Glen Weldon
Glen Weldon is a host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. He reviews books, movies, comics and more for the NPR Arts Desk.
Over the course of his career, he has spent time as a theater critic, a science writer, an oral historian, a writing teacher, a bookstore clerk, a PR flack, a completely inept marine biologist and a slightly better-ept competitive swimmer.
Weldon is the author of two cultural histories: Superman: The Unauthorized Biography and The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, The Atlantic, Slate, McSweeney's and more; his fiction has appeared in several anthologies and other publications. He is the recipient of an NEA Arts Journalism Fellowship, an Amtrak Writers' Residency, a Ragdale Writing Fellowship and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts for Fiction.
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As I watched the new series, I only cared about Piggy — the thoughtful, smart kid stranded on an island with other boys. That made me think about what we look for in art. -
The new Netflix comedy created by Dan Levy and Rachel Sennott stars Levy as an uptight pastor and Taylor Ortega as his sister. -
The third (and final) installment of this Hollywood satire finds C-lister Valerie Cherish (Lisa Kudrow) helming an AI-written show. -
NPR critics share their hopes and predictions for the 2026 Academy Awards, which air on Sunday. -
You're inviting folks over to watch the Oscars, but you want to serve them a bill-of-fare that reflects this year's idiosyncratic slate of best picture nominees. We can help with that. -
The unlikely pairing of Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe isn't quite what makes the show work — it's the exquisite, perfectly-timed jokes that just keep coming. -
An Academy Award in Best Casting will be the newest prize at the Oscars in March. An NPR panel examines what an achievement in casting might mean.
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Actor Robert Duvall died Sunday at 95. Critic Glen Weldon looks back at his career playing icons of American masculinity.
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Duvall appeared in over 90 films over the course of his career, imbuing stock Hollywood types — cowboys, cops, soldiers — with a nuanced sense of vulnerability. -
Little Women (2019), Blade Runner (1982) and more favorites from NPR staff.
