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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop Culture Happy Hour

NPR

Trying to keep up with the latest in pop culture? We’ve got you covered. The Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast helps you find the best new binge-worthy tv shows, movies, music, and videogames.

Join hosts Linda Holmes, Aisha Harris, Stephen Thompson, and Glen Weldon four episodes a week - plus a rotating cast of guest pop culture enthusiasts. It’s your fix for reviews, recommendations, and recaps of the pop culture everyone is talking about. From lowbrow reality TV to Oscar-winning movies to the stuff in between, we take it all with a shot of cheer. On the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, we watch everything so that you never miss anything.

Make your happy hour even happier with Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus! Your subscription supports the podcast and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/happyhour

  • 20 minutes 4 seconds
    Godzilla Minus Zero
    Godzilla Minus Zero is the sequel to Godzilla Minus One, the global word-of-mouth hit that just happened to be the first Godzilla movie ever to win an Oscar. In the movie, our heroes battle Godzilla and…a new nemesis. The Japanese film includes stunning visual effects, while also digging into themes of regret, shame, and the devastating aftermath of World War II. 

    Need a few more disaster movies? Check out these episodes:
    In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden 

    'Twisters' has us spiraling 

    'Godzilla x Kong' and 'Godzilla Minus One' revamp the classic monster story

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    9 November 2026, 8:00 am
  • 23 minutes 4 seconds
    Wild Horse Nine and What’s Making Us Happy
    Wild Horse Nine is a terrific new movie that stars John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as two CIA agents who head to Easter Island for an unusual and mysterious mission in the early 1970s. They bicker and banter constantly, but the film is more than just a hangout movie: It also reflects heavily on memory and regret. Written and directed by Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), it promises to be a major player in this year’s Oscars race. 

    Are you looking for another good hang? Check out these episodes:
    'One of Them Days' turns Keke Palmer and SZA loose

    Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin tap into 'A Real Pain'

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    6 November 2026, 8:00 am
  • 21 minutes 31 seconds
    Cozy fall recommendations
    Fall is in the air and you need stuff to watch and listen to and read as you curl up under the blanket and settle in. We’ve got you covered with some under the radar picks that are, as the kids say, giving autumn. We talk about: Over the Garden Wall, The Guest, books by Josephine Tey and Helene Hanff, and the music of Connie Converse and The Weakerthans. 

    Looking for more cozy recommendations? Check out these episodes:

    Little House on the Prairie

    In Tina Fey’s ‘The Four Seasons,’ marriage is far from a vacation

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    5 November 2026, 8:00 am
  • 15 minutes 37 seconds
    The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins
    The comedy series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins stars Tracy Morgan as a disgraced former football star and Daniel Radcliffe as a documentary filmmaker who team up to make a movie. The NBC/Peacock mockumentary sitcom also stars Erika Alexander and Bobby Moynihan, with creators who come from shows like 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Girls5eva – and the joke density bears that out. The show is back for a second season, so today we’re revisiting our conversation about the series.

    If you need more great ensemble comedies, check out these episodes: 

    ‘Widow’s Bay’ is an island in the scream

    Lisa Kudrow returns in 'The Comeback,' and we did need to see that

    Gen Z awkwardly transitions into 'Adults'

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    3 November 2026, 8:00 am
  • 18 minutes 50 seconds
    VisionQuest
    The new Disney+ show VisionQuest is the latest Marvel television series, and it’s one of the good ones. It’s the conclusion of the trilogy that began with WandaVision and continued through Agatha All Along, reuniting actors Paul Bettany, who plays the synthezoid Avenger named Vision, and James Spader, who returns as Ultron. The show is a timely parable about artificial intelligence, and it’s yet another superhero story that grapples with daddy issues, big time.

    Looking to dive more into the world of the MCU? Check out these episodes:

    Marvel's 'Ironheart' suits up

    Marvel’s ‘Wonder Man’ is a low-key, low-stakes buddy comedy

    ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ is a dark night of the spider-soul

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    2 November 2026, 8:00 am
  • 24 minutes 3 seconds
    War and What’s Making Us Happy
    Nothing’s fair in love and war — and it's especially true in the very watchable HBO series War. Dominic West and Sienna Miller play a high-profile British couple duking it out in a high-stakes divorce. And the cutthroat litigation between the law firms representing them threatens to rival any of the marriage drama they’ve got going on. War was created by George Kay, who is also behind shows like Lupin and Highjack.

    If you enjoy high stakes, bingeable dramas, check out these episodes:

    'Nemesis' brings strong 'Heat' vibes, and we're not mad at it

    ‘The Pitt’ approaches the end of a very long shift

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    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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    30 October 2026, 7:00 am
  • 26 minutes 11 seconds
    The scariest movie I’ve ever seen
    Do you like scary movies? It's spooky season, so what better way to get into the Halloween spirit than plopping down in front of a film engineered to scare your pants off. Today, in this encore episode, we’re revisiting our conversation about the scariest movie we've ever seen – including The Babadook, Event Horizon, The Night of the Hunter, and… Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

    Looking for more spooky season scares? Try these episodes:

    In ‘Obsession,’ love hurts. It really, really, really hurts.

    'The Conjuring: Last Rites' caps off a big summer for demon hunters

    In ‘Weapons’, the kids aren't at all right, not in the slightest, nope

    Is '28 Years Later' worth the wait?

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    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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    29 October 2026, 7:00 am
  • 15 minutes 10 seconds
    Wildwood
    Wildwood is one of the best movies of the year. It’s an epic stop-motion animated saga about a young girl trying to rescue her brother, and it’s filled with raging battles, fantastical animals and a voice cast featuring Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, and Tom Waits. Wildwood was made by Laika, the studio behind Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings. 

    If you’re looking for other great animated films, check out these episodes:
    In 'Toy Story 5,' playtime's over and screentime's in

    'Forgotten Island' is a cluttered feast for the senses

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    27 October 2026, 7:00 am
  • 15 minutes 48 seconds
    Clayface
    Clayface brings R-rated body horror to this origin story of a Batman villain. The film stars Tom Rhys Harries as an actor whose dream life crumbles after an encounter with a mob boss leaves him disfigured. Desperate for a solution, he receives a revolutionary procedure involving nanotechnology powered by AI. What could go wrong? Director James Watkins goes hard on the horror elements, but is the DC Universe big enough to go beyond superhero fare, and take a walk on the creepy, crawly side?

    For more Batman villains on screen, check out these episodes:
    In 'The Penguin' a C-list villain gets an A-list series

    'Joker: Folie à Deux' is much a deux about nothing

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    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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    26 October 2026, 7:00 am
  • 30 minutes 33 seconds
    Wicker and What’s Making Us Happy
    Wicker is somehow the coziest and horniest movie of the fall. Olivia Coleman and Alexander Skarsgård star as the unlikely couple: She’s a fisherwoman who commissions a husband literally made of wicker. The newly-kindled romance upends their small medieval town, where the men are the worst and the women are — surprise surprise — bored and unsatisfied with their own husbands.

    Are you looking for more Alexander Skarsgård? Check out these episodes:

    In ‘Pillion,’ submission is the mission 

    'Murderbot' envisions a caustically funny future

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    Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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    23 October 2026, 7:00 am
  • 16 minutes 29 seconds
    Youth
    We all love actor/writer Sharon Horgan, and she’s got a new show on HBO called Youth. Horgan stars as Alex, a 50-year-old divorcée who finds herself at several simultaneous personal and professional crossroads. But where does this new show fall in the Horgan canon? Is it essential, or is it more of a vestigial Horgan?

    Looking for more TV and movies about navigating mid-life?  Check out these episodes:
    ‘The Invite’ is a marriage comedy with sex and heart
    A twisty scam goes haywire in the fun 'Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed'
    In Tina Fey’s ‘The Four Seasons,’ marriage is far from a vacation
    In ‘Rooster,’ Steve Carell makes some college admissions

    Connect with Pop Culture Happy Hour:
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    Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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    21 October 2026, 7:00 am
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