The stakes feel especially high for this year's top Oscars prize. It feels like every few years there are two films that really set the tone for where American culture is headed. In 2017: it was Moonlight versus La La Land. In 2019: it was Green Book versus BlackKKlansman. And now, in 2026: it’s Sinners versus One Battle After Another. And there’s one question that host Brittany Luse has at the top of her mind: How do these films capture what it means to live in this moment? And how does the conversation surrounding them become so contentious? Host Brittany Luse is joined by <a href="https://slate.com/author/nadira-goffe"target="_blank" >Nadira Goffe</a>, staff writer of culture at Slate, and <a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/contributors/robert-daniels"target="_blank" >Robert Daniels</a>, associate editor at rogerebert.com to unpack the discourse taking the internet by storm. Interested in other episodes about cultural critique? Check these out:<a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/05/21/1263527119/sinners-the-pit-media-literacy"target="_blank" >Pop culture has a 'bean soup problem'</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/01/28/nx-s1-5690372/yes-romance-fantasy-novels-are-political"target="_blank" >Yes, romance & fantasy novels are political.</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/12/12/nx-s1-5637480/whats-so-hot-about-heated-rivalry"target="_blank" >What's so hot about Heated Rivalry?</a> Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a> Follow Brittany on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a> For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="http://npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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