Oscars 2026: Chalamet, Sinners ... and Our Predictions

From Camelot-era glamour to RFK Jr.’s viral moments, the Kennedys have a way of reflecting the cultural mood of any given time. That pattern is resurfacing again—with a buzzy FX series on JFK Jr. and a fresh wave of online fascination. Audie Cornish sits down with comedian and The United States of Kennedy co-host George Civeris to unpack how the family evolved from political dynasty into cultural barometer—and what their latest chapter reveals about where America is right now. Produced by Jesse Remedios and Lori Galarreta Senior Producer: Matt Martinez Technical Director: Dan Dzula Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This year’s Oscars race has been great for film and weird for discourse. There’s the friendly Best Picture duel between two crowd-pleasing films from the same studio. The acting categories are stacked with talent. And yet the final week of campaigning has been dominated by talk about Timothée Chalamet’s apparent disrespect to opera and ballet. Audie sits down with film critic and influencer Megan Cruz (aka @j.stoobs) to talk about the biggest night in movies at a moment when Hollywood is worried about its future. This episode was produced by Lori Galarreta and Jesse Remedios Senior Producer: Matt Martinez Technical Director: Dan Dzula Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are work spouses actually a thing? And what turns a desk-mate into a ride-or-die?  In this special episode of The Assignment, Audie Cornish reunites with former work husband and longtime co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered, Ari Shapiro. They dive into the stories that defined their careers, the push and pull of competition in the newsroom, and the ways creative collaborators develop shared languages—from Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.   Taped live at On Air Fest in Brooklyn, New York.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Actor Ken Leung is no stranger to the toxic male archetype. He embodies it as Eric Tao, the ruthless baseball-bat-carrying trading floor bully he plays on HBO’s “Industry.” Leung talks with Audie about what pushes characters like Eric—on screen and in real life—over the edge from family man to a name you could see in the Epstein files.  They also discuss why women of color don’t get the “anti-hero” treatment, and how “Industry” has evolved into a portrait of the greed, corruption, and class conflict defining this moment.    -- This episode was produced by Lori Galarreta and Jesse Remedios Senior Producer: Matt Martinez   Technical Director: Dan Dzula    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let’s talk about professional sex. Audie sits down with Yehuda Duenyas, a SAG-AFTRA Hollywood intimacy coordinator, to go behind the scenes of how physical romance is choreographed, why stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Sean Bean are skeptical of the position, and what depictions of sex on screen reveal about our culture. -- This episode was produced by Sofía Sanchez.  Senior Producer: Matt Martinez   Technical Director: Dan Dzula    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show is still resonating as fans celebrate his history-making rise from Puerto Rico to global dominance.  Audie is joined by journalist Suzy Exposito to talk about the power of Benito's unique brand of authenticity--and how he's wielding it in the culture war. Exposito has covered Bad Bunny from the beginning. She is an editor at De Los, the Latin culture wing of the LA Times.  --  This episode was produced by Sofía Sanchez.  Senior Producer: Matt Martinez   Technical Director: Dan Dzula    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The fashion season is officially underway. Celebrities are strolling the award show red carpets and models are strutting the runways in Paris and Milan. CNN Senior Style Reporter Rachel Tashjian joins Audie to talk about the complicated politics in the fashion world, fashion vs style, and which designers are getting the most notice for dressing celebrities. Producer: Lori Galarreta Senior Producer: Matt Martinez Techincal Director: Dan Dzula Executive Producer: Steve Lickteig Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This year marks a milestone for Millennials: the youngest of the cohort finally turns 30. So what comes next for the first generation of true digital natives now that they have achieved “unc” status? Audie talks with Sam Sanders, host of KCRW’s The Sam Sanders Show, about the generation that watched media transform from Buzzfeed quizzes into AI slop. They also discuss Millennial activism taking over the generation’s Instagram feed as ICE protests continue in Minneapolis.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Winter Olympics kick off Feb. 6 in Northern Italy—and the politics may steal the show. The U.S. may face boos, especially as it squares off with Denmark in hockey amid Trump’s Greenland threats. But there’s joy, too: Lindsey Vonn is back, and the U.S. figure skating team is stacked. New York Magazine’s Will Leitch breaks down the geopolitics and must-watch storylines from Milan and Cortina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Audie is joined by longtime friend and former NPR colleague Ari Shapiro for a special episode they’re calling Engagement Party – a chance to finally talk on-mic about the culture stories they’ve been obsessing over. They kick things off with the question of the moment: Can the Heated Rivalry boys, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, turn their meteoric rise into lasting careers like other breakout stars from the past? They also unpack why the internet has committed to “frictionmaxxing” in 2026, quiz each other on the year in pop culture so far, and share what they’ve been loving off-line lately.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices