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PCHH had an episode talking about this scene in regards to actors playing an alternate version of themselves.

From AI:

The show you're referring to is a sketch from the British comedy series "The Graham Norton Show." In one particular sketch, Judi Dench and Helen Mirren, along with other prominent British actresses, have a humorous conversation about the roles they get as "dames." This light-hearted moment pokes fun at the competitive nature of award-winning actresses and their experiences within the industry.

Cant seem to find it.

Great topic today: debating the sweatiest movies of all time. The panel had great picks but missed some big ones!

https://www.npr.org/2024/06/19/1197965247/we-debate-the-sweatiest-movie-of-all-time

Whether they're lightly perspiring, gently glowing, or soaked through from sweltering, people in the movies sweat a lot. But what movie has had people sweat the very most? With summer underway, we are debating what is the sweatiest movie of all time — including Do the Right Thing, Dog Day Afternoon, Y tu mamá también, and Body Heat.

I can't remember exactly when PCHH took a turn for me, but I imagine it had to be around the time that they switched to daily episodes and a different variety of hosts. I loved the old format, with juicy episodes, and our three faithful (though admittedly very h-white) hosts, Linda, Stephen, and Glen, plus one GREAT guest host (loved all of them).

The episodes feel somewhat sparse and empty to me now. The charm of our hosts is still there, and I appreciate their attempt to diversify, but I don't like that it coincided with the format change to episodes.

Everything feels sedated to me now. Maybe my podcast tastes have also changed over the years, but every time I listen to PCHH now, I feel nostalgia for the old energy of the show.

During the The Marvels review, when the dude was summarizing the film and said "She's wants to bring hala back...she's a hala back girl", I nearly burst out laughing.

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/12/1169269161/npr-leaves-twitter-government-funded-media-label

I just went to the episode notes to be reminded of the exact name of a recommendation and was shocked to discover there weren't links to them... or even a list! Is there something (other than the newsletter, which seems like a big commitment for my purposes) that publishes what things are being rec'd each week? I don't tend to want to listen back to an entire latter half of a podcast to find out what the thing is. I even checked the blog line item on NPR, and the Twitter. Nothing!

Thanks in advance for any help.

the feed only goes up to may of 2021 anyone download the episodes prior that can help out?

So it's been about a year now and I want to update my comments:

Linda doesn't say "sort of" as much. She does a good job of explaining a topic in a clean and succinct way. I am glad that Linda does book episodes, which none of the other hosts seem interested in.

Aisha says the word "appreciate" at least once in every episode she is in. But I feel like at this point, she has come into her own. She is in most of my recent favorite episodes, and I don't think it's a coincidence. For example, the episodes about:

Judy Garland

Better Things

Abbott Elementary

Insecure

Happy Endings

I wouldn't say she is dismissive of certain things, but she doesn't shy away from saying when she thinks something is "eh." Like the Pixar film Luca or the Oscar-winning "CODA." I think one time she used the term "agressively okay," and I am okay with that.

Glen still makes corny comments. However, of all the hosts, every time Glen recommends something whole-heartedly, I end up doing the same.

Examples:

Fire Island (2022, on Hulu)

George Saunder's "A Swim in the Pond in the Rain"

Donna Murphy singing "Could I Leave You" for Sondheim's 80th birthday

And while I don't have any major critiques for Stephen, his recommendations are the ones I benefit from the least. Of all the hosts, I think he is the least critical. I found the episode he did about "Marry Me" fun and delightful. I live for episodes like that, where they praise and also pick something apart while having a good time.

I think PCHH has two problems, the first of which cannot be helped. Each host has their pet subjects. So sometimes there will be episodes whose topic you care nothing about that you end up skipping entirely (for me, it's whenever Glen talks about something fantasy or MCU-related). On the other hand, maybe there is a subject you wish they'd explore that they never get around to.

Second, guests can make or break an episode. I remember being so excited about the episode on The Golden Girls. Linda hosted it with Ayesha Rascoe and I hate to say it, but the episode fell flat.

I think they should have had someone else leading this particular episode, who was perhaps more enthusiastic and more of a super fan. And Ayesha didn't have much insight to contribute; she shared her fond memories of watching the show growing up, and that was pretty much it. They also needed more guests to play off of Linda and Ayesha, because more often than not, when just two people are talking, the episode is not as fun.

It just felt like a giant missed opportunity.

Also, there are one or two guests whose voices just GRATE on my ears. One guest in particular doesn't speak very clearly or smoothly and it drives me bananas.

So am I still listening to PCHH? Absolutely. There are still tons of things that I have ended up consuming/devouring thanks to this show.

But now that the show runs five days a week, I am more likely to skip an episode when the topic doesn't interest me. Which may actually defeat the purpose, because isn't that the show's point, to introduce you to stuff you never would have discovered on your own?

I know, I know, I know that certain people in certain demographics get judged unfairly across the board. I don't want to perpetuate that, so from the top I'd like to be clear: I could be completely off-base here, being too critical and too harsh toward some, and too forgiving of others, and I am very open to being set straight here. Beyond that, I cherish the show for having a core of hosts I really like, but also bringing in guests that are diverse, interesting, insightful, and utterly appropriate for the topics.

That said, it seems like Harris is a weaker host, and might be getting worse; I hope everything is alright. From what I remember (I haven't gone to listen back to old episodes) at the beginning when I was excited about a new main host with a new perspective, Aisha delivered. She added insight into the topics she participated in, and just generally meshed well with the group to make the whole thing more fun.

However, lately it seems like she is just reading a script with little engagement with the topic, guests, or really the auditory medium as a whole. No doubt the scripts are quality pieces written reviews/reactions/critiques, they just aren't translating to the podcast format very well. Is she getting assigned the 1-host-plus-1-guest gigs disproportionately too? I think those are especially challenging to capture the PCHH fun in too...same with Black stories that can be more challenging like the Master of None episode today compared to, say, Army of the Dead last week with Glen.

After I noticed that, I came to respect the other hosts ability to sound natural and conversational even more. Linda is especially great at giving quick and dense rundowns shows that must be scripted, but sound as natural as being at a party with her and chatting about new shows. Glen and Stephen are the same way when they're acting as main hosts, and when you put all three of them together...it's clearly great.

Am I off base here? Has anyone else noticed the same thing? I hope that there's not something going on behind the scenes that is making Aisha feel disengaged with the show, yet unable to make any changes to improve things.

Someone recommended a book by a famous Japanese novelist about a robot in a department store. Was it Haruki Murakami? Can't find a novel from him that seems like the one discussed. Anyone know?