Hola Hart Beat. HAPPY FRIDAY TO ALL YOU ALL OUT THERE. Whew, now that I got that out of my system let’s move on. This week instead of giving you five Friday links, I want to share one of my favorite things to happen every Friday, the release of a new podcast episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour. And yes! this is the newest edition of the official Hart Beat Podcast list.
Pop Culture Happy Hour (or PCHH if you’re one of the cool kids) is a weekly podcast published by NPR and hosted by Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, Trey Graham, Glen Weldon, Jess Gitner and Mike Katzif. The podcast comes out every Friday (love consistency) and uses it’s 45 minute time to have a roundtable discussion of the current movies, music, books and anything else pop culture related.
Each host has their own likes and dislikes and one of the things that I love about listening to it is “getting to know” each of them and then following along for suggestions. My favorite (sorry Linda and Glen) is Stephen Thompson. Mostly because he’s the ears and the brains behind the Austin 100 every year but also because he’s just so happy all the time and who doesn’t love that?
I don’t always agree with the hosts on their opinion of things but it’s a great way to hear what movies and books are coming out right now. The other thing about the show that I love is the end segment where the hosts present something called “What is making me happy this week.” In the segment each of the hosts in the episode give one thing that they are loving this week. It’s not always current or mainstream pop culture but it’s such a fun way to hear about new things to check out.
So there you go, Hart Beat. A great recommendation for your commute home tonight and all your future Friday morning commutes to come. It’s fun going back and listening to older episodes (especially of topics that you love) but I’d recommend just jumping into today’s episode. Also, have an actual happy hour tonight too. It is Friday after all!
