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Culture

Clockwise from top left: Inside Out 2, Thelma, Twisters, Hit Man, Fancy Dance and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

Clockwise from top left: Inside Out 2, Thelma, Twisters, Hit Man, Fancy Dance and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. Disney/Pixar, Magnolia Pictures, Universal Pictures, Netflix, Apple TV+, Netflix hide caption

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Disney/Pixar, Magnolia Pictures, Universal Pictures, Netflix, Apple TV+, Netflix

Review

Movie Reviews

These are the 19 movies we're most excited about this summer

Comedies, action-adventures, coming-of-age tales, animation — plus that sweet, sweet movie theater air conditioning. There's something for everyone at the multiplex; our critics can help you choose.

Television

Franz Kafka's life wasn't so kafkaesque after all, TV miniseries shows

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with lead actor Joel Basman and director David Schalko about his German-Austrian miniseries Kafka on early 20th century author Franz Kafka, released in the U.S. from June 6.

KAFKA - Joel Basman, David Schalko or Daniel Kehmann

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'Am I OK?' is a coming-out movie for adults

Dakota Johnson in the film Am I OK? Emily Knecht/Max hide caption

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Emily Knecht/Max

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Am I OK?' is a coming-out movie for adults

Am I OK? is a about what happens when you finally come to accept your sexuality much later in life than many do. It stars Dakota Johnson and Sonoya Mizuno as two women in their 30s who have been best friends a long time. But Johnson's character is grappling with the possibility that she's queer – and with the fact that her most treasured friendship is in trouble. Directed by Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne, it's streaming on Max.

'Am I OK?' is a coming-out movie for adults

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Bowen Yang talks to Wild Card about his proudest moment as a kid, hard truths from Tina Fey and why he thinks there's more to reality than we can see or touch?

Bowen Yang talks to Wild Card about his proudest moment as a kid, hard truths from Tina Fey and why he thinks there's more to reality than we can see or touch? Frazer Harrison/Getty Images hide caption

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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Bowen Yang invited Tina Fey onto his podcast. He's still dwelling on what she said

Bowen Yang talks to Wild Card about his proudest moment as a kid, hard truths from Tina Fey and why he thinks there's more to reality than we can see or touch.

Bowen Yang thinks being present is overrated

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Aiyana Rainbow, a Romanian-made AI model, is one of the Miss AI finalists

Aiyana Rainbow, a Romanian-made AI model, is one of the Miss AI finalists. Aiyana_Rainbow hide caption

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Aiyana_Rainbow

Fake beauty queens charm judges at the Miss AI pageant

Ten models that exist only in the digital realm have made it to the finals of what's being billed as the world's first beauty pageant involving AI.

The Miss AI beauty pageant ushers in a new type of influencer

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Chicken biryani at the Royale Restaurant & Bar in Carle Place, New York.

Chicken biryani at the Royale Restaurant & Bar in Carle Place, New York. Marco Postigo Storel for NPR hide caption

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Marco Postigo Storel for NPR

Food

Cricket and biryani go together like baseball and hot dogs

When India and Pakistan battle in the Cricket World Cup, fans of both nations will at least have a favorite dish in common.

India and Pakistan cricket fans are divided by a rivalry and united over their love of eating biryani in the stands

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Sunday Puzzle

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NPR

Sunday Puzzle

Sunday Puzzle: Net Worth

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with WKSU listener Cary Seidman of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Weekend Edition Puzzlemaster Will Shortz.

Sunday Puzzle: Net Worth

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Charlamagne tha God speaks onstage during the 2024 Black Effect Podcast Festival at Pullman Yards on April 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Derek White/Getty Images)

Charlamagne tha God speaks onstage during the 2024 Black Effect Podcast Festival at Pullman Yards on April 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Derek White/Getty Images) Derek White/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Derek White/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

'Wait Wait' for June 8, 2024: With Not My Job guest Charlamagne tha God

This week, Wait Wait is live in Chicago with special guest Charlamagne tha God and panelists Karen Chee, Shane O'Neill, Alzo Slade

'Wait Wait' for June 8, 2024: With Not My Job guest Charlamagne tha God

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Dionne Brown as Queenie Jenkins in the show Queenie, based on the novel by Candice Carty-Williams.

Dionne Brown as Queenie Jenkins in the show Queenie, based on the novel by Candice Carty-Williams. Hulu hide caption

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Hulu

What's Making Us Happy: Recommendations From 'Pop Culture Happy Hour'

What's Making Us Happy: A guide to your weekend viewing, listening and reading

Each week, guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: the show Queenie, the song "Kill The Lights," the book The Plot, and the new Knives Out teaser.

Merrily We Roll Along revival director Maria Friedman in New York City in 2024.

Merrily We Roll Along revival director Maria Friedman in New York City in 2024. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP Photo hide caption

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Charles Sykes/Invision/AP Photo

Fresh Air Weekend

Fresh Air Weekend: 'Merrily We Roll Along'; MSNBC host Ali Velshi

Director Maria Friedman and actor Jonathan Groff discuss the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s musical. Velshi chronicles his ancestors’ migrations across three continents in a new memoir.

'Merrily We Roll Along'; MSNBC host Ali Velshi

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Becoming Karl Lagerfeld -- Season 1 -- In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld (Daniel Brühl) is 38 and not yet wearing his iconic hairstyle. He is a ready-to-wear designer, unknown to the general public. While he meets and falls in love with the sultry Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), an ambitious and troubling young dandy, the most mysterious of fashion designers dares to take on his friend (and rival) Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), a genius of haute couture backed by the redoubtable businessman Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz).

Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld (Daniel Brühl), left, meets and falls in love with Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin) in Becoming Karl Lagerfeld. Caroline Dubois, Jour Premier/Disney hide caption

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Caroline Dubois, Jour Premier/Disney

Review

TV Reviews

'Becoming Karl Lagerfeld' is the smart, dishy backstory of a style icon

The Hulu show's brisk six episodes take us surprisingly deep inside a figure who moved constantly forward, spurred on by ambition, loneliness and a keen sense of self-protection.

'Becoming Karl Lagerfeld' is the smart, dishy backstory of a style icon

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Movie Interviews

In 'Problemista' Julio Torres spins immigration stress into satire

The comic, actor and filmmaker came to the U.S. from El Salvador in his 20s. Torres tackled immigration in Problemista; his new HBO comedy series is Fantasmas. Originally broadcast March 24, 2024.

In 'Problemista' Julio Torres spins immigration stress into satire

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Orna Gurlanik is the therapist at the center of the documentary series Couples Therapy.

Orna Gurlanik is the therapist at the center of the documentary series Couples Therapy. Paramount+ with SHOWTIME hide caption

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Paramount+ with SHOWTIME

Interview highlights

TV series 'Couples Therapy' gives viewers a rare look into real life therapy sessions

Psychotherapist Orna Gurlanik, star of the documentary series Couples Therapy, is challenging the idea that couples therapy is a last-ditch effort for people.

TV: COUPLES THERAPY S4

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Glen Powell's 'Hit Man' won't kill you, but he may seduce you

Adria Arjona and Glen Powell in Hit Man. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Glen Powell's 'Hit Man' won't kill you, but he may seduce you

Netflix's entertaining dark comedy Hit Man is not about a hired killer. It's about a guy who pretends to be a hired killer. Director Richard Linklater co-wrote this film with movie star of the moment, Glen Powell. Based very loosely on a real guy, Powell plays a mild-mannered professor who also works undercover for the police as a fake hitman.

Glen Powell's 'Hit Man' won't kill you, but he may seduce you

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