It's Been A Minute With Sam Sanders

When twitch streamers can sway elections and viral videos can turn fifteen seconds of fame into hundreds of millions of dollars, it kind of makes you wonder: who's a real "celebrity" these days? And do they matter like they used to?With fans fed up over ticket prices and endless product pushing, capital-C "celebrity" seems to be in its flop era. But is it gone for good? And, do we even want it back?Brittany gets into all of it in front of a live audience at the annual On-Air Fest in Brooklyn with Vulture's Rachel Handler and Vox senior correspondent Alex Abad-Santos. Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus content. Join NPR+ today.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Last weekend, the Academy Award for Best Documentary went to a film that still lacks a U.S. distribution deal. 'No Other Land' is a powerful look at Palestine's southern West Bank, and has received widespread acclaim. So what's holding it back from being seen in theaters across America?Brittany is joined by B.A. Parker, co-host of NPR's Code Switch, and professor and television producer Dr. Maytha Alhassen. Together they look at why one of the most critically-praised movies of the year seems to be experiencing a kind of soft censorship. Plus, in honor of Lady Gaga's new album Mayhem, Brittany shares her favorite Gaga moments.Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus content. Join NPR+ today.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Over the past few years, Brittany has noticed the resurgence of the R-word - a word that otherwise left the cultural lexicon. And while that's troubling in and of itself, its return may also have larger implications that affect policy, culture, and how we treat each other. Disability advocate Imani Barbarin joins the show to break down how ableism can take root in casual conversation, and why words matter. Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus content. Join NPR+ today.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're back with a bonus episode of "All the Lonely People," a series diving deep into how loneliness shows up in our lives. This week: how do we get out of loneliness? Brittany hears from listeners about what worked for them. Then, we head over to our friends at NPR's Life Kit to get even more practical steps for connection: NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey speaks with Dr. Jeremy Nobel about his book, Project UnLonely: Healing Our Crisis Of Disconnection, and they came up with concrete tips for how to be less lonely. Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus content. Join NPR+ today.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

President Trump is calling for the end of the U.S. Department of Education, but so have other Republicans since the day it was formed in 1979. So why do Republicans hate it enough to lambast it, but love it enough to keep it around?Brittany is joined by NPR's education correspondent Cory Turner and author Josephine Riesman to talk about Trump's pick for education secretary, former WWE CEO Linda McMahon. And how Trump and McMahon are using the WWE playbook to reshape the American public education system.For more on this topic check out Cory's latest piece for NPR, Republicans' love/hate relationship with the Education Department, and Josie's investigation into the WWE, Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America.Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus content. Join NPR+ today.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

What do The Substance, Nosferatu, and Babygirl have in common? They externalize the characters' inner feelings - self-loathing, guilt, shame - in the most grotesque ways possible.Ahead of the Academy Awards, Brittany Luse sits down with IBAM producer Alexis Williams and Pop Culture Happy Hour co-host Aisha Harris, to get into how these trending films bring women's internal monsters to life.Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus content. Join NPR+ today.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're back with "All the Lonely People," a series diving deep into how loneliness shows up in our lives. This week: can tech cure our loneliness? Companies like Meeno (an AI relationship coaching app), Peoplehood (a platform that organizes guided group conversations), Timeleft (an app which matches strangers for dinner), and Bumble for Friends all say they want to help people make more and better connections. But do we need tech solutions to what may partially be a tech problem? Brittany sits down with Sam Pressler, who studies community and social connection at the University of Virginia's Karsh Institute of Democracy, and Vauhini Vara, veteran tech reporter and author of the upcoming book Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, to break it all down. 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.

Several entertainers and artists have severed ties with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since President Trump assumed chairmanship of the organization. This week, Brittany is joined by Paper Magazine writer Joan Summers and New York Times Magazine writer J Wortham to unpack the implications of a government-influenced national culture center, and the state of art in America today. Support public media and receive ad-free listening. Join NPR+ today. 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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Keke Palmer and SZA play two down on their luck friends who run into a series of hilarious unfortunate events in One of Them Days. Host Brittany Luse and IBAM producer Corey Antonio Rose joined NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour to discuss how this raunchy affair pulls off a story about friendship, unreasonable landlords, and gentrification.Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus. Join NPR+ today. 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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're back with "All the Lonely People," a series diving deep into how loneliness shows up in our lives. This week: is the men's loneliness epidemic overblown? There's been a lot more attention on loneliness in the past few years, with special attention on men's loneliness. And some men definitely are lonely: according to a recent Pew survey, 16% of men say they're lonely all or most of the time. But so are 15% of women. So why are we so concerned about men? What launched the narrative about men's particular loneliness? And if the problems men are having don't boil down to loneliness, what do they boil down to? Brittany is joined by Vox senior reporter Allie Volpe and Harris Sockel, writer and content lead at Medium, to break it all down. 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/adchoice

The price of eggs is skyrocketing due to avian flu, with no clear signs of slowing down. This week, Brittany is joined by NPR health correspondent Will Stone and public health nutritionist Marion Nestle to understand the precarities of our food safety system, and what we can do to stay safe. Support public media and receive ad-free listening. Join NPR+ today. 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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

How do you adapt an "unadaptable" book? Today, host Brittany Luse finds out with RaMell Ross, director of the Oscar nominated adaptation of Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys.The story, set in the Jim Crow South, follows two Black boys doing everything they can to survive their tenure at the abusive Nickel Academy in Tallahassee, Florida. The film brings us a new perspective on Black life and complicates the discourse surrounding Black films.Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus. Join NPR+ today.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're launching a series called "All the Lonely People," diving deep into how loneliness shows up in our lives and how our culture shapes it. This week, why are moms so acutely lonely? Brittany hears from her listeners, and from the experts: Jessica Grose, New York Times opinion writer and author of the book Screaming on the Inside: the Unsustainability of American Motherhood, and parental burnout researcher at the Ohio State University, Kate Gawlik. They discuss what mom loneliness has to do with airplanes, lobotomies, and Tik Tok - and what we can do to help alleviate mom loneliness. 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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Have you been dodging the news lately? Feeling a familiar sense of info fatigue creeping in? You're not alone. This week, Brittany is joined by NPR's White House reporter Danielle Kurtzleben and The Atlantic's Jonathan Lemire to unpack the Trump administration's "Flood the Zone" strategy - and how listeners can stay afloat. Support public media and receive ad-free listening. Join NPR+ today.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

President Trump has signed numerous executive orders surrounding immigration, but one in particular put everyone on high alert - a move to end birthright citizenship. While the order is unlikely to stand, what does the pushback to this Constitutional right say about the state of our country, and who stands to benefit from its dissolution? Brittany sits down with NPR's immigration correspondent Jasmine Garsd and Homeland Security Department and Immigration Policy Reporter Ximena Bustillo to find out. Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus. Join NPR+ today.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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 last month, 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 is joined by Elaine Castillo, author of the book How to Read Now, and Abdullah Shihipar, Research Associate at the People, Place and Health collective at Brown University, to get into why reading books is on the decline, the battle for our attention, and what people can do to get their reading grooves back. Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus. Join NPR+ today. 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: p

The new Trump administration is using the language of civil rights but flipping it on its head. If 'diversity' is now being coded as discrimination, what does that mean for the future of civil rights?Brittany is joined by Columbia Law professor Olatunde Johnson and Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Wesley Lowery to look at how the Trump administration is dismantling federal diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and how private businesses are following suit.Support public media and receive ad-free listening. Join NPR+ today.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

How do you bring the African Diaspora to the Grammys?Esperanza Spalding and Milton Nascimento's contrasting tones make a perfect team on Milton + esperanza, a collection of covers, duets, and original songs that have earned the pair a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Today, Brittany and Esperanza get into the years-long intergenerational friendship behind the music, and the Brazilian influences on the album. Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus. Join NPR+ today. 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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What good is a Humanities degree? 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.Dr. Louks recently posted her Cambridge University PhD thesis online and was piled on by a loud group of right-wing anti-intellectuals. Brittany, Dr. Louks, and Jason Stanley, a professor of Philosophy at Yale University investigate the backlash to Dr. Louks, higher education at large, and why "anti-intellectualism" is prevalent in Republican politics.Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus. Join NPR+ today. Have you battled loneliness? What was it like, and what did you do about it? If you're over 18, let us know by sending a voice memo to IBAM@npr.org.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

President Trump is no stranger to buddying up with the ultra rich, and that was on full display at his inauguration. Tech CEOs billionaires like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos were lined up at the proceeding. But beyond the optics, what policies are these CEOs and the new president working on together?Brittany is joined by NPR's tech correspondent Bobby Allyn and The Atlantic's Ashley Parker to answer the question: is America a "tech oligarchy?" And what examples from Trump's first week in office point to that?For more, read Ashley Parker's piece "The Tech Oligarchy Arrives" in The Atlantic.Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus. Join NPR+ today. 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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy