Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Gilmore Girls' And 'Moana'

Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop), Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), and Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel).

Robert Voets/Netflix

We're lucky enough to be joined this week by Daisy Rosario and Margaret Willison for looks at two new girl-themed stories.

First, non-Gilmore Girls person Stephen Thompson sits out of our usual rotation as we cover the return of the people of Stars Hollow in four new movies available on Netflix. Did we get what we were hoping for from this reunion? Did we get too much of Logan's goofy friends, or not enough? And what of Jess and his duffel bag?

Then, because — no big deal — an old pal of mine is one of the writers of Moana, I sit out while Stephen, Glen, Daisy and Margaret chat about Disney's latest. They touch on the Disney princess tropes that the company is perhaps trying to subvert and maintain at the same time, on the use of music, and on, of course, The Rock.

As always, we close this week's show with a review of what's making us happy this week. And this week, we've got five people weighing in for 25 percent more happiness than usual. Stephen is happy about a couple of things he still hasn't mentioned about Arrival, and about a show he caught up with that we'll be getting around to (at last) in a bit. Glen is happy about a show he's been watching that motivates him to introduce one of my favorite things: a new Glen voice! Daisy is happy about one HBO show that we regret not getting around to during our very busy fall and one NBC drama that we're actually going to get to next week. Margaret is happy about a "stuffy British costume drama" (isn't she always?) and about an album that's holiday, but not really holiday — she'll explain. I am happy about a preview of an upcoming soundtrack that I cannot wait for you to hear. And if you listen to my last piece of advice and you're looking to donate to your local NPR station, here's a place to find it.

Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter: me, Stephen, Glen, Daisy, Margaret, producer Jessica, and executive producer and music director Mike.