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How we entertain and amuse ourselves on a road trip
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Pop Culture Happy Hour

How we entertain and amuse ourselves on a road trip

It's summer, so we're talking all about road trips. Should you blast music that's familiar or unfamiliar? What makes for a good road trip audiobook? What are some road trip games we hate? Pop Culture Happy Hour talked all about how to entertain and amuse ourselves in the car way back in 2012. Today, in this encore episode, we're revisiting that conversation.

How we entertain and amuse ourselves on a road trip

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Jennifer Privett takes her Himalayan cat Jean Claude out for a stroll in San Francisco on June 28, 2024.

Jennifer Privett takes her Himalayan cat Jean Claude out for a stroll in San Francisco on June 28. Chloe Veltman/NPR hide caption

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Chloe Veltman/NPR

Culture

Cats on leashes ... yes, it's a thing

For some cats, leashed walks "can certainly create environmental enrichment, get them some more exercise," says veterinarian Grace Cater. Other cats? Not so much.

CAT WALKING

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Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'
Dia Dipasupil; Neilson Barnard; Antony Jones; Arnold Jerocki; Emma McIntyre; Saul Loeb / AFP; Brandon Bell; Kevin Winter/Getty Images

It's Been a Minute

Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'

It is the first week of July, which means we are officially halfway through the year. And what a year it's been! Brittany sat down with NPR Politics reporter Elena Moore and co-host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour Stephen Thompson, to take stock of what's happened so far in 2024.

Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'

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'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

Mia Goth and Halsey in MaXXXine. Justin Lubin/A24 hide caption

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Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

The new movie MaXXXine stars Mia Goth as an adult-film actress who gets her big break in Hollywood, only to be revisited by horrors from her past. Set in 1985 Los Angeles, it's the final film in director Ti West's beloved horror trilogy that began with the movie X. MaXXXine also features performances from Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, and Giancarlo Esposito.

'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

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Ted Danson has embraced the light, but he's still grateful for the dark

Ted Danson on Wild Card Jesse Grant/Getty hide caption

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Wild Card with Rachel Martin

Ted Danson has embraced the light, but he's still grateful for the dark

Ted Danson has mastered the role of the happy-go-lucky guy with a quick wit and a quicker smile – who nevertheless has a few cracks in his sunny demeanor. It's there in Sam Malone on Cheers, in Hank Larsson on Fargo and in Michael on The Good Place. And that same duality is there in Ted's real life. He goes deep with Rachel on the light and dark sides of aging, marriage and what he calls "karmic poo."

Ted Danson has embraced the light, but he's still grateful for the dark

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Bowen Yang thinks being present is overrated

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Mike Coppola/Getty

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Bowen Yang thinks being present is overrated

The Pop Culture Happy Hour team is off today, so we're bringing you an episode of the NPR podcast Wild Card with Rachel Martin. This episode is an interview with Bowen Yang. He is the first Chinese American cast member on SNL, the co-host the podcast Las Culturistas, and he starred in the rom-com Fire Island. He talks to Rachel about living too much in the present, hard truths from Tina Fey, and why the afterlife should have a rollercoaster.

Bowen Yang thinks being present is overrated

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Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

Megan Thee Stallion performs during the 2022 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival. Rich Fury/Getty Images hide caption

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Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

A lot has happened to rapper Megan Thee Stallion over the last couple of years including a highly publicized trial after being shot by a former friend, a messy breakup, and a feud with artist Nicki Minaj. She confronts all of that and more on her boastful and vulnerable new album Megan. But she also has fun on playful tracks like 'Down Stairs DJ' and 'Otaku Hot Girl' that are odes to self-pleasure and her anime nerddom.

Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

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A member of the 'T-Shirt Swim Club' chronicles life as 'the funny fat kid'

"The first place I learned to be funny was on the schoolyard trying to defuse this weird tension around my body, says Ian Karmel. He won an Emmy Award in 2019 for his work on James Corden's "Carpool Karaoke" special with Paul McCartney. Kenny McMillan/Penguin Random House hide caption

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Kenny McMillan/Penguin Random House

Author Interviews

A member of the 'T-Shirt Swim Club' chronicles life as 'the funny fat kid'

Comedy writer Ian Karmel has been making fun of his own body since he was a kid. He wrote T-Shirt Swim Club: Stories from Being Fat in a World of Thin People along with his sister.

Ian Karmel

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Yes, chef: 'The Bear' has a lot going on in its third season

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Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Yes, chef: 'The Bear' has a lot going on in its third season

The Bear just returned for its third season and it's still one of the most stressful and most interesting shows on TV. Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) are launching their new fine dining restaurant, but he's estranged from some of the people who are closest to him just as he sneaks up on a new level of success. The series is streaming now on Hulu.

Yes, chef: 'The Bear' has a lot going on in its third season

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In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

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Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

In the post-apocalyptic world of A Quiet Place, aliens kill anyone who makes a sound, forcing humans into a near-silent existence. The new movie A Quiet Place: Day One takes us back to the beginning, but this time through the eyes of a terminally ill cancer patient played by the excellent Lupita Nyong'o.

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

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In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

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Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

Kinds of Kindness is a weird, dark, and bleak film. It's directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and it re-teams him with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, along with Jesse Plemons. Each actor plays different characters in three different stories — which all involve someone going to extreme measures to regain something they've lost.

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

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Charli XCX and Lorde sure did make the internet go crazy
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Perspective

It's Been a Minute

Charli XCX and Lorde sure did make the internet go crazy

The internet freaked out when Charli XCX and Lorde revealed - and put to rest - their pop girl rivalry on Charli's "Girl, so confusing" remix. That same day, Brandy and Monica seemed to settle their decades long feud when they appeared on the remix of Ariana Grande's version of "The Boy is Mine." But while the pop girls are healing, a lot of fans still seem to want blood - can this music heal us? To break it all down, Brittany is joined by NPR Music Editor Hazel Cills, and Pop Pantheon podcast host, DJ Louie XIV.

Charli XCX and Lorde sure did make the internet go crazy

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Pop Music's First Black Stars
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Throughline

Pop Music's First Black Stars

Today, the U.S. popular music industry is worth billions of dollars. And some of its deepest roots are in blackface minstrelsy and other racist genres. You may not have heard their names, but Black musicians like George Johnson, Ernest Hogan, and Mamie Smith were some of the country's first viral sensations, working within and pushing back against racist systems and tropes. Their work made a lasting imprint on American music — including some of the songs you might have on repeat right now.

Pop Music's First Black Stars

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Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

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Apple TV+

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

The new film Fancy Dance offers something all-too-rare on screen: contemporary Indigenous perspectives, front and center. Lily Gladstone plays a woman trying to keep it together under stressful circumstances. Her sister's gone missing, and she steps in to look after her young niece (Isabel Deroy-Olson). The pair take what turns out to be a rocky road trip and a unique bonding experience.

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

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