Stuff Mom Never Told You

Recent research has found that open relationships may be healthier than monogamous ones. Cristen and Caroline investigate the dynamics, risks and rewards of open relationships. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're a millennial with a smart phone, there's a good chance you're on Instagram. Caroline and Cristen chart the brief history of the popular photo filter app, who uses it and what our Instagram feeds say about modern life. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anger is complex emotion, especially when gender gets involved. Caroline and Cristen explore how men and women experience and express anger differently and how to manage anger when it naturally arises. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cristen and Caroline get down to the stinky science and gender differences of passing gas because, like it or not, everybody farts. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever wonder why there isn't a women's Tour de France? Women competitive and pro cycling has long lagged behind men's pro cycling, but not for lack of athleticism. Caroling and Cristen discuss female cyclists' uphill fight for recognition. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1985, graphic novelist Alison Bechdel described "The Test" for movies that require a) two named women on screen, b) talking to each other, c) about something other than a man. Cristen and Caroline talk about the Bechdel Test today and how it can evaluate representations of gender and race in movies and television. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omny...

Florence Williams, the author of "Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History," stops by the show to talk about the evolution of breasts, the history of breast implants and how environmental toxins are invading breast tissues. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women are waiting longer to have children, but when does fertility take a nosedive? Caroline and Cristen explore the science of female fertility and why 35 isn't necessarily the beginning of the end for natural conception. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While Debbie Sterling was an engineering student at Stanford University, the small number of female engineers got her thinking about how to engage young girls in STEM fields. Cristen chatted with the engineer-turned-entrepreneur, about her invention of Goldieblox, a toy designed to teach girls engineering principles within a narrative framework, and why toys for girls should diversify beyond pink...

As soon as women entered the American workplace in the 1860s, sex and romance have been a common undercurrent of office life. Cristen and Caroline explore the risks and rewards of 21st-century office romances, along with cupid contracts, trading sex for promotions and sexual harassment. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Why did it take until 1998 for Cosmopolitan to use the term "bachelorette party?" Because the raucous pre-wedding shindigs haven't been around very long, since bachelor parties were for grooms and showers were for brides. Cristen and Caroline explore the social and sexual symbolism of the rise of the bachelorette party. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See o...

Betrothed men and women have exchanged rings for centuries, but women receiving diamonds is a 20th-century invention. Cristen and Caroline take an unromantic look and how DeBeers taught us that diamonds are forever and should cost two months salary. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled The Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage between a man and a woman, unconstitutional. Caroline and Cristen look at a history of gay marriage in the United States and the next steps toward legalizing same-sex marriage. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Word War II, pets became a standard part of American homes. Now, some think that the love and money we shower on our domesticated animals constitutes pet parenting. Cristen and Caroline discuss pet attachments and how it relates to couples who are childfree-by-choice. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why are two-thirds of diagnosed kleptomaniacs women? Cristen and Caroline explore the 19th-century rise of retail consumerism, shoplifting and how kleptomania was invented to help keep wealthy women out of prison. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why are online "whisper" communities giving people brain orgasms? Caroline and Cristen discuss autonomous sensory meridian response, or ASMR, and investigate what's up with those strange tingling sensations. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How has Photoshop, social media and modern advertising altered the meaning of beauty? Cristen interviews beauty scholar Autumn Whitefield-Madrono of The Beheld about 21st-century beauty and how it intersects with technology and feminism. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For their annual summer reading episode, Caroline and Cristen discuss the impact of gendered book covers, the viral "cover flip" challenge, and whether books written by women are taken as seriously by publishers and critics. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When actress Mary Pickford cut off her long hair in 1928, the haircut made The New York Times front page. Since short hair is still shocking today, Caroline and Cristen examine the sociocultural meanings of close-cropped women. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's normal for kids to wet the bed, but scientists still don't know exactly why they do. Cristen and Caroline talk Freud, genetics and moisture alarms as they explore the psychology, physiology and neurology of why bedwetting happens. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The term "drunkorexia" was coined in 2008 to describe people who intentionally drink on an empty stomach to "save" calories and money. Media reports suggest that it's sweeping college campuses, but Cristen and Caroline also discuss how the trendy term has more serious implications for the intersection of eating disorders and substance abuse. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpo...

For the final Boys of Summer installment, Caroline and Cristen highlight William Moulton Marston, the polyamorous inventor of Wonder Woman and how Marston's feminism influenced the iconic comic book superheroine. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After more than 50 years on TV, Barbara Walters is retiring in 2014. Cristen and Caroline discuss her legacy as a pioneering female broadcast journalist and soft-news aficionado, and why TIME magazine called her the "Most Appalling Argument for Feminism." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the third Boys of Summer installment, Cristen and Caroline hat tip JK Starley, the engineer who invented the bicycle as we know it today, and explain how the bicycle was a transportation revolution for women. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Founded in the 19th century, women's colleges now dwindle in number and popularity for female scholars. Caroline and Cristen discuss the history of these all-female institutions and the pros and cons of their 21st-century existence. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.