It's Been a Minute

Is Melania Trump's new film a documentary? Fan service? Or propaganda?<br/><br/>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?<br/><br/>Brittany sits down with NPR Senior Arts Critic <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/3813466/bob-mondello"target="_blank" >Bob Mondello</a>, and Vulture Movie Critic <a href="https://www.vulture.com/author/alison-willmore/"target="_blank" >Alison Willmore</a>. 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.<br/><br/>Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a><br/><br/>Follow Brittany on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

So-called "swoletariats" are exercising for the resistance.<br/><br/>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 <em>Life Kit</em> producer <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/1083758522/margaret-cirino"target="_blank" >Margaret Cirino</a> shares her reporting with Brittany on the history of leftist fitness – and why she’s seeing the swoletariat picking up steam on social media.<br/><br/>Want to know more about fitness and health? Check out these episodes:<br><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/01/16/nx-s1-5677307/the-difference-between-losing-weight-being-healthy"target="_blank" >The difference between losing weight & being "healthy"</a><br><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5652173/is-wellness-the-answer-to-your-problems"target="_blank" >Beware the Wellness Industrial Complex!</a><br><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/12/29/nx-s1-5653652/is-it-wrong-to-want-to-be-thin"target="_blank" >The privilege of being "skinny"</a><br/><br/>Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a><br/><br/>Follow Brittany on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

America’s workers are tired – here’s why.<br/><br/>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 <a href="https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/people/erik-baker"target="_blank" >Erik Baker,</a> Harvard lecturer and author of <em>Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America, </em>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.<br/><br/>Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a><br/><br/>Follow Brittany on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Brittany is joined by <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/adam-serwer/"target="_blank" >Adam Serwer</a>, 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, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/the-neighbors-defending-minnesota-from-ice/685769/"target="_blank" >"Minnesota proved MAGA wrong."</a><br/><br/>Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a><br/><br/>Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

How do romantic tropes and fantasies impact how you understand politics?<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Brittany is joined by <a href="https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-english/faculty/hanna-baker.html"target="_blank" >Netta Baker</a>,  Advanced Instructor of English at Virginia Tech, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@Princess_Weekes"target="_blank" >Princess Weekes</a>, video essayist and online pop culture critic. They get into how this genre demolishes misogyny while reinforcing conservative politics.<br/><br/>Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a><br/><br/>Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

Job seekers are sending out hundreds of applications. Here’s why they’re not hearing back.<br/><br/>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 <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/1093418997/wailin-wong"target="_blank" >Wailin Wong</a>, co-host of NPR’s Indicator podcast, and <a href="https://slate.com/author/nitish-pahwa"target="_blank" >Nitish Pahwa</a>, 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.”<br/><br/>Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a><br/><br/>Follow Brittany on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

He's mysterious and aspirational, but is he even real? Or is he just a reflection of all of our society?<br/><br/>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 <em>Industry</em>. But what makes the finance bro mythology so compelling? And why do we sign up to watch him again and again?<br/><br/>To find out, Brittany is joined by chief correspondent at Business Insider and host of Channels, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/peter-kafka"target="_blank" >Peter Kafka</a> and <a href="https://www.vulture.com/author/roxana-hadadi/"target="_blank" >Roxana Hadadi</a>, TV critic for Vulture and New York Magazine.<br/><br/>Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a><br/><br/>Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

What does it mean to feel safe during sex these days?<br/><br/>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 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leisha-mckinley-beach/"target="_blank" >Dr. Leisha McKinley-Beach</a>, founder and CEO of the Black Public Health Academy, and <a href="https://www.drjasmineabrams.com/"target="_blank" >Dr. Jasmine Abrams</a>, 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. <br/><br/>Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a><br/><br/>Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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. <br/><br/>This episode comes from <a href="https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510364/daily-books"target="_blank" >NPR's Books We've Loved</a> podcast series. Brittany joined hosts <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/348740829/andrew-limbong"target="_blank" >Andrew Limbong</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/1114056142/b-a-parker"target="_blank" >B.A. Parker</a> to revisit Terry McMillan's classic novel, <em>Waiting to Exhale</em>. 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.<br/><br/>Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a><br/><br/>Follow Brittany on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

What are we missing something in the conversation around obesity and GLP-1s? <br/><br/>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. <br/><br/>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.’<br/><br/>Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a><br/><br/>Follow Brittany on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

Some say we're entering the Woke 2.0 era. Is that real or imagined? <br/><br/>From declining Target sales to Mamdani's election, some folks online are feeling a vibe shift. Is that feeling...woke? And if so, does that mean woke is back in style? <br/><br/>To answer those questions - and to dissect whether or not woke ever left - Brittany is joined by <a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/constance-grady"target="_blank" >Constance Grady</a>, senior correspondent at Vox, and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/tyler-austin-harper/"target="_blank" >Tyler Austin Harper</a>, staff writer at The Atlantic and co-host of the podcast, <a href="https://goodbye.substack.com/"target="_blank" >Time to Say Goodbye</a>. <br/><br/>Vote for It's Been a Minute in the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/11/13/g-s1-97569/favorite-podcast-awards-voting"target="_blank" >NPR Pod Club Awards</a>!<br/><br/>(0:00) When did Woke end? <br>(4:22) Why Woke doesn't work when racism is still on the rise<br>(8:50) Target, Sydney Sweeney, and America's appetite for racism<br>(12:08) The rise of "Dark Woke" & will it work?<br>(13:51) Is Zohran Mamdani a sign of a new kind of Woke?<br>(15:40) How MAGA made the blueprint for Woke 2.0<br/><br/>Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a><br/><br/>Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

What’s the difference between <em>feeling </em>unsafe and <em>being </em>unsafe?<br/><br/>According to Gallup, about half of Americans see crime as being extremely or very serious. And there are a lot of very real threats out there to people’s safety, but there’s also a lot of fearful rhetoric that’s more unfounded. While immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born citizens, and trans people are unlikely to commit mass shootings, fear of these groups is being weaponized against them. So how can we disentangle being unsafe and feeling unsafe – and better protect ourselves and each other? <br/><br/>Brittany gets into it with <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/staff/nicole-lewis"target="_blank" >Nicole Lewis</a>, engagement editor at The Marshall Project, and <a href="https://www.leximcmenamin.com/"target="_blank" >Lex McMenamin</a>, writer and editor.<br/><br/>Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

Have you talked to a parent recently? Are they...okay?<br/><br/>From textbook bans to health food trends, there’s a whole culture of fear and political propaganda that preys on new parents, convincing them that just buying this or just voting for that will keep their children safe. But how do you know if something is a moral panic or a legitimate concern?<br/><br/>Brittany is joined by <a href="https://engl.uic.edu/profiles/leick-karen/"target="_blank" >Karen Leick</a>, author of Parents, Media and Panic through the Years, and <a href="https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/academics-research/faculty/wang_cynthia/"target="_blank" >Cynthia Wang</a>, Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations at Northwestern University to sift through the differences.<br/><br/>Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

No disrespect, but...when President Trump threw a Great Gatsby-themed party for Halloween, it kind of missed the point of the book. And, it's not just Trump. A quick search online, and you'll see a lot of people increasingly misinterpreting other famous books. <br/><br/>Are people just bad at reading? Are we just laying our own biases on top of classic texts? Or is something else going on?<br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/people/348740829/andrew-limbong"target="_blank" >Andrew Limbong</a>, host of NPR's Book of the Day, and writer-critic <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@Princess_Weekes"target="_blank" >Princess Weekes</a> join Brittany to dissect novel interpretations of literary fiction. They look at what these re-interpretations say about our current moment: from what we want from a book to how books lose meaning online.<br/><br/>(0:00) Why 'The Great Gatsby' gets misread<br>(6:07) How 'Lord of the Rings' became a Christian Nationalist text<br>(12:46) Literary Interpretation vs. Media Literacy<br>(16:34) The rise of BookTok<br>(19:28) The consequence of missing the point of a book<br/><br/>Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

Have you picked up a couple weights recently? Started walking, or jogging, or doing pilates? So have a lot of other people. <br/><br/>You see the fitness Instagram accounts and gym tips all over TikTok, but how does exercise culture fit into our broader culture? And how does more enthusiasm for exercise square with the focus on fitness in our politics? Brittany gets into it with <a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/jonquilyn-hill"target="_blank" > Jonquilyn Hill</a>, host of <em>Vox</em>’s<em> Explain it to Me</em> podcast, and Shelly McKenzie, author of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1dr36wm"target="_blank" ><em>Getting Physical: the Rise of Fitness Culture in America</em></a>.<br/><br/>(0:00) Americans are obsessed with exercise right now. Why?<br>(2:36) What exercise does for mental and financial health<br>(5:59) How exercise became a status symbol for young people<br>(10:13) Why gyms are seeking women over 65<br>(12:57) Why JFK and Trump both politicized fitness<br>(16:33) What the government and its citizens have in common: body shame?<br/><br/>Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a><br/><br/>For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>