meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
It's Been a Minute

How 'Capitalism' became a dirty word

It's Been a Minute

NPR

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

4.68.8K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Is it a bad thing to be a "capitalist?" Why is the word being used as a diss?

And how do Americans' shifting attitudes towards it show up in your discourse and your favorite movies?

This is… The ABCs of the Culture Wars. For the next few weeks, Brittany breaks down the history, subtext, and evolving meanings of the buzzwords you hear all over the news and social media. Today we're talking about the C-word: Capitalism. And why the word is increasingly divisive in politics and culture.

Brittany is joined by NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben and writer & editor Morgan Jerkins.

(0:00) How pop culture got obsessed with eating the rich
(3:11) When did anti-capitalist rhetoric enter our politics?
(7:05) Why the rich started looking more evil...
(12:46) From 'Clueless' millionaires to bumbling billionaires...
(17:26) How anti-capitalism is showing up in American politics now

Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse

For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This message comes from CBS.

0:03.2

Survivor 49 is here, plus a new season of On Fire with Jeff Probst, the official Survivor podcast.

0:09.9

It's the only podcast that gives you inside access to Survivor.

0:13.7

New episodes are available every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts.

0:18.8

It's no secret that our country has grown increasingly polarized over the past

0:22.8

decade. One way that shows up is in our ongoing culture wars, where our worldviews collide

0:28.3

amidst a crumbling social contract. What in the past might have been considered,

0:32.8

third rail topics are now everyday conversation. And it can be a lot to take in. So for the next few weeks,

0:40.1

we're breaking down the history, subtext, and evolving meanings of the buzzwords you hear

0:45.7

all over the news and social media. This is the ABCs of the culture wars. Today's letter is C for capitalism.

0:57.9

I remember being in Harlem, March 2020, everything shuts down immediately.

1:04.2

I'm on the internet, and I see this video by Gal Godot.

1:08.3

That is writer and journalist Morgan Juergens.

1:14.1

Who's singing Imagine, and she's including all these celebrities.

1:14.9

And I said, you know what?

1:16.2

That's the downfall right there.

1:22.7

That was the moment where I intuitively knew that culture was never going to be the same again. And while 2020 was a crucial tipping point in the way Americans feel about wealth inequality,

1:28.7

that feeling had been building for a while.

1:31.8

In fact, Morgan points to a 2019 film that became the canary in the coal mine for things to come.

1:38.3

Bong Joon Ho's Parasite.

1:40.7

There was one scene in the movie when a flood had happened.

1:56.1

And the next day, the working class chauffeur is driving around the rich woman and she's saying, oh man, thank God for the rain that happened last night.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.