Okay, really quickly, how would you describe heated rivalry in one word?

Hot.

Glenn says hot.

Intimate?

Intimate. Oh my gosh.

I think I'm going to say romantic.

There we go.

It may be cold outside, but HBO Max's latest streaming darling heated rivalry is burning up our screens.

But what is it about this gay hockey romance that has people, including me, waiting with bated breath for the next episode?

There is a simple answer to why it's huge and a much more complicated one.

Let's start with a simple one. It's hot. People like things that are hot. Let's not overthink it.

There's a lot going on. They're not beating around the bush. Then again,

we're here to overthink it. So let's get into it. A warning to listeners, this segment includes

frank discussion of sex.

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.

All right, we are going to get into the heated rivalry of it all, but first, I want to talk about

public media. This show, NPR, and the whole public media system were made for you. From its

founding in the U.S., public media was created to bring you stories from underrepresented communities

and provide cultural insights that

expand your perspective. We still believe in these core commitments of public media at NPR,

but public media is now navigating a new chapter without federal funding.

As we move into this new reality together, we know that you won't let the service that has been

...