It's Been a Minute host Brittany Luse and producer Liam McBain took a little field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York — and after having a Gossip Girl moment on the steps, they saw a brand-new exhibit: The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism. Brittany and Liam explored the...

The American journalism industry is in crisis - layoffs, strikes, and site shutdowns have some people talking about the potential extinction of the the news industry as we know it. Just last week, VICE Media announced their plans to layoff hundreds of employees and halt website operations. Taylor Lo...

Da'Vine Joy Randolph just keeps winning — she's won best supporting actress for her role in The Holdovers at the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes, and Critics Choice Awards, and now she's up for an Oscar. And her performance as Mary Lamb, the head cook at a boy's boarding school in 1970's Massachusetts, re...

Brittany feels like we've entered a new phase of celebrity oligarchy; new celebrity business enterprises are popping up daily, and we can't seem to get away from it all. But is this new? Brittany invites culture journalists Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber to discuss how the notion of celebrity is cha...

Jada Pinkett Smith is the kind of celebrity that makes headlines just by breathing. But looking at those headlines — mostly about her marriage to fellow actor, Will Smith — made host Brittany Luse think that most people have gotten Jada all wrong. A graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts, ...

Choreographer Fatima Robinson has had an incredibly prolific career: she gave us the iconic King Tut-style moves from Michael Jackson's 'Remember the Time' music video, she taught us how to 'Rock the Boat' with Aaliyah, and she was head choreographer on Beyoncé's Renaissance tour. And all through th...

This week, we're asking: do the fantasies we read in romance novels say anything about what we want in our real-life relationships? Devoted readers share how the genre has impacted their love lives. Host Brittany Luse revisits her conversation with writer Rebekah Weatherspoon about how she builds a ...

This weekend, Vegas hit the jackpot. For the first time ever, Sin City will host the Super Bowl; and the halftime headliner is the current Vegas residency darling - Usher. But, NPR Senior Editor Bilal Qureshi says this royal flush was years in the making. Bilal joins host Brittany Luse to share his ...

It seems like there are countless streamers these days – there's Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, Max, Peacock, Roku, just to name a few. Still, success and profit remain elusive to even some of the biggest in the biz. However there is one smaller streamer that seems to have found a path to prosperity: D...

Charlamagne tha God has been dominating hip-hop radio for years, and lately, his influence has extended far beyond the music industry; for better or worse, Charlamagne has become one of the go-to voices for political discourse in the Black community. And while his comments often resonate with The Br...

We're taking it way back — all the way to college. This episode is a mini-reunion: host Brittany Luse and Ayesha Rascoe, host of NPR's Weekend Edition, are both alumnae of Howard University — they even attended during some of the same years. Howard is an HBCU: a historically Black college or univers...

This morning, the International Court of Justice shared a decision on South Africa's genocide case against Israel. The courts found sufficient evidence that it's "plausible" that Israel has committed acts of genocide in Gaza and ruled that Israel must prevent genocidal attacks. Earlier this week, h...

Director and actor Benny Safdie is probably best known for co-directing the film Uncut Gems, but he's also acted in Oppenheimer, Licorice Pizza, and one of host Brittany Luse's personal favorites: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. In his latest project, Safdie co-created and acts in Showtime's ...

For decades, Evangelicals have propped up Republican presidents. And while church attendance has fallen across the board, Evangelicals are still making waves politically; they just helped deliver Trump a historic win in the Iowa caucus. But the political bent of Evangelicals begs for closer inspecti...

Anna Deavere Smith is an acclaimed actress, journalist, and playwright. She's a pioneer of what's known as 'verbatim theater,' which is performance based on conversations and interviews with real people. But after decades of becoming thousands of Americans on stage, what has she learned about our n...

Fantasia Barrino-Taylor is picking up awards buzz for her portrayal of Celie in The Color Purple, and Brittany is sitting down with the former American Idol winner to look at the path she took from high school dropout to potential Oscar nominee. Brittany and Fantasia explore how her journey in life ...

American Fiction is a movie you can spend hours discussing. Based on Percival Everett's novel Erasure, the movie is a satire of what the publishing industry wants from Black authors. The film also belongs to a lineage of Black movies that look at selling out in the entertainment industry: from CB4 t...

This week, host Brittany Luse is starting with the biggest story of the year - the upcoming presidential election. The economy, foreign policy, reproduction rights have all been top of mind lately - but how will these issues play out in the voting booth? NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben and Domenico Montan...

Looking for joy? Then it might be worth exploring your sorrow. In his collection of essays, Inciting Joy, poet Ross Gay considers the breadth of joy, arguing that it can be found – and even strengthened – in life's hardest moments. After all, those are the times when we rely on one another. Brittany...

To close out the year, Brittany is sitting down with Lonnie Holley. He's a painter, sculptor, and musician who released his latest album, Oh Me Oh My, in early 2023. In it he sings of his difficult childhood growing up in Jim Crow Alabama where he was sold, beat, and effectively enslaved. But today ...

On August 11, 1973, hip-hop was born at a house party in the Bronx. 50 years later the genre has been reshaped in the image of cities and regions around the world. Brittany is joined by KQED's Pendarvis Harshaw to do a deep dive into one hip-hop scene from the Bay Area known as hyphy. They unpack ho...

Flying can be a frustrating experience, but holiday travel tends to shift our stress levels into overdrive. Overbooking, delays, lost baggage, and long TSA lines are just the tip of the iceberg. Even pricey membership services can't promise a completely efficient or comfortable travel journey. With ...

2023 has been huge for the celebrity memoir game: Britney Spears, Prince Harry and Jada Pinkett Smith are just a few of the many A-listers who dropped bestsellers. But which memoirs should you actually read? To help parse through the pages, Brittany Luse is joined - once again - by Celebrity Memoir ...

Welcome to the first ever IBAMmys, the It's Been A Minute 2023 culture awards show! It's been a minute - a whole year - and we're looking back at the biggest cultural moments of the past 365 days. Host Brittany Luse, NPR's Ayesha Rascoe, and Vox's senior pop culture correspondent Alex Aband-Santos a...

It's been an eventful year for music; we saw the rise of Mexican Regional music on the charts, the emergence of AI artists, and the dominance of country music to boot. Host Brittany Luse chats with Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding, co-hosts of the podcast Switched on Pop, to break down what's behind t...

Nicki Minaj just released her first album in half a decade, Pink Friday 2. The self-proclaimed 'Queen of Rap' has an unparalleled career, but the rap game - and women's position within it - has changed dramatically during her hiatus. While Nicki helped shape rap today, the artist has also faced a sl...

In the credits for 'Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé' the Queen Bee makes it clear who is in charge. Written by? Beyoncé. Directed by? Beyoncé. Produced by? Beyoncé. And of course, starring...Beyoncé. For someone who is so in control of their own image, what is spoken and what is unspoken are equally ...

This week, Brittany chats with New Yorker television critic Inkoo Kang about Showtime's historical romance, Fellow Travelers. The show follows the lives and love of two closeted men - Hawk and Tim. It starts in 1950s Washington DC, at the height of McCarthyism and the lavender scare and continues th...

This week we're bringing you a special episode from the Embedded series 'All the Only Ones.' The series looks at the history of trans youth next to the realities experienced by trans youth today. In this episode, we meet Parker, a senior in high school in Columbus, Ohio. Parker is a top field hockey...

Disney recently celebrated its 100th birthday, so we're exploring a fandom that's kept the magic alive while also generating lots of online hate: Disney Adults. To break the phenomenon down, Brittany Luse chats with Rolling Stone senior writer and self-proclaimed Disney Adult, E.J. Dickson. Their co...

For the millions of Americans that celebrate Thanksgiving, it's a time when a lot of us reflect on the things and the people in our lives that we appreciate. But according to Dr. Laurie Santos, psychology professor at Yale and host of the podcast, The Happiness Lab, a practice of gratitude can impro...

As many male rappers seem to become more depressed or vindictive in their lyrics, the women of rap appear to be having all the fun. One show that captures this moment is Rap Sh!t on Max. Brittany sits down with the showrunner and writer, Syreeta Singleton. They discuss the complexities of navigating...

Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon is everything an Oscar contender might be - long, epic, morally complicated and expensive. Yet, while many movie-goers left theaters moved, others called the film a problematic disaster. Today on the show, we hear what the movie got wrong and how it fits ...

The season of the celebrity memoir is upon us. In just the past few months Britney Spears, Jada Pinkett Smith, Kerry Washington, and more have showered us with bombshells and revelations about their origin stories and private lives. Despite those heavy hitters and the crowded field they occupy, the ...

The restaurant industry has been making headlines lately. Fine dining heavyweights are shuttering: Noma announced it would be closing in 2024 and NYC staple Momofuku Ko closed this past weekend. Then, there's the unintentional chaos caused by a popular Tiktok food critic, whose visit to Atlanta was ...

The Gilded Age delighted audiences with its lavish sets, decadent costumes and social sniping when it debuted. Lucky for us, the period drama just returned to HBO Max with a second season. But if we look a little closer at the show, it reveals what we truly want out of period pieces: to remake the p...

It's a big week for fans of reality TV - it's Bravocon 2023. This year it's in Las Vegas – and while we couldn't make it to Vegas, we're revisiting what we learned from last year's Bravocon in New York. Host Brittany Luse and producer Liam McBain talked to fans, a producer, an academic and the House...

Britney Spears just released one of the most hotly anticipated celebrity memoirs of the year, The Woman In Me. The book details her meteoric rise to fame, her family history, and her 13 year-long conservatorship. This week, host Britney Luse talks to the two best people to break it all down: Claire ...

Halloween is upon us — and it's the season for horror movies. Host Brittany Luse is a HUGE horror girlie, but loving horror also means critiquing it. Today, we're breaking down two major figures in horror: the final girl and the horny hag. First, Brittany chats with Dr. Kinitra Brooks, Audrey and J...

A warning: This episode contains explicit language and mentions of rape.For the past two weeks, social media has been flooded with coverage and commentary on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. And while the news updates have been devastating, not everything coming across our feeds has been true....

From our friends at Code Switch, we present a story about one group of student activists in Baltimore and how their efforts to make their neighborhood healthier has them facing big coal — and actually making gains.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Poli...

Taylor Swift and her maybe boyfriend, Kansas Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, have been inescapable the past few weeks. The pop superstar has been showing up at Chiefs games, and the NFL has been playing it up - all to the mutual benefit of each party involved. Regardless of if the three of them - Tay...

We can all think of a bad movie accent. There's Lady Gaga in House of Gucci, Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black, or Emma Watson in The Bling Ring. A bad accent takes you out of a movie, right? Well, Brittany sits down with New York Times columnist Kyle Buchanan who thinks a bad accent actually pulls you in...

Every year, the Katmai National Park in Alaska puts on a March Madness-style bracket of all the fattest bears in their park. It's a celebration of fatness, because a fat bear ahead of hibernation means a healthy bear come spring. This competition is popular — there were over a million votes tallied...

This week, host Brittany Luse kicks off spooky season by sitting down with the current champion of Black horror, Jordan Peele. In his most recent project, he's taken his talents from the screen to the page as the editor of a new book of short stories, Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black H...

A recent New Yorker piece on Hasan Minhaj found that some crucial bits of his stand-up act didn't stand up to fact-checking. Stretching the truth in comedy is par for the course, but how does that work for a figure like Minhaj, who'd previously doubled down on these stories in interviews and is know...

Bethann Hardison is the fashion icon behind so many fashion icons: she worked as a modeling agent in the era of the supermodel – brokering the careers of stars like Kimora Lee Simmons and Tyson Beckford. And when models of color all but vanished from view at the turn of the millennium – she forced d...

This year, the WNBA had its most-watched regular season in 21 years, but what went into creating this new moment of visibility for the league? Host Brittany Luse is joined by Katie Barnes, author of Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates to unpack the league's initial 'Barbie girl' image, th...

Every couple of weeks there's a new story of a fan at a concert misbehaving. One fan threw ashes at Pink, another hit Drake with a cellphone, Miranda Lambert stopped her show when fans took selfies with flash photography. Extreme instances have landed performers in the hospital, but more often atten...

In 2017, Today, Explained co-host Noel King says she started getting a vibe: young people were discussing and dissecting capitalism. She began noticing the word in pop culture and cultural reporting — but found her own tribe of economics reporters were missing from the conversation. Flash forward to...

When you think of rockstar royalty, a queer, Southern Black man normally doesn't come to mind. But director Lisa Cortés wants us all to reconsider that thought. Her documentary, Little Richard: I Am Everything, takes viewers through the life and legacy of one of the most influential men in music - ...

When former President Donald Trump's mugshot was released, pundits immediately searched for meaning. Was it defiant? Was it embarrassing? Turns out what we see in that image could change over time. Brittany Luse is joined by Vanessa Friedman, senior fashion critic for the New York Times, to talk abo...

It's been 20 years since Starbucks debuted the first pumpkin spice latte in 2003. Since then, it's become a cultural phenomenon greater than itself: it's shorthand for fall, for basicness, for femininity, and even for white culture. Why did the PSL become so powerful — and how do food trends garner ...

Music is all about pushing the envelope, and no one knew that more than Luther Vandross. His rendition of "A House is Not a Home" is so beloved, many fans don't even know it's a cover. His sound also laid the groundwork for many popular artists today, from Jazmine Sullivan to Beyoncé. Host Brittany ...

In September 2002, the Russian pop duo t.A.T.u. released their smash single "All The Things She Said." The song is a grungy euro-dance track, and the video features the lead singers Lena Katina and Julia Volkova dressed in schoolgirl uniforms and making out in the rain. The video was banned from UK ...

In this conversation from November 2022, host Brittany Luse chats with beauty reporter Jessica Defino about the increase in celebrity skincare lines and why the the way we talk about skin is regressive. Plus, Brittany revisits her chat with "Fat Talk" author Virgina Sole-Smith: they dive into anti-f...

This week is all about beauty and diet trends. In this first interview from March, host Brittany Luse chats with Forbes staff writer Steffi Cao to discuss her essay, "white women want their power back: on bbls and balletcore, and the entropy of aesthetic." Steffi points to the online rise of the 'cl...

This week, we're looking at some of the best TV of the year. Brittany Luse revisits her November 2022 conversation with Abbott Elementary writers Brittani Nichols and Joya McCrory. They talk about creating a world that feels both authentic and funny to American teachers. Then, Linda Holmes of NPR's ...

In this conversation from March, Brittany Luse is joined by Chicago Tribune TV and film critic Nina Metz to chat about why there are so many shows and movies about rich jerks — Succession, White Lotus and Billions, to name a few — and why we're experiencing a dearth of stories about workers.Learn ...

On August 11, 1973, hip-hop was born at a house party in the Bronx. 50 years later the genre has been reshaped in the image of cities and regions around the world. Brittany Luse and NPR Music's Sheldon Pearce take a tour of those regions and look at where hip-hop might go in the next 50 years.Plus, ...

The crack epidemic has had seismic impact on American culture, from music to TV and film. This week, Brittany Luse talks to Donovan X. Ramsey, author of When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era, about why pop culture can't let go of the "crack fiend" or the drug dealing anti-he...

Over the past few years, tipping expectations have changed: we're asked to tip in restaurants and coffee shops, yes, but also at bodegas, farm stands, even unmanned grab-and-go kiosks. And while the pandemic increased tips, inflation and a return to normal may put downward pressure on them again. No...

The top three songs in America right now are country tracks, and the top two hits are by artists facing allegations of racism. At the top of the charts is Jason Aldean: he shot to number one after releasing his music video "Try That In A Small Town," which included montages critical of the Black Liv...

Screenshots of dating apps are making the rounds online and what feels like mundane exchanges are generating lots of ire and discourse. As these screenshots become more common in our feeds, how does it impact the search for love? And what happens when people use the apps to swipe for content? We tal...

Think of the top women rappers of our time: Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj. They all showcase signature styles that include multicolored wigs, skyscraping heels and designer logos on everything. But that blend of high fashion, femininity and attitude began before any of them joined the ga...

The Barbie movie has arrived and we seem to be reaching peak Barbie-mania. But, Barbie's brand of hyperfeminine fun has been on the rise for years — especially online among left leaning femmes who call themselves bimbos and have been giving the term a new meaning. Host Brittany Luse and Hannah McCa...

In the wake of user dissatisfaction with Twitter, a crop of hungry new apps have sprung up to replace it. This week on It's Been A Minute, host Brittany Luse is joined by Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz to unravel Meta's newest app: Threads. They also discuss the latest changes in the the soc...

It's been 20 years since Beyoncé's single Crazy in Love poured out of every radio, car speaker and club for a whole summer — setting her up to be the solo star she is today. Host Brittany Luse revisits that moment and shares the surprising story behind the music with show producer Corey Antonio Rose...

Joy Ride, the ensemble R-rated comedy of the summer, has burst onto the scene with raunchiness, heart, and an unapologetic attitude. The film follows Audrey, played by Ashley Park, who goes to China for a work trip and, along with her friends, gets into more than she bargained for as the trip goes o...

Years before their appointments to the highest court in the land, Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas both walked the hallowed halls of Yale Law School as beneficiaries of affirmative action policies. After handing down the ruling on affirmative action, both justices stood to ...

Bravo's hit reality show Vanderpump Rules has become infamous due to a much-discussed affair between two members of its cast. The whole thing has been nicknamed "Scandoval" and has led to record-breaking ratings, countless memes, and even a joke at the White House Correspondents Dinner. In a world w...

HBO's 'The Idol' has been riddled with controversy, and with the show coming to an end, host Brittany Luse and NPR's Hazel Cills had a lot to say about the series portrayal of female pop stars, along with the more interesting stories they'd like to see Hollywood show us.Then, Brittany takes on fat d...

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan has big dreams. The 21-year-old gained full celebrity status with her breakout role as Devi Vishwakumar in the Mindy Kaling-produced hit Never Have I Ever. The final season just dropped on Netflix so we're revisiting our 2022 conversation with the star where host Brittany Luse ...

Today, we consider the himbo — sweet hotties who are maybe a little naive about the world, but are always having a good time. One of the greatest himbos of our age is Lance Arroyo on Max's comedy The Other Two. Host Brittany Luse sits down with actor Josh Segarra, who plays Lance, to talk about wha...

Dominique Fishback is starring in one of the biggest summer movies, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, but her star has long been on the rise through roles in Judas and the Black Messiah, Swarm, and The Deuce.This week, Dominique opens up to Brittany Luse about finding the vulnerability in her charac...

There's been a common theme swirling throughout the culture wars: from gun policy, to drag bans, to talking about race - the innocence of children is always at the center of discussion.This week, we're exploring the ideas and systems around childhood. We learn why we first drew the line between chil...

Virginia Sole-Smith is an author, writer and host of the podcast Burnt Toast — and her work focuses on our relationship to food and fat. Her latest book, Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture is based on one simple idea: it's okay and normal for kids to be fat. "What fat kids need is to kno...

Grammy-nominated singer Emily King is a master architect of love songs: her dreamy pop-infused music has provided the soundtrack to many romances. This week, she's opening up about how she baked a fresh heartbreak into the sound of her latest album, Special Occasion. She's writing through her pain, ...

The prince of pranks, Eric André, changed the comedy landscape with his long running series on Adult Swim, The Eric Andre Show. After a 3-year hiatus, the show is back. Brittany Luse sits down with André to talk about the new season, his pranks on Amber Rose and Jaleel White, and why his humor seems...

It's finally summer! And what better way to celebrate than to pick up a juicy book on a nice day? Romance authors Bolu Babalola and Emily Henry join host Brittany Luse to give their recommendations for great summer reads. Plus, they play a dating game featuring literary hotties. You can follow us on...

This week, host Brittany Luse chats with author and culture critic Brandon Taylor about his latest novel, The Late Americans. The book is set in Iowa City and follows several characters pursuing love, art and the promise of prosperity. They discuss what's so American about The Late Americans, and ho...

This week, the world went into mourning after losing the Goddess of Rock n' Roll: Tina Turner. Veteran music journalist and Shine Bright author, Danyel Smith, joins Brittany Luse to unpack Tina's powerful performances and her role as an architect of rock. They also dig into the obstacles the star ov...

We're in a motorsports moment: Fast X just dropped, Rosalía is popularizing the motomami aesthetic and now it's time for the Monaco Grand Prix. This is the biggest weekend in Formula 1 racing, a sport that's seen an explosion of popularity in the United States. This episode, Brittany welcomes Vox de...

Author and one of NPR's beloved hosts, Elise Hu, joins Brittany Luse to talk about her new book: Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital. For Elise, what started as a professional move to Seoul turned into a long-term interest in beauty culture and the societal demand to loo...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration could approve certain psychedelic drugs for treatment of PTSD within the next few years, but what does this mean for Black people who suffer from Racial Trauma? Host Brittany Luse talks with the host of Truth Be Told, Tonya Mosley, about the latest season of her...

It has been one year since a white supremacist drove to a predominantly Black neighborhood with an AR-15 style rifle and murdered 10 people and injured 3 others. NPR's Embedded podcast has followed a cheerleading troop over the past year to understand how the mass shooting changed the community. Thi...

Since releasing one of the most critically acclaimed albums in 2022, pop titan Beyoncé has withheld the visuals for almost a year. NPR Senior Culture editor Bilal Qureshi went to the first stop on the Renaissance World Tour and joins producer Corey Antonio Rose to reveal one of the most highly antic...

Host Brittany Luse revisits her 2022 conversation with the legendary DJ Honey Dijon. As one of the only Black trans DJs playing the biggest venues in the world, she's not only become an icon of the scene, but an arbiter of the culture. It's no surprise that Beyoncé tapped Honey for her biggest album...

Brittany Luse talks to Padma Lakshmi about the second season of her series Taste The Nation. They get into what is "American food" from apple pies (spoiler: nothing in an apple pie is from here) to daal and pancakes. Then Brittany sits down with the hosts of the new investigative podcast Think Twice...

Yesterday was the first Monday in May, which meant we were inundated with pics of the Met Gala. The theme this year: Karl Lagerfeld, the late controversial fashion designer who led the house of Chanel for years. In this episode, host Brittany Luse sits down with fashion editor and journalist Marjon ...

A big strike might be coming to Hollywood. That's because the Writer's Guild of America - the union that protects screenwriters - is pushing back against what they see as unfair wages. NPR's Linda Holmes explains why we as viewers should care. Plus, Brittany talks with Dr. Orna Guralnik. Orna is the...

New York Congressman George Santos has been embroiled in controversy since the day he stepped into office in November. The New York Times and other publications have reported that much of the Republican lawmaker's alleged resume – from where he went to college to his supposed time at Goldman Sachs –...

While hip hop has a history of anti-establishment and progressive politics, hip hop media is taking an increasingly conservative turn. Host Brittany Luse is joined by Rolling Stone staff writer Andre Gee to discuss one of the most influential current stars of hip hop media — DJ Akademiks — and what ...

From our friends at Louder Than a Riot, a look back at the origins of Miami's wildest rap icon, Trina Rockstar. Her vivacious vibes and ruthless bars helped flip the script on the double standard that women in the industry often faced. This episode looks at the unwritten rules that continue to shape...

This week, host Brittany Luse is joined by UC Berkeley Law professor Khiara Bridges to connect the dots between the recent legal battles over the abortion pill mifepristone and our constitutional right to privacy. Then, Linda Holmes of NPR's 'Pop Culture Happy Hour' stops by to chat about the televi...

Tracee Ellis Ross is an icon. From playing the premiere Black bachelorette, Joan Carol Clayton, on Girlfriends to becoming America's mom as Bow Johnson on Black-ish, she's spent the past two decades portraying a paragon of Black womanhood on screen. More recently, Tracee's turned her focus toward up...

In reality TV, bringing the drama used to mean making it big. But these days, it doesn't seem to pay to be the mean girl. B.A. Parker, co-host of NPR's 'Code Switch,' joins Brittany Luse to explore the end of reality TV's villain era and the state of the influencer economy. Then, we dive into the ps...

The AI revolution has come for our love lives. Millions around the world are now in relationships with chatbots who can text, sext and – for a fee – talk to you on the phone and have 'in-person' interactions via augmented reality. Host Brittany Luse tries the AI companion app Replika for herself – a...

It's not just you – the constant texts, calls, emails and DMs from scammers are invading so many of our lives. And when the scams are successful, there's often no recourse at all. So how do we protect ourselves from these schemers?Host Brittany Luse talks first to Laci Mosley, host of a podcast call...

If you're more than a casual observer on the interwebs, you've probably heard the term, "chronically online" – someone who knows the ins and outs of viral trends, memes and memorable moments. But sometimes you can get too deep in the Matrix. That's why our new segment, Chronically Online, is here to...

It's basically spring - which means wedding season is starting to rev up. And no one does weddings quite like Jennifer Lopez - both on-screen and off. Host Brittany Luse is joined by New York Magazine features writer Rachel Handler to break down J.Lo's wedding planning movies (the Jennifer Lopez Wed...

It's been three years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. And according to the CDC, out of all the American adults who have had COVID — and that's a lot of us — one in five went on to develop long COVID symptoms. While so many are struggling with this new disease...

Even after Silicon Valley Bank crumbled and tech workers have been laid off in the thousands, Silicon Valley is still surrounded by a mythos of progress and futurity. Host Brittany Luse talks to author Malcolm Harris about his new book, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World, ...

John Legend has permeated the culture for over two decades. His music has racked up billions of plays and he and his wife regularly make headlines when they bring us into some of their happiest and most vulnerable moments as a family. Today, we're looking back on his rise to fame, his most creative ...

In nearly 100 years, the Oscar award for Best Director has only gone to three women. The film industry as a whole has been heavily dominated by men, but it wasn't always this way. Ahead of Academy Awards, Brittany chops it up with Maya Montañez Smukler, author of Liberating Hollywood: Women Director...

In the six decades since Marilyn Monroe passed away, Hollywood has not let her go. Actresses have portrayed her in countless films and there have been more than 15 biopics dedicated to the late icon. Ahead of the Academy Awards, Ana de Armas has been getting Oscar buzz for playing Marilyn 'Blonde.' ...

What makes The Real Housewives peak culture – as in the #1 topic in the group chat – for so many people? Host Brittany Luse and producer Liam McBain descend into the depths of Bravocon – the Bravo convention – to find out. They talk to fans, a producer, and the Housewives themselves to understand ho...

Keyla Monterroso Mejia is a dramedy star on the rise. She made audiences cringe with laughter in Curb Your Enthusiasm playing Maria Sofia Estrada and then passed the vibe check as the chaotic teacher's aide Ashley Garcia on Abbott Elementary. And to top it all off, she's leading the new Netflix show...

How should U.S history be told, and who gets to tell it? Debate over these questions has raged for years – but nowhere is it more pronounced right now than in Florida. This week, Brittany Luse chats with NPR's Giulia Heyward to get the download on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' recent efforts to ban AP ...

Looking for joy? Then it might be worth exploring your sorrow, complications and mess. In his latest collection of essays, Inciting Joy, poet Ross Gay reconsiders the breadth of joy, arguing that it can be found – and even strengthened – in life's hardest moments, when we must rely on one another. T...

If you haven't stepped into an underground club in the last decade, you might be forgiven if you don't know Kelela. But the Washington, D.C. native has had a seismic impact on dance music since she broke into the scene in 2013. Now, after a six-year hiatus, Kelela is out with her fourth and latest r...

This week, we're asking: do the fantasies we read in romance novels say anything about what we want in our real-life relationships? Devoted readers share how the genre has impacted their love lives. Host Brittany Luse also sits down with writer Rebekah Weatherspoon to learn how she builds a world o...

The scintillating strip sensation is back! 'Magic Mike's Last Dance' hits theaters this weekend – and to celebrate, we're talking about male dancers in the media and in the clubs. Our host Brittany Luse sits down with sociologist Dr. Katy Pilcher, to talk about female desire and what it means that a...

This weekend Rihanna will perform on the world's biggest stage as the halftime headliner at the Super Bowl. Yet, in 2019 she turned down the gig because she said there were things within the NFL she could not support. Brittany sits down with Gene Demby, host of NPR's Code Switch, to discuss if Rihan...

From "A House Is Not A Home" to "The Glow of Love," Luther Vandross' music has become a staple for weddings, family reunions and graduations. While Luther changed the sound of R&B, brought ballads to epic new heights and influenced countless musicians, he somehow doesn't have the same icon statu...

New York Congressman George Santos has been embroiled in controversy since the day he stepped into office in November. The New York Times and other publications have reported that much of the Republican lawmaker's alleged resume – from where he went to college to his supposed time at Goldman Sachs –...

It's the end of an era. After more than 25 years, The Pokémon Company is closing the book on the adventures of Ash Ketchum and Pikachu. To celebrate the cultural impact of this dynamic duo – and of the Pokémon franchise – Brittany Luse sits down with actor Sarah Natochenny, who's voiced Ash since 20...

Everything Everywhere All at Once is the critical darling of the 2023 awards season. The film is up for 11 Oscars, including a Supporting Actress nomination for breakout star, Stephanie Hsu. Hsu, who played Joy Wang AKA Jobu Tupaki in the film, started her career in experimental theater, which event...

It's in our homes and in our pockets, and now artificial intelligence is in our art. The runaway rise of AI generator apps has sparked hot debate around the technology's impact on creative industries. Brittany Luse talks to Karla Ortiz, an artist who's part of a new lawsuit against a group of compan...

At first blush, M3GAN seems like your standard murder doll horror film. Uncanny appearance, eerily close relationship with a young child, and of course, murder. But it's become way more than that. She's got a viral dance, powerful side eye, wig fittings, and songs - all of this led M3GAN to become a...

For Black women, hair is about so much more than beauty. It can affect how they're treated and what opportunities are available to them. It's tied to history, identity and politics. And though many Black women and girls now embrace their natural curls, Black hair is still a site of discrimination. I...

For women who date men, bad sex might feel like a personal problem, but Nona Willis Aronowitz says it's political too. In Bad Sex: Truth, Pleasure, and an Unfinished Revolution, Aronowitz tackles the historic and systemic causes of unsatisfying sex. With wisdom from both her reading and romps, Arono...

It's a new year, and with it comes a new Congress. This week, Brittany Luse sits down with the first Gen Z member to be raised to its ranks, Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida. They talk about his vision for the future, the literal costs of entering the halls of power and getting a shoutout fr...

In this episode from June 2022, guest host B.A. Parker and Vox entertainment critic Emily St. James dive into a trend that was all over Hollywood: parents apologizing on-screen. From miniseries like 'Ms. Marvel' to the indie darling 'Everything Everywhere All At Once,' St. James calls the subgenre t...

2022 was a banner year for Honey Dijon. She co-produced two of the fiercest tracks on Beyoncé's latest record, 'Renaissance,' and she released her own studio album this fall, called 'Black Girl Magic.' But Honey – one of the only Black trans DJs playing the biggest clubs in the world – has been a m...

In this conversation from April 2022, former guest host Juana Summers sits down with author Danyel Smith to chat about her book, Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop. They talk all about Black women in music — like Gladys Knight, Mahalia Jackson and Whitney Houston — whose t...

For the last two weeks, rapper Tory Lanez has been on trial for allegedly shooting Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion. Since Megan went public with the allegations in August 2020, she's faced significant backlash – on social media, on popular gossip blogs and also from her peers in the hip-hop commun...

It's been almost two decades since the star-studded romantic comedy premiered, but Love Actually is still a holiday staple that plays in both movie theaters and living rooms across the country. Since the film is here to stay, we feel it's about time to see how it holds up. Host Brittany Luse chats w...

Donna Tartt's The Secret History turned 30 this year. Since the book's release, the novel has sold millions of copies and become a classic - the blueprint for a cluster of aesthetic and literary works under the label "dark academia." Host Brittany Luse and culture writer Alice Vincent examine the no...

#BlackLivesMatter. #OscarsSoWhite. #Zola. These huge cultural moments come from one of the most chaotic, beloved, and influential communities online: Black Twitter. But with Elon Musk at the helm, the future of the community is in question. What's next for the digital public square and by extension ...

When the world never stops questioning you, do you refuse to answer... or do you play along to get what you want? These questions are at the heart of Framing Agnes, an award-winning documentary about the legacy of a young trans woman in the 1950s who was forced to choose between access and honesty. ...

Think of the top women rappers of our time: Cardi B. Megan Thee Stallion. Nicki Minaj. They all showcase a signature style that involves multicolored wigs, skyscraping heels and designer logos on everything. But that blend of high fashion, femininity and attitude began before any of them, pioneered ...

Recently, host Brittany Luse has found herself curious about motherhood. As she's thought about the kind of mom she might be, she looked for models in film and TV – and found that there's little room for mothers, and Black moms in particular, to be anything but excellent. From Brittany's previous po...

From our friends at Pop Culture Happy Hour, a deep dive on The Godfather – and why the classic film was not universally loved by the Italian-American community that it portrayed. This episode is part one of the new three-part podcast series Screening Ourselves, which is all about the complicated re...

There's nothing like the holidays for family drama. And in today's episode, Brittany Luse sits down with two actors who portray a classic brother-against-brother dynamic in the Pulitzer-winning play Topdog/Underdog, which recently returned to Broadway. Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II talk si...

According to the CDC, out of all the American adults who have had COVID — and that's a lot of us — one in five went on to develop long COVID symptoms. While so many are struggling with this new disease, it can be hard for people to know how to take care of themselves. The Long COVID Survival Guide a...

They call him a 21st-century god of soccer. One of the all time greats. A king. But Lionel Messi's crown is still missing one big jewel: a World Cup trophy for his home country, Argentina.In this episode, host Brittany Luse explores Messi's long road to a World Cup victory with Jasmine Garsd, host o...

Brittany Luse watches a lot of TV, but there's one show she's always caught up on — Abbott Elementary. This workplace comedy follows a group of teachers at a Philadelphia public elementary school. The show is sweet and roaringly funny, but it also touches on national issues such as underfunding and ...

It's a big week in Black cinema as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hit theaters Friday. But on the same day, another film dropped that may be just as powerful in its message about Black moviemaking. Is This Black Enough For You? pays homage to the decades of creativity that made the celebrated Marvel...

It's Election Day, and Brittany's focusing on those long lines at the polls. For years there's been a lot of talk about voter disenfranchisement - especially for Black and Brown voters who wait for hours to cast a ballot. But Brittany's guest thinks of those lines differently. Sami Schalk is the aut...

The Kardashians. Whether you're into them or not, one thing is true: You can't avoid them. When they're not releasing new episodes of their long-running reality TV show, they're making headlines about Halloween costume reveals or ex-husbands who go on anti-Semitic rants. Because somehow, over the pa...

If you ask people to describe Christine Baranski, one word rises to the top: sophisticated. That's no accident; the actress has spent a lifetime refining her image and her craft.For the past 13 years, Baranski has played Diane Lockhart, a savvy and assertive attorney on the CBS television series The...

Spooky season is upon us, so we decided to sink our teeth into the world of vampires. Host Brittany Luse kicks off the conversation with Kendra R. Parker, who teaches a class at Georgia Southern University about Black vampires in film and literature. They talk about the racial and sexual politics of...

Every fall, with the same regularity as birds flying south, Spirit Halloween materializes in locations across the country. The superstore sells all manner of trappings for spooky season, including costumes, props and décor. It boasts about 1,400 pop-ups nationwide, and often takes over temporary lea...

The It's Been a Minute team gives you a sneak peek at the event of the season: BravoCon, where our producer met his favorite housewife, and the Salt Lake City stars spill the tea to host Brittany Luse.Then, Brittany sits down with Julio Torres, a comedian, actor, writer and creator of HBO's Los Espo...

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan has big dreams. The 20-year-old gained full celebrity status with her breakout role as Devi Vishwakumar in the Netflix teen hit Never Have I Ever. But now that filming has wrapped for the show's four seasons, Ramakrishnan is looking ahead. Host Brittany Luse gets Ramakrishnan d...

The saga around Elon Musk's deal to buy Twitter has been just that: a months-long soap opera involving lawsuits and subpoenas, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, even a town hall. But why does Musk — one of the world's richest and arguably most influential men — want with a social media pl...

When our host Brittany Luse first heard of The Woman King – a film about an all-women warrior unit defending the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the years of the Atlantic slave trade – the idea made her nervous. Hollywood's record with Black historical dramas is pretty checkered. But then she...

Stacey Abrams wants to make history again. After losing the Georgia governor's race to Brian Kemp back in 2018, Abrams — the first Black woman to be a major party's gubernatorial candidate — spent four years coalition building across the state. Now she's back, armed with a national reputation, the e...

NPR is proud to present Brittany Luse as the new host for It's Been A Minute. Whether you're a long time listener or you're just finding the show, you know that culture doesn't happen by accident. Find out why with Brittany every Tuesday and Friday starting October 7.Learn more about sponsor message...

Today we have a special drop from our friends at NPR's Alt.Latino! The show just welcomed Anamaria Sayre as a new co-host alongside Felix Contreras. In this conversation, Anamaria chats with Spanish musician Rosalía about her recent album Motomami, how she uses the album to play in different genres,...

When folks think about where to get the latest in hip-hop, NPR doesn't usually come to mind. But that's changing, thanks to the team at the Tiny Desk Concerts, which was just nominated as the Best Hip-Hop Platform for the 2022 BET Awards. Since 2008, Tiny Desk Concerts have delighted millions of lis...

Julissa Arce used to think that the secret to fitting in was to "sound white" — to speak English perfectly, with no accent. And for years after her family came to the U.S. from Mexico, she did all the things immigrants are "supposed" to do to assimilate: she went to college, got a job at Goldman Sa...

We talk TV REBOOTS. Guest host Elise Hu chats with Judy Greer about her role in the new Hulu series Reboot; her work as a comedic actress, and the state of television. Then, Elise talks with Daniel Herbert, associate professor of film and TV at the University of Michigan and co-editor of the book Fi...

HBO gave us some of the most iconic television shows of our time: Sex and the City. The Sopranos. Game of Thrones. But is the era of HBO coming to a close?Earlier this year, HBO's parent company, Warner Media, merged with Discovery. By next year, the new Warner Bros. Discovery will combine HBO Max w...

King Charles III doesn't enjoy the same popularity as his mother. In the face of mixed feelings towards the new king, some are asking: Is this the beginning of the end of the British monarchy? Guest host Elise Hu talks to Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, lawyer, activist and author of This Is Why I Resist ...

To celebrate their 15th anniversary, the K-pop group Girls' Generation put out their newest album, 'Forever 1.' Today, we're taking a look back at their career and how they changed the standards for K-pop through music, choreography and beauty. Their impact doesn't stop at that — Girls' Generation's...

Serena Williams just played her last U.S. Open. In the historic two-plus decades of her tennis career, she's won 23 Grand Slams and four Olympic gold medals — all while becoming a mother, dealing with injuries and health crises and facing more scrutiny and downright bias than her peers. Guest host E...

The Russian pop duo t.A.T.u released their smash single "All The Things She Said" 20 years ago this week. To this day, the bop is a queer staple, but should it be?From t.A.T.u to Britney Spears and Madonna, the early 2000s were full of straight women dabbling in queerness for profit. In this episode...

For a long time, Dungeons & Dragons was stereotyped as a game for nerdy young white guys in their parents' basement. But not anymore — the game has exploded in popularity and players of all backgrounds are joining in. Guest co-host Andrea Gutierrez talks to Jasmine Bhullar and Persephone Valenti...

What is culture, where does it come from and why does it change? W. David Marx, author of the new book Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change, says the answers come from our desire for prestige. Marx tells guest host Elise Hu how...

BeReal may be the hottest new social media app on the market, but can it live up to its promise to be a more authentic alternative to other platforms? Guest co-host Elise Hu talks with writers Haley Nahman and Ryan Broderick about how BeReal signifies a shift in what we want from our apps and why so...

The Starz hit series P-Valley takes audiences to a strip club in a fictional town in the Mississippi Delta. Part soap opera, part Southern Gothic, the show focuses on the interior lives of the Black women who work at the club — and the complex social dynamics that shape their lives. On this episode ...

Bad Bunny is the biggest pop star in the world, so what does he believe in? Guest host Tracie Hunte and political anthropologist Yarimar Bonilla look at the politics of Bad Bunny, and his vision of a Puerto Rico for Puerto Ricans.Plus, Tracie talks to James Beard award-winning author Michael W. Twit...

In FX's Reservation Dogs, Dallas Goldtooth plays the character "Spirit" — a Native American warrior in feathers and buckskin who curses and makes dirty jokes. Dallas also brings his irreverence to the frontlines of protests against oil pipelines. He talks to guest host Tracie Hunte about merging his...

What does Brittney Griner's hypervisibility as a tall, queer, Black woman have to do with her 9-year sentence in a Russian prison? A lot, according to historian Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, who studies race and Blackness in Russia. She chats with guest host Tracie Hunte about what Griner's detainment...

In HBO's Industry, Myha'la Herrold plays Harper, a ruthless young trading floor analyst working for a bank in London. We've seen characters like her before — think of the power-obsessed personalities in shows like Billions and Succession. The big difference? The stakes are much higher for a young Bl...

What do we expect from women rappers? Guest host Tracie Hunte and music and culture journalist Naima Cochrane discuss HBO's Rap Sh!t — and how it portrays women in hip hop walking the line between sexuality and respectability.Then, Tracie talks to NPR TV critic Eric Deggans about recent shake-ups in...

After years of covering HIV and AIDS, journalist Steven Thrasher knew that the hardest hit communities were almost always the poorest and most marginalized ones. Then COVID-19 struck, and he saw that the same groups of people were suffering the most.In his new book The Viral Underclass: The Human To...

Beyoncé's new album is here! Guest host Anna Sale chats with Dan Runcie, founder of the hip hop site Trapital, and Joey Guerra, music critic for the Houston Chronicle. They talk about Renaissance, what Beyoncé means to us and how this album meets the moment. Also, It's Been a Minute producer Liam Mc...

In this episode from our friends at The Limits with Jay Williams, host Jay Williams speaks with Colman Domingo, the ultimate character actor, known for stealing scenes in films like Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Selma and If Beale Street Could Talk. He embodies every character he takes on, most recently...

These days, following the news can be utterly demoralizing. How do we deal? Guest host Anna Sale talks to Amanda Ripley, journalist and anchor of the Slate podcast How To!, about strategies for staying informed without stressing out (too much). Then, Anna chats with author, educator and producer Tan...

From guest host Anna Sale's other podcast Death, Sex & Money, we bring you this story about Mary Gundel, whose journey from manager to labor activist starts out on TikTok, during a bad day at work, and ends with her losing her job —but finding her power.You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAM...

Starting July 16, anyone in the US experiencing emotional distress or a mental health crisis can call the phone number 988 and reach a crisis counselor. Guest host Anna Sale talks to Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, about bringing local call cente...

In 2017, author Erika L. Sánchez was making her dreams come true, her young adult novel I'm Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter earning critical acclaim. But even as she rose to fame, Sánchez found herself struggling with her mental health. Her new memoir, Crying in the Bathroom, captures the tension ...

They're short, sexy and on-trend: Hoochie daddy shorts are all the rage for cisgender straight men this summer. And this week, they are the center of a conversation between guest host Anna Sale and writer and poet Danez Smith about sex, gender and freedom. What do higher hemlines on men reveal about...

How do freedom and rights intersect with sex, pleasure and the self? It's a question the U.S. is facing in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — and a central theme in writer Davey Davis's new novel. In X, Davis relocates the conflict over these ideas from courts ...

The Supreme Court gutted abortion rights by overturning Roe v. Wade. For those who have been in the trenches of the reproductive justice movement — people who saw this coming — is there anything left to feel hopeful about? Guest host B.A. Parker chats with four young organizers about their stories a...

Family conflict is a cinema staple. But recently Hollywood has come out with a slew of stories about parents and children confronting gaps in culture, generation and identity — from animated films like Encanto and Turning Red, to the recent miniseries Ms. Marvel and the indie hit Everything Everywhe...

In a matter of days Beyoncé and Drake both released music that draws deeply on 90s era house music. Neither of them are queer, but the they're borrowing from a genre that has been liberating for Black & Latino queer people from the 70s to today. In this episode our June guest host B.A. Parker we...

Fangirls often don't get taken seriously in pop culture. But in her new book, Everything I Need, I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It, culture reporter Kaitlyn Tiffany explores just how much fangirls have shaped online life. She talks with guest host B.A. Parker about how ...

When singer-songwriter Kate Bush released "Running Up That Hill" in 1985, it peaked at number 30 on the Hot 100. Now it's soared into the top ten, thanks to the newest season of Stranger Things. Guest host B.A. Parker talks to Stereogum writers Rachel Brodsky and Chris Deville about why old music ...

We don't often think of Hawaii and the Korean peninsula as having any kind of shared history. But author Joseph Han disagrees — and he makes the case in his debut novel Nuclear Family. In this episode, Han and guest host B.A. Parker discuss the book and Han's experience as a Korean immigrant in Hawa...

These days, it seems everyone wants to be an influencer. But as content creators realize that it's a demanding, often short-lived career, they're forcing us to think hard about the future of an industry that's still on the rise. Guest host B.A. Parker speaks with Rebecca Jennings, senior corresponde...

The first time Joel Kim Booster vacationed on New York's Fire Island with his friend, comedian Bowen Yang, he brought with him Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as a beach read. Over the years, he'd often joke with friends about making a gay version of the novel. Today Booster is the writer and star...

Once again, Americans are asking how to end mass shootings. With consensus on gun laws unlikely, some are turning to Hollywood to help change the narrative. Can those who control the levers of culture shift the public's relationship with guns? Guest host Elise Hu speaks with former video game creati...

Name a Black musician from the 1970s and chances are Bruce Talamon has photographed them. The Jackson 5. Aretha Franklin. Marvin Gaye. Donna Summer. Bob Marley. The list goes on.For the final episode of our summer music series, former host Sam Sanders talks to Talamon about his incredible collection...

In this episode from our friends at Life Kit, guest host Elise Hu teaches us how to make the most of our time off. Joined by travel writer Torre deRoche and artist Jenny Odell, they go beyond travel tips and investigate why we travel and share what travel means to them.You can follow us on Twitter @...

Singer Phoebe Bridgers had a huge year in 2020. She was nominated for four Grammys for her work on her album Punisher. The album was released to wide critical acclaim. But like the rest of us, Bridgers was stuck at home. So what's that really like for a musician? In the latest episode of our summer ...

In this special episode from our friends at Pop Culture Happy Hour, guest host Aisha Harris talks with journalists Tre'vell Anderson and Jarrett Hill about stand-up comedian Jerrod Carmichael's new HBO special Rothaniel where Carmichael comes out publicly as gay for the first time and talks about se...

In this encore episode from 2018, former host Sam Sanders speaks with singer-songwriter Syd about her work with the hip-hop collective Odd Future and now with her own group – The Internet. The two discuss how she produced The Internet's fourth album, Hive Mind, and how she incorporates songwriting h...

With the anticipated repeal of Roe v. Wade, it's unclear how Americans will access abortion and other reproductive care. Will tech platforms continue to provide the same information about services in states where the procedure is outlawed? And what risk does your digital footprint create, if you s...

Yebba had a huge year in 2016. The singer and songwriter's career was taking off. But 2016 was also the year that something awful happened: Yebba's mother died by suicide. And that changed everything in her life. In this encore chat from 2021, former host Sam Sanders and Yebba discuss the emotional ...

Protests erupted across the nation this week in the wake of a leaked Supreme Court brief suggesting the landmark "Roe v. Wade" abortion ruling will be overturned. The decision could endanger people seeking medical care and set a precedent for challenging other reproductive rights. Guest host Elise ...

Attention to all the music lovers out there! All month, we're revisiting our best music episodes from It's Been a Minute. In this episode from February 2020, former host Sam Sanders is joined by Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding, co-hosts of the podcast Switched On Pop. They break down what makes a son...

Legislation targeting transgender Americans and trans children has increased sharply in the last year. Guest host Ari Shapiro speaks with the Florida mother of a trans daughter about how their family is coping with that state's new, more restrictive policies. Then, Ari discusses how this wave of ...

Guest host Juana Summers speaks with co-authors Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy about their new book, Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay. In the book, Liz and Mollie explore seven emotions that they found particularly difficult to overcome — uncertainty, anger, burnout, compari...

With travel mask mandates dropping, increasing cases, and more COVID variants, precaution exhaustion is real, but the pandemic is far from over. Guest host Juana Summers talks with science writer Katherine J. Wu of The Atlantic about how the U.S. has moved from a collective approach to an individual...

Guest host Juana Summers talks with Danyel Smith about her new memoir, Shine Bright: A Personal History of Black Women in Pop. As a previous editor-in-chief for both Billboard and Vibe magazines, host of the Black Girl Songbook podcast, and longtime music reporter, Danyel uses her expertise to spotl...

From homemade candles to jewelry, leather goods to cloth masks, online marketplace Etsy has been a haven for makers looking to sell their goods and build small businesses for themselves. But with fees increasing, some sellers are frustrated and have gone on strike. Guest host Juana Summers is joined...

In this special episode from our friends at the Broken Record podcast, we will hear producer Rick Rubin's conversation with hip-hop legend Nas. Rick talks to Nas about his earliest experiences with rap in the Queensbridge housing projects where he grew up, how recording King's Disease with Kanye Wes...

Guest host Jasmine Garsd talks to Kristen Warner, an associate professor at the University of Alabama, about Bridgerton's diversity problem. They discuss color blind v. color-conscious casting, how race factors into historical narratives and why any representation isn't always good representation.Th...

In this special new episode of It's Been a Minute, we share a conversation Sam Sanders recorded about one of his favorite things: reality TV. He's joined by Danielle Lindemann, author of True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us, to discuss the genre's origins in Real World and Survivor, how reality...

You may see it in the news or on social media. You may be feeling different in your relationships or with your job. The "vibe" has shifted. Our guest host Jasmine Garsd is joined by Elamin Abdelmahmoud, culture writer for BuzzFeed News and host of CBC's pop culture podcast Pop Chat, to learn more ab...

Elise Hu chats with Soo Hugh, writer and showrunner of the much anticipated series Pachinko, based on the 2017 novel by Min Jin Lee. It's the epic story of a family through four generations across the 20th century, all about their lives as Zainichi Koreans in Japan. In this chat, Hugh talks about wh...

A trimmed telecast? A crowd-sourced award? DJ Khaled as a presenter? The Oscars are back like you've never seen them before. Guest host Elise Hu is joined by Pop Culture Happy Hour host and reporter Aisha Harris and NPR film critic Bob Mondello to talk about these new changes and their top picks for...

A school crush once told Julissa Arce that she sounded "like a white girl." At the time, Arce believed that was exactly what she wanted. But over the years, even after perfecting "accent-less" English, graduating from college, getting a job at Goldman Sachs, and becoming an American citizen, Arce st...

It's been one year since the Atlanta-area spa shootings that claimed eight lives, six of whom were Asian women. Guest host Elise Hu reflects on the event with Nicole Chung, author of the memoir All You Can Ever Know and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. They discuss their own experiences and t...

Our friends at Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! have a new show out with host Emma Choi. It's called Everyone & Their Mom. For her first episode, Emma is joined by comedian Josh Gondelman to discuss a saucy situation. Celebrity chef Roy Choi also joins to troubleshoot a kimchi recipe with Emma's gra...

It's Been A Minute is sticking around, but before our beloved Sam Sanders takes flight we've got news to cover! In Sam's last episode as host, he's joined by NPR Weekend Edition Sunday host Ayesha Rascoe and NPR Congressional Correspondent Susan Davis to talk about the latest in politics news from g...

With more extreme antisemitic attacks on the rise and more antisemitic rhetoric in the mainstream, antisemitism has become an increasingly pressing issue in the US. But at the same time, the conversation around antisemitism is getting more fraught. Sam talks with Dov Waxman, professor and director f...

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, global powers have put the pressure on with sanctions upon sanctions. But what does that even mean? Class is in session as Sam attends Sanctions 101 with Cardiff Garcia, host of The New Bazaar, and Stacey Vanek Smith, co-host of The Indicator. They talk a...

It's our 500th episode and what better way to celebrate than with Johnny Knoxville's first appearance on NPR? We couldn't think of a better milestone. In this episode, Sam and Johnny chat about his latest Jackass endeavor with Jackass Forever while also looking back at the reality show that started ...

Before George Floyd and Michael Brown, there was Trayvon Martin. And this weekend marks ten years since the watershed moment that planted the seed for the Black Lives Matter movement we know today. A decade later, Sam is joined by Nailah Summers-Polite, co-director of the Dream Defenders, and George...

In this episode from our friends at NPR's newest podcast The Limits, host Jay Williams chats with Gabrielle Union — actress, activist, producer, entrepreneur and author of the books We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True and You Got Anything Stronger? Gabrielle ...

What is the metaverse? How do you get to it? Why does it seem to dominate headlines every week? Is it possibly a sign of our dystopian future? Sam learns all about the metaverse and more with NPR technology correspondent Shannon Bond and NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn. They define the metaverse, expl...

Streaming has totally changed the face of TV, but in all its abundance, who gets to make a show, and which shows live to see another season? Sam chats with TV writer and producer Gloria Calderón Kellett (One Day at a Time, With Love), who has long grappled with this question. They talk about what it...

Victoria Walker, former The Points Guy senior travel reporter, didn't think much about tweeting her salary when she quit her job and offering advice for anyone interested in applying. But the tweet went viral and sparked a wider conversation about pay transparency. Sam asks Victoria why she did it a...

China has held a soft power over Hollywood for the last few decades. Examples range from the cosmetic, like the way Chinese police heroically restore order in films like The 355. It can also be more overt, like China blocking the release of Chloé Zhao's film Eternals in the country. Sam and Erich Sc...

It's hard to believe the Winter Olympics have begun in Beijing, our second COVID Games. Sam talks to NPR correspondent Emily Feng about the political implications of this year's Olympics, the crackdowns on activists, and diplomatic boycotts.Then, Sam talks to Hiwote Getaneh and Jesse Baker, producer...

There were two big music festivals happening in the summer of 1969. While one defined an entire generation of culture and music... the other remained obscure — the only recorded footage placed in a basement that was said to have sat, unpublished, for decades. That is, until Questlove's first documen...

Sam sits down to chat, sing, improv and of course play Who Said That with actors Ben Schwartz and Sam Richardson, stars of the new murder mystery The Afterparty on Apple TV+. Then, Sam revisits his 2021 conversation with Devon Price, author of Laziness Does Not Exist, where they discuss the lie of l...

Sam chats with author Wajahat Ali about his new book, Go Back To Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on Becoming American. The book points out just how hilarious, untenable, and difficult becoming American can actually be. Throughout the book, Ali uses his own story to offer strat...

André Leon Talley became a major part of the global fashion zeitgeist while navigating being one of the few, if not the only, Black, queer man at his level. Sam is joined by author and poet Saeed Jones and Zach Stafford, host of the podcast In the Deep, to remember the late fashion editor and celebr...

Sam revisits his 2021 conversation with Sarah Schulman about ACT UP. The organization united a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis. In Schulman's book, Let The Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993, she draws from near...

A group of elite colleges and universities this week found themselves at the center of a lawsuit alleging that they conspired to limit financial aid to admitted students. Sam talks to Washington Post higher education reporter Danielle Douglas-Gabriel about the lawsuit and what it means for students ...

Former President Donald Trump is still one of the most influential members of the Republican party even after leaving office nearly a year ago. Sam chats with Vann R. Newkirk II, senior editor for The Atlantic, and McKay Coppins, staff writer for The Atlantic, to make sense of what Trump's GOP has b...

It's been a full year since the January 6, 2021 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, perhaps the most shocking political event of the past year — or even this generation. But has our understanding of the insurrection changed with time? Sam chats with Hannah Allam, national security reporter at The Wash...

In this special episode from our friends at Throughline, co-hosts Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei explore the war over history with Nikole Hannah-Jones, an investigative journalist at The New York Times and the creator of the 1619 Project. They discuss how the 1619 Project became one of the mos...

Happy New Year's Eve, y'all! Before we officially end 2021, we're revisiting on one of our favorite episodes of the year — our deep dive into Whitney Houston's 1991 national anthem. Sam chats with Danyel Smith, host of Black Girl Songbook, about how Whitney Houston captivated the entire nation with ...

Sam chats with Charlie Harding and Nate Sloan, the two co-hosts of the podcast Switched on Pop, about the year in music. They discuss how TikTok and streaming continue to change the pop landscape and share their favorite albums of 2021. You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at sa...

Do holiday movies actually make money for networks like Hallmark and Netflix? How many Vanessa Hudgens characters is too many Vanessa Hudgens characters? Sam is joined by Pop Culture Happy Hour co-host Linda Holmes and author Kat Chow to discuss the best and worst 2021 holiday movies on TV and talk ...

In an era when social media and streaming reign supreme, how has a daytime talk show on network television managed to stay relevant? With help from Ramin Setoodeh (author of the book Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View) and writer Amanda FitzSimons (who covered this for The New ...

We take a look back on the year in news and pop culture... in quotes. For this special episode of It's Been a Minute, Sam is joined by NPR All Things Considered hosts Audie Cornish and Ari Shapiro to play a deluxe version of our favorite game, Who Said That.Learn more about sponsor message choices: ...

In this special episode from our friends at Alt. Latino, host Felix Contreras talks to Elvis Costello and Grammy-winning producer Sebastian Krys about Costello's classic 1978 album, This Year's Model. It was reimagined as Spanish Model this year by a score of Latin artists. And unlike its predecesso...

Now that we're nearly a year into Joe Biden's presidency (and out of Donald Trump's)... what has Biden actually achieved? What promises has he kept or not kept? Sam talks it out with Yamiche Alcindor, White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour and moderator of Washington Week, and Ayesha Rascoe, NPR...

Has working from home during the pandemic been frustrating for you? You're not alone. Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Petersen's new book Out of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home tackles how remote work can improve, no matter what industry you're in. They talk to Sam abou...

Was 2021 the labor movement's year? It certainly felt like it — thousands of workers went on strike this year, at numbers considerably higher than in 2020. But in the context of American labor history, this year's organized strikes are small in comparison. Sam chats with author and labor historian ...

In this special episode from our friends at Pop Culture Happy Hour, guest host Ayesha Rascoe joins co-hosts Glen Weldon and Stephen Thompson as well as NPR contributor Cyrena Touros to talk about the new movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife. They discuss why it's hard to recapture the original Ghostbusters...

Guest host Ayesha Rascoe is joined by NPR senior editor Barrie Hardymon and Traci Thomas, host of The Stacks podcast, to talk about banned books. They talk about why it's important for kids to discover books freely, even if that means starting a hard conversation with them. They also discuss their f...

What better gift to give this holiday season than the gift of... advice? And solicited advice at that! For this episode, Sam is joined by Jenée Desmond-Harris, Slate's Dear Prudence advice columnist, to help answer everything from how to deal with a partner's overbearing adult daughter to a boyfrien...

A lot of consumers are worried about supply chain delays this holiday season — but there are also other issues to watch out for when shopping. Guest host Ayesha Rascoe talks about the hidden costs of holiday consumption with The Atlantic staff writer Amanda Mull and The Washington Post retail report...

Why do we feel shame for sincerely enjoying something that others don't like? That's one of the big questions tackled in Rax King's new essay collection Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer. She talks to Sam about her love of the band Creed, The Cheesecake Factory, and Jersey Sh...

Now that more people are getting comfortable flying again, it's about time to remind ourselves that, oh yes, flying was sometimes terrible in the Before Times, too! And in 2021, that's still the case — if not more so — with cascading cancellations, staffing and plane shortages, and outbursts from pa...

The global pandemic has spawned a different type of epidemic, one of an entirely different nature: a nostalgia outbreak. Longing for 'simpler times' and 'better days', many of us have been turning to 90s dance playlists, TV sitcoms, and sports highlights. We're looking for comfort and safety in the ...

Sam talks to Slate staff writer Mark Joseph Stern about the Supreme Court hearing challenges to the Texas abortion law and what it all means for Roe v. Wade. Plus, comedian Jo Firestone and her student Nicki Cochrane talk about their new comedy special, Good Timing with Jo Firestone. They also play ...

In this episode from our friends at NPR's Code Switch podcast, Kat Chow chats with former host Shereen Marisol Meraji about her memoir, Seeing Ghosts. After her mother died when Chow was 13, her family rarely discussed how to handle their loss. Chow says she wrote this memoir as a way to talk with h...

Ahead of the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow this weekend, Sam chats with climate experts Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist and writer, and Kendra Pierre-Louis, senior climate reporter with the podcast 'How to Save a Planet.' Together, they answer listener questions about everything from how t...

In this special bonus episode, Sam joins Switched On Pop co-host Charlie Harding to talk Cyndi Lauper. Many fall for "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," but Sam's favorite song is the slow burner "All Through The Night," save for one moment: the synthesizer solo. For Sam, this solo never fit in. Charlie ...

Author and host of the No Skips podcast Shea Serrano gets obsessive about things — movies, basketball, and now, rap. In Hip Hop (And Other Things), he dives into Cardi B's explosive 2018, the early days of Missy Elliott's career, and the 1995 Source Awards, which he says remains — to this day — one ...

Sam chats with NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson about why dysfunction in the Democratic Party is putting the big "Build Back Better" spending bill in Congressional limbo. Plus, The New Yorker staff writer Doreen St. Felix on Succession, representations of class on TV, and why the pl...

Jermain Charlo was an Indigenous mother who went missing in Montana in the summer of 2018. Relisha Rudd, an 8-year-old Black girl, went missing in Washington, D.C. in March 2014. Neither has been found. Unlike Gabby Petito, these cases didn't grab national headlines. Connie Walker, host of Stolen: T...

Sam revisits his 2020 conversation with comedian and Nailed It! host Nicole Byer on her coffee table book: #VeryFat #VeryBrave: The Fat Girl's Guide to Being #Brave and Not a Dejected, Melancholy, Down-in-the-Dumps Weeping Fat Girl in a Bikini. They talk about home goods, drunken bravery, and learni...

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Latino artists like Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira ruled the pop charts. But who was that so-called "Latin Explosion" actually for, and what were the business considerations behind it? In the third part of our series exploring crossover in p...

Sam interviews women's work and economic justice writer Meg Conley about the documentary series LuLaRich and how vulnerable people still get sucked into multi-level marketing schemes because their shape mirrors the American economy. Then, Harvard Ph.D. candidate and Mormon Studies Fellow at the Univ...

On the 35th anniversary of Janet Jackson's first No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit, we look back at Control, her career-defining album that changed the trajectory of pop music in the late '80s and '90s. In the second episode of a three-part series exploring crossover in pop music, we look at Jackson's mus...

How much has really changed in U.S. immigration policy since President Biden came into office? After seeing graphic images of Haitian migrants being chased by law enforcement on horseback and a recent rejection of an immigration reform bill in Congress, The Atlantic staff writer Caitlin Dickerson br...

When Soul Train was first nationally syndicated in October 1971, there was nothing else like it on TV. It became an iconic Black music and dance show — a party every weekend that anyone could join from their living room. In the first episode of a three-part series exploring crossover in pop music, w...

Ever since the pandemic hit, life has been split into two timelines: before the pandemic and after the pandemic. But when will the "after" truly be after? Or will some version of the coronavirus be around... forever? Sam talks to The Atlantic staff writer Katherine Wu about continuing to live with s...

Author Brandon Taylor used to spend most of his hours studying nematodes under a microscope as a grad student. He wrote his first novel over a period of five weeks, mostly while in a lab. That book, Real Life, was released in 2020 to much critical acclaim. He published his second book this year, a s...

Sam is joined by NPR's The Indicator host Stacey Vanek Smith to talk about her new book, Machiavelli for Women and how women in the workplace are still falling behind. Plus, actor Harvey Guillén on the new season of the FX show What We Do in the Shadows and not waiting for people to be comfortable w...

It was 2016, and Yebba's career was beginning to take off. But 2016 was also the year that something awful happened: Yebba's mother committed suicide. And that changed everything, too.Now, after years of collaborating with artists the likes of Sam Smith, PJ Morton and Robert Glasper, Yebba has her ...

Sam talks to Washington Post security and terrorism reporter Souad Mekhennet about what the war on terror has—and hasn't—achieved in the two decades since 9/11. Plus, for its 20th anniversary, we look at the legacy of Mariah Carey's album Glitter with Texas Monthly senior editor Paula Mejia and Dani...

Writer and actor Michaela Coel wrote, created and starred in HBO series I May Destroy You, which is up for nine Emmy nominations. Her new book, Misfits: A Personal Manifesto, is out this week. She talks to Sam about why she champions misfits like herself, I May Destroy You's basis on her trauma, and...

Sam talks to Novena Carmél and Anthony Valadez, hosts of KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, about their end of summer song picks and the best albums of the year so far. They talk about how listening to music changed during the pandemic and why any floor can be a dance floor. Want to hear more of this ...

In this special episode from our friends at the Code Switch podcast, we feature author Ashley C. Ford. For much of her childhood, Ford's father was incarcerated, and her mother struggled to raise her while grappling with her own upended life plans. In her recent memoir, Somebody's Daughter, Ford exp...

For the last 20 years, the U.S. has been wrapped up in a costly war in Afghanistan, initially in response to the attacks on September 11. But America's chaotic withdrawal this year, in just a short amount of time, has left the country back in Taliban control, with troops scrambling to get U.S. citiz...

Jonathan Van Ness stepped into the spotlight in 2018 as a walking, talking bundle of energy, optimism and positivity as the grooming expert on Queer Eye. Queer Eye is now in production for its sixth season, and Jonathan— along with the rest of the Fab 5— have been nominated for an Emmy for their wo...

Maya Rudolph has had a successful career, spanning decades as a Saturday Night Live cast member and well-loved actor and entertainer. She chats with Sam about her recent Emmy nominations, her approach to comedy, and the importance of having strong role models. You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBee...

Kathryn Hahn dazzled audiences in one of the biggest streaming hits of the year, WandaVision— and she just earned an Emmy nom for her performance. In this conversation with her from 2019, she and Sam talk about her film 'Private Life,' balancing politics in her work, and the nature of birth. You can...

#ShowerGate. Sam talks to Carl Zimring, professor of sustainability studies at Pratt Institute and author of Clean and White, about the online debate over celebrities showering habits and how it taps into a long history linking hygiene and race.Then, we hear from Yessenia Funes, climate editor for A...

Tracee Ellis Ross won a Golden Globe in 2017 for her role on ABC's Black-ish. She's also been nominated five times for that role at the Emmys. In this chat from July 2020, she and Sam discuss her Black-ish role, sharing her singing from The High Note with mom Diana Ross, and portraying Black joy on ...

Sam is joined by LA Times television editor Matt Brennan to understand why ratings for this year's Olympics are not just dismal, but symbolic of changes in our culture. Then, culture writers Hunter Harris and Alessa Dominguez join the show to talk all things Bennifer. You can follow us on Twitter @N...

Prince's posthumous album, Welcome 2 America, came out last weekend. In honor of the release, Sam revisits his 2020 conversation with Prince's photographer, Randee St. Nicholas. She shares intimate stories about the legendary artist: from spontaneous photo shoots in burned out buildings to late nigh...

Disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines abounds on social media, but there's more to it than meets the eye. Sam talks to Max Fisher, international reporter for the New York Times, about "disinformation for hire" and what social media platforms are doing to combat it. Plus, Sam talks to actress Hannah...

The "Mother of Dragons" is out with a new comic book, Mother of Madness. Actress Emilia Clarke talks with guest host Ayesha Rascoe about superpowers in real life and fantasy, her career-launching role in Game of Thrones and how Hollywood has changed since her first season as Daenerys.You can follow ...

The Black Hair Experience is a pop-up visual exhibit dedicated to the beauty, history and nostalgia of Black hair. Guest host Ayesha Rascoe takes a trip there and chats with its co-founder, Alisha Brooks. Then, Ayesha is joined by NPR's Susan Davis and Asma Khalid about the two huge economic priorit...

Actress Sonequa Martin-Green has made a career of otherworldly roles. She survived a zombie apocalypse in The Walking Dead, she explores space — the final frontier — in Star Trek: Discovery, and she's the wife of NBA star LeBron James in Space Jam: A New Legacy. She talks to guest host Ayesha Rascoe...

Americans are quitting their jobs in record numbers. Guest host Ayesha Rascoe brings on CBS MoneyWatch editor Irina Ivanova to break down some of the reasons why. Then, The New Republic staff writer Jo Livingstone joins Ayesha to discuss the current state of horror movies and why nothing's better th...

The Cruelty Is The Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America, is journalist Adam Serwer's new book, based on a popular essay he wrote for The Atlantic. Serwer talks with guest host Ayesha Rascoe and lays out the ways in which Donald Trump came to power, the historical roots of his visi...

With Sha'Carri Richardson's recent disqualification, and the controversy surrounding the banning of natural hair swimming caps, there's a lot to talk about the treatment of Black women in the Olympics and across the sports world. Guest host Ayesha Rascoe brings on ESPN producer and podcast host Terr...

Tiffany Haddish has had a busy year. From starring in prank film Bad Trip, to hosting Kids Say the Darndest Things, to voicing a self-confident toucan in animated series Tuca & Bertie, it seems like she's everywhere. Sam talks to Tiffany about her many projects, her hopes and dreams for the ente...

Sam sits in the guest seat at Pop Culture Happy Hour to discuss the glue that holds this nation together — The Fast and the Furious franchise. Alongside NPR White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe, as well as PCHH hosts Linda Holmes and Aisha Harris, the group talks about the legacy of the decades-s...

This week, the Trump Organization and its Chief Financial Officer were charged with fraud and tax related crimes by the Manhattan District Attorney as a result of a years-long investigation. In light of these new charges, Sam revisits his conversation from last fall with Andrea Bernstein, co-host of...

Sam interviews Riley Keough, one of the stars of Zola— a new movie adapted from a viral 148-tweet thread story full of sex work, guns and plot twists. They talk about how Riley prepared her character's "blaccent," why she tends to play unlikeable characters, and how she became a death doula. You can...

The furor over critical race theory fits into a longer history of culture wars in schools. Sam talks to Adam Laats, a professor of history and education at Binghamton University, about what the past can teach us about today's fight. Plus, Sam talks to Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky, wr...