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Culture

Clockwise from top left: Industry, My Lady Jane, The Bear, The Umbrella Academy, Clipped and House of the Dragon

Clockwise from top left: Industry, My Lady Jane, The Bear, The Umbrella Academy, Clipped and House of the Dragon Nick Strasburg/HBO, Jonathan Prime/Prime Video, Chuck Hodes/FX, Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix, Kelsey McNeal/FX, Ollie Upton/HBO hide caption

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Nick Strasburg/HBO, Jonathan Prime/Prime Video, Chuck Hodes/FX, Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix, Kelsey McNeal/FX, Ollie Upton/HBO

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

What to watch this summer: Here are the TV shows we're looking forward to

Our critics scanned the broadcast and streaming horizons to find the shows you should check out in June, July and August. There's some great new TV — plus, House of the Dragon and The Bear are back.

Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones play rival storm chasers in Twisters.

Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones play rival storm chasers in Twisters. Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment hide caption

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Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment

Review

Movie Reviews

'Twisters' swirls an old-fashioned rom-com into an effects-happy action movie

This follow-up to the 1996 blockbuster Twister updates the original by making its heroine — not its hero — the center of gravity, but alas, the script doesn’t let her be a whole lot of fun.

'Twisters' swirls an old-fashioned rom-com into an effects-happy action movie

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Victor

Victor "Marka27" Quiñonez is among the first group of artists to be commissioned as part of Boston's Un-Monument initiative. The artist is seen here working on his large-scale public artwork "Souledad," located in Boston's South End.
Lee Hopkins/The Boston Art Commission, Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture, City of Boston. hide caption

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Lee Hopkins/The Boston Art Commission, Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture, City of Boston.

Boston is shaking up its public art scene

The initiative aims to bring residents, artists and groups together to rethink public art — a challenge for a place so steeped in a Colonial past.

'Twisters' has us spiraling

Glen Powell in Twisters. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal hide caption

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Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Twisters' has us spiraling

Twister was one of the biggest disaster movies of the '90s. Now, it's finally got a sequel — one with an all-new cast, state-of-the-art effects, and a whole lot of tornadoes. The new film stars Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones as rival storm-chasers who have a habit of running into tornadoes while everyone else is fleeing. Twisters was directed by Lee Isaac Chung, who also directed the Oscar-nominated Minari.

'Twisters' has us spiraling

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The rise of the AR-15; plus, why do comedians play so many cops?

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their roles in Bad Boys: Ride or Die - a return to their star-solidifying roles as Miami cops. Sony Pictures hide caption

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Sony Pictures

It's Been a Minute

The rise of the AR-15; plus, why do comedians play so many cops?

Last Saturday, former president Donald Trump was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania when a gunman shot at him – killing one spectator and clipping Trump in the ear. The response? Outrage, condemnations, and prayers on all sides... but there's been less chatter about the gun that shot at him. And this gun has a lot of symbolism: The AR-15. Host Brittany Luse is joined by The Wall Street Journal's Zusha Elinson, co-author of the book American Gun, and Jennifer Mascia, senior news writer and founding staffer at The Trace, a nonpartisan nonprofit newsroom that covers guns. Together, they discuss how the AR-15 style rifle went from an outcast in the gun world to the one of the biggest pro-gun symbols and why that actually reflects bigger cultural shifts.

The rise of the AR-15; plus, why do comedians play so many cops?

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Bob Newhart played psychologist Robert Hartley in the 1970s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show.

Bob Newhart played psychologist Robert Hartley in the 1970s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show. Gerald Smith/NBCUniversal via Getty Images hide caption

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Gerald Smith/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Obituaries

'I've lived in an incredible time': Comic Bob Newhart dies at 94

Best known for an everyman persona that powered two classic TV sitcoms, Newhart managed to be the funniest guy in the room while playing unassuming characters.

Legendary comedian and longtime TV star Bob Newhart dies at 94

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Longlegs

Lauren Acala plays a girl who encounters the satanic serial killer known as "Longlegs." Neon hide caption

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Neon

Review

Movie Reviews

'Longlegs' is a terrifying serial killer — who never touches his victims

Nicolas Cage plays a satanic murderer, and Maika Monroe is the clairvoyant FBI agent on his trail, in this tense and frightening horror movie.

'Longlegs' is a terrifying serial killer -- who never touches his victims

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The 2024 Kennedy Center honorees, clockwise from left, The Apollo theater; the Grateful Dead (Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Billy Kreutzmann); jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval; blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, Bonnie Raitt; and director and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.

The 2024 Kennedy Center honorees (clockwise from left): the Apollo Theater; the Grateful Dead (Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann); jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval; blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Bonnie Raitt; and director and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. Apollo Theater, Jay Blakesberg, Jeremy Lock, Ken Friedman, Chad Keig/The Kennedy Center Honors hide caption

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Apollo Theater, Jay Blakesberg, Jeremy Lock, Ken Friedman, Chad Keig/The Kennedy Center Honors

Grateful Dead, Francis Ford Coppola, Bonnie Raitt on 2024 Kennedy Center Honors list

The award for lifetime artistic achievements will also recognize jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval. The Apollo Theater will receive a special Honors as "an iconic American institution."

Grateful Dead, Francis Ford Coppola, Bonnie Raitt on 2024 Kennedy Center Honors list

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LeVar Burton has portrayed the Black experience "from our enslavement to the stars"

LeVar Burton on Wild Card Etienne Laurent/Getty Images hide caption

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Etienne Laurent/Getty Images

Wild Card with Rachel Martin

LeVar Burton has portrayed the Black experience "from our enslavement to the stars"

LeVar Burton has three roles he'll forever be known for: Kunta Kinte on the TV series Roots, Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation and host of Reading Rainbow. Those roles have had profound impacts on people and he now understands, as he puts it, "my job is to be LeVar Burton." He talks to Rachel about the tension of that job, his changing definitions of success and learning to embrace the chaos.

LeVar Burton has portrayed the Black experience "from our enslavement to the stars"

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Scenes of destruction at the Factor Druk printing house, one of Ukraine's largest, can be seen days after it was hit in a Russian missile attack, on May 27.

Scenes of destruction at the Factor Druk printing house, one of Ukraine's largest, can be seen days after it was hit in a Russian missile attack on May 27. Laurel Chor for NPR hide caption

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Laurel Chor for NPR

Ukraine invasion — explained

Ukraine's bookstores are thriving, but a top printing plant took a deadly hit

Ukraine's bookstores have expanded despite the war, fueled by interest in works by Ukrainian writers, some who have been killed by Russian forces. But a Russian missile struck a top printing plant.

Bookstores have come under attack in Ukraine. But interest in reading is only growing

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We unpack the 2024 Emmy nominations

Jeremy Allen White in The Bear. FX hide caption

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FX

Pop Culture Happy Hour

We unpack the 2024 Emmy nominations

The nominations the Emmy Awards were just announced, and it was a good day for The Bear, which set a new record in the comedy category. And plenty of our favorites also got Emmy nods, including Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Shōgun, Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows. We'll help you unpack this year's the notable nominees and snubs.

We unpack the 2024 Emmy nominations

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Taylor Swift performs during the European leg of her Eras Tour at Johan Cruijff Arena on July 4, 2024, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Taylor Swift, seen onstage in Amsterdam earlier this month during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour, has broken another record with her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department. Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images hide caption

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Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

Music

This may sound like a broken record, but Taylor Swift has broken another record

Swift's The Tortured Poets Department has been the biggest album in the country for 12 consecutive weeks, the longest run atop that chart of her career.

BILLBOARD STORY 6

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Reality TV star Savannah Chrisley speaks on stage on the second day of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday in Milwaukee, Wis.

Reality TV star Savannah Chrisley speaks on stage on the second day of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday in Milwaukee, Wis. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Politics

Reality star Savannah Chrisley says her parents were victims of political persecution

Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks. Speaking at the Republican National Convention, their daughter, Savannah, blamed "rogue prosecutors."

Kevin poses for a portrait at his birthday party on June 17, 2023, in California. Kevin wore three changes of outfits during his party. He's asked to be identified only by his first name to protect his safety.

Kevin poses for a portrait at his birthday party on June 17, 2023, in California. Kevin wore three changes of outfits during his party. He's asked to be identified only by his first name to protect his safety. Toya Sarno Jordan hide caption

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Toya Sarno Jordan

The Picture Show

How one Mexican immigrant works to honor traditions across borders

As hundreds of thousands of migrants reach the United States' southern border every month, many hold onto traditions like coming-of-age ceremonies to give them a sense of home.

This absorbing debut novel about writing takes its cue from 'Mrs. Dalloway'
Practice, by Rosalind Brown/Macmillan

Review

Book Reviews

This absorbing debut novel about writing takes its cue from 'Mrs. Dalloway'

Rosalind Brown's debut novel, Practice, centers on an undergraduate student trying to write an essay on Shakespeare. Along the way, we are treated to the fleeting insights of the the brain at work.

This absorbing debut novel about writing takes its cue from 'Mrs. Dalloway'

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