Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Clone High, the "Thursday Murder Club" mystery series, Mel Mitchell on TikTok, and more.

John Vercher trained in mixed martial arts as a young man. His novel, After the Lights Go Out, centers on a veteran MMA fighter who struggles to remember things. Originally broadcast June 28, 2022.

Are parents, teachers and the public feeling as divided as the headlines make it seem? A pair of new NPR/Ipsos polls reveals division, to be sure, but also surprising consensus.

The Museum of the City of New York is marking its centennial with an exhibition of NYC-inspired film, TV, music and fashion. But this is real New York, "not a love letter," says one of the curators.

Central Park West draws from James Comey's experience in the FBI and as a U.S attorney for the southern district of New York.

From excessive hygiene to low-fiber diets, author Theresa MacPhail explores the deep-rooted causes of rising allergy rates in her new book Allergic.

The Enlightenment of Katzuo Nakamatsu, The House on Via Gemito, and Cousins together form a tour of human darkness where liberation comes in many forms.

Hip-hop has been many things in its half century of existence, and "suitable for children" probably isn't what immediately comes to mind. But one book challenges that perception.

We asked some of our regular book critics what soon-to-be-published titles they are most looking forward to reading this summer. Here's what they said.

One week after a parent complained, Gorman's The Hill We Climb was moved. The NAACP chapter in Miami says it wants "to ensure that it takes more than one form to remove our history and heritage."

As we near the close of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we bring you a list of new books by Filipino authors — ranging from a noir graphic novel to the latest from Gina Apostol.

"A work realized this way needed to be able to come home to Atlanta," noted Leatrice Ellzy Wright, a Sr. Director of Programming at the Apollo Theater who also still calls South Fulton home.

Kenneth Anger was a queer underground filmmaker whose bestselling book, Hollywood Babylon, purported to reveal the seamy side of a golden era.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison kept notes as lead prosecutor in the state's case against Derek Chauvin. He's sharing them in a new book, Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence.

This win is a first for a Bulgarian novel — the author and translator will split the prize money. Time Shelter imagines a clinic for Alzheimer's patients where each floor reproduces a past decade.