Linda Holmes
Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for NPR and the host of Pop Culture Happy Hour. She began her professional life as an attorney. In time, however, her affection for writing, popular culture, and the online universe eclipsed her legal ambitions. She shoved her law degree in the back of the closet, gave its living room space to DVD sets of The Wire, and never looked back.
Holmes was a writer and editor at Television Without Pity, where she recapped several hundred hours of programming — including both High School Musical movies, for which she did not receive hazard pay. Her first novel, Evvie Drake Starts Over, was published in the summer of 2019.
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Some lucky sports fans are in Paris, but most Olympics viewers are watching from home. NPR Pop Culture Critic Linda Holmes gives host Scott Simon her review of the broadcast coverage so far.
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In a Google ad now pulled from Olympics coverage, a dad uses AI to craft a fan letter from his daughter. It’s the wrong approach to express admiration in a star athlete – and to instill confidence in a burgeoning one. -
Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history. But she withdrew from the last summer Olympic Games due to mental health struggles. Her journey is chronicled in the new Netflix series Simone Biles Rising. -
Abbott Elementary was nominated for best comedy series. But the more serious FX show The Bear set a record on the comedy side with 23 nominations. Shogun got even more nods.
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Actress Shannen Doherty, star of Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed, died over the weekend. She was 53 and was battling cancer.
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Just in time for the All-Star Game, pop culture critic and Phillies fan Linda Holmes is here to persuade you to turn on some baseball. If you don't have a team, just borrow hers; they're doing pretty well. -
Hallmark is teaming up with the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs to make a holiday romance movie, capitalizing on Travis Kelce's relationship with Taylor Swift.
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The Netflix show's third season takes on the "friends to lovers" romance trope. -
The Netflix movie Unfrosted tells a made-up version of Pop-Tarts' origin story. It hasn't been received favorably, including by NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour hosts.
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The newest iPad ad depicts instruments, books and art supplies flattened into Apple's thinnest product ever. But anyone who owns and loves art in any form knows: The practicality isn't the point.
