Our 15th Anniversary Time Capsule

Summary

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Pop Culture Happy Hour – "Our 15th Anniversary Time Capsule"

Release Date: August 19, 2025
Hosts: Stephen Thompson, Linda Holmes, Glen Weldon, Aisha Harris

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Episode Overview

Marking 15 years on the air, the Pop Culture Happy Hour team cracks open a “time capsule” of clips from their earliest episodes and mid-run moments. The core hosts—Stephen Thompson, Linda Holmes, Glen Weldon, and Aisha Harris—listen back on their own old takes, analyze how their opinions or the culture have changed, and have fun owning, defending, or revising those long-ago hot takes. The episode is filled with self-deprecating humor, nostalgia, and a genuine appreciation for the ways personal and pop culture growth intersect.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Revisiting Early Podcast Takes

• Setup: Each host’s old clips—carefully sourced by producer Liz Metzger—are played and critiqued for how well (or poorly) they aged.
• Nostalgia and Change: The hosts reflect on cultural shifts (e.g., the name “Netflix Instant Streaming” sounding dated) and how their attitudes have evolved.

Notable Moment

“Who knew people still referred to it as Netflix Instant Streaming?” — Linda Holmes, (03:31)

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2. Linda Holmes on Horror Movies: Growth and Nuance

[04:06–07:01]

• Then: In 2010, Linda described herself as not really a horror fan, especially not of grisly or bleak horror.
• Now: Linda explains she has become “more open” to horror, thanks, in part, to colleagues and guests (notably Jordan Crucciola), but clarifies the subgenres she avoids (“bleak horror where the monsters win”).
• Personal Insight: She articulates a broader point about remaining open as you age, allowing your tastes to expand and become more discerning.

Notable Quotes

“What I have learned is that this was not really true... I have narrowed the lane that I consider not mine. That’s what I would say.” — Linda Holmes, (06:49)

“Welcome to the dark side, Linda. It is nice over here.” — Aisha Harris, (06:57)

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3. Stephen Thompson’s Jack Black Take: The Flawed Arc of Pop Stardom

[08:07–13:41]

• The Old Take: In 2010, Stephen speculated that the public was “tired” of Jack Black after a string of lackluster films.
• Reflection: Looking back, Stephen sees this as an overly simplistic “rise and fall” logic—pointing out that careers ebb and flow, and that Jack Black has, in fact, become a highly bankable star by 2025.
• Extension: The discussion broadens to talk about “audience saturation” points, referencing figures like James Corden, Pedro Pascal, Jesse Eisenberg, and Zach Galifianakis, with the insight that timing and coincidence shape pop careers as much as public mood.

Notable Quotes

“What makes this such a bad take…is this idea that the career arc of a movie actor is a simple bell curve… That’s really not what happens.” — Stephen Thompson, (10:59)

“Jack Black made a bad movie or two.” — Stephen Thompson, (10:40)

“We are living in kind of the immediate aftermath of a James Corden glut.” — Glenn Weldon, (12:10)

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4. Aisha Harris on Beyoncé’s Unprecedented Trajectory

[14:06–18:21]

• 2018 Take: Aisha declared that “there is no precedent for Beyoncé and how much she continues to keep getting better and better this late in her career.”
• Retrospective: The comment—at the time referencing Beyoncé’s Homecoming performance—still rings true for Aisha in 2025, accentuated by Beyoncé’s Renaissance phase and continued evolution.
• Nuance Added: Aisha notes her slight disappointment in some recent output (e.g., Cowboy Carter), but underscores that Beyoncé’s longevity and self-reinvention are rare, especially for women in pop.
• Cultural Observations: The hosts discuss how Beyoncé manages fame and privacy, and compare her arc to Madonna.

Notable Quotes

“She hasn’t checked out. And I think it’s so easy for that to happen and so easy for especially women, unfortunately, to ‘age out’ of being a pop star.” — Aisha Harris, (15:40)

“Beyoncé is not the type of person who would ever not try to one up herself. She’s just way too try hard for that. And she owns it.” — Aisha Harris, (17:12)

“She seems to have found a way to kind of... achieve a lot of privacy for the amount of, you know, fame that she has.” — Linda Holmes, (17:24)

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5. Glen Weldon’s Halloween Costume Doctrine

[18:49–23:41]

• Original Stance: Glen famously argued that as a kid, he would rather have a store-bought superhero costume than a lovingly homemade, less “accurate” one. It’s not about the process, it’s about “being Iron Man.”
• Doubling Down: Glen stands by his stance, describing the memory of rejecting his mother’s homemade Batman solution and preferring a Ben Cooper plastic costume because it “got closer to the bone.”
• Host Division: Linda and others recall their nostalgia for handmade costumes, while Aisha sides with Glen, noting that sometimes accuracy and aspiration matter more to a kid than process.
• Modern Twist: Glen—somewhat wistfully—acknowledges how today’s cosplay market delivers on accuracy in ways kids of his own generation could only dream about.

Notable Quotes

“For a superhero costume, it is not about dressing as Iron Man. It is about being Iron Man. And every inch, every nanosecond you get away from that perfect ideal is a little death.” — Glen Weldon, (19:11)

“Maybe not at a CVS… but online, there is a thriving cosplay cottage industry… they are exacting. And again, I think I grew up in the wrong time.” — Glen Weldon, (22:14)

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6. Self-Reflection, Good-Natured Ribbing, and Community

• Throughout the episode, the hosts lovingly needle each other about aging, standing by questionable takes, and the resilience (or myopia) of their pop culture instincts.
• The episode closes with an invitation for listeners to share their own early hot takes, embracing the communal and evolving nature of pop fandom.

Notable Moment

“You were right then, you’re right now.” — Stephen Thompson (speaking to Glen Weldon), (23:35)

“He insulted my mother, but that’s okay.” — Linda Holmes, (24:02)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Early Netflix Hot Takes: 03:10–03:45
• Linda Holmes on Horror: 04:06–07:01
• Stephen’s Jack Black Take: 08:07–13:41
• Aisha’s Beyoncé Assessment: 14:06–18:21
• Glen Weldon on Halloween Costumes: 18:49–23:41

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Memorable Quotes (with Attribution)

• “This show would be such a treasure trove of old takes.” — Stephen Thompson (03:40)
• “I have outgrown this take, I am happy to say.” — Linda Holmes (06:09)
• “Actors tend to get a lot of swings at the pinata if they’re lucky.” — Stephen Thompson (10:31)
• “It’s so easy for especially women... to ‘age out’ of being a pop star.” — Aisha Harris (15:49)
• “It is about being Iron Man. And every inch, every nanosecond you get away from that perfect ideal is a little death.” — Glen Weldon (19:17)
• “Commit to the bit, I say.” — Glen Weldon (22:24)

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Tone & Style

The episode is lighthearted, self-aware, and witty—reveling in humility and affection for both pop culture and their own foibles. Friendly jabs are frequent, but so is generosity as hosts allow themselves and others to grow past old opinions.

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Summary

Pop Culture Happy Hour’s “15th Anniversary Time Capsule” is a celebration of pop culture, podcast friendship, and the humility of hindsight. With a mix of playful ribbing and genuine wisdom, the hosts show how tastes mature, feelings evolve, and no one is immune from a cringe-worthy take or two. Listeners are left with the message that it’s okay—maybe necessary—to change your mind, and that loving pop culture means you get to have both opinions and second thoughts.

Transcript

[Stephen Thompson]

This message comes from NPR sponsor Capella University. Interested in a quality online education? Capella is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn [e-mail] we launched Pop Culture Happy Hour 15 years ago this summer, and when each of us began we had a lot of pent up hot takes.

[Linda Holmes]

So we thought we'd play back some of our early, earliest moments and see how they've held up since. I'm Linda Holmes.

[Stephen Thompson]

And I'm Stephen Thompson. Today on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, we are breaking open a time capsule to revisit some of our memorable early moments. This message comes from FX's Alien Earth. From creator Noah Hawley and executive producer Ridley Scott comes the first television series inspired by the legendary Alien film franchise. A spaceship crash lands on Earth, bringing.

[Glenn Weldon]

Five unique unique and deadly species more terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined. And a technological advancement marks a new.

[Stephen Thompson]

Dawn in the race for immortality. FX's Alien Earth all new Tuesdays on FX and Hulu.

[Jake Kalik]

Support for this podcast and the following message come from Made in Cookware President and co founder Jake Kalik shares the key ingredients that go into Made in products.

[Stephen Thompson]

We try to design products that are going to last you an incredibly long time and to know that we're making this in places that take the raw material seriously, take the manufacturing processes seriously, that's ultimately what's going to allow us to sleep better at night selling this product to you.

[Jake Kalik]

Learn more about Made in Cookware at M a d e I-ncookware.com this message comes from Progressive Insurance. Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail], progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Strawberry Me. If you could go back and talk to your younger self, would you tell yourself that you have a job that truly makes you happy? Many people are stuck in jobs they've outgrown or never really wanted. A career coach from Strawberry Me can help you move on to something you actually love. Benefit from having a dedicated coach in your corner and claim a special offer at Strawberry MenPR.

[Stephen Thompson]

Joining us today are our wonderful co hosts, Aisha Harris. Hey Aisha.

[Aisha Harris]

Hello Stephen.

[Stephen Thompson]

It is a pleasure. Also Glenn Weldon. Hey Glenn, Shut up.

[Glenn Weldon]

Leave me alone. I'll be in my room. See, I'm 15. 15 is the joke there. That's the joke I did just then.

[Stephen Thompson]

Seconds ago we are sullen teens.

[Linda Holmes]

Love it.

[Stephen Thompson]

This is how this episode is gonna play out for each of us. Our producer, Liz Metzger, found a piece of tape from on the show. Then we'll see how that clip has aged. Like this clip from our very first what's Making Us Happy segment with our pal and founding host, Trey Graham.

[Glenn Weldon]

I'm really just falling in love, Seriously, for the first time with Netflix Instant Streaming. I stopped paying for cable a few months ago, and it used to bother.

[Stephen Thompson]

Me a little bit, but there's so.

[Glenn Weldon]

Much now on the Netflix that I.

[Aisha Harris]

Can just get, oh, wow, this is.

[Linda Holmes]

How old this show is.

[Stephen Thompson]

Netflix.

[Linda Holmes]

Who knew people still referred to it as Netflix Instant Streaming? Yeah, because it was somewhat new.

[Glenn Weldon]

Me, Instagram tech pioneer, who knew that.

[Stephen Thompson]

This show would be such a treasure trove of old takes.

[Linda Holmes]

We love you, Trey.

[Stephen Thompson]

We do love Trey. And, hey, he was right about Netflix Instant Streaming.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes, he was.

[Stephen Thompson]

Now, Linda Holmes, you and I created Pop Culture Happy Hour in the summer of 2010 while drinking beers in my living room.

[Linda Holmes]

True.

[Stephen Thompson]

So this clip is from one of our earliest shows. October 2010, to be exact.

[Linda Holmes]

I'm not a big horror movie fan.

[Glenn Weldon]

I hear you.

[Linda Holmes]

I am a scary movie fan to a degree, but definitely not grisly horror.

[Glenn Weldon]

I mean, has that changed much?

[Stephen Thompson]

I was gonna say that feels like that's still somewhat true. You have definitely done a fair bit of work.

[Aisha Harris]

Have you been on Linda's Journey recently? Come on now.

[Linda Holmes]

So I think what happened is, you know, a friend of mine recently quoted his wife to me saying, you reach a certain age and your life either gets substantially bigger or substantially smaller. And so it's important to remain open to changing your mind about things and all that stuff, because this is what I used to say. I used to say, I like a scary movie, but I don't like things that are. But then I would be like, well, but I like Die Hard, and that's, like, very bloody. And then, like, I saw John Wick, and I was like, well, I like John Wick, and that's extremely brutal. So what exactly is going on? And I started to. Sometimes because of this show, I started to see horror movies that I otherwise probably would not have seen. What I have learned is that this was not really true. It's not true that I'm not a horror movie person. It's that there are specific subparts of horror that I don't want anything to do. But I've gotten more and more discerning about what those things are, and it took me a while to refine this until I was saying what I really mean. I don't like incredibly bleak horror where the monsters win.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah.

[Linda Holmes]

So, like, there is a subgenre of like home invasion horror where gradually just everybody gets killed. That kind of thing. Just. I don't want that. But being more open to this idea and of course, spending a lot of time around not only you guys, but also a lot of our panelists, Jordan Crucciola, that would specifically shout out Jordan Crucciola. Yes, yes. Has really gotten me to think more deeply about this kind of thing. And now I consider myself to be a horror movie person. In many cases, just sub pieces of it are not my speed. But as we tape this, I've done two horror movies this week, and so it's like, I do it now. It's all good. So, yeah, I have outgrown this take, I am happy to say. Or at least I have narrowed it down a lot because. Yeah, gory. No, but y' all know how much I loved Fight or Flight. And that's an incredibly bloody movie. That is an incredibly bloody movie. So, you know, would you say that.

[Stephen Thompson]

What you've experienced isn't necessarily like, I love gory movies so much as, like, I've learned to embrace violence.

[Linda Holmes]

Yes, exactly. No, it's. I mean, I have narrowed the lane that I consider not mine. That's what I would say.

[Aisha Harris]

Welcome to the dark side, Linda. It is nice over here.

[Glenn Weldon]

Yeah, the council's great. Absolutely.

[Stephen Thompson]

I mean, there was a time Linda went for considerable run of this show where kind of by default I became the host who talked about Evil Dead Rise. Yeah, I've kind of been on a little bit of a similar journey, especially I think in part just kind of tapping into Jordan Cruciollo's incredible enthusiasm for horror.

[Linda Holmes]

Yeah. And your daughter's.

[Stephen Thompson]

And my daughter as well. Dad, have you ever seen a movie called the Human Centipede?

[Aisha Harris]

Oh, God.

[Linda Holmes]

I agree. I know you did do that. And as you can imagine, this is part of my long term plan to report.

[Aisha Harris]

But you know, I'm leaning more and.

[Stephen Thompson]

More into rom coms.

[Linda Holmes]

Yeah, sure, sure, sure.

[Stephen Thompson]

We're just doing a body switch. Freaky Friday stuff. The freakiest Friday. All right, thank you, Linda Holmes. Well, it looks like I'm up next. Okay, I'm gonna go a slightly different direction with my clip, which is from August of 2010, where we're kind of talking about cultural figures who have maybe fallen out of favor with the public. Has the turned on Jack Black, who.

[Linda Holmes]

You could argue, I think very Possibly.

[Stephen Thompson]

You could argue that Jack Black does the same schtick.

[Linda Holmes]

I think if you saw a trailer right now with Jack Black, it's very possible that you would see maybe not as extreme a reaction, but certainly a lot of people who would suddenly be like, oh, no, nevermind, I'm out.

[Glenn Weldon]

Well, you got in the background, you got Jesse Eisenberg as the thinking man's Michael Ceram sort of waiting in the wings. I don't think you have anybody like that for Jack Black.

[Stephen Thompson]

I think, actually, I'm gonna nominate Zach Galifianakis for.

[Glenn Weldon]

Really? That's a good point. That's an X for the next.

[Stephen Thompson]

If Galifianakis does a string of just obno annoying movies, I could see the audience turning on that guy. Oh, yeah. I mean, is Zach Galifianakis the new Robin Williams?

[Linda Holmes]

Well, certainly not yet. Certainly not yet.

[Stephen Thompson]

Is he tomorrow's Robin Williams?

[Linda Holmes]

That's a good question. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Aisha Harris]

What a time.

[Glenn Weldon]

All right. Go tiptoeing through that minefield for us, won't you, Steven?

[Linda Holmes]

Well, and I feel like we should clarify. We were talking about the phenomenon of audiences kind of turning on people that they had previously enjoyed.

[Stephen Thompson]

I think one of the people we were talking about was M. Night Shyamalan.

[Linda Holmes]

Yes.

[Stephen Thompson]

And the experience of going to the movies and seeing the trailer for an M. Night Shyamalan movie. And when the name M. Night Shyamalan came up, the audience laughed. And so we were kind of talking at the time about figures who have reached an audience saturation point where the audience is sick of their crap. I decided, well, I think that's where audiences are with Jack Black. And that was based on the extremely chilly critical and commercial reception to the 2009 movie Year One. Ooh, boy, that was Jack Black. And Michael Cera saw it, hated it, and so many people hated it. And it's so interesting in terms of, like, what makes this such a bad take, I think, is this idea that the career arc of a movie actor is a simple bell curve where you become more and more popular until people start to get sick of you, and then you become less and less popular. And that's really not what happens. You know, it's sort of an overly simple take. Jack Black was kind of at that little bit of a low ebb in his career, not only with year one, you know, like, he was in, like, that Gulliver's Travels movie, Gulliver's Travels, that Gulliver's Travels movie, Gulliver's Travels, but Like, it seemed like people were tiring of him. But the fact of the matter is, actors tend to get a lot of swings at the pinata if they're lucky.

[Linda Holmes]

If they're lucky.

[Stephen Thompson]

And Jack Black was certainly in a position to grinding out movies to the point we're at now where Jack Black is kind of one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood. You know, he was in the Minecraft movie this year that made hundreds of millions of dollars. So, like, the audiences, maybe they needed a little break from Jack Black. But it's very interesting to kind of look at that take as a snapshot of history of, like, everybody's tired of Jack Black, when in fact, no, Jack Black made a bad movie or two.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah, yeah. And then Bernie, the Richard Linklater movie, came out not too long after that.

[Stephen Thompson]

Which he's very good.

[Aisha Harris]

Sometimes people do get oversaturated on certain performers and it takes time for them to kind of dig themselves out of that hole, some more than others. And I also think, like, to some extent, your observation wasn't unfounded, Steven. It's just it was an of the moment take. And of course, now we see he's doing perfectly fine. Great, even perhaps more than he was back then.

[Linda Holmes]

Yeah, well. And I think also, like, if you go back to a lot of people first noticed him in High Fidelity with John Cusack. And I think if you look at High Fidelity and you look at him in High Fidelity, you don't necessarily look at that and think, I see a long 40 or 50 year career of doing that. You know what I mean? And so I think it took other things. It took him doing like School of Rock, which has a little bit more of a fully rounded person, doing the holiday, the rom com.

[Stephen Thompson]

Doing a lot of voice acting.

[Linda Holmes]

Yeah, doing a lot of voice acting, doing Bernie, doing all this kind of stuff to kind of get past what the initial kind of thing seemed to be.

[Glenn Weldon]

Right. But this is still a phenomenon. I mean, we still get glutted on certain performers. I would argue that we are living in kind of the immediate aftermath of a James Corden glut. And he used to be in everything. You look around, I don't see him anywhere. I worry, and I sincerely worry that.

[Aisha Harris]

Pedro Pascal people, I'm wondering that too.

[Glenn Weldon]

We are reaching a saturation point.

[Linda Holmes]

Well, you're already getting the jokes about how he's in everything, which are often the precursor to the complaints that he's in everything.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, and like so many cultural phenomena, you can't discount the awesome power of coincidence.

[Linda Holmes]

Right.

[Stephen Thompson]

These people probably made this glut of films over the course of a number of years. And then because of a variety of factors, they all kind of came out at the same time, where you suddenly find yourself juggling four James Corden projects and then he's gone for five years. It's not even necessarily part of James Corden saying, I need to go away for a while. It's just that all those films happen to come out at the same time.

[Linda Holmes]

Right. And I would also note, by the way, in passing, that one of the people that Glenn mentioned during that conversation was Jesse Eisenberg. And I think the same thing in some ways happened with Jesse Eisenberg, which is he started doing some different kinds of things, which helped kind of get over that hump of people being like, I've seen this guy. I've seen what this guy does. And now you get him in stuff like real pain and, you know, those kinds of things that are not quite doing the Social Network thing that I think for a while was the whole kind of picture of him.

[Stephen Thompson]

And Zach Galifianakis is in the Lilo and Stitch remake.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes, he was.

[Linda Holmes]

Good for Zach Galifianakis.

[Stephen Thompson]

All right, well, that was not my hottest take. Aisha Harris. Now, Aisha, you started appearing on Pop Culture Happy Hour in 2016. You became a full time Pop Culture Happy hour host in 2020. We thought we would split the difference and play a clip from April of 2018.

[Aisha Harris]

Maybe I'm being hyperbolic here, but I feel like to some extent there is no precedent for Beyonce and how much she continues to just keep getting better and better this late in her career and still stay relevant. Obviously, there have been other artists before her who, you know, still turned out great performances in their later careers. Still.

[Stephen Thompson]

She's 36. Yeah.

[Aisha Harris]

But she's been around for 20 years now. It's Jesse Child, first album, came out in 97, I think. So she's been around for 20 years.

[Linda Holmes]

It's true. So, yes.

[Aisha Harris]

All right. She has. Now it's almost 30.

[Glenn Weldon]

I don't see a hot take there. I see a pretty cold take.

[Linda Holmes]

I'm glad to know we're marking seven years of giving Aisha a hard time about being young and us being old.

[Aisha Harris]

I don't know if this is so much a hot take as it's just a very on brand for me take. I agree that Beyonce kept getting better. Renaissance might be her if I were to put hope. So to be clear, we were talking about Homecoming. Amazing Coachella performance that had to get Originally had to be postponed because she got pregnant and then she turned it out and she. It's one of the greatest things ever committed to video. So she did that. She did Renaissance. I will say Calboe Carter, really, Calbore Carter is probably one of my least favorite things that Beyonce's ever done as a whole. There's some bops, but I don't think it's firing all cylinders. But Act 3 is coming. As of this moment, there are rumors it could be a rock album. I stand by this take. I still think she has surpassed most pop stars in her ability to absolutely continue to sort of, if not completely reinvent herself, at least reimagine. And, like, she still seems to care. She hasn't checked out. And I think it's so easy for that to happen and so easy for especially women, unfortunately, to quote, unquote, age out of being a pop star. Madonna has successfully done it, but so few others have been able to do that. And Beyonce, I'm still always looking forward to what she's doing, even if Kyle Rick Harder was not my thing.

[Stephen Thompson]

I do think it's interesting that you bring up the example of Madonna as somebody who has done it successfully because I do feel like Madonna did hit a point where she stopped trying to one up herself.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes. Yeah.

[Stephen Thompson]

Like, she managed to continue churning out records that were successful, but it wasn't necessarily like, upping the ante on something on the stuff that came before. And I do think Beyonce did kind of reach a point where, like, how do you get bigger than homecoming? How do you get bigger than bringing in all these marching bands from HBCUs and doing this career retrospective that is this incredibly dynamic live performance now? She seems to be in kind of her genre exercise phase.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah.

[Stephen Thompson]

And in some ways it does still feel like she's able to one up herself. She did win album of the year at the Grammys this year. But, like, there is this question of when do you stop trying to one up yourself? Because there does come a point at which it's basically impossible.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah. Yeah. I also think, you know, Beyonce is not the type of person who would ever not try to one up herself. She's just like. She's just way too try hard for that. And she owns it.

[Linda Holmes]

She also seems to be a person who's very tolerant of the experience of being spectacularly famous, which not everybody is. Some people, I think, genuinely tire of a certain level of attention after a certain period of time, and you see a little bit of pulling back from them. And she seems to have a very high tolerance for being one of the most famous people in the world, one of the most scrutinized people in the world. She seems to have found a way to kind of. I mean, I think she achieves a lot of privacy for the amount of, you know, fame that she has.

[Aisha Harris]

A billion dollars will get you that kind of privacy.

[Linda Holmes]

Exactly. That's what I mean is I think she's figured out a way to leverage her money into a life that is. Manage. That prevents her from being like, I can't do this anymore. Which for some people, I think is one of the reasons why they may eventually pull back a little bit.

[Glenn Weldon]

Yeah. So let's see. Linda, your clip showed you evolving, I would say, in your tastes. Steven, you were wrong. But that's just a kind of, as you say, it's kind of a dice roll because it's a snapshot of a time. Right. And Aisha on brand. But I think you'd agree that you're take has nuanced because of time and because of the different stuff that she's put out. And so that's interesting. I wonder if any of these takes.

[Aisha Harris]

I wonder if.

[Stephen Thompson]

Glenn, you are setting up some sort of segue to your claim.

[Glenn Weldon]

I wonder if any of these takes are gonna prove to be absolutely right then and now. All right, I'm not gonna argue that building a costume with your parents is not a great memory, but all y' all are not seeing this from the kids perspective. You're seeing this through the scrim of adulthood. And look at all these wonderful memories that we build.

[Linda Holmes]

Yeah.

[Glenn Weldon]

This may be true for other costumes, but for a superhero costume, it is not about dressing as Iron Man.

[Stephen Thompson]

It is about being Iron Man.

[Glenn Weldon]

And every inch, every nanosecond you get away from that perfect ideal is a little death. So what needs to happen, Ayn Rand?

[Stephen Thompson]

No, no, no, no, no.

[Glenn Weldon]

What has to happen is you have to get as close as possible. So when I'm six years old, I go to my mom and I say, batman, I'm gonna be Batman this year. And she says to me, well, we'll take your brother's old gray sweatpants and his gray sweatshirt, and we marker a bat on your chest. I said, we'll do what now? Excuse me. Here's the thing. I am still right. I still would not have seated the ground that I did at the top of that clip where I said, oh, building a costume suit with your parents is a great memory. I don't believe that now. I didn't believe that then.

[Aisha Harris]

Sorry, what was the context?

[Linda Holmes]

So the topic here was Halloween and Halloween costumes. And Glenn took the position that if your kid wants to be Iron man, you just go to CVS and you buy him the little thing that has, like, the plastic cape and the little plastic mask with the thing, because.

[Glenn Weldon]

No, no, no, no, no, no. That's not what I was talking about.

[Linda Holmes]

Because there was a Target ad at the time that showed a mom making an Iron man costume for her kid out of, like, you know, little push lights and all kinds of things that she had bought. And she put together homemade Iron man costumes. And I took the position that the homemade Iron man costume was more made with love, soulful, meaningful, and soulful. Glenn took the position that the chatgpt of Halloween costumes was the way to go in order to satisfy your child.

[Glenn Weldon]

Okay, Aisha, what you missed there? Before that clip, there was a conversation where all three of my fellow hosts were just. Dewy eyed is the right word. They were all, I'm bumfuzzled. Bumfuzzled, I say, by the scrim of nostalgia where they were just talking about, oh, when I see a little person come up to my door, and it's clear that it was homemade. It's made with love. And that's wrong then, it's wrong now. That story about Batman was true. And because I rejected my mom's offer, probably not kindly, we went to Woolworths and we bought what Linda is talking about, which was a Ben Cooper Batman costume. Now, if you're too young to remember, Ben Cooper costumes were basically vinyl smocks. They were terrible. And the masks had a little slit where your mouth was, and you couldn't help but put your tongue against it. And on the chest, the word Batman on the mask had the word Batman, which is not how he rolls. But it was so much closer to the target, closer to the bone than its sweatshirt. I would be able to look in the mirror, and my imagination would be able to bridge the gap between what I saw in the mirror and Batman. And today, I'm even more right now, because maybe not at a cbs, maybe not at at a spirit Halloween store that used to be a Radio Shack, but online, there is a thriving cosplay cottage industry.

[Aisha Harris]

Etsy. Etsy is big for that.

[Glenn Weldon]

They get it down. They are exacting. And again, I think I grew up in the wrong time. I mean, I envy these kids today.

[Aisha Harris]

Although those costumes are, like, a hundred times more expensive than they were back then.

[Glenn Weldon]

Commit to the bit, I say.

[Linda Holmes]

My mother made me a Florence Nightingale costume with a blue dress and an apron with a red cross on it. My mother made me a fairy costume. And my mother made my dress for the bicentennial in 1976 when I was a little teeny thing. She made my little thing with the puffy sleeves and the little hat. The little like white puffy hat. So listen, I feel like we need.

[Aisha Harris]

To share these photos. I want to see these photos.

[Glenn Weldon]

But Linda, if you wanted to go as Iron man, she couldn't source the Kevlar. You know, there's no place she could get that kind of stuff.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah, my family split the difference. We didn't. Well, my parents were not making me costumes and we did not have Spirit Halloween or Woolworths. But Party City was where we got all of our costumes. I agree with your take, Glenn. I'm with you. If I had been on that episode, which I was not, I would have absolutely been on your side. I'm sorry I'm not Dewey eyed about this.

[Glenn Weldon]

Exactly.

[Linda Holmes]

They don't have Florence Nightingale costumes at Party City.

[Aisha Harris]

They did have nurse costumes for sure.

[Linda Holmes]

Not a generic nurse. I was Florence Nightingale.

[Glenn Weldon]

I don't think Florence Nightingale is copyrighted. I don't think they have to say war nurse.

[Linda Holmes]

I was Florence Nightingale. Tm.

[Stephen Thompson]

I'm sure, Glenn, you would agree. You were right then. You're right now.

[Aisha Harris]

Uh huh.

[Glenn Weldon]

There we go.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes. Hear, hear.

[Glenn Weldon]

And you right now, right there. How about that? All right.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, we want to know your early Pop Culture Happy Hour memories. We want to know your early hot takes. Find [e-mail] PCHH that brings us to the end of our show. Aisha Harris, Linda Holmes, Glenn Weldon, thanks so much for being here.

[Glenn Weldon]

Thank you. Happy anniversary.

[Aisha Harris]

See you in 15 more years, hopefully.

[Linda Holmes]

He insulted my mother, but that's okay.

[Stephen Thompson]

And just a reminder that signing up for Pop Culture Happy Hour plus is a great way to support our show and public radio. And you get to listen to all of our episodes sponsor free. So please go find out more at plus.npr.org happyhour or visit the link in our show notes. This episode was produced by Liz Metzger and Mike Castle 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 Stephen Thompson and we will see you all next time.

[Linda Holmes]

Glenn was right there.

[Jake Kalik]

This message comes from Bombas. Socks, underwear and T shirts are the top three requested clothing items by people experiencing homelessness. Bombas makes all three and donates one item for every item purchased. Go to bombas.com NPR and use code NPR for 20% off this message comes from Mint Mobile. Mint Mobile took what's wrong with wireless and made it right. They offer premium wireless plans for less, and all plans include high speed data, unlimited talk and text and nationwide coverage. See for [e-mail] Switch this message comes from NPR sponsor Viori featuring the performance jogger. Visit viori.com NPR for 20% off your first purchase on any U.S. orders over $75 and free returns. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions.