Culture Study Podcast

It feels like a real symptom of the modern age that an article of clothing can just start... following you around online. There it is, in your Instagram feed (again, and again, and again). But it's also there in between paragraphs while you're reading the New York Times, or suggesting you click while you're sifting through your Buy Nothing group on Facebook, or accosting you every tenth video on TikTok.
It'd be one thing if these things were cute... but so many of them feel like they're trying to make fetch (or a barrel leg) happen. I'm so thrilled to have veteran fashion journalist Cheryl Wischhover here to explain how an item of clothing goes viral (we tackle so many of your specific asks) and how virality, e-commerce, and influencing intertwine. This is an absolutely fascinating ep — I can't wait to hear your thoughts!
Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode:
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!
Listen to rePROS Fight Back wherever you get your podcasts.
Get $35 off your first box of wild-caught, sustainable seafood—delivered right to your door. Go to: https://www.wildalaskan.com/CULTURE
Show Notes:
Strongly suggest subscribing to Cheryl's newsletter, Good for Your Age
Her piece on the Ruti pants that made me want to pod with her immediately
Cheryl's Bloomberg piece on how affiliate links are even taking over group chats
This is the second entry in our 'Back to School' Fashion Episodes — check out our previous episode on All Your Questions About Personal Style, Answered
We're currently looking for your questions on the following topics:
WTF IS GOING ON WITH TELEVISION RIGHT NOW with Phil Maciak and Kathryn VanArendonk — podcasts-as-television, Netflix's Season Season Problem, what the networks aren't learning from Widow's Bay, ask us more!
WOMEN LEAVING THE (CHRISTIAN) CHURCH — what are you seeing, what are you curious about, what are they leaving for?
VENMO CULTURE: People who won't let you treat, people who say they're gonna Venmo you after you put a big dinner on your card and then don't, the utility (and annoyance) of Splitwise, Venmo-ing for a $4 coffee... convince Melody that there's an episode here
LOW KEY SUPER RICH PEOPLE — ever since I read this piece on 'American Gentry' I've wanted to do a big episode about how the real (diffuse) wealth in this country is people who own care dealerships, HVAC companies, and other "pass-through" S-Corps. How does that wealth persist, what power does it wield, why do they vote the way they do, WHO ARE THEY, REALLY? (We're talking with some economists who've really crunched the numbers on this, so it's gonna be fascinating)
THE LATEST IN BOOK TRENDS with Alyssa Morris (from our very popular BookTok episode!). Ask Alyssa about whatever you're seeing in the book world: covers, genres, how it's handling fan-fic, BookTok trends.....
JOURNO-INFLUENCERS with s.e. smith — yep, another episode on influencers, this time on how they're changing the norms of journalism. What journo-influencers do you follow and what makes them compelling? What's the future of journalism when it's wed to this style of promotion? Is it actually anything new? Ask away!
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.

There are eight books in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and people have bought fourteen million of them. First published online, then self-published on Amazon, with an audiobook version that people won't shut up about, Dungeon Crawler Carl has become the fantasy phenomenon of the year — and earned the moniker of "the book that all your [dude] friends who don't read are actually reading."
I went in skeptical: video game fiction is decidedly not my genre. But there were enough people in the Culture Study universe reading and loving them that I knew there was something going on — with the style, the worldview, the genre play — that would be the makings of a good podcast episode. (I just didn't expect to like it quite as much as I did — as you'll hear in the ep, I'm on now on Book Four!)
If you're deep in DCC and want to talk about what works (and doesn't), we go there. If you're mystified by the popularity, we go there too. And we try really, really hard to make this an episode that'll still be interesting to people who haven't read the books, but want to think more about why these books are so popular.
Also discussed: Princess Donut as child sidekick, editing (or lack thereof), Katia's surprising arc, whether this book is for teens, Foot Buffs, D&D, a particular stylistic tick, Wenatchee in-jokes, and truly so much more.
(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)
Quick Show Notes:
As always, follow Margaret on Instagram and subscribe to Two Bossy Dames
The piece I repeatedly reference: "You deserve better literature than Dungeon Crawler Carl"
The best thing I've read on Dungeon Crawler Carl, no question: "Left in the Dungeon"

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.

Over the last six years, our conversations on Culture Study have often circled back to a handful of recurring themes: contemporary work culture, burnout, optimization culture, intensive parenting, the often hollow pull of the algorithm, the tattered social safety net, and the desire to engage more with the world (and community) around us. We're fun, I promise! And today we're going to weave together so many of those threads in an intricate conversation about the broken promises of convenience culture.
Gabe Bullard started writing Against Convenience years before "friction-maxxing" became a thing. He's thought deeply about the bad time bargains of conveniences large and small, and he's spectacularly well-equipped to work through your questions on everything from the tyranny of pre-check, the difficulty of letting go of a lunch-order-habit, and much bigger questions about how convenience culture facilitates our worst forms of individualism. There's so much for us to keep building on in the comments, too, so make sure and find us there.
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
Ready to upgrade your eyewear to something functional, fashionable, fun, and affordable? Head to goodr.com/CULTURE to claim $10 off your first order.
Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. Visit ARTICLE.COM/CULTURE and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.
Save 20% Off Honeylove by going to honeylove.com/CULTURE
Show Notes:
Buy Against Convenience at your local bookstore (or through Bookshop, which is more convenient than your local bookshop but purposefully less convenient than Amazon)
Subscribe to Gabe's newsletter here
Gabe references Never Done: A History of American Housework by Susan Strasser
He also mentions this classic Wendell Berry essay, "Why I Am Not Going To Buy A Computer"
We're currently looking for your questions on the following topics:
WHAT'S GOING ON INFLUENCER CULTURE? with Katie Sturino — what's going on with privacy, spon, monetization, politics, algorithm fatigue — anything you want to ask someone who's watched the influencing world transform from inside
THE LATEST IN BOOK TRENDS with Alyssa Morris (from our very popular BookTok episode!). Ask Alyssa about whatever you're seeing in the book world: covers, genres, how it's handling fan-fic, BookTok trends.....
JOURNO-INFLUENCERS with s.e. smith — yep, another episode on influencers, this time on how they're changing the norms of journalism. What journo-influencers do you follow and what makes them compelling? What's the future of journalism when it's wed to this style of promotion? Is it actually anything new? Ask away!

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.

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Conflict happens — and navigating that conflict is essential to a healthy community, a healthy relationship, and a healthy workplace. But so many of us are conflict-adverse (often for good reason). We need better strategies, better paradigms... better fighting advice. Priya Parker, author of the Culture Study foundational text The Art of Gathering, is here to give it to us.
We talk about fighting with our parents — especially stubborn parents. We talk about women figuring out their tone and conflict navigation at work (and on Slack!!!). We talk about how to fight when you and your partner have opposite fighting "styles"... and how to fight when you start crying as soon you sense conflict. I often shy away from conversations like these because the advice can feel very theoretical and woo. But there's so much actionable advice packed into this episode — we finished recording and Melody immediately texted me to say wow, to which I replied, dude, I know. Listen and see what we mean!

Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode:
Wake up with clearer skin, smoother hair, and cooler sleep. Use code CULTUREPOD for an extra 30% off at blissy.com/CULTUREPOD
Ollie. Feed the Obsession. Go to ollie.com/culture and use code culture to get 70% off your first box!
Use code CULTURE at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a free gift with your first purchase!
Get 40% off select Lola Blankets products at Lolablankets.com by using code CULTURE at checkout. Experience the world’s #1 blanket with Lola Blankets.
Show Notes:
Follow Priya Parker on IG here (I'm always getting ideas from her!)
Buy The Art of Fighting here
Subscribe to Priya's wonderful newsletter "Group Life" here
The Group Help Learning Lab
A transcript for this episode is available here.
We're currently looking for your questions on the following topics:
WHAT'S GOING ON INFLUENCER CULTURE? with Katie Sturino — what's going on with privacy, spon, monetization, politics, algorithm fatigue — anything you want to ask someone who's watched the influencing world transform from inside
THE LATEST IN BOOK TRENDS with Alyssa Morris (from our very popular BookTok episode!). Ask Alyssa about whatever you're seeing in the book world: covers, genres, how it's handling fan-fic, BookTok trends.....
JOURNO-INFLUENCERS with s.e. smith — yep, another episode on influencers, this time on how they're changing the norms of journalism. What journo-influencers do you follow and what makes them compelling? What's the future of journalism when it's wed to this style of promotion? Is it actually anything new? Ask away!
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.

I love kids. In a different timeline, I'd almost certainly have them. But when I was in my 30s, I looked around — and looked at my own bank account, and the realities of childcare, the weight of my student loans, and how hard people without close family support were working just to get by — and I thought: I can't make this work. And because I didn't even try to have a kid, I didn't have to confront the likelihood of needing fertility treatment to get pregnant in my late 30s.
People often say that there's no good time to have a baby, so you should just ignore all the things that make it feel fraught and go for it. You'll make it work. But that argument has begun to feel increasingly out-of-touch. Parenting amidst a polycrisis is really hard. If you've delayed parenthood for whatever reason, getting pregnant — or adopting a child — has become incredibly expensive. Even in countries with robust safety nets, adults are increasingly deprioritizing having kids. In her new book, Anna Louie Sussman takes a non-sensationalist look at the declining birth rate in so many countries, digging past the surface-level data to get at the much deeper question: what makes parenthood feel increasingly inconceivable? And what could possibly be done to make it feel otherwise?

Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode:
NOBL gives you real travel peace of mind — security, design, and convenience all in one. Head to NOBLTravel.com for 46% off your entire order!
If you’re looking to make a small change in your routine, you can get 15% off your first order at Blueland.com/CULTURE
Get $35 off your first box of wild-caught, sustainable seafood—delivered right to your door. Go to: https://www.wildalaskan.com/CULTURE
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.
Show Notes:
Learn more about Anna Louie Sussman's work here
Buy Inconceivable here
We talk about the original NYT article ("The End of Babies") that sparked this book; you can find it here (gift link)
We're currently looking for your questions on the following topics:
WHAT'S GOING ON INFLUENCER CULTURE? with Katie Sturino — what's going on with privacy, spon, monetization, politics, algorithm fatigue — anything you want to ask someone who's watched the influencing world transform from inside
THE LATEST IN BOOK TRENDS with Alyssa Morris (from our very popular BookTok episode!). Ask Alyssa about whatever you're seeing in the book world: covers, genres, how it's handling fan fic, BookTok trends.....
JOURNO-INFLUENCERS with s.e. smith — yep, another episode on influencers, this time on how they're changing the norms of journalism. What journo-influencers do you follow and what makes them compelling? What's the future of journalism when it's wed to this style of promotion? Is it actually anything new? Ask away!
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.