Stephen Thompson

Each week, Pop Culture Happy Hour guests and hosts share what's bringing them joy. This week: The audiobooks Mythos and Why We Love Baseball, and the new albums Jaguar II and Blame My Ex.

The clever rock band delivers a performance 10 years in the making.

DeYarmond Edison's Epoch revels in the early alchemic triumphs of Bon Iver and Megafaun members. But the box set also reminds us that no moment of creative inspiration takes place spontaneously.

Two new songs from two huge pop stars: we hear about new releases from former child stars Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez.

The Barbie movie is on pace to be the top-grossing film this year. This means we're about to get a lot of movies trying to duplicate that success in a toy-filled cinematic future.

One of the world's biggest stars performs a few of the world's biggest songs at the Tiny Desk.

Each week, guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week, X-Terminators, The Righteous Gemstones, and the new Gabriels album Angels & Queens.

With a terrific voice cast and distinctive animation, Mutant Mayhem offers a fun and kinetic reset of a long-running franchise.

On the heels of revivals of songs from Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush and the Indigo Girls, here are some more 1980s songs ripe for a comeback.

Reubens' work included the 1985 film Pee-wee's Big Adventure and the children's show Pee-wee's Playhouse, which produced new episodes from 1986 to 1990.

Each week, guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Barbie, Praise Petey, and the musical legacy of Sinéad O'Connor.

Each week, guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: the movie Earth Mama, a recent episode of Vibe Check and albums from Aqua and The Japanese House.

A playlist to help set the mood for your July 4th barbecue.

Once an Oscar winner, the duo of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová returns with a sentimental celebration of lives lived in gratitude, without regret.

At the Tiny Desk, the pop trio preached the importance of joyful revolution.

Pop Culture Happy Hour host Stephen Thompson and NPR Music contributor Marissa Lorusso suggest three songs to make your summer road trip playlist perfect.

In Luke Combs' unexpected cover of the Tracy Chapman classic, NPR's Stephen Thompson found hope for a world with fewer boundaries and binaries and roped-in genres.

Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Clone High, the "Thursday Murder Club" mystery series, Mel Mitchell on TikTok, and more.

These songs ache with loss, even as they explode in full-bore rock mayhem, and that loss extends beyond the deaths of loved ones.

The Indonesian artist Nicole Zefanya brings a tiny toy piano and sleek songs to this Tiny Desk debut.