It's Been a Minute

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, and her hopes for the future of music.

Watch the extended video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/nTmW6jr_hd0

You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 love to hate her on Selling Sunset; Christine Quinn is in the house! Elise chats with Christine about her villainous persona and her book, How to Be a Boss B*tch.

You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 Francisco.

Then, Elise chats with authors Jasmine Guillory and Emma Straub about the best books to read this summer. They also play Who Said That.

Some books mentioned in this episode:
By the Book - Jasmine Guillory
This Time Tomorrow - Emma Straub
Love Radio - Ebony LaDelle
Funny You Should Ask - Elissa Sussman
Bomb Shelter - Mary Laura Philpott
Sorrow and Bliss - Meg Mason
The Lifestyle - Taylor Hahn
I'll Be You - Janelle Brown

You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at [email protected].

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 Works and Why It Matters.

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 ever, with 16 new shows opening this month. But this Broadway burst hasn't been immune to the pandemic. "Macbeth" director Sam Gold talks to Ari about having to go onstage himself this month, when too many of his cast tested positive for Covid; and about what feels different as actors and audiences try to get back to normal.

You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at [email protected].

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 process.

You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at [email protected].

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 as 'Queen of Talk' and her influence on the culture.

You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at [email protected].