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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.

'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' gets 10s across the board

Chasity Moore as Grizabella in 'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' Matthew Murphy hide caption

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Matthew Murphy

It's Been a Minute

'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' gets 10s across the board

In the latest revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, there are no singing cats. The actors have basically ditched the furry ears and velvet tails and reimagined the characters as competitors in the ballroom scene, vying for trophies and a new chance at life. This week, host Brittany Luse talks to Cats: The Jellicle Ball star Chasity Moore and co-director Zhailon Levingston about ballroom, spectacles and memories.

'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' gets 10s across the board

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands during a meeting in Beijing on Oct. 18, 2023.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands during a meeting in Beijing on Oct. 18, 2023. Sergei Guneyev/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Sergei Guneyev/AFP via Getty Images

World

Expert on dictators warns: Don't lose hope -- that's what they want

Autocracy, Inc. author Anne Applebaum says that today’s dictators — including Putin and Xi — are working together in a global fight to dismantle democracy, and Trump is borrowing from their playbook.

Autocracy, Inc

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Duke Fakir holds his life time achievement award backstage at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2009. Fakir, the last of the original Four Tops, died Monday of heart failure at age 88.

Duke Fakir holds his life time achievement award backstage at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2009. Fakir, the last of the original Four Tops, died Monday of heart failure at age 88. Matt Sayles/AP hide caption

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Matt Sayles/AP

Obituaries

Abdul 'Duke' Fakir, last of the original Four Tops, dies at 88

Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving original member of the beloved Motown group the Four Tops that was known for such hits as “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” and “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” has died at age 88.

(From left) Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova all feature in new documentary series, Gods of Tennis.

From left, Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova all feature in new documentary series, Gods of Tennis. Mindhouse Production Team hide caption

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Mindhouse Production Team

Sports

'Gods of Tennis' explores trailblazing legends of the sport and why we remember them

John McEnroe, Billie Jean King and other tennis legends discuss their legacies in a new PBS documentary series.

GODS OF TENNIS - Simon Draper

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Three great karaoke songs

Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" is one of the perfect communal karaoke songs. Robert Laberge/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Robert Laberge/AFP via Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Three great karaoke songs

What makes a good karaoke song? In this encore episode, we're suggesting three great songs to sing at karaoke night.

Three great karaoke songs

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The Fall Guy features a film-within-a-film, which requires stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) to film while hanging from a crane.

Ryan Gosling plays a stuntman in the action movie The Fall Guy. Universal Studios hide caption

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Universal Studios

Movie Interviews

Stunt performer turned director walks away mostly unscathed from fights, flipped cars

Filmmaker David Leitch says it's easier to do stunts himself than direct his stunt performer friends. "You are responsible for their safety," he explains. "Your heart goes through your chest."

David Leitch

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'Sunny' is a robot buddy comedy about loss

Rashida Jones in Sunny. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Sunny' is a robot buddy comedy about loss

In the new Apple TV+ series Sunny, Rashida Jones stars as a woman living in Kyoto, whose husband and young son go missing in a plane crash. To help console her, her husband's electronics company gives her a robot companion. The show is an interesting mix of styles and genres – it's a buddy comedy, a crime thriller and a drama about loss. But at the center of it all is the mystery of what happened to her husband and son – and why.

'Sunny' is a robot buddy comedy about loss

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'Twister,' 'Twisters' and the actual practice of storm chasing

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kate in the new movie Twisters. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures hide caption

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Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

Consider This from NPR

'Twister,' 'Twisters' and the actual practice of storm chasing

A plucky meteorology heroine; a male rival with no shortage of hubris; and some very, very big storms: that's the basic formula behind the new disaster action movie Twisters, which follows storm chasers around Oklahoma amid a tornado outbreak.

'Twister,' 'Twisters' and the actual practice of storm chasing

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Sunday Puzzle

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NPR

Sunday Puzzle

Sunday Puzzle: Can you guess these stars?

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with this week's winner Darryl Nester from Bluffton, Ohio and puzzle master Will Shortz.

Sunday Puzzle: Can you guess these stars?

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Allyson Felix of Team United States competes in the Women's 4x400m Relay heats on day nine of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 at Hayward Field on July 23, 2022 in Eugene, Oregon.

Allyson Felix of Team United States competes in the Women's 4x400m Relay heats on day nine of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 at Hayward Field on July 23, 2022 in Eugene, Oregon. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

'Wait Wait' for July 20, 2024: With Not My Job guest Allyson Felix

This week, Wait Wait is live in Chicago with guest host Karen Chee, special guest Allyson Felix and panelists Shantira Jackson, Hari Kondabolu, and Roy Blount, Jr.

'Wait Wait' for July 20, 2024: With Not My Job guest Allyson Felix

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At least two people have died and more than a dozen have been hospitalized in connection with a listeria outbreak linked to meat sold at deli counters, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

At least two people have died and more than a dozen have been hospitalized in connection with a listeria outbreak linked to meat sold at deli counters, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. AJ Watt/iStockphoto/Getty Images hide caption

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AJ Watt/iStockphoto/Getty Images

Health

The CDC issues a warning after at least 2 deaths in a listeria outbreak linked to deli meat

The U.S. public health agency said it was still investigating information about what specific products have been affected.

Allyson Felix lets it slip that Olympians are just like us, only faster
Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

Allyson Felix lets it slip that Olympians are just like us, only faster

This week's show was recorded in Chicago, with guest host Karen Chee, Not My Job guest Allyson Felix and panelists Shantira Jackson, Hari Kondabolu, and Roy Blount, Jr.

Allyson Felix lets it slip that Olympians are just like us, only faster

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Comedian Bob Newhart pretends to speak on an antique telephone at his home in the Bel Air Estates community of Los Angeles, June 25, 2003.

Comedian Bob Newhart pretends to speak on an antique telephone at his home in the Bel Air Estates community of Los Angeles, June 25, 2003. Jerome T. Nakagawa/AP hide caption

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Jerome T. Nakagawa/AP

Opinion

Simon Says

Opinion: Bob Newhart showed us the extraordinary in the ordinary

NPR's Scott Simon remembers understated comedian and actor Bob Newhart, who died this week at the age of 94.

Opinion: Bob Newhart showed us the extraordinary in the ordinary

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The door on the left has clutter and an
Malaka Gharib/NPR

Life Kit

6 design tricks to transform your home, according to a feng shui expert

Fall in love with your home again with these feng shui-inspired decorating tips from architect Cliff Tan. They focus on creating an environment that feels happy, harmonious and full of good energy.

How to revamp your rental

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A group of “novachky” (female campers ages 6-11) stand at attention for a photograph, along with their two “sestrichky” (female counselors, translating to Sisters in English), as marching drills are part of daily activity at camp.

A group of novachky, female campers ages 6-11, stand at attention for a photograph, along with their two sestrichky, or "sisters" who serve as female counselors. Marching drills are a daily activity at camp. Andrea Wenglowskyj hide caption

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Andrea Wenglowskyj

The Picture Show

How Ukrainian scouting culture thrives in the woods of western New York state

Every July, campers, counselors and administrators gather on 84 acres of hilly woods in the woods of western New York state that has been home to a Ukrainian summer camp called “Novyi Sokil” since 1950.

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