Why does every person who runs marathon want to convince you that you too could run one? What makes running clubs so intimidating? When people get into running, why can?t they shut the hell up about it? I?ve asked avowed non-marathoner Raziq Rauf, author of the newsletter Running Sucks, to help address all of your running culture related questions. Yes, we?re both runners; but we?re also both runners who are very willing to admit that running does often suck ? and also willing to interrogate the cultures (of performance, of optimization) that percolate around it. (Plus: why academics get so into running, how people use Strava as a social/dating app, and how to find people who run your pace!) Raz might have even convinced me to try a running club. Maybe. Okay probably not.

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When With Love, Meghan ? the Netflix lifestyle show starring Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex ? first came out, I knew the only way I wanted to even touch that discourse was by talking about the show, as a show. How does it conform to or reject our understanding of what a lifestyle program should look it? What?s Meghan?s twist? And what?s going on with the (predictably) weird way I knew people would respond to it?

Luckily, Lilah Raptopolous ? cohost of one of our most popular episodes ever, on figuring out what to make in the world of infinite recipes ? wanted to talk about all the same stuff. Namely: is this an aspirational show? A relatable one? Does it have to be one or other other? Why did Netflix make such weird editing choices? How do we balance a protective impulse of Meghan, given all the very real sh*t she?s endured, with an understanding that some of the decisions on this show are just odd?

Lilah, Melody, and I tried to be really thoughtful in the way that we approached this discussion ? and I think you?ll hear that in episode. (In many ways, a podcast is the perfect place to have this sort of complicated, dynamic discussion). With that said: if you?re not in the mood to hear analysis of some of the show?s shortcomings, this might not be the episode for you. But if you want to sort through your own feelings (or just want to hear us sort ours!), I think this episode?s pretty great ? in large part because your questions were so layered and good.

Today?s episode is sponsored by Ollie. Dogs deserve the best, and that means fresh, healthy food. Head to Ollie.com/CULTURE, tell them all about your dog, and use code CULTURE to get 60% off your Welcome Kit when you subscribe today! Plus, they offer a Clean Bowl Guarantee on the first box, so if you?re not completely satisfied, you?ll get your money back.

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This all started with my desire to do a Paul Mescal episode. A listener suggested we ask Caroline O?Donoghue ? author of The Rachel Incident, host of Sentimental Garbage, noted Irish person ? to be co-host. We reached out, and (gasp!) she responded that she didn?t actually know that much about Paul? but would be more than happy to do an episode about the ?Irishification of pop culture.? Since my interest in Irish men (and movies, books, music, television, poetry) by no means starts with Paul Mescal, I was thrilled.

And let me tell you: this episode is fascinating. Hilarious, expansive, weird ? and I promise you it will make you see Irish Pop Culturification in a different way (and perhaps appreciate Paul Mescal even more). It will certainly make you appreciate Caroline O?Donoghue, who made me laugh on mic more than any previous co-host. She?s brilliant, and this episode is so weird and good (one of those ones where we finished recording and Melody and I immediately texted each other: AMAZING). As always, I can?t wait for your thoughts ? come join the conversation in the comments!

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If you?re a historical romance person, all I need to say is: Sarah MacLean is here, and she is answering all the questions. If you?re not a historical romance person, I?ll spell it out a little more: Sarah MacLean is one of the most popular writers of historical romance today ? and she?s also the cohost of the incredibly popular podcast Fated Mates. She?s a very good pod conversationalist, which is one of many reasons we wanted to have her on the show (that and I knew it would make Melody faint if she said yes). We talk about how the conventions and constrictions of the historical genre allow for feminist play and provocation, how historicals handle virginity, why author?s first books are so often the most compelling, and so, SO much more. If you?re a longtime fan (of the genre, of Sarah), you?re going to absolutely love this; if not, we?ve got so many recommendations for starting points. I hope you enjoy this one as much as we enjoyed recording it!

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Last month, I published an interview in the newsletter with Dana Miranda about ?budget culture? ? and it became one of the most popular (and discussed) interviews I?ve done since I first launched the newsletter. At the time, I asked for questions for Dana about specific myths of budget culture for us to unpack. We got dozens of those ? plus a bunch of compelling follow-up questions, like ?what?s the difference between knowing how much money goes in and out of your account and ?budget culture?? and ?is YNAB budget culture??

We tackle all of that and much, much more, with a bonus prolonged guest appearance from Melody about her experience with Dave Ramsey (which included cutting up her credit card in front of her class and sparked the worst fight of her marriage). I loved this conversation and have been thinking about it for weeks; I think you will too.

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I love old movies ? but I didn?t always! In fact, I needed many years of directed classwork to fall in love with them. But if you?re not in the mood to pause your life and take on significant graduate debt, THERE ARE STILL OPTIONS, and Margaret H. Willison and I are here to offer them. In this episode, we offer specific suggestions to listeners based on short lists of their (recent) film favs, talk about ?aesthetic friction? and how to overcome it, strongly invite you to put your phone in the other room, and travel all over film history in a very earnest attempt to help you find your own entry point into the expansive mansion that is ?old movies,? broadly defined.

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What makes something ~Dad~? Is it pleated Dockers? A worn baseball cap? Asking (again) if you?ve checked your oil? Incompetency in the domestic sphere paired with competency outside of it? I?ve long loved thinking through both the serious and the ridiculous of Dad Culture, and for today?s episode, we have an actual scholar of it (Phil Maciak, currently hard at work on a Dad Culture book) to unpack the history and theory of Dadness, including: do you have to be a dad to be part of Dad Culture (no) is Dad Culture just white middle-class boomer dads (also no) and is Bandit from Bluey too good of a Dad (maybe). Listen on, and let?s Dad It Up.

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I know a lot about historic Hollywood feuds. I could do an entire episode just on the magazine covers featuring Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie Fisher, and Debbie Reynolds circa 1959. But to do any episode on Celebrity Feuds right ? particularly one that airs just days before Kendrick Lamar performs at the Super Bowl ? I knew I needed a different sort of celebrity feud expert. When Joel Anderson, host of three blockbuster seasons of Slow Burn (including a canonical one on Biggie + Tupac), agreed to come on the show, I legitimately let out a little scream of delight. He has so much knowledge, context, and perspective; this episode is a dream come true.

***Note: This episode was recorded before the Grammys, and we didn?t correctly predict Beyonce?s AOTY win nor Kendrick Lamar?s FIVE awards for ?Not Like Us.?***

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We?re at the point where we know a b******t attempt to commodify our burnout when we see it. No one?s buying the self-care spiel the bath bomb companies are selling us. But the rhetoric of self-care has crept into the workplace, family dynamics, and TikTok therapy speak, usually divorced from any critique of the systems that make self-care feel necessary in the first place. Pooja Lakshmin MD, author of Real Self-Care, joins the pod to answer your very smart questions about contemporary self-care in workplace trainings, in conversations encouraging everyone to GET A HOBBY!, and in advice to perfectionist women to ?lower the bar.? Pooja is so clear-eyed and compassionate ? and I think this episode will make you feel seen and challenged.

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I grew up skiing at a mid-size mountain in the middle of Idaho. I wasn?t ever an athletic kid, but skiing ? it made me feel fast and really good at something. I loved it: the routine, the long slog to the mountain, the Cup of Soup for lunch, the crappy hotels, the freedom. But the ski culture that I grew up with is largely gone, at least in the U.S. ? and I?ve spent the last few years coming to terms with how industrial shifts, climate change, conglomeration, the explosion of the unregulated short-term rental market have changed not only who can learn to ski, but who can keep doing it.

Heather Hansman, author of Powder Days, is the perfect co-host to grapple with your questions about the future of skiing, ski towns, and ski culture, including all the business nitty-gritty (and a frank discussion of what can make ski people so annoying). This is a ski conversation, but it?s also a conversation about housing, and class, and city planning ? and the commodification of hobbies. I can?t wait to hear your thoughts.

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Let me start with this: this is a dream interview. If, like me, you spent a lot of time in the 2000s and 2010s reading about celebrity online, Go Fug Yourself was an essential part of your online diet. Heather and Jessica were simply unrivaled when it came to celebrity fashion in general and red carpet fashion in particular. I idolized them the same way I idolized Lainey Gossip ? both of whom I read alongside all of my graduate texts in star studies. The problem with those star studies is that they were always rooted in the past. But The Fug Girls and Lainey, they were doing the analysis now, on celebs who were desperately (and often unsuccessfully) attempting to navigate the new, digital gossip landscape ? and that?s how they became part of my dissertation, on the history of celebrity gossip, themselves.

That?s why it?s such an absolute f-ing treat to talk to Heather and Jessica about the present and future of celebrity gossip: they have the context. They know the history. We talk about Deuxmoi, sourcing, blinds, accounting for past shittiness, so much. Melody had to jump in like 17 times to make us explain various peak 2000s gossip terms here, so if you were part of that universe (HELLO, TOOTHY TILE) you will love this episode ? but if you weren?t, and you just appreciate an introspective look at how celebrity discourse works, you?ll love this, too (in part because Melody made us explain stuff, she?s the best).

Note: This episode was recorded just before the Blake Lively/New York Times bombshell so don?t get mad that we don?t mention it!!

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Thrifting has a smell, but it also has a feel. For me, the feel is of thick, almost indestructible rayon weaves; of dense, mothbally wool; of slick, ancient crinoline; of stiff and generously cut denim. It was the feel of handstitching on a dress made from a pattern, or a cracked logo on a company picnic shirt from 1975. It was not the feel of shopping at Forever 21, even though the prices were approximately the same. Like so many of you, at various points in my life I?ve relied on thrift stores for resilient everyday clothes and delightful dress-up/costume accoutrements.

But thrifting has changed dramatically over the last fifteen years ? and it?s never been more popular. In this episode, Kelsey Vlamis and I break down all the reasons for its its transformation, from the rise of fast fashion to influencers making haul videos. Plus: there?s a thrifting mystery we?d love to solve; listen and see if you can help us!

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No matter where you spend your time, online or off, you?ve encountered some form of therapy speak. Maybe it comes from a friend who loves processing their therapy with others; maybe it suffuses your TikTok FYP; maybe your friends or family members have been using it to try and describe how they?re trying to foster and maintain healthy relationships; or maybe you?ve just been keeping up on the latest celebrity gossip. It?s everywhere ? and as you?ll find in this episode, tracing its proliferation will lead you in so many fascinating (and complex!) directions. I?ll be real: I knew this episode would be interesting; I didn?t know it would be this interesting.

As soon as I heard about the new podcast Bad Therapist ? cohosted by psychotherapist Ash Compton and New Yorker journalist Rachel Monroe ? I knew they?d be the perfect people to help answer all of your questions about therapy speak. This is complicated s**t! We?re talking about language that is often super useful to people? but can also be weaponized (GAH, THERAPY SPEAK) to inoculate those using it from critique. Weirdly, I feel like it?s the perfect New Year?s Day episode? I can?t wait to hear your thoughts about all of it.

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As an Registered Auntie, I get to watch kids? toy trends from the backseat. I?ve bought annoying things (sorry, parent friends) and learned how to play new things (Beyblades, I rule) and passed down precious things (all of my My Little Ponies from the ?80s). We could talk forever about the merits of various toys, past and present, but your listener questions this week underline that there?s also a tremendous amount of anxiety and class signaling absorbed by kids? toys.

So this episode, featuring toy expert Youngna Park, has it all: light nostalgia, unpacking the obsession with wooden toys, getting to the heart of why grandparents give ?junky? gifts, and, of course, talking about what kids actually like when it comes to toys. If you didn?t have Big Toy Feelings before, you will after this one.

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Sometimes we do episodes where I know a fair amount about the subject and end up on a three minute digression about picture palaces. And sometimes I?ve only started to learn about a topic ? or read within a genre ? and am absolutely thrilled to spend an hour listening to someone else?s expertise. That?s what we?re doing today with queer romance writer Adib Khorram: tackling your questions on everything from how to feel about queer romance written by straight people, why so many romance plots are M/M, where to find great trans romance, and so much more. And as with every episode in our romance series: you do not have to be an avid romance reader to find all of this interesting. (Although this episode might get you interested in becoming an avid romance reader!)

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What is Quince and why is it everywhere? Who is running Albion Fit? Who buys clothes at Altar?d State? Why is Madewell so sad? This is an explainer episode, but it?s also a brands-feelings processing episode, because any time millennials try and talk about how J.Crew or Madewell has changed, they?re also talking about how their own feelings about fashion have changed. And no one understands the rhythms of brands quite like Caroline Moss, the host and curator of the Gee Thanks Just Bought It extended universe. Listen as we attempt to answer all of your WTF-is-going-on-with-this-brand questions and hold space, as it were, for all of you big brand feelings? and tell us what brand still mystifies you!

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Sometimes I forget just how many classes I took on the history of cinema ? or that I used to teach a class on it! ? but then I have a conversation like the one you?re about to listen to and remember: oh right, I am a huge film history dork. This episode, featuring the brilliant Hannah McGregor, travels all over the past, present, and future of the blockbuster, from the theory of the ?whammy,? to Hannah?s book on Jurassic Park, from Barbie to Twisters, from why we started going to the movies to why we?ve (largely) stopped. It?s a ROMP and incredibly listenable ? perfect for wherever you?re driving or to have on in the background while you chop one million brussels sprouts.

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I could talk about Nicole Kidman for hours. Very few Hollywood actors have had careers this varied, this delightful, this weird ? oh, and she?s also been married to Tom Cruise. She manages to be both chronically underestimated and overrated, and she?s recently found herself in a slew of roles where she embodies a slew of different rich white ladies, each miserable in their own specific ways. For this episode, I?m joined by the great Sam Sanders to talk about our own Kidman Syllabi and answer your questions about her most recent roles, (not) aging onscreen, and what makes her such an effective miserable rich person.

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Almost all of the public conversations about sex testing and sports ? or, more to the point, who should be allowed to participate in women?s sports ? are pretty bad. In many if not most cases, they?re outright transphobic; even in the ?best? cases, they?re still pretty ham-fisted. But Rose Eveleth is having a very different sort of public conversation about sex testing in their new podcast, Tested ? one that looks to the way these tests affect the athletes subject to them, and how the concept of fairness in women?s sports has become so fraught. For today?s episode, Rose answers your questions about the history of women?s sports gender panic, why men aren?t subject to the same sex testing, and how the Paralympics imagines ?fairness? in profoundly different ways. I absolutely loved this conversation. I think you will too.

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?Most people who complain about BookTok have never seen a BookTok.? Alyssa Morris drops that insight about two-thirds of the way through the episode, and it?s such a good point that I almost want to make it the title of the episode. Most people have an idea of what BookTok is (people talking about books on TikTok) but no real understanding of the immensity of BookTok. It?s talking about what you?ve read, sure, but it?s also about recommendations, and performance, and the aesthetics of reading culture ? and the criticisms of it have a lot more to do with weird ideas about what reading (or talking about reading!) ?should? look like.

If you?re interested in reading culture, you?ll be interested in this episode ? full stop. Let it surprise you! And make sure to check out Alyssa?s BookTok newsletter, which has quickly become one of my favorite reads of the week.

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A podcast episode on the state of podcasting? Classic Culture Study Pod. At this point in my career, I?ve been interviewed on hundreds of podcasts, been adjacent to the production of dozens, been the host of three pods, and even watched a fourth pod go through two years of production only to get axed. The podcasting world is so dynamic, so weird, and so complicated? and industry analyst and critic Nicholas Quah is the best person to talk about its shifts, its future, and the best stuff coming out RIGHT NOW.

You asked so many good questions (about ads, about funding structures, about editing) that Nick and I did our best to answer ? but I also can?t wait to hear your follow-ups, because this world is ever-changing.

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You might look at the question in the title of this episode and think: duh, it?s because we?re weird about death. But cancer is so common, with so many different variations, with so many ways it can touch your life, in ways immediate and lasting? that of course we?ve figured out ways to be weird about it. Of course there are bizarre metaphors, of course we don?t have space for the messy, extended work of recovery; of course there are bizarre tropes and plot lines intended to make cancer more understandable which just make so many people feel like they?re ?failing? at cancer when their own experiences don?t fit the popular narrative trajectory.

Dr. Stacy Wentworth is an oncologist, the author of the newsletter Cancer Culture, and the host of Less Radical, a new podcast about the surgeon who revolutionized breast cancer treatment ? and changed the way we understand cancer today. And I knew she?d be the perfect person to talk about the way we talk about cancer, all the weirdness that can accompany it, and how that discourse has changed over time.

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You know that feeling when you and a friend get weird and detailed and hilarious about something you deeply (and maybe irrationally) hate, or find ridiculous, or can?t stomach in your vicinity? It?s one of my favorite versions of friendship intimacy ? talking s**t about something you shouldn?t dislike nearly as much as you do, because that thing is relatively trivial, but that doesn?t mean that the thing itself doesn?t make you want to bang your head against the wall.

And that?s what this week?s episode is: talking about all of your strong opinions about trivial s**t. Our co-host, Krista Burton, came up with the idea ? because it?s a regular feature of her excellent and always entertaining newsletter (O Caftan My Caftan!). So join us as we talk about your strong opinions about gnomes, ?journey? and ?season,? boarding planes, late-in-life-lesbian-Tok, calling your romantic person ?partner,? mullets, and a very juicy/useful AAA section about almond boomers. I can?t wait to talk even MORE about all of your strong opinions about trivial s**t in the comments.

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What?s the difference between a conspiracy theory and gossip? When does joking around about Kate Middleton?s abduction turn into something much darker? Are women actually more susceptible to contemporary conspiracy theories ? or are we just finally paying attention to it? Cristen Conger, host of the new podcast Conspiracy, She Wrote joins me to talk about Taylor Swift?s evil twin, Beyoncé?s illuminati connections, Katie Holmes getting impregnated by Scientology aliens, sex trafficking panics, and how to talk to someone when they start directing a conspiracy theory your way. We go deep down the wormhole in this one, friends, but I think you?re gonna love it.

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You can almost hear the producers trying to sell this show to Hulu: It?s hot Mormon moms? who are also swingers. Turns out only one of them was ?swinging,? and the swinging was (in her words) ?soft.? But it was enough to get Hulu ? and now, millions of other viewers ? on board with Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which tracks the interlocking stories of eight Mormon influencers in Utah.

Like so much of contemporary reality television, this show is glossy, melodramatic, unhinged, and addictive. It?s entertainment, sure, but it?s also a way for us to think through some of our own understandings of marriage, sex, friendship, religion, and feminism ? which is exactly what Sara Petersen and I try to work through in this episode. That, and whether Dakota is a paid actor.

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We?ve had listeners asking us to do an episode on sapphic pop for months now, and were trying to figure out who we wanted to co-host. Then Melody sent me a text: I FOUND THE PERFECT PERSON. That person is Trish Bendix, who just published a sprawling look at the past and present (and popularity) of sapphic pop, from Big Momma Thornton to Chappell Roan. I absolutely loved this conversation, where we did our very best to answer your questions about everything from the ?80s sound in contemporary sapphic pop to Jojo Siwa ?inventing? the genre. Plus we talk about ?Constant Craving? at least three times (which Melody had never heard!!!!) Make sure you check out the show notes to links to all the songs we mention in the episode. Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world. If you're already a subscriber-- thank you! Join us in the discussion thread for this episode! Got a question or idea for a future episode? Let us know here.

This is a dream come true of an episode: we got the owners of The Ripped Bodice to talk to us about all the ins and outs of running a romance-only bookstore. We talk about everything from the genesis of their annual State of Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing Report to their fav recommendations for tweens and teens ?..and how they deal with ?vintage? romances in the store. I found everything about our discussion fascinating ? plus, if you?re a paid subscriber, you get very good advice on how to recommend books to others!

This episode is the Culture Study Podcast?s version of a Just Trust Me. It?s difficult to describe exactly WHY it?s so good, just that after we finished recording (with Lilah Raptopoulos, host of the podcast Life and Art) Melody and I both immediately texted each other with: SO GOOD!!! The episode is ostensibly about figuring out how to cook in the world of infinite recipes, but it?s also about how we pass down recipes (or gatekeep them), recipes as a form of memory making (and retrieval), recipes as heritage? capped off with some practical advice about how to organize the recipes you do have (and how to ascertain if a recipe is ?good?).

I can?t wait for you to listen, and if you don?t think you?re a person that invested or interested in recipes: just trust me.

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We?re more than twenty years into the current reality boom ? and things are getting complicated. What are the unspoken and spoken ethics of signing up to become a reality star? What resources (about harassment and protection, about brand deals) should be made available to anyone who signs a reality contract? Are reality stars scabs during strikes ? and should they unionize? WHAT MAKES THESE MELODRAMAS SO COMPELLING? WTF IS SCANDOVAL??? Hollywood correspondent Natalie Jarvey joins me to talk through it all.

(And just to be clear, even if you?re not a huge reality television person, this episode has something for you ? I watch very little but I?m very invested in reality melodrama reality labor as labor)

Jennifer Romolini is one of my favorite thinkers about ambition, and workism, and the stories we tell ourselves about what we must endure in order to find a modicum of security and pride ? and she also happens to be a true scholar of all things Ben Affleck. Months ago, I asked her to come on the podcast to talk about the intersection of Affleck and ambition, but we held the episode for a bit to give it some distance from the (also excellent!!) J.Lo episode. But we?d had it scheduled for today for several weeks ? and I?m writing this intro just hours after the news broke that Lopez had filed for divorce.

The good news is that everything Jenn and I talk about re: Affleck?s star image, ambition, striving, his relationship to stardom just generally ? all of that still holds true. Just ignore the part when I say that I don?t think they?re going to get divorced. And I can?t wait to hear your thoughts.

TikTok is filled with wonders. It?s SO weird. It can make you feel like the algorithm is telling you something you don?t even realize about yourself?.or it serve you a whole bunch of cyst draining videos. In order to answer your questions about WTF is happening in your feed, I knew I needed a weird internet aficionado who also understands the way our tech platforms actually work. I needed Katie Notopoulos. Join us as we talk about the parallel dimension that is TikTok Live, the difference between Reels and TikTok content, those bizarre ?bugs all over me? videos, nail tapping ASMR, the clean girl aesthetic, and SO MUCH MORE.

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Trad Wife Discourse is everywhere. It?s been everywhere for a while, in part because it offers a twisted fantasy of ease to women who are attempting to negotiate life, and family, and career in a society whose policy is actively hostile to women working outside the home. But I?ve seen a spike in interest in the ramp-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, where a Trump victory ? paired with the explicit goals of Project 2025, J.D. Vance, and Christian Nationalism in general ? will make trad wife life just, well, life. It doesn?t happen overnight. It happens incrementally, as choices are very slowly taken from you, or made more attractive. To get to what lures women into this life, and just how difficult it is to escape, I wanted to talk to someone who gets it in a way that those lurking in the Instagram comments simply cannot. So today we?re talking with Tia Levings, who left her trad wife life and, through a bunch of therapy and processing and support, figured out how she wanted to tell her story.

Content Warning: In our conversation, we talk explicitly about emotional and physical abuse and coercion. If you?re not in a place where you want to listen to that discussion, I?d suggest skipping this episode.

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How do the politics of taste and HGTV shows intersect? Why do we watch, why do we feel the way we do when we watch, and how is taste shaped in the process of watching? When Jonathan Menjivar, host of the fantastic podcast Classy, told me he wanted to talk all things HGTV, I was thrilled. In this episode, we discuss the aesthetics of ?quiet luxury,? Ben and Erin Napier vs. Chip and Joanna Gaines, the newly ubiquitous neo-farmhouse look and so much more.

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A seven-part Netflix docuseries on the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders called America?s Sweethearts? Oh my god, WHAT a rich text. The uniform, the dances, the body norms, the coded language, the particular feminine ideals, the intersections with Texas culture and evangelical culture ? there?s just so much there. And I was thrilled when Sam Sanders and Zach Stafford, two of the co-hosts of the indispensable Vibe Check, agreed to help answer all of your (excellent) questions. (We couldn?t get the rights to Thunderstruck, but you can just imagine it playing over the intro and on repeat forever.)

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How are romance writers ? and the recent romance boom ? chipping away at the norms of Big Publishing? Does self-publishing lead to more diverse authors and characters? How has Amazon both expanded and limited the market? That?s what we?re grappling with in today?s episode.

Back in June, romance novelist Nisha Sharma broke down all the tropes and trends of contemporary romance. Next month, we?ll have the owners of a romance bookstore explaining the the big (and complicated) business of romance-only bookselling. And today, we have Christine Larson, author of Love in the Time of Self-Publishing, walking us through the labor dynamics of romance publishing. If you like thinking about different ways of organizing labor, you?ll find all of this fascinating ? and if you?re a romance fan, it?ll make you think a lot about which books end up in front of you and why. You?re gonna love it.Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world. If you're already a subscriber-- thank you! Join us in the discussion thread for this episode! Got a question or idea for a future episode? Let us know here.

J.Lo is, as we say in the Culture Study universe, a rich text. There is so much history, so many layers of accumulated meaning, so many relationships, and so little in terms of actual revelations. She gives so much and yet offers so little! Chelsea Devantez is a celebrity memoir aficionado, a humor writer, and a newly-minted J.Lo scholar ? and the absolute perfect co-host to unpack all of your J.Lo questions, like why does Mariah hate her, why can?t she and Ben be happy, what the hell is going on with the new movie, and what does she actually want?

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Why do jeans make us FEEL THINGS? I mean, I have a lot of feelings about the ?going out top,? but at least I no longer have to deal with it. Jeans, they?re still here in my wardrobe, making me feel uncool. It?s the actual garment, sure, but it?s also a garment in constant fashion flux ? and almost always designed to fit one sort of (thin) body. There?s no one better to talk about big jeans feelings than Virginia Sole-Smith, who?s written a four-part series on ?jean science? and the relationship between jeans production (and jeans ?norms?) and anti-fatness. Whether you?re clinging to your comfort jeans or trying to figure out what shoes to wear with a barrel leg or banishing jeans from your closet, this episode is for you.

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Most people I know think the monarchy ? any monarchy ? is pretty ridiculous. And yet: most people I know also know a lot about Meghan Markle and followed the #whereiskate conspiracy theorists at least part way down the rabbit hole. They?re rich celebrities, sure, but they?re also embodiments of empire in decline ? and I wanted to think through how royal fascination manifests differently depending on where you live, how you were raised, and identification (or lack thereof) with ?your? generation of monarch. Hannah McGregor and Marcelle Kosman are scholars, podcast hosts, and Canadians ? and the perfect people to navigate all of your questions about colonial hangovers, misogynoir and Team Meghan vs. Team Kate, and when and how we?ll actually see an end to the monarchy. I loved this conversation, and I think you will too.

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Sephora teens are teens who hang out at Sephora ? and they?re a point of cultural anxiety because 1) they?re buying a lot of makeup and skincare products and 2) we have complex and contradictory feelings about when we should start caring about makeup and skincare products, even though absolutely everything in our culture tells young people they should?ve started caring about these things yesterday. Do Sephora Teens just want a public place to hang out without their parents? Didn?t we *also* play around with makeup at their age? But wait where are they getting all of this money? I I was so thrilled when Elise Hu ? author of a whole book on the contemporary skin care industry and mother of three teen/tween girls ? agreed to come on as co-host for this episode? and I can?t wait for your thoughts.

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After our GREAT discussion of A Court of Roses and Thorns we realized we wanted to talk a lot more about romance: about the so-called ?boom? and what?s fueling it, of course, but also about various tropes (sick bed, forbidden romance, grumpy protagonist), race and cultural specificity, the level of ?spice? and how it shows up on the page, and how to manage your own romance reading behavior. Melody heard Nisha Sharma speak at Romance GenreCon last year and knew she was the person to address so many of your questions. Whether you?re new to romance like me, don?t read it but are interested in why other people do, or have immersed yourself in the genre for years, I promise there?s something in this conversation that?s going to stick in your head for days.

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Spoiler: No, millennials are not the most nostalgic generation ? we?re just in a deeply nostalgic moment in our lives, reckoning (sometimes gracefully, other times less so) with no longer being the Main Character in the generational story. But this moment does give us opportunity to talk about the shape and purpose of nostalgia, how YouTube both amplifies and short-circuits it, and so much more ? featuring one of my favorite nostalgia thinkers, Gabe Bullard. We talk about gum commercials, inflated Limewire persecution threats, Bagel Bites, and interrogate the idea of ?core memories,? and I cannot wait for your thoughts.Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world. If you're already a subscriber-- thank you! Join us in the discussion thread for this episode! Got a question or idea for a future episode? Let us know here.

The very first episode of this pod was on how clothes got so shitty ? and it prompted a whole bunch of you to write in with your questions about how the entire experience of obtaining those clothes became so shitty. Some of it is just what?s going on in the fashion world more broadly (and a continued refusal to believe that anyone larger than a size 12 wants cute, well-made clothes that fit and wants to pay you money for them) but some of it is just the weird ever-changing world of online shopping, which encourages our worst impulses and often leaves us with earrings that look nothing like the picture and make our earlobes turn green. To answer your questions (about best online shopping practices, about email marketing tactics, about how to quell or at least abate your anxiety shopping) I wanted to talk to the best and smartest shopper I know: Caroline Moss.Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world. If you're already a subscriber-- thank you! Join us in the discussion thread for this episode! Got a question or idea for a future episode? Let us know here.

I spent years of my life studying celebrity images and what makes them meaningful to us. A celebrity?s actions or words can make or deepen our connection to them ? or they can really piss us off. But why? Is it just a classic case of dashed expectations? What makes, oh, Taylor Swift hanging out with Matty Healy so disappointing? For this episode, I asked celebrity feelings expert Margaret H. Willison to come answer your questions about the broad contours of celebrity-directed anger ? and work through some very specific examples. I promise: you?ll leave this episode with a more textured understanding of your own celebrity feelings.

Note: This episode was taped before the conversation re: the Met Ball and celebrity silence on Gaza; you can read more about it here.

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If you grew up in or adjacent to evangelical culture, the sounds of ?90s and early 2000s Christian Rock are as familiar to you as the beginning bars of Britney Spears ?Hit Me Baby One More Time.? The Newsboys, dcTalk, Jars of Clay, Third Day, Jennifer Knapp, Caedmon?s Call ? these groups peaked just twenty years ago, but the sound and vibe feels like an archeological find. Same for the crossover ?secular? hits from Creed, Lifehouse, Sixpence None the Richer, and Switchfoot. Where did Christian rock go? Did it just get devoured by Nickelback and Noah Kahan? Was it actually good? And what purpose did it actually serve in what we now understand as the evangelical culture war?

Leah Payne, author of a God Gave Rock & Roll To You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music joins us to root the rise of Christian rock in history ? and consider the ways it was wielded to control teens. If you grew up in this culture, there will be a lot of nostalgic groaning; if you didn?t, we?ve worked hard to make it as accessible as possible ? and help connect some dots about how evangelical ideologies work their way into the mainstream.

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A platform where you can record what you?re reading and talk to others about what they?re reading doesn?t sound like a recipe for dystopia. But throw in a negligent billionaire conglomerate owner, optimization culture, and a competitive industry in which the line between reader and author is continually blurred? and you have a legitimate book lover?s hellscape. In other words: Goodreads! Today, I?m joined by book lover and book critic Maris Kreizman to talk about the rot at the heart of the platform, what feeds it, and whether there?s any hope of salvaging the entire enterprise. (Plus: a special bonus section where we give advice about dealing with self-imposed pressure to read X number of books a year). Also: it doesn?t matter if you?ve never gone on Goodreads in your life. If you read books, if you?re interested in the way we talk and think about books, you?re going to appreciate this episode.

Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world. If you're already a subscriber-- thank you! Join us in the discussion thread for this episode! Got a question or idea for a future episode? Let us know here.Thanks to Bookshop.org for sponsoring today's episode! Use promo code CULTURE to get 10% off your next purchase.

A listener submitted a question earlier this week that was basically: Why are we talking about Taylor Swift again???? And I get it: if you?re not a fan, if her music is not for you, you too might be tired of the ongoing Taylor Swift Conversation. But I?m ultimately less interested in Taylor Swift herself and more interested in the shape of that conversation: what are we actually talking about when we talk about Taylor Swift? We?re talking about work and scarcity, we?re talking about aesthetics and whiteness, we?re talking about the performance of authenticity and narratives of romance? and we?re talking about all of those things today with Sarah Chapelle, the fashion journalist behind the enormously popular Instagram account Taylor Swift Style.

Today's episode is free for everyone-- so if you like what you hear, join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world. If you're already a subscriber-- thank you! Join us in the discussion thread for this episode! Got a question or idea for a future episode? Let us know here.

Who can force a nationwide conversation about musical genre for a whole damn month? Beyoncé can. And I knew I wanted to be several weeks into that discussion ? and several weeks into my own relationship with the album ? before I dove in myself. I also knew I wanted to talk about it with someone else with a similarly deep and ambivalent relationship with country music: the good, the white, the cold-beer-nation-building, all of it. So I was absolutely thrilled when Elamin Abdelmahmoud agreed to come on the show and engage in what he calls one of his favorite hobbies: ?talking about Beyoncé at length.? You?re gonna love the show and you?re gonna love Elamin and it?s gonna make you think a lot more about Cowboy Carter, even if it?s not (yet) your fav. I can?t wait for your thoughts (and to argue more about Jolene in the comments).

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Moms For Liberty sucks. I?m not going to even try to soften that statement, because it?s true: they?re an ideologically regressive organization that is wielding the idea of ?parental rights? to censor books, teachers, and instructional materials. They make it much, much harder for educators to do their jobs ? and many of the people most involved don?t even have kids in public schools.

But to defeat them, you have to understand what they?re doing ? and how they?re doing it. Which is why I wanted to have journalist Laura Pappano come on the show to talk about her extensive reporting on ?school moms? and the place of Moms for Liberty within the ?battle? for public schools. We talk about where the money comes from, how other parents are effectively organizing against them, the history of parent-led school activism, and most importantly, what uniform you wear to a conservative mom conference.

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Driving, attending meetings, hunching over laptops, zooming, commuting, absentmindedly scrolling Instagram ? so much of contemporary life encourages if not outright demands that we sit. But study after study (and maybe just your own body) has told you: this much sitting is not great for us. But what are we supposed to do instead? Can we get rid of the junk wellness moralizing (10,000 steps a day!) and figure out small things that actually make our bodies feel better?

Turns out, yes! And Manoush Zomorodi is here to talk about all of it ? including whether those walking pads are b******t. And I promise: this show won't make you feel like a horrible person for sitting. But it might give you some ideas about how you can listen to your body more.

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As any Pacific Northwest teen from the ?90s and early 2000s who carted a Nalgene around campus can tell you: WATER BOTTLE CULTURE IS NOT NEW. As pretty much any Grandpa or Boomer Dad can tell you: NEITHER IS STANLEY. But the demand for Stanley Tumblers (and, just as important, the inflated, often misogynistic conversation around it?) That?s (sorta) new. Like everything we talk about on this show: it?s complicated.

For today?s episode, we invited Amanda Mull back to the show to unpack the so-called Stanley Tumbler ?obsession,? the relatively novel fascination with hydration, and why every kid has to have a water bottle at school. You might not think there?s that much to talk about when it comes to water bottles, but this one?s a whole lot of fun and as always, Amanda is a font of consumer behavior knowledge. (And make sure to check out Amanda?s first appearance on the pod, exploring why do clothes suck now??)

Today's episode is free for everyone! If you like what you hear, join the ranks of paid subscribers. You'll get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world. If you're already a subscriber-- thank you! Join us in the discussion thread for this episode!

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