This week, people wondered if Netflix really can manage NFL games on Christmas, somebody paid over $6 million for the right to tape fruit to the wall and call it art and the National Book Awards shone some light on good writing.
Here's what NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour crew was paying attention to — and what you should check out this weekend.
Ben Fensome's Budget Pride and Prejudice
@somebenfen pride and prejudice part 22! LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH #prideandprejudice #perioddrama #janeausten #90s #bbc #funny ♬ original sound - Ben Fensome
Ben Fensome is a British actor and playwright who's been doing "Budget Pride and Prejudice," on his TikTok where he lip syncs scenes from the 1995 BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice. I'm obsessed with this version. He acts out these scenes with very light homespun costuming, like pinning his t-shirt to make a square neck when he's playing the ladies or putting a tablecloth on his head to play Lady Catherine de Bourgh. It's so good and funny. Now I'm watching Pride and Prejudice out of order in little chunks on TikTok done by this guy who is a one man show. — Wailin Wong
G-Dragon
It is a very good time to be a K-Pop fan because not only do my current favorite groups, Ateez and Stray Kids, have new comebacks out, one of my OG faves, G-Dragon, has released a new song called "Power" and a corresponding music video. The video is filmed in one continuous shot and I have watched it an embarrassing number of times. The song itself is catchy, strong and so quintessentially G-Dragon. He's a rapper-songwriter and was the leader of the hugely influential K-Pop group BigBang, which was the group that got me into K-Pop. — Mallory Yu
A Whole New Sound
Every once in a while, Disney will put out a compilation album made up of covers that are performed by an extremely random assortment of musical artists. A Whole New Sound is probably my new favorite. It is the alt-rock-emo version of these Disney compilation albums. If you're a millennial, a lot of these band names will sound familiar. Simple Plan did "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" New Found Glory did "Part of Your World." The best song on this album is Magnolia Park's cover of "I 2 I" from A Goofy Movie. It's fun and gets into all the emo feels. This album just hits in a different way, and it makes me feel young again. — Aisha Harris
Astro Bot
The game Astro Bot on the PS5 is a platformer with boss battles. I hate both those things, I'm not good at them, but this is so forgiving. Is it a Mario rip-off and marketing for PlayStation? Yes. But it transcends that. You're a little robot with little planets to rescue other robots like you. Many of those robots turn out to be references to other PlayStation games. What makes this game work for me is that you're never lost. If you missed some collectibles in a level, you can go through that level again with a little robot bird that's going to point you to where all the collectibles are. You don't have to go through the whole level and fight the boss again. It makes all the difference in the world. I want to be challenged, not frustrated. This walks that line effortlessly. — Glen Weldon
More recommendations from the Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter
by Linda Holmes
I have been playing a lot of Escape Simulator recently. If you like the idea of escape rooms, with their complex environments and notoriously gnarly puzzles, but you don't like the idea of leaving the house or being locked in with other people (shudder). In this game you can escape from various tombs and space labs and so forth from the comfort of your own home.
I've been reading Margaret Eby's You Gotta Eat: Real-Life Strategies for Feeding Yourself When Cooking Feels Impossible. You may remember Bedatri D. Choudhury recommending it on PCHH a few months ago, and she was absolutely right. Not only is it an incredibly practical book for times of depression, anxiety, emotional overwhelm or simply being too busy to even think, but it's written in a tone so kind and calm that I would read it over and over, even if it were about how to change the oil in your car.
We have an upcoming episode on the Netflix adaptation of The Piano Lesson, but I do want to put in a mention of it here, in part because it's instantly one of my favorite Samuel L. Jackson performances. More to follow on this.
Dhanika Pineda adapted the Pop Culture Happy Hour segment "What's Making Us Happy" for the Web. If you like these suggestions, consider signing up for our newsletter to get recommendations every week. And listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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