It's Been a Minute
NPR
Want in on a secret? Your likes and dislikes didn't develop by accident. There are subtle and not-so-subtle forces around you, shaping what you think, how you act, and even who you think you are. Brittany Luse is here to break the spell and help you feel wiser in a society that makes things blurry.
THE BEST POP CULTURE PODCAST AWARD WINNER AT THE 2025 SIGNAL AWARDS
It’s Been A Minute with Brittany Luse is the best podcast for understanding what’s going on in culture right now, and helps you consume it smarter. From how politics influences pop culture to how identity influences tech or health, Brittany makes the picture clearer for you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.It’s Been A Minute reaches millions of people every week. Join the community and conversation today.
If you can't get enough, try It's Been a Minute Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/itsbeenaminute
Location:
Washington, DC
Genres:
Arts & Culture Podcasts
Networks:
NPR
Description:
Want in on a secret? Your likes and dislikes didn't develop by accident. There are subtle and not-so-subtle forces around you, shaping what you think, how you act, and even who you think you are. Brittany Luse is here to break the spell and help you feel wiser in a society that makes things blurry. THE BEST POP CULTURE PODCAST AWARD WINNER AT THE 2025 SIGNAL AWARDS It’s Been A Minute with Brittany Luse is the best podcast for understanding what’s going on in culture right now, and helps you consume it smarter. From how politics influences pop culture to how identity influences tech or health, Brittany makes the picture clearer for you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.It’s Been A Minute reaches millions of people every week. Join the community and conversation today. If you can't get enough, try It's Been a Minute Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/itsbeenaminute
Language:
English
Episodes
Searching for safety in an unsafe world
11/19/2025
What’s the difference between feeling unsafe and being unsafe?
According to Gallup, about half of Americans see crime as being extremely or very serious. And there are a lot of very real threats out there to people’s safety, but there’s also a lot of fearful rhetoric that’s more unfounded. While immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born citizens, and trans people are unlikely to commit mass shootings, fear of these groups is being weaponized against them. So how can we disentangle being unsafe and feeling unsafe – and better protect ourselves and each other?
Brittany gets into it with Nicole Lewis, engagement editor at The Marshall Project, and Lex McMenamin, writer and editor.
Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse
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Duration:00:23:15
The fear & shame of modern parenting
11/17/2025
Have you talked to a parent recently? Are they...okay?
From textbook bans to health food trends, there’s a whole culture of fear and political propaganda that preys on new parents, convincing them that just buying this or just voting for that will keep their children safe. But how do you know if something is a moral panic or a legitimate concern?
Brittany is joined by Karen Leick, author of Parents, Media and Panic through the Years, and Cynthia Wang, Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations at Northwestern University to sift through the differences.
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Duration:00:17:39
We've lost the plot. Here's how we find it again.
11/14/2025
No disrespect, but...when President Trump threw a Great Gatsby-themed party for Halloween, it kind of missed the point of the book. And, it's not just Trump. A quick search online, and you'll see a lot of people increasingly misinterpreting other famous books.
Are people just bad at reading? Are we just laying our own biases on top of classic texts? Or is something else going on?
Andrew Limbong, host of NPR's Book of the Day, and writer-critic Princess Weekes join Brittany to dissect novel interpretations of literary fiction. They look at what these re-interpretations say about our current moment: from what we want from a book to how books lose meaning online.
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Duration:00:20:23
Exercise is more important than ever
11/12/2025
Have you picked up a couple weights recently? Started walking, or jogging, or doing pilates? So have a lot of other people.
You see the fitness Instagram accounts and gym tips all over TikTok, but how does exercise culture fit into our broader culture? And how does more enthusiasm for exercise square with the focus on fitness in our politics? Brittany gets into it with Jonquilyn Hill, host of Vox’s Explain it to Me podcast, and Shelly McKenzie, author of Getting Physical: the Rise of Fitness Culture in America.
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Duration:00:20:42
How 'Fascism' became a meme
11/10/2025
The word "fascism" is being thrown around a lot right now. Does it capture our current cultural and political moment?
Nearly 50% of Americans have associated President Trump with "fascism." Trump himself has used the word against his own opponents. Others have used the word to denounce skinny-tok as "body fascism." But why are Americans so willing to use the word? And is its ubiquity making it lose its meaning?
In this episode, Brittany is joined by Nicholas Ensley Mitchell, a professor of education and policy at the University of Kansas. He explains how Black Americans mapped the blueprint for fighting fascism in America, and questions whether the word "fascism" fits our current moment.
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Duration:00:20:54
Rosalía & the evolving definition of Latinidad
11/7/2025
LuxBilal QureshiMichelle Santiago Cortés
@bmluse
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Duration:00:21:49
Should we all start locking up our phones?
11/5/2025
Does your phone feel like a blessing or a burden? Either way, there's probably a lot you can learn from new phone bans.
Many K-12 students are going phone-free - but not by choice. In over half the country, there are now restrictions on cellphone possession and use in class. The goal is to increase student focus and enhance learning...but when you think about school shootings, phones have been a big part of parents' safety plans for their kids. So are phone bans the best solution? And what do these policies teach all of us about the role phones play in our lives?
Brittany is joined by David Figlio, professor of economics at the University of Rochester, and Kathy Do, Assistant Project Scientist at University of California Los Angeles to find out.
Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse
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Duration:00:17:51
How 'socialism' got sexy
11/3/2025
What does ‘socialism’ mean to a generation that grew up with COVID… not the Cold War? How have the compounding effects of college protests, financial insecurity, and student loan debt shaped a culture?
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 S-word: Socialism. And why the word has gained new meaning for a younger generation looking for relief.
Brittany is joined by Axios senior politics reporter Holly Otterbein and head of Teen Vogue’s politics section, Lex McMenamin.
Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse
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Duration:00:17:08
The politics of hunger
10/31/2025
Is hunger in America a choice?
This week, over 40 million people worried about losing their SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown. But with Thanksgiving just around the corner, who's hurt most by hunger? And why do some believe that if you’re hungry, it’s your fault? Brittany gets into it with Poonam Gupta, research associate at the Urban Institute, and Maggie Dickinson, associate professor at Queens College and author of Feeding the Crisis: Care and Abandonment and America's Food Safety Net.
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Duration:00:22:06
Brittany meets Sam Sanders, and things get spooky
10/30/2025
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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Duration:00:47:21
These men tried to be bros...and failed.
10/29/2025
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.
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Duration:00:20:27
How 'Capitalism' became a dirty word
10/27/2025
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.
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Duration:00:19:25
Nazism has entered the group chat
10/24/2025
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.
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Duration:00:22:53
How to make friends & get good gossip
10/22/2025
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.
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Duration:00:19:17
Why the internet sucks (and keeps getting worse)
10/20/2025
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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Duration:00:21:11
Is Taylor Swift exploiting her fans? Yes, but there's more to it.
10/17/2025
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.
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Duration:00:20:20
Art, faith, & your tendency to overthink it.
10/15/2025
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.
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Duration:00:18:40
Brittany pops off on Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
10/14/2025
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.
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Duration:00:19:09
TikTok, Censorship, & Algospeak
10/13/2025
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.
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Duration:00:21:36
People say college doesn't matter. They're right and wrong.
10/10/2025
Does a college degree get you anything these days? Some people say no, but the reality is far more complicated.
About 19 million people are going to college right now. But one recent poll from Gallup shows that the percentage of Americans who view college as very important is at an all time low, dropping from 75% in 2010 to 35% now. Those who say it's not very important increased from 4% to 24% in the same time period. This is a pretty dramatic change that goes beyond ballooning costs.
Brittany chats with Elissa Nadworny, an education correspondent for NPR, and Kathryn Palmer, reporter for Inside Higher Ed, to get into what’s behind this changing perception – what politics has to do with it – and whether college is still worth it.
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Duration:00:20:44