It's Been a Minute

Pop Culture Happy Hour host Linda Holmes (@nprmonkeysee), NPR congressional correspondent Susan Davis (@DaviSusan), and R. Eric Thomas (@oureric), playwright and 'person on the internet' join Sam to talk about the year that was. Plus year-end music highlights with Radio Menea host Verónica Flores (@veroconplatanos) and NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael (@rodneyology). Email the show at [email protected] or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with your feedback. Follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders and producers Brent Baughman @brentbaughman and Anjuli Sastry @AnjuliSastry.

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The indie band Belle and Sebastian is out with a trio of EPs called "How To Solve Our Human Problems." Members Stuart Murdoch and Sarah Martin talk to Sam about the new music, the songwriting process, life on the road, and why they still clean their own studio after 20 years. Email the show at [email protected] or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with your feedback. Follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders and producers Brent Baughman @brentbaughman and Anjuli Sastry @AnjuliSastry.

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NPR reporter Camila Domonoske (@camilareads) and Lauren Ober (@OberandOut), host of WAMU's The Big Listen, join Sam to talk about the week that was. With the holiday weekend upon us, the GOP got their tax bill but the future of CHIP and DACA is unclear — plus a call to a politically divided couple in Connecticut and a very special edition of the best things that happened to our listeners all week. Email the show at [email protected] or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with your feedback. Follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders and producers Brent Baughman @brentbaughman and Anjuli Sastry @AnjuliSastry.

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You might know actress Rachel Brosnahan from her supporting role on Netflix's House of Cards a few years back. Now she's back as the fast-talking 1950s housewife Midge Maisel on the new Amazon show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. The role earned her a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a TV comedy. She and Sam discuss what the show says about women, especially in light of the #MeToo movement, and much more. Email the show at [email protected] or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with your feedback. Follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders and producers Brent Baughman @brentbaughman and Anjuli Sastry @AnjuliSastry.

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Bloomberg retail reporter Sarah Halzack (@sarahhalzack) and Derek Thompson (@DKThomp), writer and senior editor at The Atlantic, join Sam to talk about the week that was: Disney acquiring Fox, net neutrality, #MeToo, and the Alabama Senate race. Plus a call to a listener finishing up her first semester of college, a look at why the economy seems to be doing so well, and the best things that happened to our listeners all week. Email the show at [email protected] or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with your feedback. Follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders and producers Brent Baughman @brentbaughman and Anjuli Sastry @AnjuliSastry.

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Professional pessimist Matt Bellassai (@MattBellassai) launched a comedy career doing viral videos for Buzzfeed. Now he's got a new book and performs live across the country. He and Sam talk about the book, Everything Is Awful, and about how his video series became a hit, being an awkward kid, how he came out in college, embracing his sexuality as a part of his identity, and when the Internet used to be better. Email the show at [email protected] or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with your feedback. Follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders and producers Brent Baughman @brentbaughman and Anjuli Sastry @AnjuliSastry.

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Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff), Vox senior policy correspondent and host of the Vox podcast 'The Impact,' and NPR film critic Bob Mondello (@Bob_Mondello) join Sam to talk about the week that was: raging wildfires in southern California, the resignation of Sen. Al Franken, and TIME Magazine naming "The Silence Breakers" people of the year – along with a call to a longtime listener in Alabama. They also discuss the health care implications of the GOP tax plan. It's all capped off with the best things that happened to listeners all week. Email the show at [email protected] or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with your feedback. Follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders and producers Brent Baughman @brentbaughman and Anjuli Sastry @AnjuliSastry.

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Veteran journalist Dan Rather thinks the U.S. is facing an 'existential crisis,' but one the country can survive. His new book is called What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism. Sam and Dan talked in front of an audience at the Brooklyn Academy of Music last month. Email the show at [email protected] or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with your feedback. Follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders and producers Brent Baughman @brentbaughman and Anjuli Sastry @AnjuliSastry.

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Sam is joined by Jody Avirgan (@jodyavirgan) from 538 Politics and ESPN's '30 for 30' podcast series, along with Brittany Luse (@bmluse), co-host of Gimlet Media's 'The Nod,' to talk about the week that was: Michael Flynn, Republican progress on taxes, net neutrality, even more sexual assault firings, along with a call to a listener currently in Puerto Rico. It's all capped off with the best things that happened to listeners all week. Email the show at [email protected] or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with your feedback. Follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders and producers Brent Baughman @brentbaughman and Anjuli Sastry @AnjuliSastry.

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In her new memoir, "The Mother of Black Hollywood," Jenifer Lewis chronicles a career that has spanned decades, from Broadway to the hit ABC show Black-ish. Along the way, she played fictional moms to Tupac Shakur, Taraji P. Henson, and Whitney Houston. Jenifer talks to Sam about her long career, struggling with addiction and bipolar disorder, growing up in Missouri, and lying her way into the DNC in 2008. Email the show at [email protected] or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with your feedback. Follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders and producers Brent Baughman @brentbaughman and Anjuli Sastry @AnjuliSastry.

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