Arts

Kristen Wiig in Palm Royale on Apple TV+.

Arts

What's Making Us Happy: A guide to your weekend viewing and reading

5:01pm April 12, 2024

Each week, Pop Culture Happy Hour guests and hosts share what's bringing them joy. This week: Riddle of Fire, The People's Joker, Palm Royale and Alfred Hitchcock Storyboards.

This Feb. 1978 photo shows Robert MacNeil, executive editor of "The MacNeil/Lehrer Report."

Arts

Robert MacNeil, creator and first anchor of PBS 'NewsHour,' dies at 93

4:26pm April 12, 2024

by The Associated Press

MacNeil, who created the even-handed, no-frills PBS newscast "The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour" in the 1970s and co-anchored the show for with his late partner, Jim Lehrer, for two decades, died on Friday

Host Conan O'Brien speaking onstage during the 5th Annual NFL Honors in San Francisco, Calif.

Arts

Is Conan O'Brien the best 'Hot Ones' guest ever? Discuss.

3:28pm April 12, 2024

by Glen Weldon

Fans of Hot Ones refer to those celebrities who make it through the sauces without complaint as Spice Lords. This week, Conan O'Brien became a Spice Legend.

From left: Shohei Ohtani, Te-Hina Paopao, former U.S. President Donald J. Trump

Would you qualify for the jury on a Trump trial? Find out in the quiz

3:03pm April 12, 2024

by Holly J. Morris

Why is a famous elementary particle in the news? Where is Chechnya and what did it ban? Which prince is Andrew again? If you know these things, you'll get at least a 3 out of 11.

Books
Arts

A look back at how Godzilla and King Kong first roared onto screen

1:23pm April 12, 2024

by Terry Gross

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is out. We listen back to archival interviews with film historian Rudy Behlmer about the original 1933 King Kong and with Steve Ryfle about the original 1954 Godzilla.

Queue Listen Now

Kirsten Dunst plays a battle scarred photojournalist in Civil War.

Arts

'Civil War' is a doomsday thought experiment — that could have used more thinking

1:23pm April 12, 2024

by Justin Chang

This ambitious thriller comes across as an empty stunt — a democracy dystopia that sidesteps the politics of the present moment. But Kirsten Dunst is excellent as a battle scarred photojournalist.

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Books
Arts

In 'Like Happiness,' a woman struggles to define a past, destructive relationship

11:28am April 12, 2024

by Ilana Masad

Ursula Villarreal-Moura's debut novel movingly portrays its protagonist coming to terms with an imbalanced, difficult, and sometimes harmful friendship that was also a key part of her life for years.

Kansas restaurant lifts the region by using local products

9:14am April 12, 2024

by Frank Morris

In a tiny, remote farm town, a chef who grew up nearby runs what many call the best restaurant for hundreds of miles around. It's an effort to serve local foods and keep a shrinking town alive.

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Sports
Arts

Morning news brief

5:22am April 12, 2024

The cultural legacy of OJ Simpson. Ukraine's parliament adopts a law to mobilize hundreds of thousands of new soldiers. The interpreter for the LA Dodgers' star player is charged with bank fraud.

Arts
Sports

The cultural legacy of OJ Simpson: football player, actor and murder suspect

5:22am April 12, 2024

OJ Simpson, one of the greatest running backs of all time, has died at 76. His infamous police chase and murder trial changed the media landscape, and accelerated the obsession with celebrity culture.