Who will win today's cage match? Welcome to The Smackdown! For the next several weeks Brittany is hosting debates in cities and regions across the United States to find out who and what are the most influential things from those places. This episode Brittany lands in New Orleans, Louisiana, and debates with Gulf States Newsroom health equity reporter Drew Hawkins and writer & editor Ko Bragg . There will be winners. There will be losers. There will be surprises. Learn more about sponsor message ...
Sep 17, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Podcast and social media influencers have become important campaign stops for political hopefuls. But what kind of voters are the candidates courting? And what does the popularity of these interviews say about the growing political power of the influencer? Brittany is joined by Slate staff writer Luke Winkie and NBC News tech and culture reporter Kat Tenbarge to find out. But first, what can we learn about the political candidates through their clothes? After the presidential debate, Brittany sa...
Sep 13, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Who will win today's cage match? Welcome to The Smackdown! For the next several weeks Brittany is hosting debates in cities and regions across the United States to find out who and what are the most influential things from those places. This episode Brittany lands in Birmingham, Alabama, and debates with Gulf States Newsroom sports & culture reporter Joseph King and AL.com culture reporter Cody Short . There will be winners. There will be losers. There will be surprises. Learn more about sponsor...
Sep 10, 2024•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's September, which means millions of young learners across the country are dusting off their backpacks and heading back to school. But a new study from Gallup and The Walton Family Foundation has shown that students are less engaged, and feel less challenged than last year, and about half of them have no plans to get a Bachelor's degree right after high school. Host Brittany Luse is joined by Karin Klein, education reporter and author of Rethinking College: A Guide to Thriving Without a Degre...
Sep 06, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Who will win today's cage match? Welcome to The Smackdown! For the next several weeks Brittany is hosting debates in cities and regions across the United States to find out who and what are the most influential things from those places. This episode Brittany lands in Concord, New Hampshire, the Granite State, and debates with New Hampshire Public Radio reporters Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice , the hosts of the excellent podcast Civics 101 . There will be winners. There will be losers. There ...
Sep 03, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Chappell Roan posted about how some fans have been making her feel unsafe, there's been speculation around whether the singer is really 'cut out to be a pop star.' But are the critiques fair? Brittany sits down with Kelsey McKinney , who wrote about the controversy for Defector , and Dr. Mel Stanfill , author of Fandom is Ugly . They discuss modern fandom, how Chappell Roan framed it as a conversation about gender and what people misunderstand about celebrity. Then, Brittany looks at the h...
Aug 30, 2024•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's been 21 years since Starbucks debuted the first pumpkin spice latte in 2003. Since then, it's become a cultural phenomenon greater than itself: it's shorthand for fall, for basicness, for femininity, and even for white culture. In this episode from last year, we explore why the PSL became so powerful — and how food trends garner so much meaning. Host Brittany Luse chatted with Suzy Badaracco, food trend forecaster and founder of Culinary Tides, to discuss the $500 million dollar industry, a...
Aug 28, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the dust settles on the DNC, host Brittany Luse takes a look at the challenges facing a group of progressive democrats commonly known as "The Squad." Incumbent Reps. Cori Bush in Missouri and Jamaal Bowman in New York lost their seats this summer to candidates whose campaigns received funding from pro-Israel PACs. Brittany is joined by POLITICO Congress reporter Sarah Ferris and Capital B News national politics reporter Brandon Tensley to understand how these PACs are impacting progressives i...
Aug 23, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Who will win today's cage match? Welcome to The Smackdown! For the next several weeks Brittany is hosting debates in cities and regions across the United States to find out who and what are the most influential things from those places. This episode Brittany lands in San Francisco, California, the Bay Area, and debates with KQED reporters Pendarvis Harshaw , host of Rightnowish , and Olivia Allen-Price , host of Bay Curious . There will be winners. There will be losers. There will be surprises. ...
Aug 20, 2024•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Who will win today's cage match? Welcome to The Smackdown! For the next several weeks Brittany is hosting debates in cities and regions across the United States to find out who and what are the most influential things from those places. This episode Brittany lands in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, the Twin Cities, and debates with Minnesota Public Radio reporters Kyra Miles and Jacob Aloi . There will be winners. There will be losers. There will be surprises. Learn more about sponsor message cho...
Aug 16, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ever since Minnesota governor and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz called Republicans "weird," we've seen other Democrats embrace this name-calling strategy and deploy it in interviews and in memes online. We've also seen Republicans lobbing the "weird" moniker right back at Democrats. To get into how "weird" this all is, Brittany chats with NPR culture reporter Andrew Limbong and NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben about this new political strategy and redefining "norma...
Aug 13, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Now that we're in the dog days of summer, host Brittany Luse wants to know - do we have a song of the summer this year? According to NPR Music reporter Sidney Madden and NPR Music host, writer and editor Stephen Thompson , there isn't one song - but many songs . "We are more disparate than ever, that's why it's hard to chart a single song right now," said Sidney. "It's more like choose your own adventure." So - we're choosing our own adventure today and discussing the many contenders for song of...
Aug 09, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ever since Vice President Kamala Harris entered the presidential race, things changed . Her campaign almost immediately started framing the election as: Harris, the former prosecutor - vs. Trump the felon . And that word - "felon" - is one that our friends over at NPR's Code Switch have been thinking a lot about since former President Trump was convicted of 34 counts back in May. In this episode, Code Switch co-hosts B.A. Parker and Gene Demby chop it up with the comedian Arif Shahid, who perfor...
Aug 06, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast From the attempted assassination of former President Trump, to President Biden dropping out of the election, and VP Kamala Harris stepping up... The news these past few weeks has been buck wild. And the energy online is similarly unhinged. But what do most people get wrong when they try to interpret the latest explosion of political memes? And what do these posts actually say about how people are processing major events? And are there consequences to just posting through it? Host Brittany Luse i...
Aug 02, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast It seems like there are countless streamers these days – there's Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, Max, Peacock, Roku, just to name a few. Still, success and profit remain elusive to even some of the biggest in the biz. However there is one smaller streamer that seems to have found a path to prosperity: Dropout. In this encore episode, IBAM host Brittany Luse sat down with Dropout CEO Sam Reich earlier this year to find out how his company is forging a path to success in a successful market, all while...
Jul 30, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is the first year the Olympics have gender parity between men's and women's teams - but does it mean gender equity? ESPN writer Katie Barnes and Rose Eveleth, host of NPR and CBC's Tested , join Brittany to discuss the barriers that women athletes still face - from men-only categories to women-only sex testing. And later - in recent years, you may have noticed some new behemoths prowling the streets of America: giant trucks. The sheer size of them has sparked policy debates – many are so bi...
Jul 26, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the latest revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats , there are no singing cats. The actors have basically ditched the furry ears and velvet tails and reimagined the characters as competitors in the ballroom scene , vying for trophies and a new chance at life. This week, host Brittany Luse talks to Cats: The Jellicle Ball star Chasity Moore and co-director Zhailon Levingston about ballroom, spectacles and memories. Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany's questio...
Jul 23, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last Saturday, former president Donald Trump was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania when a gunman shot at him – killing one spectator and clipping Trump in the ear. The response? Outrage, condemnations, and prayers on all sides... but there's been less chatter about the gun that shot at him. And this gun has a lot of symbolism: The AR-15. Host Brittany Luse is joined by The Wall Street Journal 's Zusha Elinson , co-author of the book American Gun , and Jennifer Mascia , senior news writer and f...
Jul 19, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're at the peak of summer, which means sunny days on the grass with a good book! Bestselling authors Tia Williams and Jean Chen Ho join host Brittany Luse to give their recommendations for great summer reads. They also offer some armchair theories on why we love a gossipy summer novel. Books mentioned in this episode: The Guest by Emma Cline Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong Hip-Hop Is History by Questlove with Ben Greenman Devil is Fine by John Vercher Good Material by Dolly Alder...
Jul 16, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast What did the raunchy joke say to the podcast host? That we might need to pay attention to the " zynternet ." Host Brittany Luse is joined by Slate 's Luke Winkie and sex and culture writer Magdalene Taylor to understand why the "hawk tuah" phenomenon is emblematic of a corner of the internet that's both culturally and politically powerful. Then, we're breaking down one of the most potent symbols in America: the cowboy. Brittany revisits her conversation with New York Times culture critic J Worth...
Jul 12, 2024•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, the legendary singer and civil rights figure Mavis Staples is turning 85 and there's no sign of her slowing down: She released a new song, "Worthy," and a children's book, Bridges Instead of Walls: The Story of Mavis Staples . Today, Mavis joins host Brittany Luse to share stories from her life: what it was like to be mentored by Mahalia Jackson, how she helped create the soundtrack for the Civil Rights movement, how she was spurned by the church then welcomed back, and what it was li...
Jul 09, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast It is the first week of July, which means we are officially halfway through the year. And what a year it's been! Brittany sat down with NPR Politics reporter Elena Moore and co-host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour Stephen Thompson , to take stock of what's happened so far in 2024. Then, remember when brands weighed in on politics? Like when Gushers said Black Lives Matter or Pepsi made that Kendall Jenner ad? However, in the past few years brands seem to have shied away from touching on "woke" p...
Jul 05, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Too often, our attempts at nailing the family recipes end up in disaster and disappointment. This week, host Brittany Luse is joined by former Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson , author of Praisesong for the Kitchenghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks. The two talk about Appalachian food culture, turning oral recipes into written ones, and the emotional relationship between food, family and memory. Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo respon...
Jul 02, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast The internet freaked out when Charli XCX and Lorde revealed - and put to rest - their pop girl rivalry on Charli's "Girl, so confusing" remix. That same day , Brandy and Monica seemed to settle their decades long feud when they appeared on the remix of Ariana Grande's version of "The Boy is Mine." But while the pop girls are healing, a lot of fans still seem to want blood - can this music heal us? To break it all down, Brittany is joined by NPR Music Editor Hazel Cills , and Pop Pantheon podcast...
Jun 28, 2024•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's Black Music month! This week, Host Brittany Luse invites Howard University professor and trombonist Myles Blakemore to talk about how classical music influenced some of our favorite musicians. They look at how the counterpoint technique of Johann Sebastian Bach may have inspired Nina Simone, and how a love of Ginuwine can turn into a career in classical music. Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany's question at the end of the episode and send it to ibam@npr...
Jun 25, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast First up, there has been a media frenzy around the fouls made against rising basketball star and Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark. Commentators and fans have called her fellow WNBA players bullies, jealous, and catty. But Code Switch co-host Gene Demby and Defector's Maitreyi Anantharaman say a lot of the people commenting misunderstand the WNBA. Host Brittany Luse learns what the new fans might be missing and how racism, sexism and homophobia could be fanning the flames of the latest hot take...
Jun 21, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast In his new memoir, Another Word for Love, Carvell Wallace lays out his journey to find self-acceptance after a childhood colored by instability. Host Brittany Luse sits down with Carvell to talk about how he built new language around love and his new perspectives on recovery and healing. Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany's question at the end of the episode and send it to ibam@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NP...
Jun 18, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Flags have been making a lot of headlines lately, and it's not because today is National Flag Day. The upside down flag that was flown outside of Justice Samuel Alito's house after January 6th is back in the headlines again. Plus the Colorado Republican Party has been making news for their post on X to "burn all the #pride flags this June." Host Brittany Luse is joined by Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy - hosts of NHPR's Civics 101 - to get into why both liberals and conservatives get so riled...
Jun 14, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Cole Escola is the star and creator of Oh Mary!, an upcoming Broadway play about Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of President Abraham Lincoln. But there's a twist: Mary is reimagined as a raging alcoholic with cabaret dreams and Lincoln is portrayed as an evil closeted gay man plotting on her misery. On the cusp of the show's Broadway debut, Brittany chats with Cole about the inspiration behind Oh Mary!, their favorite joke and why it's fun to play older women. Learn more about sponsor message choic...
Jun 11, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast What is our justice system for? Many Republicans over the past week have suggested it's for revenge, calling for the prosecution of Democrats across the country following Trump's guilty verdict. Brittany looks at how the justice system can be politicized with NPR's national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson and national political correspondent Mara Liasson . Plus, we all have examples of how bad those those new artificial intelligence search engine results can be. So why does it seem like eve...
Jun 07, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
