Culture Study Podcast

Anne Helen Petersen

A podcast about the culture that surrounds you — with Anne Helen Petersen and a bunch of very smart co-hosts

  • 59 minutes 12 seconds
    Surviving Eight Years of Conversion Therapy

    When we recorded this episode two weeks ago, we knew that the Supreme Court was planning on releasing a judgment in Chiles v. Salazar — to decide whether Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy (which is similar to laws in 22 other states) likely violated the First Amendment. We thought the decision might come in June. But it fell last week like a hammer, and has the potential to undo years of advocacy to ban treatments that have tried to "ungay" thousands of kids, teens, and adults.

    The judgment is devastating. But it also reminds us that just because a treatment is "legal" doesn't mean it's ethical — or even that it works. (It doesn't!) Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez endured years of conversion therapy, and joins the pod to talk about the real psychological harms it inflicts, and answer all of your excellent questions about how to spot a therapist using low-key conversion tactics, how to make sure kids growing up in high-control anti-gay environments know you're a safe person, and why this therapy persists despite so much evidence that it doesn't work. This is a hard episode — but an important one.

    GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod — just come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!

    If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .

    And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support.

    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

    • Ollie. Feed the Obsession. Go to ollie.com/culture and use code culture to get 60% off your first box!

    • Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! If you’re in the market for a beautiful new sofa, dining table or bed, head over to https://www.article.com/

    • Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoc.com/CULTURE to find and instantly book a doctor you love today.

    Show Notes:

    8 April 2026, 9:00 am
  • 1 hour 14 minutes
    The Fascinating Future of the Chain Restaurant

    The future of the chain restaurant is... chicken? I learned so much from this conversation with food systems (and chain restaurant) expert Austin Frerick — from how Sysco maintains its restaurant supremacy (and what Sysco "tastes" like) to which chain restaurants have significantly changed in quality (Wendy's) and are on the verge of extinction (also Wendy's). Did you know what makes a chain restaurant resistant to suckage? The answer will and will not surprise you! This was such a fun, enlightening conversation — the sort that you'll think about every time you eat in or drive past a chain restaurant — and does exactly what we always hope for a Culture Study episode: it'll make you think a lot more about the (very everyday, very unassuming) world around you. Enjoy!

    GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod — just come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!

    If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .

    And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

    Show Notes:

    • Learn more about Austin Frerick's work here: https://www.austinfrerick.com/

    • Buy Barons (and get links to a whole bunch of excerpts) here: https://www.austinfrerick.com/barons

    • The episode of Odd Lots with Austin as the guest (it's so good) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mega-corporations-that-control-what-americans-eat/id1056200096?i=1000650703441

    • The Top 250 US Chain Restaurants (as of 2025): https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/top-500-2025-ranking

    • This is a very fawning look at the history of Simplot (which we mention briefly) but you'll get the larger Baron moves: https://www.readtrung.com/p/jr-simplot-became-a-billionaire-selling

    • A history of frozen food in America: Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America

    • Revisit our episode from last year on how private equity ruins everything

      We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

    • WHITE LADY HAIR! Cultural critic Sarah Mesle will be joining us to talk about her new book Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity. If there's a white lady whose hair interests you, I guarantee you it interests Sarah, too. We can talk about specific celebrity/actress haircuts but also specific styles/trends. I cannot wait for this one.

    • EMILY BLUNT! (and secondary characters becoming primary ones!) with Xochitl Gonzalez — obvi we're gonna talk a lot about Devil Wears Prada and 2000s-era striving but you can take this in so many directions

    • BOOMER MOMS! Tracy Clark-Flory and I need your questions about why boomer moms (very broad designation here, I realize) are the way they are — we're specifically going to talk about the constrictions of growing up in '60s/'70s U.S., particularly around femininity, race, education, body image, employment, and motherhood. This one's gonna be really good, I know it.

    • INTERGENERATIONAL FRIENDSHIP with Andrew Sean Greer, author of Less (and Villa Coco, a new book with an intergenerational friendship at its center). You can ask questions about how to find intergenerational friends, how to sustain those friendships, what people seem to love so much about them, wherever your heart takes you.

    • HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH A CITY with Lilah Raptopoulos, editor of the Financial Times city life vertical. We're going to talk about how to fall in love with cities WHILE VISITING (for fun, for vacation, for work) and how to fall in love with the city where you currently live. What tips do you want? What city are you struggling to fall in love with?

    • 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.

    • As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

      For this week’s discussion: We want to hear all your contemporary fast food observations — what's thriving, what's struggling, and what are your (additional) theories about why?

    1 April 2026, 9:00 am
  • 51 minutes 47 seconds
    Falling in Love with Video Games as an Adult

    Did you get into gaming as an adult? Did you come back to gaming as an adult? Or, like me, did you savage people on Bubble Bobble in the early '90s... and are trying to figure out how to reproduce that feeling as an adult? Or maybe you're gaming-curious... but can't shake the feeling that gaming is a waste of time (and/or associate it with POS ex-boyfriends).

    Keza MacDonald, gaming critic for The Guardian and author of a stunning new book on the history of Nintendo, is here to field all your questions: about those dude-gaming stereotypes, about gaming as "unproductive"... but also what sort of new games you should be playing (based on what you already play and love).

    Melody came to gaming as an adult and says THIS EPISODE IS SO GOOD, and I'm still trying to figure out my way there and also say THIS EPISODE IS SO GOOD. Wherever you are in your gaming journey, you're gonna love Keza and love this conversation.

    And if you want Keza's expert recommendations for games, you'll definitely want to become a paid subscriber so you can access this week's Ask Anne Anything!

    GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod — just come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!

    If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .

    And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

    Show Notes:

    • Go buy Keza Macdonald's Super Nintendo: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play ( I mean, it made Melody cry!)

    • Read Keza's treasure trove of columns at The Guardian here

    • Make sure to check out the much longer conversation I had with Keza about the history of Nintendo over in the newsletter!

    • A nice write-up of "cozy games" (and refusing to let that label delegitimize them)

    • Same Face Syndrome or Why Scruffy-White-Dude Protagonists Don’t Help Anyone (look for the image on the right of all the protagonists)

    • Stats on LGBTQ representation in game development: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/feb/19/video-games-industry-diversity-women-people-of-colour

    • Keza references The Score: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735252/the-score-by-c-thi-nguyen/

    • Thinky Games! https://thinkygames.com/

      We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

    • HISTORICAL GOSSIP! We're talking with Nichole Hill, host of Our Ancestors Were Messy, about hot, messy, ideologically fascinating world historical gossip (and how gossip works today). We really want to make this episode happen but we need your questions!

    • WHITE LADY HAIR! Cultural critic Sarah Mesle will be joining us to talk about her new book Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity. If there's a white lady whose hair interests you, I guarantee you it interests Sarah, too. We can talk about specific celebrity/actress haircuts but also specific styles/trends. I cannot wait for this one.

    • EMILY BLUNT! (and secondary characters becoming primary ones!) with Xochitl Gonzalez — obvi we're gonna talk a lot about Devil Wears Prada and 2000s-era striving but you can take this in so many directions

    • BOOMER MOMS! Tracy Clark-Flory and I need your questions about why boomer moms (very broad designation here, I realize) are the way they are — we're specifically going to talk about the constrictions of growing up in '60s/'70s U.S., particularly around femininity, race, education, body image, employment, and motherhood. This one's gonna be really good, I know it.

    • INTERGENERATIONAL FRIENDSHIP with Andrew Sean Greer, author of Less (and Villa Coco, a new book with an intergenerational friendship at its center). You can ask questions about how to find intergenerational friends, how to sustain those friendships, what people seem to love so much about them, wherever your heart takes you.

    • HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH A CITY with Lilah Raptopoulos, editor of the Financial Times city life vertical. We're going to talk about how to fall in love with cities WHILE VISITING (for fun, for vacation, for work) and how to fall in love with the city where you currently live. What tips do you want? What city are you struggling to fall in love with?

    • 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.

    • As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

      For this week’s discussion: We'd love to hear all your thoughts about your successes (and struggles) getting into gaming as an adult. Take this in whatever direction you'd like!

    25 March 2026, 9:00 am
  • 1 hour 2 minutes
    Hilary Duff's Irresistible Millennial Mom Image

    It's the second coming of Hilary Duff... but real ones know she never went anywhere. This week we're so lucky to have Allie Jones — author of the superb Gossip Time newsletter and Hilary Duff superfan — on the show to answer all your questions about how Duff managed to avoid her peers' timeline, her professionalism, her relatable lack of stage presence, and the crafting of her millennial mom image. (Melody fans will also appreciate her appearances in this episode touting bottomless Duff knowledge). If you want the podcast equivalent of going to the mall in 2005 and walking around doing nothing but somehow having a great time, this ep is for you.

    GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod — just come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!

    If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .

    And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

    • Take your food to the next level with Graza. Visit https://graza.co/CULTURESTUDY and use promo code CULTURESTUDY today for 10% off your first order of olive oil!

    • Get 40% off select Lola Blankets products at Lolablankets.com by using code CULTURE at checkout.

    • Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! If you’re in the market for a beautiful new sofa, dining table or bed, head over to https://www.article.com/

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

    Show Notes:

    18 March 2026, 9:00 am
  • 1 hour 11 minutes
    Finally a Conversation About a Car-Less Future That Won't Make You Feel Like Crap

    Free Yourself from the Tyranny of the Automobile!! That's the subtitle of the new book Life After Cars, written by the hosts of the popular podcast "War On Cars." And listen, I am 100% on board: this quasi-hippy spent most of her 20s trekking around college towns on a crappy commuter bike. But like a lot of you, I also live in a place where the infrastructure has refused to catch up to my desire to have fewer cars on the road.

    So here's what I absolutely loved about this conversation: we talked at length about all the ways that cars make our lives worse... and also talked about the ways that we need them (particularly in rural areas) and the movement they afford people whose freedoms are otherwise circumscribed. There is absolutely nothing fixed about our current car-contingent culture, and Sarah and Doug were so good at fostering a funny (and super smart) conversation about what sucks, what doesn't have to suck, and places that are working to make it suck less. This was one of those eps were Melody and I finished recording and couldn't stop texting about how good they were — so let's keep the conversation going in the comments.

    GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod — just come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!

    If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .

    And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

    Show Notes:

    • Buy Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile here!

    • Listen to the War on Cars podcast (and if you love it, subscribe to their Patreon)

    • You can also sign up for their newsletter here

    • Follow War on Cars on IG here

    • Oh and check out all of the great War on Cars merch here

    • For more on the creative traffic solutions in Ghent, watch this YouTube video

      We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

    • HISTORICAL GOSSIP! We're talking with Nichole Hill, host of Our Ancestors Were Messy, about hot, messy, ideologically fascinating world of Black gossip columns during the golden era of Black newspapers (1930 to 1960). What do you want to know about how the Black press worked during this era — and how gossip in particular worked (both about stars, local celebrities, and normal people?) There's so much here!!!

    • Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc — we're talking to Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez about his new book, Conversion Therapy Dropout, and there are so many connections to the ways the current administration is currently trying to "de-trans" people in custody)

    • 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.

    • As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

      For this week’s discussion: THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: How would your life change with fewer cars on the road? If you have a car, what infrastructure improvement would make it easier to let it go?

    11 March 2026, 9:00 am
  • 59 minutes 34 seconds
    Just Trust Us on This Queer Historical Romance Ep, It Rules

    When I first came up for the idea for the Culture Study Romance Book Club back in January, I knew I wanted every edition to have two books: one contemporary, and one historical. Part of this desire was selfish (I personally gravitate towards historicals) but I also wanted to explore the contrast between what you can do with a romance set in the past (with its particular confines) and one set in the present (with seemingly none, but actually so many).

    I also knew that I wanted to start with M/M romances (hi, Heated Rivalry) and that Melody had sung the very loud praises of renowned historical queer romance author Cat Sebastian's mid-century queer romance — particularly You Should Be So Lucky, which managed to combine baseball (one of Melody's true loves) with romance (Melody's secondary love).

    And listeners, I hope this is clear: when it comes to so many things, but romance in particular, I listen to Melody! And when Melody asked if we should try and get Cat on the pod, I said "obvi please try." AND THEN SHE MADE IT HAPPEN. This remains a total marvel of hosting a podcast: sometimes the people you admire so deeply... can also come on your pod.

    This is a long preamble to the overarching point: Cat Sebastian isn't just an absurdly talented (and successful) author of queer historical romance. She's also whipsmart when it comes to the crafting of these romances, the idea of vibes vs. plot (and third act break-ups in particular), how she translates the historical record, and so much more. This pod is for you if you're at all interested in romance, obviously, but also if you're at all interested in how we think about the past as a narrative playground.

    Final note: We had such a good time recording this episode and laughed one billion times — I hope that joy translates when you listen!

    GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!

    If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .

    And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!

    Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

    • Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoc.com/CULTURE to find and instantly book a doctor you love today.

    • If you’re in the market for a beautiful new sofa, dining table, bed, or classy full-length mirror, head over to Article.com.

    • Go to zbiotics.com/CULTURESTUDY to get 15% off your first order when you use CULTURESTUDY at checkout.

    • Use code CULTURE at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a Free Shimmer Face Oil with your first purchase!

    Show Notes:

    • As Cat suggested, the best way to keep up with her is by subscribing to her intermittent newsletter here

    • You can find a breakdown of all of Cat's books and their time periods here (I found this very helpful)

    • You can buy Cat's new book, Star Shipped, HERE!!!!

    • A great AMA with Cat here

    • Cat mentions the book Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II, by Allan Bérubé

    • A listener mentions The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, and Cat and Anna enthusiastically co-sign the recommendation

    • Cat recommends: The Duke by Anna Cowan (out April 28); A Gentleman's Gentleman by T.J. Alexander; When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley; and An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera

      We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

    • HISTORICAL GOSSIP! We're talking with Nichole Hill, host of Our Ancestors Were Messy, about hot, messy, ideologically fascinating world of Black gossip columns during the golden era of Black newspapers (1930 to 1960). What do you want to know about how the Black press worked during this era — and how gossip in particular worked (both about stars, local celebrities, and normal people?) There's so much here!!!

    • HILARY DUFF!!! The comeback, the new album, let's talk about all of it — with Hilary Duff expert/forever-fan ALLIE JONES (also Melody loves Hilary Duff so much and will be very sad if we don't get enough questions for this episode)

    • Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc — we're talking to Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez about his new book, Conversion Therapy Dropout, and there are so many connections to the ways the current administration is currently trying to "de-trans" people in custody)

    • KID INFLUENCERS — what happens when your parent puts you on camera before you can really consent? We're talking with the author of a new book about the ramifications of growing up within these worlds — it's gonna be so good.

    • 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.

    • As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

      For this week’s discussion: OH MY GOD WE COULD TALK FOREVER! If you could set a queer romance at any time, when would it be? What would your characters be doing, and how would they fill their days? Also who wants to be best friends with Cat (me)

    4 March 2026, 10:00 am
  • 57 minutes 42 seconds
    The Sociology of Baby Names

    Baby names are in inexhaustible cultural text. They're a way to talk about class, race, and gender, of course — but also the way we perform familial respect and coherence. In this episode, sociologist Hannah Emery — who wrote her dissertation on baby names — joins us to talk about the history of baby names, how naming conventions and aspirations have changed over the last century, and the broad and specific requests parents bring to her as a naming consultant. It's all fascinating — and I can't wait to continue the conversation (about our names and the names of the children in our lives) in the comments.

    AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!

    If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .

    And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!

    Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

    Show Notes:

    • You can find Hannah's fascinating name newsletter here (Try starting with this piece on middle names)

    • I put Melody's name graph up top but here's mine (you can find yours for the U.S. here)

    • The Top U.S. Names of 2025 According to BabyCenter:

    • This made me laugh

      We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

    • HILARY DUFF!!! The comeback, the new album, let's talk about all of it — with Hilary Duff expert/forever-fan ALLIE JONES (also Melody loves Hilary Duff so much and will be very sad if we don't get enough questions for this episode)

    • Dark academia — the trends, the themes, the popularity, whatever you want (for an episode with R.F. Kuang!)

    • Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc.)

    • Your Parent(s) Died — How Do You Deal with All This PAPERWORK and bureaucracy??? (with death doula Becky Robison)

    • KID INFLUENCERS — what happens when your parent puts you on camera before you can really consent? We're talking with the author of a new book about the ramifications of growing up within these worlds — it's gonna be so good.

    • Anything you need advice or want musings on for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment

    • As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

      For this week’s discussion: What names still bewilder you? Let's talk about them!

    25 February 2026, 10:00 am
  • 1 minute 21 seconds
    [PREVIEW] SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE: Wuthering Heights Teenage Feeling Edition

    Unstructured conversation! Teenage Feelings! Flesh walls! Abjection! Jacob Elordi's Jacob Elordi-ness! Arguments about the purpose of adaptation! THE GREAT AND VERY SMART MARGARET WILLISON! This bonus episode's got it all. So listen on as three English Majors with various levels of affection for the source text talk about horny aspic, the melodramatic imagination, Romeo + Juliet, pseudo race-blind casting, the 2005 Pride & Prejudice, and whether director Emerald Fennell is enough of a perv (no).

    Even if you haven't seen Wuthering Heights, this is a much larger conversation about adaptation, contemporary film, casting, the feelings we're looking for when we go to the movies, and much more. And if you have seen it, wow do we have more to talk about in the comments. So enjoy this bonus episode — and tell us what bonus episodes (with similar, loose-but-text-based-focus) you'd like to see in the future! (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) !

    23 February 2026, 9:00 am
  • 57 minutes 58 seconds
    A Very Funny Episode About Being a "Childless Freak"

    I've written a bunch of mildly serious stuff about having BIG NO-KIDS ENERGY. I've talked with so many others — and published interviews with them! — about how they've negotiated conversations with others about not having kids, leaned in to the expansiveness of their no-kids lives, and figured out their own life priorities when they're not what society tells you they should be. But all of these conversations have been pretty, well, serious. But not having kids can be many things. More specifically, not having kids can be hilarious.

    Today, comedian (and not-kid-haver) Natasha Vaynblat joins the pod to answer all your questions about the awkward, unconsciously ridiculous, and straight-up offensive questions that people ask when you don't have kids — and how to figure out how to answer (sometimes seriously, sometimes with a sense of humor). I don't think any Culture Study guest has made me spit out my water as much as Natasha, so regardless of whether you don't have kids and relate immediately or DO have kids and just relate to the idea of strangers and/or supposedly beloved family members asking you inappropriate shit... I hope you almost spit out your water, too.

    AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!

    If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .

    And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!

    Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

    • Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! If you’re in the market for a beautiful new sofa, dining table or bed, head over to https://www.article.com/

    • Go to Graza.co and use CULTURESTUDY to get 10% off your first order of olive oil, and be sure to look for Graza Mayo the next time you're at your local grocery store!

    • For a custom-fit night guard, go to shopremi.com/CULTURE and use code CULTURE  at checkout for 50% off.

    • Get 40% off select Lola Blankets products at Lolablankets.com by using code CULTURE at checkout.

    Show Notes:

    We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

    • New trends you've noticed in the world of MOMFLUENCERS (with Sara Petersen, of course)

    • Dark academia — the trends, the themes, the popularity, whatever you want (for an episode with R.F. Kuang!)

    • Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc.)

    • Your Parent(s) Died — How Do You Deal with All This PAPERWORK and bureaucracy??? (with death doula Becky Robison)

    • What would LIFE AFTER CARS look like?? (With the hosts of the War on Cars pod!)

    • KID INFLUENCERS — what happens when your parent puts you on camera before you can really consent?

    • Anything you need advice or want musings on for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment

    • As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

      For this week’s discussion: Natasha offered so many possibilities for how you could respond to various weird questions... do you have more?

      Or: let's hear the most awkward (having kids or not having kids) question someone has asked you about your reproductive future!!!!

    18 February 2026, 10:00 am
  • 1 hour 3 minutes
    The Ridiculously Interesting History of Weird English Words

    Why is weird spelled like that? Why is yacht pronounced like that? Why is a firefighter a person who fights fires... but a pickpocket is neither a pick nor a pocket? We're so lucky to have linguist Colin Gorrie on the pod to talk about the "disaster" of English spelling and the history you can unearth in pretty much every English word. This one's such a nerdy delight — if you found yourself enraptured by our episode on accents, you're gonna love this one, too.

    AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!

    If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .

    And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!

    Thanks to the Sponsors of Today's Episode!

    • Celebrate your number one valentine, your greatest love, your dog! Head to Ollie.com/CULTURE, tell them all about your dog, and use code CULTURE to get 60% off your Welcome Kit.

    • Go to wildalaskan.com/CULTURE for $35 off your first box of premium, wild-caught seafood.

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

    • Get 15% off your first order at Blueland.com/CULTURE

    Show Notes:

    • Just for fun, a map of Europe with place names in the dominant language of the place

    We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

    • New trends you've noticed in the world of MOMFLUENCERS (with Sara Petersen, of course)

    • Dark academia — the trends, the themes, the popularity, whatever you want (for an episode with R.F. Kuang!)

    • Getting into Gaming as AN ADULT (and especially as a woman or non-binary person) (with Keza Macdonald, author of the new history Super Nintendo)

    • Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc.)

    • Your Parent(s) Died — How Do You Deal with All This PAPERWORK and bureaucracy??? (with death doula Becky Robison)

    • What would LIFE AFTER CARS look like?? (With the hosts of the War on Cars pod!)

    • KID INFLUENCERS — what happens when your parent puts you on camera before you can really consent?

    • Anything you need advice or want musings on for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment

    • As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

      For this week’s discussion: Just gonna be real basic here and ask... What did you learn from this episode? So many tidbits and delightful explanations!

    11 February 2026, 10:00 am
  • 1 hour 4 minutes
    The Heartbreaking (and Largely Unregulated) Business of IVF

    What happens when the "move fast and break things" start-up philosophy comes for infertility treatments? Exactly what you'd expect: cut corners, bad service, aesthetically pleasing offices that can't seem to stop churning staff, upsells backed by dubious science, and more. This week, journalist Jackie Davalos joins the pod to talk about her reporting on IVF start-up Kindbody, breaking down why so many of these women's health start-ups give us the ick... and also answer all your questions about sketchy IVF business practices. I cannot tell you how much I learned from this episode — and how wild it is to have this corner of health care remain this unregulated.

    If you're not in the right place to listen to other people's complications with IVF, feel free to skip this episode — but if you want to get pissed about how difficult, weird, and opaque the process can be, definitely listen to this episode.

    Finally, a special thanks to Culture Study reader & listener Shawn Wen for making this episode happen.

    AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!

    If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .

    And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!

    Thanks to the Sponsors of Today's Episode!

    • Get 50% off your purchase of a new night guard at shopREMI.com/CULTURE

    • Head to ZBiotics.com/CULTURESTUDY and use the code CULTURESTUDY at checkout for 15% off

    • If you’re in the market for a new sofa, dining table, or bed, check out the beautiful options at Article.com

    • Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoc.com/CULTURE to find and instantly book a doctor you love today

    Show Notes:

    • Go listen to IVF Disrupted

    • You can find in-depth descriptions of all the episodes here [IN GENERAL, IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT SOURCING, THEY'RE ALLLLLLLL RIGHT THERE IN THE PODCAST]

    • You can follow host Jackie Davalos (in her new French bakery era) on IG here

    We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

    • New trends you've noticed in the world of MOMFLUENCERS (with Sara Petersen, of course)

    • Dark academia — the trends, the themes, the popularity, whatever you want (for an episode with R.F. Kuang!)

    • Writing Queer Historical Romance (with Cat Sebastian)

    • Getting into Gaming as AN ADULT (and especially as a woman or non-binary person) (with Keza Macdonald, author of the new history Super Nintendo)

    • Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc.)

    • Your Parent(s) Died — How Do You Deal with All This PAPERWORK and bureaucracy??? (with death doula Becky Robison)

    • What would LIFE AFTER CARS look like?? (With the hosts of the War on Cars pod!)

    • KID INFLUENCERS — what happens when your parent puts you on camera before you can really consent?

    • Anything you need advice or want musings on for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment

    • As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

      For this week’s discussion: This is a space to share how the more unregulated (or business-minded) components of IVF manifested in your own experience — or just to talk about what pissed you off the most from this episode.

    4 February 2026, 10:00 am
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