Continuing a streak of long, strange years, it’s been a long, strange year. And so, The Nose wonders how our popular culture is dealing with it all.

We look back at a whole bunch of movies and TV shows: American Symphony, Barbie, Black Mirror, The Curse, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Headliners Only, Killers of the Flower Moon, Leave the World Behind, Maestro, Oppenheimer, Reservation Dogs, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and more.

We wonder about the future of superhero movies. We look at the over- and under-appreciated figures in our pop culture.

And don’t worry: Taylor Swift gets discussed.

Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take:

• Tom Smothers, Comic Half of the Smothers Brothers, Dies at 86 Though he played a naïve buffoon onstage, he was the driving force behind the folk-singing duo’s groundbreaking TV show.
• Lee Sun-kyun, ‘Parasite’ Actor, Found Dead at 48 Mr. Lee, a familiar face on Korean television and movie screens, rose to international fame after starring in the Oscar-winning film.
• Jo Koy to Host 2024 Golden Globes The comedian will make his awards show debut on the CBS broadcast.
• ‘Zone of Interest,’ ‘Perfect Days,’ & ‘Godland’ Make 2024 International Film Oscars Shortlist
• The Year Millennials Aged Out of the Internet
• The Internet Isn’t Dead. It’s Saturday Night Live In 2023, a new idea took hold: The internet isn’t fun anymore. Except it’s not a new idea.
• We Aren’t Posting on Social Media as Much Anymore. Will We Ever? Excessive ads, bots and misinformation have sucked the fun out of sharing publicly, users say
• The Triumph of Zelda In a year of huge games, Tears of the Kingdom still stands out

GUESTS:

• Rebecca Castellani: Co-founder of Quiet Corner Communications and director of marketing at Washington Montessori
• David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic
• Rich Hollant: Principal at CO:LAB, founder of Free Center, and commissioner on cultural affairs for the city of Hartford
• Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University

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Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

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