Pop Culture

Davon Artis holds a pair of Kobe 6 Grinch shoes, released in 2010. The shoes more than doubled in value within hours of Bryant's death.

Kobe Bryant Merchandise Increases In Value But Not Everyone Is Cashing In

5:11am February 05, 2020

by Austin Cross

Shops that sell Kobe Bryant merchandise have seen a spike in sales in the wake of his death. Now they're making a choice: profit from tragedy or keep Bryant's merchandise accessible to the public.

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The documentary McMillions explores, using both archival footage and recreations, the story of the fraud uncovered within the McDonald's Monopoly game.

Arts

Crooks Go All-Out To Take Home The Grand Fries In 'McMillions'

1:57pm February 04, 2020

by Linda Holmes

HBO's latest documentary series explores an enormous conspiracy to steal the winning game pieces from McDonald's' best-known promotional game.

A man cowers under a desk, hugging a pillow shaped like a slice of bread, in a scene from a Little Caesars commercial that ran during the 2020 Super Bowl.

Sports
Arts

Super Bowl Ads 2020: Strange, Serious, Smaaht, And So Very Expensive

11:30pm February 02, 2020

by Eric Deggans

Commercials cost as much as $5.6 million per 30 seconds this year. Here's how some of America's largest corporations (and Michael Bloomberg and Donald Trump) spent their money.

BoJack Horseman — voiced by Will Arnett — is a washed-up '90s sitcom star, who also happens to be a horse.

Arts

'BoJack Horseman' Rides Into the Sunset

5:29pm February 01, 2020

by Sarah McCammon

Netflix's adult animation series about a washed-up sitcom star who happens to be a horse set its serious examinations of addiction, trauma and mental illness against a bright, cartoony backdrop.

We've got all the content you need for Black History Month.

A Code Switch Playlist For Black History Month

6:18am February 01, 2020

Black History Month is here, and it's the perfect time to catch up on stories about the hidden heroes and buried history of black America.

Breaking Down This Year's Crop Of Super Bowl Ads

6:28pm January 31, 2020

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Robert Klara, senior editor for Adweek, about the best and worst Super Bowl commercials — which are often more memorable than the big game itself.

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Kristen Bell as Eleanor, William Jackson Harper as Chidi, Ted Danson as Michael and D'Arcy Carden as Janet.

Arts

A Goodbye To 'The Good Place'

1:19pm January 31, 2020

by Linda Holmes

The NBC afterlife comedy ended Thursday after four seasons, and it did so in a rich, emotionally satisfying, provocative fashion.

A Super-Assassin Named Stephanie: Blake Lively looks pensive in The Rhythm Section.

Arts

'The Rhythm Section' Misses A Beat

5:00pm January 30, 2020

by Mark Jenkins

Stephanie (Blake Lively) trains to become a super-assassin to avenge the murder of her parents in this well-paced, well-directed, but poorly scripted Bond knockoff.

Jane (Julia Garner) slowly comes to realize something terrible about her boss in Kitty Green's The Assistant.

Arts

'The Assistant': When A Workplace's Silence Can't Be Broken

5:00pm January 30, 2020

by Ella Taylor

In this "quietly shattering drama," a young woman (Julia Garner) learns that her new boss is a serial sexual predator; her efforts to call him out meet with indifference and hostility.

Iya (Viktoria Miroshnichenko) looks on in the grim but ultimately warm-hearted Beanpole.

Arts

2 Friends Scarred By War Attempt To Heal In 'Beanpole'

5:00pm January 30, 2020

by Scott Tobias

In post-WWII Leningrad, two women bonded by grief, guilt and hardship set out to make their futures brighter than the horrors of their shared past.