Pop Culture

Allison Tolman plays Deputy Sheriff Molly Solverson in the FX TV series Fargo. It's a breakout role for the actress who had done only theater and commercials.

Arts

Bianculli's Top 10: 2014 Was A 'Good Year For Programming'

2:47pm December 24, 2014

by David Bianculli

TV critic David Bianculli says that he's encouraged by how far TV has come. He picks The Good Wife as the best show of 2014, having "the deepest roster of really strong regulars and guest stars."

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The Serial podcast is Sarah Koenig's reinvestigation of the murder of Hae Min Lee, a Maryland high school student who was strangled in 1999. Lee was found in Baltimore's Leakin Park. Her schoolmate and ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was convicted of the murder a

Arts

Serial Host Sarah Koenig Says She Set Out To Report, Not Exonerate

6:32pm December 23, 2014

The podcast is a reinvestigation of the 1999 murder of Maryland high school student Hae Min Lee. Her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed is serving a life sentence but has always maintained his innocence.

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Protesters in Boston during a December demonstration against the deaths of two unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers in New York City and Ferguson, Mo.

Videos Of Ray Rice, Eric Garner Among Biggest Media Moments Of 2014

1:08pm December 23, 2014

by Eric Deggans

Some of the most interesting things on TV in 2014 weren't actually made for TV. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans lists the moments in television, viral video and social media that changed us all this year.

"Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" first aired in 1978 and won an Emmy Award for outstanding children's program the following year.

National

A Very Code Switch Christmas TV Special

5:21pm December 22, 2014

by Charles Pulliam-Moore

It's that time around Christmas, when all we can see are a handful of stories on our TV screens. Frosty, and Charlie, and Ralphie, and Kevin, but there's not too much brown in this mostly white canon.

Why Does It Take A Movie Robot To Show What Nurses Really Do?

3:13pm December 22, 2014

by Kelli Dunham

If TV and movie nurses took care of us when we're sick, we'd be in a heap of trouble. Those images of nutty, slutty and clueless nurses are bad news for the profession, and for patients.

Sony Pictures Studios headquarters building is seen in Culver City, Calif., on Friday. President Obama has criticized Sony for cancelling distribution of The Interview following after the studio was hacked by North Korea.

Obama Calls North Korean Hack 'Cybervandalism'

2:40pm December 21, 2014

by Scott Neuman

On CNN's State of the Union, the president expanded on earlier remarks he made criticizing a decision by Sony Pictures to pull distribution of The Interview.

A banner for The Interview is posted outside Arclight Cinemas, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles on Wednesday. The theatrical release of the film has been cancelled following cyber attacks and threats believed to originate in North Korea.

North Korea Has An Interesting Offer. And Another Threat

4:34pm December 20, 2014

by Scott Neuman

The secretive regime denies any involvement with the Sony Pictures hack and says the U.S. must allow it to help find the real culprit. Or else.

Jamie Foxx and Quvenzhane Wallis star in the latest incarnation of the musical Annie.

Arts

A Different 'Annie,' But Still A Good Kid

12:19pm December 19, 2014

by Linda Holmes

The new adaptation of Annie, starring Quvenzhane Wallis and Jamie Foxx, isn't the same Annie some of us knew in childhood. But on her own terms, she's still a charmer.

A drawing of two clinking martini glasses.

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Top Five' And The Art Of The Mixtape

11:11am December 19, 2014

by Linda Holmes

On this week's show: Chris Rock's Top Five, mix tapes and loved music, and what's making us happy this week.

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Arts

Sarah Koenig On Serial: 'I Think Something Went Wrong With This Case'

6:32pm December 18, 2014

by Linda Holmes

Serial, the hugely popular (and sometimes controversial) podcast spun off from This American Life, wraps up its first season today. NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with Serial creator Sarah Koenig.

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