Television

Today's stories about disease — like The Walking Dead with its zombies — tend to be rooted in political and social realities.

What Fictional Pandemics Can Teach Us About Real-World Survival

5:22pm February 10, 2020

by Neda Ulaby

People have been telling stories about pandemics for thousands of years — once, they were tales of divine retribution, but today they're often rooted in current events like the coronavirus outbreak.

Queue Listen Now

Lee Sun-kyun and Jo Yeo-jeong play the wealthy Parks in Parasite.

Arts

Yes, 'Parasite' Could Win Best Picture

5:00am February 09, 2020

by Linda Holmes

This year's best picture race doesn't have as clear a frontrunner as it sometimes has. But just as Moonlight came through on a shocker of an evening in 2017, Parasite might pull it off this year.

Review: Showtime's 'Homeland' Launches Final Season

6:25am February 07, 2020

by Eric Deggans

The eighth and final season of the CIA spy series Homeland premieres Sunday with Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin. One criticism that has dogged Homeland over the years, is how it portrays Muslims

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Edie Falco Shines As LA's Top Cop In The CBS Drama 'Tommy'

1:36pm February 06, 2020

by David Bianculli

In addition to solving a case each week, Tommy features ongoing story lines involving the police chief's interactions with colleagues and family members. The scripts aren't fantastic — but Falco is.

Queue Listen Now

World News

An Arabic 'Sesame Street,' For Refugee Children In The Middle East

7:30pm February 05, 2020

by Deborah Amos

Grover speaks Arabic in a new edition of Sesame Street — one aimed at helping refugee children cope with fear and displacement.

Queue Listen Now

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.

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.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

'Giri/Haji' Is A Story Of Cultural Cross Pollination Unlike Anything Else On TV

1:35pm January 31, 2020

by John Powers

A Tokyo police detective heads to London to bring back his gangster brother in this BBC series, which is playing on Netflix. Giri/Haji is a thriller that bursts with compelling scenes.

Queue Listen Now