It's Been a Minute

Author Mary H.K. Choi is obsessed with her mom.

New York Times bestselling author, Mary H.K Choi, is known for her young adult novels Emergency Contact and Yolk. But her latest novel, Pool House, is for adults, and details the relationship between a Korean-American D-list actress in her 40s and her 20-year old daughter, who’s always lived in her mother’s shadow. Today’s chat is all about families – how they change, how they don’t, and why we keep on loving the ones who hurt us the most.

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There are deep roots behind the latest entry into public noise.

It’s a now-common scenario: you’re using public transit, or waiting at the airport, or dining in a restaurant, when you hear the tinny music and computerized voice-overs of someone scrolling TikTok – no headphones. This aggravated All Things Considered producer and writer Manuela López Restrepo enough to look into it. And what she found was a rich history of how public noise works in our culture: who is allowed to make (or avoid it), who gets punished – and the companies that seem to get off scot-free.

Manuela shares her reporting with Brittany and they dive deep into the politics and policy of noise.

For more episodes about culture and civic life, check out:
Is your neighborhood riddled with dog poop?
The safety and power of knowing your neighbors
Is your city shaped by yuppie taste?

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Social media has made it easy for everyone to give their opinion...so why do people hate critics?

To answer that question Brittany is joined by Lovia Gyarkye, culture editor at Hammer and Hope, a magazine dedicated to Black culture and politics. Lovia’s spent the bulk of her career researching, reflecting, and writing about the films, artists, and celebrities we’ve come to love. And in that process, she’s found ways to embrace curiosity and skepticism, two essential parts of being a critic.

Today on the show, Lovia defines what being a critic means for her, the ‘thinking’ problem so many of us face, and the power of giving something your sustained attention. 

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How do you know what's safe to eat?

You don't. And after a summer full of food recalls from lettuce to blueberries and even jalapeños, a regular trip to the grocery store can start to feel like a dangerous game. But how are the flaws in our food safety system creating issues beyond what we choose to grab in the produce aisle? To find out, Brittany is joined by Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.

Want more episodes on food, access, and power? Check these out:

The politics of hunger
Think the Medicaid cuts don't affect you? Think again.

You can read Eric's piece, "Should We Be Afraid of Our Food?" in the Atlantic.

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Who's afraid of a horny movie? 

According to Bobbi Miller, culture critic and host of Culture Kitsch, horny movies pique our carnal curiosities. Sometimes there's an overall horny show like Heated Rivalry or movie like Wicker.  Other times, you have elements of horniness present, in movies like Sinners, The Handmaiden, and In the Mood for Love. But it seems like on the whole, Hollywood is still shying away from horny-forward art, even though romance adaptations are exploding in popularity. So what’s going on here? And why it is hard to find these horny depictions onscreen?

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