Pop Culture

Arts

Win Your Emmy Pool With Our Uncannily, Nay, Disquietingly Accurate Predictions

4:24pm September 18, 2016

by Glen Weldon

Arm yourself with NPR's ruthlessly rigorous Emmy predictions, which are based on acute cultural analysis and industry savvy, and thus are totally not wild guesses, at all, seriously.

Donald Glover plays Earnest Marks in the new FX show Atlanta.

Arts

Donald Glover Explores A Surreal Feel In 'Atlanta'

5:12pm September 17, 2016

by NPR Staff

Donald Glover is the creator and star of the new FX show Atlanta. He says he wanted to "give people a feeling that they can't really siphon or make into something else."

Fred Armisen and Bill Hader parody The War Room in the new season of Documentary Now!

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Documentary Now!' And Life Onscreen

12:34pm September 16, 2016

by Stephen Thompson

NPR Politics Podcast host Sam Sanders joins the gang to discuss the IFC series. Then, we each pick, watch and describe a documentary we'd never seen. And, of course, What's Making Us Happy this week.

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Hari Kondabolu worked as an immigrants rights organizer in Seattle and did comedy as a hobby on the side. But as his following grew, he realized he couldn't do both. "There is no such thing as a part-time organizer," he says.

Arts

Hari Kondabolu Says His Mom Is Hilarious — And Not Because Of Her Accent

10:44am September 16, 2016

by NPR Staff

The immigrants rights organizer turned comedian won't impersonate his parents' Indian accents. For many people, he says, "immigrants are funny voices," and he's not interested in playing into that.

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Realizing Tupac Wasn't Cool, 20 Years Later

8:02pm September 14, 2016

by Leah Donnella

I was probably 9 years old at the height of my obsession with Tupac's "Hail Mary." I didn't know what I was capable of then, but I was not to be trifled with.

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Hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc, at right, announced they are leaving The Great British Bakeoff in the wake of its move from the BBC to Channel 4.

Arts

Ready, Set, Flake: Is 'Bake Off' About To Crumble?

7:32pm September 14, 2016

by Genevieve Valentine

The future of the smash-hit baking competition is in question after a move from the BBC to independent broadcaster Channel 4 prompted beloved hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins to step down.

Jeff Ross (right) roasts TV analyst and former NFL quarterback Terry Bradshaw at the ESPN Super Bowl Roast in January 2015 in Phoenix, Ariz.

Arts

Having Thick Skin Is A 'Survival Technique,' Says Comic Jeff Ross

6:28pm September 13, 2016

Ross says he learned to "dish it out and take it" as a kid in Newark, N.J. He says that ideally a celebrity roast is "like a party where everybody goes and has a good time."

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Protesters Rush Stage After Ryan Lochte's 'Dancing With The Stars' Routine

4:30pm September 13, 2016

NPR's Audie Cornish talks to Slate senior editor Laura Bennett about Dancing with the Stars, which is now in its 23rd season. On Monday night's show, two protesters rushed the stage following a dance performance by athlete Ryan Lochte.

By the Power of Grayscale: Zorn (voiced by Jason Sudeikis) waits for his delicates in FOX's Son of Zorn.

Arts

'Son Of Zorn,' 'The Last Man On Earth' And Ditching Sitcom Normalcy

12:54pm September 13, 2016

by Linda Holmes

Both the new Fox comedy Son of Zorn and the returning The Last Man on Earth buck conventional sitcom tropes to build worlds where the humor is broader and the concepts higher.

Arts

Most Of This Year's Emmys Have Already Been Handed Out: Some Highlights

8:19pm September 12, 2016

by Glen Weldon

Last Saturday and Sunday, the 2016 Creative Arts Emmys — 91 of them — were handed out in Los Angeles. We review some notable winners.