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It's Been a Minute Has it been a minute since you heard a thought-provoking conversation about culture? Brittany Luse wants to help. Each week, she takes the things everyone's talking about and, in conversation with her favorite creators, tastemakers, and experts, gives you new ways to think about them. Beyond the obvious takes. Because culture doesn't happen by accident.

If you can't get enough, try It's Been a Minute Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/itsbeenaminute
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Has it been a minute since you heard a thought-provoking conversation about culture? Brittany Luse wants to help. Each week, she takes the things everyone's talking about and, in conversation with her favorite creators, tastemakers, and experts, gives you new ways to think about them. Beyond the obvious takes. Because culture doesn't happen by accident.

If you can't get enough, try It's Been a Minute Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/itsbeenaminute

Most Recent Episodes

Looking ahead to the 2024 election; plus, getting "sober curious" for Dry January
Brendan Smialowski; Jim Watson; Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Looking ahead to the 2024 election; plus, getting "sober curious" for Dry January

This week, host Brittany Luse is starting with the biggest story of the year - the upcoming presidential election. The economy, foreign policy, reproduction rights have all been top of mind lately - but how will these issues play out in the voting booth? NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben and Domenico Montanaro join the show to talk about what might sway voters in November.

Looking ahead to the 2024 election; plus, getting "sober curious" for Dry January

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Ross Gay on inciting joy while dining with sorrow

Ross Gay, pictured next to his new book, Inciting Joy: Essays. Natasha Komodo/Amazon hide caption

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Natasha Komodo/Amazon

Ross Gay on inciting joy while dining with sorrow

Looking for joy? Then it might be worth exploring your sorrow. In his collection of essays, Inciting Joy, poet Ross Gay considers the breadth of joy, arguing that it can be found – and even strengthened – in life's hardest moments. After all, those are the times when we rely on one another. Brittany Luse sits down with the poet to discuss the complexity of joy and creating meaning in life.

Ross Gay on inciting joy while dining with sorrow

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'Oh Me Oh My': Finding grace after something hellified (a New Year's story)
Courtesy of Lonnie Holley

'Oh Me Oh My': Finding grace after something hellified (a New Year's story)

To close out the year, Brittany is sitting down with Lonnie Holley. He's a painter, sculptor, and musician who released his latest album, Oh Me Oh My, in early 2023. In it he sings of his difficult childhood growing up in Jim Crow Alabama where he was sold, beat, and effectively enslaved. But today he sings of hope. He's been on a journey to heal his pain, and the pain of the generations that came before and the ones that will follow. It's a story of gratitude.

'Oh Me Oh My': Finding grace after something hellified (a New Year's story)

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How Bay Area rap turned pain into a party

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Andres Gonzalez

How Bay Area rap turned pain into a party

On August 11, 1973, hip-hop was born at a house party in the Bronx. 50 years later the genre has been reshaped in the image of cities and regions around the world. Brittany is joined by KQED's Pendarvis Harshaw to do a deep dive into one hip-hop scene from the Bay Area known as hyphy. They unpack how the loud, brash, hyperactive music helped a community grieve.

How Bay Area rap turned pain into a party

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Why does flying suck so much?
JIM WATSON/AFP

Why does flying suck so much?

Flying can be a frustrating experience, but holiday travel tends to shift our stress levels into overdrive. Overbooking, delays, lost baggage, and long TSA lines are just the tip of the iceberg. Even pricey membership services can't promise a completely efficient or comfortable travel journey. With big price tags and the quality of service seemingly going down, host Brittany Luse wondered: How did we get here? To answer that question, aviation and travel journalist Benét J. Wilson joins the show to give us a birds eye view of the issues and why things may not be getting better anytime soon.

Why does flying suck so much?

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2023: The year of the celebrity memoir
Hachette / Harper Collins / Macmillan / Penguin Randomhouse

2023: The year of the celebrity memoir

2023 has been huge for the celebrity memoir game: Britney Spears, Prince Harry and Jada Pinkett Smith are just a few of the many A-listers who dropped bestsellers. But which memoirs should you actually read? To help parse through the pages, Brittany Luse is joined - once again - by Celebrity Memoir Book Club hosts Ashley Hamilton and Claire Parker. They each share their favorite memoirs of the year and discuss what these books reveal about the machinations of fame.

2023: The year of the celebrity memoir

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The IBAMmys: The It's Been A Minute 2023 Culture Awards Show
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for GQ

The IBAMmys: The It's Been A Minute 2023 Culture Awards Show

Welcome to the first ever IBAMmys, the It's Been A Minute 2023 culture awards show! It's been a minute - a whole year - and we're looking back at the biggest cultural moments of the past 365 days. Host Brittany Luse, NPR's Ayesha Rascoe, and Vox's senior pop culture correspondent Alex Aband-Santos all made nominations for each category, and a select group of culture experts at NPR voted for who should take home the prize.

The IBAMmys: The It's Been A Minute 2023 Culture Awards Show

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Music trends that took us by surprise in 2023

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Ser Baffo/Getty Images for BET/Rich Fury/Getty Images for Coachella/Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Stagecoach/Mike Coppola/Getty Images for MTV

Music trends that took us by surprise in 2023

It's been an eventful year for music; we saw the rise of Mexican Regional music on the charts, the emergence of AI artists, and the dominance of country music to boot. Host Brittany Luse chats with Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding, co-hosts of the podcast Switched on Pop, to break down what's behind the latest pop music trends — and to share some of their 2023 favorites.

Music trends that took us by surprise in 2023

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Nicki Minaj's bars, Barbz and beefs; plus, why 2023 was the year of the cowboy

the Great Australian Cattle Drive, and Nicki Minaj Quinn Rooney/Getty Images, Frazer Harrison/Getty Images hide caption

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Quinn Rooney/Getty Images, Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Nicki Minaj's bars, Barbz and beefs; plus, why 2023 was the year of the cowboy

Nicki Minaj just released her first album in half a decade, Pink Friday 2. The self-proclaimed 'Queen of Rap' has an unparalleled career, but the rap game - and women's position within it - has changed dramatically during her hiatus. While Nicki helped shape rap today, the artist has also faced a slew of controversies and an erratic album rollout that all have us asking: is Nicki still the verified 'Queen of Rap'? Host Brittany Luse sits down with NPR Music Editor and Louder Than A Riot host Sidney Madden to discuss.

Nicki Minaj's bars, Barbz and beefs; plus, why 2023 was the year of the cowboy

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The 'Renaissance' film and what we hear in Beyoncé's silence

Beyonce at the Renaissance World Tour Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood via Getty Images hide caption

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Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood via Getty Images

The 'Renaissance' film and what we hear in Beyoncé's silence

In the credits for 'Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé' the Queen Bee makes it clear who is in charge. Written by? Beyoncé. Directed by? Beyoncé. Produced by? Beyoncé. And of course, starring...Beyoncé. For someone who is so in control of their own image, what is spoken and what is unspoken are equally loud.

The 'Renaissance' film and what we hear in Beyoncé's silence

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