It's Been a Minute

In 1966, the federal government commissioned a massive survey aimed at solving educational inequality. Instead, the explosive Coleman Report unleashed a 60-year debate over race, resources, and what education in America is actually for. This is the story of how the report came together… and the policy whirlwind that followed. Guests: Victoria Cain, Associate Professor of History, Northeastern University Thomas Kane, Walter H. Gale Professor of Education and Economics, Harvard University Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org. 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

Are we living in a Baddies Revolution? We just might be. Over the past few years, the Zeus Network franchise Baddies has steadily grown in virality, capturing dozens of young people on camera as they party, promote clubs, and most of all, fight each other. But where do shows like Joseline's Cabaret and Baddies USA sit in the long history of Reality TV, and what can they tell us about what young people feel is possible for themselves? To find out, Brittany is joined by Dr. Donnetrice C. Allison, professor and chair of the department of Africana studies at Stockton University. Want more conversations at the intersection of labor and entertainment? Check out theses episodes: Would you let your kids play football? Has Broadway lost its way? Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org. 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

The summer of 2026 turned into the summer of predictive markets. Polymarket and Kalshi, two of the largest betting platforms in the US, expanded their marketing to reach users everywhere. And they seem to be actively pursuing women customers — highlighting bets on who'd win Love Island USA to who'd attend the Taylor Swift Travis Kelce wedding. To discuss this phenomenon, we’re talking with Nancy Walecki, staff writer at The Atlantic and Lauren McCarthy, business reporter at The New York Times, to understand how predictive markets are catering to women, and what it all means. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org. 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

Is this a new era for American Muslims? American Muslims are building their own cultural institutions – New York Magazine and The Guardian have reported on flourishing ecosystems of cafes, magazines, dance nights, meetups and readings for Muslims and/or people with heritage from the SWANA region. And on a political level, Muslims like Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani have become prominent faces of the left. On the one hand, this swell of Muslims coming up in politics and building cultural institutions is not surprising – there are over 4 million Muslims in America. On the other hand, this shift is pretty significant given how deeply Islamophobia and racism are rooted in our culture. So what's changed for American Muslims in recent years, and what’s stayed the same? What does it mean that Muslims are accruing a little more political and cultural capital now, and that non-Muslims are noticing? To get deeper into it, Brittany is joined by Dr. Donna Auston, cultural anthropologist, and Dr. Tazeen Ali, scholar of Islam in America and associate professor of religion and politics at Washington University in St. Louis. (00:00) Is this a new era for American Muslims? (02:19) From family joints to Instagrammable coffee shops (11:11) The Muslim faces of the progressive movement (14:51) Systemic Islamophobia in America (20:35) How race shapes Muslim communities (27:04) Shifting views on Gaza amidst persistent Islamophobia Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org. 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

The genre made for lovers doesn't seem to respect the very fanbase it’s engineered to woo. When Mankaprr Conteh interviewed R&B artist Isaia Huron, she imagined a thoughtful if not a bit complicated conversation about the difficult woman at the center of his latest album, Mr. Lovebomb. What she got was something else entirely. Huron went on to tell Mankaprr that he has no empathy for women and that it's problematic that women believe they deserve everything. This conversation was later turned into Mankaprr’s piece for Hammer & Hope magazine: “Is This What R&B Sounds Like When You Don’t Respect Women?” Huron’s casual misogyny in a genre like R&B raised more questions than answers. Today on the show, journalist and 2026–2027 Knight-Wallace Arts Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan Mankaprr Conteh, joins Brittany to break down Huron’s surprising comments, ‘vibes based chauvinism,’ and the state of R&B today. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org. 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