Culture Study Podcast
Episodes
How Romance Novels Center Marginalized Joy
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 w...
Are Millennials the Most Nostalgic Generation?
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Spoiler: No, millennials are not the most nostalgic generation — we’re just in a deeply nostalgic moment in our lives, reckoning (sometimes grace...
There Has To Be a Better Way To Shop Online
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Why Do We Get So Mad at Celebrities?
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 conne...
How Christian Rock Fed the Culture Wars
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
How Did Goodreads Get So Bad?
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Taylor Swift and the Tortured Poets Aesthetic
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Country Heart of Cowboy Carter
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 di...
The Insidious Influence of Moms for Liberty
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
We know sitting is bad for us. But what are we supposed to do instead?
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Driving, attending meetings, hunching over laptops, zooming, commuting, absentmindedly scrolling Instagram — so much of contemporary life encourage...
Come Drink From the Stanley Cup
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 pr...
The Intoxicating Ease of Kevin Bacon's Instagram
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I occasionally encounter someone who asks: Who would follow a celebrity on Instagram? Lady, I WOULD. I do! I follow celebrities who I actually like an...
Student Loans Are Culture
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to think of student loans as culture? First off, it means that we can think of them as something that’s changeable. Because as muc...
The ACOTAR Chokehold
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve been in a bookstore lately, you’ve undoubtedly seen it: A Court of Thorns and Roses, better known as ACOTAR, ruling over the paperback b...
Your Questions About Butts, Answered
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Every so often, I do a Culture Study (newsletter) interview that inspires a LOT of follow-up questions — and the podcast is the perfect forum to add...
What's Bradley Cooper's Deal?
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bradley Cooper would very much like an Oscar. If you’ve been paying attention to Hollywood at any point over the last five years, you know this. It’...
Is Divorce Actually Contagious?
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Maybe you’ve seen it happen, or maybe you’ve just heard it whispered: divorce is contagious. One person in a friend group gets divorced, and sudde...
Is Personal Coaching a Scam?
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, there are coaches for everything. Business, fitness, careers, breastfeeding, parenting, ADHD, MLMs, divorce… even death. Is it b******t? Or i...
The Bizarre World of Celebrity Philanthropy
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Philanthropy is so weird. Celebrities: also weird. When the two collide, you get something even more bizarre. Why should we believe what Ashton Kutche...
The Curious Return of 2000s Music
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At some point in the last year I looked around and realized… 2000s music was EVERYWHERE. Nelly Furtado. Timbaland. Eminem. 50 Cent. MGMT. In Bama Ru...
The Cult of Cold Plunging
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week I get my “cold plunge curious” partner Charlie Warzel to come on the pod and talk about how cold plunging suddenly feels like it’s eve...
The Mutated IP of the Mean Girls Reboot
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week I’m joined by Michelle Cyca to talk about the trailer for the Mean Girls reboot. You might think: wow, that’s a very small thing to focu...
Rich Dudes Driving in Circles
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For the fifth episode of the Culture Study podcast I’m joined by Nicole Washington to talk about all things F1: what’s behind the recent rise, is ...
The Pernicious Laziness of Paw Patrol
27 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the fourth episode of the Culture Study podcast I’m joined by Philip Maciak — who manages to be a professor, the television critic for The Ne...
Why Are We So Obsessed with Taylor + Travis?
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Esteemed law professor Leah Litman, co-host of Strict Scrutiny, joins me and Melody to talk about all things TAYLOR + TRAVIS. Like: How did Taylor mak...
We're All Infrastructure Nerds
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the second episode of the Culture Study podcast, we’re diving into the nerdy and awesome and frustrating world of the infrastructure that surrou...
Why Do Clothes Suck Now?
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the maiden voyage of the Culture Study podcast, we’re taking a hard look at a problem that plagues us all: terrible clothes. Why are shirts fall...
Introducing the Culture Study Podcast
27 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Everything is interesting.That idea has guided the tremendously popular Culture Study newsletter, and it’s at the heart of the Culture Study Podcast...