It's Been a Minute

Family conflict is a cinema staple. But recently Hollywood has come out with a slew of stories about parents and children confronting gaps in culture, generation and identity — from animated films like Encanto and Turning Red, to the recent miniseries Ms. Marvel and the indie hit Everything Everywhere All at Once. Vox entertainment critic Emily St. James calls the subgenre the "millennial parent apology fantasy." She shares with guest host B.A. Parker how the form came to be, what its limits...

In a matter of days Beyoncé and Drake both released music that draws deeply on 90s era house music. Neither of them are queer, but the they're borrowing from a genre that has been liberating for Black & Latino queer people from the 70s to today. In this episode our June guest host B.A. Parker welcomes Back Issue's co-host Josh Gwynn to chat about house music's roots and the genre's resurgence. Also, comedians Kate Berlant & John Early talk about their new special Would it Kill You to Laugh....

Fangirls often don't get taken seriously in pop culture. But in her new book, Everything I Need, I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It, culture reporter Kaitlyn Tiffany explores just how much fangirls have shaped online life. She talks with guest host B.A. Parker about how fans used Tumblr to transform internet culture, how being a One Direction fan enriched her own life and why fandom is more complicated than we might think. You can follow us on Twitter...

When singer-songwriter Kate Bush released "Running Up That Hill" in 1985, it peaked at number 30 on the Hot 100. Now it's soared into the top ten, thanks to the newest season of Stranger Things. Guest host B.A. Parker talks to Stereogum writers Rachel Brodsky and Chris Deville about why old music seems to be getting more love than new music these days — and how even new music seems retro. Plus, actor and writer Jana Schmieding on the second season of Rutherford Falls, exploring physical...

We don't often think of Hawaii and the Korean peninsula as having any kind of shared history. But author Joseph Han disagrees — and he makes the case in his debut novel Nuclear Family. In this episode, Han and guest host B.A. Parker discuss the book and Han's experience as a Korean immigrant in Hawaii. And they unpack the long effects of U.S. imperialism and military presence in both places. Along the way, they get into ghosts, grandmas and Guy Fieri.

These days, it seems everyone wants to be an influencer. But as content creators realize that it's a demanding, often short-lived career, they're forcing us to think hard about the future of an industry that's still on the rise. Guest host B.A. Parker speaks with Rebecca Jennings, senior correspondent at Vox, who reported on how influencer burnout is a microcosm of our changing relationship with work.

The first time Joel Kim Booster vacationed on New York's Fire Island with his friend, comedian Bowen Yang, he brought with him Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as a beach read. Over the years, he'd often joke with friends about making a gay version of the novel. Today Booster is the writer and star of Hulu's Fire Island, a queer, Asian romcom based on Austen's classic, set in the titular gay vacation spot. Booster talks with guest host Elise Hu about how the film honors his queer...

Once again, Americans are asking how to end mass shootings. With consensus on gun laws unlikely, some are turning to Hollywood to help change the narrative. Can those who control the levers of culture shift the public's relationship with guns? Guest host Elise Hu speaks with former video game creative and now TV writer Nadra Widatalla about a world where on-screen heroes don't rely on guns. Plus, seriously, why are movies so long? It isn't scientific but it sure feels like movies are...

Name a Black musician from the 1970s and chances are Bruce Talamon has photographed them. The Jackson 5. Aretha Franklin. Marvin Gaye. Donna Summer. Bob Marley. The list goes on. For the final episode of our summer music series, former host Sam Sanders talks to Talamon about his incredible collection of photographs and what it was like to capture intimate moments with such iconic artists. You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at ibam@npr.org.

In this episode from our friends at Life Kit, guest host Elise Hu teaches us how to make the most of our time off. Joined by travel writer Torre deRoche and artist Jenny Odell, they go beyond travel tips and investigate why we travel and share what travel means to them. You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at ibam@npr.org.

Singer Phoebe Bridgers had a huge year in 2020. She was nominated for four Grammys for her work on her album Punisher. The album was released to wide critical acclaim. But like the rest of us, Bridgers was stuck at home. So what's that really like for a musician? In the latest episode of our summer music series, we revisit Sam Sanders' conversation with Phoebe from 2020. They talk about her love/hate relationship with touring, how she aims for the universal in the specificity of her lyrics,...

In this special episode from our friends at Pop Culture Happy Hour, guest host Aisha Harris talks with journalists Tre'vell Anderson and Jarrett Hill about stand-up comedian Jerrod Carmichael's new HBO special Rothaniel where Carmichael comes out publicly as gay for the first time and talks about secrets that have haunted his family for multiple generations.

In this encore episode from 2018, former host Sam Sanders speaks with singer-songwriter Syd about her work with the hip-hop collective Odd Future and now with her own group – The Internet. The two discuss how she produced The Internet's fourth album, Hive Mind, and how she incorporates songwriting her sexuality. You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at ibam@npr.org.

With the anticipated repeal of Roe v. Wade, it's unclear how Americans will access abortion and other reproductive care. Will tech platforms continue to provide the same information about services in states where the procedure is outlawed? And what risk does your digital footprint create, if you seek information about abortion or other reproductive health care? Guest host Elise Hu talks it out with Rachel Cohen, senior policy reporter at Vox News and Lil Kalish from CalMatters. Plus, you...

Yebba had a huge year in 2016. The singer and songwriter's career was taking off. But 2016 was also the year that something awful happened: Yebba's mother died by suicide. And that changed everything in her life. In this encore chat from 2021, former host Sam Sanders and Yebba discuss the emotional toll it took to make her recent album Dawn, growing up in the church, and shedding old beliefs while making room for new ones. You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at...

Protests erupted across the nation this week in the wake of a leaked Supreme Court brief suggesting the landmark "Roe v. Wade" abortion ruling will be overturned. The decision could endanger people seeking medical care and set a precedent for challenging other reproductive rights. Guest host Elise Hu discusses patients' concerns with health and gender reporter Shefali Luthra of "The 19th" and Dr. Jennifer Kerns, an OBGYN and associate professor at the University of California, San...

Attention to all the music lovers out there! All month, we're revisiting our best music episodes from It's Been a Minute. In this episode from February 2020, former host Sam Sanders is joined by Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding, co-hosts of the podcast Switched On Pop. They break down what makes a song: why certain pop songs become ear worms and what their form and structure mean for the future of music. Sloan and Harding deconstruct songs in their 2020 book, Switched On Pop: How Popular Music...

Legislation targeting transgender Americans and trans children has increased sharply in the last year. Guest host Ari Shapiro speaks with the Florida mother of a trans daughter about how their family is coping with that state's new, more restrictive policies. Then, Ari discusses how this wave of law-making differs from so-called "moral panics" of past decades — and why that matters — with historian Jules Gill-Peterson, of Johns Hopkins University. Then, Broadway is back and bigger than...

Guest host Juana Summers speaks with co-authors Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy about their new book, Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay. In the book, Liz and Mollie explore seven emotions that they found particularly difficult to overcome — uncertainty, anger, burnout, comparison, perfectionism, despair and grief. With hopes to normalize conversations on these "big feelings," they talk about the power in owning and sharing their emotions and what they've gained in the...

With travel mask mandates dropping, increasing cases, and more COVID variants, precaution exhaustion is real, but the pandemic is far from over. Guest host Juana Summers talks with science writer Katherine J. Wu of The Atlantic about how the U.S. has moved from a collective approach to an individual-focused mindset in its handling of the pandemic. Then, Juana is joined by Kellie Carter Jackson and Leah Wright Rigueur, hosts of the new Oprahdemics podcast, to talk about Oprah Winfrey's reign...