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Sundance prize goes to 'Midwives' — about a Buddhist midwife and her Muslim apprentice

A scene from Midwives: A baby whose face is adorned with thanaka — a kind of sunscreen made from wood bark. POV/EyeSteelFilm hide caption

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POV/EyeSteelFilm

Sundance prize goes to 'Midwives' — about a Buddhist midwife and her Muslim apprentice

January 28, 2022 • The documentary follows a Buddhist and a Muslim — who don't always get along — as they provide health care to Muslim women and children despite growing political and religious tensions in Myanmar.

What's making us happy: A guide for your weekend reading, viewing and gaming

Ronald Young Jr., Ed Helms and Randall Park on True Story With Ed & Randall. Richie Knapp/Peacock hide caption

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Richie Knapp/Peacock

What's Making Us Happy: Recommendations From 'Pop Culture Happy Hour'

What's making us happy: A guide for your weekend reading, viewing and gaming

January 28, 2022 • Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: True Story With Ed & Randall, a web-based game that isn't Wordle, and more.

Lifetime and A&E's Janet Jackson docuseries promises more than it delivers

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A&E

Review

Lifetime and A&E's Janet Jackson docuseries promises more than it delivers

January 28, 2022 • The famously private music legend has the opportunity to open up in a two-part docuseries. But the show leaves many stories left untold.

Lifetime and A&E's Janet Jackson docuseries promises more than it delivers

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On 'The Afterparty,' a high school reunion really can kill you

Sam Richardson and Ben Schwartz play best buddies in the comedic murder mystery The Afterparty. Apple TV hide caption

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Apple TV

Review

On 'The Afterparty,' a high school reunion really can kill you

January 28, 2022 • The Apple TV+ show might not be as riotous as its roster of comedy stars would suggest, but it's an entertaining murder mystery.

Screenshot/Mike Katzif

Wordle is a daily dose of delight, despair, and sometimes smugness

January 28, 2022 • The daily online word game Wordle has absolutely exploded in popularity in recent weeks. It's a game that gives you six chances to guess a five-letter word, giving you clues along the way about which letters are right and whether they're in the right places. It's addictive, but it can drive you mad.

Wordle is a daily dose of delight, despair, and sometimes smugness

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Peloton is a fitness and media company that makes stationary bikes, treadmills and workout videos. Peloton hide caption

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Peloton

The ins and out of Peloton culture

January 27, 2022 • What do Dancing With The Stars, the Sex and the City spinoff, and one of the most viral ads of 2019 have in common? They represent some of the many pop culture touchpoints of the ubiquitous fitness brand Peloton. We talk about the Peloton universe, including it's star-making stable of instructors complicated relationship with the wellness industry.

The ins and out of Peloton culture

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Twitter boots a bot that revealed Wordle's upcoming words to the game's players

A bot that tried to spoil the fun for Wordle users has been banned by Twitter. Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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Screenshot by NPR

Twitter boots a bot that revealed Wordle's upcoming words to the game's players

January 26, 2022 • A bot account sent mean notes to users who posted their Wordle score — and it also revealed the next day's answer. It was suspended for violating Twitter's rules.

Dolly Parton's new line of Southern baking mixes is already sold out

Duncan Hines says its Dolly Parton cake mixes and frostings will hit grocery stores and mass retailers starting in March and sell for about $2 each. Conagra Brands Inc. hide caption

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Conagra Brands Inc.

Dolly Parton's new line of Southern baking mixes is already sold out

January 26, 2022 • The limited-edition collections from Dolly Parton and Duncan Hines have been snapped up, but their Southern-inspired cake and frosting mixes are expected to hit grocery store shelves in March.

Peter Robbins, who voiced Charlie Brown in the 1960s, has died

Voice actor Peter Robbins and the character he voiced, Charlie Brown, attend a DVD release party in Hollywood, Calif., in 2008. Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage hide caption

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Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage

Peter Robbins, who voiced Charlie Brown in the 1960s, has died

January 26, 2022 • As a child actor, Robbins voiced one of Charlie Brown's most famous lines — "I got a rock" — in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

'A Hero' is a powerful story of debt and distress

Actor Amir Jadidi stars in Asghar Farhadi's film, A Hero. Amazon Studios hide caption

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Amazon Studios

Review

'A Hero' is a powerful story of debt and distress

January 26, 2022 • A Hero is the latest film from Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, The Salesman). In this story, Amir Jadidi plays Rahim, a man who comes into possession of a lost handbag and some coins. But nothing goes as expected, and he becomes everything from a local celebrity to a suspected criminal. A Hero is on the short list for this year's international feature film Oscar, and is streaming on Amazon Prime.

'A Hero' is a powerful story of debt and distress

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Rethinking Joss Whedon's Legacy Amidst Bullying Allegations

Writer-director Joss Whedon attends Dark Horse: Conversations With Joss Whedon during Comic-Con International 2016. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

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Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Rethinking Joss Whedon's Legacy Amidst Bullying Allegations

January 25, 2022 • Writer-Director Joss Whedon has responded to his former colleagues' accusations of bullying on set. NY Magazine reporter Lila Shapiro interviewed Whedon, and his accusers, for a profile in Vulture called "The Undoing of Joss Whedon."

Rethinking Joss Whedon's Legacy Amidst Bullying Allegations

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Back to Tatooine — again — for 'The Book Of Boba Fett'

Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand and Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett in The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+. François Duhamel/Lucasfilm Lt/Disney hide caption

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François Duhamel/Lucasfilm Lt/Disney

Review

Back to Tatooine — again — for 'The Book Of Boba Fett'

January 25, 2022 • In the new Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett, Temuera Morrison brings new layers to the mysterious bounty hunter from the original Star Wars films. The story vacillates between flashbacks to how he escaped his presumed death in Return of the Jedi, and the present day as he and his lieutenant Fennec Shand (played by Ming-Na Wen) take over Jabba the Hutt's criminal empire on Tatooine.

Back to Tatooine — again — for 'The Book Of Boba Fett'

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A pioneer in architectural style, designer Manfred Thierry Mugler delivered drama

Rapper Cardi B wears a Thierry Mugler design as she arrives with rapper Offset at the Grammy Awards in 2019. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

A pioneer in architectural style, designer Manfred Thierry Mugler delivered drama

January 24, 2022 • The legendary designer's highly constructed creations and outlandishly dramatic aesthetic made him a favorite of stars such as Cardi B, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé. Mugler died Sunday at 73.

Screenshot/Arielle Retting

Your Wordle strategy says a lot about how you see the world

January 24, 2022 • It did not take long for me to conclude that Wordle is a metaphor for life, meaning that you can learn a lot about different ways to see the world from different ways to play Wordle.

Books We Love: Recommendations For Music Fans

Becky Harlan/NPR

Review

Books We Love: Recommendations For Music Fans

January 24, 2022 • If you're looking to discover a new book, NPR has a marvelous mechanism to help you out: It's called Books We Love, and it's a sortable guide to hundreds of great books from 2021, as handpicked and recommended by the NPR staff. Today we're talking about some of the music-related books we loved in 2021.

Books We Love: Recommendations For Music Fans

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Bonus: Remembering the iconic, complicated André Leon Talley

Andre Leon Talley speaks during a Q&A during the 21st SCAD Savannah Film Festival on November 2, 2018 in Savannah, Georgia. Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD hide caption

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Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD

Bonus: Remembering the iconic, complicated André Leon Talley

January 23, 2022 • Since he died this week, André Leon Talley has been described over and over again as "larger than life." But on this episode, brought to us by our friends at NPR's It's Been a Minute podcast, three queer Black men talk about the smaller, more personal moments that made Talley such an icon in the fashion world — and in the broader culture.

Bonus: Remembering the iconic, complicated André Leon Talley

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'And Just Like That... ' has a Diversity Girlfriend problem

Sarita Choudhury and Sarah Jessica Parker as Seema and Carrie on And Just Like That... Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max hide caption

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Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max

'And Just Like That... ' has a Diversity Girlfriend problem

January 22, 2022 • The revival seems more concerned with apologizing for Sex and the City's transgressions than engaging with the present in any meaningful way.

What's making us happy: A guide for your weekend reading and viewing

Raquel Daniels and Kamari Bonds in Twentysomethings: Austin on Netflix. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

What's Making Us Happy: Recommendations From 'Pop Culture Happy Hour'

What's making us happy: A guide for your weekend reading and viewing

January 21, 2022 • Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: the Netflix show Twentysomethings: Austin, a look back at 20 years of The Onion and more.

André Leon Talley attending "The Gospel According To André" premiere and Q&A at BMCC Tribeca PAC on April 25, 2018 in New York City. Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival hide caption

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Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival

It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Remembering André Leon Talley

January 21, 2022 • André Leon Talley became a major part of the global fashion zeitgeist while navigating being one of the few, if not the only, Black, queer man at his level. Sam is joined by author and poet Saeed Jones and Zach Stafford, host of the podcast In the Deep, to remember the late fashion editor and celebrate Talley's legacy.

Remembering André Leon Talley

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