Glen Weldon
Glen Weldon is a host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. He reviews books, movies, comics and more for the NPR Arts Desk.
Over the course of his career, he has spent time as a theater critic, a science writer, an oral historian, a writing teacher, a bookstore clerk, a PR flack, a completely inept marine biologist and a slightly better-ept competitive swimmer.
Weldon is the author of two cultural histories: Superman: The Unauthorized Biography and The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, The Atlantic, Slate, McSweeney's and more; his fiction has appeared in several anthologies and other publications. He is the recipient of an NEA Arts Journalism Fellowship, an Amtrak Writers' Residency, a Ragdale Writing Fellowship and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts for Fiction.
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The latest MCU film is at its best when director Sam Raimi leans into its horror elements, and at its weakest when it coasts on cameos and callbacks from a now-diffuse network of Marvel properties. -
The Paramount Plus show, a prequel to the classic '60s series, offers stripped-down, back-to-basics Trek storytelling and a charming cast. -
Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Bob Odenkirk's memoir, the guy collecting every Gap store playlist ever made and more.
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Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse) captures both the stark beauty and brutality of the Vikings in his latest film, which tamps down his experimental impulses to tell a familiar revenge tale. -
Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Everything Everywhere All At Once, Jerrod Carmichael's standup special, and more. -
Will Smith appeared to slap Chris Rock after he made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. -
Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: new music from Drug Church, learning to knit and Judy Greer. -
Matt Reeves' approach to the venerable hero is more emo than goth, and Robert Pattinson brings a haunted quality to the role. -
The scene: a high school cafeteria. The subject: the Oscars' decision to deliver eight prizes prior to the live awards ceremony.
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This darkly comic series about corporate drones who retain no memory of their lives outside the office gets quickly weirder, funnier and more thrilling after a slow-burn start.
