It's Been a Minute

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 and families across the country. Plus, Eric Eddings and Brittany Luse join Sam to talk about the era...

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 been up to this past year — and its strategies going into the next elections. You can follow us o...

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 Washington Post , and Tom Dreisbach , NPR investigative correspondent, about how the U.S. government ha...

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 most dramatic battlegrounds in the fight over our country's historical narratives — and whether an ag...

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 her rendition of the national anthem that year and why it still matters more than 30 years later....

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 samsanders@npr.org . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal da...

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 about the business behind them. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of...

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 York Times Magazine ), Sam explores why — and how — ABC's The View continues to trend on Twitter, r...

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. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship pre...

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 predecessor, all the songs are in Spanish. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use...

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 White House correspondent, about the year of Biden. They also play Who Said That. See pcm.adswiz...

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 about how companies can create sustainable and flexible work environments, the history of workplace cu...

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 at Georgetown University Lane Windham about why labor activism might be on the rise again. Plus, Rose...

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 magic and if the latest installment of the franchise added more to its world — or not. See pcm.ad...

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 favorite — and least favorite — books that often show up on banned book lists. See pcm.adswizz.com 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 boyfriend's recent conversion to becoming a Swiftie (read: a fan of Taylor Swift) to the group dynamics of...

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 reporter Abha Bhattarai . They discuss the potential downfalls of buy now, pay later services and where on...

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 Shore , and embracing the things that others consider bad taste. See pcm.adswizz.com for information...

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 passengers. Sam chats with Natalie Compton , travel reporter at The Washington Post , about the state...

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 permanence of the past, or at least, what we think the past was. But, when it first appeared, nostal...

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 Who Said That? See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data fo...

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 her mother about that grief, her navigation of identity and her family's history. You can follow us...

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 to talk to your kids about global warming... to how to deal with all of this existential dread. See...

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 investigates the source of Sam's musical malady and uncovers how the '80s got its groove. Hear Sam o...

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 of the biggest nights in rap history. You can follow us on Twitter at @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us a...