Sam shares holiday recommendations with Audie Cornish , co-host of All Things Considered and Consider This , and Bob Mondello , NPR's film critic. They discuss not only their holiday favorites, but also the holiday things they hate. And yes, they'll discuss Love Actually. Wanna show your love for 'It's Been a Minute'? Support your local NPR station: donate.npr.org/sam See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast spon...
Dec 25, 2020•26 min
This year has been hard for pretty much everyone, but that still hasn't stopped people from getting married, having babies, starting new jobs, and telling us all about those milestones and celebrations in voice memos on our show. So in the spirit of the season, we picked a few of our favorite 'Best Things' from 2020 and called up the people who sent them: a listener who found the courage to make a new friend, a son who got the chance to reunite with his mom, and a woman who decided to donate her...
Dec 22, 2020•26 min
Without movies or TV shows to shoot or music to record, celebrities were restless in 2020 and eager to connect with a public that, at least for a while, couldn't care less about them. Sam wraps up the year in celebrity culture with Lindsey Weber and Bobby Finger , co-hosts of the podcast Who? Weekly , and breaks down how a pandemic changed our relationship with the rich and the famous. Stuck in quarantine, it turns out that stars really are just like us... and often a little worse. Wanna show yo...
Dec 18, 2020•30 min
Songwriter Phoebe Bridgers has had a big year, but it's also been bittersweet. With four Grammy nominations for work on her acclaimed 2020 album Punisher , Bridgers, like most touring musicians, has been stuck at home. She talks to Sam about her love/hate relationship with touring, how she aims for the universal in the specificity of her lyrics, and her hopes for music—and everyone—in 2021... or whenever the pandemic ends. Watch the extended video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/nTmW...
Dec 15, 2020•35 min
Coronavirus has transformed pop culture and placed its creation in the hands of anyone who has social media. Sam chats with E. Alex Jung , a writer at New York Magazine, about pop culture's shift this year to the internet . Then, Sam talks to Alex Zaragoza , senior staff writer for culture at Vice, about her beef with the new Netflix series Selena: The Series and the exploitation of Selena. Wanna show your love for 'It's Been a Minute'? Support your local NPR station: donate.npr.org/sam See pcm....
Dec 11, 2020•37 min
Are you sick of the friends and family you've been stuck with? Sam teams up with Anna Sale , host of the WNYC podcast Death, Sex & Money , to explore how our pandemic 'pods' are being tested by the coronavirus. In this episode, Sam digs into friendships under strain. Then, head on over to the Death, Sex & Money podcast feed for Anna's look at how two people stuck apart during the pandemic have fallen in love . Wanna show your love for 'It's Been a Minute'? Support your local NPR station:...
Dec 08, 2020•30 min
"What has this pandemic been like for you?" When we put that question to people, the answers we got depended a lot on where they were in life — if they were in school, if they had a job, if they had lost a loved one, if they were vulnerable to the virus. So in this special episode of It's Been a Minute , we'll hear from people of all ages, from all over the country — and world — about how their lives, from young to old, have changed forever. Wanna show your love for 'It's Been a Minute'? Support...
Dec 04, 2020•56 min
Cathy Park Hong talks with Sam about her book Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning . She discusses how watching comedian Richard Pryor influenced her to write honestly about Asian American identity, and how her Korean parents' experience of immigration has made their understanding of race different from her own. Hong is known globally for her award-winning poetry. She also serves as poetry editor for The New Republi c and is a professor at Rutgers University–Newark. See pcm.adswizz.com fo...
Dec 01, 2020•32 min
For the holiday, Sam revisits his conversation with award-winning author James McBride. McBride's latest book Deacon King Kong tells the story of how one man's decision brings together the different racial communities of 1960s Brooklyn to solve a larger issue. Sam chats with McBride as he shares his thoughts on the hope he has for communities, the parallels he sees to the world we're living in today, and why he's still optimistic, despite protests and a pandemic. You can follow us on Twitter @NP...
Nov 27, 2020•32 min
With the holidays coming, we're all trying to figure out how to celebrate with loved ones from a distance. When all we have to connect this year are phone calls and video chats, how do we make the most out of our conversations? In this episode from NPR's Life Kit Sam gets advice from the owner of a hair salon, whose job has taught her to be a good conversationalist. Then, Sam talks to journalist and professional speaker Celeste Headlee . Celeste, who gave a TED talk on this topic , shares her gu...
Nov 24, 2020•20 min
Georgia's Senate runoffs have become national races as control of the Senate depends on who wins. Sam asks Tia Mitchell , Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, if Georgia voters are looking at the runoffs the way the rest of the country is. Then, Sam chats with comedians W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu , hosts of the podcast " Politically Re-Active ", about how the Left is processing the results of the 2020 election. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collect...
Nov 20, 2020•37 min
What's next for President Trump once he leaves the White House? And what's next for his business? And what's he being investigated for again? And by whom? We take a step back and break it all down with Andrea Bernstein , co-host of the WNYC & ProPublica podcast Trump, Inc. , about Trump's finances, his mounting debt and how, after decades of bad business, he has always managed to find a way out. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship...
Nov 17, 2020•28 min
The rapper Bobby Shmurda had a big viral hit in 2014, and it looked like he was going to be a star. But just months later, Bobby and his friends were arrested and charged in connection with a murder and several other shootings. Our friends at NPR Music podcast Louder Than A Riot trace the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration, and they take a look at Bobby's story in this episode. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship an...
Nov 16, 2020•54 min
What could a new president mean for the coronavirus pandemic? Sam talks to Ed Yong , staff writer at The Atlantic , about President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus task force and how much the federal government can do to change the course of the pandemic. Then, Sam chats with comedian Matt Rogers , whose projects this year include competition show Haute Dog on HBO Max, Quibi's Gayme Show and the podcast Las Culturistas (which he hosts with SNL's Bowen Yang). They talk about pop culture and what's ...
Nov 13, 2020•37 min
Talia Lavin went undercover in white supremacist online communities, creating fake personas that would gain her access to the dark reaches of the internet normally off-limits to her, a Jewish woman. That research laid the groundwork for her book, Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy . Lavin talks to Sam about what it was like to infiltrate those online spaces, what she learned, and how white supremacy cannot exist without anti-Semitism. See pcm.adswizz.com for inform...
Nov 10, 2020•28 min
Joe Biden appears to be inching closer to a victory, but there wasn't a blowout for Democrats this election. Sam talks to New York Times national political reporter Astead Herndon about what we know, what we thought we knew, and what the results could mean for the left moving forward. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 06, 2020•30 min
With the election still too close to call, The Atlantic reporter McKay Coppins joins Sam with the latest on what we know about the results, what they mean for President Trump, and how much Trumpism will live on in the Republican Party. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy...
Nov 04, 2020•25 min
It's Election Day, but instead of the latest politics news, we're giving you some therapy. Sam shares listener questions around mental health issues with psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb. In addition to her clinical practice, Gottlieb is the New York Times best-selling author behind Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed . She and Sam discuss burnout, white guilt, and when the right time is to reach out to a therapist. Gottlieb also co-hosts the podcast...
Nov 03, 2020•28 min
With 2020 progressing the way it has, comedian Sarah Cooper wants you to know that Everything's Fine in her new comedy special. Sam talks to Sarah Cooper about her journey from going viral on TikTok lip-syncing to President Donald Trump, to starring in her own Netflix special. Then, Sam chats with Linda Holmes and Aisha Harris , hosts of the NPR Podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour , about their favorite politics and election pop culture picks. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection ...
Oct 30, 2020•39 min
Election Night 2020 is a week away. It's hard to know whether we'll have results that night, in a week or maybe even a month. But that's exactly what happened 20 years ago — between candidates Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Sam goes back to that night with NPR's Ron Elving and Mara Liasson to chat about what they remember from working in the newsroom, why it was so chaotic, and what one of the most turbulent elections in U.S. history could teach us about... well, one of th...
Oct 27, 2020•30 min
On this bonus drop, we feature an episode from the NPR podcast Rough Translation. A Chinese idol had millions of fans who adored him for his kindness and good looks. Then, this February, one group of fans accused another of violating their image of him. What happens is a lesson in morality and revenge, love and hate, and how these feelings are weaponized on the internet. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast s...
Oct 26, 2020•38 min
Voter outreach took on an unconventional form Tuesday night when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez streamed her gameplay of the hit game "Among Us" on Twitch. While she played the game with friends, her stream became one of the 20 most watched streams in Twitch history. Sam chats with Wired writer Cecilia D'Anastasio who explains the streaming platform's potential to reach new voters. Also, the pandemic has hit the economy hard, but not everyone is feeling the blows. Sam talks to Scott Horsley, NPR'...
Oct 23, 2020•35 min
Latinos are the second largest group of eligible voters by race or ethnicity in the United States, but they continue to be misunderstood and underappreciated by political campaigns of all parties. Sam talks to Lisa García Bedolla , a scholar of Latino politics, about how the word "Latino" encompasses diverse communities of all political stripes and life experiences, and he checks in with the former mayor of a small town in Texas who's been thinking of Latino voter outreach for a long time. You c...
Oct 20, 2020•26 min
From fights over early voting applications to ballot drop-off sites, voting in Texas has drawn national attention. Sam talks to Texas reporters Ashley Lopez of member station KUT and Jessica Huseman of ProPublica to unpack what's happening and what it means for voting access. Then, Sam gets advice from John Paul Brammer , creator of the advice column " Hola Papi ." See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsor...
Oct 16, 2020•35 min
Writer and thinker James Baldwin used the power of his words to confront in order to connect, something that feels especially relatable in a year when the United States has been forced to reckon with racial inequality. This week we share an episode from our friends at NPR's Throughline , about James Baldwin, his life and philosophy, and what we can learn from him to lead us into the future. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to m...
Oct 13, 2020•46 min
In honor of Coming Out Day this weekend, Sam talks to comedian and actor Joel Kim Booster about his experience coming out to his evangelical Christian family. As Kim Booster grew up in this religious household, he struggled to come to terms with his sexual orientation. On top of that, he was also adopted into an all-white family living in an all-white town. Kim Booster often jokes about his upbringing in his comedy sets: "I fully knew I was gay before I knew I was Asian." He also talks to Sam ab...
Oct 09, 2020•29 min
Sam revisits his 2017 chat with author and Radio Ambulante host, Daniel Alarcón . They discuss Alarcón's book of short stories, The King Is Always Above The People , which holds a mirror to the immigrant experience in today's political climate. Alarcón also shares his own experiences immigrating from Peru to the U.S. as a child. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy...
Oct 06, 2020•25 min
When President Trump told white supremacists to "stand back and stand by," the country responded with heavy criticism. Sam talks with Kathleen Belew, assistant professor of history at the University of Chicago, about what we get wrong when we talk about the white power movement. Then, Sam chats with Demi Adejuyigbe, writer for The Amber Ruffin Show . They talk about his career, his viral September 21 videos, and how he uses online fame for good. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our coll...
Oct 02, 2020•35 min
Sam chats with comedian Bowen Yang about becoming the first Chinese American cast member on Saturday Night Live , what it was like to do the show during a pandemic, and why Adele Dazeem is the number one moment in the history of culture. Watch Sam's extended interview with Bowen here: https://youtu.be/1KMRAhxeDpA See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy...
Sep 29, 2020•38 min
When the biggest news stories happen all at once, it's easy to miss what each of them really means. Since Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death last week, there have been questions about who will replace her and what it means for the court. Sam talks to Slate's Mark Joseph Stern about the Supreme Court's history and what recent discussions get wrong. Then, Democrats and progressives brought in massive fundraising dollars in the days after Justice Ginsburg's death. Sam chats with Juli...
Sep 25, 2020•40 min
