Are work spouses actually a thing? And what turns a desk-mate into a ride-or-die? 

In this special episode of The Assignment, Audie Cornish reunites with former work husband and longtime co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered, Ari Shapiro. They dive into the stories that defined their careers, the push and pull of competition in the newsroom, and the ways creative collaborators develop shared languages—from Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.  

Taped live at On Air Fest in Brooklyn, New York. 

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Actor Ken Leung is no stranger to the toxic male archetype. He embodies it as Eric Tao, the ruthless baseball-bat-carrying trading floor bully he plays on HBO’s “Industry.” Leung talks with Audie about what pushes characters like Eric—on screen and in real life—over the edge from family man to a name you could see in the Epstein files.  They also discuss why women of color don’t get the “anti-hero” treatment, and how “Industry” has evolved into a portrait of the greed, corruption, and class conflict defining this moment.   

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This episode was produced by Lori Galarreta and Jesse Remedios

Senior Producer: Matt Martinez  

Technical Director: Dan Dzula   

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Let’s talk about professional sex. Audie sits down with Yehuda Duenyas, a SAG-AFTRA Hollywood intimacy coordinator, to go behind the scenes of how physical romance is choreographed, why stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Sean Bean are skeptical of the position, and what depictions of sex on screen reveal about our culture.

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This episode was produced by Sofía Sanchez. 

Senior Producer: Matt Martinez  

Technical Director: Dan Dzula   

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Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show is still resonating as fans celebrate his history-making rise from Puerto Rico to global dominance.  Audie is joined by journalist Suzy Exposito to talk about the power of Benito's unique brand of authenticity--and how he's wielding it in the culture war. Exposito has covered Bad Bunny from the beginning. She is an editor at De Los, the Latin culture wing of the LA Times. 

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This episode was produced by Sofía Sanchez. 

Senior Producer: Matt Martinez  

Technical Director: Dan Dzula   

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The fashion season is officially underway. Celebrities are strolling the award show red carpets and models are strutting the runways in Paris and Milan. CNN Senior Style Reporter Rachel Tashjian joins Audie to talk about the complicated politics in the fashion world, fashion vs style, and which designers are getting the most notice for dressing celebrities.

Producer: Lori Galarreta

Senior Producer: Matt Martinez

Techincal Director: Dan Dzula

Executive Producer: Steve Lickteig

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This year marks a milestone for Millennials: the youngest of the cohort finally turns 30. So what comes next for the first generation of true digital natives now that they have achieved “unc” status? Audie talks with Sam Sanders, host of KCRW’s The Sam Sanders Show, about the generation that watched media transform from Buzzfeed quizzes into AI slop. They also discuss Millennial activism taking over the generation’s Instagram feed as ICE protests continue in Minneapolis.  

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The Winter Olympics kick off Feb. 6 in Northern Italy—and the politics may steal the show. The U.S. may face boos, especially as it squares off with Denmark in hockey amid Trump’s Greenland threats. But there’s joy, too: Lindsey Vonn is back, and the U.S. figure skating team is stacked. New York Magazine’s Will Leitch breaks down the geopolitics and must-watch storylines from Milan and Cortina.

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Audie is joined by longtime friend and former NPR colleague Ari Shapiro for a special episode they’re calling Engagement Party – a chance to finally talk on-mic about the culture stories they’ve been obsessing over. They kick things off with the question of the moment: Can the Heated Rivalry boys, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, turn their meteoric rise into lasting careers like other breakout stars from the past? They also unpack why the internet has committed to “frictionmaxxing” in 2026, quiz each other on the year in pop culture so far, and share what they’ve been loving off-line lately. 

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Arguably the first viral moment of 2026 is an essay about a “toxic” group of mom friends. Actor and singer Ashley Tisdale French wrote an essay for New York Magazine’s The Cut about being iced out of her circle of fellow moms and – celebrity intrigue aside – it struck a nerve. Dr. Noelle Santorelli is a mom and a clinical psychologist who tells Audie there’s deep suffering wrapped up in establishing community around your family. She and Audie discuss the vulnerability of needing support, making friends for yourself and your kid, and the dysfunction of group dynamics.

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This episode was produced by Lori Galarreta. 

Senior Producer: Matt Martinez  

Technical Director: Dan Dzula   

Executive Producer:  Steve Lickteig 

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It may be a new year, but one of 2025's most unexpected hits isn’t done with us yet. Heated Rivalry, the TV adaptation of a spicy romance novel about two hockey players, has turned two unknown actors into overnight stars and sparked outsized conversations about sex on screen, queer representation, and masculinity in sports. Writer and culture critic Ira Madison III joins Audie to talk about how a low-budget Canadian series became a cultural flashpoint—and what its popularity reveals about the moment we’re in. 

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This episode was produced by Madeleine Thompson. 

Senior Producer: Matt Martinez  

Technical Director: Dan Dzula   

Executive Producer:  Steve Lickteig 

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After a head-spinning year in the worlds of health and technology, Audie invited Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the host of Chasing Life, and Clare Duffy from Terms of Service, to break down the stories that ended up on all their podcasts this year.

Producer: Dan Bloom

Technical Director: Dan Dzula

Executive Producer: Steve Lickteig

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