Are neutrals dominating your color palette? Our world is looking kind of gray. Not the trees, the grass or the sky – but the cars, the buildings, the houses, and the decor and appliances in them. Neutrals dominate – like the famous “Millennial gray.” There are a lot of reasons, both structural and cultural, why color is leaching out of some of our most important and most expensive possessions – but what do we think our colors say about us? And what role does color play in our lives today? To get into it, Brittany is joined by <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/amogh-dimri/"target="_blank" >Amogh Dimri</a>, assistant editor at The Atlantic and the writer of a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/08/colorless-gray-products-houses/688174/"target="_blank" >piece</a> about “the color recession,” and <a href="https://katykelleher.com/"target="_blank" >Katy Kelleher</a>, a writer, editor, and author of the book The Ugly History of Beautiful Things. For more episodes on tastes, design and material culture, check out:<a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/07/17/nx-s1-5896289/fashion-isnt-art-its-something-more"target="_blank" >Fashion isn't art. It's something more.</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/04/24/nx-s1-5797969/the-ugly-truth-of-americas-expensive-homes"target="_blank" >The ugly truth of America's expensive homes</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/03/27/nx-s1-5762979/the-hard-work-of-having-good-taste"target="_blank" >The hard work of having "good taste"</a> Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org</a>. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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