Brian Lehrer's Podcast About "Parks and Recreation"

Warning: Spoilers Ahead! This week's episode of NBC's Parks & Recreation was the season and series finale. The writers wrapped up the series with flash forwards that showed mostly happy endings for each character. Leslie gives her old "workplace proximity associate" Ron some career advice and a new job running Pawnee's National Park, April and Andy have a baby and Leslie and Ben are both approached to run for governor of Indiana.  NPR's Linda Holmes joins us for the last of these weekly chats about the final season of the series. Holmes is the host of NPR's entertainment and pop culture blog, Monkey See and is a co-host of NPR's "Pop Culture Happy Hour." 

Warning: Spoilers Ahead! In this week's episodes of NBC's Parks & Recreation, Andy says goodbye to his Johnny Karate children's show as he and April prepare to move to Washington, D.C. for April's new job; Leslie also gets a new gig that means she and Ben will split their time between Pawnee and D.C. and the mayor of Pawnee makes an appearance (though, he's actually dead), played by - surprise! - Bill Murray.  NPR's Linda Holmes joins us for this weekly chat about the final season of the series, known for finding humor in policy wonkiness. Holmes is host of NPR's entertainment and pop culture blog, Monkey See. And Adrian Granzella Larssen, the editor-in-chief of The Muse, a career site for millennials, offers context on career crises and career moves, especially when one spouse follows the other to a new city for a job.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead! In this week's episodes of NBC's Parks & Recreation, Leslie and Ben upend expectations when she skips the traditional “pie-mary” pie-baking contest for candidates’ wives and April finds her new career. NPR's Linda Holmes joins us for this weekly chat about the final season of the series, known for finding humor in policy wonkiness. Holmes is host of NPR's entertainment and pop culture blog, Monkey See. And Jodi Kantor, New York Times Washington correspondent and the author of The Obamas (Back Bay Books, 2012), offers context on gender politics and the role of the candidate's wife in American elections.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead! In this week's episodes of NBC's Parks & Recreation, Donna gets married and we revisit the land use issues from the Gryzzl/Leslie dispute.  NPR's Linda Holmes joins us for this weekly chat about the final season of the series, known for finding humor in policy wonkiness. Holmes is host of NPR's entertainment and pop culture blog, Monkey See.  And Kim Lueddeke, reporter for The Record, adds context from the real-life controversy over plans by LG to expand its headquarters in the Palisades over objections from groups in the Protect the Palisades coalition.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead! In this week's episode of NBC's Parks & Recreation, Leslie Knopes tackles data mining in the year 2017. A company that's relocating their headquarters to Pawnee, Gryzzl, is like a Facebook-Google-Amazon hybrid and it's using search history and other tools to spy on users.  NPR's Linda Holmes joins us for this weekly chat about the final season of the series, known for finding humor in policy wonkiness. Holmes is host of NPR's entertainment and pop culture blog, Monkey See.  And Amy Webb, founder of the Webbmedia consulting group and the data columnist for Slate, offers context on data-mining.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead! In this week's episode of NBC's Parks & Recreation, Leslie Knopes' hopes of preserving public land rests on US President William Henry Harrison, who has the distinction of dying on his 32nd day in office.  Turns out, New York Times columnist Gail Collins happens to be an expert on Harrison. She's the author of William Henry Harrison: The American Presidents Series: The 9th President, 1841 (Times Books, 2012).  She joins Brian and NPR's Linda Holmes for this weekly chat about the final season of the series, known for finding humor in policy wonkiness. Holmes is host of NPR's entertainment and pop culture blog, Monkey See.   

WARNING: SPOILERS! So save this and listen to it only after you’ve seen the first two episodes. Linda Holmes, host of NPR's entertainment and pop-culture blog, Monkey See, joins Brian for a weekly chat about the final season of the NBC series Parks and Recreation, known for finding the humor in policy wonkiness. In last night's premiere, Leslie Knope is hoping to turn a plot of land right in Pawnee into a national park. Jeremy Garncarz, senior director for designations at The Wilderness Society, explains the ins and outs of land preservation. We are getting (more) wonky. How would Leslie Knope actually get a parcel of private land to become a national park on @parksandrecnbc? — Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 14, 2015