Linda Holmes
Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for NPR and the host of Pop Culture Happy Hour. She began her professional life as an attorney. In time, however, her affection for writing, popular culture, and the online universe eclipsed her legal ambitions. She shoved her law degree in the back of the closet, gave its living room space to DVD sets of The Wire, and never looked back.
Holmes was a writer and editor at Television Without Pity, where she recapped several hundred hours of programming — including both High School Musical movies, for which she did not receive hazard pay. Her first novel, Evvie Drake Starts Over, was published in the summer of 2019.
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Showgirls stars Elizabeth Berkley as a Vegas dancer trying to move up from a seedy club to a glamorous hotel show. Paul Verhoeven’s NC-17 movie was a notorious flop, but it is now considered a camp classic and a window into a moment of moral panic. Showgirls turns 30 this year, so today we’re revisiting our conversation about the film. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture -
We look at the best of this fall's movies and TV – including some standouts from the Toronto International Film Festival.
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In the new horror film HIM, Tyriq Withers stars as a young football player who has a chance to be trained by his idol, played by Marlon Wayans. As they train at a mysterious facility in the desert, it becomes clear early on that greatness might not be worth the price. From director Justin Tipping and produced by Jordan Peele, the film takes some big swings you may not fully see coming. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture -
The coming months will bring new seasons of Stranger Things and Slow Horses, a mysterious new science fiction series from Apple TV+, and a new Ken Burns documentary about the American Revolution. -
Hollywood star Robert Redford died Tuesday at 89. Redford may have once been known for his glowing looks, but he was never content as a matinee idol.
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Robert Redford could do drama. He championed small films. And he made thrillers that are perfect for curling up on the couch on a weekend afternoon. -
The Studio, The Pitt and Adolescence took home top prizes on Sunday. And while the wins were deserving, the telecast was meh. Here are a few takeaways from a night that was a real mixed bag. -
Channing Tatum plays a real armed robber who hid out in a Toys "R" Us. Daniel Craig returns for the next Knives Out mystery. And Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler gets a gorgeously rendered adaptation. -
Rom-coms, heist flicks, a sports/horror mashup, a pair of Broadway musicals, a biopic of The Boss, festival award winners and lots of showbiz sagas — here's what NPR critics are watching this fall. -
Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club is a cozy British mystery set at a posh retirement community. The movie stars Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, and Ben Kingsley as retirees who have formed a club that researches cold cases to pass the time – until a real murder, and a plucky new member, show up on their incredibly bucolic doorstep. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy.
