Plus: Scary AI, Rings of Power, and an adorable baseball dog

View this email online by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when the Paralympics started. It was the week when we celebrated The West Wing. And it was the week when that was not Tom Hanks. Let's get to it. International dramas trace familiar tragedies While on vacation, I came across the 10-episode Spanish-language Netflix series The Accident, which is currently in the Netflix Top 10. I decided to give it a whirl, as much as anything because I wanted to know what the accident was. I had not watched the trailer, which gives it away, but because it does (and it's revealed in the opening episode), I will tell you what the accident is: At the party, the bounce house where the kids are playing is picked up by a gust of wind, and tragedy ensues. Unfortunately, this can happen (there was a similar tragedy in Maryland not long ago), but this is only the inciting incident. As we follow the affected families, there is intrigue over a business deal, there is an affair, there is a very scary man, there is a teenage romance, and there is a tangled tale of who is responsible for this accident. The series is about the ways these people are changed by one day in their lives, but it also has a strong undercurrent of soapy drama. I'm not sure the show is terrific, but it's very watchable, in that I watched all 10 episodes in a single day. (Vacation!) This is a Mexican drama, and it made me think about how, wherever a story comes from, the deepest anxieties often echo pretty effectively. A nightmare that involves kids, families that start placing blame, parents who are trying to balance career and family responsibilities with devastating costs for failure – it's all pretty horrifying. Hanna Ardéhn as Maja in the 2019 Swedish series Quicksand. Netflix It's hard to transition with the words "speaking of horrifying," but I also watched the 2019 Swedish drama series Quicksand, adapted from the book of the same name, which begins with a school shooting. A young woman named Maja (Hanna Ardéhn) is discovered covered in blood after a shooting that kills several people (including her boyfriend), and over six episodes, the series explores what her role was and what culpability she has. While some of it is about what could possibly drive anyone to commit an act like this, a lot of it is also about the toxicity that can develop in relationships between teenagers, particularly ones who feel alienated from friends or family. Ardéhn is excellent, as is the rest of the cast, and the story walks a fine line between sensitivity and mystery as it provides more and more information about the events on the day. While both of these series are what you might call a "tough sit" because of the subject matter, it's always interesting to look through a different lens at storytelling that touches on familiar things. For an American viewer like me, both series drive home the point that the justice system works differently in different places – and that criminal offenses can have wildly different penalties in other countries. And as always, I do recommend watching these shows with subtitles, for the simple reason that you have to give them your attention. You can't second-screen if you need to read along, and there's much to be said for training yourself to let something hold your focus for, say, eight hours or so. Netflix is now serving me recommendations for many, many, many dramas that were produced internationally. I'll see you in a few years, when I've made a dent. Newsletter continues after sponsor message We Recommend I greatly enjoyed the CBC podcast Broomgate: A Curling Scandal, and even if you're the kind of person who finds yourself enchanted by curling only once every four years at the Olympics, you might enjoy it too. The new season of Only Murders in the Building is probably a little too overstuffed with guests (including friend of PCHH Kumail Nanjiani!), but it has one quality that makes just about everything well worth a watch: Richard Kind is in it. Have you watched Shohei Ohtani's dog, Decoy, delivering the first pitch at a Dodgers game this week? If you have not, I encourage you to do so right now. Listen to the Podcast Sponsor-Free Support your favorite pop culture junkies AND listen without sponsor interruptions with a subscription to Pop Culture Happy Hour+! Learn more and sign up at plus.npr.org/happy. Learn More What We Did This Week Dungeons, Dragons and shoulder pads: Why I loved D&D as a closeted teen Joel Congdon/Getty Images Glen wrote about his love of Dungeons & Dragons (and talked about it on Morning Edition). Glen and I chatted about the many times celebrities have played versions of themselves and what makes those portrayals interesting. Stephen and Hazel Cills dug in on a very hot name in music: Sabrina Carpenter. If it's been so long since the first season of The Rings of Power that you don't remember anything, Glen is here for you with a rundown to help you make your way into the new season. Glen continued his big week with a discussion with Roxana Hadadi about The Crow. And Glen (of course) talked to me and Jordan Crucchiola about the creepy AI movie AFRAID. Keep an eye out for that episode in your feeds later today. Stephen stayed very busy on the music beat around NPR. Get a load of this: He was on All Songs Considered, he talked about Sabrina Carpenter on Morning Edition, he wrote about Lainey Wilson's Tiny Desk Concert, he covered the Oasis reunion on All Things Considered, and of course, he kept you up to date on the pop charts. Whew! What's Making Us Happy Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: Jordan Crucchiola: Mrs. Davis Glen Weldon: Cockroach Poker Linda Holmes: Disaster Autopsy Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+. Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free episodes. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: pchh@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? 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