Some say we're entering the Woke 2.0 era. Is that real or imagined?

From declining Target sales to Mamdani's election, some folks online are feeling a vibe shift. Is that feeling...woke? And if so, does that mean woke is back in style?

To answer those questions - and to dissect whether or not woke ever left - Brittany is joined by Constance Grady, senior correspondent at Vox, and Tyler Austin Harper, staff writer at The Atlantic and co-host of the podcast, Time to Say Goodbye.

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(0:00) When did Woke end?
(4:22) Why Woke doesn't work when racism is still on the rise
(8:50) Target, Sydney Sweeney, and America's appetite for racism
(12:08) The rise of "Dark Woke" & will it work?
(13:51) Is Zohran Mamdani a sign of a new kind of Woke?
(15:40) How MAGA made the blueprint for Woke 2.0

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Is location tracking building relationships? Or ruining them?

Four in ten U.S. adults share their locations with at least one person. But while it’s convenient – is it a violation of privacy? And who really needs to know where you are? We're getting into how location sharing became a norm, the pros and cons, and how to turn it off without making things weird.

Brittany breaks it all down with Gina Cherelus, New York Times styles reporter and writer of their Third Wheel dating column, and Tatum Hunter, internet culture reporter at The Washington Post.

(0:00) Who shares their location and why?
(3:21) Sharing with your friends vs. your boyfriend
(5:27) How location sharing became a social norm
(9:30) What are the benefits of sharing your location?
(14:21) What do companies get from knowing your location?
(15:40) Why it can be damaging to share location with people
(17:20) The awkwardness of stopping sharing location
(19:29) How location sharing is redefining "privacy"

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What does it mean to be an independent adult?

More young adults live with their parents than in the past, and are also delaying the traditional markers of independent adulthood like marriage and childbirth. Roughly nine-in-ten parents say it’s extremely or very important to them that their children be financially independent when they are adults, but are our cultural notions of financial independence changing? And are today’s young adults prepared to handle the emotional challenges of adult life?

To find out, Brittany is joined by Nancy Hill, Professor of Education and Developmental Psychologist at Harvard University, and Kathryn Jezer-Morton, writer for New York Magazine and The Cut.

(0:00) What does it mean to be an adult?
(4:46) Is Gen-Z "failing to launch" into adulthood?
(10:32) The myths of unpaid dues

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It's an incredibly painful thing to do, so why are some kids cutting their parents out of their lives?

27% of Americans are estranged from at least one family member, and the term "no contact" is increasingly being used to describe estrangement between adult children and their parents. But is estrangement happening more often, or are we just more open to talking about it? And is our culture around family shifting?

Brittany sits down with journalist Kui Mwai and Whitney Goodman, licensed marriage and family therapist and the host of the Calling Home podcast, to find out.

This episode originally aired on December 17, 2024.

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Fighting with your family doesn’t have to be a holiday tradition.

The majority of Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow. And while it’s meant to be a time of family togetherness… sometimes, this holiday can make you never want to see your family again. To go or not to go? To fight or not to fight? Well, our friends at NPR’s Life Kit have tips for how to answer these questions. Marielle Segarra, host of Life Kit, speaks with experts and identifies 12 strategies to keep your family dinner peaceful this year.

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Can you afford to pay two rents?

Families across the country are asking that same question when it comes to childcare, as the yearly costs for daycare are becoming comparable to a year's rent in many places. How did childcare become so expensive, and how might everyone benefit if the government provided more support to parents? Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Jessica Calarco, and Senior Fellow at the Think Tank Capita Elliot Haspel are here to help Brittany find out. 

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When the dream of buying a home seems unattainable, is it time to find a new dream? Or is there another option on the table?

Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or the FHFA, said the administration is “working on” a plan to introduce 50 year mortgage terms for homebuyers. But some Americans have already been working on their own plans towards homeownership… and it’s not the ‘nuclear family’ route.

Brittany is joined by NPR chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley and NPR producer & author of The Other Significant Others: Reimaging Life with Friendship at the Center, Rhaina Cohen to get into the cult of homeownership in America. Together they search for a new outlook of what ‘adulthood’ looks like.

(0:00) Will Millennials and Gen-Zers be able to buy homes?
(7:56) Why Trump's mortgage policy probably won't work
(10:53) The fundamental reasons housing is so expensive
(12:37) Want to buy a home? Consider these options.
(20:13) Responding to your comments

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What’s the difference between feeling unsafe and being unsafe?

According to Gallup, about half of Americans see crime as being extremely or very serious. And there are a lot of very real threats out there to people’s safety, but there’s also a lot of fearful rhetoric that’s more unfounded. While immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born citizens, and trans people are unlikely to commit mass shootings, fear of these groups is being weaponized against them. So how can we disentangle being unsafe and feeling unsafe – and better protect ourselves and each other?

Brittany gets into it with Nicole Lewis, engagement editor at The Marshall Project, and Lex McMenamin, writer and editor.

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Have you talked to a parent recently? Are they...okay?

From textbook bans to health food trends, there’s a whole culture of fear and political propaganda that preys on new parents, convincing them that just buying this or just voting for that will keep their children safe. But how do you know if something is a moral panic or a legitimate concern?

Brittany is joined by Karen Leick, author of Parents, Media and Panic through the Years, and Cynthia Wang, Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations at Northwestern University to sift through the differences.

(0:00) The burdensome anxiety of modern parenting
(2:01) How parental fear & shame impacts children
(4:26) How perceived threats shape parental behavior
(10:31) The emotional impact of parental fears on kids
(13:13) How to know a real vs. perceived threat in modern life

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No disrespect, but...when President Trump threw a Great Gatsby-themed party for Halloween, it kind of missed the point of the book. And, it's not just Trump. A quick search online, and you'll see a lot of people increasingly misinterpreting other famous books.

Are people just bad at reading? Are we just laying our own biases on top of classic texts? Or is something else going on?

Andrew Limbong, host of NPR's Book of the Day, and writer-critic Princess Weekes join Brittany to dissect novel interpretations of literary fiction. They look at what these re-interpretations say about our current moment: from what we want from a book to how books lose meaning online.

(0:00) Why 'The Great Gatsby' gets misread
(6:07) How 'Lord of the Rings' became a Christian Nationalist text
(12:46) Literary Interpretation vs. Media Literacy
(16:34) The rise of BookTok
(19:28) The consequence of missing the point of a book

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Have you picked up a couple weights recently? Started walking, or jogging, or doing pilates? So have a lot of other people.

You see the fitness Instagram accounts and gym tips all over TikTok, but how does exercise culture fit into our broader culture? And how does more enthusiasm for exercise square with the focus on fitness in our politics? Brittany gets into it with  Jonquilyn Hill, host of Vox’s Explain it to Me podcast, and Shelly McKenzie, author of Getting Physical: the Rise of Fitness Culture in America.

(0:00) Americans are obsessed with exercise right now. Why?
(2:36) What exercise does for mental and financial health
(5:59) How exercise became a status symbol for young people
(10:13) Why gyms are seeking women over 65
(12:57) Why JFK and Trump both politicized fitness
(16:33) What the government and its citizens have in common: body shame?

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