What women want: to embrace their inner monsters

By Brittany Luse,

Aisha Harris, Alexis Williams, Barton Girdwood, Jasmine Romero, Neena Pathak, Veralyn Williams

Published February 26, 2025 at 10:06 AM EST

What happens when women embrace their inner monster?

What do The Substance, Nosferatu, and Babygirl have in common? They externalize the characters' inner feelings - self-loathing, guilt, shame - in the most grotesque ways possible.

Ahead of the Academy Awards, Brittany Luse sits down with IBAM producer Alexis Williams and Pop Culture Happy Hour co-host Aisha Harris, to get into how these trending films bring women's internal monsters to life.

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Brittany Luse

Brittany Luse is an award-winning journalist, on-air host, and cultural critic. She is the host of It's Been a Minute and For Colored Nerds. Previously Luse hosted The Nod and Sampler podcasts, and co-hosted and executive produced The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily streaming show. She's written for Vulture and Harper's Bazaar, among others, and edited for the podcasts Planet Money and Not Past It. Luse and her work have been profiled by publications like The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vulture, and Teen Vogue.

Aisha Harris

Aisha Harris is a host of Pop Culture Happy Hour.

See stories by Aisha Harris

Alexis Williams

Barton Girdwood

Jasmine Romero

Neena Pathak

Veralyn Williams

Veralyn Williams (she/her) is a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist who has been asking hard questions about our world since she picked up her first microphone in 2004. Now she brings her skills (and ears) to her role as executive producer of programming at NPR.