Stephen Thompson

The panel tackles the Netflix horror thriller Stranger Things before discussing favorite weddings from movies and TV. Then, as always, it's on to What's Making Us Happy this week.

For 15 years, the singer's sharp and reflective songwriting has examined a coming-of-age process that doesn't end when we reach adulthood.

Pop Culture Happy Hour's Glen Weldon and Stephen Thompson discuss the game: its allure and ubiquity, its backlash and glitches, and its zeitgeist-y collision of gaming, community and nostalgia.

Pop Culture Happy Hour's Stephen Thompson and Code Switch's Gene Demby discuss Kevin Durant's move to the Golden State Warriors: Is it good for basketball? Is this the wave of the mercenary future?

The band's sound has changed markedly over the years, but its songs remain rooted in a search for self-improvement, and in a kind of fundamental decency.

For the show's 300th episode, we look at a stunning new seven-and-a-half-hour documentary, take a TV-themed quiz and discuss What's Making Us Happy this week.

Like Bonar's music, her new video pairs shimmery beauty and indelible imagery with an undercurrent of bleakness that can be almost suffocating.

The gang discusses The Lonely Island's new movie, then looks back at other films that find humor in the foibles of musicians. And, as always, we close with What's Making Us Happy this week.

On her second full-length album, the soulful and versatile U.K. pop singer tugs at the boundaries of her sound, while also letting in details from her life.

A worthy extension of three tremendous catalogs, in which three great singer-songwriters sound enhanced and invigorated by the challenge of living up to each other's legacies.

This first taste of Hannigan's new album, At Swim, showcases her gift for slow-burning melancholy.

In what may have been the most comfortable day in the history of NPR Music, Iron & Wine's frontman performs three songs with the charming, inventive singer Jesca Hoop.

The first song from And Then Like Lions (out August 12) is a hazy, quiet beauty that builds slowly but persistently.

Jessica Weiss exudes ambivalence as a singer, but the arrangements around her billow and bloom. On Fear Of Men's second album, darkness and light fuse to form multifaceted gems.

In honor of The Monkees' 50th anniversary, hear a song written for the band by Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard. "Me & Magdalena" appears on a forthcoming reunion album called Good Times!

On her first album in nearly four years, the singer-songwriter returns to the beat-driven sound that made her name. The result functions as both a yearning journey and a well-earned victory lap.

The results of our entirely unscientific and not at all comprehensive poll are in: James Blake's "I Need A Forest Fire" is the most popular song right now with NPR Music listeners.

On the Louisiana band's first album, blues, classic rock and gospel come together with concision, force and a punk-rock heart.

The panel discusses its most anticipated summer blockbusters and makes some bold predictions. And, as always, we take a look at What's Making Us Happy this week.

Linda Holmes and Stephen Thompson discuss the way Prince changed music, supported other artists, defied creative constraints and challenged the notion of what it means for a pop singer to rebel.