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Friday

What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend viewing, listening and reading

Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy in the film The Menu. Eric Zachanowich/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Eric Zachanowich/Searchlight Pictures

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

What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend viewing, listening and reading

Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: The Menu, dancer Kim Hale, "Girlfriend" by Matthew Sweet, Drink Masters and more.

Our 2023 Pop Culture Resolutions
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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 2023 Pop Culture Resolutions

A lot of people make resolutions in January, and we are no different. Today, we put our stakes in the ground and make our 2023 pop culture resolutions. We also check in on what we resolved to do in 2022, and whether we did it perfectly, imperfectly, or perhaps not at all.

Our 2023 Pop Culture Resolutions

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Thursday

'Sopranos' actor Michael Imperioli grapples with guilt and addiction in 'White Lotus'

Fresh Air

Imperioli plays a sex-addicted Hollywood producer on vacation in Sicily in the HBO show. In '21, he published Woke Up This Morning, an oral history of The Sopranos. Originally broadcast Nov. 15, 2022.

'Sopranos' actor Michael Imperioli grapples with guilt and addiction in 'White Lotus'

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Our 2023 Pop Culture Predictions

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 2023 Pop Culture Predictions

It's that time of year again, time for hopes and fears and accountability. What's to come in the new year? We can only guess, and guess we will! Plus, we'll look back at what we thought was coming on the pop culture front in 2022 and we'll see how things turned out.

Our 2023 Pop Culture Predictions

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Wednesday

Comic Jerrod Carmichael bares his secrets in 'Rothaniel'

Fresh Air

The comic, actor and writer opens up about his name, his family tree and his sexual orientation in an HBO special. "The more honest I am, the freer I am," he says. Originally broadcast April 18, 2022.

Comic Jerrod Carmichael bares his secrets in 'Rothaniel'

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Six ways media took a big step backward in 2022

Nothing this year brought home the dangers in private ownership of major social media platforms more than the capricious, often-destructive and regularly unpredictable actions of Twitter CEO Elon Musk. He is pictured above at Tesla's "Gigafactory" in Germany on March 22, 2022. Patrick Pleul/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Patrick Pleul/AFP via Getty Images

Perspective

Six ways media took a big step backward in 2022

Elon Musk caused Twitter chaos, the streaming industry hit adolescence, late night TV lost its footing, there were lots of layoffs and some dispiriting indications of compassion fatigue.

Tuesday

How Hollywood gets wildfires all wrong — much to the frustration of firefighters

A still from the CBS drama series 'Fire Country' Bettina Strauss/CBS hide caption

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Bettina Strauss/CBS

Culture

How Hollywood gets wildfires all wrong — much to the frustration of firefighters

In a time of accelerated climate change, there's a big disconnect between the portrayal of fires on-screen and the reality of the brave people who fight them in real life.

How Hollywood gets wildfires all wrong — much to the frustration of firefighters

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'Reservation Dogs' co-creator says the show gives audiences permission to laugh

Fresh Air

Sterlin Harjo says society has a tendency to be "very precious with Native people." His irreverent series follows four teens on a reservation. Originally broadcast Sept. 19, 2022.

'Reservation Dogs' co-creator says the show gives audiences permission to laugh

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Monday

Are the Kardashians America's family?

Are the Kardashians America's family? Hulu; Paul J. Connell/The Boston Globe via Getty Images; Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images; Jennifer S. Altman/Washington Post via Getty Images; Photo Illustration by Kaz Fantone/NPR hide caption

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Hulu; Paul J. Connell/The Boston Globe via Getty Images; Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images; Jennifer S. Altman/Washington Post via Getty Images; Photo Illustration by Kaz Fantone/NPR

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Are the Kardashians America's family?

The Pop Culture Happy Hour team is off today, so we're bringing you an episode of NPR's It's Been A Minute. In this episode about the Kardashians, host Brittany Luse unpacks how the Kardashian family went from Hollywood D-listers to an American institution. The episode also includes a look at the celebrity skincare syndicate: what are all these people trying to sell us, and what are they buying?

Are the Kardashians America's family?

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Saturday

Friday

Thursday

From 'Dreamgirls' to 'Abbott Elementary,' Sheryl Lee Ralph forged her own path

Fresh Air

Ralph won an Emmy for her role as a no-nonsense kindergarten teacher on Abbott Elementary. She says classroom management is about setting clear boundaries. Originally broadcast Sept. 12, 2022.

From 'Dreamgirls' to 'Abbott Elementary,' Sheryl Lee Ralph forged her own path

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'The Best Man: The Final Chapters' is very messy, very watchable

Terrence Howard, Taye Diggs, Harold Perrineau, and Morris Chestnut in a scene from The Best Man: The Final Chapters. Peacock hide caption

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Peacock

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The Best Man: The Final Chapters' is very messy, very watchable

When The Best Man franchise kicked off in 1999, it tapped into a specific kind of Black Gen Xer sensibility. The two films explored the dynamics of a tight-knit group of young urban professionals, played by Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Regina Hall, and Terrence Howard, to name a few. In the new Peacock miniseries The Best Man: The Final Chapters, the crew has reunited for one last hurrah. Everyone's a little older, but, are they any wiser?

'The Best Man: The Final Chapters' is very messy, very watchable

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Wednesday

'Kindred' brings Octavia Butler to the screen for the first time

Micah Stock and Mallori Johnson star in the new FX on Hulu series Kindred. Tina Rowden/FX hide caption

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Tina Rowden/FX

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Kindred' brings Octavia Butler to the screen for the first time

The new FX on Hulu series Kindred is the first on-screen adaptation of any work by the great science fiction writer Octavia Butler. It's the story of Dana, a young Black woman who suddenly finds herself transported onto a Maryland plantation in 1815. She has a connection to the plantation owner's son, and while getting a handle on that, she makes both bitter enemies and surprising allies in the past and present day.

'Kindred' brings Octavia Butler to the screen for the first time

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Tuesday

The best movies and TV of 2022, picked for you by NPR critics

Clockwise from top left: The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Only Murders in the Building, Nope, This Is Going to Hurt and The Dropout Searchlight Pictures, A24, Hulu, Universal Studios, AMC Networks, Hulu hide caption

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Searchlight Pictures, A24, Hulu, Universal Studios, AMC Networks, Hulu

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

The best movies and TV of 2022, picked for you by NPR critics

Whether you plan to head out to the theater, or binge from the couch, our critics have gathered together their favorite films and TV shows of the year. Happy watching!