How Is This Better?

Your conservative uncle is wrong about Bad Bunny. So are Trump, all of MAGA, and the angry drunk guys who watch the NFL. They're mad because Bad Bunny will be performing the half time show at the Superbowl this Sunday, and he'll be singing in Spanish - you know, the language the songs are written in - and believe that that makes him fundamentally un-american. Unfortunately, this is not a unique experience. Puerto Rico, where Bad Bunny is from, has faced this same rejection and discrimination for years. But why? What did Puerto Rico ever do to them? Becca Ramos and I are going to find out. SUBSCRIBE to How Is This Better wherever you get your podcasts including YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it DEI to honor one of the greatest baseball players of all time? Our president seems to think so. Comedian Roy Wood Jr. weighs in on Trump's crusade to end diversity initiatives and tarnish Jackie Robinson's legacy. Before we get back to new content, we thought we'd release some of our favorite conversations from 2025 in all their unedited glory. For the full, edited episode featuring more conversations (and more of my commentary), click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we all know, 2025 was the best year that any of us have ever had. Nothing went wrong, no evil was done, and things were generally really, really chill. In reality, Akilah is joined this week by Ryan Broderick, host of COURIER’s Panic World, in order to review all of the political and pop culture chaos that went down over the past twelve months. Together they’ll try to answer the fateful question: was anything about this year better? The answer might surprise you. You can find Ryan at @ryanhatesthis on IG, and you can listen to Panic World at @panicworldpod or on your favorite listening platforms. SUBSCRIBE to @howisthisbetter How Is This Better? is a @COURIERHQ production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You may have heard a lot about boycotting this year, especially when talking about Target or Amazon. Organized actions like these have been happening year-round, but are reaching peak intensity now that we’re well within the holiday season. One such boycott, called We Ain’t Buying It, aimed to draw attention to how giant retailers are using our money against our own interests: funding candidates like Trump and policies that endanger our communities, civil rights and economic interests. LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter who helped organize the campaign, joined the podcast this week to talk about what the campaign hoped to achieve, the history of boycotting as a political tool in the US, and why where you spend this holiday season actually matters. You can find Latosha at @mslatoshabrown on IG, and learn more about the boycott at weaintbuyingit.com. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro 01:13 We Ain’t Buying It 09:27 How corporations are funding Trump 14:17 Why are boycotts effective? 17:54 Where should people redirect their money? 19:37 Your money talks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollywood (as we once knew it) may have collapsed, but a new form of “storytelling” is thriving in the rubble. This week on How Is This Better? Akilah Hughes investigates the rise of clipping—the 30–90 second chunks of movies and TV that Gen Z and Gen Alpha increasingly treat as the entire art form. With The Ankler's newsroom coordinator, Matthew Frank, we dig into how studios, independent clippers, and even teenagers are monetizing sliced-up IP, why these clips rarely convert to actual viewership, and what that means for the survival of traditional shows. Then we look at the next evolution: vertical dramas—60-to-90-second cliffhanger “episodes” produced for TikTok-native audiences, now attracting major investment from companies like Disney. Kill Switch podcast host, Dexter Thomas, walks us through the booming non-union economy around these soap-opera-meets-micro-content series, the surprising demographics powering their success, and why middle-aged women—not teens—are the earliest adopters. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro 00:20 - Clipping 01:23 - Matthew Frank 9:49 - Dexter Thomas 11:28 - Vertical Dramas 17:20 - Who is Watching Micro Dramas? 26:24 - Is It Better? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices