It's Been a Minute

We have officially wrapped Quarter 1 of 2026. That means it's time to gather the pop culture C-suite and take stock of the best and worst of culture this year...so far.

Host Brittany Luse is your Pop Culture CEO, and she's joined by esteemed members of the C-suite, Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson, co-hosts of the Eating for Free podcast, to recap the last three months in an official Pop Culture Quarterly Review. What have been the major cultural achievements and setbacks so far this year? And in the Pop Culture Boardroom, who will emerge as the MVP?

Want more bird's eye views of pop culture? Check out these episodes.
The Best & Worst Moments of 2025
2026 Predictions: Beyoncé retires, AI busts, Democrats lift weights

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Does 2026 belong to "Wasians?"

Actor Hudson Williams (Heated Rivalry) and Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu recently became household names very quickly. And people are talking about the rising stars beyond just their talents: they’re talking about Liu’s and Williams’ race. Both are half-Asian, half-white, also known as “Wasian” – and some have dubbed this past season “Wasian winter.” But why are Wasians a topic of conversation now, and what does this discussion say about how attitudes around some mixed race identities have changed?

Brittany is joined by Mika Ellison, intern for It’s Been a Minute and Life Kit, to get into the geopolitical and cultural forces around the “Wasian fixation.”

(00:00) Unpacking the 'Wasian Fixation'
(04:38) Geopolitical forces behind Wasians in culture
(09:53) From 'Hapa' to 'Wasian'
(13:38) What does a Wasian story look like?
(19:53) The evolution of mixed discourse
(23:04) Is 'Wasian' a good term?

For more on Heated Rivalry, check out: What's so hot about Heated Rivalry?
For more on identity and the internet, check out: Think you have ADHD? Here's why so many of us are saying yes.

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Sorry but...the "Girl Math" is not adding up.

And by "Girl Math" we mean the class fantasies of young women; the dream of achieving financial freedom by being frivolous with finances (because 'I'm just a girl!')... and rely entirely on their husband or partner (with no backup plan!).

You see these fantasies peddled in romance novels, divorce memoirs, and, of course, tradwife content. According to Chelsea Fagan, author and CEO of The Financial Diet, these are all part of our culture's obsession with class fantasies. While we may believe much of our social and romantic desires are solely rooted in love, Chelsea wants to encourage women especially to interrogate their financial status and future.

Brittany is joined by Chelsea to answer the question: is it really love if you don’t have the financial ability to come and go as you please?

(0:00) Unpacking the infantilization of "girl math" and women's financial fantasies
(1:58) Financial fantasy brain rot: relying on a wealthy man
(05:18) How 'Just Getting Good' got started
(08:55) How 'Just Getting Good' debunks financial myths
(12:05) How romance novels peddle regressive class fantasies
(17:28) How fictional fantasies bleed into real life
(24:55) How voluntary financial ignorance harms women
(30:32) Building relationships with financial clarity and equity

Want more on financial fantasies or relationships? Check out these IBAM episodes:
Money can make or break your relationship
The embarrassing truth of dating men

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Is fanfiction mainstream now?

If you are anywhere near fan spaces online, you’ve probably seen people talking about fanfiction. And it's also behind some of the biggest books of the last decade – some of the publishing industry's greatest hits are fanfic adaptations. But even as fanfic seeps into the mainstream, there’s a battle inside fanfic communities over whether it should be kept private – and a larger culture war brewing over what gets published and who’s reading it. 

Brittany gets into the gendered, economic, and cultural forces pushing fanfiction to the fore with Ashley Reese, writer, cultural commentator and fanfic veteran, and Eli Cugini, culture writer, Ph.D. student and author of a Defector article called “Fanfiction’s Total Cultural Victory.”

Want to hear more about the state of literacy? Check out these episodes: 
Have we lost the art of reading?
Yes, romance & fantasy novels are political.
Books vs. Brain Rot: why it's so hard to read

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Do you think you have good taste?

Having a good sense of taste is something like a cultural badge of honor: the result of hard work understanding what you find beautiful and why it moves you. Silicon Valley tech bros are latching onto taste as a new buzzword, and some are even suggesting that their products can give you a fast track to refining your own taste.

Brittany is joined by Kyle Chayka, staff writer at The New Yorker, and Kate Wagner, architecture critic at The Nation, to find out whether or not taste can be created from terabytes of AI data. You can read Kyle's piece, titled, 'Why Tech Bros Are Now Obsessed with Taste' in The New Yorker.

Want more about Tech and Culture? Check out these episodes:
The false promise of a tech job.
Can you trust AI search results?

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