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It's Been a Minute

Am I a god?! Why "manifesting" your reality is easier than ever

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 β€’ 8.8K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 31 March 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

America is a deeply spiritual nation. Over 70% of us say that we feel spiritual in some way. But – at the same time – we're getting less religious. So for people who are spiritual-but-not-religious – what's replacing organized religion? What do they believe – and where does that show up in their day-to-day lives? In Brittany's series called Losing My Religion, It's Been a Minute is going to find out.

In her final episode of the series, Brittany is investigating so-called manifestation. It's this popular belied that if you want something badly enough, it'll come to you. You might know this idea by other names, like The Law of Attraction, or The Secret. Manifestation spiked in 2020, according to Google Trends, and it's still riding that wave online. Brittany calls on with Tara Isabella Burton, an author and journalist, and New York Magazine's Rebecca Jennings to get to the bottom of this trend: the appeal of manifestation, its symbiotic relationship with the internet, and why it might make us less aware of our humanity.

Want to get to know Brittany? Follow her at @bmluse on socials.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi, I'm Morgan Sung, host of Close All Tabs from KQED, part of the NPR network, where every week we reveal how the online world collides with everyday life.

0:09.0

You don't know what's true or not, because you don't know if AI was involved in it.

0:14.0

And I think we will see it to a streamer president, maybe within our lifetimes.

0:18.1

You can find Close All Tabs wherever you listen to podcasts.

0:24.9

Reef! maybe within our lifetimes. You can find close all tabs wherever you listen to podcasts. Hello, hello.

0:26.4

I'm Brittany Luce, and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR,

0:29.7

a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.

0:46.8

America is a deeply spiritual nation.

0:53.2

Over 70% of us say that we feel spiritual in some way, but at the same time, we're also getting less religious.

0:58.4

When asked to check a box next to their religious affiliation,

1:02.3

28% of Americans check the box labeled Nunn.

1:07.3

The nuns, as they're sometimes called, are now the biggest religious group in the United States.

1:14.3

And 22% identify as spiritual, but not religious, otherwise known as SBNRs.

1:21.4

But for SBNRs, what's replacing organized religion?

1:25.7

What do they believe?

1:26.8

And where does that belief show up in all our lives?

1:30.0

For our final episode of our series, Losing My Religion, we're going to find out.

1:36.7

Today, we're getting into manifesting.

1:41.8

In case you don't know, manifesting is the idea that if you want something badly enough,

1:47.0

it'll come to you.

1:48.3

You might know this idea by other names, like the Law of Attraction or The Secret.

1:53.1

But interest in the latest iteration, manifestation, really spiked in 2020, according to Google Trends.

...

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