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

  • Love is Blind as a Cultural Skeleton Key

    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!

    I've never resisted Love is Blind so much as run out of time for it... but then Audie Cornish said she wanted to come on the show to talk about it, and I said: I will watch any reality show, in its entirety, to talk to you about it. (Cornish was previously best known as the co-host of NPR's All Things Considered; now she is best known as the host of CNN's early morning newscast and The Assignment with Audie Cornish). I did my homework and thought I had smart things to say about Love is Blind and then Audie had way, way smarter things to say, specifically about the ways in which this current season functions as a skeleton key for the ideologies battling for dominance in our cultural moment.

    Even if you've never watched an episode of Love is Blind, there's a LOT here about how people perform their identities and politics and relationship needs that will snag you — and if you have watched this season (or any season), you're gonna love it even more. What a privilege to have Audie Cornish on-air cackling over reality television, and what a delight!

    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 top-rated doctor today.

    • Take the guesswork out of your dog's well-being. Go to ollie.com/culture and use code CULTURE to get 60% off your first box!

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

    • Get better sleep, hair, and skin with Blissy. Use code CULTUREPOD to get an additional 30% off at blissy.com/CULTUREPOD

    Show Notes:

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

    • Contemporary Dating Culture!!! Why does it suck, how can it suck less! (with Jonquilyn Hill)

    • Eldest daughter discourse

    • The sociology of NAMES (naming trends, naming assumptions)

    • WEIRD ENGLISH WORDS (where do they come from!) with Colin Gorrie, who writes explainers like this one on the word DOG

    • 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 them (and ideas for future eps) here

    For this week’s discussion: We can obviously talk about Love is Blind, but I'd also love to hear how you think other reality shows are reflecting the conflicting ideologies of this moment.

    5 November 2025, 10:00 am
  • What It's Like to Grow Up With Hoarders

    People are fascinated by hoarding culture — in part because it presents a reality that's not that distant from our current accumulation habits. Like, turn one screw in my brain slightly more to the left, and my dahlia collecting habit becomes something that's widely understood as a social problem. When I heard about Amanda Uhle's Destroy This House, a memoir of growing up in a hoarding household, I knew listeners would want to explore that fine line between "proper" consumption and hoarding, the stories we tell about why people hoard, and the real difficulty in navigating hoarding behaviors by people you love.

    Culture Study is now on Patreon! To read about why we moved, go here.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today’s episode!

    Show Notes:

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

    • BIG KOREAN ENERGY with Mash-Up Americans (Their framework for questions: What is this Korean vibe everywhere in culture, in food, in beauty, in politics? Definitely not complaining, but maybe confused? Well. Do we have the explainer for all of you Korean Americans, Korean Koreans, and everyone who is adjacent to Korean culture -- which is everyone. What are YOUR questions?)

    • Contemporary Dating Culture!!! Why does it suck, how can it suck less! (with Jonquilyn Hill)

    • Eldest daughter discourse

    • The sociology of NAMES (naming trends, naming assumptions)

    • WEIRD ENGLISH WORDS (where do they come from!) with Colin Gorrie, who writes explainers like this one on the word DOG

    • 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 them (and ideas for future eps) here

    For this week’s discussion: What is YOUR relationship to stuff? How did this conversation reframe it?

    29 October 2025, 9:00 am
  • The Outdoor Gearification of the American Wardrobe

    I can’t tell you how excited I am about this one: Avery Trufelman, host of the beloved podcast Articles of Interest, is here to talk all things OUTDOOR GEAR. More specifically: how so much of our everyday clothing became gear adjacent, what the military has to do with all of this (everything), why outdoor clothes still don’t come in plus sizes, gear as Tech Bro status symbol, and SO MUCH MORE. This one’s a multi-faceted delight — the sort of episode you’ll be bringing up in conversation for weeks to come.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today’s episode!

    Show Notes:

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

    • BIG KOREAN ENERGY with Mash-Up Americans (Their framework for questions: What is this Korean vibe everywhere in culture, in food, in beauty, in politics? Definitely not complaining, but maybe confused? Well. Do we have the explainer for all of you Korean Americans, Korean Koreans, and everyone who is adjacent to Korean culture -- which is everyone. What are YOUR questions?)

    • Contemporary Dating Culture!!! Why does it suck, how can it suck less! (with Jonquilyn Hill)

    • All things Love is Blind with Audie Cornish

    • Eldest daughter discourse

    • An ADULT HOBBIES crossover episode with Forever35!

    • The sociology of NAMES (naming trends, naming assumptions)

    • WEIRD ENGLISH WORDS (where do they come from!) with Colin Gorrie, who writes explainers like this one on the word DOG

    • 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 them (and ideas for future eps) here

    For this week’s discussion: How do you see gearification in your own wardrobe? What piece of clothing are you going to look at differently from now on?

    22 October 2025, 9:01 am
  • How the Manosphere Fuels Climate Change Denial

    What does masculinity have to do with climate change denial? F-ing everything! Daniel Penny, host of the new Drilled podcast Carbon Bros, joins me to answer all of your questions about how the Manosphere and its ideologies of dominion, virility, control, and anti-wokeness collide with climate change narratives. We talk about petro-masculinity, of course, but also how environmentalism became “feminized,” the intersection with “muscular” Christianity, the Spotted Owl, fear of the electric truck, and how the Trump Administration has successfully exploited fears of a cucked, climate-focused nation. This one will piss you off and give you a lot to think about.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today’s episode!

    • Get 35% off the best blankets of all time at LolaBlankets.com, using code CULTURE at checkout

    • Blueland is offering 15% off your first order of cleaning products at Blueland.com/CULTURE

    • Try OneSkin with 15% off using code CULTURE at oneskin.co

    • If you’re in the market for a beautiful new sofa, dining table or bed, find something beautiful and long-lasting at Article.com.

    Show Notes:

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

    • BIG KOREAN ENERGY with Mash-Up Americans (Their framework for questions: What is this Korean vibe everywhere in culture, in food, in beauty, in politics? Definitely not complaining, but maybe confused? Well. Do we have the explainer for all of you Korean Americans, Korean Koreans, and everyone who is adjacent to Korean culture -- which is everyone. What are YOUR questions?)

    • Cultural panics with THE Sarah Marshall

    • Contemporary Dating Culture!!! Why does it suck, how can it suck less! (with Jonquilyn Hill)

    • All things Love is Blind with Audie Cornish

    • Eldest daughter discourse

    • An ADULT HOBBIES crossover episode with Forever35!

    • The sociology of NAMES (naming trends, naming assumptions)

    • WEIRD ENGLISH WORDS (where do they come from!) with Colin Gorrie, who writes explainers like this one on the word DOG

    • 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 them (and ideas for future eps) here

    For this week’s discussion: Where have you seen anti-climate-change masculinity pop up in your own life? Commercials, relatives, IG feeds — tell us about it.

    15 October 2025, 9:01 am
  • Let's Talk About Baseball Culture!!!

    FIRST OFF — PLEASE TAKE OUR MEMBERSHIP SURVEY!!

    The podcast only works because of your questions (and episode ideas!) and we want more of them (and your ideas about bonus episodes, pricing, etc.) It’ll take five minutes tops, and really helps us figure out the future of the entire Culture Study extended universe. Thank you ahead of time, and just click here to take it.

    Baseball is so romantic!! There is SO MUCH RITUAL! It’s beautiful, it’s meditative, it’s the very best thing to listen to on the radio. And I’m so glad that we convinced Ali Liebegott [Mets Fan] to come join Melody [Royals Fan] and me [Mariners / Twins fan] to answer all of your questions about baseball culture (and there were SO MANY OF THEM). We talk about how to respond to people who say it’s boring; we talk about the changes in the game over the last two years (and how casual and opposite-of-casual fans feel about it); we talk about MR MET and Homer Hankies and Dadness and being a queer fan of baseball and how long a game should be (Ali says: forever). It’s just a really delightful conversation, and I’m so excited for you to join it.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today’s episode!

    • It’s Graza’s annual sitewide sale! Time to stock up on olive oil for the year. Discounts are automatically applied at checkout; no code needed.

    • 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

    • Head to moshlife.com/CULTURE to save 20% off plus FREE shipping on the Best sellers Trial Pack or the NEW plant-based trial pack

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

    Show Notes:

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

    • Running a Small Business — and How to Make It Sustainable & Survivable (with Jen Hewett!)

    • All things Love is Blind with Audie Cornish

    • Different Modalities of Hanging Out (aka, best ways to hang out with different people) with Mary HK Choi

    • What an actually family-friendly society would look like (with Elliot Haspel)

    • An ADULT HOBBIES crossover episode with Forever35!

    • The sociology of NAMES

    • 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 them (and ideas for future eps) here

    For this week’s discussion: There’s so much we didn’t even have time to cover, so consider this a free for all!

    8 October 2025, 9:00 am
  • Why Other People's Screen Time Annoys You

    Maybe your mom endlessly scrolls Facebook every time you visit. Maybe your kid has to be asked six times to get off his tablet. Maybe your friend is always checking Instagram when you’re out to dinner. Maybe your partner keeps checking their phone while you’re watching a movie together. Or maybe you find yourself doing all the things you find SO ANNOYING when others do them — and know these behaviors are affecting your relationships, but struggle to change them. Are you one of the 510234 moms who submitted a question about feeling guilty being on your phone (even if you’re just reading an eBook!) in front of your kids? Welp, this is the podcast for you.

    This isn’t a podcast episode about how ALL SCREENS ARE BAD and YOU ARE BAD FOR ENGAGING WITH THEM. It’s about recasting our relationships with them so that we can have better relationships with each other (which sometimes involves watching a screen… together!) Ash Brandin, founder of the tremendously popular Instagram account The Gamer Educator and author of Power On: Managing Screen Time To Benefit The Whole Family, joins me for a nuanced and deeply empathetic conversation that I know we’ll continue in the comments.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today’s episode!

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

    • Try a Blissy silk pillowcase for 60 nights, risk-free, and get an additional 30% off when you shop at Blissy.com/CULTUREPOD and use code CULTUREPOD at checkout

    • Visit Article.com/CULTURE to get $50 off your first order of $100 or more

    • Try Remi risk-free at shopremi.com/CULTURE and use code CULTURE to get up to 50% off your nightguard at checkout

    Show Notes:

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

    • Running a Small Business — and How to Make It Sustainable & Survivable (with Jen Hewett!)

    • All things Love is Blind with Audie Cornish

    • Different Modalities of Hanging Out (aka, best ways to hang out with different people) with Mary HK Choi

    • The history/utility/culture of OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE GEAR with Avery Trufelman (of Articles of Interest)

    • What an actually family-friendly society would look like (with Elliot Haspel)

    • An ADULT HOBBIES crossover episode with Forever35!

    • The sociology of NAMES

    • 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 them (and ideas for future eps) here

    For this week’s discussion: How have screens been affecting your relationships with your friends or family members — and what would you like to shift?

    1 October 2025, 9:00 am
  • Who Gets a Mid-Life Reinvention?

    By the mid-2010s, Jen Hatmaker had become one of the most important voices in white Evangelical culture. She had multiple best-selling books; she headlined massive women’s retreats; she was an influencer before we really even used that term. But then she broke with Evangelical doctrine when it came to LGBTQ people… and everything fell apart. More accurately, they started to fall apart — because the real life implosion wouldn’t come until 2020, when she woke up to the sound of her husband, a pastor, sending a voice memo to his mistress. Then things really fell apart.

    Hatmaker hasn’t spoken publicly about the details of her divorce, but after five years, a lot of therapy, and her five children all entered into adulthood — she’s ready. Her life exploded. But then she was able to rebuild it using her own designs — not the church’s. Today she’s on the pod to answer your complex questions about midlife reinvention: how it happens, all the reasons it can happen, and who gets the “privilege” of pursuing it. I really loved this conversation, and if you like rolling around all the ways we can (and sometimes struggle) to change our lives, you will too.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today’s episode!

    Show Notes:

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

    • Running a Small Business — and How to Make It Sustainable & Survivable (with Jen Hewett!)

    • All things Love is Blind with Audie Cornish

    • Different Modalities of Hanging Out (aka, best ways to hang out with different people) with Mary HK Choi

    • Baseball Culture (with Ali Liebegott and Melody as additional co-host!!!)

    • The history/utility/culture of OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE GEAR with Avery Trufelman (of Articles of Interest)

    • What an actually family-friendly society would look like (with Elliot Haspel)

    • An ADULT HOBBIES crossover episode with Forever35!

    • 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 them (and ideas for future eps) here

    For this week’s discussion: I just know you’re going to have a lot to say about mid-life invention, so let’s do it.

    24 September 2025, 9:00 am
  • Figuring Out What's Behind Seven Recent Food Trends

    I love talking about food as culture — and like all parts of culture, food has trends that ebb and flow. We asked you to provide us with food trends you’ve noticed (and/or confuse you) — and then we asked the great Evan Kleiman (chef, cookbook author, and longtime host of KCRW’s Good Food) to come unwind them with us. Want to know what it takes for a dish to show up at every corporate catering event? Why every restaurant in the U.S. (still) has a brussels sprouts dish? How hot chicken got franchised? WE’VE GOT YOU. This episode is filled with delights (and will make you want to browse expensive tinned fish online).

    Thanks to the sponsors of today’s episode!

    Show Notes:

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

    • Running a Small Business — and How to Make It Sustainable & Survivable (with Jen Hewett!)

    • All things Love is Blind with Audie Cornish

    • Different Modalities of Hanging Out (aka, best ways to hang out with different people) with Mary HK Choi

    • Baseball Culture (with Ali Liebegott and Melody as additional co-host!!!)

    • The history/utility/culture of OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE GEAR with Avery Trufelman (of Articles of Interest)

    • What an actually family-friendly society would look like (with Elliot Haspel)

    • An ADULT HOBBIES crossover episode with Forever35!

    • 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 them (and ideas for future eps) here

    For this week’s discussion: What food trend are you STILL curious about?

    17 September 2025, 9:04 am
  • How Algorithms Are Changing the Way We Speak

    This one’s a weird one! But it’s also going to elucidate a bunch of bewildering phrases that you might have noticed popping up in advertisements or in teens’ conversations. Adam Aleksic runs the incredibly popular TikTok/IG/YouTube account Etymology Nerd, where he breaks down how new phrases and memes travel across the internet. Today, we’re talking to him about the way these phrases also make their way into our spoken language — and how algorithms function as a new engine in language change. Like I said, it’s a weird one — but it’s also incredibly interesting.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today’s episode!

    • Get 15% off your first purchase using code CULTURE at FastGrowingTrees.com

    • Head to moshlife.com/CULTURE to save 20% off, plus free shipping, on the Best sellers Trial Pack or the NEW plant-based trial pack

    • Get better sleep, hair and skin with Blissy and use CULTUREPOD to get an additional 30% off at blissy.com/CULTUREPOD

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

    Show Notes:

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

    • Running a Small Business — and How to Make It Sustainable & Survivable (with Jen Hewett!)

    • All things Love is Blind with Audie Cornish

    • Different Modalities of Hanging Out (aka, best ways to hang out with different people) with Mary HK Choi

    • Baseball Culture (with Ali Liebegott and Melody as additional co-host!!!)

    • The history/utility/culture of OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE GEAR with Avery Trufelman (of Articles of Interest)

    • What an actually family-friendly society would look like (with Elliot Haspel)

    • An ADULT HOBBIES crossover episode with Forever35!

    • 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 them (and ideas for future eps) here

    For this week’s discussion: What other forms of ‘algospeak’ do you see popping up in your life?

    10 September 2025, 9:00 am
  • One Gwyneth Episode to Rule Them All

    There aren’t many contemporary celebrities with images layered enough that I could talk about them all day. But Gwyneth? She’s one of them. She’s it. She’s never pretended to be “just like us,” which is part of what makes her beguiling — and infuriating. She knows exactly what she’s doing, and sometimes what she’s doing is trying to get a bunch of people to talk about jade eggs you put in your vagina. She’s a master marketer of self, a promoter of charlatans, and impossible to ignore. And I’m so thrilled to have Amy Odell, author of the new, impeccably reported Gwyneth biography, here to discuss all your excellent questions.

    Thanks to the sponsors of today’s episode!

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

    • Save 20% Off Honeylove by going to honeylove.com/CULTURE

    • Try Remi risk-free at shopremi.com/CULTURE and use code CULTURE to get up to 50% off your nightguard at checkout

    • 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

    Show Notes:

    • Follow Amy Odell on Instagram here

    • Subscribe to Amy’s Substack, BACK ROW

    • Buy Gwyneth here

    • The glorious backside of the book, covered in interview excerpts:

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

    • Running a Small Business — and How to Make It Sustainable & Survivable (with Jen Hewett!)

    • All things Love is Blind with Audie Cornish

    • Different Modalities of Hanging Out (aka, best ways to hang out with different people) with Mary HK Choi

    • Baseball Culture (with Ali Liebegott and Melody as additional co-host!!!)

    • The history/utility/culture of OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE GEAR with Avery Trufelman (of Articles of Interest)

    • What an actually family-friendly society would look like (with Elliot Haspel)

    • An ADULT HOBBIES crossover episode with Forever35!

    • 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 them (and ideas for future eps) here

    For this week’s discussion: Tell me all your ADDITIONAL Gwyneth thoughts!

    3 September 2025, 9:00 am
  • Dozens of New-To-You Books for Your TBR Pile

    Over on the newsletter, our book concierge threads — when people ask for specific book recommendations, and readers then offer their suggestions — regularly top 1500 comments. We wanted to bring the same energy to the podcast, and Maris Kreizman, author of The Maris Review and I Want To Burn This Place Down, reads more (and more widely) than anyone else I know. I promise: you’ll leave this episode with a new pile of books you want to read immediately. (And honestly, that’s the Back to School Adult Energy I crave).

    Thanks to the sponsors of today’s episode!

    Show Notes:

    • Subscribe to Maris’s newsletter, The Maris Review, here.

    • Buy Maris’s new book, I Want To Burn This Place Down, here!

    BOOKS WE MENTION IN THIS EPISODE

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

    • Running a Small Business — and How to Make It Sustainable & Survivable (with Jen Hewett!)

    • All things Love is Blind with Audie Cornish

    • Different Modalities of Hanging Out (aka, best ways to hang out with different people) with Mary HK Choi

    • Baseball Culture (with Ali Liebegott and Melody as additional co-host!!!)

    • The history/utility/culture of OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE GEAR with Avery Trufelman (of Articles of Interest)

    • What an actually family-friendly society would look like (with Elliot Haspel)

    • An ADULT HOBBIES crossover episode with Forever35!

    • 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 them (and ideas for future eps) here

    For this week’s discussion: In addition to our recs… what other books would you suggest for our question-askers?

    27 August 2025, 9:01 am
  • More Episodes? Get the App