Accessibility links
Television Television

Television

The return of Andre 3000; plus, 'Rap Sh!t' puts the music industry on blast

Andre 3000, Aida Osman as Shawna Clark, and KaMillion as Mia Knight. Kai Regan / Courtesy of the artist; Erin Simkin/Max hide caption

toggle caption
Kai Regan / Courtesy of the artist; Erin Simkin/Max

It's Been a Minute

The return of Andre 3000; plus, 'Rap Sh!t' puts the music industry on blast

As many male rappers seem to become more depressed or vindictive in their lyrics, the women of rap appear to be having all the fun. One show that captures this moment is Rap Sh!t on Max. Brittany sits down with the showrunner and writer, Syreeta Singleton. They discuss the complexities of navigating the rap game as a Black woman, the new social media landscape, and how rap and Rap Sh!t approach sexuality.

The return of Andre 3000; plus, 'Rap Sh!t' puts the music industry on blast

Listen · 36:54
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197954280/1213644329" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
The 'Friends' family is mourning one of its own on social media

Matthew Perry's Friends co-stars — (L-R) David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc — paid tribute to him on social media this week. Getty Images/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Getty Images/Getty Images

The 'Friends' family is mourning one of its own on social media

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer paid tribute to Matthew Perry in heartfelt social media posts weeks after his death, praising him for his wit and heart.

'The Crown' shines in its final season — just remember it's not the History Channel

Elizabeth Debicki as Diana in the sixth and final season of The Crown. Netflix hide caption

toggle caption
Netflix

Review

TV Reviews

'The Crown' shines in its final season — just remember it's not the History Channel

The Crown shifts seamlessly from highly accurate depictions to invented moments. In its sixth season, deeply personal scenes once again may make viewers wonder if what they're seeing really happened.

'The Crown' shines in its final season — just remember it's not the History Channel

Listen · 3:53
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1213397238/1213590225" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Fellow Travelers' is a queer love story with highs, lows, tops, and bottoms

Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer in Fellow Travelers. Ben Mark Holzberg/Showtime hide caption

toggle caption
Ben Mark Holzberg/Showtime

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Fellow Travelers' is a queer love story with highs, lows, tops, and bottoms

The sweeping new Showtime series Fellow Travelers chronicles a relationship between two gay men played by Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey. It spans the McCarthy Era of the 1950s through the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. One is perfectly content to stay in the closet and live a lie, and the other wants more out of their relationship. As the years pass the two men keep coming back together only to find the power dynamic between them shifting back and forth.

'Fellow Travelers' is a queer love story with highs, lows, tops, and bottoms

Listen · 14:38
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197956776/1212364186" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
John Stamos talks joining the Beach Boys and being SO. HANDSOME.
VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

John Stamos talks joining the Beach Boys and being SO. HANDSOME.

John Stamos joins panelists Emmy Blotnick, Skyler Higley, and Tom Bodett to talk about his new memoir, his feud with Tony Danza, and more!

John Stamos talks joining the Beach Boys and being SO. HANDSOME.

Listen · 47:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198908209/1212446722" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Actors and studios make a deal to end Hollywood strikes

Outside Fox studios in Los Angeles, production assistant Allie Palm and SAG-AFTRA actress Desiree Woolfolk say they can't wait to get back to work. Mandalit del Barco/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Mandalit del Barco/NPR

Culture

Actors and studios make a deal to end Hollywood strikes

SAG-AFTRA workers have been on strike since July, when they joined screenwriters on their strike. Now, if the performers approve their new deal, Hollywood may soon come to life again.

Actors and studios make a deal to end Hollywood strikes

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1203789537/1211715519" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Colin' the dog brings 2 — no wait, 3 —lonely hearts together in this fetching series

Ashley and Gordon (Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall) bond over an injured border terrier in Colin from Accounts. Lisa Tomasetti/Paramount+ hide caption

toggle caption
Lisa Tomasetti/Paramount+

Review

TV Reviews

'Colin' the dog brings 2 — no wait, 3 —lonely hearts together in this fetching series

Fresh Air

Two lonely souls bond over an injured border terrier with thousands of dollars in medical bills in Colin from Accounts — a bawdy, Australian series brimming with life and honesty.

'Colin' the dog brings 2 — no wait, 3 —lonely hearts together in this fetching series

Listen · 6:33
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1211387878/1211572321" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Rap Sh!t' is still musing on music and art of making it

Aida Osman and KaMillion star in the Max series Rap Sh!t. Erin Simkin/Max hide caption

toggle caption
Erin Simkin/Max

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Rap Sh!t' is still musing on music and art of making it

The Max series Rap Sh!t feels like a comedy for The Moment. Created by Issa Rae, the show focuses on Shawna and Mia (played by Aida Osman and KaMillion), two aspiring rappers from Miami, and documents the challenges they face as young women trying to break into the music industry. The show is about to return for a second season, so today we're revisiting our conversation about the series.

'Rap Sh!t' is still musing on music and art of making it

Listen · 20:37
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197956576/1210889666" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
We asked Hollywood actors and writers to imagine the strikes on screen

Actor Jason George is on the negotiating team with SAG-AFTRA: "It's a heist movie" he says. Mandalit del Barco/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Mandalit del Barco/NPR

Culture

We asked Hollywood actors and writers to imagine the strikes on screen

Some striking writers and actors told us it would be a rom-com. Others suggested a mystery, an alien abduction movie, or even a heist flick!

We asked Hollywood actors and writers to imagine the strikes on screen

Listen · 6:35
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1210547687/1210645299" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
"The Gilded Age" and the trouble with American period pieces

The Gilded Age's Dorothy and Peggy Scott, portrayed by Audra McDonald and Denée Benton. Alison Cohen Rosa/HBO hide caption

toggle caption
Alison Cohen Rosa/HBO

It's Been a Minute

"The Gilded Age" and the trouble with American period pieces

The Gilded Age delighted audiences with its lavish sets, decadent costumes and social sniping when it debuted. Lucky for us, the period drama just returned to HBO Max with a second season. But if we look a little closer at the show, it reveals what we truly want out of period pieces: to remake the past with our modern sensibilities and values. As Brandon Taylor wrote in his essay called "morgan spector pls break me in half," The Gilded Age engenders "self-delusion" about our history – because to reflect our past more accurately, would be "too horrifying" for a somewhat soapy show. Brittany Luse sits down with Brandon to discuss sentimentality, why we're particularly drawn to this era now and how it's portrayal could be done better.

"The Gilded Age" and the trouble with American period pieces

Listen · 21:50
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197954199/1210540076" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Bass Reeves deserves better — 'Lawmen' doesn't do justice to the Black U.S. marshal

David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves. Lauren Smith/Paramount hide caption

toggle caption
Lauren Smith/Paramount

Review

TV Reviews

Bass Reeves deserves better — 'Lawmen' doesn't do justice to the Black U.S. marshal

As a Black TV critic who loves Westerns, Eric Deggans really wanted to like this show. But he found the first four episodes were focused on being a Modern Western Epic, at the expense of Reeves' story

Bass Reeves deserves better — 'Lawmen' doesn't do justice to the Black U.S. marshal

Listen · 3:40
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1210170873/1210800446" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Friends' co-creators tell NPR they will remember Matthew Perry for his heart

The stars of Friends, from left, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox Arquette, Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc pose after the show won outstanding comedy series at the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 2002. Reed Saxon/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Reed Saxon/AP

Interview highlights

'Friends' co-creators tell NPR they will remember Matthew Perry for his heart

The Friends co-creators spoke with NPR to remember their late colleague and friend, Matthew Perry, best known for his role as Chandler Bing.

'Friends' co-creators tell NPR they will remember Matthew Perry for his heart

Listen · 7:49
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1210220549/1210334847" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'All the Light We Cannot See' is a heartening and hopeful wartime tale

Newcomer Aria Mia Loberti plays Marie-Laure in All the Light We Cannot See. Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix hide caption

toggle caption
Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix

Review

TV Reviews

'All the Light We Cannot See' is a heartening and hopeful wartime tale

Fresh Air

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Netflix's four-part miniseries tells the story of two young people — one French, one German — in the years before and during the Nazi occupation of France.

'All the Light We Cannot See' is a heartening and hopeful wartime tale

Listen · 7:12
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1210118700/1210181136" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'The Golden Bachelor' offers more years, same tears

Faith Martin and Gerry Turner on ABC's The Golden Bachelor. Craig Sjodin/ABC hide caption

toggle caption
Craig Sjodin/ABC

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The Golden Bachelor' offers more years, same tears

The Golden Bachelor is the latest show in ABC's long-running Bachelor franchise, in which the bachelor is a 72-year-old widower named Gerry Turner. Gerry's potential matches are also significantly older than the usual crop, so the priorities are a little different. But the weird dates, the awkward conversations, and the fixations on who has kissed remain.

'The Golden Bachelor' offers more years, same tears

Listen · 23:18
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197956485/1209928949" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
What makes 'The Real Housewives' so addictive? (Classic)

What makes 'The Real Housewives' peak culture? Santiago Felipe/John Lamparski/Jim Spellman/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Santiago Felipe/John Lamparski/Jim Spellman/Getty Images

It's Been a Minute

What makes 'The Real Housewives' so addictive? (Classic)

It's a big week for fans of reality TV - it's Bravocon 2023. This year it's in Las Vegas – and while we couldn't make it to Vegas, we're revisiting what we learned from last year's Bravocon in New York. Host Brittany Luse and producer Liam McBain talked to fans, a producer, an academic and the Housewives themselves to understand what makes The Real Housewives peak culture – as in the #1 topic in the group chat – for so many people.

What makes 'The Real Housewives' so addictive? (Classic)

Listen · 30:24
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197954194/1209464737" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Scream time: Has your kid been frightened by a horror movie trailer?

Horror trailers can be scary for kids — and avoiding them is hard, especially around Halloween. Gerard Launet/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Gerard Launet/Getty Images

Culture

Scream time: Has your kid been frightened by a horror movie trailer?

Ads for horror movies and TV shows seem to be everywhere around Halloween — including during shows that kids might be watching. Avoiding them is a challenge.

Scream time: Has your kid been frightened by a horror movie trailer?

Listen · 2:52
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1209466841/1209529151" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Browse archive or search npr.org