Hello, hello.

I'm Brittany Luce and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.

This week, we're connecting the dots between the NFL, Aretha Franklin, and authoritarianism.

I know, I know. How are all of these things connected?

Well, we're going to find out with Paper Magazine writer and co-host of the podcast Eating for Free, Joan Summers, and New York Times magazine writer Jay Wortham.

Joan, Jay, welcome to it's been a minute.

Hi.

Hello.

Who would you want to do your Kennedy Center tribute?

Oh, God.

Okay, I want obviously Carol Burnett to read my tweets and also my blogs from the beginning of my career.

Like, that would be the greatest thing ever.

I want Viola Davis to read my best tweets.

You two, your levels of confidence about your past tweet history is admirable.

I am shocked.

I mean, it's the Kennedy Center honors. So I would like Alice Coltrane to do a musical interpretation of my life on her harp. Like, I don't want

anything concrete tied to my actual existence, which is so embarrassing. So I just want like the illusion

of grandeur. Yes. Let's get into it. Over the past couple of weeks, there's been some major

leadership changes at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a major cultural institution in

Washington, D.C. that promotes the arts through nationwide programming, scholarships,

events, and more. And by honoring artists from Aretha Franklin to Stephen Sondheim,

the Kennedy Center has become a symbol of the best the American performing arts community has to offer.

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