It's Been a Minute

Are neutrals dominating your color palette?

Our world is looking kind of gray. Not the trees, the grass or the sky – but the cars, the buildings, the houses, and the decor and appliances in them. Neutrals dominate – like the famous “Millennial gray.” There are a lot of reasons, both structural and cultural, why color is leaching out of some of our most important and most expensive possessions – but what do we think our colors say about us? And what role does color play in our lives today?

To get into it, Brittany is joined by Amogh Dimri, assistant editor at The Atlantic and the writer of a piece about “the color recession,” and Katy Kelleher, a writer, editor, and author of the book The Ugly History of Beautiful Things.

For more episodes on tastes, design and material culture, check out:
Fashion isn't art. It's something more.
The ugly truth of America's expensive homes
The hard work of having "good taste"

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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

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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?

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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.

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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

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