Accessibility links
It's Been a Minute Has it been a minute since you heard a thought-provoking conversation about culture? Brittany Luse wants to help. Each week, she takes the things everyone's talking about and, in conversation with her favorite creators, tastemakers, and experts, gives you new ways to think about them. Beyond the obvious takes. Because culture doesn't happen by accident.

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
It's Been a Minute

Podcast Directory

It's Been a Minute

From NPR

Has it been a minute since you heard a thought-provoking conversation about culture? Brittany Luse wants to help. Each week, she takes the things everyone's talking about and, in conversation with her favorite creators, tastemakers, and experts, gives you new ways to think about them. Beyond the obvious takes. Because culture doesn't happen by accident.

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

Most Recent Episodes

The misunderstood humor of political memes

VP Kamala Harris has been the subject of many, many coconut tree memes. Chris duMond/Getty Images/Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Chris duMond/Getty Images/Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images

The misunderstood humor of political memes

From the attempted assassination of former President Trump, to President Biden dropping out of the election, and VP Kamala Harris stepping up... The news these past few weeks has been buck wild. And the energy online is similarly unhinged. But what do most people get wrong when they try to interpret the latest explosion of political memes? And what do these posts actually say about how people are processing major events? And are there consequences to just posting through it? Host Brittany Luse is joined by Tatum Hunter, consumer tech reporter at The Washington Post, and Kyle Chayka, staff writer at The New Yorker, to discuss what meaning could possibly be gleaned from the meme madness.

The misunderstood humor of political memes

Listen · 17:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197958271/1256596670" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Quality chills and feel good content on Dropout

Sam Reich is the CEO of Dropout, a streamer which has fresh takes on the gameshow format and has been updating the content business model. Kate Elliott/Dropout hide caption

toggle caption
Kate Elliott/Dropout

Quality chills and feel good content on Dropout

It seems like there are countless streamers these days – there's Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, Max, Peacock, Roku, just to name a few. Still, success and profit remain elusive to even some of the biggest in the biz. However there is one smaller streamer that seems to have found a path to prosperity: Dropout. In this encore episode, IBAM host Brittany Luse sat down with Dropout CEO Sam Reich earlier this year to find out how his company is forging a path to success in a successful market, all while revamping the gameshow format. The pair also play a little gameshow game.

Quality chills and feel good content on Dropout

Listen · 29:33
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197958275/1256416123" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Olympic hurdles for women athletes; plus, big trucks and big questions

A group of runners at the Tokyo Olympics - one of whom is Christine Mboma (second to the right), who has been impacted by restrictions on athletes with differences of sex development. Ryan Pierse/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Olympic hurdles for women athletes; plus, big trucks and big questions

This is the first year the Olympics have gender parity between men's and women's teams - but does it mean gender equity? ESPN writer Katie Barnes and Rose Eveleth, host of NPR's Tested, join Brittany to discuss the barriers that women athletes still face - from men-only categories to women-only sex testing.

Olympic hurdles for women athletes; plus, big trucks and big questions

Listen · 32:31
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197958226/1256256515" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' gets 10s across the board

Chasity Moore as Grizabella in 'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' Matthew Murphy hide caption

toggle caption
Matthew Murphy

'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' gets 10s across the board

In the latest revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, there are no singing cats. The actors have basically ditched the furry ears and velvet tails and reimagined the characters as competitors in the ballroom scene, vying for trophies and a new chance at life. This week, host Brittany Luse talks to Cats: The Jellicle Ball star Chasity Moore and co-director Zhailon Levingston about ballroom, spectacles and memories.

'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' gets 10s across the board

Listen · 21:30
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197958230/1256117997" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The rise of the AR-15; plus, why do comedians play so many cops?

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their roles in Bad Boys: Ride or Die - a return to their star-solidifying roles as Miami cops. Sony Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Sony Pictures

The rise of the AR-15; plus, why do comedians play so many cops?

Last Saturday, former president Donald Trump was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania when a gunman shot at him – killing one spectator and clipping Trump in the ear. The response? Outrage, condemnations, and prayers on all sides... but there's been less chatter about the gun that shot at him. And this gun has a lot of symbolism: The AR-15. Host Brittany Luse is joined by The Wall Street Journal's Zusha Elinson, co-author of the book American Gun, and Jennifer Mascia, senior news writer and founding staffer at The Trace, a nonpartisan nonprofit newsroom that covers guns. Together, they discuss how the AR-15 style rifle went from an outcast in the gun world to the one of the biggest pro-gun symbols and why that actually reflects bigger cultural shifts.

The rise of the AR-15; plus, why do comedians play so many cops?

Listen · 34:46
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197958197/1255899304" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Simmering over summer books
Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Simmering over summer books

We're at the peak of summer, which means sunny days on the grass with a good book! Bestselling authors Tia Williams and Jean Chen Ho join host Brittany Luse to give their recommendations for great summer reads. They also offer some armchair theories on why we love a gossipy summer novel.

Simmering over summer books

Listen · 21:13
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197958204/1255736654" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Hawk tuah,' the Zynternet, & the bro-vote; plus, cowboys are having a moment

Hailey Welch, also known as the "hawk tuah girl" who some argue is meme from the "zynternet" via Tim and Dee TV/YouTube hide caption

toggle caption
via Tim and Dee TV/YouTube

'Hawk tuah,' the Zynternet, & the bro-vote; plus, cowboys are having a moment

What did the raunchy joke say to the podcast host? That we might need to pay attention to the "zynternet." Host Brittany Luse is joined by Slate's Luke Winkie and sex and culture writer Magdalene Taylor to understand why the "hawk tuah" phenomenon is emblematic of a corner of the internet that's both culturally and politically powerful.

'Hawk tuah,' the Zynternet, & the bro-vote; plus, cowboys are having a moment

Listen · 38:21
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197956771/1255566964" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Mavis Staples on Prince, MLK and a life onstage

Grammy award-winning soul singer Mavis Staples Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

Mavis Staples on Prince, MLK and a life onstage

This week, the legendary singer and civil rights figure Mavis Staples is turning 85 and there's no sign of her slowing down: She released a new song, "Worthy," and a children's book, Bridges Instead of Walls: The Story of Mavis Staples.

Mavis Staples on Prince, MLK and a life onstage

Listen · 23:21
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197956774/1255402713" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'
Dia Dipasupil; Neilson Barnard; Antony Jones; Arnold Jerocki; Emma McIntyre; Saul Loeb / AFP; Brandon Bell; Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'

It is the first week of July, which means we are officially halfway through the year. And what a year it's been! Brittany sat down with NPR Politics reporter Elena Moore and co-host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour Stephen Thompson, to take stock of what's happened so far in 2024.

Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'

Listen · 34:37
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197956748/1255192968" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
A taste of Black Appalachia

Crystal Wilkinson's praisesong biscuits Felix Cruz hide caption

toggle caption
Felix Cruz

A taste of Black Appalachia

Too often, our attempts at nailing the family recipes end up in disaster and disappointment. This week, host Brittany Luse is joined by former Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson, author of Praisesong for the Kitchenghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks. The two talk about Appalachian food culture, turning oral recipes into written ones, and the emotional relationship between food, family and memory.

A taste of Black Appalachia

Listen · 20:40
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197956745/1255080266" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
It's Been a Minute

Podcast Directory
or search npr.org