It's Been a Minute

Across the country, Evangelicals are facing a moral dilemma -- is supporting the government's immigration enforcement actions in line with their religious beliefs? The answer shows a rift in Evangelical communities, as government officials like Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth use scripture to justify war and deportation. To parse through these questions of God and country, Brittany is joined by NPR Religion correspondent Jason DeRose, and Reverend Dr. Gabriel Salguero, president and founder of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and pastor of the Gathering Place in Orlando, Florida. For more on belief and politics, check out these episodes: The not-so-secret lives of Mormon women Is Christianity cool again? Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

When you can bet on anything, everything changes. Unlike sports betting, prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi give users the freedom to bet on anything that comes to mind. Will Lady Gaga sing at the Super Bowl? What words will Trump say in his next speech? Or worse… the assassination of a world leader. Those bets - which are illegal - is what has prediction markets in hot water and lawmakers hustling to put guardrails on the industry. It’s also what today’s guest predicted in our 2026 predictions episode at the top of the year. NPR’s Bobby Allyn returns to the show to unpack the wild west of prediction markets and what the unfettered access to this market could do to us as a culture. Want more? Check out these IBAM episodes: 2026 Predictions: Beyoncé retires, AI busts, Democrats lift weights Get rich or die trying: how sports betting is changing our love of the game Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

What makes someone a star nowadays? And why does every generation of humans crave to celebrate them? For decades, Hollywood has promoted a carefully curated ideal of aspirational talent, beauty, and intrigue. But in 2026, it feels like that power is in the hands of the one thing that alleges to know us best: the algorithm. Now computer programs hold more power in shaping who is famous and what we all are fed as aspirational ideals: from who is a star to what our bodies should look like. Enter the algorithm body. In this episode, host Brittany Luse is joined by Christiana Mbakwe Medina, screenwriter and host of the Pop Syllabus podcast. They get into the evolving nature of fame and why Christina thinks the thin body ideal is out and the sculpted body ideal is in. Want more about tech, beauty, and cultural cache? Check out these IBAM episodes: The morbid lifelessness of modern beauty Peptides & the pursuit of the "perfect" body Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Is AI in the workplace lightening your load...or frying your brain? Researchers at Boston Consulting Group and the University of California, Riverside coined the term "AI brain fry" to describe “mental fatigue that results from excessive use of, interaction with, and/or oversight of AI tools beyond one's cognitive capacity.” In other words, doing too much with A.I. There's something kind of comically tragic about the idea that these tools that were meant to lighten our loads seem to be doing the opposite for some. But beyond the psychic damage, there's a lot in this brain fry idea that points to how we work with AI: for example, with all the managing it needs, is turning us all into bosses? And is this really the future of work? Brittany is joined by John Herrman, tech columnist for New York Magazine, to get into the ins and outs of AI brain fry. For more episodes about AI and modern life, check out: Me and my partner don't see eye-to-eye about AI. Now what? The hard work of having "good taste" You're not broken - the job market is. Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

With everything going on in the world, it makes sense that some of us want to check out. But at what cost? In this episode, host Brittany Luse is dissecting our current obsession with numbing ourselves to the moment and tuning out. This so-called “numb girl” attitude and aesthetic is defined by detachment, irony, and a world weary cynicism. Think the "Gen Z pout," "expressionless Botox chic,” a deadpan voice, or selfies with a vacant gaze. Of course, It appears effortless and nonchalant, but it’s highly curated and self-aware — it’s the perfect mask for avoiding humiliation in a world that is always there to judge you. But is avoiding the pain of the world good for us? Brittany is joined by writer Rayne Fisher-Quann aka Internet Princess and freelance cultural critic Sophie Lou Wilson to get into why all the cool girls are dissociating and what we lose when we numb ourselves to the world around us. This episode contains mentions of suicide. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 9 8 8 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Have you seen ADHD content pop up in your feeds? Are you getting a lot of it? In the past few years, there's been a surge in the number of adults diagnosed with ADHD, and at the same time more and more people online are going viral with "signs" that you might have it too. Whether with our doctors or friends, we're all talking a lot more about adult ADHD. Is this a perfect storm of online content leading to more diagnoses? Or is there more to the story? Brittany is joined by culture journalist Kelli Maria Korducki, who wrote about this for The Guardian, and Manvir Singh, assistant professor of anthropology at UC Davis, to get into it. This episode originally aired on April 25, 2025. Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

After dominating television screens for decades, has reality TV gone into decline? Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast member Taylor Frankie Paul has been a controversial figure for some time now, but the latest allegations surrounding the star - and the subsequent cancellation of her season of The Bachelorette - have caused viewers to ask: how far is too far for reality TV? With ratings on the decline and networks desperate to keep audiences coming back, reality TV has taken some drastic turns to remain relevant. To get into all this Rebecca Jennings, features writer for New York Magazine, joins the show to unpack the drama surrounding Taylor Frankie Paul and the state of reality TV at large. Want more about reality TV? Check out these IBAM episodes: Our love lives have gone full Love Island. Dating skills vs. dating gimmicks in 'Love on the Spectrum' Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Do you and your loved ones see eye-to-eye... about AI? There’s been a lot of discourse about age gaps and wage gaps – but there’s a new kind of gap rocking relationships: AI gaps. For example, when a couple isn't on the same page about when and how to use it, or even how AI becomes an unwelcome third wheel in a relationship. And this is big for some couples – but this also can be an issue in some friendships and family dynamics, too. So what does AI usage say about what people value? And are conflicts around AI becoming proxies for deeper issues in relationships? Brittany chats with Jenny Singer, a freelance culture writer who wrote about this for The Washington Post, and Heather Kelly, a freelance reporter who focuses on how technology affects daily life. Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

We have officially wrapped Quarter 1 of 2026. That means it's time to gather the pop culture C-suite and take stock of the best and worst of culture this year...so far. Host Brittany Luse is your Pop Culture CEO, and she's joined by esteemed members of the C-suite, Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson, co-hosts of the Eating for Free podcast, to recap the last three months in an official Pop Culture Quarterly Review. What have been the major cultural achievements and setbacks so far this year? And in the Pop Culture Boardroom, who will emerge as the MVP? Want more bird's eye views of pop culture? Check out these episodes. The Best & Worst Moments of 2025 2026 Predictions: Beyoncé retires, AI busts, Democrats lift weights Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Does 2026 belong to "Wasians?" Actor Hudson Williams (Heated Rivalry) and Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu recently became household names very quickly. And people are talking about the rising stars beyond just their talents: they’re talking about Liu’s and Williams’ race. Both are half-Asian, half-white, also known as “Wasian” – and some have dubbed this past season “Wasian winter.” But why are Wasians a topic of conversation now, and what does this discussion say about how attitudes around some mixed race identities have changed? Brittany is joined by Mika Ellison, intern for It’s Been a Minute and Life Kit, to get into the geopolitical and cultural forces around the “Wasian fixation.” For more on Heated Rivalry, check out: What's so hot about Heated Rivalry? For more on identity and the internet, check out: Think you have ADHD? Here's why so many of us are saying yes. Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Sorry but...the "Girl Math" is not adding up. And by "Girl Math" we mean the class fantasies of young women; the dream of achieving financial freedom by being frivolous with finances (because 'I'm just a girl!')... and really entirely on their husband or partner (with no backup plan!). You see these fantasies peddled in romance novels, divorce memoirs, and, of course, tradwife content. According to Chelsea Fagan, author and CEO of The Financial Diet, these are all part of our culture's obsession with class fantasies. While we may believe much of our social and romantic desires are solely rooted in love, Chelsea wants to encourage women especially to interrogate their financial status and future. Brittany is joined by Chelsea to answer the question: is it really love if you don’t have the financial ability to come and go as you please? Want more on financial fantasies or relationships? Check out these IBAM episodes: Money can make or break your relationship The embarrassing truth of dating men Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Is fanfiction mainstream now? If you are anywhere near fan spaces online, you’ve probably seen people talking about fanfiction. And it's also behind some of the biggest books of the last decade – some of the publishing industry's greatest hits are fanfic adaptations. But even as fanfic seeps into the mainstream, there’s a battle inside fanfic communities over whether it should be kept private – and a larger culture war brewing over what gets published and who’s reading it. Brittany gets into the gendered, economic, and cultural forces pushing fanfiction to the fore with Ashley Reese, writer, cultural commentator and fanfic veteran, and Eli Cugini, culture writer, Ph.D. student and author of a Defector article called “Fanfiction’s Total Cultural Victory.” Want to hear more about the state of literacy? Check out these episodes: Have we lost the art of reading? Yes, romance & fantasy novels are political. Books vs. Brain Rot: why it's so hard to read Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Do you think you have good taste? Having a good sense of taste is something like a cultural badge of honor: the result of hard work understanding what you find beautiful and why it moves you. Silicon Valley tech bros are latching onto taste as a new buzzword, and some are even suggesting that their products can give you a fast track to refining your own taste. Brittany is joined by Kyle Chayka, staff writer at The New Yorker, and Kate Wagner, architecture critic at The Nation, to find out whether or not taste can be created from terabytes of AI data. You can read Kyle's piece, titled, 'Why Tech Bros Are Now Obsessed with Taste' in The New Yorker. Want more about Tech and Culture? Check out these episodes: The false promise of a tech job. Can you trust AI search results? Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

There's a new beauty trend in town: why are women trying to look...lifeless? Today’s guest, Jessica DeFino - beauty reporter, critic, and author of the FLESH WORLD Substack - says contemporary glamorization of anti-aging products and long dead icons like Caroline Bessette Kennedy all fall within a macabre beauty trend, what she calls ‘the morgue gaze.’ Ageless, poreless, lifeless beauty inspiration keeps consumers coming back for more numb, frozen aesthetics - forever. Jessica joins host Brittany Luse to break down what the morgue gaze is and why we’re so fascinated with the beauty of lifelessness. Want more about beauty? Check out these IBAM episodes: The beauty industry has an Epstein problem Looksmaxxing is teaching men that pretty hurts. Peptides & the pursuit of the "perfect" body Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Everyone has to make the decision to have or not have kids. There are good reasons for both. Are you sick of dating? Terrified of how expensive everything is? Frustrated with America's so-called social safety net? Horrified by the state of healthcare? If you answered yes to any of these, you might be one of the many people deciding to go childfree. Host Brittany Luse is joined by Sarah McCammon, Senior Fellow at Third Way, and Emma Gannon, author of the novel Olive, to explore the reasons people feel like might be better without a child -- and how that impacts everyone. Want to hear more about parenting? Check out these episodes: Enough is enough. Is it time to leave America? Why are people freaking out about the birth rate? The myth of modern "adulthood" Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Why is the government obsessed with whole milk? In January, the USDA account on X posted a picture, possibly AI generated, of President Trump with a milk mustache. The caption was, “Drink up America. #DrinkWholeMilk.” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted what seems to be an AI video that shows him being transported to a nightclub when he drinks milk. The caption is, “when you take that first sip of whole milk.” Whole milk is also at the top of the new food pyramid. But what’s all this for? How do we make sense of this push for whole milk, especially when milk has some unsavory ideological associations? Brittany gets into it with Yasmin Tayag, staff writer for The Atlantic who covers science and the future of food, and Andrea Freeman, Second Century Chair Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School and author of the book Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch. Want more about modern health? Check out these episodes: Were Americans actually healthier in the past? The difference between losing weight & being "healthy" Is tech making us too obsessed with our bodies? Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

What happens when tech billionaires control the media you consume? With the help of his father, Paramount CEO David Ellison's purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery has gained him a roster of franchises and networks, from Looney Tunes to CNN. But the sale hasn't come without serious concerns, from data privacy to the rising costs of streaming services to what this means for workers in the entertainment industry. Brittany is joined by Mandalit Del Barco, NPR culture correspondent, and David Folkenflik, NPR media correspondent, to cut through the corporate drama and figure out what this deal means for all of us. Interested in more TV conversations? Check out these episodes: Sinners vs. One Battle After Another: who should win Best Picture? Melania Trump’s multi-million dollar “infomercial” Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

It's easier than ever to cheat and to catch a cheater, but is that a good thing? For example, there are apps and social media groups dedicated to outing a cheater. But what if that paranoia about cheating is actually hurting our relationships? And on top of that, definitions of "cheating" vary widely. How do you decide for yourself what really counts as cheating? And what's really fueling our fear of being cheated on? Brittany is joined by Kathryn Jezer-Morton, writer of the Brooding column from The Cut, and Shannon Keating, freelance culture journalist, to get to the bottom of why fear of infidelity haunts our culture and our dating lives. Want more about modern dating? Check out these episodes: The embarassing truth of dating men Is he a good guy? Or is he manipulating you? Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The Epstein Files have revealed social and financial relationships throughout the beauty industry - and a toxic veneration for youth. Is it time for the public to reckon with what the powerful tell us is and isn't "beautiful?" Host Brittany Luse wonders: can society let go of decades old obsession with youthfulness? Luckily, Jessica DeFino, reporter, critic, and author of the FLESH WORLD substack, joins the show to answer that question and unpack how we’ve made beauty our God. Want more about beauty and power? Check out these IBAM episodes: "Looksmaxxing" is teaching men that pretty hurts. Peptides & the pursuit of the "perfect" body The privilege of being "skinny" Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

All this health tracking might not be actually very...healthy. There's a lot of evidence that health tracking can be good for us. Studies have shown that fitness trackers are effective at increasing physical activity, and can pretty accurately detect issues like arrhythmia. And now they're getting a promotional boost from some very influential people: Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and doctor and wellness influencer Casey Means – President Trump's nominee for surgeon general and founder of Levels Health, a company that analyzes data from continuous glucose monitors. But even as health wearables have benefits – how do they fit into the Make America Healthy Again vision for health? What does all this data really do for us – and who else could access it? Brittany is joined by Adam Clark Estes, senior technology correspondent at Vox, and Lindsay Gellman, a freelance journalist who reports on health and business, to get into it. Want more about modern health? Check out these episodes: Were Americans actually healthier in the past? The difference between losing weight & being "healthy" Exercise is more important than ever Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy