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
Episodes
July 18, 2025 • 16 mins
What's the difference between "good" work and "bad" work? And how do we talk about the rise in plastic surgery without dehumanizing people for their choices?
Rates of plastic surgery are increasing, and minimally invasive procedures like filler and Botox are even more popular. It's also evident on social media that people (including plastic surgeons) are very comfortable speculating and commenting on other people's modifi...
Rates of plastic surgery are increasing, and minimally invasive procedures like filler and Botox are even more popular. It's also evident on social media that people (including plastic surgeons) are very comfortable speculating and commenting on other people's modifi...
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July 16, 2025 • 19 mins
Data from Gallup and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that Americans are reading fewer books and spending less time reading than ever. There's been reporting on college kids struggling to finish longer texts. And earlier this year, in a viral post, one user lamented their loss of concentration for reading, which led to a larger online discourse about how to approach books again.
Brittany revisits her convo with Elaine ...
Brittany revisits her convo with Elaine ...
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July 14, 2025 • 14 mins
Anti-intellectualism is on the rise. And by "anti-intellectualism" we mean the backlash to scholars in fields like the humanities.
According to two intellectuals, Dr. Ally Louks and Jason Stanley, the humanities help us better connect to other humans. According to a lot of online haters, they're worthless. In November 2024, Dr. Louks recently posted her Cambridge University dissertation online and was piled on by a loud gr...
According to two intellectuals, Dr. Ally Louks and Jason Stanley, the humanities help us better connect to other humans. According to a lot of online haters, they're worthless. In November 2024, Dr. Louks recently posted her Cambridge University dissertation online and was piled on by a loud gr...
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July 11, 2025 • 21 mins
Gen Z is having less sex than previous generations. But why? Well, let's be real. There are a lot of very legitimate reasons why young people are afraid of sex right now, many having to do with recent massive political and cultural changes.
Brittany gets into why Gen Z-ers are having less sex with Tobias Hess, contributing writer at Paper magazine and writer of the Gen Zero Substack, and Carter Sherman, reproductive health...
Brittany gets into why Gen Z-ers are having less sex with Tobias Hess, contributing writer at Paper magazine and writer of the Gen Zero Substack, and Carter Sherman, reproductive health...
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July 9, 2025 • 19 mins
Before, during, and after Zohran Mamdani became the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, Republicans and Democrats were both leaning into decades old Islamophobic tropes to delegitimize his candidacy. Meanwhile, young progressives are reclaiming those tropes.
Why is Islamophobia politically salient today, and why are both sides of the aisle using it to achieve their own political goals? To answer this, Brittany i...
Why is Islamophobia politically salient today, and why are both sides of the aisle using it to achieve their own political goals? To answer this, Brittany i...
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July 7, 2025 • 22 mins
What do Trump, JK Rowling, and some feminists have in common? Based on history, more than you might think.
In this episode, Brittany and KQED's Nastia Voynovskaya explore the roots of modern-day transphobia through the story of one music producer, Sandy Stone. Then Brittany is joined by journalist Imara Jones to get into how Trump and JK Rowling's rhetoric matches some of those early feminists.
Learn more about sp...
In this episode, Brittany and KQED's Nastia Voynovskaya explore the roots of modern-day transphobia through the story of one music producer, Sandy Stone. Then Brittany is joined by journalist Imara Jones to get into how Trump and JK Rowling's rhetoric matches some of those early feminists.
Learn more about sp...
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July 4, 2025 • 15 mins
Republicans have passed President Trump's One Big, Beautiful bill, but is it built on bad faith stereotypes?
The legislation guts funding for Medicaid, and for a long time Republicans have been attacking the program as sort of welfare for moochers. Who exactly are these moochers? And could it be you?
Brittany is joined by Joan Alker, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Georgetown Center for Children and Fami...
The legislation guts funding for Medicaid, and for a long time Republicans have been attacking the program as sort of welfare for moochers. Who exactly are these moochers? And could it be you?
Brittany is joined by Joan Alker, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Georgetown Center for Children and Fami...
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July 2, 2025 • 20 mins
This season of Love Island USA has the timeline on fire...but maybe not for the reasons y'all hoped. Is it mirroring our dating lives a little too close?
To get into the season, Brittany chats with co-owner of Defector Media, Kelsey McKinney and co-host of Scamfluencers, Sarah Hagi, about the glimpses of romance amidst Love Island's largely unromantic current season, and how the show may be an unfortunate reflection of cur...
To get into the season, Brittany chats with co-owner of Defector Media, Kelsey McKinney and co-host of Scamfluencers, Sarah Hagi, about the glimpses of romance amidst Love Island's largely unromantic current season, and how the show may be an unfortunate reflection of cur...
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June 30, 2025 • 23 mins
In our 'Your Body, Whose Choice' series, we've focused a lot on the present and the future of reproductive health in this country. And now we'd like to share a look at the past from our sister show, NPR's Embedded.
Their new 3–part series, The Network, follows a Brazilian women who discovered a method to have safe abortions, regardless of the law. And, as abortion restrictions tighten in the United States, American women ...
Their new 3–part series, The Network, follows a Brazilian women who discovered a method to have safe abortions, regardless of the law. And, as abortion restrictions tighten in the United States, American women ...
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June 27, 2025 • 19 mins
New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani pulled off an astonishing upset this week.
In the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, he beat out the long-favored winner, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who conceded the race only hours after the polls closed. The two candidates were of the same party, but held very different positions within it: Cuomo is older, spent more than a decade as Governor and positioned himself ...
In the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, he beat out the long-favored winner, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who conceded the race only hours after the polls closed. The two candidates were of the same party, but held very different positions within it: Cuomo is older, spent more than a decade as Governor and positioned himself ...
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June 25, 2025 • 24 mins
There's one little statistic that seems to have gained a lot of attention recently: the birth rate.
With pro-natalist ideas showing up in our culture and politics, Brittany wanted to know: why are people freaking out? Who's trying to solve the population equation, and how? Brittany is joined by Kelsey Piper, senior writer at Vox, and Gideon Lewis-Kraus, staff writer at The New Yorker, to get into how the birth rate touche...
With pro-natalist ideas showing up in our culture and politics, Brittany wanted to know: why are people freaking out? Who's trying to solve the population equation, and how? Brittany is joined by Kelsey Piper, senior writer at Vox, and Gideon Lewis-Kraus, staff writer at The New Yorker, to get into how the birth rate touche...
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June 23, 2025 • 15 mins
Adriana Smith's pregnancy became an ethical and legal quandary.
After being declared brain dead, a Georgia hospital kept her on life support without her family's consent because of the state's abortion laws. Now that the baby has been delivered and Smith taken off life support, Brittany wonders: how has the conservative effort to see fetuses as people overshadowed the lives of the mothers who birth them?
This is....
After being declared brain dead, a Georgia hospital kept her on life support without her family's consent because of the state's abortion laws. Now that the baby has been delivered and Smith taken off life support, Brittany wonders: how has the conservative effort to see fetuses as people overshadowed the lives of the mothers who birth them?
This is....
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June 20, 2025 • 17 mins
Many Millennials are either already in their 40's, or they're staring them down. Are they having a midlife crisis?
As this generation enters midlife, their lives look really different from their parents' lives: Millennials are more educated and have a higher median net worth, but the generation is also more unequal than previous generations, has higher debt, and lower rates of homeownership and marriage. How does that all ...
As this generation enters midlife, their lives look really different from their parents' lives: Millennials are more educated and have a higher median net worth, but the generation is also more unequal than previous generations, has higher debt, and lower rates of homeownership and marriage. How does that all ...
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June 18, 2025 • 18 mins
It's summer! Which means Brittany is going to be... 1) outside, 2) chilling, and 3) reading. So it's once again time for It's Been a Minute's annual summer books episode!
Celebrated romance authors Bolu Babalola and Emily Henry return to the show to discuss their summer reading recommendations, ranging from spiteful and salacious to sweet and spicy.
Books discussed in the episode:
Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola
Celebrated romance authors Bolu Babalola and Emily Henry return to the show to discuss their summer reading recommendations, ranging from spiteful and salacious to sweet and spicy.
Books discussed in the episode:
Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola
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June 16, 2025 • 20 mins
In a country where birth control access is in jeopardy and women's medical needs have been historically overlooked, how do social media trends like #lutealphase and "cycle syncing" complicate the narrative?
This is... Your Body, Whose Choice?
And for the next few weeks, we're looking at the cultural, legal, and ideological frameworks shaping reproductive health in America...and what this means for the near and fa...
This is... Your Body, Whose Choice?
And for the next few weeks, we're looking at the cultural, legal, and ideological frameworks shaping reproductive health in America...and what this means for the near and fa...
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June 13, 2025 • 16 mins
Protests have spread across the country after dozens of workers were swept up in an ICE raid in Los Angeles last week, but the support for the protesters is far from universal.
In this bonus episode, Brittany is joined by NPR Immigration Correspondent Sergio Martínez-Beltrán and author of A Protest History of the United States, Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, to discuss what's happening on the ground, and how Americans underst...
In this bonus episode, Brittany is joined by NPR Immigration Correspondent Sergio Martínez-Beltrán and author of A Protest History of the United States, Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, to discuss what's happening on the ground, and how Americans underst...
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June 12, 2025 • 17 mins
You may have heard that super viral song on TikTok called "Looking for a man in finance," and yeah, it's fun. But does it speak to people's broader desires to find someone who's more than comfortable financially?
Host Brittany Luse is joined by Wailin Wong, co-host of NPR's The Indicator, and Reema Khrais, host of Marketplace's This Is Uncomfortable. They discuss what people are really looking for from a man in finance... ...
Host Brittany Luse is joined by Wailin Wong, co-host of NPR's The Indicator, and Reema Khrais, host of Marketplace's This Is Uncomfortable. They discuss what people are really looking for from a man in finance... ...
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June 11, 2025 • 16 mins
So you got 'The Ick?' That feeling of disgust when your date does something that you just can't look past. You think it's about them, but is 'The Ick' actually about you?
Brittany is joined by B.A. Parker, co-host of NPR's Code Switch, Corey Antonio Rose, a producer for It's Been A Minute, and Josh Rottman, associate professor of psychology and a disgust expert. They discuss what 'The Ick' is and what it's really about.
Brittany is joined by B.A. Parker, co-host of NPR's Code Switch, Corey Antonio Rose, a producer for It's Been A Minute, and Josh Rottman, associate professor of psychology and a disgust expert. They discuss what 'The Ick' is and what it's really about.
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June 9, 2025 • 17 mins
A lot of us have seen how explosive breakup stories have been on social media. From Reesa Teesa's "Who TF did I marry..." to Spritely's breakup song, these posts have been drawing gasps and gaining traction. But is it harmless fun, or an invasion of privacy? When do your personal stories belong on social media and when do they not?
To find out, Brittany is joined by Molly McPherson, crisis PR expert, and Rebecca Jennings, ...
To find out, Brittany is joined by Molly McPherson, crisis PR expert, and Rebecca Jennings, ...
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June 6, 2025 • 17 mins
Is it just us, or are the Pride month vibes a little off this year?
Between targeted censorship, legislative attacks on LGBTQ+ health care, and a financial pullout from many corporations, queer people and their allies are celebrating with heavier hearts this year. But perhaps it's a moment to reconsider what "pride" is really for?
This week, Brittany is joined by culture journalist Tre'vell Anderson, and author a...
Between targeted censorship, legislative attacks on LGBTQ+ health care, and a financial pullout from many corporations, queer people and their allies are celebrating with heavier hearts this year. But perhaps it's a moment to reconsider what "pride" is really for?
This week, Brittany is joined by culture journalist Tre'vell Anderson, and author a...
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