Pop Culture Happy Hour

The fantastic ABC series Abbott Elementary is a workplace sitcom set at a severely underfunded Philadelphia public school. It's a giant hit, and it's become an Emmys darling, including two wins for its creator and star Quinta Brunson. Abbott Elementary just returned for its long-awaited third season, so in this encore episode, we are revisiting our conversation about the show's first season.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This year's Super Bowl featured an exciting game in which the Kansas City Chiefs beat San Francisco 49ers. It also featured an attention-grabbing halftime show from Usher, many Taylor Swift sightings, and a big announcement during the commercials: Beyoncé is releasing a new album in March, and she just dropped two new singles.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the new '80s horror comedy Lisa Frankenstein, an introverted teen (Kathryn Newton) finds comfort in visiting the grave of a young Victorian bachelor (Cole Sprouse). When his corpse comes to life, he becomes her confidante as they embark on a murderous spree. Written by Diablo Cody (Jennifer's Body) and directed by Zelda Williams, the movie is an over-the-top mix of romance, jealousy, self-realization, horniness and murder.

On Prime Video's fun new spy show Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Donald Glover and Maya Erskine play spies going undercover as a married couple. The show is part tense thriller and part romantic comedy. But it's also a character study, of two people who have made their way into the spy life and aren't sure how they feel about being in it together.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

The new Prime Video series Expats fits quite neatly into the recent work done by its star, Nicole Kidman. She plays a rich woman who is one of three American so-called expats living in 2014 Hong Kong whose stories intersect. The series was created by Lulu Wang (The Farewell) and looks at the lives of these three women, who are all affected by one catastrophic event and its aftermath. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

Every night is a big night for Taylor Swift. But this year's Grammy night proved especially big: Swift won album of the year for Midnights and announced her next album, titled The Tortured Poets Department. It may be time to pose the question: Have we reached peak Taylor Swift? Other major winners included Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish and SZA. In fact, women swept all nine categories presented during Sunday night's telecast.

In the comedic spy thriller Argylle, a reclusive author (Bryce Dallas Howard) gets sucked into a web of danger and intrigue when her books mirror the inner workings of a rogue spy agency. Argylle is full of globe-trotting action, with more twists than you can count. It's directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, the Kingsman movies) with a cast that includes Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, and Dua Lipa.

Maybe you think you shouldn't read a book before seeing the movie adaptation, or you're convinced season two is the best season of The Wire. We've all got that one argument we're always making: that non-negotiable stance, that immutable truth we're sticking to no matter what. Today, we're talking about the pop culture hills we'll die on.

Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is an all-ages animated series that's got style and energy – and original songs – for days. It's the story of a 13-year-old Black girl genius who accidentally transports a T-Rex from the prehistoric past to present day. She then launches into a side-hustle fighting crime. The Disney+ show is about to return for a second season, so today we are revisiting our conversation about the series.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

Over 75 feature films premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, including a deeply personal coming-of-age story, a film starring Saoirse Ronan, and Steven Soderbergh's highly immersive ghost tale. It was impossible to catch them all, but today, we're highlighting some of the standouts we think are worth keeping on your radar.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

For more than a decade, Vanderpump Rules has been a hit reality show on the Bravo network. The show reached new heights of tabloid infamy last season due to a much-discussed affair between two members of its cast. The whole thing was nicknamed "Scandoval" and led to record-breaking ratings and countless memes. Vanderpump Rules is about to return for its 11th season, and if you want to catch up on all the drama from last year, we've got you covered.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

In her smart and funny comedy special Get On Your Knees, performer Jacqueline Novak delivers a kind of Ted Talk on the subject of oral sex. It's also a passionate and thoughtful coming-of-age tale delivered in language that's been finely honed to accomplish its very funny purpose. Directed by Natasha Lyonne, the Netflix special began as an off-Broadway show.

Barbie was the biggest movie of last year. We saw the memes, we heard the songs, and it was 2023's highest grossing movie. It recently racked up eight Oscar nominations, including best picture. Today in this encore episode, we revisit our conversation about Barbie.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

This year's Oscar nominations were announced today and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer leads the field with 13 nominations. Other leading nominees include Poor Things, Killers Of The Flower Moon, and Barbie. We run down the nominees in the major categories and talk about some of the surprising snubs.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

In The Zone of Interest, a German couple and their family live a bucolic life, but over the garden wall lies the Auschwitz concentration camp. The father is one of the chief architects of the Holocaust, and over the course of the film, he and his wife attempt to preserve their compartmentalized lives. But the horrors taking place outside refuse to be held at bay. Directed by Jonathan Glazer, the film is favored to pick up a best picture nomination at the Oscars.

Origin is the story of a writer who faces personal loss at the same time she works on a book based on her unified theory about systems of oppression. Written and directed by Ava DuVernay, the film is adapted from Isabel Wilkerson's best-selling book, Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents, and dramatizes the book's ideas and the way it comes together. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor stars as Wilkerson, and also features Jon Bernthal and Niecy Nash-Betts.

The new Marvel series Echo spotlights Maya Lopez (played by Alaqua Cox), whom we first met as the stoic badass enforcer for the criminal Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio). She's now on the run, fleeing to her tiny Oklahoma hometown determined to nurse her wounds and make plans to take over Fisk's criminal empire. But her friends and family – including generations of her Choctaw ancestors – may have other plans. It's streaming on Disney + and Hulu.

The TV cartoon Bluey is a hit with young children. But it's also found a devoted following among their parents, who've embraced the show's emotional depth – as well as its messages about creativity, collaboration, and learning through play. Bluey just returned with a batch of new episodes on Disney+, so today we're revisiting our conversation about the series.

The 75th annual Emmy Awards are over, and it was a big night for The Bear, Beef, and Succession. Plus Elton John earned his EGOT, and Jennifer Coolidge and Niecy Nash Betts gave memorable speeches.Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

In the new Netflix action-comedy-heist movie Lift, Kevin Hart plays an experienced thief and con man whose crew is backed into a corner and forced to work for the government. Their next theft will be their greatest, and it's all to avert an enormous disaster. They'll have to fly planes, use disguises, sneak around, beat the bad guys, and look great doing it.