Television : NPR

Small Batch: The VMAs, From Speeches To Singing To Squads

Kanye West accepts the Video Vanguard award at Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images hide caption

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Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Small Batch: The VMAs, From Speeches To Singing To Squads

August 31, 2015 • Even if you didn't watch Sunday night's telecast — especially if you didn't watch — we've got good conversation about Kanye's speech, Miley's hosting, and even who won the awards at the awards show.

Small Batch: The VMAs, From Speeches To Singing To Squads

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How Shows Like 'Will & Grace' And 'Black-ish' Can Change Your Brain

Debra Messing, Eric McCormack and Sean Hayes in a scene from Will & Grace. Chris Haston/NBC via Getty Images hide caption

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Chris Haston/NBC via Getty Images

How Shows Like 'Will & Grace' And 'Black-ish' Can Change Your Brain

August 31, 2015 • Go ahead, use this article to justify binge-watching Orange Is the New Black all weekend.

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Television 2015: The Future In Questions

August 30, 2015 • We've spent two weeks looking at the state of television, and now it's time to ask some questions about where it's going from here.

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Television 2015: Some Writing About Writing About TV

August 28, 2015 • Television coverage is in more places than ever, doing more work than ever, involving more people than ever. In that way, it's a lot like the medium it's analyzing.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Show Me A Hero' And A Summer Update

Oscar Isaac and Carla Quevedo star in the HBO miniseries Show Me A Hero. Paul Schiraldi/HBO hide caption

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Paul Schiraldi/HBO

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Show Me A Hero' And A Summer Update

August 28, 2015 • This week's show has HBO, summer box office, pop songs and summer songs, television we forgot to tell you about, and a lot more. It's just packed — just like summer.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Show Me A Hero' And A Summer Update

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A Colombian Kingpin Gets The 'Goodfellas' Treatment In 'Narcos'

Brazilian actor Wagner Moura looks so much like Colombian smuggler Pablo Escobar that Netflix's Narcos uses footage and photos of the real Escobar to heighten the show's realism. Daniel Daza/Netflix hide caption

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Daniel Daza/Netflix

A Colombian Kingpin Gets The 'Goodfellas' Treatment In 'Narcos'

August 28, 2015 • A new Netflix series offers a fictionalized account of how smuggler Pablo Escobar built his cocaine empire. The show is compelling and complex — especially for fans of classic crime stories.

A Colombian Kingpin Gets The 'Goodfellas' Treatment In 'Narcos'

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Television 2015: Five Shows They Will Never Stop Making

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Television 2015: Five Shows They Will Never Stop Making

August 27, 2015 • Sure, the landscape of television has changed a lot in recent years. But some shows just recur over and over again, and it seems they always will.

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Mike Katzif/NPR

Ask Me Another

Random Questions With: Uzo Aduba

August 26, 2015 • Uzo Aduba admits she quit acting the same day she was offered the part of Crazy Eyes on Orange is the New Black.

Random Questions With: Uzo Aduba

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Television 2015: How TV Is Embracing And Nervously Sweating On YouTube

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Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Television 2015: How TV Is Embracing And Nervously Sweating On YouTube

August 26, 2015 • Traditional television providers love YouTube. They also have to be nervous about it, given how popular it is.

Vigilante Computer Geeks Reign In The Addictive 'Mr. Robot'

Rami Malek plays genius hacker Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot. David Giesbrecht/USA Network hide caption

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David Giesbrecht/USA Network

Vigilante Computer Geeks Reign In The Addictive 'Mr. Robot'

Fresh Air

August 26, 2015 • The USA Network show centers on a brilliant computer wizard who gets involved with a mysterious cell of fellow hackers. Critic John Powers calls Mr. Robot an "addictive new psychological thriller."

Vigilante Computer Geeks Reign In The Addictive 'Mr. Robot'

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Before There Was The Donald, There Was Arnold

Donald Trump (left) arrives to announce his bid to run for president on June 16. Arnold Schwarzenegger (right) appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and announced he was running for governor of California on Aug. 6, 2003. Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images and Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

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Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images and Kevin Winter/Getty Images

It's All Politics

Before There Was The Donald, There Was Arnold

August 26, 2015 • Donald Trump's foray into politics has had some scratching their heads. But not in California, where celebrity candidates like former Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger are, like, so 12 years ago.

Before There Was The Donald, There Was Arnold

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Award-Winning Casting Director Says Diversity Isn't A Trend, It's Evolution

Uzo Aduba (from left), Taylor Schilling, Laverne Cox, Selenis Leyva, Kate Mulgrew, casting director Jennifer Euston and Laura Prepon attend a Orange Is The New Black screening on Aug. 11, in New York City. Scott Roth/Invision/AP hide caption

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Code Switch

Award-Winning Casting Director Says Diversity Isn't A Trend, It's Evolution

August 25, 2015 • Casting director Jennifer Euston has a gift for remembering and placing faces. And she's used that skill to place a diverse mix of actors in Emmy-winning shows like Orange Is the New Black.

Award-Winning Casting Director Says Diversity Isn't A Trend, It's Evolution

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Television 2015: Are We Done Hating Television?

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Television 2015: Are We Done Hating Television?

August 24, 2015 • We're supposed to be in the new golden age of television, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still face a certain slippery stigma for some people.

In New Memoir, Maria Tells Us How She Got, How She Got To 'Sesame Street'

Manzano, shown above with Rosita — a bilingual Muppet from Mexico — recently announced that she will be retiring from Sesame Street after 44 years. Richard Termine/Sesame Workshop hide caption

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Richard Termine/Sesame Workshop

Author Interviews

In New Memoir, Maria Tells Us How She Got, How She Got To 'Sesame Street'

August 24, 2015 • Sonia Manzano has spent 44 years as one of the lucky residents of Sesame Street. In her memoir she describes how she sought comfort in TV during her own difficult childhood in the South Bronx.

In New Memoir, Maria Tells Us How She Got, How She Got To 'Sesame Street'

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In 'Walking Dead' Spin-Off, Expect To Get An Apocalyptic Education

Fear The Walking Dead follows high school English teacher Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis) and guidance counselor Madison Clark (Kim Dickens) as they deal with the fallout of a mysterious outbreak. Justin Lubin/AMC hide caption

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Justin Lubin/AMC

In 'Walking Dead' Spin-Off, Expect To Get An Apocalyptic Education

August 23, 2015 • Don't plan on seeing familiar faces in Fear the Walking Dead, the prequel to the hit series. Show-runner Dave Erickson says the new series offers a chance to see the apocalypse viewers missed.

In 'Walking Dead' Spin-Off, Expect To Get An Apocalyptic Education

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Monday August 31, 2015

Small Batch: The VMAs, From Speeches To Singing To Squads

Sunday August 30, 2015

Friday August 28, 2015

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Show Me A Hero' And A Summer Update

A Colombian Kingpin Gets The 'Goodfellas' Treatment In 'Narcos'

Thursday August 27, 2015

Wednesday August 26, 2015

Random Questions With: Uzo Aduba

Fresh Air

Vigilante Computer Geeks Reign In The Addictive 'Mr. Robot'

Before There Was The Donald, There Was Arnold

Tuesday August 25, 2015

Award-Winning Casting Director Says Diversity Isn't A Trend, It's Evolution

Monday August 24, 2015

In New Memoir, Maria Tells Us How She Got, How She Got To 'Sesame Street'

Sunday August 23, 2015

In 'Walking Dead' Spin-Off, Expect To Get An Apocalyptic Education