It's Been a Minute

Left-behind dog poop is annoying. But it’s also a sign of anti-sociality.

Spotting unidentified poop outside is an unfortunate and unavoidable part of being alive, but in some cities, there’s a scourge being left behind by some people’s four-legged friends. Manuela López-Restrepo, writer and producer at All Things Considered, couldn’t stop noticing it – and she wondered if it might be a sign of something deeper going on. Paired with dogs popping up in places they maybe shouldn’t be – she wondered: can dogs be a vector for anti-social behavior? And what would it look like for people – and their pets – to share space more harmoniously? 

Manuela shares her reporting with Brittany and they get deeper into the story of the dookie. 

(00:00) Genuinely, why do people leave dog poop on the street?
(02:59) Dog poop as a symbol of urban entitlement
(05:38) When dogs show up at restaurants
(07:27) How the pandemic created a 'dog's rights movement'
(10:58) Dogs, race, and surveillance
(18:13) Is dog poop a policy issue?
(26:32) Investing in cleanliness and a more compassionate public

For more episodes about culture and how we share public space, check out:
The Coldplay kiss cam & moral surveillance
Crime is down. Why don't people feel safe?
In search of a safe place to cry...

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We love a pop princess, but what about the pop peasants?

These are the pop music artists who might have some mainstream success and fame, but they're not exactly household names. Fans on the internet have created a metaphorical space for these pop almost-stars...the Khia Asylum. But how can artists break out of this pop star purgatory?  And what does a fictional mental institution say about the way fans and artists are thinking about the music industry? Brittany is joined by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR music reporter, and Billboard staff writer Kyle Denis.

Want more episodes about how we perceive pop stars? Check out these episodes:
Bad Bunny redefined what "America" means
Rosalía & the evolving definition of Latinidad

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What happens when GLP-1s interact with eating disorders?

About 1 in 8 US adults are currently taking a GLP-1. They’ve been described by a lot of people as a miracle drug – they treat high blood sugar and diabetes, and have also shown promise as a treatment for addiction and metabolic conditions like PMOS, formerly known as PCOS. And a lot of Americans are taking it for one reason: weight loss. But for people with eating disorders, that weight loss could be dangerous. So even though GLP-1s are a miracle drug for many struggling with certain health conditions – what does it mean that they’re becoming incredibly available to everyone? And how do we reckon with their place in a culture that prioritizes thinness… sometimes to the point of real danger to someone’s health?

Brittany is joined by Dr. Allegra Broft, a psychiatrist and an assistant professor at Columbia University Medical Center who specializes in eating disorders, and Hannah Seo, an independent journalist who wrote about GLP-1s and eating disorders for The Guardian.

For more episodes about weight, body image, and culture, check out:
Peptides & the pursuit of the "perfect" body
The difference between losing weight & being "healthy"
The strange politics of Pilates

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How much time should moms spend with their kids? What if it's quality over quantity?

CEO and co-founder Emma Grede set social media on fire when she described herself as a “max three-hour mum” and said that she would rather focus on creating “high-impact, core memories” with her children. The founding partner of Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS also said that remote work is ‘career suicide’ for women. The idea that a working mother - even a CEO mom - would spend so little time with her kids was outrageous to some…but isn’t that the reality for most parents? 

To get into all of this, Brittany is joined by Kathryn Jezer-Morton, writer of the Brooding column from The Cut, and Helena Andrews-Dyer, journalist and author, to unpack the 'controversial' notion of a mother not wanting to spend all her time with her kids.

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Is the American empire in decline?

The Trump administration's recent military actions have had certain observers asking... are we going full empire? But Daniel Immerwahr, a historian and the author of How to Hide an Empire, argues that the U.S. has engaged in empire building for hundreds of years — we've just been sneakier about it than other countries.

In this episode from our friends at Code Switch, host Gene Demby is joined by Daniel to break down why we don’t really think of ourselves as a colonial power – and how President Trump's international escapades are scrambling the global order.

For more episodes about the US empire, check out:
The human labor that makes AI work
Canada hates us, but it's not all Trump's fault.

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