Pop Culture Happy Hour

Phoebe Bridgers is your favorite pop star’s favorite pop star. And she’s just released a gorgeous new solo album, Lost Weekend. It’s packed with guest stars including her boygenius bandmates, pop superproducer Jack Antonoff and her partner, Bo Burnham. The record’s 16 songs are full of lore, lush sonic ideas, and quotable insights about love, sex, and death. But does Bridgers’ long-awaited return make up for lost time?

If you need more multifaceted pop music, check out these episodes: 
Ariana Grande stares down the public eye in 'Petal'
Olivia Rodrigo seems pretty sad, but does she still generate bangers?

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The new movie Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is a bloody and bewildering queer slasher film. Directed by Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow), it stars Hannah Einbinder as a queer young filmmaker tapped to reboot a defunct slasher franchise, and Gillian Anderson as a reclusive actress. The movie is a meditation on slashers and film itself, sexuality and identity – and it’s also gore-filled fun you won’t want to miss.


Want more queer indie horror? Check out these episodes:

'I Saw the TV Glow' is weird and transfixing

'Love Lies Bleeding' is the queer erotic thriller Kristen Stewart fans have wanted
 

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In the fun, entertaining new film, The End of Oak Street, Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor star as a married couple in the early 1980s. One night, their entire suburban neighborhood is transported to a time filled with a variety of large and dangerous dinosaurs. Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell (It Follows), it’s part action-adventure, part monster movie, part dark comedy. But after so many dino-packed blockbusters, does this movie offer a fresh take to the prehistoric creature feature?

If you need a few more creature features, check out these episodes:
'Minions & Monsters' is, oddly enough, a love letter to Old Hollywood
Only Guillermo del Toro could've made this 'Frankenstein'
‘Jaws’ is still stuck in our teeth, 50 years later

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Summer blockbusters are hugely popular and as a result, financially successful, and seen by lots of people. So with summer blockbuster season coming to a close, we decided to revisit our conversation about our own personal blockbuster gaps, and finally watch a movie that absolutely everyone saw – except for us — including Armageddon, Beverly Hills Cop II, Ghost, The Fast and the Furious.

If you need a bit more summer magic, check out these episodes: 

What’s the best summer snack? The votes are in

‘Jaws’ is still stuck in our teeth, 50 years later

We debate the sweatiest movie of all time

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Ted Lasso is finally back. But is this new fourth season worth the wait, and does it have anything fresh to say? Ted (Jason Sudeikis) has returned to the U.K., only this time, he’s coaching a brand new women’s soccer team. The hit Apple TV series features familiar faces including Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, and Brett Goldstein, as well as newcomers Tanya Reynolds and Abbie Hern.

Want more laughs from Apple TV? Check out these episodes: 
Getting therapeutic with 'Shrinking'
Seth Rogen and a fabulous cast highlight the satire 'The Studio'

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We spend the majority of our adult lives at work. We also see so many depictions of working life on TV. So where’s the fictional place we’d like to work? We’ll talk about Ted Lasso, Game of Thrones, The Muppet Show and The West Wing.

If you want more workplace shenanigans, check out these episodes:

‘Widow’s Bay’ is an island in the scream

The final course at ‘The Bear’ was both sweet and savory

‘The Paper’ is an ‘Office’ spinoff where journalism takes the lede
 

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One Night Only is set in an alternate universe where premarital sex has been outlawed, except for one 12-hour window a year. The film stars Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner as two beautiful New Yorkers looking to have sex when the mandate is temporarily lifted. But does the film deliver on its sexy premise, or is it more chaste than it seems? 

Looking for other conversations about rom-coms? Try these episodes:

‘Office Romance’ stars J.Lo as a CEO with a bad case of Brett Goldstein

‘You, Me & Tuscany' has got us lost in the pasta sauce

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Ariana Grande has been omnipresent the last few years. Discussions of her relationships and her weight have made Grande an internet fixture in recent years. She’s coming off a long run promoting and starring in the two Wicked films, and her hit song “Hate That I Made You Love Me” has been everywhere this summer. She’s also announced she’s taking a step back from public life after her current tour. So with the release of her new album, Petal, what do we make of Grande’s latest batch of songs, and do they successfully capture this moment in her life?

Looking for more buzzy pop music conversations? Check out:

Olivia Rodrigo seems pretty sad, but does she still generate bangers?

On 'Arirang,' BTS nods to K-pop's past, present and future

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Whether they're lightly perspiring, gently glowing, or soaked through from sweltering, people in the movies sweat a lot. But what movie has had people sweat the very most? With another summer underway, we are revisiting our debate about what is the sweatiest movie of all time — including Do the Right Thing, Dog Day Afternoon, Y tu mamá también, and Body Heat.

If you like need more summery suggestions, check out these episodes:

The summer blockbusters we finally watched

‘Jaws’ is still stuck in our teeth, 50 years later

‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ has drama, romance and the music of Taylor Swift


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Sex is back, baby! In the fun new movie I Want Your Sex, Olivia Wilde plays Erika, a mixed-media artist who enters into a very consensual, very kinky, but very unprofessional sub/dom relationship with her assistant Elliot (Cooper Hoffman). Elliot’s having the time of his life, but Erika is a lot, and soon his life starts to fall apart. I Want Your Sex is directed by Gregg Araki and the film doubles down on his brand of fun, in-your-face sexuality he’s known for.

If you want more great films about sex, check out:

‘The Invite’ is a marriage comedy with sex and heart

In ‘Pillion,’ submission is the mission

What makes a good sex scene?


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