Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Gone Girl' And What Pop Culture Can Teach

NPR

You've had a week now since the release of David Fincher's Gone Girl, the adaptation of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, so we hope that the most fervently excited of you have already seen it. But if you haven't, we hope you'll still get a lot out of our chat with our pal Barrie Hardymon about the book and the film, the performances of Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck, and the distinction between a mystery story and a suspense thriller, which we used this very book to discuss almost two years ago.

From there, we move on to a more philosophical question: What has pop culture taught us? Not just the life lessons, but the very practical things like chemical elements and names of cheeses. (And also the names of mathematicians who are described in song as advocating plagiarism, although we should clarify: it's in the song that he advocates plagiarism. The song is a parody; you could write a similar one about anybody.) We somehow wind up once again on the topic of food television and apartment painting, and completely by chance, Stephen mentions the Jan Hooks speech in Pee-wee's Big Adventure that taught him about the Alamo (at a taping we did a couple of days before her death was reported Thursday).

As always, we close the show with what's making us happy this week. Barrie is being made happy by the "small bald host" of a show she's come to very much enjoy. Stephen is being made happy by the hilarious resurfacing of a photo he was surprised to see float by him again, but also about his editing playlist, from which we've pasted some highlights below. Glen is happy about Twin Peaks, but also about two upcoming comics capitalizing on something you already know he loves. And I am happy about a Tumblr that you seriously should check out.

Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter: me, Stephen, Glen, Barrie, producer Jessica, and producer Nick.

Some Of Stephen's Ambient Music For Editing

Arvo Part

Bing & Ruth, Tomorrow Was The Golden Age

Brian McBride of Stars Of The Lid

The Calm Blue Sea

Flying Lotus

Metavari – specifically the song "Pacific Lights"

Nathan Salsburg

Nils Frahm

Riceboy Sleeps/Sigur Ros

Latvian Radio Choir, Rachmaninoff: Vespers

Angelo Badalamenti, Twin Peaks soundtrack

Two slowed-down songs: Justin Bieber's "U Smile" (35 minutes), Jurassic Park theme (54 minutes)