It's Been a Minute

Recreational ketamine use is on the rise. But why are some people using it to dissociate in the club? Ketamine – a dissociative anesthetic – is illegal without a prescription and can potentially be harmful. Yet, it has had a massive rise in recreational use over the past decade. One study found that use increased by 81.8% from 2015 to 2019 and rose another 40% from 2021 to 2022. What is driving th...

At what age did you have a fully formed political perspective? Did tens of thousands of people listen to you? Well, teens today are more influential than ever. From Charlie Kirk to Greta Thunberg, teenagers and children have long had political influence. But what’s new is that teenagers are creating their own media ecosystem for teenagers, by teenagers. And they’re doing it through highly popular...

AI is the future, but how is its infrastructure impacting your air, water, and utilities bills today? You asked, and Brittany delivered. Many of you wrote in asking about artificial intelligence’s environmental impact. Brittany and Evan Halper , a business and energy reporter for The Washington Post, answer your questions and so much more. Like, is AI causing your energy bills to go up? Are tech c...

The Christian rapture didn't happen as predicted, but a lot of you still feel like we're living in end times. Why is that? Right now - from religion to climate change to doomsday prepping - there's a lot of talk about the end of the world. And, yeah, there was a lot of joking (and some believing) this week that the rapture would happen, but this all points to a broader feeling a lot of us have: th...

If more and more young people are dying of colorectal cancer, why aren't we talking about it? Is it because we're too ashamed of our bodies? Rates of colorectal cancer are rising, especially for people under 50. But it's hard to raise awareness for a cancer that a lot of us find hard to talk about. In a recent essay for The Cut, writer Laurie Abraham described her experience of colon cancer, which...

After Grok's MechaHitler gaffe this summer, and President Trump's executive order to, "strip AI models of ‘ideological agendas," Brittany wondered, " how much influence does AI already have on our minds?" This is AI + U . Each Monday this month, Brittany explores how we’re already seeing the impacts of AI. Artificial Intelligence has become a constant in ways we can and can't see… and for the next...

Why is Trump sending the National Guard to cities when crime is already falling? Earlier this month, President Trump posted this: “I love the smell of deportations in the morning. Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR.” He seemed poised to send the National Guard to the city in an attempt to curb crime, after having deployed them in D.C. But this week, he turned his atten...

There comes a time in every woman's life that we don't talk about enough: menopause. And reframing it may be the key to unlocking a more fulfilling life for women of all ages. In this episode, Brittany teams up with WNYC's Radiolab to answer your questions about the ubiquitous and unknown. Brittany, Radiolab senior correspondent Molly Webster , and contributing editor Heather Radke answer your que...

The AI digital afterlife industry is here. But can legal and ethical frameworks keep us safe from it? Companies are already popping up to create artificial life-like renderings of your loved ones. So-called "deadbots" can mimic speech patterns and unique facialo gestures, and they can purportedly help people cope with grief. But they are also ripe for commercialization. What's stopping companies f...

How did you respond to the assassination of Charlie Kirk? Many mourned or called for revenge. Others pointed to Kirk's extreme, bigoted statements as justification. But how do those reactions impact how the American public will metabolize another instance of gun violence? Brittany is joined by Abené Clayton , a gun violence reporter for The Guardian, to get into how Kirk's assassination fits into...

There's a new man in town: the "performative male." Is he trying to trick you into thinking he's open-minded, or does he really like reading books and drinking matcha? We're breaking down what's gender performance and what's gender manipulation. In this episode, Brittany is joined by  Manny Fidel , host of  No Such Thing , and  James Factora , staff writer for Them. They get into what makes a "per...

Bizarre videos, uncanny photos, and Luigi Mangoine's likeness on Shein...? AI slop is taking over the web. It's putting money in people's pockets, and driving them offline, too. This is AI + U . Each Monday this month, Brittany is exploring how you are already seeing the impacts of AI. Artificial Intelligence has become a constant in ways we can and can't see...and for the next few weeks we're zer...

KPop Demon Hunters, or as Brittany's mom keeps mistakenly calling it "Kidz Bop: It's the Devil," is dominating the music charts. And, thank god! These bombastic bangers are a welcome reprieve after a summer full of sad songs. We need to talk about those bangers, but we also need to talk about the void KPop Demon Hunters is filling. This summer was lacking a true shiny, shimmering song of the summe...

The Florida detention center, "Alligator Alcatraz," may close, but what can you learn from its short but impactful run? First, the name echoes old Southern American racist tropes and adapts them for a modern audience. Second, its casually playful name is a blueprint for other detention centers popping up across the United States. But what does this all add up to? In this episode, Brittany, freelan...

It's official: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce posted one of the most liked Instagram photos of all time. Also, they're officially engaged.  Swift and Kelce are no strangers to the spotlight, but we still know very little about their relationship aside from what they are willing to share. And Molly McPherson , a public relations expert, says that's no accident. In this episode, Brittany returns to a...

Have Americans changed their minds? Polling on immigration suggests a seismic shift in public opinion. According to Gallup, 79% of Americans now say immigration is a good thing for the country, which is a record high. Plus, the share of Americans who want lower rates of immigration has dropped from 55% in 2024 to 30% this year. And it's not just this poll showing a shift in how we think about immi...

On September 2, 2005, on a telethon to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina, Kanye West went off script and said, "George Bush doesn't care about Black people." 20 years later, would those words have the same impact today? In this episode, Brittany, NPR music correspondent Rodney Carmichael, and Code Switch's Leah Donella revisit that moment and dissect why those words rippled through the...

Social media is full of images of unhoused people that's either meant to make you angry or laugh. For Leah Goodridge, this content is a new form of 'poverty porn.' 'Poverty porn' used to refer to charity commercials showing malnourished children to evoke empathy from sympathetic viewers. But according to New York City attorney and tenant advocate Leah Goodridge, that kind of imagery has shifted in...

We need to talk about the memes your tax dollars paid for. What is the federal government trying to communicate with them? The social media accounts of the White House and the Department of Homeland Security have been chock-full of memes: memes that mock people being deported, memes that are aimed at recruiting new ICE agents, even a meme that seemingly references a book by a white supremacist. To...

Has online hate ever been this cruel? Brendan Abernathy is a singer-songwriter who went viral earlier this year for an earnest performance of his song "married in a year." The backlash was immediate, and one word popped up over and over again in the comments: "cringe." Brittany and Ramtin Arablouei , co-host of NPR's Throughline , get into the rise of cringe culture: where it comes from, how it's...

Sex sells. So does outrage. That's why these sex workers are making rage bait.  In the past few months, UK and Australian-based OnlyFans creators like Bonnie Blue and Annie Knight made headlines for their extreme sex stunts, most notably for sleeping with over 100 men in one day. But in addition to these stunts, they also appear on controversial podcasts to gain traction, or do day in the life vlo...

Are you scared of being cheated on? You're not alone. There are apps and social media groups dedicated to outing a cheater. But is our paranoia about cheating actually hurting our relationships? And on top of that, definitions of "cheating" vary widely. How do you decide for yourself what really counts as cheating? And what's really fueling our fear of being cheated on? Brittany is joined by Kathr...

Tyler Perry is many things, but is he someone we should aspire to be? Entertainment mogul Tyler Perry has built a media empire that has spanned theater, film, and television. And he’s recently been accused by an employee of sexual harassment. Brittany is joined by entertainment journalist and author Tre'vell Anderson and SUNY Purchase theater and performance professor William Bryant Miles to dive...

Jubilee has become one of the go-to open forums for debate in the digital age. Videos like: "Flat Earthers vs Scientists," "1 Conservative vs. 20 Feminists," and, "What Makes a Real Man?" are just some of the few topics they cover. It's what caused The Atlantic staff writer Spencer Kornhaber to write his article, " Jubilee is Like Gen-Z's 'Jerry Springer Show '". But their most recent video, "1 Pr...

Finding it hard to concentrate? Are you glued to social media for longer than you’d like? Well, maybe it’s not you… maybe it’s the phones. Brittany is joined by Magdalene Taylor, writer, cultural critic and senior editor at  Playboy , and Fio Geiran, producer at TED Radio Hour and a writer of their Body Electric   newsletter,  to discuss this phrase: “it’s the phones.” They get into the effects th...