This year’s summer movie season proved that the “Toy Story” franchise still has some juice, that “The Odyssey” can spark endless debates, and that “The Invite” might be the sleeper film of the year.

But according to Wesley Morris, we’re still in a summer movie drought. He can’t help himself! His nostalgia for the movies of summers past is as strong as it was last year.

So, once again, Wesley invites Sam Anderson, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, to go back in time. This week, they travel to 1986, where the multiplex marquee reads: “Ruthless People” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

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Anita Baker’s second album, “Rapture,” was released in 1986 and became a breakout hit for the R & B singer from Detroit, winning two Grammys and selling eight million copies worldwide. The album’s eight tracks defined her signature sound — what Baker liked to call “fireside love songs with jazz overtones” — and solidified her as a giant of the Quiet Storm radio era.

But while the singer went on to produce four more albums, most notably her follow-up, “Giving You the Best That I Got,” in 1988, she hasn’t maintained the mainstream presence of her “Rapture” years.

Today, Wesley wonders: Is Baker underrated, properly rated, or just kind of … forgotten?

He brings these questions to Danyel Smith, former editor at Billboard and editor in chief of Vibe Magazine. Together, they luxuriate in Anita Baker’s “Rapture” while wrestling with her legacy.

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What did we get for our country’s 250th birthday, a.k.a. the semi-quincentennial? An Ultimate Fighting Championship cage match on the White House lawn? A sparsely attended Great American State Fair? An underwhelming logo?

The last time we had an anniversary this massive, it was 1976 — the bicentennial — and the celebration was everywhere: in our movies, in our books, in our Saturday morning cartoons.

What happened this year? Wesley Morris is perplexed.

Jennifer Schuessler, a Times reporter who covers intellectual life and ideas, has talked to state planners and historians alike, and attended semi-quincentennial events across the country. Together, she and Wesley mull over the circumstances that led this year’s birthday bash to fall flat, and they celebrate the bicentennial gifts that keep on giving, 50 years later.

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When Madonna’s new album, “Confessions II,” dropped in early July, it went straight to the top of the Billboard 200 (her 10th No. 1 album).

Many of the 16 tracks plumb her own history for lessons learned along the way. On “Bizarre,” the blue Shelby Cobra she gave her first husband, Sean Penn, “wasn’t meant to last.” On “The Test,” she tells her daughter Lola Leon, with whom she sings: “I wish I knew the pain I’ve caused.” And on “Danceteria,” she takes us to the New York City clubs of the 1980s and the moment when a D.J. “played my tape ‘Everybody’ ” and launched her career.

Wesley Morris describes the album as “post-nostalgia,” with Madonna using an idea of her past as a slingshot into some kind of future. “Confessions II” is also a dance record that reminds us of the impact she has had on club culture and gay culture.

Wesley sits down with one of the biggest Madonna fans he knows — Jacob Bernstein, a writer for The Times’s Styles section and a former club kid in New York City — to talk about her new record and the immense influence Madonna has had on their lives.

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If you haven’t seen Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” yet, good luck. The hit of the summer is selling out showtimes around the country.

Wesley Morris initially thought he didn’t need this adaptation. Then, Matt Damon was cast as Odysseus. Curiosity piqued. Fast forward to him in a packed theater (IMAX 70mm, of course) excited by the prospect of an old-fashioned all-star-cast movie. But with Nolan’s filmmaking, it’s never that simple. There’s a lot going on within the nearly three-hour epic that’s fascinated moviegoers and critics alike.

And so, whenever there’s a big movie that everybody is talking about, Wesley wants to hear from his pal, Sean Fennessey. Fennessey is head of content at The Ringer and a co-host of the podcast “The Big Picture.” Together, Wesley and Sean go deep on the “The Odyssey” and the evolution of Nolan’s career.

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After five weeks of action, the World Cup is finally coming to an end, a tournament that will be remembered as much for its feats of athleticism — the precision passes and laserlike goals — as for the passionate fans and spirited team rivalries. No wonder soccer is called the beautiful game.

Wesley and his guest, Pablo Torre, host of the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” also see the action on the pitch as something more: pure cinema. They tick down a list of reasons the matches — and the culture surrounding them — are theatrical. Cue the lights, the cameras and the Viking score. These games have proved more than ready for their Oscar-worthy close-up. Don’t forget the pomade!

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Olivia Rodrigo’s third record, “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” is a 13-song concept album that imagines the arc of a young relationship from desperate yearning, to domestic coupling, to eventual dissolution and heartbreak. It might be Album of the Year.

To Wesley Morris, the dating world has only sharpened the 23-year-old’s song craft. Sure, she’s talented and can write a ballad like no other. But musically and lyrically, she’s evolved. She’s both an old soul and very 2026. Which, when compared to other current pop stars like Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and Ariana Grande, makes her really intriguing.

All things considered, Wesley has thoughts. And he couldn’t think of a better conversation partner than pop music journalist Caryn Ganz,  who profiled Rodrigo in 2023 and has continued to follow her career closely.

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Forget the hot dogs and apple pie. Wesley has one thing on his mind this Fourth of July — potato salad! The moment has stirred up some really strong feelings for this classic summer staple and how it lives up to the country’s ideals of what it is and could be.

Wesley takes to the streets of New York City and back to The Times’s Cooking Kitchen to test out his theory against his family’s recipe for potato salad. Is it the beacon of hope and possibility that he thinks it is? Along the way, he’s joined by a two-time James Beard Award winner and food historian, Jessica B. Harris, to answer this essential question: Does potato salad belong on the Mount Rushmore of national dishes?

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A few weeks ago, “Cannonball” hosted its first live show at the 2026 Tribeca Festival.

Wesley Morris thought to himself, “What could we talk about in front of a bunch of New Yorkers that would be interesting to them?” And then the answer came to him: New York movies! Movies about New York City.

Joining him for the conversation is Cynthia Nixon, one of our great New Yorkers. She’s made iconic work in the city (like, of course, “Sex and the City”) and is a fierce advocate for the TV and film industry to continue making work here. Also, no big deal, she ran for governor in 2018.

Together, Wesley and Cynthia chat about three N.Y.C. movies of their choice: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “The Taking of Pelham 123" and “The Wiz.”

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It’s no secret that Steven Spielberg is fascinated with the cosmos. His latest aliens-are-among-us action thriller, “Disclosure Day,” follows a TV weatherperson (Emily Blunt) and an encryption specialist (Josh O’Connor) as they attempt to understand their connection to life beyond this planet. In doing so, they get entangled in a government cover-up.

Ahead of the movie’s release, Wesley Morris spent time with Spielberg and wrote a profile of him for The New York Times Magazine. The 79-year-old director’s appetite for telling stories on the big screen is undiminished — he’s preparing to make his first western — but Wesley writes that as Hollywood adapts to the streaming era, “the idea of a Steven Spielberg has felt endangered.”

And so, there’s only one person for Wesley to call when a new Spielberg drops: Eric Hynes, Wesley’s pal and former co-worker from Kim’s Video in New York City. They started their Spielberg conversation over 25 years ago as young cinephiles. On today’s episode, it continues.

Together, they consider the evolution of aliens in Spielberg’s work, relive memorable onscreen sequences and think about the strength of the filmmaker’s more-than-half-century canon.

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“Obsession” is about a guy who makes a wish for a girl to love him “more than anyone in the entire world.” What follows is a classic horror movie trope: the girlfriend from hell. One of the movie’s tag lines is “be careful who you wish for.” And younger audiences are flocking to see “Obsession,” making it a genuine Gen Z phenomenon.

The film’s writer-director-editor, Curry Barker, is also part of that generation. The 26-year-old, who had previously been making content for YouTube, is now responsible for a film that has made over $230 million (so far) on a budget of $750,000. Hollywood has taken notice. Barker has been offered an eight-figure deal for his next movie, sight unseen.

For Wesley Morris, the success of “Obsession” raises a bigger question about relationships today: Is this how the young folks think about love—as something that should appear instantaneously, without effort, but might also ruin their lives?

With all this in mind, Wesley invited Angelica Jade Bastién, a pop culture critic with New York Magazine, onto the show to ask, “Are the kids all right?”

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