Glen Weldon
Glen Weldon is a regular panelist on 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.
-
At last, we take a deep, overdue dive into the sweet, tangy jars of emotional marmalade that are the Paddington films.
-
They're the major MacGuffins of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — but there's a lot of them, and you need a scorecard to keep track of which does what. We're here for you.
-
The first Harry Potter book came out 20 years ago today. One year later, in 1998, was the first time we mentioned the book, on All Things Considered. Here's Margot Adler's piece in its entirety.
-
NPR's resident Bat-scholar Glen Weldon offers a personal remembrance of the late Adam West, explains how the actor rescued the character of Batman from oblivion, and explores his enduring legacy.
-
In his new book, statistician Ben Blatt loads thousands of books, new and old, into a vast database and uncovers intriguing patterns in how our favorite authors write.
-
Silvers co-founded the journal with Barbara Epstein in 1963. It quickly became a leading forum where authors and critics grappled with cultural issues — and with each other.
-
An ad in a March 1852 edition of The New York Times led Zachary Turpin on an electronic search that uncovered a rags-to-riches novella that Whitman published anonymously.
-
The 2017 Academy Award nominations were announced this morning. La La Land, as widely predicted, racked up the most, while Moonlight made a strong showing, as did Hell or High Water.
-
The actor and writer who brought his signature manic energy to comedy classics died at his home in Stamford, Conn., of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 83.
-
The shadow of a mass shooting in Orlando cast a pall over the 70th Annual Tony Awards broadcast, but host James Corden offered a spirited paean to "every Broadway would-be."