As we all know, 2025 was the best year that any of us have ever had. Nothing went wrong, no evil was done, and things were generally really, really chill. 

In reality, Akilah is joined this week by Ryan Broderick, host of COURIER’s Panic World, in order to review all of the political and pop culture chaos that went down over the past twelve months. Together they’ll try to answer the fateful question: was anything about this year better? The answer might surprise you.

You can find Ryan at @ryanhatesthis on IG, and you can listen to Panic World at @panicworldpod or on your favorite listening platforms.

SUBSCRIBE to @howisthisbetter  

How Is This Better? is a @COURIERHQ  production.

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In a second-term Trump economy obsessed with the word “meritocracy,” Black women are being pushed out of the workforce at alarming rates — while the least qualified men fail upward. Akilah Hughes sits down with economist and author Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman to unpack her book, The Double Tax: How Women of Color Are Overcharged and Underpaid.

You can find Anna and her book at www.annagifty.com

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Intro

00:54 Black women & the workforce

07:07 What is the Double Tax?

11:41 How much does Anna’s life show up in the book?

13:58 The DEI crackdown’s impact

17:49 How do we fight for an equitable future?

24:55 This is not better.

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You may have heard a lot about boycotting this year, especially when talking about Target or Amazon. Organized actions like these have been happening year-round, but are reaching peak intensity now that we’re well within the holiday season. One such boycott, called We Ain’t Buying It, aimed to draw attention to how giant retailers are using our money against our own interests: funding candidates like Trump and policies that endanger our communities, civil rights and economic interests.

LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter who helped organize the campaign, joined the podcast this week to talk about what the campaign hoped to achieve, the history of boycotting as a political tool in the US, and why where you spend this holiday season actually matters.

You can find Latosha at @mslatoshabrown on IG, and learn more about the boycott at weaintbuyingit.com.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Intro

01:13 We Ain’t Buying It

09:27 How corporations are funding Trump

14:17 Why are boycotts effective?

17:54 Where should people redirect their money?

19:37 Your money talks!

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What happens when a president decides America is done with space?

This week on How Is This Better?, Akilah Hughes digs into the Trump administration’s unprecedented plans to slash NASA’s budget.

Akilah sits down with Casey Dreier of the Planetary Society to unpack how America went from bipartisan support for space exploration to a full-blown dismantling of the country’s most beloved science agency—and why turning over the future of space to billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos is both dangerous and undemocratic.

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Hollywood (as we once knew it) may have collapsed, but a new form of “storytelling” is thriving in the rubble. This week on How Is This Better? Akilah Hughes investigates the rise of clipping—the 30–90 second chunks of movies and TV that Gen Z and Gen Alpha increasingly treat as the entire art form. With The Ankler's newsroom coordinator, Matthew Frank, we dig into how studios, independent clippers, and even teenagers are monetizing sliced-up IP, why these clips rarely convert to actual viewership, and what that means for the survival of traditional shows.

Then we look at the next evolution: vertical dramas—60-to-90-second cliffhanger “episodes” produced for TikTok-native audiences, now attracting major investment from companies like Disney. Kill Switch podcast host, Dexter Thomas, walks us through the booming non-union economy around these soap-opera-meets-micro-content series, the surprising demographics powering their success, and why middle-aged women—not teens—are the earliest adopters.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Intro

00:20 - Clipping

01:23 - Matthew Frank

9:49 - Dexter Thomas

11:28 - Vertical Dramas

17:20 - Who is Watching Micro Dramas?

26:24 - Is It Better?

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The First Amendment established the separation of church and state in America — but is that principle truly being upheld today? A powerful contingent on the right is working to erase that line entirely, pushing policies that fuse religion and government to advance a Christian nationalist agenda — from efforts to mandate the Ten Commandments in classrooms to reshaping laws around their ideology.

This week, host Akilah Hughes is joined by Heather Weaver of the ACLU, professor Matthew Gabriele, and journalist Talia Lavin to unpack the rise of Christian nationalism in American politics and culture — and its deep ties to authoritarianism and the alt-right.

This episode is sponsored by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. To learn more and get involved, visit ⁠⁠au.org/COURIER⁠⁠.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Americans United

01:15 How is Christian Nationalism better?

02:35 The history of American separation of church and state

04:32 The start of the American Christian narrative

07:00 What is Christian Nationalism?

09:44 AU

10:14 How has religious extremism crept into our culture?

14:30 Christian Nationalism & Authoritarianism

19:01 The far right, fascism, and more

22:26 Trump’s authoritarian slide

24:36 Priming Christians for fascism

27:49 Christian Nationalism is not better.

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What does it really take to run for office when you don’t have a billionaire on speed dial? Akilah Hughes talks with Kat Abughazaleh, the journalist-turned-candidate trying to fund and operate her congressional campaign than what is typical in 2025.

Akilah also catches up with New York City mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, days before the election.

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In 2010, the Supreme Court of the United unleashed chaos with their decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In that ruling, they declared that corporations are people and money is speech. Fifteen years later, billionaires and dark money groups dominate campaign spending, leaving ordinary voters wondering if their $20 donations matter.

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This week on How Is This Better? – Akilah Hughes talks with civil rights attorney and conversion therapy survivor Ryan Kendall, as the Supreme Court takes up Chiles v. Salazar—a case that could reopen the door to "conversion therapy" for LGBTQ+ minors.

Ryan shares his story of surviving so-called “therapy” as a teenager in Colorado Springs, what it cost him, and why the Court’s decision could legalize a new era of psychological abuse under the guise of “free speech.”

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From companions, to lovers, to suicide note co-authors, people are relying on AI more than ever to help them navigate life’s ups and downs. So far, AI’s digital connection, or rather disconnection, to our humanity is having…mixed results.  Our guest this week is Parker Molloy who writes the newsletter The Present Age.

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