2026 Resolutions and What’s Making Us Happy

Summary

Pop Culture Happy Hour – “2026 Resolutions and What’s Making Us Happy”

NPR | Jan 2, 2026
Hosts: Linda Holmes, Glenn Weldon, Stephen Thompson, Aisha Harris

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Episode Overview

This episode rings in the new year with the Pop Culture Happy Hour team reflecting on their 2025 resolutions, owning up to successes and failures, and setting intentions—however modest—for 2026. The conversation is open, funny, and honest, capturing both the optimism and realism that mark New Year’s resolutions. In the second half, the hosts share the pop culture highlights making them happy as 2026 begins.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. 2025 Resolutions: What Worked, What Didn’t

Glenn Weldon: The Long Movie Challenge

• 2025 Resolution Recap: Watch intentionally long movies (4+ hours)—a conscious attempt to “let movies take me for an extended ride.”
  • “I’m gonna find these movies, I’m gonna clear my damn schedule, and I’m gonna let 2025 be the year I let movies take me for an extended ride.” (Glenn, 01:14)
• 2025 Results: Total failure—Glenn forgot the resolution entirely.
  • “I suppose you would say the technical term is: I plumb forgot.” (Glenn, 02:15)
  • “This is the first full beefed it, abject failure face plant, and I’m gonna own it.” (Glenn, 02:36)
• Group Response:
  • Stephen offers, “You spent the entire year not beating yourself up.” (Stephen, 02:46)
  • Aisha: “We made it. We survived.” (Aisha, 03:00)

Linda Holmes: Reading Nonfiction Essays

• 2025 Resolution Recap: Read more nonfiction, specifically essays, to inform potential future writing.
  • “I decided that I want to read more nonfiction, specifically essays, this year.” (Linda, 04:00)
• 2025 Results: Did not follow through; forgot about it post-taping due to other projects.
  • “I walked out of the taping, and I never thought about it again. Not for five seconds did I think about it again.” (Linda, 05:08)
  • “I did not do that. I get a zero, absolute zero thumbs down.” (Linda, 06:00)
• Group Response: “We muddled through. That is triumph.” (Stephen, 06:31)

Aisha Harris: Writing Fiction (Specifically a Screenplay)

• 2025 Resolution Recap: Try writing fiction again after years as a critic, with the hope to write a screenplay.
  • “I want to write fiction… I want to try and write a screenplay. We’ll see how that goes.” (Aisha, 08:21; 09:20)
• 2025 Results: The intention haunted her, and she discussed it more than she acted on it—except for one productive brainstorming session.
  • “I am the type of person who cannot forget this and has been haunted by this.” (Aisha, 09:39)
  • “Basically, I spent exactly one sort of afternoon session brainstorming this one idea in February. It happened. It happened. And then since then, I’ve done much more talking about it than I have of actually executing anything about it. And it has haunted me.” (Aisha, 10:32)
• Debate:
  • Linda gently encourages her, “If you have spent an afternoon brainstorming… you have an active project, my friend.” (Linda, 10:59)
  • Glenn disagrees: talking about a project is “release” that doesn’t produce actual work.
    • “When I talk about a project… my brain thinks I’m getting some of the release of actually writing it, and the project goes into the air as opposed to being on the page.” (Glenn, 11:25)
• Aisha’s Conclusion:
  • “My resolution is to obviously stop talking about it so much and actually do the damn thing. … I want to at least by the end of 2026 have written a scene. Just something on the page that I can point to.” (Aisha, 12:14; 12:37)

Stephen Thompson: Re-Engage with Social Media and Create Art with His Daughter

• 2025 Resolution Recap: Re-engage with community-focused social media (Letterboxd, BlueSky) and collaborate on creative projects with his daughter, specifically a children's book.
  • “I want to recommit to social media in ways that expand my horizons… while still finding ways to maintain the healthier Internet hygiene.” (Stephen, 13:45)
  • “I do intend to actually finish the children's book in 2024… I want to actually spend 2025 making art with my daughter.” (Stephen, 15:04)
• 2025 Results: Social media saw mixed results; creative work shifted focus to collaborating on a graphic novel instead of a children’s book. Progress was made via note-taking and storyboarding.
  • “Should I be updating my Letterboxd page? I should. Did I? No.” (Stephen, 15:34)
  • “We should be resolving to take something off our plates… maybe it should be subtractive.” (Stephen, 16:01)
  • “We’ve had some very excited conversations… I have made progress on that resolution.” (Stephen, 17:15)

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2. 2026 Resolutions: Own Your Pace, Broaden Horizons, Make Human Art

• Glenn Weldon: Do-over on watching long movies, with the intention to actually remember this year.
  • “Failure builds character and it lights a fire under your butt.” (Glenn, 03:16)
• Linda Holmes: Read five books outside her comfort zone—genres or types she’d typically avoid.
  • “What I want to do this year is… read five books that are the kinds of books that I don’t usually read… I am not at the moment seeking recommendations because I would like for this to remain non stressful as opposed to stressful.” (Linda, 06:35; 07:10)
• Aisha Harris: Write at least one scene of the screenplay she’s been developing—shifting from ideation to execution.
  • “A scene. Just something on the page that I can point to and say there’s the germ of an idea.” (Aisha, 12:37)
• Stephen Thompson: Move away from AI-driven art and embrace “messy human art” for its own sake. Focus is on creating idiosyncratic, human work and avoiding feeding into AI systems.
  • “The best way for artists to combat AI is to make art that AI couldn’t duplicate if it tried.” (Stephen, 17:54)
  • “Make art, even if it’s bad. Make art, even if no one experiences it. Make art for ourselves because our brains need it.” (Stephen, 18:41)

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Notable Quotes, Memorable Moments & Tone

• “I plumb forgot.” – Glenn Weldon’s blunt self-reflection (02:15)
• “This is the first full beefed it, abject failure face plant, and I’m gonna own it.” – Glenn’s cheerful acceptance (02:36)
• “Just long movies next to my password.” (Glenn, joking about reminder Post-Its, 03:49)
• “Sometimes in these things, I copy Aisha. This time I’m copying Glenn in that I said this. And then I never thought about it ever again, ever, ever.” – Linda (06:00)
• “If I release any of it into the world and talk about the idea… that work isn’t happening where it needs to be directed.” – Glenn’s theory on creativity leakage (11:25)
• “Writing is terrible. Having written is great.” – Glenn Weldon (13:21)
• “Maybe it should be subtractive.” – Stephen, reevaluating the concept of resolutions (16:13)
• “Make art, even if it’s bad. Make art, even if no one experiences it. Make art for ourselves because our brains need it.” – Stephen, distilling the episode’s creative theme (18:41)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Opening and 2025 resolutions kick-off: 00:21
• Glenn’s 2025 recap and 2026 redo: 01:14–03:16
• Linda’s 2025 recap and 2026 goal: 04:00–08:13
• Aisha’s 2025 recap and 2026 goal: 08:21–13:21
• Stephen’s 2025 recap and 2026 focus: 13:45–18:41
• Group reflections—making art, subtractive resolutions: 16:00–19:18

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What’s Making Us Happy This Week (21:38+)

Aisha Harris (21:48)

• Podcast: The Outfit
  • Hosts Dan O’Sullivan and Alana Hope Levinson explore organized crime’s impact on American history and pop culture with fun and deep context.
  • “It’s just fun history chat banter back and forth between the hosts… it’s just fun to hear about America through corruption because what is more American than that?” (Aisha, 22:16)

Stephen Thompson (22:43)

• Music: “Nilam” by Ganavya
  • Hypnotic fusion of jazz, classical, and South Asian devotional; ideal for relaxed, reflective listening.
  • “If you want to wash away 2025, get that stink off ya, … start over fresh first weekend of the new year, I highly recommend Ganavya.” (Stephen, 23:33)

Glenn Weldon (23:58)

• TV: Celebrity Traitors (UK, on Peacock)
  • Reality contest with UK celebs—more charm, kindness, and surprise than US reality.
  • “It is fundamentally different from the US version because of that fuel mixture.” (Glenn, 24:32)
  • “Watch it anyway… because the mix of personalities, the alchemy… has never been better.”
  • “Watch it and heal.” (Glenn, 25:32)

Linda Holmes (25:32)

• YouTube Channel: Anti Chef
  • Jamie, a self-described novice, documents his home-cooking mishaps and victories.
  • “My favorite thing about him is that he will show you when it doesn’t work.” (Linda, 26:12)
  • “I find it super relaxing. I enjoy it very much. So look up Jamie, Anti Chef on YouTube.” (Linda, 27:09)

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Final Thoughts & Tone

The hosts approached their resolutions with self-deprecating warmth, quick-witted banter, and a shared understanding that progress, not “perfection,” is what matters most. There’s a recurring theme about showing yourself grace, celebrating small steps, and finding fresh ways to create and connect, even (especially) if you fail at first.

“Make art, even if it’s bad. Make art, even if no one experiences it. Make art for ourselves because our brains need it.”
—Stephen Thompson (18:41)

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For more recommendations, links, and show notes, sign up for the Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter at npr.org/popculturenewsletter.

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Summary by NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour. Hosted by Linda Holmes, Glenn Weldon, Stephen Thompson, and Aisha Harris.

Transcript

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Linda Holmes]

Hope springs eternal. And that is nowhere more true than in the realm of New Year's resolutions.

[Stephen Thompson]

We are back again to give ourselves goals for 2026. And because we believe in accountability, we'll tell you how well we stuck to our resolutions for 2025. I'm Stephen Thompson.

[Linda Holmes]

And I'm Linda Holmes. And today we're talking about resolutions on Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. Joining us today are our fellow Pop Culture Happy Hour hosts, Aisha Harris. Hello, Aisha.

[Aisha Harris]

Hello, Linda.

[Linda Holmes]

And Glenn Weldon. Hello, Glenn.

[Glenn Weldon]

Hey, pal.

[Linda Holmes]

All right. You know how this goes. We look at last year's resolution, we see how it went. Then we look to next year's resol. Glenn yeah. We're gonna start with your 2025 resolution. I wanna hear it so we can then ask you how it went.

[Glenn Weldon]

So what I'm gonna do is not even a genre. It's a feature of movies. I'm going to watch long movies. Cause Lord knows we complain a lot about movies going on too long. But what about most movies that reportedly at least earn their duration? I'm talking about four hour plus movies. I mean, the Brutalists kind of loosened the jar, but now I'm gonna dig in. I'm gonna seek out films that I avoided because of their length. Nymphomaniac Carlos, Little Dora, Happy Hour. I'm gonna find these movies, I'm gonna clear my damn schedule, and I'm gonna let 2025 be the year. I let movies take me for a extended ride. Well, this won't take long. I'm gonna slap a failing grade on this one. This didn't happen, I'm ashamed to admit. But I will say in my defense, there's a very good substantive logistical reason it didn't happen. Something that factors hugely into my this resolution to the extent that I hope to. And it's a bit complicated, but I'm going to try to explain it anyway. I suppose you would say the technical term is I plumb forgot.

[Aisha Harris]

Oh, yeah.

[Glenn Weldon]

Just didn't remember that I said I was going to do it. So follow my logic. I didn't do it. And I'm not proud of that. It feels like a personal failing. I have no excuse for it at all. But yeah, no, didn't set out to do it. Didn't do it. Saw some long movies, not intentionally you'd think watching a long movie with triggers, memory, you'd be wrong. I've never been great at keeping these resolutions, but this is the first full beefed it, abject failure face plant, and I'm gonna own it.

[Stephen Thompson]

You know the nice thing about that, Glenn, though, is that, you know, the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. You spent the entire year not beating yourself up.

[Glenn Weldon]

This is true.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. You were a newborn baby. You had.

[Aisha Harris]

There were so many other things happening this year that. You know what? I'm gonna give you some. Because we made it. We survived.

[Stephen Thompson]

We did survive.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

We made it.

[Linda Holmes]

We're all here. We're all here together.

[Glenn Weldon]

I just forgot.

[Linda Holmes]

All right, so what do you have on tap to forget to do this year?

[Glenn Weldon]

I will kick the can down the road in 2026, same deal. I will watch long movies and I will not forget to do it because failure builds character and it lights a fire under your butt. So, yes, that's my thing. In 2026, as I failed to do in 2025, I will watch long movies.

[Stephen Thompson]

Glenn, can I recommend a tool that you might use to help you with this? They have developed post it notes. If you have like a pen and a post it note, write long movies and stick it to your bathroom mirror or your tv.

[Glenn Weldon]

Just long movies next to my password. Yes. No.

[Linda Holmes]

Yes.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes. I'm not gonna do that.

[Glenn Weldon]

I appreciate it, Steven.

[Linda Holmes]

You know, Stephen, when you said that you knew of a tool that might help Glenn, I thought you were gonna be talking about some kind of extremely comfortable sofa c. If he's looking at four hour movies, I thought it was some sort of ergonomic hemorrhoid donut. Yeah, exactly. Some sort of ergonomics eating device. All right, thank you very much, Glenn Weldon. I am going to go next. Oh, let's listen to my resolution from last year. I decided that I want to read more nonfiction, specifically essays, this year. I want to make that what I'm reading this year because I have a novel coming out in February. It's called Back after this. It takes place in Audio World, so if you're interested in podcasts, you can find that. But I am thinking about whether I would like to write some nonfiction, perhaps some essay type things, some criticism type things, therefore want to throw myself into reading a lot of such things. You know, Glenn Weldon, it is often one of my goals in life to be more like you. I really admire you.

[Glenn Weldon]

He's one of us.

[Linda Holmes]

I have admired you for a long time and admired you as a person and As a writer and critic, and in my effort to emulate you, I made this resolution. I walked out of the taping, and I never thought about it again. Not for five seconds did I think about it again.

[Glenn Weldon]

Was there a gift? Gas leak? What happened? What's going on here?

[Linda Holmes]

I don't know.

[Stephen Thompson]

I'm not suggesting people tattoo themselves memento style, but they have Sharpies.

[Linda Holmes]

One thing that happened is that I realized after this taping and when I talked about my own desire to potentially write essays someday, that I had another novel that I had to write.

[Glenn Weldon]

There you go.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

See?

[Linda Holmes]

And so I wasn't necessarily prepared to make that pivot right away.

[Glenn Weldon]

Yeah, that's what I call an excuse. That's a good excuse. That is a solid excuse.

[Linda Holmes]

Yeah, well. But I don't think it's an excuse for never having thought about it again ever after I said it. Sometimes in these things, I copy Aisha. This time I'm copying Glenn in that I said this. And then I never thought about it ever again, ever, ever. So I did not do that. I get a zero, absolute zero thumbs down.

[Aisha Harris]

It's okay. Again, 2025 was a year. I'm just saying.

[Glenn Weldon]

Oh, thanks, Mom.

[Stephen Thompson]

I mean, this is. You're so.

[Linda Holmes]

I'm just glad. Thank.

[Stephen Thompson]

We muddled through.

[Aisha Harris]

We did.

[Stephen Thompson]

That is triumph.

[Linda Holmes]

We really did.

[Stephen Thompson]

We made it, you guys.

[Linda Holmes]

And I did work on writing the novel. So, you know, that's a good thing. That's a positive thing. In terms of 2026, it is another reading resolution, which, when I made it, I wasn't necessarily thinking about the fact that I had just failed a reading resolution, but this one is a little bit, I hope, a little bit more doable. What I want to do this year is I want to read five books that are the kinds of books that I don't usually read. And I'm not just talking about, like, they're not in my exact, like, favorite genres. They're not just, like, rom coms with cartoon people on the front or anything like that. I'm talking about, like, the kinds of books that I look at. And I say, like, not for me. Like maybe something with dragons on the COVID or something with vampires in it or something else. I do want to say I am not at the moment seeking recommendations because I would like for this to remain non stressful as opposed to stressful. I will muddle through. Don't do it. Don't just hold your horses or your dragons.

[Stephen Thompson]

Linda, would you like to be reminded of this prediction?

[Linda Holmes]

No, I would not like to be Reminded of this resolution. I am not. That is not what I'm looking for. But I am looking to expand my horizons a little bit. So five books of types that I do not usually read that I think I would look at and think, like, oh, not, like, that's bad, but, like, oh, that's not really a Linda book. Things that I would think of as not the Linda book, just. Cause I think you gotta keep trying things.

[Glenn Weldon]

Broadening horizons. Like it.

[Aisha Harris]

Hear, hear.

[Glenn Weldon]

Yeah.

[Linda Holmes]

So, Aisha, we are going to listen to your resolution from last year.

[Aisha Harris]

I want to write fiction.

[Glenn Weldon]

There we go.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah. Which is something I have not done since I was in high school. Maybe I just, like, at a certain point, I just stopped and it was like, okay, no, I'm gonna be a critic. And that's when I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna write nonfiction. And I've realized now that I'm missing that creative outlet, that creative side of me. I've expressed it in other ways through dance and whatever. But I'm missing when I used to write just, like, lots of Baby Sitters Club fan fiction and long stories that I would print out and then bind and had, like, a nice little cover and I had illustrations. I'm not gonna be doing all that, but, like, I do.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, hold on. You could just pick up where you left off.

[Aisha Harris]

Well, I'm not gonna be writing Baby Seats fanfiction, but I do have a bunch of ideas that have been swirling in my head, I think from watching so many movies and TV shows where I'm like, this is cool, but I wish it was, like, from this perspective or I feel like there's something missing here. And, you know, as they say, if you don' Create it.

[Glenn Weldon]

Exactly.

[Aisha Harris]

Preferably. I want to try and write a screenplay. We'll see how that goes.

[Glenn Weldon]

Model. That's great.

[Linda Holmes]

Love it.

[Glenn Weldon]

Okay, well.

[Aisha Harris]

We'Re in the same boat here. Because definitely. Here's the thing.

[Glenn Weldon]

Here's the thing.

[Aisha Harris]

Unlike you, Linda and Glenn, I am the type of person who cannot forget this and has been haunted by this. This is the way my brain works. A day in the life of Aisha, I wake up, I do work. I say, oh, man, I really want to work on that screenplay idea. I go out for drinks or whatever. I catch up with someone, they're like, what are you up to? I'm like, well, you know, I've been thinking about this screenplay idea. I talk about it and I talk about it, and then I go home and I'm like, oh, man, I just want to Watch another episode of Murder, She Wrote and go to sleep. Then I do that, and then I wake up again, rinse and repeat the same thing we do every day, Pinky. Try to take over the world. Except I'm not taking over the world and I'm not ready with screenplay. And basically, I spent exactly one sort of afternoon session brainstorming this one idea in February. It happened. It happened. And then since then, I've done much more talking about it than I have of actually executing anything about it. And it has haunted me.

[Linda Holmes]

But that's an active project, though. Sure.

[Stephen Thompson]

That's what we have in common. And Aisha is, I want to talk about having done something. Sure. I don't want to do the thing. I want to talk about having done it.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes. That's kind of what it was like writing my book. To be honest. The process was torture. The aftermath was like, oh, man, I did that.

[Linda Holmes]

But if you have spent an afternoon brainstorming your idea and you have created anything in terms of notes or ideas or material that you can work with or post its or scribblings on your hand or anything like that, and on top of that, you are telling people that you are doing it, you have an active project, my friend.

[Glenn Weldon]

I hear what you're saying, Linda. I disagree, because in my experience, I'll just keep it to me. When I talk about a project to people, my brain thinks I'm getting some of the release of actually writing it, and the project goes into the air as opposed to being on the page. What I tend to do is when people ask me, what are you working on? I tell them I'm working on something and that's it. And they understand. Because if I release any of it into the world and talk about the idea and I get their feedback about, yes, no, and they all pretend that they love it or whatever, that work isn't happening where it needs to be directed. And that's just for me.

[Linda Holmes]

So Glenn and I have now given you diametrically opposed advice on how to continue this project.

[Stephen Thompson]

Just follow both to the letter.

[Linda Holmes]

Just remember, neither one of us got done what we were gonna do this year.

[Glenn Weldon]

There is a.

[Linda Holmes]

So you can decide based on what advice you would like to listen to.

[Aisha Harris]

That felt very therapeutic. Thank you to both of you. So my resolution is to obviously stop talking about it so much and actually do the damn thing.

[Glenn Weldon]

You're here.

[Aisha Harris]

And I'm going to make the caveat that I do not anticipate writing an entire screenplay. But I want to at least by the end of 2026 have written a scene.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Okay.

[Aisha Harris]

And that is my goal. A scene. Just something on the page that I can point to and say there's the germ of an idea. And whether or not it ever actually comes to any sort of fruition is fine. But at least I attempted to do something that I have never actually attempted to do. And that is my resolution for 2026.

[Linda Holmes]

Just imagine how exciting it's gonna be when we play this clip of you saying that and then you say, I actually have written two scenes.

[Glenn Weldon]

Exactly.

[Aisha Harris]

Okay, let's hold our horses there. But, yes, it's gonna feel good when I have, because if I don't, it's again going to haunt me and make me lie awake at night wondering what am I doing with my life. So, yes, we don't want that.

[Glenn Weldon]

Writing is terrible. Having written is great. Yes.

[Aisha Harris]

Hear, hear.

[Linda Holmes]

All right. Awesome. Very good. Thank you, Aisha. Stephen Thompson.

[Stephen Thompson]

I wonder if this is gonna continue in any kind of theme. If you're getting a sense, please let.

[Glenn Weldon]

Us have a theme of who we.

[Stephen Thompson]

Are as people and what frustrates us.

[Linda Holmes]

Please let us have a seat. Let's hear Steven's resolution from 2025.

[Stephen Thompson]

What I'd like to do in 2025 is re embrace social media that bring me some measure of community and joy. I promise I will finally start posting to the letterbox account that we've been promoting at the end of our shows. I have been on Blue sky for the last couple months. I want to lean further into that because I'm really enjoying the parts of that that are still enjoyable. Basically, I want to recommit to social media in ways that expand my horizons, increase the number of perspectives I'm receiving, the number of things that are being recommended to me by people I trust, keeping me better informed, making my world feel bigger, less insular, while still finding ways to maintain the healthier Internet hygiene that wasn't always there. The last time I was on social media, as much as I'd kind of like to be, what I want to do is find ways to use it to manage my anxiety without exacerbating it, which is a really tricky thing to do with social media. And so Blue sky and letterboxd, I'm committing completely. And the other part of this is, instead of just talking about it, I do intend to actually finish the children's book in 2024. Not committing to signing a book deal, not committing to publishing it in 2025, but I do want to actually spend 2025 making art with my Daughter, which I cannot think of a more fun thing to promise to do than that.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Y'. All.

[Stephen Thompson]

Why?

[Glenn Weldon]

Bated breath, Stephen.

[Stephen Thompson]

Did I think that spending more time on social media was a healthy thing to promise to?

[Linda Holmes]

In fairness, you didn't necessarily see this year coming.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, should I be updating my letterboxd page, which is currently like, an empty shell? I should. Did I? No. Did I spend more time on Blue Sky?

[Glenn Weldon]

Sure.

[Stephen Thompson]

Did it make my life better in any way, shape, or form? Probably not. Don't know what I was going for there, what I should be resolving to do, and what I dare suggest maybe all four of us should be thinking about resolving to do is less how do we subtract? How do we take away? Because so much of what. When we look back on a year, there's this like, oh, you know, I should have taken the time to write my novel. I should have done. And look, that's a great thing to want to do, and I want to do it too. I feel like we should be resolving to take something off our plates in order to do that. Very often when we have these conversations, it's always additive, and maybe it should be subtractative. I have been working with my daughter. Unfortunately, I kind of got a little bit sidetracked on the children's book in favor of this graphic novel idea that's been floating around in my head that I have very much been taking notes on and even started very preliminarily storyboarding. So we're gonna go with Linda's Metric, where, like, if you wrote something on a post, it note, you made progress. I have made progress on that resolution, and I'm excited to continue it. My daughter is in art school. We've had some very excited conversations about an idea that we've been batting back and forth that I feel like really could turn into something cool that I am very excited about. Is that going to play out over the course of one calendar year? It is not. It's gonna take a whole bunch of time, and that's gonna be part of the joy of it. As far as 2026 goes, I'm gonna go with this. I want to do more to overtly in my life, battle the encroachment of AI in our lives to make sure that I am not inadvertently investing in it, to make sure that my settings are up to date so that I'm not contributing to the problem, and to support messy human art. The best way for artists to combat AI is to make art that AI couldn't duplicate if it tried. To make works that are idiosyncratic, that are human, that are not in any way, shape or form generic. You know, I've got book projects swirling around, tons of ideas that I'm batting around. My goal really is to one, execute one of them, whatever it is, like you said, Aisha, maybe it's a scene. And two, to make sure that whatever I generate is idiosyncratic enough that AI can't do it.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah, I think it's like both specific and non specific enough that there is plenty of room for you to hit any of those goals. And like you said, yes, the subtracting, but also just giving yourself a little bit of leeway. It's just like you're not gonna necessarily do the whole thing, but you will do a part of the thing, you know, increments that's achievable. It feels achievable.

[Stephen Thompson]

I also think, and you know, one of the reasons we do this show is to kind of give people a sense a of what we're thinking about, about the new year, but also maybe a guideline that somebody at home might wanna try and like. The one thing that I really wanna carry into 2026 in one way or another is to just make our make art, even if it's bad. Make art, even if no one experiences it. Make art for ourselves because our brains need it. It's part of being a fully fledged, fully formed human being is expressing ourselves. And don't let anyone or anything take that away.

[Aisha Harris]

I love it.

[Glenn Weldon]

Love it.

[Aisha Harris]

Inspirational.

[Linda Holmes]

Sounds good to me. Sounds good to me. All right, thank you very much, Stephen Thompson. We would love to know what your resolutions are for the new year. You can find us on [e-mail] PCHH Next up, what's making us happy this week?

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[Glenn Weldon]

Our State of Stigma report helped us.

[Linda Holmes]

Understand that believing in mental health is easy, but asking for help help is not. Now, with the report on our hands.

[Glenn Weldon]

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[Linda Holmes]

Podcast now it is time for our favorite segment of this week and every week. What's making us happy this week? Aisha Harris what is making you happy this week?

[Aisha Harris]

Well, if you're looking for a new sort of fun podcast to listen to, may I recommend the Outfit, which is hosted by Dan o' Sullivan and Alana Hope Levinson? This is a show that sort of does deep dives into organized crime and uses it as a way to talk about American history looking back across different cultures and eras. One episode they're talking about how the mob infiltrated Hollywood. They've also talked about, you know, reality shows like Growing Up Gotti and Mob Wives. And it's just fun history chat banter back and forth between the hosts. And I learned a lot and I think it's just fun to hear about America through corruption because what is more American than that, I don't know. So the Outfit, you can find it where if you listen to podcasts, that is what is making me happy this week.

[Linda Holmes]

All right, thank you very much Aisha Harris. Stephen Thompson, what is making you happy this week?

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, in the hopes of starting 2026 on the right foot, I recently rediscovered a record I was lo last spring. It's called Nilam and it's even better in the dead of Winter. It's by a singer named Ganavya. Her work is part jazz, part classical, part South Asian devotional music. The arrangements kind of billow and unfurl like smoke and her voice is just swooping dramatically over everything. This is Sunday morning music. It's headphone music. It's music to relax and reflect. And maybe it's what you need right at the beginning of a new year to give you a sense of the vibe. There's a track I love called Song for Sad Times. You want to wash away 2025, get that stink off ya. You want to cleanse your palate of the holiday season and all the music attached to that. You want to start over fresh first weekend of the new year. I highly recommend Gnavia. Her newest album is called Nilam.

[Linda Holmes]

Thank you very much, Stephen Thompson. That is a very pretty song. Glenn Weldon, what is making you happy this week?

[Glenn Weldon]

Well, to Steven's point, a new year is dawning. And if you want to join that project of flushing the toxic remnants of 2025 from your system, may I suggest sitting down with a piping hot cup of tea with the Celebrity Traders on Peacock? Now, this is a UK show and the celebrities are 19 UK celebrities and you probably won't know most of them. I'm an Anglophile, I only knew 10 them. And if it hadn't been for the show Taskmaster, I'd know even fewer. Doesn't matter. Watch it anyway. Did air in the UK before it dropped on Peacock. And if your social media feed is anything like mine, you've already seen lots of the clips and highlights. Doesn't matter. Watch it anyway. I had the ending spoiled for me. Maybe you had to. Doesn't matter. Watch it anyway because the mix of personalities, the alchemy which is so important in that show, has never been better. And it is fundamentally different from the US version because of that fuel mixture. The US version, as we know, Fabers reality show contestants train to secure screen time by creating drama. So when Alan Cumming is kind of frosty and snooty to them, it's fun because a lot of them are narcissistic jerks. UK celebrities are drawn from the world of comedy and music and sports and theater, you know, actual talent. So they also skew older. So they are just so charming and respectful of each other. They're so polite to each other. And then you've got the host, Claudia Winkelman. Her whole vibe is just pulling for everyone to do their best, which fits in with the whole show. It's certainly the coziest version of the show I've ever seen, and I think it's the best one. That is the Celebrity Traders on Peacock. Watch it and heal.

[Linda Holmes]

All right, thank you, Glenn Weldon. Well, what is making me happy. This week is just one of my go to YouTube channels, which is called Anti Chef. It is a guide by the name of Jamie where he cooks in his kitchen. And when he started out, he really could not cook. It was a kind of thing that I think if I had watched it at the time, I would have been like, why would I watch this guy who doesn't know how to cook? I think he had been inspired by Julian Julia, and he was kind of, you know, thinking in terms of doing maybe a Julia Child project. And he's done a ton of Julia Child recipes. I think she's his favorite. He still does a lot of her stuff, but he also has branched out and does a lot of recipes from other chefs. Marco Pierre White or Gordon Ramsay or people like that. And he's now quite good. But my favorite thing about him is that he will show you when it doesn't work. Like, he will show you trying to make the same cake four times because it doesn't come out the first three times. And I always think that's really a fun element, that even after you become a good cook, if you continue to try things that are challenging, then you're gonna have a certain number of things that don't work. And there are some recipes that he does where he finishes it, it goes the way it's supposed to go. And at the end, he's like, I do not enjoy this. I do not like this. I would not eat it again. It's just a very genial. He's got a bunch of, like, you know, he's got a stand mixer that he calls the Silver Fox that he recently had to repair. He made the recipes out of this vintage Peanuts characters cookbook that I think is aimed at kids. So it's like Lucy's Lemon lollipops and just a lot of, like, weird, goofy stuff like that. I find it super relaxing. I enjoy it very much. So look up Jamie, anti Chef on YouTube.

[Aisha Harris]

I wish you got a lot.

[Linda Holmes]

Anyway, that's what's making me happy. If you want links for what we recommended, plus some additional recommendations, sign up for our newsletter. It's at npr.org popculturenewsletter that brings us to the end of our show. Aisha Harris, Stephen Thompson, Glenn Weldon, thank you so much for being here. My resolution is that we will all be here together again in another year.

[Glenn Weldon]

Thank you. So resolved.

[Linda Holmes]

This episode is produced by Mike Katzeff and Liz Metzger and edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy. Hello. Come in. Provides our theme music. Thank you for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. I'm Linda Holmes and we'll see you all next time.

[Stephen Thompson]

Are you thinking about making any changes.

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In the new year? The Life Kit podcast is here to help. In each episode we have research backed strategies, strategies and expert advice on everything from meal prep to strengthening relationships to.

[Aisha Harris]

Paying down your credit card debt. Make your resolutions stick. Listen to the Life Kit podcast on.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

The NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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