It's Been a Minute

Is the fantasy of football worth the potential price?

That's what football athletes, fans and doctors are asking after a new study published in late August revealed that from a sample of athletes who played at least one NFL game in their careers and who died between 2016 and 2021, a minimum of around 25% -- that's one in every four of those players --  had a brain condition called CTE upon their death. But what do these findings really mean for one of the world's most lucrative sports leagues, and how might our cultural ideas about football be creating blind spots for us when we consider the risks of the game? To find out Brittany is joined by Gene Demby, co-host of NPR’s Code Switch, and LZ Granderson, host of the LZ Granderson Show podcast, and op-ed columnist at the LA Times.

Want more episodes at the intersection of labor, entertainment, and pop culture? Check these out:

Has Broadway lost its way?
People are struggling financially. Even on TV.

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If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 9-8-8, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

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Has the era of optimization finally reached a fever pitch?

Veneers, perfect minimalist home decor, and even eye whitening drops are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many ways we can ‘optimize’ our lives. But at what cost? And how did we even get to this point?

To understand this trend we’re talking with Bloomberg Business Week Senior Writer Amanda Mull, who wrote The Optimization Backlash Has Begun, to understand how optimization has become the name of the game online and why it’s starting to wear thin.

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"Be vulnerable." "We love your authenticity." "Bring your full self to work." Sound familiar? In this episode from our friends at Code Switch, B.A. Parker chats with Jodi-Ann Burey, author of Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work, about why you should absolutely NOT do those things at work — especially if you're a Black woman.

For more episodes on how we work, check out:
Who really counts as ‘working class’?
You might be suffering from AI brain fry
How the grindset broke your brain

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You are what you wear… or are you?

In her new podcast, Philosophy Club, host Avery Trufelman -- who also hosts the fashion podcast Articles of Interest -- tries to answer that question and more by getting back to basics.

Each week, she and her co-host, Derek Guy -- fashion critic who many know as "The Menswear Guy" -- read philosophers, theorists, and writers who have built the foundation for our modern-day discourse about fashion, consumption, and more. Avery joins the show to define what fashion philosophy is and how it impacts the way we present ourselves in everyday life.

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Has there been a decline in "masculine" men?

Some women on Tiktok seem to believe so. The phrase, "Who's gonna be the boys?" has been used online to refer to all the mundane things men are doing that could be described as feminine: wearing earrings, having a skin care routine, and even eating a banana, to name a few. But what does this online question about the alleged absence of masculine men say about our society’s expectations of men? And how might these expectations be causing problems for us all? To explore these questions, Brittany talks with Shar Jossell, entertainment journalist and culture critic, and George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue and the upcoming memoir, And If I Die Before I Wake.

Looking for more conversations about gender and pop culture? Check out these episodes: 

The truth about men on the 'down low'
Testosterone doesn't equal masculinity.

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