128 Fun Facts About Pop Culture 2024

Which film won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 96th Oscars in March 2024?

Oppenheimer was announced by Al Pacino with no reading of the nominees, a cut the producers made to save time; viewers were left confused, but it capped a seven-Oscar night for the film.

By its close in December 2024, the Eras Tour was the first concert tour ever to gross more than what amount?

$2 billion in ticket sales was a first for any tour, and Swift shared the windfall: she paid $197 million in bonuses to her crew, from dancers to truck drivers and caterers.

Which pop star released the album 'Brat' in 2024, spawning the viral 'Brat Summer' trend?

Charli XCX's Brat made lime green the colour of the summer, and that autumn Collins Dictionary named 'brat' its 2024 Word of the Year.

Which breakout pop star had hits with 'Good Luck, Babe!' and 'Hot To Go!' in 2024?

Chappell Roan began 2024 as Olivia Rodrigo's opening act; by August her afternoon slot at Lollapalooza drew what organisers called the biggest daytime crowd they had ever seen.

Whose June 2024 single 'Please Please Please' became her first US Billboard Hot 100 number one?

Sabrina Carpenter's song begs a boyfriend with a bad-boy reputation not to embarrass her; it entered the Hot 100 at number two and climbed to the top a week later.

Which animated film became the highest-grossing movie of 2024?

Inside Out 2 grossed about $1.7 billion worldwide, the biggest film of 2024 and, until Ne Zha 2 passed it in early 2025, the highest-grossing animated film ever.

Which 2024 release was the first R-rated film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Deadpool & Wolverine, released in July 2024, was the MCU's first R-rated entry; Hugh Jackman returned as Wolverine after retiring the role in Logan (2017).

Which Netflix Regency romance released its third season in two parts, in May and June 2024?

Bridgerton's third season jumped ahead in Julia Quinn's novels: Colin and Penelope's romance is the fourth book, so Benedict, hero of the third, had to wait his turn.

Which Peacock show, hosted by Alan Cumming in a Scottish castle, won the 2024 Emmy for reality competition?

The Traitors, filmed at Ardross Castle in the Highlands, dropped the everyday contestants of its first season for an all-celebrity cast in its second, which arrived in January 2024.

What was the name of Beyoncé's 2024 album?

Cowboy Carter was meant to come out before Renaissance, but Beyoncé swapped the two albums during the pandemic because, she said, the world needed to dance first.

Which Beyoncé single made her the first Black woman to top Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 2024?

'Texas Hold 'Em' was turned down by an Oklahoma country station, which told a fan it didn't play Beyoncé; after an outcry the station added the song, which soon topped the country chart.

Which comedy ended after twelve seasons in April 2024 with a finale that echoed Seinfeld's?

Curb Your Enthusiasm put Larry on trial before a parade of old enemies, as Seinfeld's finale had, but this time a mistrial set him free, with Jerry Seinfeld himself turning up to save the day.

Which video game won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024?

Astro Bot's hero began as a mascot for PlayStation tech demos, including the free game pre-loaded on every PS5, before this full-size adventure beat Elden Ring's expansion to the prize.

A Supreme Court block on X in which country in August 2024 sent millions of users to rival apps?

Brazil's Supreme Court blocked X on August 30, 2024 for refusing to name a legal representative; the ban was lifted in October once X complied and paid its fines.

Which X rival dropped its invite-only requirement and opened to the public in February 2024?

Bluesky ended its invite-only phase on February 6, 2024, passed ten million users in September and surged past twenty million after the US election in November.

Which OpenAI model, unveiled in May 2024, natively handles voice-to-voice and powers Advanced Voice Mode?

GPT-4o ('o' for omni) was unveiled on May 13, 2024 as a natively multimodal model; its Advanced Voice Mode reached paying ChatGPT subscribers broadly in September 2024 after a delay.

Which sci-fi sequel directed by Denis Villeneuve reached cinemas in March 2024?

Dune: Part Two was pushed back from November 2023 by the actors' strike; its sandworm-shaped popcorn bucket became a viral joke that Saturday Night Live turned into a sketch.

Who became the first Irish-born performer to win the Best Actor Oscar, at the March 2024 ceremony?

Cillian Murphy, born in Cork, told the audience he was 'a very proud Irishman' and dedicated the award 'to the peacemakers everywhere'.

Which actress won Best Actress at the 2024 Oscars for her role in 'Poor Things'?

Emma Stone accepted with her dress split at the back, joking that it tore during the 'I'm Just Ken' number; it was her second Best Actress win, seven years after La La Land.

Which catchphrase from TikToker Jools Lebron's August 2024 video on workplace behaviour became one of the year's biggest memes?

'Very demure, very mindful' came from Jools Lebron's August 2024 TikTok about workplace etiquette; Dictionary.com named 'demure' its 2024 Word of the Year.

Jin was the first of which K-pop group's seven members to finish military service, in June 2024?

BTS's Jin spent the day after his discharge hugging 1,000 fans at the group's anniversary event in Seoul, then carried the Olympic torch in France that July.

Which Netflix miniseries by Richard Gadd about being stalked won six Emmys in 2024?

Baby Reindeer was adapted by Richard Gadd from his one-man Edinburgh Fringe show; the title is the nickname his stalker gave him, and it won Outstanding Limited Series at the 2024 Emmys.

Which singer returned to television at the 2024 Grammys, duetting her 1988 hit 'Fast Car' with Luke Combs?

Tracy Chapman had not performed live on television in nine years; Luke Combs's country cover of the song had topped the country charts the year before.

Which Drake diss track of April 2024 used AI vocals imitating Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg?

Drake's 'Taylor Made Freestyle' (April 2024) used AI-generated Tupac and Snoop Dogg verses; after Tupac's estate threatened to sue, the track was pulled within days.

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour played its final show on December 8, 2024, in which city?

Vancouver's closing night was filmed as The Final Show, which put the Tortured Poets Department act on screen: it had joined the set only after the first Eras Tour concert film was shot.

Which 2024 Disney sequel was reworked from a planned Disney+ series into a cinema release?

Moana 2 was upgraded in February 2024 after Disney's bosses saw early footage and decided it deserved cinemas; that November it set a Thanksgiving Day box office record.

Which FX series set a record in 2024 with 18 Emmy wins for a single season?

Shōgun was ordered as a one-off limited series but grew into a returning drama, and its 18 wins smashed the single-season record long held by HBO's John Adams.

Which 2024 Alex Garland film stars Kirsten Dunst as a photojournalist on a dangerous road trip to Washington?

Civil War wrong-foots viewers by making Democratic California and Republican Texas allies, the 'Western Forces', against the federal government.

Who played the green-skinned Elphaba in the 2024 film of a Broadway musical?

Cynthia Erivo sang live on set rather than miming to a recording, and belted 'Defying Gravity' while a harness swung her through the air.

Which singer, fresh from a Las Vegas residency, headlined the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show there in February 2024?

Usher had just closed a 100-show Las Vegas residency; his set packed in roller skating and guests including Alicia Keys, Ludacris and Lil Jon.

Which portmanteau caught on for the same-day release of a musical and a Ridley Scott sequel in November 2024?

Glicked blended Gladiator II with the Broadway adaptation it opened beside, echoing 2023's Barbenheimer; the sequel's leading man endorsed the name and backed a double feature.

Which Canadian 'cucumber king' went viral in 2024 making cucumber salads in deli containers?

Logan Moffitt, TikTok's Canadian 'cucumber guy', was blamed for a cucumber shortage in Iceland in August 2024 and a run on mandoline slicers.

Which 2024 DreamWorks film follows Roz, a machine raising an orphaned gosling on an island?

The Wild Robot owes its painterly look to director Chris Sanders, who wanted the computer animation to feel hand-painted and drew on classic Disney films and the work of Hayao Miyazaki.

Which former heavyweight champion fought Jake Paul in November 2024, drawing 65 million concurrent streams?

Mike Tyson, then 58, slapped Paul at the weigh-in, and so many people tuned in on fight night that Netflix's stream buffered and froze for many viewers.

Which actress said OpenAI's new 'Sky' chatbot voice sounded eerily like her own in May 2024?

Scarlett Johansson had voiced an AI companion in the 2013 film Her and had turned down OpenAI's offer to voice its assistant; after her lawyers wrote to the company, it pulled the voice.

Which sport made Turkey's Yusuf Dikeç a Paris 2024 meme for competing with a hand in his pocket?

Shooting made Yusuf Dikeç famous when he won silver in everyday glasses with a hand in his pocket; other athletes, including pole vault champion Armand Duplantis, copied the pose to celebrate.

Paris 2024 broke with modern Olympic tradition by staging its opening ceremony where?

On boats along the Seine, the athletes' parade drew half the crowd first planned: security fears cut the riverbank audience from 600,000 to about 300,000, with free places by invitation only.

Which gymnast returned to the Olympics in Paris in 2024 and won three gold medals plus a silver?

Simone Biles had pulled out of most of her Tokyo finals with the 'twisties'; three years on she won team, all-around and vault gold plus floor silver, taking her Olympic medal total to eleven.

Which moment from breaking's 2024 Olympic debut went viral around the world?

Australia's Raygun scoring zero made Rachael Gunn, a university lecturer, a global meme; she lost every round 18–0, briefly became world number one that September when rivals' points expired, and retired in November.

Which horror-comedy sequel starring Michael Keaton was released in September 2024?

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opened the Venice Film Festival before its September 6, 2024 release; Tim Burton and Michael Keaton insisted the character stay as nasty as in the 1988 original.

Which 2024 follow-up to a billion-dollar comic-book hit was reimagined as a musical and flopped?

Joker: Folie à Deux followed a film that grossed over $1 billion, but its jukebox-musical turn earned about $208 million and a D CinemaScore, the lowest ever for a comic-book movie.

Which South African singer won the first Grammy for Best African Music Performance in 2024 with 'Water'?

Tyla's 'Water' spread through a TikTok dance challenge and became the first Hot 100 entry by a South African solo act since Hugh Masekela's 'Grazing in the Grass' in 1968.

Which former host returned to The Daily Show in February 2024 to anchor its Monday episodes?

Jon Stewart came back more than eight years after signing off, and only months after his Apple TV+ show ended in a reported clash with Apple over topics he wanted to cover, including artificial intelligence.

Which company paused its chatbot's images of people in 2024 after viral inaccuracies?

Google paused Gemini's pictures of people after it drew historical figures inaccurately, barely three weeks after the feature launched; CEO Sundar Pichai told staff the results were 'unacceptable'.

Which song won Song of the Year at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards?

'Espresso' was released the day before its singer's Coachella set, which she had teased on cheeky billboards; it went on to win the 2025 Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance.

Which album by Billie Eilish was released in May 2024?

Hit Me Hard and Soft arrived with no advance singles because Billie Eilish dislikes songs heard out of context; she compared the album to a family she didn't want to split up.

Which podcast host left Spotify for a $125 million SiriusXM deal in August 2024?

Alex Cooper has hosted Call Her Daddy alone since 2020, when a public contract fight with Barstool's Dave Portnoy ended with her co-host Sofia Franklyn quitting the show.

Which hyper-feminine Gen Z aesthetic of lace, pastels and oversized bows was a defining 2024 fashion trend?

Coquette takes its name from the French word for a flirt; on TikTok its fans went beyond clothes and tied bows onto all sorts of everyday objects.

Who hosted the 66th Grammy Awards in February 2024, a fourth straight year?

Trevor Noah's fourth straight Grammys had a late debut: Joni Mitchell, at 80, performed at the ceremony for the very first time.

Which Taylor Swift album won her a record fourth Album of the Year Grammy in 2024?

Midnights made Taylor Swift the first four-time winner, breaking a tie with Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon; earlier that night she used another speech to announce her next album.

Which Miley Cyrus single won Record of the Year at the 2024 Grammys?

'Flowers' brought Miley Cyrus her first Grammy wins; many listeners hear it as an answer to Bruno Mars's 'When I Was Your Man', recasting his regrets as things she can do for herself.

Which singer of 'On My Mama' won Best New Artist at the 2024 Grammys?

Victoria Monet was 'new' only on paper: she had spent a decade writing for other stars, including Ariana Grande's hits 'Thank U, Next' and '7 Rings'.

Which female-fronted band made history winning the Best Rock Album Grammy in 2024?

Paramore's This Is Why was the first winner by a female-fronted rock band, and it also completed the only record contract the group had ever known.

Who hosted the 96th Academy Awards in March 2024?

Jimmy Kimmel, hosting for a fourth time, set up one of the night's big gags: John Cena presenting Best Costume Design apparently naked, hiding behind the winner's envelope.

Which film gave Hayao Miyazaki his second Best Animated Feature Oscar in March 2024?

The Boy and the Heron exists because Miyazaki reversed the retirement he announced in 2013; at 83 he became the oldest director to win the award, though he did not attend the ceremony.

Which father-and-son duo hosted the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2024?

Eugene and Dan Levy joked that, having won their Schitt's Creek Emmys in a 'literal quarantine tent' in 2020, being asked to host in an actual theatre was incentive enough.

Which show beat The Bear to Outstanding Comedy Series at the September 2024 Emmys?

Hacks took the top prize for its third season even though The Bear won 11 Emmys that year, a record haul for a comedy.

Who hosted the 2024 MTV VMAs, in her hosting debut?

Megan Thee Stallion made her hosting debut on September 11, a day later than planned, after MTV moved the show to avoid clashing with the US presidential debate.

Who received the Video Vanguard Award at the 2024 VMAs, presented by her then-fiance?

Katy Perry was handed the award by Orlando Bloom, her fiancé at the time; she had last appeared at the VMAs in 2017, when she hosted the show herself.

Which Taylor Swift and Post Malone single won Video of the Year at the 2024 VMAs?

'Fortnight' was directed by Swift herself and casts Dead Poets Society co-stars Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles as scientists who experiment on her; it was one of her seven wins that night.

Which quarterback won his third Super Bowl MVP in February 2024?

Patrick Mahomes ended only the second overtime in Super Bowl history with a walk-off touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman, sealing a 25–22 win and back-to-back titles for the Chiefs.

Which team did the Chiefs beat in Super Bowl LVIII, in a rematch of Super Bowl LIV?

San Francisco 49ers led 10–0 but lost in overtime, their third straight Super Bowl defeat; afterwards several of their players admitted they hadn't known the new playoff overtime rules.

Which American won the Paris 2024 men's 100 m by five thousandths of a second?

Noah Lyles won the Paris 2024 100 m in 9.784 seconds, edging Jamaica's Kishane Thompson by 0.005 s in a photo finish, then took 200 m bronze while ill with Covid.

Where were the Paris 2024 surfing events held?

Tahiti's Teahupo'o reef break lies almost 16,000 km from Paris; plans for a new aluminium judging tower there drew protests from locals who feared for the coral.

Which singer closed the Paris 2024 opening ceremony, performing an Edith Piaf song from the Eiffel Tower?

Celine Dion sang 'Hymne à l'amour' in her first performance since December 2022, when she revealed she has stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder.

What did the Paris 2024 Olympic cauldron do each evening of the Games?

Float in the air on a balloon: the cauldron sat in the Tuileries Garden by day and rose over Paris under a helium balloon each evening, and its 'flame' was only light and water mist, with no fuel burned.

What were the Paris 2024 Olympic mascots modelled on?

Phrygian caps, the red liberty caps of the French Revolution worn by Marianne, became the 'Phryges' because organisers said they wanted mascots that stood for an ideal rather than an animal.

Which actor joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dogg in the LA28 handover show?

Tom Cruise abseiled from the Stade de France roof to collect the flag, then a filmed Los Angeles segment featured the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.

Which country tied the US on 40 golds at Paris 2024 but finished second?

China matched the United States on 40 gold medals at Paris 2024 but finished second on the silver-medal tiebreak; the US topped the table for a fourth straight Summer Games with 126 total medals.

Which French swimmer won four individual golds at Paris 2024?

Leon Marchand won two of them, the 200 m butterfly and the 200 m breaststroke, less than two hours apart on the same night, the first same-day double of individual swimming golds since 1976.

Bespectacled US gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik won Olympic bronze on which apparatus?

Stephen Nedoroscik won bronze on the pommel horse, his only apparatus, after clinching the US men's team bronze; he was the 2021 world champion on the event.

Which US rugby sevens bronze medallist became the most-followed rugby player on Instagram during Paris 2024?

Ilona Maher overtook South Africa's Siya Kolisi for that title during the Games, then competed on Dancing with the Stars and signed a three-month deal with England's Bristol Bears.

Which city gives its name to the pistachio-filled chocolate bar that became a viral craze in 2024?

Dubai is home to Fix Dessert Chocolatier, whose co-founder Sarah Hamouda says a pregnancy craving inspired the pistachio-filled bar.

Which children's cartoon aired its first extended special, the 28-minute episode 'The Sign', in April 2024?

Bluey's episodes normally run seven minutes, so the special was four times the usual length; creator Joe Brumm called it 'a bit of a risk'.

Which two-word catchphrase from a June 2024 street interview turned Haliey Welch into a meme?

Hawk tuah was Welch's reply to the YouTube channel Tim & Dee TV; within three months she was hosting her own podcast, Talk Tuah.

Moo Deng, the pygmy hippo who went viral in 2024, was born at a zoo in which country?

Thailand's Khao Kheow Open Zoo, in Chonburi, named her Moo Deng, 'bouncy pork', after a public poll, and her fame doubled its visitor numbers.

Pesto, the giant penguin chick that went viral in September 2024, was raised at which aquarium?

Sea Life Melbourne gave Pesto to younger foster parents, Hudson and Tango, partly because his father Blake was one of its oldest penguins; the chick soon towered over both of them.

Which phrase did Oxford University Press name its 2024 Word of the Year?

Brain rot won Oxford's public vote, yet the phrase is no Gen Z coinage: its first recorded use is in Henry David Thoreau's Walden, published in 1854.

Whose 'Too Sweet' topped the US Hot 100 in April 2024, his first American number one?

Hozier became the first Irish artist to top the US chart since Sinéad O'Connor in 1990; his breakthrough hit 'Take Me to Church' had stalled at number two.

Which political campaign adopted the lime-green 'Brat' look after the album's singer tweeted in July 2024?

Kamala Harris's campaign restyled its 'Kamala HQ' account in the album's lime green after the 'kamala IS brat' post; the singer later said she had not meant it as a political endorsement.

What is Chappell Roan's debut studio album called?

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess arrived in September 2023, three years after her first label dropped her and she went home to Missouri to work at a drive-through.

Which March 2024 track with Future and Metro Boomin reignited Lamar's feud with Drake?

Like That carried a surprise guest verse in which Lamar brushed off talk of hip-hop's 'big three', insisting he stood alone at the top.

Which rapper called himself, Lamar and Drake the 'big three' on 'First Person Shooter'?

J. Cole hit back at the reply with a diss of his own, '7 Minute Drill', then apologised on stage two days later and pulled the track from streaming.

Which city's three Eras Tour concerts were cancelled in August 2024 after police uncovered a terror plot?

Vienna's stranded fans gathered in the streets instead, singing her songs together and swapping the friendship bracelets they had made for the shows.

The Tortured Poets Department's surprise double-album issue was subtitled what?

The Anthology arrived as a surprise just two hours after the album itself, adding 15 more songs to make a 31-track double album.

Which country legends act as radio DJs on Beyoncé's 2024 country album?

Dolly Parton, Linda Martell, Willie Nelson: each pops up in a spoken interlude from a fictional radio station, KNTRY; Parton had long said she wanted Beyoncé to cover her song 'Jolene', and the album does.

Which band returned in September 2024 with new co-vocalist Emily Armstrong, seven years after its frontman's death?

Linkin Park had made no studio album since Chester Bennington died in 2017; the comeback record's title, From Zero, nods to the band's first name, Xero.

Which Teddy Swims song topped the Hot 100 in 2024?

Lose Control reached number one in March 2024, four years after Teddy Swims was being billed as a 'YouTube sensation' for the cover songs he posted there.

Oasis announced their reunion tour in August 2024, two days before the 30th anniversary of which album?

Definitely Maybe, their debut, came out on 29 August 1994; the scramble for reunion tickets led Britain's competition watchdog to investigate Ticketmaster over 'dynamic pricing'.

Which 2000s pop hit charted again in January 2024 after soundtracking the final scene of Saltburn?

Murder on the Dancefloor matched its original UK peak of number two and gave Sophie Ellis-Bextor her first US Hot 100 entry, 22 years after its release, once the film's final scene spread on TikTok.

Which new emotion is central to Inside Out 2?

Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke, seizes the controls of 13-year-old Riley's mind; Pixar consulted psychologists and tested the story on a panel of teenage girls to keep her true to life.

Which video game franchise did Amazon's hit April 2024 series with Walton Goggins adapt?

Fallout's hit first season sent players flooding back to the games: within days, Steam player numbers for Fallout 4, released in 2015, had more than quadrupled.

Which actress won an Emmy as Martha, the stalker in Richard Gadd's 2024 Netflix hit?

Jessica Gunning's win came three months after a woman who said she was the real Martha sued Netflix for defamation over the show's claim to be a true story.

Who directed Deadpool & Wolverine?

Shawn Levy signed on in March 2022 to direct what was then just Deadpool 3; that August Hugh Jackman phoned Ryan Reynolds to say he wanted to play Wolverine again, and the film became a team-up.

Which agency does Deadpool team up with a reluctant Wolverine to stop?

The Time Variance Authority's Mr. Paradox plans to wipe out Deadpool's universe because its 'anchor being', its own Wolverine, has died.

Dune: Part Two shot the Harkonnen arena scenes using what unusual technique?

Black-and-white infrared was Greig Fraser's answer to a planet whose sun gives off no visible light, which is why the Harkonnens look ghostly pale outdoors.

Which Sean Baker film won the Palme d'Or in May 2024 and later Best Picture?

Anora's star Mikey Madison was cast after Sean Baker saw her in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Scream; she went on to win the best-actress Oscar.

Which actress plays fading star Elisabeth Sparkle in The Substance?

Demi Moore won a Golden Globe for the role; Universal had walked away from the film before release, and arthouse streamer Mubi picked it up.

Which Emilia Pérez star won the Oscar for best supporting actress?

Zoe Saldaña's first Oscar came on a thin night for the film: Emilia Pérez led the field with 13 nominations but won only two.

Who plays 'tornado wrangler' Tyler Owens opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones in the 2024 sequel Twisters?

Glen Powell's storm chaser was directed by Minari's Lee Isaac Chung, who pitched for the job with a reel splicing the 1996 Twister together with the tornado scene from his own film.

Who plays Count Orlok in Robert Eggers' Nosferatu, released Christmas Day 2024?

Bill Skarsgard worked with an opera singer to push his voice to its lowest pitch and spent up to six hours a day in make-up and prosthetics to play Orlok.

Which Colleen Hoover novel became a 2024 Blake Lively film mired in legal disputes?

It Ends with Us made $351 million on a $25 million budget; that December Blake Lively filed a legal complaint against director and co-star Justin Baldoni, who denied her claims and sued.

Which 2024 co-op shooter has players spreading 'managed democracy' for Super Earth?

Helldivers 2 hit trouble that May when Sony told PC players to link a PlayStation Network account; a flood of negative Steam reviews followed, and Sony dropped the plan within days.

Which January 2024 early-access hit earned the nickname 'Pokemon with guns'?

Palworld lets players arm their creatures and put them to work in factories; that September, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company sued its developer over patents.

Which poker roguelike by solo developer LocalThunk won the Game Developers Choice GOTY?

Balatro began as a hobby its anonymous creator planned to finish just 'to put on a resume'; he has said he doesn't even play poker.

Black Myth: Wukong is inspired by which classic Chinese novel?

Journey to the West ends before the game begins: its makers set their story after the novel's ending, and it sold 20 million copies in its first month.

Apple's first mixed-reality headset, released in February 2024, runs which operating system?

visionOS was a last-minute name: Apple had planned to call the system xrOS, and references to it survive in the developer materials made before launch.

A faulty update from which cybersecurity company crashed millions of Windows computers worldwide in July 2024?

CrowdStrike's bad update hit about 8.5 million Windows machines, under one percent of the total, yet that was enough for US airlines to ask for a ground stop on all their flights.

Which WNBA team drafted Caitlin Clark in 2024?

Indiana Fever chose Clark first overall, and the crowds followed: the team's 340,715 home fans in 2024 were the most any WNBA side had drawn in a season.

Who was named MVP of the 2024 World Series after a walk-off grand slam in Game 1?

Freddie Freeman hit the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history while playing on a sprained right ankle, then homered in each of the next three games.

Which retired quarterback was the target of Netflix's live celebrity roast hosted by Kevin Hart in May 2024?

Tom Brady enjoyed the jokes on the night, but said afterwards that he wouldn't do it again because of how they affected his children.

Why was the Jake Paul fight postponed from July to November 2024?

His opponent's ulcer flare-up struck on a flight in late May 2024; doctors ordered weeks of only light training, so the bout moved from July 20 to November 15.

Nobody Wants This pairs Kristen Bell's agnostic podcaster with Adam Brody playing what?

A rabbi is the twist on creator Erin Foster's own story: she based the show loosely on converting to Judaism to marry her husband.

Agatha All Along is a spin-off of which Marvel series?

WandaVision unmasked nosy neighbour Agnes as the witch Agatha Harkness with a mock sitcom theme, 'Agatha All Along', which won an Emmy and gave the spin-off its title.

HBO's 2024 crime series The Penguin picks up the story of which film?

The Batman ends with Gotham flooded, and the series opens one week later with the city still underwater as Oz Cobb grabs for power.

Which duo created Netflix's 2024 sci-fi series 3 Body Problem with Alexander Woo?

David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the Game of Thrones showrunners, moved much of Liu Cixin's story to England and made its scientists a group of friends, the 'Oxford Five'.

Who plays Tom Ripley in Netflix's black-and-white 2024 series Ripley?

Andrew Scott's Ripley was made for Showtime, which passed the series to Netflix in 2023 before it ever aired.

A Complete Unknown ends with Bob Dylan going electric where in 1965?

Newport Folk Festival is where Dylan put down his acoustic guitar and went electric, a bold break with the folk scene; Timothée Chalamet does his own singing in the film.

Which actor plays Lucius, the exiled prince turned gladiator, in Gladiator II?

Paul Mescal got the part because the director couldn't stop thinking about him after watching Normal People; his Lucius turns out to be the son of Maximus from the original film.

Who voices Shadow the Hedgehog in Sonic the Hedgehog 3?

Keanu Reeves was the casting fans had hoped for as the brooding anti-hero, whose story the film borrows from the 2001 game Sonic Adventure 2.

Which actress plays tennis prodigy turned coach Tashi Duncan in the 2024 film Challengers?

Zendaya trained for three months with Brad Gilbert, the former coach of Andre Agassi, to make her strokes convincing.

Which country won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest with Nemo's song 'The Code'?

Switzerland's Nemo broke the glass trophy moments after winning; Croatia topped the public vote but finished second, and the Netherlands' act was disqualified before the final.

Which Netflix drama's second season, released on December 26, 2024, set the streamer's premiere-week viewing record?

Squid Game drew 68 million views in four days, beating the 50.1 million record set by Wednesday; its creator has said the stress of making season one cost him several teeth.

Which actor played the singer's jailbird boyfriend in the June 2024 video for 'Please Please Please'?

Barry Keoghan, the Saltburn star, was the singer's real-life boyfriend at the time, and the prison scenes were shot in a former prison on Staten Island.

Which band became the first act to headline Glastonbury five times, in June 2024?

Coldplay's fifth headline set brought out surprise guest Michael J. Fox on guitar, after Chris Martin told the crowd how the actor had helped inspire the band.

Which K-pop group made history at Glastonbury 2024 as the first to play the Pyramid Stage?

Seventeen has 13 members, not 17: the group says the name adds the three units they split into and the one team they form together.

Which comedian's monologue as host of the January 2024 Golden Globes drew criticism?

Jo Koy took the job after Chris Rock and Ali Wong reportedly turned it down; it was the Globes' first broadcast on CBS since 1982.

Arcane, whose final season arrived in November 2024, is set in the universe of which video game?

League of Legends maker Riot Games paid for the series itself, spending a reported $250 million or so on its 18 episodes, marketing included.