It's Been a Minute

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 her sexuality. You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at ibam@npr.org . See pcm.a...

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 seek information about abortion or other reproductive health care? Guest host Elise Hu talks it out wit...

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 toll it took to make her recent album Dawn , growing up in the church, and shedding old beliefs whil...

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 Hu discusses patients' concerns with health and gender reporter Shefali Luthra of "The 19th" and Dr....

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 song: why certain pop songs become ear worms and what their form and structure mean for the future o...

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 law-making differs from so-called "moral panics" of past decades — and why that matters — with historia...

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, comparison, perfectionism, despair and grief. With hopes to normalize conversations on these "big feelings...

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-focused mindset in its handling of the pandemic. Then, Juana is joined by Kellie Carter Jackson and...

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 spotlight the stories of pop powerhouses like Gladys Knight, Mahalia Jackson, Whitney Houston, and more....

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 by Wall Street Journal reporter Charity Scott to learn more about how sellers feel and what it mean...

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 West in Wyoming almost took him out of his zone, and how early beef with Jay-Z made them both stronger...

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. Then, Jasmine catches up with host Ceci Bastida and creator Núria Net about their new podcast, Punk I...

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 TV influences our culture, and why we should all take the genre more seriously. You can follow u...

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 about this vibe shift and why we all may be feeling a little off right now. Plus, a chat with Dylan M...

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 what it was like to bring the beloved book to screen, what she's is doing to support Asian American...

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 who's taking home the big awards of the night. Then, they play a game of Who Said That. You can fol...

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 still felt like she didn't belong. Instead of just trying to fit in as the solution, Arce began to que...

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 the unprecedented violence that Asian Americans—especially Asian American women—are facing. Plus, ar...

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 grandma. Emma then settles an age old debate: heels or rollerblades? See pcm.adswizz.com for information a...

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 gas prices to Ukraine to the upcoming US midterms. He then plays a special game of Who Said That? wit...

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 for the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies, about what people are getting wrong about antis...

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 about how economic sanctions are supposed to work and whether they can be effective enough to chan...

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 it all — and how its very first stunt actually shut down production. They also discuss Jackass ' que...

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 Georgetown law professor, Paul Butler to discuss their feelings ten years ago and how their activism has...

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 talks to Jay about why "balance" is a myth, her journey with surrogacy and how she she overcame a t...