The Long Walk And What's Making Us Happy

Summary

Pop Culture Happy Hour – Episode Summary

Episode Title: The Long Walk and What's Making Us Happy
Release Date: September 12, 2025
Host: Glen Weldon (with guests Kristen Meinzer and Rihanna Cruz)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into The Long Walk, a new dystopian film adapted from Stephen King’s earliest novel, examining its effectiveness both as an adaptation and a piece of pop culture. The discussion ranges from the film's tone, characters, and world-building to its emotional impact (or lack thereof) on the hosts. The episode closes with the show's regular "What's Making Us Happy" segment, offering music, books, and a dose of Werner Herzog on Instagram.

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Main Discussion: The Long Walk (00:13–13:52)

Film Premise

• Synopsis: In a grim vision of America, teenage boys from each state walk at a steady pace in a televised competition—if they falter, they are killed. The last survivor wins immense rewards.
• Comparison: Described as “literally Stephen King meets The Hunger Games,” with a minimalist yet brutal premise.
• Director: Francis Lawrence, known for The Hunger Games films.

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Host and Guest Reactions

Rihanna Cruz – Enthusiastic Embrace (02:13)

• Genre Love: Rihanna highlights her fondness for “person-stuck-in-place, forced-to-compete” films, praising The Long Walk as “a formidable entry into that canon.”
• Quote: “I love when a B level genre movie is written and marketed like a tentpole A list movie… I thought The Long Walk was really engaging. I was wrapped the entire time, well paced, no pun intended.” (02:59, Rihanna Cruz)
• Character Archetypes: Embraces the use of character archetypes because of the high body count: “It makes sense to lean into those stock character types because they’re going to die so fast.” (07:16, Rihanna Cruz)
• World-building: Prefers the focus on the ‘gameplay’ over deeper world exposition: “Maybe it’s like an expectation thing because, like, I don’t really want world building. I want the kids to die.” (09:21, Rihanna Cruz)

Kristen Meinzer – Lukewarm, with Critique (03:02)

• Premise Appeal / Execution Disappointment: As an “avid walker,” Kristen was initially intrigued by the concept but found the film too shallow: “The idea of one of my favorite hobbies being turned into a way to die…was fantastic. But I also felt it didn’t go far enough or deep enough. Some of the characters were more caricature than human.” (03:02, Kristen Meinzer)
• Marketing Mismatch: Wanted lighter YA treatment instead of heavy R-rated drama, believing that would have set better expectations.
• Wanted More: Desired more character development and creative walking scenarios: “At one point we get an uphill and at two points it rains. But I think they could have done so much more.” (07:21, Kristen Meinzer)
• Incomplete Payoffs: Noted unsatisfying narrative setups: “There are a few Chekhov's guns that are introduced that never go off. Oh, that bugged me.” (08:29, Kristen Meinzer)

Glen Weldon – Openly Disdainful (04:02)

• Strong Dislike: Glen is firmly opposed, deeming the film “ludicrously self important” and filled with clumsy, “ham fisted” emotional manipulation: “To call it ham fisted does not even begin—like these are some glazed honey baked spiral hams.” (04:02, Glen Weldon)
• Comparison to War Movie Clichés: Criticizes cardboard characters: “That is every single character in what I found to be a miserable, cheaply sentimental movie. This dialogue is so bad, so wafer thin...” (05:16, Glen Weldon)
• Writing vs. Acting: Praises the acting (“I can’t fault the acting. I can fault the writing in a big way”) (12:28, Glen Weldon) but says the screenplay fails to make him care.
• Dismissal of World-Building: Believes the film teases deeper world elements but fails to deliver: “We need to dig deeper if you’re gonna introduce it, or just don’t introduce it.” (08:29, Glen Weldon)

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Key Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Glen on character deaths: “Whenever a character got murdered, I danced a little bit in my seat because it meant they were gonna stop talking.” (05:16)
• Kristen on scenario creativity: “What would it have been like if you can’t see each other anymore because the grass is so high?” (07:21)
• Rihanna on archetypes: “I don’t need character development…they’re gonna get shot in the face in like 20 minutes.” (07:16)
• Kristen on treadmill screenings: “There are screenings of this movie where you literally walk at the same pace as the characters on screen or you’re kicked out.” (12:34)
• Judy Greer cameo: “Judy Greer got done so dirty by this movie.” (11:39, Glen Weldon)

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Segment: What's Making Us Happy This Week (15:58–19:20)

Rihanna Cruz (16:05)

• Pick: Andy Cohen’s Kiki Lounge (Sirius XM)
• Why: Andy Cohen’s cultivated, genre-bending playlist “synthesizes my music taste…as long as it’s gay music and it’s good.”
• Quote: “That’s how I feel about Andy Cohen’s Kiki Lounge.” (16:53)

Kristen Meinzer (17:12)

• Pick: "Fever: The Complete History of Saturday Night Fever" by Margo Donoghue
• Why: Detailed oral history, behind-the-scenes revelations about the classic film and its impact on pop and New York culture.
• Quote: “It reveals everything that went wrong in the making of the film. A lot went very, very wrong.” (17:12)

Glen Weldon (18:11)

• Pick: Werner Herzog joining Instagram (@wernerherzog_official)
• Why: Surreal pleasure in seeing the legendary, eccentric director enter influencer territory, complete with “a steak the size of a mid sized SUV.”
• Quote: “This is a man who is on record as saying nature vicious to kill us all…Although happiness is a mewling child’s folly of distractions and cold reality.” (18:11, 19:19)

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Tone & Atmosphere

• Witty, candid, sometimes snarky—characteristic of PCHH.
• Glen is particularly acerbic and theatrical in his disdain, Rihanna is energetic and genre-savvy, and Kristen is thoughtful with a pragmatic edge.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Overview & Content Warning: 00:13
• Introduction to the film: 01:09
• Rihanna’s first impression: 02:13
• Kristen’s initial thoughts: 03:02
• Glen’s critique: 04:02
• Debate on archetypes vs. characterization: 07:16
• World-building discussion: 08:29
• Emotional resonance debate: 10:24
• Judy Greer, acting, and practical walking logistics: 11:39–13:09
• “What’s Making Us Happy” segment: 15:58

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Takeaways

• The Long Walk divides opinion sharply: some see it as a compelling genre exercise, others as shallow melodrama.
• Acting is generally praised, but writing and depth are criticized.
• The “What's Making Us Happy” picks span music, film history, and social media oddities—a quirky, joyful end to a somber review.

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Notable Quotes

“To call it ham fisted does not even begin—like these are some glazed honey baked spiral hams.”
— Glen Weldon (04:02)

“I don’t need character development…they’re gonna get shot in the face in like 20 minutes.”
— Rihanna Cruz (07:16)

“You’re kind of a cartoon, almost not a fully fledged character, which is a shame.”
— Kristen Meinzer (11:22)

“Although happiness is a mewling child’s folly of distractions and cold reality.”
— Glen Weldon (19:19)

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For more recommendations and pop culture commentary, visit NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter: npr.org/popculturenewsletter

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Just a heads up, we recorded this episode last week before both the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk and a school shooting in Colorado. We discuss gun violence in this episode, so we wanted to give you a warning. The new film the Long Walk takes place in a dystopian America in which one young man from each state competes in a televised event in which they must walk at a steady pace until they can't. And when they can't, they're killed. The one who survives gets unimaginable wealth and one wish. It's literally Stephen King meets the Hunger Games. It's based on the first novel King ever wrote.

[C]

And.

[B]

And it's directed by Francis Lawrence, who knows his way around dystopian films starring children. Having directed a bunch of the Hunger Games movies. I'm Glen Weldon. And joining me today on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour is Kristen Meinzer. She co hosts the nightly on Hatch. Hey, Kristen.

[D]

Hi, Glen.

[B]

Hello. Also with us is freelance music and culture journalist Rihanna Cruz. Hey, Rihanna.

[C]

Hey, Glenn. Happy to be here.

[B]

Happy to have you. In the Long Walk. Cooper Hoffman plays Ray, a young man selected to compete in the Long Walk, a deadly annual event that pits 50 young men against each other for survival. He's got his own reasons for competing. His competitors, some of whom become close friends, some of whom become bitter rivals, include Peter, an endlessly compassionate, wise beyond his years, young man played by David Johnson. Come on, man. Let's be musketeers. How the are we gonna be musketeers?

[D]

There's four of us.

[B]

Come on now. We stick together to where all that's left. How about that? All for one, one for all. No. And again. I need to hear it louder. All for one and one for all. Hell, yeah. It's all overseen by the Major, a sinister military official played by Mark Hamill. As the Long walk proceeds, the boys falter and are murdered one by one by one. Friendships form and literally die over and over again. The Long Walk is in theaters now. Rihanna, what'd you think? Did you go on this Long Walk?

[C]

I did, and I frankly loved it. I think it'd be a slam dunk no matter what. For me, considering the concept, because my favorite genre and movie is like person stuck in place, forced to do things or they die. This is a formidable entry into that canon. And I love when a B level genre movie, Right. Is like written and marketed like a tentpole A list movie. And I think this is the case, and usually is the case with most Stephen King adaptations. But I thought the Long Walk was really engaging. I was wrapped the entire time, well paced, no pun intended. I thought it was really great. I enjoyed it. But this is my bag, so it was a good entry into that bag.

[B]

All right. Kristen, was this your bag?

[D]

It should have been. I loved the premise. I loved how simple it was. The act of walking until you can't walk anymore. I'm an avid walker, a walking enthusiast. I have walked up to 40 miles a day before. I've walked to the airport. I've walked five New York boroughs in a day. I am a very avid walker. I love walking. So the idea of one of my favorite hobbies being turned into a way to die, yes, I am there for it. This sounds fantastic. But I also felt it didn't go far enough or deep enough. And some of the characters were more caricature than human to me. I think I would have felt differently if this was marketed not as a tentpole movie, but if it was instead marketed as YA and if it was released as a PG film rather than a rated R film. I think I may have gone in with different expectations. You know, I would have thought, oh, this is a great teen movie. But because it was marketed the way it was, I think I just expected more of it.

[B]

Okay. You know, sometimes we arrange ourselves along a spectrum, sometimes we don't. Today is a spectrum day. I hated this a whole hell of a lot. So I'm gonna say my piece and then I'm gonna sit back. Cause I think listeners want to hear a little bit more nuanced takes than I'm prepared to bring. I found this a ludicrously self important, self serious. And to call it ham fisted does not even begin like these are some glazed honey baked spiral hams. And I thought this was in the end, just a howlingly failed attempt at emotional manipulation that feels like it was written by a teenager that feels like it is Juvenalia. I just thought it was embarrassing, this movie embarrassingly thin and broad at the same time. Mostly because you know how in war movies there's always that one character who's the fresh faced recruit and he's like, hey, buddy, look at this. This is a photo of my gal back home. Oh, and her name's Betty sue, buddy. And she's a swell. She's a looker. Right, buddy? And when I get back, I'm gonna make an honest woman of a buddy. And we're gonna get married and we're gonna start a sorghum farm or whatever. Cause everybody loves sorghum. I don't know. And we're gonna have kids and we're gonna go on picnics. Oh, buddy, there's this one place. There's a willow tree and a crick and his face gets blown off. Right?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That is every single character in what I found to be a miserable, cheaply sentimental movie. This dialogue is so bad, so wafer thin that whenever a character got murdered, I danced a little bit in my seat because it meant they were gonna stop talking.

[C]

All right, so I hear you and I really respect your take, Glenn. I think you're onto something. But what I will say is that I think your mileage may vary with the general concept of the Long Walk. Right. Like, I put in my work on like the To Be archives, You know what I mean? Like, I'm watching, like absolute filth of, you know, horror B movie game movies. Okay. And yeah, I think this movie does the archetypes and it doesn't really reinvent the wheel. But what it does, in my opinion, it does well. And I also like Stephen King. I really love a Stephen King adaptation. This movie reminded me a lot of the Mist, which I also really love the way that it's made and constructed and written and I don't know, I think like, the Long Walk is bleak. And because there's so many characters, I think you have to lean into archetypes or else they all blend together. So when I was watching, the characters felt distinct and I knew them already because they're archetypal so that when they die, it's like, oh, we're losing the sweet eyed writer guy, you know, or we're losing the headstrong, you know, whatever. This, that and the third. Like, it makes sense to lean into those stock character types because they're going to die so fast. You know, the whole movie is about people dying. Like, I don't need character development, you know what I mean? Like, I don't need them to have really nuanced perspectives on the world. Cause they're gonna get shot in the face in like 20 minutes, you know?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. I don't agree with you, but I hear you. How about you, Kristen?

[D]

I don't totally agree with you either because I think a little bit more development would have been good. We get showboating and vulnerability in waves. We just kind of get that Back and forth a lot with some, you know, archetypes, or I would say, caricatures. And also, in addition to wanting the characters to be developed more, I think they could have done more variation with what the walking scenarios were. At one point we get an uphill and at two points it rains. But I think they could have done so much more. Like, when I'm doing my very long walks, sometimes I end up in a wheat field where the grass is up to my neck, and sometimes I end up crossing over water at certain points. And I thought, oh, what would it have been like if you can't see each other anymore because the grass is so high? What would it have been like if there was a surface that was hard to walk on? And I just think they could have gone further with a lot of this and it stayed so simple. Oh, and I also have to say there are a few Chekhov's guns that are introduced that never go off. Oh, that bugged me. I wanted these Chekhov's guns to do something.

[B]

I mean, where the film. I maybe could have gone deeper and it would have resonated a little bit with me is this film does faint toward world building. I mean, the fact that things are so that every kid in America wants to go on this walk, that's something we could have dug into that. The notion that there are things you can wish for if you win and things you can't. Why, that might be. But even then, you know, the backstory we get of one kid is like, my dad used to read me poetry. And of course that was forbidden. Like, that's not enough. That's placeholder. That's first thought. We need to dig deeper if you're gonna introduce it or just don't introduce it. Or we could stay here with these cardboard characters mouthing these one dimensional summations of their personalities.

[C]

I hear you on the world, though. I think that maybe that's something that the movie never intends to offer though.

[B]

Right.

[C]

You know, because I think the point of the movie is to focus and zero in on the concept of this walk. Like, it starts when it begins and it ends when it's over. There's no external context. There's a couple flashback scenes that appear when the character is like, sleeping while walking. Which I don't even know how that happened, but sure. And I think most of the context is built in implication. And maybe it's like an expectation thing because, like, I don't really want world building. I want the kids to die. I don't really know how Else to put it, you know what I mean? Like, and check, like, I don't really want to know the general state of the country at the time. I think it's told really well through implication. That was my issue with a lot of the Hunger Games movies, is that it's too much external and not enough like internal gameplay. So I think like you can synthesize what you want out of what they give you. You know what I mean?

[B]

That's true. Well, let me ask you both this. I'm alone in my little island here of hating this movie so much because I read a lot of reviews that call it harrowing and emotional. So Rihanna, you're talking about like the gameplay, the bloodlust. Did it hit you emotionally? Because in my opinion, a lot of these emotions are the cheapest, soapiest melodrama. They don't arise out of like real events depicted. They're not real. They're knockoffs. They're teemo emotions. It's melodrama for 14 year old boys. But if this hit you, it hit you. Did it hit you?

[C]

You know, I mean, I wasn't like bawling in my seat, but I mean, I think in terms of shock value, maybe the emotions landed for me. I think the larger melodramatic moments I was not super sold on, but I think the movie kind of compensated for that with being very stark and bleak in terms of its gore and what they were showing.

[B]

Kristen, how about you?

[D]

Emotionally, I just wasn't attached enough to these characters. Like I said, it was almost like children's books where it's like you're kind of a cartoon, almost not a fully fledged character, which is a shame. If the characters were more when their flesh gets blown off, I probably would have felt something more deep.

[B]

And some of my ire for this film is coming from its use or lack of use of Judy Greer. Judy Greer got done so dirty by this movie.

[C]

She came on screen and me and my partner looked at each other at exactly the same time and said, Judy Greer's in this movie.

[D]

I love Judy Greer.

[C]

I mean, in the few scenes that she has, I thought she really nailed the like desperate mother action.

[B]

She's gonna do it. She's Judy Greer. She can't not.

[C]

But yeah, exactly, exactly. I also thought Kupmer Hoffman was really, in terms of the acting. There's a few moments where he does mannerisms where he's like grabbing the straps of his backpack and he's like a spitting image of his father, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Like I was watching that And I was kind of taken aback, you know, not to compare him to his dad. Cause I feel like people do that all the time. But he's really great and holds his own in this, in my opinion.

[B]

Yeah, I can't fault the acting. I can fault the writing in a big way. I can't fault the acting.

[C]

Understood.

[D]

You know, I wonder how differently we all would have felt if we would have gone to one of the treadmill. Cause there are screenings of this movie where you literally walk at the same pace as the characters on screen or you're kicked out. The characters are not allowed to go any slower than 3 miles per hour. And I would have loved to go on to one of those screenings where every treadmill is set at 3 miles per hour. And maybe we would have felt differently then about the movie. Maybe.

[B]

Yeah, I would have stopped and be kicked out.

[D]

Glenn's like, I would have turned off the treadmill and left the theater.

[C]

I think the 3 mph is also one kind of like hoofing it, you know, it's not a lazy walk, but I'm honestly really taken aback by how these people are able to sleep while walking. I mentioned that earlier, but, like, I don't know how you could do that. I don't know how these people are pooping while walking. That really got me the whole time. I wouldn't be able to do it. Let me just say that, yeah, there's.

[B]

A lot of pooping. There's not a lot of chafing. This movie should be called chafing.

[C]

The movies so much chafing.

[D]

Also, none of them had proper walking shoes on.

[B]

Yeah, there's also that maybe in this.

[D]

Dystopian future, they no longer make hokas. I don't know.

[B]

All right, well, we're gonna take a short break, then we'll recommend what's making us happy this week, so stick around.

[E]

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[A]

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[B]

Now it is time for a favorite segment of this week and every week. What is making us happy this week? Rhianna, what is making you happy this week?

[C]

All right, so this week there's so much new music out in the world and it kind of overwhelms me. And when I get overwhelmed, I turn to the radio. And lately I've been really enjoying this channel on Sirius XM called Andy Cohen's Kiki Lounge. And it's Andy Cohen's personally created radio station where he plays everything from Madonna hits from live albums, right? Like he plays stuff from the MDNA tour next to Grateful Dead, 20 minute long jam sessions next to Aretha Franklin covers. It's really great and kind of synthesizes my music taste where I kind of want to listen to whatever from so many genres, as long as it's like gay music and it's good. And that's how I feel about Andy Cohen's Kiki Lounge.

[B]

So I recommend that's great because gay music and good. It's, it's a spectrum. Well, it's more a Venn diagram with two, two big circles and a little bit.

[C]

Yeah, Y.

[B]

But thank you for that. That is Andy Cohen's Kiki Lounge. Thank you so much. Kristin, how about you? What is making you happy?

[D]

What's making me happy this week is a brand new book called the Complete History of Saturday Night Fever by Margot Donoghue. This is a book looking back on the iconic film almost 50 years later. Yes, it has been almost 50 years. And it interviews almost all the key players, from directors to choreographers to actors to costume designers. It reveals everything that went wrong in the making of the film. A lot went very, very wrong. Behind the scenes. It digs into the controversies, you know, all the people who took credit for teaching John Travolta how to dance, who really did teach John Travolta how to dance. The book digs into that. It's just a joy. It's great for lovers of film, it's great for lovers of music. It's great for anyone just curious about 1970s cultural history or New York history. So I highly recommend it. Again, that's Fever, the complete history. Saturday Night Fever by Margo Donahue.

[B]

Oh, that sounds fantastic. Thank you so much, Kristen. What's making me happy, I think is gonna make you both happy too. Cause I thought about you when it happened. The world changed on August 25th. You probably felt it. Werner is on the gram. On August 25, director Werner Herzog opened an Instagram account and it is really him. Werner Herzog, of course, is one of our greatest living directors and perhaps more importantly in this context, one of our greatest living weirdos. And he's out here making content. He's influencing not a lot so far, there's only a few posts. But this is a man who is on record as saying nature vicious to kill us all. And his first reel is of him standing over a grill grilling a steak the size of a mid sized suv. This steak, my God, it's big. And he says, I repulsed about work and my everyday things and children. His everyday things are not yours or my everyday things. So strap in. That is Werner Herzog, official on Instagram and that is what is making me happy this week. Although happiness is a mewling child's folly of distractions and cold reality.

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

And if you want links for what we recommended plus some more recommendations, sign up for our [e-mail] pop culturenewsletter. And that brings us to the end of our show and pass through possibly humanity. Rihanna Cruz, Kristin Meinzer, Takashirn for being here.

[D]

Thank you so much Glenn.

[C]

Thank you Glenn and Werner.

[B]

This episode was produced by Kali Rubin, Janae Morris and Mike Catsif and edited by our showrunner Jessica Reediana Lockerman provides our theme music and we are all the dancing organ grinder monkey doing a herky jerky jig of despair. Danka for listening to Pop Culture Happy hour from npr. I'm Glenn Felton. And and we'll see you all next week. Nature is death.

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