Pop Culture Happy Hour

If you’re anything like us, you spend a fair amount of your screen time playing video games. Whether you like combat, horror, or peacefully going over archival research, NPR’s roundup of best games of 2025 is a helpful guide to find something that’s just right for you. Today we’re talking about some of the best video games featured including Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hades II, Silent Hill f, Butcher’s Creek and The Roottrees Are Dead.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

NPR’s Books We Love is a roundup of the best books from the past year, sorted and tagged to help you find exactly what you’re looking for. This year we’ve got hundreds of book recommendations, so today, we’re highlighting some of our favorites – including Actress of a Certain Age by Jeff Hiller, The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers, and Cannon by Lee Lai. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The new Anaconda movie is a meta reimagining in which Jack Black and Paul Rudd play aspiring filmmakers who attempt to make… a meta reimagining of Anaconda. It’s not quite a reboot, it’s not quite a sequel, and it’s played for laughs.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopcultureLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The new movie Marty Supreme asks, can Timothée Chalamet play a supremely annoying character and still keep us interested from beginning to end? He stars as a working-class heel aiming to become a table tennis champion in the 1950s and features an eclectic supporting cast that includes Gwyneth Paltrow and Tyler, the Creator. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What's the best Christmas gift you ever received? You probably didn't have to think about it; you knew it in your bones. Today, in this encore episode, we're talking about the actual, tangible gift you found waiting for you under the tree and still think about it from time to time.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy