It's Been a Minute

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 group of right-wing anti-intellectuals. Today, Brittany revisits her convo with Dr. Louks, and Jason Stanley, a professor of Philosophy at Yale University. They investigate the backlash to Dr. Louks, higher education at large, and why "anti-intellectualism" is prevalent in Republican politics. For more, read Jason Stanley's book Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future. This episode originally published January 27, 2025. Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus. Join NPR+ today. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 and justice reporter at The Guardian and author of The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation's Fight Over Its Future. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 is joined by Tazeen Ali, a professor of religion and politics at Washington University, and Nathan Lean, professor of religion at North Carolina State University. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

What do Trump, JK Rowling, and some feminists have in common? Based on history, more thank 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 sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 Families, and Jamila Michener, professor and author of Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism and Unequal Politics to understand how stereotypes about who deserves health insurance affect us all. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 current dating woes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 have taken note. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 as a law-and-order centrist. Mamdani is younger, newer to politics and a total progressive. This is a primary race in just one city, but it's been making national news and could shake up the Democratic party's strategy post-Trump re-election. Brittany sits down with Christian Paz, senior politics reporter at Vox, and Max Rivlin-Nadler, reporter and co-publisher at Hell Gate, a local news site for New York City. They discuss what this race says about where progressive energy is coming from - and why the Democrats might be having a Tea Party moment. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 touches every part of our culture - and why we might need to rethink our approach to this stat. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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... 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 far future of our families, our personal agency, and our planet. Today, UC Berkley law professor Khiara Bridges joins the show to break down everything you need to know about this case and what its implications for the rights of mothers across the country. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 shape what Millennial midlife crises are starting to look like? Brittany finds out with Vox senior correspondent Alex Abad-Santos, who recently wrote an article about the Millennial midlife crisis, and Sara Srygley, research associate at the Population Reference Bureau. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Lush by Rochelle Dowden-Lord Casanova LLC by Julia Whalen The Wickedest by Caleb Femi The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah Matriarch by Tina Knowles Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 far future of our families, our personal agency, and our planet. Today, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor Kate Clancy and reporter Lindsay Gellman join the show to clear up the misinformation around menstruation and how the search for guidance can lead to murky waters. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 understand and misunderstand the concept of protest. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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... and whether dating up in class is even possible. This episode originally published November 29th, 2024. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

So you got 'The Ick?' That feeling of disgust when someone 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. This episode originally published December 10th, 2024. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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, senior correspondent at Vox. They get into what people actually get out of breakup posting - and discuss their theories of poster's etiquette. This episode originally published December 3rd, 2024. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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 and organizer Raquel Willis to parse through the contradictions of Pride 2025. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

You may have heard that the U.S. gained 59 new residents last month from South Africa - and that more came this past weekend. They're all white Afrikaners: a white minority group descended from European colonists. Trump has given some of these white Afrikaners refugee status because he claims a "white genocide" is happening against them in South Africa. This claim is untrue. So where is it coming from? And why might this claim be politically expedient for the Trump administration? And what parallels can we see between some of the white Afrikaners and the American right? Brittany sits down with South African journalist Kate Bartlett and Sean Jacobs, professor of international affairs at the New School to get into it. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The stereotype is that Canadians are kind, but they by and large do not take kindly to President Trump's idea of making Canada our 51st state. As of April, two-thirds of Canadians considered the U.S. to be "unfriendly" or an "enemy," and 61% say they have started boycotting American companies. However, Canadian dislike and distrust of the U.S. is not new. Canadian views of the U.S. have trended down for decades, from a high of 81% of Canadians holding favorable views of the U.S. under Clinton in the '90's, to hovering in the 50-60% range in the aughts, to only 24% favorable as of March. Meanwhile, 87% of Americans view Canada favorably. There's a huge mismatch there. So what's behind these decades of resentment? How does culture play into it? And what does it mean for our politics that our nations have fundamentally different ideas about our relationship to one another? Brittany discusses with Scaachi Koul, senior writer at Slate, and Jon Parmenter, associate professor of history at Cornell. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy