Chappell Roan and celebrity hazing; plus, MrBeast’s entertainment charity : It’s Been a Minute

After Chappell Roan posted about how some fans have been making her feel unsafe, there’s been speculation around whether the singer is really ‘cut out to be a pop star.’ But are the critiques fair? Brittany sits down with Kelsey McKinney, who wrote about the controversy for Defector, and Dr. Mel Stanfill, author of Fandom is Ugly. They discuss modern fandom, how Chappell Roan framed it as a conversation about gender and what people misunderstand about celebrity.

Then, Brittany looks at the how charity is changing. Traditional charitable giving is down in the US and some non-profits have declared that we’re in the middle of a “generosity crisis.” At the same time, a new genre of online viral videos has emerged: feel-good ‘charity’ content. And nobody does it bigger than MrBeast. Brittany is joined by journalist Max Read to understand the MrBeast phenomenon and break down the generational divides these videos reveal.

Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany’s question at the end of the episode and send it to ibam@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Liam McBain and Alexis Williams, with additional support from Barton Girdwood and Corey Antonio Rose. This episode was edited by Jessica Placzek. Engineering support came from Ko Takasugi-Czernowin and Maggie Luthar. Our Executive Producer is Jasmine Romero. Our VP of Programming is Yolanda Sangweni.