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Friday

Prince on the custom motorcycle featured in Purple Rain.

Prince on the custom motorcycle featured in Purple Rain. Cinematic/Alamy hide caption

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Cinematic/Alamy

Movies

40 years after 'Purple Rain,' Prince’s band remembers how the movie came together

Before social media, the film Purple Rain gave audiences a peek into Prince’s musical life. Band members say the true genesis of the title song was much less combative than the version presented in the film.

Prince's band The Revolution talks about the legacy of 'Purple Rain' after 40 years

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'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Marvel's Deadpool & Wolverine. Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/Marvel hide caption

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Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/Marvel

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

In the highly meta Deadpool & Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman finally meet up for their own big movie. Deadpool is still smarmy, Wolverine is still tragic, and they have to get together to save the world. Along the way, Deadpool continues his usual routine of endless wisecracking. The movie is jam-packed with fan service and Easter eggs. But how will casual Marvel fans like the movie?

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

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Thursday

In 'The Decameron,' the Black Death makes for black comedy

Zosia Mamet and Saoirse-Monica Jackson in The Decameron. Giulia Parmigiani/Netflix hide caption

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Giulia Parmigiani/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'The Decameron,' the Black Death makes for black comedy

In Netflix's weirdly compelling dark comedy The Decameron, the bubonic plague is ravaging Florence in 1348. A group of rich nobles and their servants decide to retreat to a picturesque villa in the country to wait it all out. The large ensemble includes Tony Hale and Zosia Mamet. Every character is hiding something, and those secrets get revealed — and more than a few uglies get bumped.

In 'The Decameron,' the Black Death makes for black comedy

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Wednesday

A view of the Olympic rings beneath the Eiffel Tower, lit up at night.

Tens of thousands of athletes, spectators and journalists are descending on Paris to cover the Olympic Games. Many more will be watching from home. Michael Reaves/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Reaves/Getty Images

2024 Paris Olympics

Your guide to keeping up with the Paris Olympics

The 2024 Olympics kick off in Paris with a splashy opening ceremony on Friday and will run through Aug. 11. Here's how to keep up with the action, from primetime viewing to occasional scrolling.

Tuesday

'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' gets 10s across the board

Chasity Moore as Grizabella in 'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' Matthew Murphy hide caption

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Matthew Murphy

It's Been a Minute

'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' gets 10s across the board

In the latest revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, there are no singing cats. The actors have basically ditched the furry ears and velvet tails and reimagined the characters as competitors in the ballroom scene, vying for trophies and a new chance at life. This week, host Brittany Luse talks to Cats: The Jellicle Ball star Chasity Moore and co-director Zhailon Levingston about ballroom, spectacles and memories.

'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' gets 10s across the board

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Vice President Kamala Harris appears in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington on Feb. 27, 2024, left, and actor Maya Rudolph appears at the season two photo call for

Social media is crying out for comedian Maya Rudolph (right) to bring her Kamala Harris impression back to SNL. AP/AP hide caption

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AP/AP

Hey SNL, we're ready for Maya's Kamala

Social media is crying out with calls for Saturday Night Live veteran Maya Rudolph to bring back her Kamala Harris impression.

MAYA RUDOLPH'S KAMALA

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Three great karaoke songs

Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" is one of the perfect communal karaoke songs. Robert Laberge/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Robert Laberge/AFP via Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Three great karaoke songs

What makes a good karaoke song? In this encore episode, we're suggesting three great songs to sing at karaoke night.

Three great karaoke songs

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Monday

'Sunny' is a robot buddy comedy about loss

Rashida Jones in Sunny. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Sunny' is a robot buddy comedy about loss

In the new Apple TV+ series Sunny, Rashida Jones stars as a woman living in Kyoto, whose husband and young son go missing in a plane crash. To help console her, her husband's electronics company gives her a robot companion. The show is an interesting mix of styles and genres – it's a buddy comedy, a crime thriller and a drama about loss. But at the center of it all is the mystery of what happened to her husband and son – and why.

'Sunny' is a robot buddy comedy about loss

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Sunday

Friday

DiJonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun reacts during a game against the Indiana Fever on June 10 in Uncasville, Conn.

DiJonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun reacts during a game against the Indiana Fever on June 10, 2024 in Uncasville, Conn. Brian Fluharty/Getty Images hide caption

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Brian Fluharty/Getty Images

What's Making Us Happy: Recommendations From 'Pop Culture Happy Hour'

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

Each week, guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Watching the WNBA, celebrities throwing first pitches, the novel The God of the Woods, and the Criterion sale at Barnes & Noble.

'Twisters' has us spiraling

Glen Powell in Twisters. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal hide caption

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Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Twisters' has us spiraling

Twister was one of the biggest disaster movies of the '90s. Now, it's finally got a sequel — one with an all-new cast, state-of-the-art effects, and a whole lot of tornadoes. The new film stars Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones as rival storm-chasers who have a habit of running into tornadoes while everyone else is fleeing. Twisters was directed by Lee Isaac Chung, who also directed the Oscar-nominated Minari.

'Twisters' has us spiraling

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Thursday

LeVar Burton has portrayed the Black experience "from our enslavement to the stars"

LeVar Burton on Wild Card Etienne Laurent/Getty Images hide caption

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Etienne Laurent/Getty Images

Wild Card with Rachel Martin

LeVar Burton has portrayed the Black experience "from our enslavement to the stars"

LeVar Burton has three roles he'll forever be known for: Kunta Kinte on the TV series Roots, Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation and host of Reading Rainbow. Those roles have had profound impacts on people and he now understands, as he puts it, "my job is to be LeVar Burton." He talks to Rachel about the tension of that job, his changing definitions of success and learning to embrace the chaos.

LeVar Burton has portrayed the Black experience "from our enslavement to the stars"

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