It's Been a Minute

From a botched execution in Tennessee to the commutation of over 500 people on death row in California, capital punishment is all over the headlines.

But where do American attitudes toward the death penalty come from? And what do those attitudes say about the kind of society we want to be? To find out, Brittany chats with Ngozi Ndulue, Associate Professor of Law & Director of the Post-Conviction Criminal Defense Clinic at University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, and Dr. Michael Trotti, History professor and coordinator of legal studies at Ithaca College, and author of The End of Public Execution: Race, Religion, and Punishment in the American South.

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

Why is divorce financially harder on women?
Abortion access is limited. Is Hollywood to blame?

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Midlife isn’t just about body changes and sports cars.

For Allison Aubrey, journalist and host of Your Turn, there’s more to midlife is a new opportunity. In fact, what we’ve been told of midlife –the reinvention and crisis— isn’t reflective of the reality. In fact, midlife is more of pivot, rather than an 180 degree change. Brittany Luse chats with Allison Aubrey about what to expect and not expect in midlife, why curiosity is key, and what it means to share wisdom with younger generations.

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Is Wicker succeeding where rom-coms fall short?

When the Wicker trailer dropped, all thirst broke loose. The movie -- starring Olivia Colman as a spinster fisherwoman and Alexander Skarsgård as her husband made of wicker -- sparked a lot of chatter about what exactly is so swoon-worthy about a basket-woven beau. The movie highlights women's interest in stories about non-human romantic partners, while joining the canon of sexy, sometimes silly films about finding your footing in relationships. But it also asks deeper questions about what we expect from our partners -- and what the rest of the world expects from couples.

Brittany gets into all this with Rachel Handler, features writer at New York Magazine, and Aisha Harris, critic and host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour.

For more episodes on what’s going on in movies (and how they speak to what’s going on in culture), check out:
Why Gen Z is movie-maxxing
Women deserve revenge. Do they get to have it?
Inside the Michael Jackson legacy industrial complex

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What does it cost to be seen as a ‘godly woman’?

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies author Deesha Philyaw asks that and more in her latest novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman. 

The book is a satirical, Real Housewives-style romp following its protagonist, Scharisse Freeman, as she navigates the highs and lows of being a pastor’s wife --including all the plotting, backstabbing, and respectability politics that come with trying to be a beacon of Christian femininity.

But when a scandal unearths her past, she learns the hard way that being seen as a ‘good woman’ or ‘good wife’ is not all it’s cracked up to be.

Deesha joins the show to deconstruct how the rigidity of church life can bring out the worst in us, and why we should be more open to other paths to living a faithful life.

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In response to the rape allegations out of Cornell University, many parents are online questioning the lessons they are teaching their children.

But what about the fathers who are raising the next generation of boys? What conversations are they having with their sons about consent? To find out, Brittany is joined by Kathryn Jezer-Morton, writer for The Cut's Brooding column, and Jenny Grossman, senior research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College.

Want more conversations at the intersection of gender and culture? Tap into these episodes:

Where did all the 'masculine men' go?
Are we fueling violence against women?

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