Pop Culture Happy Hour

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See's Linda Holmes, Glen Weldon, Trey Graham and Stephen Thompson all dig into the the summer's latest superhero blockbuster, X-Men: First Class, as well as the hilariously bad trailers that preceded that movie. Then a disccusion about dark young adult fiction and what's making us happy this week.

This Week on Culturetopia: Ann Patchett's latest novel; how music affects the brain; a fresh look at Verdi’s Requiem; playwright Edward Albee causes a flap.

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See's Linda Holmes, Trey Graham and Stephen Thompson are joined by a special guest — NPR Digital News editor Tanya Ballard Brown — to discuss critics and blockbusters — including The Hangover 2, X-Men First Class and Bridesmaids — pop culture prices, and — as always — what's making us happy this week.

This week on Culturetopia: Brad Pitt's career-defining role in "The Tree of Life;" competing family memoirs; breakout singer Daphne Willis; the latest Stanley Kubrick DVD collection; techno music's origins celebrated in Detroit festival.

stories not often told, celestial surfing and real life noire sleuthing.

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See's Linda Holmes, Trey Graham, Glen Weldon and Stephen Thompson celebrate the arrival of summer with their summer reading lists, favorite signals that the season has arrived, and the music that keeps them company in the heat. All that, plus What's Making Us Happy this week.

This week on Culturetopia: 'Bridesmaids' and female buddy flicks; Will Ferrell plays it straight; the Library of Congress starts a national jukebox; practitioners of a high-energy Chicago dance style called Footwork; a secret night market in Oakland, Calif.

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour: Our summer movie season kicks off with an absurdly detailed discussion of Thor, from pecs to family dynamics, plus other movies coming this summer including Captain America, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Bridesmaids. Then what's making us happy, whether it's what we've found or what we've abandoned.

This week on Culturetopia: Shania Twain's personal travails; the subversive art of Libyan youth; a new cultural center celebrates L.A.'s Mexican roots; how publishers churn out newsworthy books; artist Glen Ligon.

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See's Linda Holmes and the PCHH gang talk about whether there's any actual momentum toward more (and more active) female fighters. Then they consider the movies they can't help watching whenever they show up on television. Plus, of course, What's Making Us Happy this week.

This Week on Culturetopia: The power of Libyan fiction; Ice-T on his new memoir; 'Everybody Loves Raymond' goes to Russia; the progressive racial politics of 'The Fast and the Furious'; remembering Phoebe Snow.

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See's Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, Trey Graham and Glen Weldon kick off with a brief discussion of the pulpily titillating HBO fantasy miniseries Game of Thrones, then delve into adaptations, Pop Culture Travels and all things happiness-inducing.

This week on Culturetopia: the best of NPR's arts coverage includes a look at the panglobal world of foreign film; how a Columbian city supports music; the griping new film Incendies; how legendary reggae and dub producer Lee "Scratch" Perry stays relevant; a fake press release intrigues an NPR Music editor .

This week on Pop Culture Happy Hour, NPR Monkey See's Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, Glen Weldon and Trey Graham talk about London, royalty, deep and abiding villainy — from soap opera and classic film villains to Disney movies and Seinfeld — and then what's making us happy. We've got sitcoms, we've got Molly Ringwald — you just never know where things might go.

This Week in Culturetopia: Tina Fey on her new memoir; "Game of Thrones" on HBO; the lost stories of Dr. Seuss; TV news pioneer Belva Davis shares her favorite tunes.