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'Foundation' (loosely!) adapts Isaac Asimov's sci-fi epic

Cooper Carter, Lee Pace and Terrence Mann as three differently-aged clones of the emperor in the Apple TV+ series Foundation. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Foundation' (loosely!) adapts Isaac Asimov's sci-fi epic

Foundation is set in the far future, when humanity has expanded into a vast galactic empire. A mathematician comes forward to announce that he's crunched the numbers — and found that the empire is on the verge of collapse, and humanity is about to enter a 30,000 year dark age. The Apple TV+ series is based on a series of books by Isaac Asimov that was once awarded a Hugo Award for best science-fiction series of all time.

'Foundation' (loosely!) adapts Isaac Asimov's sci-fi epic

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Mort Sahl, a political satirist and stand-up comedy pioneer, has died at 94

Comedian Mort Sahl cracks a joke at a press conference in London on July 10, 1961. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Obituaries

Mort Sahl, a political satirist and stand-up comedy pioneer, has died at 94

Sahl started doing stand-up in the 1950s, a time when most comedians were men in suits, rattling off one-liners. Sahl wore a V-neck sweater, tucked a newspaper under his arm, and just ... talked.

Mort Sahl, a political satirist and stand-up comedy pioneer, has died at 94

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Wes Anderson's 'The French Dispatch' is Good. Period(ical).

Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky and Jeffrey Wright in Wes Anderson's film, The French Dispatch. Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Searchlight Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Wes Anderson's 'The French Dispatch' is Good. Period(ical).

Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch is a love letter to classic French cinema and The New Yorker magazine. Like all of his films, it's highly stylized — this one adopts the format of a magazine. It's an anthology of sorts, featuring three different main stories. The film's actors Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Benicio del Toro, Timothée Chalamet, and Jeffrey Wright.

Wes Anderson's 'The French Dispatch' is Good. Period(ical).

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The shoes from Michael Jordan's rookie season sold for a record $1.47 million

UNDATED: Chicago Bulls' forward Michael Jordan #23 dunks as the crowd takes photos during a game against the Portland Trail Blazers circa 1984-1998. (Photo by Focus on Sport via Getty Images) Focus On Sport/Focus on Sport via Getty Images hide caption

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Focus On Sport/Focus on Sport via Getty Images

Sports

The shoes from Michael Jordan's rookie season sold for a record $1.47 million

Michael Jordan's earliest known game-worn and autographed shoes sold for nearly $1.5 million at an auction in Las Vegas. They are the most valuable sneakers ever offered at an auction.

50 years ago, 'The Electric Company' used comedy to boost kids' reading skills
Courtesy of Sesame Workshop

Television

50 years ago, 'The Electric Company' used comedy to boost kids' reading skills

In October 1971, The Electric Company flipped a switch and hit the public TV airwaves, aiming to use sketch comedy and animated shorts to teach kids to read.

50 years ago, 'The Electric Company' used comedy to boost kids' reading skills

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The scary movies and books that still haunt us

Horror author Stephen King has been scaring audiences for generations. Jim Spellman/WireImage hide caption

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Jim Spellman/WireImage

Pop Culture Happy Hour

The scary movies and books that still haunt us

A lot of us are about to have the experience of opening our front doors to find witches, goblins, ghosts, and those guards from Squid Game standing on our porches. Why? Because it's almost Halloween. We decided this would be a good time to talk about what kinds of entertainment scared us when we were kids, and maybe even whether they still scare us now.

The scary movies and books that still haunt us

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In 'Dreaming of You,' poet Melissa Lozada-Oliva reimagines Selena's legacy

Melissa Lozada-Oliva reimagines pop star Selena's legacy in Dreaming of You. Melissa Lozada-Oliva/Astra House hide caption

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Melissa Lozada-Oliva/Astra House

Author Interviews

In 'Dreaming of You,' poet Melissa Lozada-Oliva reimagines Selena's legacy

Author Melissa Lozada-Oliva's new novel in verse, Dreaming of You, is about a heartbroken poet who brings Selena Quintanilla back from the dead.

In 'Dreaming of You,' poet Melissa Lozada-Oliva reimagines Selena's legacy

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Three songs for cleaning your bathroom

Cleaning the bathroom requires two things: a mop and some really good tunes. Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption

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Angela Hsieh/NPR

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Three songs for cleaning your bathroom

NPR Music has song recommendations for every occasion, from major life events to tidying up the house. As we enter the fall season, it doesn't hurt to spruce up and start afresh with a new playlist. Today, we're recommending three songs to play while dance-cleaning the bathroom.

Three songs for cleaning your bathroom

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When auteurs and film franchises meet

Director Taika Waititi made offbeat films like Hunt for the Wilderpeople before he leveled up to blockbuster director status with Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok. Dave J Hogan/Getty Images hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

When auteurs and film franchises meet

This fall, a number of auteurs are directing major blockbusters: Cary Joji Fukunaga took on the James Bond movie No Time To Die; Chloe Zhao joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Eternals; and Denis Villeneuve hopes to launch a film franchise with Dune. So we thought it would be a good time to revisit our conversation about how auteur directors shape genre films. In this encore episode recorded on stage in Los Angeles, we're talking about auteurs and film franchises — and dream up some great artists taking on unexpected genres.

When auteurs and film franchises meet

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