It's Been a Minute

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, explain why companies are so eager to jump into it, and whether or not we should worry about it. You ca...

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 takes to make something for your people in the industry right now, what she's doing to claim spa...

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 and talks with Wall Street Journal workplace reporter Lauren Weber about why pay transparency matter...

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 Schwartzel talk about how and why China has influenced the American film industry and more reporting...

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, producers of the podcast This Is Dating , a show about first dates. They talk about what the show taught th...

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 the other remained obscure — the only recorded footage placed in a basement that was said to have sat, unpublished, for decades.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 documentary Summer of Soul came out last year . In this episode, Sam chats with Questlove about the recent...

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 laziness and what it means for productivity. You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and emai...

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 strategies to make America more welcoming and compassionate. You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin...

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 celebrate Talley's legacy. Read Saeed Jones' essay on André Leon Talley here and Zach Stafford's essay he...

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 nearly 200 interviews with ACT UP members to document the movement's history and explore how the group'...

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...