“It’s the phones,” Brittany Luse lamented on a recent episode of It’s Been A Minute. She wasn’t wrong. Lately, I’ve been losing hours to the endless loop: Threads, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, LinkedIn—rinse, repeat, regret. That conversation with her guests pushed me to act. I hid the worst offenders behind Face ID so I’d have to want them to open. Now, if I switch away mid-scroll, I have to go through the process again. It’s only been a few days, but I’m already feeling a sense of relief from the digital noise, with more time for things I enjoy.
This isn’t the first time Brittany Luse has helped me navigate my life online. I used to be pretty savvy about digital culture, ahead of the curve on the viral thing friends dropped in the group chat. But since quitting TikTok back in January (when it looked like it might vanish from the U.S.), I’m often late. TikTok had become my first-stop newswire for internet nonsense. Leaving it showed me just how addictive it was, and how much I’d relied on it to feel “in the know.”
These days, I’m less interested in being first to a meme or scandal. I want to understand what’s happening, decide whether it matters, and think about it without rotting my brain. It’s Been A Minute has become my best shortcut, at a time when, despite the cultural capital we’ve placed on hot takes, real understanding is more valuable than being the first to know and react.
Take the Coldplay Kiss Cam. The clip gave me the ick, and Luse’s conversation with Kate Wagner mirrored the exact dinner-table debate we’d just had at home. Or when my For You feeds started to flood with references and clips to the business of Christian music, Luse’s timely episode grounded me in the basics of a pop culture space I barely knew.
I look forward to listening to her recent shows on Hasan Piker and Jubilee, as they cover topics I have only a passing interest in, but want thoughtful frameworks for understanding.
I wouldn’t call myself a “podcast person.” If your show is over 30 minutes, rambles without purpose, or isn’t hosted by journalists, I’m out. But for this moment in my digital life—where I want less noise and more clarity—the format works. I still prefer audio over the pivot to video, and Luse’s twenty-minute doses feel like the right size to get informed and move on.
It’s Been A Minute isn’t alone—The Journal explained Labubus, and On the Media poured cold water on AI hype—but Luse has been the most consistent lately at picking stories I wouldn’t bother untangling myself, and helping me think about them in ways that stick.
If you want to give less of your attention to the churn of online life without feeling completely lost, give a minute to my current favorite podcast.