Culture Study Podcast

More than a year ago, Melody put a placeholder in our shared podcast planning document: SOMETHING SMART ABOUT AI. We were sick, bored, or frustrated with the way so many podcasts were talking about it — usually because it involved dudes talking with other dudes and universalizing proclamations about whether artificial intelligence was going to usher in an age of utopia (doubtful) or kill us all (doubtful but more probable). We wanted someone willing to get into the gray areas of LLM and chatbot use in particular — someone with real experience with what they can do and real ambivalence about what they do to us.

That person is Vauhini Vara, author of Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, and one of my absolute favorite thinkers working and writing today. In this episode, we talk about how LLMs short circuit the creative process, how they're changing the way students learn to think and discern, the specious argument that AI "democratizes creativity," really bad AI art, and why it's so hard to talk about AI usage just generally. I loved this conversation and keep coming back to the ideas, challenges, hopes, and frustrations we discussed — I think you will too.

AI comes for the Community Flyer

Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode:

Ollie. Feed the Obsession. Go to ollie.com/culture and use code CULTURE to get 70% off your first box!

Wake up with clearer skin, smoother hair, and cooler sleep. Use code CULTUREPOD for an extra 30% off at blissy.com/CULTUREPOD.

Use code CULTURE at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a free gift with your first purchase!

If you’re looking to make a small change in your routine, you can get 15% off your first order at Blueland.com/CULTURE**.**

Show Notes:

Follow Vauhini on Bluesky here and learn more about her work here

Buy Searches (which you know I LOVED!) here

Read my interview with Vauhini from last year about Searches here

Vauhini's essay in the The Believer that we repeatedly reference — "Ghosts"

Vauhini's piece in Bloomberg on chatbots and AI in kids' classrooms

You can find a transcript of this episode here

We're currently looking for your questions on the following topics:

HOW TO FIGHT! Priya Parker has a new book on how to actually disagree (fruitfully!) with others, so this is your opportunity to ask all those questions about the people in your life who shut down when you disagree / escalate unnecessarily / immediately throw straw-men your way ('people in your life' can also include you, of course)

WTF IS GOING ON WITH DUDES/ DESPERATE MASCULINITY RIGHT NOW with Jon Ronson. You can read about his incredible new book here, but the gist is: the old order of masculinity is collapsing, and some very weird behaviors are emerging amidst that collapse. What have you noticed, what's alarming, what are your theories about how dudes are dude-ing the way they are — let's go.

FINANCIAL INTERDEPENDENCE with Maria Melchor, author of Always Have Enough. Instead of aiming for financial independence, what does it mean to try and build a sort of collective wealth for your family and community? How does the idea of wealth operate differently for first-generation immigrants — and what lessons should everyone adopt?

All things CODE-SWITCHING with Ari Shaprio and Audie Cornish (how do you change your voice, your posture, your demeanor, your subject areas, the way you talk about reality television, whatever, depending on layered context)

Anything you need advice for/want musings about for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything — it’s literally the name of the segment.

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.
Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why is Planned Parenthood telling you that you should lift heavy during your menstrual cycle? Why will no one shut up about protein? How many different ways can a company try and convince you it's not a diet when it's TOTALLY A DIET??? How have companies taken advantage of the actual gaps in research on women's bodies to sell us crap?

Journalist and elite distance runner Zoë Rom and registered dietitian Kylee Van Horn join the pod to break down how the women's fitness industrial complex convinces us of new health and training vulnerabilities (and then offers their products to fix them). This is one of those episodes that will piss you off and make you feel grateful that others are out here noticing how weird and manipulative these spaces can be.

Via the Planned Parenthood Instagram

Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode:

Get 15% off OneSkin with the code CULTURE at https://www.oneskin.co/CULTURE

Go to  https://zbiotics.com/CULTURESTUDY and use CULTURESTUDY at checkout for 15% off any first time orders of ZBiotics probiotics.

Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/CULTURE and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

Taking care of your health just got easier – start here with Zocdoc: https://zocdoc.com/CULTURE

Show Notes:

Follow YOUR DIET SUCKS on Instagram here!!!

Listen to YOUR DIET SUCKS here

Find our more about Your Diet Sucks — including how to support them on Patreon — here

Find out more about Zoë Rom's other work — including her book on How to Become a Sustainable Runner — here

Follow Kylee / Fly Nutrition on IG here

Learn more about Fly Nutrition here

An example of the Planned Parenthood "how to exercise during what part of your cycle" messaging

My now quite old piece on yoga teacher training as an MLM

I reference the work of friend of the pod Virginia Sole-Smith; go check out her stuff!

You can find a transcript of the episode here

We're currently looking for your questions on the following topics:

HOW WE SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY — how we narrativize our lives, what's changed, what's weird, what's still important and keeping us on these apps... with the great Kathryn Jezer-Morton

WE'RE DOING A WHOLE FASHION SERIES! Submit any/all questions you have about viral clothing trends, plus-size thrifting and/or anything you want to ask Corinne Fay, author of Big Undies, or figuring out your style

HOW TO FIGHT! Priya Parker has a new book on how to actually disagree (fruitfully!) with others, so this is your opportunity to ask all those questions about the people in your life who shut down when you disagree / escalate unnecessarily / immediately throw straw-men your way ('people in your life' can also include you, of course)

All things CODE-SWITCHING with Ari Shaprio and Audie Cornish (how do you change your voice, your posture, your demeanor, your subject areas, the way you talk about reality television, whatever, depending on layered context)

Anything you need advice for/want musings about for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything — it’s literally the name of the segment.

 

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.
Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Two bonus episodes in two weeks, what is even happening! Well, The Odyssey happened — and after reading and writing about Matt Damon for this week's newsletter, I knew I wanted to talk and think more about the adaptation itself. Or, more specifically: the women of The Odyssey and Nolan's struggle to write women in his films. Oh, and their hair, of course — which is why Sarah Mesle, preeminent hair scholar, was the first person I emailed.

We have an upcoming episode of the regularly scheduled pod with Sarah all about her forthcoming book Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity, but for now, enjoy as we talk about Calypso's balayage, what Circe's hair could've (and should've) done, how Nolan created a world without female armpits, and so much more. Just remember these bonus episodes are a bit more off-the-cuff and unpolished — we think of them as the beginning of a conversation, not the end. So let's continue in the comments!

(And if you'd like access to this paid podcast-subscriber-only episode, you can upgrade your Culture Study subscription SO EASILY here. If you have any issues, just email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail dot com)

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.
Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I have aspired to be like Lindsay Crouse — professionally and personally — since the first time I figured out who she was. Killing it as an editor and writer at the New York Times opinion section. Absolutely wrecking expectations about how fast women in their 30s can be (re: running). If you're a high-achiever millennial, she was living that that life we all dreamed of.

Then a bunch of things in her life changed (I won't spoil them entirely here, but yes they involve difficult pregnancies and difficult physical recoveries) and she quit a bunch of things — and then wrote a book about quitting. In this episode, we have a wide-ranging conversation about what keeps us from quitting (especially but not uniquely high-achieving eldest daughters), who has the privilege to quit, and the actual science around quitting (and why most people should quit far earlier than they think).

We recorded this conversation two weeks ago, and I'm still rolling it over in my head — I think it'll have a similar effect on you.

Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode:

Get $35 off your first box of wild-caught, sustainable seafood—delivered right to your door. Go to:  https://www.wildalaskan.com/CULTURE

Use code CULTURE at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a free gift with your first purchase!

Machine Washable Rugs, Made Better. For a limited time only, our listeners get 10% off + free shipping at tumbleliving.com/CULTURE

Ollie. Feed the Obsession. Go to ollie.com/culture and use code CULTURE to get 70% off your first box!

Show Notes:

Follow Lindsay on Instagram here

Pre-order The Case for Quitting here!

Find out more about Lindsay's work here

I reference the piece Lindsay wrote about getting really freaking fast in her 30s

Here's the short film The Queen of Basketball that Lindsay helped produce that WON AN OSCAR (it's streaming in full on YouTube, watch it!)

Another one of my favorite Lindsay productions: "Nike Told Me to Dream Crazy, Until I Wanted a Baby"

We're currently looking for your questions on the following topics:

HOW WE SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY — how we narrativize our lives, what's changed, what's weird, what's still important and keeping us on these apps... with the great Kathryn Jezer-Morton

WE'RE DOING A WHOLE FASHION SERIES! Submit any/all questions you have about viral clothing trends, plus-size thrifting and/or anything you want to ask Corinne Fay, author of Big Undies, or figuring out your style

HOW TO FIGHT! Priya Parker has a new book on how to actually disagree (fruitfully!) with others, so this is your opportunity to ask all those questions about the people in your life who shut down when you disagree / escalate unnecessarily / immediately throw straw-men your way ('people in your life' can also include you, of course)

All things CODE-SWITCHING with Ari Shaprio and Audie Cornish (how do you change your voice, your posture, your demeanor, your subject areas, the way you talk about reality television, whatever, depending on layered context)

 

 

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.
Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bonus eps are when we go deep on a cultural phenomenon, text, or celebrity that's overwhelming our feeds, charming our pants off, sparking general bewilderment, or, in this case, making us think long and hard about a text. When Vulture critic Kathryn VanArendonk texted Margaret to report that the new "woke" (don't worry, we discuss this designation at length) Little House on the Prairie was actually pretty good... I have to admit, I was dubious.

HOW. HOW COULD THIS BLATANTLY RACIST AGAINST NATIVES, this deeply engaged in MANIFEST DESTINY INDIVIDUALISM story be... good? Worthwhile? Useful? Yes, I devoured this whole series as a kid. But an adaptation now? I was envisioning Yellowstone for elementary students.

But listen: this Little House is doing something pretty interesting. It's not always successful. But you're going to have to listen to the episode to hear why. (Side note: Even if you haven't watched it and/or have no plans to, there's so much to think about re: adaptations and how to talk about this particularly foundational narrative to American history.)

(And if you'd like access to this paid podcast-subscriber-only episode, you can upgrade your Culture Study subscription SO EASILY here. If you have any issues, just email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail dot com)

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.
Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.