How the U-S is handling TV coverage of these Olympic Games
Stephen Thompson, host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, talks about the TV coverage of the Olympic games and the value of a good sports commentator.
Television
'House of the Dragon' Season 2 finale: Before dragons dance, they gotta stretch
After last week’s barn-burner (and serf-burner) of an episode, this season climax qualifies as anti-. The season ends not with a bang, but with a lot of whimpering.
U.S. judge overturns $4.7 billion 'Sunday Ticket' judgment against the NFL
A jury had awarded $4.7 billion in damages to subscribers after it ruled the NFL violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.
'Miss Merkel' imagines the former German chancellor as a small-town amateur sleuth
A series of crime novels now adapted for TV imagines former German Chancellor Angela Merkel as a crime-solving detective.
'House Of The Dragon' season 2 makes it Rhaen(yra)
The second season of HBO's House of the Dragon is almost over. The war between two rival factions of the Targaryen dynasty is fully underway, complete with stealth missions, palace intrigue, battle scenes and hot dragon-on-dragon action. But now that the Dance of the Dragons is in full swing, has the Game of Thrones prequel finally hit its stride?
'Time Bandits' maps contemporary vibes over a cult classic
The dryly funny new Apple TV+ series Time Bandits reimagines the 1981 Terry Gilliam film of the same name. A squad of inept thieves — including their sort-of leader, played by Lisa Kudrow — have stolen a map of the universe. They use it to jump through portals to various time periods to steal stuff. One jump takes them into the bedroom of a British kid (Kal-El Tuck), who tags along as they're chased by Taika Waititi's Supreme Being and Jemaine Clement's Pure Evil.
The antithesis of the Olympics: Using AI to write a fan letter
In a Google ad now pulled from Olympics coverage, a dad uses AI to craft a fan letter from his daughter. It’s the wrong approach to express admiration in a star athlete – and to instill confidence in a burgeoning one.
'Hacks' peeks behind the curtain of a changing comedy world
Paul W. Downs is a co-creator and co-star of the Emmy-nominated HBO Max series. "It's a comedy, but we also want to make a show that makes people think," he says.
Stars share the films they love On TCM's 'Two for One' series
Guest programmers, including Spike Lee, Olivia Wilde and even Donald Trump, present and discuss two favorite films on this TCM feature. It's yet another way the network celebrates the love of movies.
Quality chills and feel good content on Dropout
It seems like there are countless streamers these days – there's Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, Max, Peacock, Roku, just to name a few. Still, success and profit remain elusive to even some of the biggest in the biz. However there is one smaller streamer that seems to have found a path to prosperity: Dropout. In this encore episode, IBAM host Brittany Luse sat down with Dropout CEO Sam Reich earlier this year to find out how his company is forging a path to success in a successful market, all while revamping the gameshow format. The pair also play a little gameshow game.
Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany's question at the end of the episode and send it to ibam@npr.org.
Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany's question at the end of the episode and send it to ibam@npr.org.