · 17:49
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/949825331/951168926" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Dementia Complicates The Search For 2 Lost Women In 'Elizabeth Is Missing'

Maud (Glenda Jackson) is haunted by two mysteries in the television film Elizabeth is Missing, based on a novel by Emma Healey. Marsaili Mainz/Courtesy of STV Productions hide caption

toggle caption
Marsaili Mainz/Courtesy of STV Productions

Dementia Complicates The Search For 2 Lost Women In 'Elizabeth Is Missing'

Fresh Air

A new PBS Masterpiece psychological thriller stars Glenda Jackson as a woman desperately trying to solve two mysteries — even as her own grasp of reality is slipping away.

Dementia Complicates The Search For 2 Lost Women In 'Elizabeth Is Missing'

Listen · 5:31
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/949798692/950840270" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

The Best — And Worst — Of Christmas Culture

Miniature cars with Christmas gifts in them, to celebrate the holiday season. pepifoto/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
pepifoto/Getty Images

It's Been a Minute

The Best — And Worst — Of Christmas Culture

Sam shares holiday recommendations with Audie Cornish, co-host of All Things Considered and Consider This, and Bob Mondello, NPR's film critic. They discuss not only their holiday favorites, but also the holiday things they hate. And yes, they'll discuss Love Actually.

The Best — And Worst — Of Christmas Culture

Listen · 25:52
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/938543906/1199267891" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Best TV Of 2020: Great Shows Brought Us Together In A Difficult, Distanced Year

(Clockwise from upper left) Eugene Levy in Schitt's Creek, Leslie Odom Jr. in Hamilton, Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen's Gambit, Jurnee Smollett in Lovecraft Country, Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, and Kristen Bell in The Good Place. Pop TV, Disney , Phil Bray/Netflix, Eli Joshua Ade /HBO, Amazon Studios, Colleen Hayes/NBC hide caption

toggle caption
Pop TV, Disney , Phil Bray/Netflix, Eli Joshua Ade /HBO, Amazon Studios, Colleen Hayes/NBC

Review

TV Reviews

Best TV Of 2020: Great Shows Brought Us Together In A Difficult, Distanced Year

Fresh Air

COVID-19 precautions kept us physically apart, but Fresh Air TV critic David Bianculli says shows such as Schitt's Creek, Better Call Saul, Fargo and Lovecraft Country provided virtual connection.

Best TV Of 2020: Great Shows Brought Us Together In A Difficult, Distanced Year

Listen · 21:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/949549411/950049249" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Filmmaker Details Investigation That Identified Alleged Pan Am Flight 103 Bomb-Maker

A long investigation by Ken Dornstein, a documentary filmmaker whose brother died in the attack, identified Libyan Abu Agela Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi as the possible maker of the bomb that shattered the New York-bound Boeing 747 as it flew over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988. Steven Senne/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Steven Senne/AP

Law

Filmmaker Details Investigation That Identified Alleged Pan Am Flight 103 Bomb-Maker

Ken Dornstein talks about how his 2015 documentary led to the recent indictment of Abu Agela Mas'ud as the man suspected of making the bomb that took down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Filmmaker Details Investigation That Identified Alleged Pan Am Flight 103 Bomb-Maker

Listen · 7:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/949783268/949926248" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Our 12 Favorite Things of 2020

Catherine O'Hara as Moira Rose in the series finale of Schitt's Creek. Comedy Central hide caption

toggle caption
Comedy Central

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 12 Favorite Things of 2020

At the end of the year, we like to look back on some of our favorite things from the last 12 months of pop culture. We revisit some of the TV, film and music that helped us make it through.

Our 12 Favorite Things of 2020

Listen · 33:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/947577551/948209765" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Steve McQueen's 'Small Axe' Tackles The Personal And Political

Michael Ward and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn dance at a blues party in Lovers Rock, one of five films in Steve McQueen's Small Axe anthology. Parisa Taghizedeh/Amazon Studios hide caption

toggle caption
Parisa Taghizedeh/Amazon Studios

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Steve McQueen's 'Small Axe' Tackles The Personal And Political

A tense courtroom, an intimate house party, a stifling police academy. These are just a few of the environments depicted in Small Axe, the ambitious anthology film series from director Steve McQueen. The result is a collection of poignant stories buoyed by excellent performances from stars like John Boyega and Letitia Wright; as well as searing imagery, and a scene that could arguably be called the best movie moment of the year.

Steve McQueen's 'Small Axe' Tackles The Personal And Political

Listen · 24:06
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/944992387/947170127" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Buckle Up: 'The Flight Attendant' Is A Comedy-Thriller Worth Binging

Kaley Cuoco stars as the sometimes messy, always entertaining lead in The Flight Attendant. Phil Caruso/HBO Max hide caption

toggle caption
Phil Caruso/HBO Max

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Buckle Up: 'The Flight Attendant' Is A Comedy-Thriller Worth Binging

A woman wakes up after a night of partying and realizes something is very, very wrong. That's the premise of the HBO Max series The Flight Attendant. It's a taut, darkly funny thriller starring Kaley Cuoco as a woman in search of some answers about the present that also might shed light on the past.

Buckle Up: 'The Flight Attendant' Is A Comedy-Thriller Worth Binging

Listen · 17:07
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/946668527/946670672" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday