Pop Culture

A drawing of two clinking martini glasses.

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Into The Woods' And How To Make A Franchise

2:09pm December 30, 2014

by Linda Holmes

On this week's show, we invite film critic Bob Mondello for a chat about the new adaptation of Into The Woods, and we talk about why some films make for good franchises and others ... don't.

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Lieutenant Telsij of Return of the Jedi is one of just a handful of Asian characters in the Star Wars film series.

Diversity In Space: Tracking The First Asian Pilot In The Star Wars Movies

10:00am December 30, 2014

by Steve Haruch

The Asian characters in the original Star Wars films are few, fleeting and often forgotten. But the manager of the "Holocron" database at Lucasfilm helps uncover their back stories.

Patricia Arquette (clockwise from left), Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Amy Adams, Felicity Jones, Julianne Moore and Hilary Swank on the Nov. 28 cover of The Hollywood Reporter.

Sony Hack Reveals Hollywood's Acceptance Of White Privilege

1:00am December 27, 2014

by Eric Deggans

While some leaked Sony emails seemed racist, NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says they hint at a wider issue: an acceptance of practices, habits and perceptions that limit diversity in Hollywood.

Jenny Slate and Jake Lacy in Obvious Child.

Arts

50 Wonderful Things From 2014

12:36pm December 26, 2014

by Linda Holmes

Books, movies, television, things to read — we look back at 50 of the great things that entered our field of vision in 2014.

Allison Tolman plays Deputy Sheriff Molly Solverson in the FX TV series Fargo. It's a breakout role for the actress who had done only theater and commercials.

Arts

Bianculli's Top 10: 2014 Was A 'Good Year For Programming'

2:47pm December 24, 2014

by David Bianculli

TV critic David Bianculli says that he's encouraged by how far TV has come. He picks The Good Wife as the best show of 2014, having "the deepest roster of really strong regulars and guest stars."

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The Serial podcast is Sarah Koenig's reinvestigation of the murder of Hae Min Lee, a Maryland high school student who was strangled in 1999. Lee was found in Baltimore's Leakin Park. Her schoolmate and ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was convicted of the murder a

Arts

Serial Host Sarah Koenig Says She Set Out To Report, Not Exonerate

6:32pm December 23, 2014

The podcast is a reinvestigation of the 1999 murder of Maryland high school student Hae Min Lee. Her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed is serving a life sentence but has always maintained his innocence.

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Protesters in Boston during a December demonstration against the deaths of two unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers in New York City and Ferguson, Mo.

Videos Of Ray Rice, Eric Garner Among Biggest Media Moments Of 2014

1:08pm December 23, 2014

by Eric Deggans

Some of the most interesting things on TV in 2014 weren't actually made for TV. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans lists the moments in television, viral video and social media that changed us all this year.

"Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" first aired in 1978 and won an Emmy Award for outstanding children's program the following year.

National

A Very Code Switch Christmas TV Special

5:21pm December 22, 2014

by Charles Pulliam-Moore

It's that time around Christmas, when all we can see are a handful of stories on our TV screens. Frosty, and Charlie, and Ralphie, and Kevin, but there's not too much brown in this mostly white canon.

Why Does It Take A Movie Robot To Show What Nurses Really Do?

3:13pm December 22, 2014

by Kelli Dunham

If TV and movie nurses took care of us when we're sick, we'd be in a heap of trouble. Those images of nutty, slutty and clueless nurses are bad news for the profession, and for patients.

Sony Pictures Studios headquarters building is seen in Culver City, Calif., on Friday. President Obama has criticized Sony for cancelling distribution of The Interview following after the studio was hacked by North Korea.

Obama Calls North Korean Hack 'Cybervandalism'

2:40pm December 21, 2014

by Scott Neuman

On CNN's State of the Union, the president expanded on earlier remarks he made criticizing a decision by Sony Pictures to pull distribution of The Interview.