Stand By For News

Plus: The Emmys, Unbelievable and what's making us happy by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when Phoebe Waller-Bridge [romped across our hearts](. It was the week when [we got a trailer]( for the Breaking Bad movie. And it was the week when the National Book Awards [rolled out their long lists](. Let's get to it. Opening Argument This is a weird week to be a pop culture correspondent. Normally, the news is over here [imagine my gesturing with my right hand], and what people are watching on television is over there [gesturing to the left]. But right now? I write this while Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, is [testifying before Congress](. It’s all one thing; this is the biggest show in the country at the moment. [Joseph Maguire testifies in front of Congress.] Andrew Harnik/AP My friend [James Poniewozik has a book out]( called Audience Of One about the relationship between television and this presidency, which has been a topic of conversation (among TV critics as much as political analysts) for some time. But it really is remarkable to see people watch, follow, tweet about, make fun of, and meme a Congressional hearing in a way not that different from what they would do with Game of Thrones . And at the same time, other people — experts, historians, reporters — are in the same Twitter timeline, providing context and information and analysis. It seems like the ultimate test of our ability to hold two things in our heads at the same time: spectacle and gravity. I don’t know the answer to how good we’re likely to be at it. The idea that it may take more of a television critic than a reporter to understand the likely impact of Congressional hearings strikes me as vaguely terrifying, but not unreasonable. How compelling are these characters? How clear is this narrative? How clearly are the stakes being explained? How coherent are these details? Does this drag on too long? Lose me in the middle? Get more interesting as it goes along? And, of course: Is this believable? It feels, in a way, like actual entertainment has simply frozen. (Of course, it feels that way to me more than to other people, most likely, because I know, and follow on Twitter, a lot of journalists.) We will get back to premiere week, back to what’s dropping on Netflix, back to all that. Maybe next week, maybe in November, maybe in 2022. For now, we’re standing by for news. We Recommend At 10 p.m. on Sunday night, there is a Food Network special called Outrageous Pumpkins. Now, I have not actually seen this special, I don’t know anything about it, and I therefore can’t technically recommend it. But I do think that somewhere in your soul, you might have a need at this moment in history for a special called Outrageous Pumpkins, so I wanted you to know about it. If you haven’t watched Unbelievable on Netflix, [featuring Kaitlyn Dever]( I do recommend you check it out. You should know that the first couple of episodes in particular contain explicit scenes of sexual assault and the aftermath of it, but after that, a lot of it is about a pair of detectives played by Toni Collette and Merritt Wever. We’ll be covering it on the podcast, and you don’t necessarily want to commit to binging it all at once just because of the subject matter, so if you’re interested, go ahead and take it a little bit at a time. It’s an excellent show, if a very difficult watch. Our friend Sam Sanders of the NPR podcast It’s Been A Minute talked to Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness this week. [That’s a conversation]( anybody would want to hear. What We Did This Week [Phoebe Waller-Bridge at the Emmys] Amy Sussman/WireImage On Sunday night, we covered the Emmy Awards. [I wrote up the ceremony]( and we also recorded [a late-night podcast]( summing it all up for you. [I took a look]( at The Good Place, which started its fourth and final season this week. I’m really going to miss those ding-dongs. [Glen told you all]( about Between Two Ferns: The Movie, which he liked quite a lot, despite the bad track record of sketch-comedy-to-film translations. [I reviewed the new]( Netflix show The Politician, from Ryan Murphy and starring Ben Platt. [For our Friday show]( we offered up our Fall Movie Preview, where Bob Mondello joined us to look at what’s coming your way between now and the end of the year. What's Making Us Happy Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: - Linda: Exploring satellite radio channels, specifically [Road Trip Radio]( - Glen: The books [How To: Absurd Scientific Advice For Common Real-World Problems]( (by Randall Munroe of xkcd) and [How To Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for The Stranded Time Traveler]( (by Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics) - Bob: [W1A]( available on Netflix - Stephen: [The Highwomen]( and their new self-titled album What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [pchh@npr.org](mailto:pchh@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. 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