This week we read some thrillers, spun the Wheel of Fortune and chatted with a gal named Bob.
Here's what the NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour crew was paying attention to — and what you should check out this weekend.
Lady Audaci-Tea
I have been loving a new podcast called Lady Audaci-Tea. That's Lady Audaci-T-E-A because the hosts are all about spilling the tea on the aristocracy. It's kind of like if Lady Whistledown from Bridgerton had a podcast nowadays and it is so fun. Their main focuses is the British Royals, and what I really like about the show is they don't just talk about "who wore what," or "who was having an affair with whom" at various times in history and in the present. They also just bring in tons of context, media literacy and a great sense of humor to their coverage. Whether they're talking about Meghan Markle's podcasting career, or why Princess Margaret's relationship with Peter Townsend really ended. So it's smart, it's funny, it's frothy. The hosts, Alex and Meredith, are just terrific. I have so much fun every time a new episode comes out. — Kristen Meinzer
Hair Plugs & Heartache
What's making me happy this week is the comedian Matteo Lane. He dropped his first hour-long special Hair Plugs & Heartache recently on YouTube. It's free. It's great. He's great. I've been a fan of his for years. As far as themes to the special go, he does talk about getting hair replacement surgery, but he also talks about making pasta and roller coasters and Call of Duty and memes. Not so much heartache, frankly, if I'm being honest. But the thing about him is ... he's the real thing, he really is. He's also cracked the code. He has found a way to be a hot, young, gay comedian with a great body and be self-deprecating in a way that doesn't make you hate his guts. That is some high degree of difficulty stuff there. He doesn't seem thirsty or disingenuous or try hard. He is just real. He's funny. He's really funny. — Glen Weldon
Great Summer Movies
As a middle aged person who remembers when release dates were really, really important to movies, what is actually making me happy is being in the midst of a proper movie summer for the first time in four or five years — for obvious reasons. With Spider-Man and Indiana Jones and Mission: Impossible and even great smaller films like Past Lives, and Barbie and Oppenheimer are coming up. ... We can all just enjoy this wonderful movie summer that I am digging so much again. I'm a product of the time when the summer movie season meant something very specific, and I feel like we are back in that time now. — Chris Klimek
More recommendations from the Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter
by Linda Holmes
Hijack on Apple TV+ is so stressful that I found it hard to watch. But the series, which stars Idris Elba as a man trying to help himself and the rest of the passengers survive (unsurprisingly) a hijacking, is certainly capable at what it sets out to do.
Now and then, the death of a working actor just inspires me to investigate their career and how long, varied and interesting it is. This week, it was Nicolas Coster, who did soaps, All the President's Men, lots and lots of prime-time TV, and theater, where he was an understudy for Laurence Olivier.
I have long been a fan of Slate's Slow Burn podcast, and I am excited to sit down with its perfectly-timed new season, which is about Clarence Thomas.
NPR's Tilda Wilson adapted the Pop Culture Happy Hour segment "What's Making Us Happy" into a digital page. If you like these suggestions, consider signing up for our newsletter to get recommendations every week. And listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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