Pop Culture Happy Hour

This week on Culturetopia: 'Enron: The Musical'; Jack White's record label; Conan O'Brien's '60 Minutes' interview; Danielle Steele on her first overweight romantic heroine; one name and two men in a new book, 'The Other Wes Moore.'

On this special edition of our Culturetopia podcast, we're going to talk about women in the cultural marketplace - or, rather, one specific woman in one specific cultural marketplace: Nicki Menaj in hip-hop. Contributors Jay Smooth and Maura Johnston have at it-- and it gets racy.

This week on Culturetopia: Iconoclast jazz guitarist Pat Metheny's robotic Orchestrion Project; classical guitar god David Russell, movie collectors going digital; the film 'No One Knows About Persian Cats' depicts musicians from Iran; the complete archive from jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon enters the Library of Congress.

This Week In Culturetopia: Eadward Muybridge, Michael J. Fox on graduation speechs, David Byrne's new song cycle about Imelda Marcos, Turkish diva Sezen Aksu, and remembering a great Hollywood film editor.

This is a bonus episode of Culturetopia, NPR's Arts and Culture podcast, in which we take on the formidable force of teen idols. This vital task is precipitated by the outbreak of Bieber fever sweeping the nation. NPR also just launched a new feature on Morning Edition, that explores popular music and the cultural phenomena surrounding it. This podcast is an extended version of the conversation music writer Maura Johnston had with Jay Smooth, of illdoctrine.com, about the hegemony of Justin Bieber.

This week on Culturetopia: Authors Ian McEwan and Walter Mosley discuss their latest novels; the creator and star of HBO's 'Treme' on keeping things real; Florence Welch sings much differently than she speaks; a farewell to punk provocateur Malcolm McLaren.

This week on Culturetopia: The new music video from Erykah Badu stirs controversy; Gene Wilder writes about love; Ben Stiller discusses new film 'Greenberg'; elaborate painted buses in Haiti; indie rock veterans Quasi return; and a performance from Jakob Dylan and Neko Case.

This week on Culturetopia: producer Joe Henry talks with Mose Allison about getting the 82-year-old musician back in the studio; Massachusetts' governor reminisces about his jazz musician father; the death and rebirth of Polaroid; an appreciation of iconic rock photographer Jim Marshall.

This week on Culturetopia: 50 Great Voices' Umm Kulthum; the winner of our Three-Minute Fiction contest; Sebastian Faulks on London's underbelly; a new band looks to the 1980s; the travails of an opera singer pinch hitter; adman Tom Burrell on the myth of black inferiority.

This week on Culturetopia: What ebooks should cost; Tyler Perry as art-house auteur; the return of great war movies; OK Go goes really indie; a farewell to Mark Linkous, the founder of the band Sparklehorse.

This week on Culturetopia: Reclaiming the African-American jug band sound; Chloe Sevigny speaks to Terry Gross; the new novel, 'The Who Fell From the Sky;' a film critic looks back at blaxploitation's queen; a new biography of Nina Simone.

This week on Culturetopia: The Black Eyed Peas Backstage; Heavy Metal's Prince of Darkness' autobigrophy; "The Secret of Kells;" a new novel about the real-life Alice; Chopin's bicentennial.

This week on Culturetopia: Sandra Bullock, remembering Lucille Clifton; Charlotte Gainsbourg; the Oscars' newest producer; Mondello on how to make them shorter; bluesman Eric Bibb.

This week on Culturetopia: '50 Great Voices' with k.d. lang; Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan; completing Ralph Ellison's final novel; William Faulkner's hidden influences; what it'll mean for Lil Wayne to be jailed.

This week on Culturetopia: Our series "50 Great Voices" continues with Mahalia Jackson; a new British crime thriller about the Yorkshire Ripper opens theatrically in the U.S.; Don DeLillo discusses being ahead of the curve when it comes to media saturation; filmmaker Mario Van Peebles on what he's listening to now; a documentary explores the TV show "Soul Train."