It's Been a Minute

Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance had a clear message for his fans and his haters. The pop star's show was a colorful and vibrant vision of Puerto Rican culture and heritage, from a real life wedding to boxing matches - and even a surprise cameo from Ricky Martin. Against a backdrop of widespread immigration crackdowns and targeted rhetoric, Bad Bunny centered joy as an act of resistance - and as a space for all people in North and South America to unite. Brittany is joined by Pop Culture Happy Hour cohost Stephen Thompson, music and entertainment critic Reanna Cruz, and Alana Casanova-Burgess, host of La Brega podcast, to understand the version of America that Bad Bunny wants us to live in.For more on Bad Bunny, check out this deep dive into his latest album: Bad Bunny & the battle for Puerto RicoSupport Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Is Melania Trump's new film a documentary? Fan service? Or propaganda?The Amazon funded $40 million-$75 million film, follows the first lady as she prepares for her husband's second inauguration. But, it's finely manicured editing and it's fabricated storylines obscure reality - much like the Trump administration's broader media strategy. So what's the point?Brittany sits down with NPR Senior Arts Critic Bob Mondello, and Vulture Movie Critic Alison Willmore. They examine the wardrobe changes, opulent decor, and even Amazon’s financial support of the movie and break down what this film tells us – and doesn’t tell us – about the first lady.(00:00) The Melania Documentary Review: Airless, High Heels, Shiny(03:07) Melania Trump is staging the scenes of her life(06:06) Melania is in control - and rewriting history(13:10) Is Trump's documentary propaganda or fan service?(17:34) Amazon, Jeff Bezos, and the Trump family businessSupport Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

So-called "swoletariats" are exercising for the resistance.There’s a lot of fitness content in conservative manosphere circles – that’s not new – but now, there are also fitness influencers who call themselves the “swoletariat.” That’s a combination of the word “swole,” meaning buff, and “proletariat,” meaning the working class — the swoletariat are people whose fitness regimens connect to leftist politics. NPR's Life Kit producer Margaret Cirino shares her reporting with Brittany on the history of leftist fitness – and why she’s seeing the swoletariat picking up steam on social media.Want to know more about fitness and health? Check out these episodes:The difference between losing weight & being "healthy"Beware the Wellness Industrial Complex!The privilege of being "skinny"Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

America’s workers are tired – here’s why.Do you feel like you can never get off the grind? From gig laborers to salaried workers, a lot of people are keeping their noses to the grindstone in order to remain afloat, avoid job loss, and stay one step ahead of market fluctuations. But this culture of overwork isn’t new – according to Erik Baker, Harvard lecturer and author of Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America, the grindset has been intentionally promoted and structurally enforced over decades. Brittany sits down with Erik to discuss how we got here – and how we can untangle the culture from these working conditions.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

One of the biggest lessons from the clash between ICE and the citizens of Minneapolis is that communities are prepared to stand up for their neighbors.When Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU Nurse, became the second person killed by federal agents in Minneapolis this month, citizens were there to document the killing. Today, we're exploring how Minnesotans trained for this moment and how, despite deep cultural divides between them, they stood together in the face of government aggression.Brittany is joined by Adam Serwer, staff writer at The Atlantic, to unpack his time on the ground with communities in Minneapolis and the role of bystanders in these moments of state violence. For more of Adam's reporting from Minneapolis, read his latest piece, "Minnesota proved MAGA wrong."Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

How do romantic tropes and fantasies impact how you understand politics?You might be a fan of Romantic Fantasy, or as the internet calls it: Romantasy. Even if you're not, you would recognize the tradwives or fascism. Romantasies combine supernatural characters and plotlines with the rush of a whirlwind romance novel, and, in this episode, we're exploring how the politics of some of these books have an effect on politics in the real world.Brittany is joined by Netta Baker,  Advanced Instructor of English at Virginia Tech, and Princess Weekes, video essayist and online pop culture critic. They get into how this genre demolishes misogyny while reinforcing conservative politics.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Job seekers are sending out hundreds of applications. Here’s why they’re not hearing back.The unemployment rate has been climbing over the past few years, but historically, it isn’t that high… Even so, some people have been talking about having a really, really rough time finding work. Brittany is joined by Wailin Wong, co-host of NPR’s Indicator podcast, and Nitish Pahwa, staff writer for business and tech at Slate, to get into why the decent macroeconomic numbers aren’t adding up for job seekers and why the market might be stuck in an “AI doom loop.”Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

He's mysterious and aspirational, but is he even real? Or is he just a reflection of all of our society?The ‘finance bro’ has become a pretty ubiquitous figure in the American zeitgeist. From American Psycho and Mad Men to the tech bros of Silicon Valley, he’s taken many forms. And these days he has flipped genders in the hit HBO series Industry. But what makes the finance bro mythology so compelling? And why do we sign up to watch him again and again?To find out, Brittany is joined by chief correspondent at Business Insider and host of Channels, Peter Kafka and Roxana Hadadi, TV critic for Vulture and New York Magazine.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What does it mean to feel safe during sex these days?From feeling comfortable with your partner to access to public health and medication, "safety" comes up a lot in sex. But, having the tools you need to feel confident in your own sexual health is an essential part of the pursuit of pleasure. Today, Brittany is joined by Dr. Leisha McKinley-Beach, founder and CEO of the Black Public Health Academy, and Dr. Jasmine Abrams, a research scientist at the Yale School of Public Health, to give us a New Year's booster on how to live our best sex lives — and explore how to feel safer in bed. Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're taking a trip back to the 90s and exploring the lives of single Black women and how their stories still show up in media 30 years later. This episode comes from NPR's Books We've Loved podcast series. Brittany joined hosts Andrew Limbong and B.A. Parker to revisit Terry McMillan's classic novel, Waiting to Exhale. The three get into how the book was a blueprint for Sex & The City and how it depicts the complexity of Black women's lives - and echoes the lives of Black women today.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What are we missing something in the conversation around obesity and GLP-1s? Oprah Winfrey’s new book, Enough, co-authored by endocrinologist Dr. Ania Jastreboff is one of many new narratives attempting to reframe how we think about obesity and diet culture. But host Brittany Luse thinks we’re just scratching the surface. She’s joined by Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson, Chair of the Africana Studies Department at Wellesley College and co-host of the podcast This Day, and Dr. Mara Gordon, family physician and NPR's Real Talk with a Doc columnist to unpack fatphobia, the GLP-1 craze, and what it really means to be ‘healthy.’Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

There's a new sound of protest going viral on TikTok. What is being said, and how much impact could it have?We're just two weeks into January, but this year has already been eventful. There's Trump's incursion into Venezuela, and last week’s ICE shooting in Minneapolis, which led to protests all across the country over the weekend. And these protests on the street are connected to some of the music we’re hearing online: artists like Jensen McRae and Jesse Welles are responding to current events with their own musical takes on the news with bitesize songs on TikTok. But why is folk protest music having revival, and who is listening? Brittany sits down with NPR Music reporter Isabella Gomez Sarmiento to get into why this folk-y protest music hasn’t been popular in decades – and why it’s going viral now. You can read Isabella's story here.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Renee Good, a 37-year-old Minnesotan mother, is just one of several victims of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violence in recent months. But her death marks a turning point in the discourse around state violence. How will her name and story be used by politicians and protestors? And how does her story line up with other moments of government violence throughout American history?Brittany is joined by Abené Clayton, the lead reporter for the Guns and Lies in America series at The Guardian. Brittany and Abené unpack the importance of this moment, how Good's death compares to other deaths at the hands of the federal government, and how the narrative around her death is already messier than it should be.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ozempic and other GLP-1s have changed how we think of our bodies. Now, some are searching for other quick fixes for their body - far beyond weight loss.In some Silicon Valley circles, 'Chinese peptides' are taking so-called biohacking to the next level. These unregulated injectables promise to help people who struggle with sleep, losing weight, or even making eye contact. One person even said they were searching for the "Ozempic for autism." Sound ethically dubious? Brittany thought so, too.To get into it all, Brittany is joined by independent journalist Jasmine Sun, who writes about Silicon Valley culture; and, Karen Maschke, editor-in-chief of Ethics and Human Research. Jasmine and Karen break down the peptide subculture of Silicon Valley and what it means to be human in rapidly self-optimizing world.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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Young women, more than any other group, say they would leave America. Their list of reasons is long and plentiful. Have you ever thought about leaving the US, and starting over somewhere else? Maybe living the hygge lifestyle in Denmark, or soaking up the sun in Costa Rica? According to Gallup – a surprising number of women are considering it. In a poll released in November, 40% of women between the ages of 18 and 44 said they’d move to another country permanently if they had the chance. That’s four times higher than it was a decade ago – and this sentiment among women is unique to the US. But what’s behind young women’s willingness to imagine life elsewhere? And what does that say about the future of this country? Brittany breaks it all down with Constance Grady, senior correspondent for Vox’s culture team who covers gender, and Scaachi Koul, senior writer at Slate and co-host of the BBC podcast Where to be a Woman.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Is the lack of sunlight in the winter months really getting to you? Do you find yourself fighting tooth and nail to keep up with life's demands every winter? You may be dealing with seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Brittany has developed her own morning routine to combat this type of depression. Today, she's joined by Dr. Norman E. Rosenthal, psychiatrist and scientist who first described seasonal affective disorder in the 1980s, to get feedback on her SAD routine, and learn about how we all can think differently about the rough winter months.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What's in and what's out in 2026? Let's set the stage for what to watch out for in the new year.As you fill out your own bingo card for what will or will not happen in 2026, join Brittany, NPR's tech correspondent Bobby Allyn, and NPR's political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben. They are laying out the puzzle pieces of 2026 - from the politics of masculinity to the bubble of artificial intelligence to the end of Queen Bee - and piecing them together, so you know what to set your sights on for the next calendar year.  Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

From CBD leggings to Soulcycle, wellness is reshaping our relationships to our bodies and souls. But what even is "wellness?" Well, for one, it's a global industry worth 6 trillion dollars. And it encompasses all kinds of things – including spirituality: from the spirituality of wellness practices like yoga and reiki, to treating wellness itself like a religion. As spirituality, self-care, and capitalism swirl together, what is missing from the story?Brittany is joined by Alyssa Bereznak, GQ's Wellness Director, and Rina Raphael, author of the book The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-Care, to get into what people get out of a wellness-based spiritualism and consumerism.This episode originally aired on March 17, 2025.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

If society privileges "thin" people, should you aspire to conform? And at what cost?Last year, online influencer Slim Kim went viral for a TikTok where she said she loves "being skinny." It sparked a debate that continued throughout 2025: how do we talk about bodies without falling into "body fascism." And with drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy flooding the market, how are the ways we talk about bodies shifting and changing?Brittany is joined by authors Emma Specter and Kate Manne to find out: what's so wrong with loving being skinny?This episode originally aired on December 6, 2024.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

If you want something badly enough, should you have it?Today, Brittany is investigating so-called "manifestation." It's this popular belief that if you want something badly enough, it'll come to you. But here's the thing: our relationship to the internet and algorithms is creating a feedback loop that actually makes our own dreams seem more...possible? But where's the line between dreams, reality, and the internet? Brittany calls on Tara Isabella Burton, an author and journalist, and New York Magazine's Rebecca Jennings to get to the bottom of this trend: the appeal of manifestation, its symbiotic relationship with the internet, and why it might make us less aware of our humanity.This episode originally aired on March 31, 2025.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy