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Pop Culture Happy Hour: Second Acts And Party People, Or Not

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Our first topic on the show this week follows indirectly from a correction we received about the current status of Andrew McCarthy: we talk about second acts (they do exist in American lives, you know), from child actors who now make cool videos and write great books to the complex question of whether going from being a songwriter to publishing books of poetry is a true "second act." And what about Gopher and other second-act politicians? It's a deep dive, people.

Next on the docket is a question that came from a listener that we went on to completely mangle beyond the original intent: Who are the people we'd like to party with? While we do throw out a few names, this mostly leads us down the path of discussing how we feel about the general matter of approaching people whose work we admire and making conversation with them. As Glen has talked about before, this isn't really his thing, although it's something Stephen and Trey do pretty easily. I find myself settling in somewhere in between — I totally want to be the kind of person who does it, but I usually don't. Philosophical! Social! Awkward! All these things and more.

However! All four of us, even those of us who aren't really small-talk-at-parties types, are entirely in favor of your coming to our live show on December 15th at 2:00 p.m. at NPR HQ during NPR's big Sale-a-bration. (Yeah, that's what it is. IT'S FESTIVE.) (And at that link, you'll find information about all the other NPR personalities who will be meeting and greeting over the weekend.) Believe me, even if we find it awkward to go up and greet people of whom we're fans, we're always happy to see you and we'll be throwing open the figurative doors of our affection. (I will be surreptitiously taping a sign to Glen's back that says "FREE HUGS.")

As always, we end the show by talking about what's making us happy this week. For Trey, it was a chat with an actress whose recent performance he particularly enjoyed. For Glen, it's a Middle Earth data explosion that he calls "the nerd singularity." For Stephen, it's a day of celebration and the fact that we're doing this "crazy business" of a live show. For me, it's a friendly lady who Glen and I met last week, and a great chat on Twitter about a piece I didn't agree with.

Please keep in touch with us — you can find us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter: me, Trey, Glen, Stephen, Jess, and our producer emeritus and music director Mike.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for NPR and the host of Pop Culture Happy Hour. She began her professional life as an attorney. In time, however, her affection for writing, popular culture, and the online universe eclipsed her legal ambitions. She shoved her law degree in the back of the closet, gave its living room space to DVD sets of The Wire, and never looked back.