It's Been a Minute

What do we expect from women rappers? Guest host Tracie Hunte and music and culture journalist Naima Cochrane discuss HBO's Rap Sh!t — and how it portrays women in hip hop walking the line between sexuality and respectability.

Then, Tracie talks to NPR TV critic Eric Deggans about recent shake-ups in late-night TV. They look at the genre's influence on comedy and what the future looks like for women and comedians of color.

Plus, we play Who Said That! Tracie brings on her WNYC colleagues Alex Neason, producer and editor for Radiolab, and Janae Pierre, host of WNYC's Consider This.

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After years of covering HIV and AIDS, journalist Steven Thrasher knew that the hardest hit communities were almost always the poorest and most marginalized ones. Then COVID-19 struck, and he saw that the same groups of people were suffering the most.

In his new book The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide, Thrasher explores how this pattern plays out in communities around the world. Guest host Tracie Hunte talks to him about the ways that systemic oppression puts marginalized people at greater risk of infection for all diseases – and also blames them for transmission.

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Beyoncé's new album is here! Guest host Anna Sale chats with Dan Runcie, founder of the hip hop site Trapital, and Joey Guerra, music critic for the Houston Chronicle. They talk about Renaissance, what Beyoncé means to us and how this album meets the moment.

Also, It's Been a Minute producer Liam McBain talks to culture writer Crispin Long about their shared obsession with reality dating shows. They discuss how these shows lay bare our society's obsession with marriage, and why reality dating drama is so compelling — even to folks who don't buy into the fixation on finding "the one."

— Read Crispin's Astra Magazine essay on reality dating shows: "Heterosexual Vortex"

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In this episode from our friends at The Limits with Jay Williams, host Jay Williams speaks with Colman Domingo, the ultimate character actor, known for stealing scenes in films like Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Selma and If Beale Street Could Talk. He embodies every character he takes on, most recently earning an Emmy nod for his role as father-figure Ali to Zendaya's Rue on HBO's Euphoria.

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These days, following the news can be utterly demoralizing. How do we deal? Guest host Anna Sale talks to Amanda Ripley, journalist and anchor of the Slate podcast How To!, about strategies for staying informed without stressing out (too much).

Then, Anna chats with author, educator and producer Tananarive Due about the history of the Black horror genre ahead of the release of Jordan Peele's Nope. They talk about how horror can be a way to process trauma, how marginalized creators can — but don't always — reclaim old movie tropes and where Black horror is today.

Finally, Anna plays Who Said That with It's Been a Minute guest hosts pf the past, present and future: Julia Furlan, executive producer of the podcast Death, Sex & Money, and WNYC's Tracie Hunte.

— Read Amanda Ripley's opinion piece: "I stopped reading the news. Is the problem me — or the product?"

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From guest host Anna Sale's other podcast Death, Sex & Money, we bring you this story about Mary Gundel, whose journey from manager to labor activist starts out on TikTok, during a bad day at work, and ends with her losing her job —but finding her power.

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Starting July 16, anyone in the US experiencing emotional distress or a mental health crisis can call the phone number 988 and reach a crisis counselor. Guest host Anna Sale talks to Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, about bringing local call centers into this network, what challenges they're facing and how it will reshape how we view mental health resourcing.

Then Anna talks to Pop Culture Happy Hour host Aisha Harris about why so many biopics get produced and what makes a good one. Antonia Cereijido, executive producer at LAist Studios, joins Anna and Aisha to play Who Said That.

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In 2017, author Erika L. Sánchez was making her dreams come true, her young adult novel I'm Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter earning critical acclaim. But even as she rose to fame, Sánchez found herself struggling with her mental health. Her new memoir, Crying in the Bathroom, captures the tension between her public success and her private suffering — and more. Sánchez talks with guest host Anna Sale about sharing some of her darkest moments with readers, caring for her mental health and what she's learned from her personal role model — Lisa Simpson.

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

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They're short, sexy and on-trend: Hoochie daddy shorts are all the rage for cisgender straight men this summer. And this week, they are the center of a conversation between guest host Anna Sale and writer and poet Danez Smith about sex, gender and freedom. What do higher hemlines on men reveal about the gender anxiety rippling through America today?

Also, Anna speaks with Wired editor Alan Henry about his new book Seen, Heard, and Paid: The New Work Rules for the Marginalized. They discuss how employees of marginalized identities can navigate workplace dynamics, and focus on work that can advance their careers.

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How do freedom and rights intersect with sex, pleasure and the self? It's a question the U.S. is facing in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — and a central theme in writer Davey Davis's new novel. In X, Davis relocates the conflict over these ideas from courts and abortion clinics to queer clubs and BDSM dungeons in a more dystopic version of our present.

In this episode, guest host Anna Sale talks to Davis about why sadism is romantic, how bureaucracy can become a tool of oppression and why bad behavior doesn't make us less human.

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