
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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Each week, guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Chef John Mitzewich, Star Trek, the return of baseball and the videogame Teardown.
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In the raunchy movie You're Cordially Invited, Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon face a mortifying conundrum: Their families' destination weddings have been double-booked for the same weekend. They reluctantly agree to share the venue, but, unsurprisingly, nothing goes smoothly as planned. Directed by Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Neighbors), the movie feels like a familiar throwback to the 2000s. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture
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The world is full of unsolvable problems and it's nice to see something get fixed. Millions of us are turning to YouTube to watch people unclog drains, deep clean rugs, and do other satisfying tasks.
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We're over a month into winter, and many people are trying to chase the winter blahs away. We have some suggestions from our 2-person NPR Cozy Culture Crew.
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Each week, guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: the TV show Silo, Rilo Kiley's reunion tour, and a send up of Emilia Pérez.
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The excellent Netflix series Mo is about a man who figures out how to get by: how to find work as someone who can't work legally, how to navigate the asylum process as a Palestinian refugee in Texas, and how to care for the people he loves. The show's star and co-creator is the standup Mo Amer. The story dives into immigration, identity, and a family as they work to map out a secure future. Mo just returned for a second season, so in this encore episode, we revisit our conversation about the series.
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In the new Steven Soderbergh film Presence, a family moves into an old house, and weird stuff starts happening. But what's different about this haunted house story is that the movie told from the point of view of the ghost. We only get glimpses of the family, but gradually we start to piece together their brittle dynamic. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture
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The Max hospital drama The Pitt stars ER veteran Noah Wyle. It takes some elements that are common to the medical genre and mixes them with some very contemporary thinking about health care and an inventive structure. Each episode follows one hour in the ER over the course of a very long day – so the layout is less Grey's Anatomy and more 24. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour
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Pop culture critic Linda Holmes doesn't want battles or competition in her games — but she loves a satisfying puzzle she can figure out at her own pace. Sound like you, too? Here are recommendations.
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Each week, guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: James Acaster's comedy special, the '90s show Legends of the Hidden Temple, and SZA's album Lana.