NPR Podcasts
@nprpodcasts

Protest is going viral on TikTok | It's Been A Minute

Posted

January 14, 2026

Views

1,779

Likes

71

Comments

15

Engagement

4.83%

Search the Record

Indexed

Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.

Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.

Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line

YouTube Description

as posted by the channel

There's a new sound of protest going viral on TikTok. What is being said, and how much impact could it have?

We're just two weeks into January, but this year has already been eventful. There's Trump's incursion into Venezuela, and last week’s ICE shooting in Minneapolis, which led to protests all across the country over the weekend. And these protests on the street are connected to some of the music we’re hearing online: artists like Jensen McRae and Jesse Welles are responding to current events with their own musical takes on the news with bitesize songs on TikTok. But why is folk protest music having revival, and who is listening?

Brittany sits down with NPR Music reporter Isabella Gomez Sarmiento () to get into why this folky protest music hasn’t been popular in decades and why it’s going viral now. You can read Isabella's story here () .

Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. ()

Follow Brittany on Instagram@bmluse ()

For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub () .

See pcm.adswizz.com () for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy ()

Guests & Subjects Covered

TikTok WhatThere's Trump'sJensen McRaeJesse WellesTikTok ButNPR MusicIsabella Gomez SarmientoFollow Brittany

Sentinel Indexing in Progress

Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.

All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.