It's Been a Minute

For longtime fans of this show, here's a name you know: Sam Sanders. Before Brittany, Sam was the host of It's Been A Minute, and recently Brittany ran into Sam at an event. The two got to talking and came up with an an idea...what if Brittany came on Sam's new show, KCRW's The Sam Sanders Show? And then...what if they brought all of you longtime IBAM fans the podcast multiverse event of the season to this feed?!

That's how we got here.

In this special bonus episode, Sam, Brittany, and Tre'vell Anderson rank the best spooky season films of all time and talk through their pop culture hot takes. 

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What can we all learn from stories of men trying to find friends...and failing?

Men in real life - and in the movies - are trying to figure out how to be friends. There's been a lot of talk alleging lonely men are the cause of cultural tensions, and Hollywood has caught on (despite a similar number of women saying they are lonely, too!). Several films this year depict how society leads men into fraught, messy friendships. So, what can we all learn from toxic (or good!) friendships between men?

Brittany is joined by NPR arts and culture reporter Neda Ulaby and IndieWire awards editor Marcus Jones to dig into it.

(0:00) We're all obsessed with lonely men...why?
(3:12) 'Friendship' and how to deal with being rejected
(8:17) 'Twinless' and how friendship is kinda romantic
(13:43) 'Lurker' and how real life relationships are parasocial too
(17:55) What male friendships can teach us all about being more vulnerable

Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse

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Is it a bad thing to be a "capitalist?" Why is the word being used as a diss?

And how do Americans' shifting attitudes towards it show up in your discourse and your favorite movies?

This is… The ABCs of the Culture Wars. For the next few weeks, Brittany breaks down the history, subtext, and evolving meanings of the buzzwords you hear all over the news and social media. Today we're talking about the C-word: Capitalism. And why the word is increasingly divisive in politics and culture.

Brittany is joined by NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben and writer & editor Morgan Jerkins.

(0:00) How pop culture got obsessed with eating the rich
(3:11) When did anti-capitalist rhetoric enter our politics?
(7:05) Why the rich started looking more evil...
(12:46) From 'Clueless' millionaires to bumbling billionaires...
(17:26) How anti-capitalism is showing up in American politics now

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Why is there so much Nazism in the news? And when does a "joke" become hate speech?

Politico broke a story last week featuring what it said were leaks from a Telegram group chat that included Young Republican National Federation leaders. These chats made headlines for reportedly racist and pro-Nazi messaging. But this is not the only story in the news about people in politics engaging with Nazi rhetoric. Is it happening more often? And is this kind of thing just a “joke”? 

Brittany is joined by Odette Yousef, domestic extremism correspondent for NPR, and Gene Demby, co-host of NPR's Code Switch, to get into it.

(0:00) Young Republicans group chat screenshots go viral...
(3:40) Where's the line between joking and hate speech?
(5:56) Is Nazi talk more common, or are we just more aware of it?
(10:29) Why white adults are considered "kids" even in their 30s
(14:45) Are there consequences for spreading hate? And what you can do about it.
(19:41) 'Wait, What?' - a pop culture trivia game
(23:29) Responding to listener comments :)

Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse

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Do you want to know the secret to making deeper friendships? Throw a dinner party.

You'll feel less lonely, take care of people you love, and find out what's really going on in your community. Dinner parties are sort of a lost art, and our notions of what makes a worthy dinner party are being warped by social media. We're here with tips on how to throw one without feeling self-conscious.

Brittany is joined by two dinner party experts: architecture & design journalist Carly Olson and chef & writer Garrett Schlichte. They discuss the pitfalls and pleasures of modern dinner parties, including how to host one without breaking the bank. 

(0:00) Why dinner parties are the perfect way to connect
(2:01) Dinner parties of the past vs. now
(4:57) How modern home design prioritizes individualism
(8:32) Why social media discourages community building
(14:00) Advice for throwing a good dinner party
(16:58) How to let go of your anxiety of having people in your home
(19:51) Ban the phones at home!

Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse

For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. 


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Do you ever feel like the internet just doesn't work as well as it used to?  

Or maybe you wish you could go back to the old internet?  Where your search queries actually served you what you wanted, and your feeds weren't overrun by ads?  Well, it's not just you - the internet IS getting worse, and platforms are getting harder to leave. But how did we get here? Journalist and tech activist Cory Doctorow joins Brittany to lay out why in his new book, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It.

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Love it or hate it, your favorite pop star is a person and a product. How much are you willing to pay?

Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, smashed records for first week album sales. This was in part due to all the different limited-edition variants that went on sale; some for only 24 hours. Talk about pressuring your fans! Is this business strategy fan service, or fan exploitation? Where’s the line?

Brittany sits down with Stephen Thompson, host for NPR Music and Pop Culture Happy Hour, and Ann Powers, NPR music critic and correspondent, to get into the life of a business woman, why they think Swift had to make this album, and whether or not it's worth the cost.

Read Ann's (mostly positive) review of The Life of a Showgirl.

(0:00) Is Taylor exploiting her fans? Yes and No!
(3:08) Taylor's business strategy isn't hers alone...
(6:11) Why Taylor is a proxy for all our rage
(10:43) Why vinyl sales in general have skyrocketed
(13:46) How the charts impact the music industry
(15:50) Why Taylor Swift HAD to make 'The Life of a Showgirl'
(18:15) Does greed make bad art?
(21:00) Responding to your comments :)

Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse

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Sometimes the harshest critic is the one in your head. What if instead you had faith in yourself, and what you're making?

It's a familiar, paralyzing fear that not only keeps you from creating your best work, but can also make you question your own worth. Novelist Brandon Taylor knows this fear intimately. And in his new book, 'Minor Black Figures,' his characters - maybe just like you - are tortured by harsh online criticism from random keyboard warriors, and their own inner saboteurs. In this episode, Brandon joins Brittany to talk through the "double consciousness" of creating art today, and what it means to have faith as an artist.

Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse

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NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour asked Brittany to go to the movies and bring them her thoughts on The Rock's new movie, The Smashing Machine. She fulfilled the assignment and more.

In this special bonus episode, Brittany, Pop Culture Happy Hour's Aisha Harris, Code Switch's Gene Demby, and NPR contributor Reanna Cruz get into The Rock's attempt at capital-A acting. Is Dwayne Johnson going to get an Oscar, or is the movie an all-around skip? 

You can listen to more episodes of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour here.

Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse

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There's his trend on social media of using code words for different topics so you can trick the algorithm from categorizing your content in a certain way. What do you think? Is this a form of censorship? 

Or...are algorithm categorizations a way of protecting users from seeing too much violent or aggressive content? Well, whatever side of the debate you fall on, Code Switch's B.A. Parker and Gene Demby are going to show you how this so-called ALGO-speak or algorithm-speak shapes your beliefs in conscious and unconscious ways.


You can listen to more episodes of NPR's Code Switch here.

Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse

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