It's Been a Minute

Fighting with your family doesn’t have to be a holiday tradition. The majority of Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow. And while it’s meant to be a time of family togetherness… sometimes, this holiday can make you never want to see your family again. To go or not to go? To fight or not to fight? Well, our friends at NPR’s  Life Kit  have tips for how to answer these questions. Marielle...

Can you afford to pay two rents? Families across the country are asking that same question when it comes to childcare, as the yearly costs for daycare are becoming comparable to a year's rent in many places. How did childcare become so expensive, and how might everyone benefit if the government provided more support to parents? Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison  Jessica...

When the dream of buying a home seems unattainable, is it time to find a new dream? Or is there another option on the table? Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or the FHFA, said the administration is “working on” a plan to introduce 50 year mortgage terms for homebuyers. But some Americans have already been working on their own plans towards homeownership… and it’s not...

What’s the difference between  feeling  unsafe and  being  unsafe? According to Gallup, about half of Americans see crime as being extremely or very serious. And there are a lot of very real threats out there to people’s safety, but there’s also a lot of fearful rhetoric that’s more unfounded. While immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born citizens, and trans people are unlikely...

Have you talked to a parent recently? Are they...okay? From textbook bans to health food trends, there’s a whole culture of fear and political propaganda that preys on new parents, convincing them that just buying this or just voting for that will keep their children safe. But how do you know if something is a moral panic or a legitimate concern? Brittany is joined by  Karen Leick , author of Pare...

No disrespect, but...when President Trump threw a Great Gatsby-themed party for Halloween, it kind of missed the point of the book. And, it's not just Trump. A quick search online, and you'll see a lot of people increasingly misinterpreting other famous books. Are people just bad at reading? Are we just laying our own biases on top of classic texts? Or is something else going on? Andrew Limbong ,...

Have you picked up a couple weights recently? Started walking, or jogging, or doing pilates? So have a lot of other people. You see the fitness Instagram accounts and gym tips all over TikTok, but how does exercise culture fit into our broader culture? And how does more enthusiasm for exercise square with the focus on fitness in our politics? Brittany gets into it with  Jonquilyn Hill , host of  V...

The word "fascism" is being thrown around a lot right now. Does it capture our current cultural and political moment? Nearly 50% of Americans have associated President Trump with "fascism." Trump himself has used the word against his own opponents. Others have used the word to denounce skinny-tok as "body fascism." But why are Americans so willing to use the word? And is its ubiquity making it los...

Spanish artist and musical chameleon Rosalía released her latest album, Lux , today. The single, "Berghain," seems like a return to form. Operatic vocals, grand instrumentals, beautiful visuals -- the album is primed for critical praise. But for those who are hyperaware of Rosalia’s transformations -- from flamenco songstress to Afro-Caribbean queen -- they have other questions about this evolutio...

Does your phone feel like a blessing or a burden? Either way, there's probably a lot you can learn from new phone bans. Many K-12 students are going phone-free - but not by choice. In over half the country, there are now restrictions on cellphone possession and use in class. The goal is to increase student focus and enhance learning...but when you think about school shootings, phones have been a b...

What does ‘socialism’ mean to a generation that grew up with COVID… not the Cold War? How have the compounding effects of college protests, financial insecurity, and student loan debt shaped a culture?  This is… The ABCs of the Culture Wars. For the next few weeks, Brittany breaks down the history, subtext, and evolving meanings of the buzzwords you hear all over the news and social media. Today w...

Is hunger in America a choice? This week, over 40 million people worried about losing their SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown. But with Thanksgiving just around the corner, who's hurt most by hunger? And why do some believe that if you’re hungry, it’s your fault? Brittany gets into it with Poonam Gupta , research associate at the Urban Institute, and Maggie Dickinson , associate profess...

For longtime fans of this show, here's a name you know: Sam Sanders . Before Brittany, Sam was the host of It's Been A Minute, and recently Brittany ran into Sam at an event. The two got to talking and came up with an an idea...what if Brittany came on Sam's new show, KCRW's The Sam Sanders Show ? And then...what if they brought all of you longtime IBAM fans the podcast multiverse event of the sea...

What can we all learn from stories of men trying to find friends...and failing? Men in real life - and in the movies - are trying to figure out how to be friends. There's been a lot of talk alleging lonely men are the cause of cultural tensions, and Hollywood has caught on (despite a similar number of women saying they are lonely, too!). Several films this year depict how society leads men into fr...

Is it a bad thing to be a "capitalist?" Why is the word being used as a diss? And how do Americans' shifting attitudes towards it show up in your discourse and your favorite movies? This is… The ABCs of the Culture Wars. For the next few weeks, Brittany breaks down the history, subtext, and evolving meanings of the buzzwords you hear all over the news and social media. Today we're talking about th...

Why is there so much Nazism in the news? And when does a "joke" become hate speech? Politico  broke a story last week featuring what it said were leaks from a Telegram group chat that included Young Republican National Federation leaders. These chats made headlines for reportedly racist and pro-Nazi messaging. But this is not the only story in the news about people in politics engaging with Nazi r...

Do you want to know the secret to making deeper friendships? Throw a dinner party. You'll feel less lonely, take care of people you love, and find out what's really going on in your community. Dinner parties are sort of a lost art, and our notions of what makes a worthy dinner party are being warped by social media. We're here with tips on how to throw one without feeling self-conscious. Brittany...

Do you ever feel like the internet just doesn't work as well as it used to?   Or maybe you wish you could go back to the old internet?  Where your search queries actually served you what you wanted, and your feeds weren't overrun by ads?  Well, it's not just you - the internet IS getting worse, and platforms are getting harder to leave. But how did we get here? Journalist and tech activist Cory Do...

Love it or hate it, your favorite pop star is a person and a product. How much are you willing to pay? Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl , smashed records for first week album sales. This was in part due to all the different limited-edition variants that went on sale; some for only 24 hours. Talk about pressuring your fans! Is this business strategy fan service, or fan exploitati...

Sometimes the harshest critic is the one in your head. What if instead you had faith in yourself, and what you're making? It's a familiar, paralyzing fear that not only keeps you from creating your best work, but can also make you question your own worth. Novelist Brandon Taylor knows this fear intimately. And in his new book, ' Minor Black Figures ,' his characters - maybe just like you - are tor...

NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour asked Brittany to go to the movies and bring them her thoughts on The Rock's new movie, The Smashing Machine. She fulfilled the assignment and more. In this special bonus episode, Brittany, Pop Culture Happy Hour's Aisha Harris , Code Switch's Gene Demby , and NPR contributor Reanna Cruz get into The Rock's attempt at capital-A acting. Is Dwayne Johnson going to get an...

There's his trend on social media of using code words for different topics so you can trick the algorithm from categorizing your content in a certain way. What do you think? Is this a form of censorship?  Or...are algorithm categorizations a way of protecting users from seeing too much violent or aggressive content? Well, whatever side of the debate you fall on, Code Switch 's B.A. Parker and Gene...

Does a college degree get you anything these days? Some people say no, but the reality is far more complicated.  About 19 million people are going to college right now. But one recent poll from Gallup shows that the percentage of Americans who view college as very important is at an all time low, dropping from 75% in 2010 to 35% now. Those who say it's not very important increased from 4% to 24% i...

Black women’s unemployment rate is hovering at 6.7% — higher than the rate for white workers. Is it a sign the broader economy could sour? These economists say yes. Black women are the 'canary in the economic coal mine,' says Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman . She's the author of The Double Tax: How Women of Color are Overcharged and Underpaid . Brittany speaks to Anna and Ofranama Biu , chief economist a...

Hollywood isn't performing as well at home or abroad. Is it losing its cultural dominance to China's burgeoning film industry? ‘Survive until 2025’ was the mantra that got Hollywood through the past five years of lockdown, streaming wars, and franchise fatigue. And while summer films like Lilo & Stitch , Superman , and Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning made critical and box office impact… on the...