What hit show ‘Pluribus’ says about society and individuality

Here & Now Anytime

NPR

News

4.1 • 953 Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The new hit science fiction show “Pluribus” takes place in a world where a hive mind links everyone’s thoughts and actions in the name of collective good. Karolina Wydra plays Zosia and joins us to talk about the show’s popularity and what it says about society.

Then, writer-director-producer Rian Johnson and his cousin, composer Nathan Johnson, talk about merging mystery and faith in their newest addition to the “Knives Out” franchise: “Wake Up Dead Man.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for here and now anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software for technical computing and model-based design.
0:09.2	MathWorks, accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at MathWorks.com.
0:17.2	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:22.7	You can't be scrolling on your phone while you're watching the show.
0:27.1	You have to be present for it.
0:29.1	Everyone can't stop talking about Apple TV's new hit show, Pluribus.
0:36.9	You know, It's Tuesday, December 30th, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBUR Boston.
0:47.9	I'm Shiko Tha Uri.
0:51.5	Today on the show, the Knives Out franchise continues with Wake Up Dead Man.
0:56.3	Yes, there is a murder, but for creator, writer, and director Ryan Johnson, it's a work of introspection.
1:02.5	To see if I could create a character in Father Judd that really spoke to the things I was kind of yearning for in my upbringing as a Christian, and see if I
1:12.9	could do that in the context of a big, broad, entertaining, fun murder mystery.
1:19.0	But first, Apple TV hit the lottery with its latest science fiction show called Pluribus.
1:25.5	In just its first season, it's already the most watched show in the streaming platform's history.
1:31.5	Pluribus envisions a present-day world in which a hive mind links people's thoughts and choices in the name of collective good.
1:39.0	The world is peaceful, but there is no free will or individual difference.
1:43.7	Rest assured, Carol, we will figure out what makes you different.
1:49.0	Figure it out, why?
1:50.6	So we can fix it.
1:52.6	So you can join us.
1:56.0	Pluribus was created by Vince Gilligan, the genius behind another hit show, Breaking Bad.
2:02.3	There are about as many theories about what Pluribus is trying to say about our society as there are viewers. Caroline
	...

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