Accessibility links
Television Television

Television

'The Book of Boba Fett' adds an impressive chapter to the 'Star Wars' saga

Temura Morrison plays the title bounty hunter in The Book of Boba Fett. Disney+ hide caption

toggle caption
Disney+

Review

TV Reviews

'The Book of Boba Fett' adds an impressive chapter to the 'Star Wars' saga

Fresh Air

Picking up where The Mandalorian left off, this new fantasy series on Disney+ features well-defined characters, exciting action and special effects that are as good as in any Star Wars movie.

'The Book of Boba Fett' adds an impressive chapter to the 'Star Wars' saga

Listen · 7:14
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1069855604/1069955478" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Remembering Betty White

Betty White accepts a lifetime achievement award during the 2015 Daytime Emmy Awards. Jesse Grant/Getty hide caption

toggle caption
Jesse Grant/Getty

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Remembering Betty White

Actress and icon Betty White died Friday at the age of 99. Her career as a comic actress – on TV, on radio, in movies, and more – lasted more than 80 years. She was probably best known for her work on The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. But White was a trailblazer, a record-setter, and one of the most venerated figures in the history of television.

Remembering Betty White

Listen · 14:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1069633115/1069675903" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Betty White, a beloved icon and actress since the beginning of TV, has died at age 99

Actress Betty White poses for a portrait on the set of the television show "Hot in Cleveland" in 2010. White died at the age of XX. Matt Sayles/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Matt Sayles/AP

Obituaries

Betty White, a beloved icon and actress since the beginning of TV, has died at age 99

TV favors the young — but Betty White only got more famous as she got older. White's career began in the earliest days of television, and she was active until her death at the age of 99.

Betty White, a beloved icon and actress since the beginning of TV, has died at age 99

Listen · 5:29
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/202965627/1069539042" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
You won't want to miss the 10 most popular 'Fresh Air' stories of 2021

The top Fresh Air web stories of 2021 reflect the show's status as a place where artists, authors and journalists speak to the moment. Valerie Macon/AFP; Grace Cary; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Valerie Macon/AFP; Grace Cary; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Author Interviews

You won't want to miss the 10 most popular 'Fresh Air' stories of 2021

Fresh Air

From Dr. Anthony Fauci to Sacha Baron Cohen, the year's most popular Fresh Air web pages reflect the show's strength as a place where artists, authors and journalists speak to the moment.

Our 2022 Pop Culture Resolutions
Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 2022 Pop Culture Resolutions

It's the end of 2021, and the cusp of a new year — which means we're looking back, and we're looking ahead. It's time to see how we did sticking to our pop culture resolutions we made a year ago. And it's time to make some new ones for 2022.

Our 2022 Pop Culture Resolutions

Listen · 25:22
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1066240485/1068859434" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
NFL Hall of Fame coach and iconic sports broadcaster John Madden dies at 85

Former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden practices the electronic charting device telestrator on Jan. 21, 1982, for the Super Bowl broadcast on CBS. Madden, the Hall of Fame coach turned broadcaster, died Tuesday morning. AP hide caption

toggle caption
AP

Obituaries

NFL Hall of Fame coach and iconic sports broadcaster John Madden dies at 85

For 10 seasons, John Madden led the Oakland Raiders as head coach. After his retirement, he became a legendary NFL commentator for three decades.

Our 2022 Pop Culture Predictions
Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Our 2022 Pop Culture Predictions

If there's one thing we can tell you about 2021, it's that we didn't see it coming. And we might not see 2022 coming either, but we're going to try — by making some pop culture predictions for next year. And on top of that, we'll look at last year's predictions and see how things turned out.

Our 2022 Pop Culture Predictions

Listen · 21:53
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1066240901/1068466229" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Surviving teenage girlhood takes on a whole new meaning on 'Yellowjackets'

In Yellowjackets, a New Jersey girls soccer team must survive in the wilderness after a plane crash. Kailey Schwerman/Showtime hide caption

toggle caption
Kailey Schwerman/Showtime

Surviving teenage girlhood takes on a whole new meaning on 'Yellowjackets'

Husband and wife writing duo Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson say they wanted their show to subvert stereotypes about gender.

Surviving teenage girlhood takes on a whole new meaning on 'Yellowjackets'

Listen · 7:40
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1068160177/1068160178" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Kids need to see themselves reflected in media. Here are some recommendations

A page from the book The Me I Choose to Be by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley with photography by Regis and Kahran Bethencourt. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers hide caption

toggle caption
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Arts & Life

Kids need to see themselves reflected in media. Here are some recommendations

We asked children's media experts to recommend their favorite new books, TV shows and video games with characters and storylines representing the diversity of the U.S.

Kids need to see themselves reflected in media. Here are some recommendations

Listen · 6:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1062369487/1068201376" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The holiday movie machine

Vanessa Hudgens, Vanessa Hudgens, and Vanessa Hudgens starring in The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star. Mark Mainz/NETFLIX © 2021/Mark Mainz/NETFLIX © 2021 hide caption

toggle caption
Mark Mainz/NETFLIX © 2021/Mark Mainz/NETFLIX © 2021

It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

The holiday movie machine

Do holiday movies actually make money for networks like Hallmark and Netflix? How many Vanessa Hudgens characters is too many Vanessa Hudgens characters? Sam is joined by Pop Culture Happy Hour co-host Linda Holmes and author Kat Chow to discuss the best and worst 2021 holiday movies on TV and talk about the business behind them.

The holiday movie machine

Listen · 29:16
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1064044821/1066588220" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The best movies and TV of 2021, picked by NPR critics
Eric Liebowitz/FX; Warner Bros; Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu; Noh Juhan/Netflix; Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures; Niko Tavernise/© 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; A24; Marvel Studios; Kirsty Griffin/Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

The best movies and TV of 2021, picked by NPR critics

This past year was a tumultuous one for both the film and TV industries. With that in mind, here's our critics' guide to all the movies and television shows they loved this year.

What We Watched in 2021

Clockwise from top left: We Are Lady Parts, City of Ghosts, Bachelorette (Season 18), The Wonder Years, and Reservation Dogs. NPR hide caption

toggle caption
NPR

Review

Code Switch

What We Watched in 2021

Y'all, 2021 brought us a lot of TV. Some of it was even good! So this week, we're talking about the shows that had something interesting to say about race, from We Are Lady Parts to Reservation Dogs to City of Ghosts.

What We Watched in 2021

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1064833296/1066017270" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
In 'Vigil,' a claustrophobic detective chases a murderer — on a submarine

Det. Chief Inspector Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) chases down a murderer on Vigil. BBC/World Productions/Peacock hide caption

toggle caption
BBC/World Productions/Peacock

Review

TV Reviews

In 'Vigil,' a claustrophobic detective chases a murderer — on a submarine

Fresh Air

This six-part BBC mystery series about a sailor murdered aboard a nuclear sub will keep you guessing. As the investigation widens, more murders — and a slew of red herrings — follow.

In 'Vigil,' a claustrophobic detective chases a murderer — on a submarine

Listen · 7:20
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1065152224/1066393087" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'The View' is cultural (and political) canon

Last year, after announcing he'd run for president, Joe Biden gave his first extended interview to ABC's The View. AP hide caption

toggle caption
AP

It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

'The View' is cultural (and political) canon

In an era when social media and streaming reign supreme, how has a daytime talk show on network television managed to stay relevant? With help from Ramin Setoodeh (author of the book Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View) and writer Amanda FitzSimons (who covered this for The New York Times Magazine), Sam explores why — and how — ABC's The View continues to trend on Twitter, regularly lands presidential candidates in the guest chair, and turns its Hot Topics roundtable into a microcosm of modern-day American politics. Here's looking at you, 2022 midterms!

'The View' is cultural (and political) canon

Listen · 40:18
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1062175139/1065268519" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Saturday Night Live' ditches audience, musical performances amid omicron fears

Paul Rudd attends the premiere of "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" at AMC Lincoln Square 13 Nov. 15, 2021, in New York. Rudd hosted SNL for the fifth time on Saturday, but the show was filmed without a live audience. Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

'Saturday Night Live' ditches audience, musical performances amid omicron fears

The highly transmissible variant has again upended life in the U.S., as officials warn of a coming spike in cases and people race to get booster shots and coronavirus tests during the winter holidays.

Browse archive or search npr.org