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Pop Culture Happy Hour: The Oscars, 'Drag Race' And Shut-Ins Edition

NPR
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When we taped this show on Tuesday, we had all had quite a lot of the Oscars, to be honest. And we secretly suspect that with the all-out pile-on that continues for months before the ceremony, you might not require an all-out assault on the whole thing. So this week, you'll hear a quick wrap-up of how we felt about the hosting, some of the speeches, some of the great moments of Adele Nazeem-ing it up, and then we'll bid the entire thing farewell until next year. Next year, Oscars.

Far more fascinating to us was our exploration of RuPaul's Drag Race, which just recently kicked off its sixth season. Both a reality-competition show and a send-up of reality-competition shows, Drag Race got us talking about identity, turning up the volume, the aesthetics of a very specific part of culture, and, of course, proper pronoun use.

And then, with a shout-out to a great friend of the show who's spending some time at home, we take a look at some of the culture and cultural ideas you can take full advantage of when you're not quite such a social butterfly. I suggest a new look at an old format and a good show about to get a new lease on life. Trey has a couple of suggestions for keeping yourself productive and crafty, Stephen suggests new media and clutter clearing, and Glen offers one good book and then another.

As always, we wrap up the show with what's making us happy this week. It's the time of year when Stephen is happy about one of his most loved and most draining projects (aside from the kids). Trey is happy about an essay that might make you think differently about a very popular actress with a very engaging personality. Glen is happy about a comedy project starring one of his favorite inhabitors of multiple identities. And I'm happy about a new project from one of the many fine interns we've sent into the world, as well as about some blistering reviews of a very bad television show.

You can find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter: Stephen, Glen, Trey, me, producer Jessica, also-producers Lauren and Nick, and our lifelong pal and music director Mike Katzif.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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.