It's Been a Minute

Would you go back to college?

What if it looked less like four years of textbooks and cram sessions, and more like five days of non-stop streaming and content creation? That's the vision that Twitch megastreamer Kai Cenat had for his second annual Streamer University, where budding content creators descended on a liberal arts campus to learn how to be the best streamers they can be. But what does the success of Streamer University say about the creator economy and where our attention is headed? To find out, Brittany is joined by Rebecca Jennings, features writer for New York Magazine and Alyssa Mercante senior reporter at Digiday.

Want more on social media and culture?
Bite-sized shows are taking over the internet
The questionable new ways to surveil your friends

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How do you convince people to read more novels? 

You could ask author Jason Reynolds for a start. The acclaimed author of young adult novels, Look Both Ways, Long Way Down, and Ghost joins host Brittany Luse to discuss the lessons in empathy, friendship and hope that novels can inspire in all readers. He says, “In one book, everybody can change. In 300 pages, every character that you've met has become a new character by the end, and so what might you do in thirty days, let alone thirty years? ” 

What's the last book that changed you?

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Microdramas are taking over the internet. But are they art – or products?

The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband. Break Me, Princess. Married the Mafioso I Saved. These are all titles of microdramas that are taking the internet by storm. In case you haven’t heard, microdramas are often campy shows with short, minute-long episodes. The first few episodes get posted to social media for free, but viewers must go to another site where they can pay to watch the whole thing. And a lot of people do. It's an industry that started in China and is already worth several billions of dollars – so Hollywood is getting in on it. Issa Rae’s microdrama called Screen Time got nearly 75 million views in its first week, and now, Peacock, Fox, and Disney are producing their own. But this microdrama boom raises a few questions: who are these stories for, and what makes them so popular? And is the microdrama a new art form – or is it solely a product?

Brittany is joined by Chang Che, a freelance writer who wrote about microdramas for The New Yorker, and Xochitl Gonzalez, author and contributor at The Atlantic, who wrote about them there.

(00:00) The rise of the microdrama
(03:14) Hollywood lacks chemistry - microdramas have that in spades.
(07:32) Who are microdramas for?
(11:33) Are microdramas art - or products?
(16:46) Are marginalized actors and writers being shunted into microdramas?
(20:47) The AI boom in microdramas

For more episodes on what we’re watching and why, check out:
People are struggling financially. Even on TV.
Abortion access is limited. Is Hollywood to blame?
Why Gen Z is movie-maxxing

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Sepideh Moafi wants you to get raw with your emotions.

Season 2 of HBO Max’s original series, The Pitt, brings a new doctor into the fold: Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi. An Iranian-Iraqi attending physician, she brings empathy and discipline into the chaotic ER that viewers have come to love. While she ruffled some feathers at first, her commitment to her fellow doctors and patients has made her a fan favorite.

That’s all thanks to Sepideh. Her performance as Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi has earned her an Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series. The nomination makes her the first Iranian woman and the first woman of Middle Eastern or SWANA - Southwest Asian, North African - descent to get nominated in the category.

Sepideh joins the show to unpack how her journey as an opera singer and a human rights advocate led her to this historic moment.

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It seems like no one on Broadway is happy.

Actors are buckling under the weight of the eight-show week, producers aren't making their money back, and audiences are getting tired of paying astronomical ticket prices to see celebrities on stage. Is Broadway in danger of taking its final bow? To find out, Brittany is joined by Broadway sensitivity specialist Ann James, and entertainment lawyer and business journalist Marc Hershberg.

Want more about the intersection of Broadway and culture? Check out these episodes:
'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' gets 10s across the board
Tony nominee Jocelyn Bioh puts braiders centerstage

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