Unlocking desire through smut; plus, the gospel of bell hooks

This week, we're asking: do the fantasies we read in romance novels say anything about what we want in our real-life relationships? Devoted readers share how the genre has impacted their love lives. Host Brittany Luse also sits down with writer Rebekah Weatherspoon to learn how she builds a world of desire.

Then, we talk to Dr. Gale E. Greenlee, teacher-scholar in residence at the bell hooks center in Berea Kentucky, about lasting impact of bell hooks' work, and how she changed the way we think about love.

You can follow us on Twitter @ItsBeenAMin or email us at ibam@npr.org.

*Correction - a previous version of this story misspelled "Weatherspoon" as "Witherspoon." We regret the error.

This episode of 'It's Been a Minute' was produced by Liam McBain and Corey Antonio Rose. Engineering support came from Joby Tanseco and Gilly Moon. We had fact-checking help from Julia Wohl. It was edited by Jessica Placzek. Our executive producer is Veralyn Williams. Our VP of programming is Yolanda Sangweni and our senior VP of programming is Anya Grundmann.