The rise of the AR-15; plus, why do comedians play so many cops? | It's Been a Minute

Last Saturday, former president Donald Trump was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania when a gunman shot at him killing one spectator and clipping Trump in the ear. The response? Outrage, condemnations, and prayers on all sides... but there's been less chatter about the gun that shot at him. And this gun has a lot of symbolismThe AR15. Host Brittany Luse is joined by The Wall Street Journal's Zusha Elinson () , coauthor of the book American Gun () , and Jennifer Mascia () , senior news writer and founding staffer at The Trace, a nonpartisan nonprofit newsroom that covers guns. Together, they discuss how the AR15 style rifle went from an outcast in the gun world to the one of the biggest progun symbols and why that actually reflects bigger cultural shifts.

And later cop comedies are getting big reboots this year. But why do audiences want to see funny Black guys playing cops? And what does it mean that the characters poking fun at power are also the ones enforcing it on screen? To find out Brittany is joined by Soraya Nadia McDonald () , who wrote a deep dive () on all of Will Smith's law enforcement roles, and Washington Post opinion columnist Alyssa Rosenberg () , who wrote a five part series () on Hollywood's long relationship with law enforcement on and off screen.

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