Culture Study Podcast

Philanthropy is so weird. Celebrities: also weird. When the two collide, you get something even more bizarre. Why should we believe what Ashton Kutcher has to say about human trafficking? How did Bill Gates change the very core of his image? What does The Gilded Age teach us about philanthropy and social position? And why does giving feel more and more like shopping ? Amy Schiller joins the pod to...

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 Rush videos. At sports games. In the background of TikToks of teens plaintively yearning to be 2000s teens. In weird animation videos meant for seven-year-old boys. Why THIS music, and why RIGHT NOW? Musicologist Nate Sloan— co-host of one of my favorite...

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 everywhere, the science (some interesting, some junk) behind it, whether it’s been “bro-ified,” who’s buying those $6000 cold plunge tubs… and how to actually start doing it, if that’s your thing. Show Notes: The Huberman Lab Podcast (I also like this Jess Gr...

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 focus on, what could you possibly talk about for 45 minutes… but just you wait. WHY are they hiding that it’s a musical? WHO do they think is the actual audience for this movie? What happens when millennial content is rebooted for Gen-Z audiences without con...

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 it in fact Real Housewives of Monaco , what’s the current drama, and so much more . Because this is a conversation between someone with very little knowledge about F1 (me) and someone with an abundance of knowledge about F1 (Nicole) it’s accessible to al...

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 New Republic , and an avid consumer of children’s television — to talk about Paw Patrol . We talk about copaganda, plot laziness, why 90% of the characters are boys, how Paw Patrol gets “in the water” at most kids’ schools even if they don’t actually watch...

For the third episode of the Culture Study podcast 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 make the transition from big time pop star to BIGGEST POP STAR? How do we feel about the Matty Healy of it all? Is Travis Kelce interesting or is their relationship just interesting? Why do I feel so a...

For the second episode of the Culture Study podcast, we’re diving into the nerdy and awesome and frustrating world of the infrastructure that surrounds us. Why are sidewalks so bad in so many places? How do we undo car dependencies? What’s the deal with a power company in Vermont distributing a huge battery to every customer? What are we going to do about all these ready-to-fail water treatment pl...

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 falling apart or pilling after just a few wears? Why does Gucci charge $3200 for a polyester sweater? What happened to ironing and will we ever dry clean en masse again? Amanda Mull , staff writer at The Atlantic , joins me for a deep dive into the past t...

Friends! I am so thrilled to introduce THE CULTURE STUDY PODCAST. It’s like the Culture Study newsletter….but more esoteric, more casual, and (most of the time) a lot more funny. The format is pretty simple. We’re going to take the Culture Study ethos of everything is interesting and turn it on various cultural phenomena that beguile and annoy and fascinate and infuriate us. Like: why are clothes...