Pop Culture Happy Hour

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I Love LA Nov 06, 2025

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Rachel Sennott’s next project, the HBO series I Love LA, has finally arrived. And like plenty of shows before it, it’s about young people trying to work and socialize in a big city while screwing up in every conceivable way. Sennott stars as an ascendant employee at a boutique talent management firm with a very online crew played by Josh Hutcherson, Jordan Firstman, Odessa A’zion and True Whitaker.
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Hedda Nov 04, 2025

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In the new film Hedda, Tessa Thompson plays a woman bored with her dull husband, and who devilishly manipulates the affections of everyone in her orbit. Writer/director Nia DaCosta makes some bold changes in this adaptation of the classic Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler, and sets almost all of the action during a lavish party gone awry. But this is not your grandmother’s Hedda. It’s sexy, chaotic, and, above all, messy as hell. It’s streaming on Prime Video.
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IT: Welcome To Derry Nov 03, 2025

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In new HBO prequel series IT: Welcome to Derry, we return to the clown who keeps on giving. Based on the Stephen King novel and a prequel to the films It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019), the show finds a whole new crop of kids being terrorized by whatever lives underneath their little town in Maine. And at the nearby military base, some of the local adults are acting pretty sketchy, too. There is a lot going on and a lot of it is very bloody. Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise, but be patient since it takes a while to lay eyes on him.
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Bugonia And What’s Making Us Happy Oct 31, 2025

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Bugonia stars Emma Stone as a high-powered CEO who’s kidnapped by conspiracy theorists, one of whom is played by Jesse Plemons. The conflict grows more and more complex and intense — and, given that this is a Yorgos Lanthimos movie, it gets 1) very dark; and 2) very weird.
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If I Had Legs I'd Kick You Oct 29, 2025

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Rose Byrne shows off her dramatic chops in the new movie If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, where she plays a therapist shouldering all the responsibility of caring for her ill daughter while her emotionally absent husband is away for work. Her patients have their own issues, and sometimes they don't grasp the meaning of "boundaries." And her relationship with her own therapist/co-worker, who’s played by Conan O’Brien, is… messy. And that’s only the beginning.
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Halloween Songs Oct 28, 2025

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Who's the Mariah Carey of Halloween? Every year we hear many familiar Halloween songs – from the Ghostbusters theme to “Thriller” to “Monster Mash.” But beyond those Halloween staples, what’s next? Today we've got an episode of NPR’s All Songs Considered that offers up a new canon spooky season songs – from the truly terrifying to autumnal and nostalgic.
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Blue Moon Oct 27, 2025

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In the new movie Blue Moon, Ethan Hawke plays songwriter Lorenz Hart, who is having maybe the worst night of his life. His long term collaborator Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) has forged a new partnership with Oscar Hammerstein II, and tonight is the opening of Oklahoma!, their first show. And it's safe to say Hart is miserable. Blue Moon is directed by Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, Boyhood), and co-stars Margaret Qualley.
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Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere And What’s Making Us Happy Oct 24, 2025

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In the new film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the currently red-hot actor Jeremy Allen White plays the eternally red-hot rock star, Bruce Springsteen. And yes, White does his own singing. The film tells the story of the 1982 album Nebraska. It came at a time of personal and career uncertainty for Springsteen, and ended up being recorded in a bedroom, without a band. It’s largely a film about fighting to preserve the integrity of your art, which Springsteen does alongside his manager, played by Jeremy Strong.
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Nobody Wants This Oct 23, 2025

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In the Netflix series Nobody Wants This, Kristen Bell plays an agnostic podcaster, who meets a rabbi, played by Adam Brody. They like each other immediately, but there are some hurdles for them when it comes to being together. The show offers plenty of romantic comedy banter and good chemistry, as well as some pretty deep questions about faith and compatibility. Nobody Wants This just returned for a second season, so today we are revisiting our conversation about the series.
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The Reality TV Show I'd Like To Judge Oct 22, 2025

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When you watch a competitive reality show, you might think about how you'd win. But maybe you think about a much more powerful role for yourself: the judge. We discuss which reality tv show we’d like to judge - including Top Chef, American Idol, RuPaul’s Drag Race, and Rhythm + Flow.
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