Culture Study Podcast

The third installment in our BACK TO SCHOOL Fashion Series is here! Corinne Fay is one of my favorite style writers — in part because she's writing for people that "Style" has largely ignored. She's out here finding the clothes that are actually inclusively sized, that work on all sorts of bodies, and that fit with your vision of self and gender. Her work delights me and expands my own style repertoire, and I think you, too, will be delighted as we work through so many listener questions about the everyday problems of just getting dressed. How do you figure out your style vs. what media has said should be your style? How do you find your sense of style postpartum? How do you deal when shopping for clothes feels like distress? How do you figure out your late-in-life queer style? We tackle them all.

• Save 20% Off Honeylove by going to honeylove.com/CULTURE
• Use code CULTURE at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a free gift with your first purchase
• Machine Washable Rugs, Made Better. For a limited time only, our listeners get 10% off + free shipping at tumbleliving.com/CULTURE
• Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/CULTURE and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

• Go subscribe to Big Undies! No matter your size, gender, or who you're into, you're gonna have fun with the style features here
• I love Corinne's Tiktok VERY MUCH but I love this tok the most
• Corinne mentions one of Dacy Gillespie's classes
• Some of the brands Corinne suggests looking at: Elizabeth Suzann, Ace & Jig, State, Connolly Goods, Nettle Studios
• Gem lets you search for an item across multiple secondhand websites
• Check out our previous installments in the 'Back to School' Series: All Your Questions About Personal Style, Answered and How an Article of Clothing Goes Viral

• FANCY JOURNAL / PLANNER CULTURE with Alex Sujong Laughlin — what fantasy of self are we chasing? What works, what pisses you off, what feels like pandering?
• WTF IS GOING ON WITH TELEVISION RIGHT NOW with Phil Maciak and Kathryn VanArendonk — podcasts-as-television, Netflix's Second Season Problem, what the networks aren't learning from Widow's Bay, ask us more!
• WOMEN LEAVING THE (CHRISTIAN) CHURCH — what are you seeing, what are you curious about, what are they leaving for?
• VENMO CULTURE: People who won't let you treat, people who say they're gonna Venmo you after you put a big dinner on your card and then don't, the utility (and annoyance) of Splitwise, Venmo-ing for a $4 coffee... convince Melody that there's an episode here
• LOW KEY SUPER RICH PEOPLE — ever since I read this piece on 'American Gentry' I've wanted to do a big episode about how the real (diffuse) wealth in this country is people who own care dealerships, HVAC companies, and other "pass-through" S-Corps. How does that wealth persist, what power does it wield, why do they vote the way they do, WHO ARE THEY, REALLY? (We're talking with some economists who've really crunched the numbers on this, so it's gonna be fascinating)
• 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.

• Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
• Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
• Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
• Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode is so chaotic! (Also very fun, very interesting, and obviously very smart.) All of our best laid plans for how it would go went straight out the window — that's what happens when you talk to two of the smartest, most introspective personalities in podcasting right now. We talk about NPR Voice (and how it's continuing to change), ticks of rural speech, what people actually mean when they say 'I didn't know you were Black' or 'I didn't know you were gay,' and so much more. This episode is a real just trust me — I hope you laugh as much as we did.

• If you’re looking to make a small change in your routine, you can get 15% off your first order at Blueland.com/CULTURE.
• Ollie. Feed the Obsession. Go to ollie.com/culture and use code CULTURE to get 70% off your first box!
• Wake up with clearer skin, smoother hair, and cooler sleep. Use code CULTUREPOD for an extra 30% off at blissy.com/CULTUREPOD.
• NOBL gives you real travel peace of mind — security, design, and convenience all in one. Head to NOBLTravel.com for 46% off your entire order!

• Go listen to Engagement Party!
• Follow Audie on Instagram here and Ari on Instagram here
• The conversation with Kara Swisher on 'ditching the NPR personalities' that made me want to do this episode is excerpted here

• WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION — no one knows wtf to do these days. Why are emails SO BAD? Why are people texting your personal phone? What are we even doing with Slack/Teams right now? Let's work through the weirdness.
• FANCY JOURNAL / PLANNER CULTURE with Alex Sujong Laughlin — what fantasy of self are we chasing? What works, what pisses you off, what feels like pandering?
• WTF IS GOING ON WITH TELEVISION RIGHT NOW with Phil Maciak and Kathryn VanArendonk — podcasts-as-television, Netflix's Second Season Problem, what the networks aren't learning from Widow's Bay, ask us more!
• WOMEN LEAVING THE (CHRISTIAN) CHURCH — what are you seeing, what are you curious about, what are they leaving for?
• VENMO CULTURE: People who won't let you treat, people who say they're gonna Venmo you after you put a big dinner on your card and then don't, the utility (and annoyance) of Splitwise, Venmo-ing for a $4 coffee... convince Melody that there's an episode here
• LOW KEY SUPER RICH PEOPLE — ever since I read this piece on 'American Gentry' I've wanted to do a big episode about how the real (diffuse) wealth in this country is people who own care dealerships, HVAC companies, and other "pass-through" S-Corps. How does that wealth persist, what power does it wield, why do they vote the way they do, WHO ARE THEY, REALLY? (We're talking with some economists who've really crunched the numbers on this, so it's gonna be fascinating)
• 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.

• Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
• Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
• Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
• Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is not an episode about whether or not you should delete your social media accounts — we've had that conversation, and we'll keep having that conversation. Instead, this is an episode about all the weird habits we've developed around posting: posting on vacation, posting (or not posting) when sick or on leave, posting about your everyday life to your 200 followers like you're an influencer. It's about what compelled us to start posting in the first place — all the small pleasures of knowing things about people — and how those pleasures have been wrung out of the process.

Social media taught us a different way of telling the story of our lives. But now those stories feel dystopian and uncanny. Is it the end of posting as we knew it? Kathryn Jezer-Morton, author of the fantastic new book The Story of Your Life: How Social Media Shapes the Way We Experience Everything, joins the pod to work through these questions and more.

• Taking care of your health just got easier – start here with Zocdoc: https://zocdoc.com/culture
• Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/CULTURE and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.
• Go to  https://zbiotics.com/culturestudy and use CULTURESTUDY at checkout for 15% off any first time orders of ZBiotics probiotics.
• Use code CULTURE at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a Free Gift with your first purchase!

• FOLLOW KATHRYN'S GREAT INSTA!! (lol) No seriously, follow her here.
• Buy THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE here
• All of Kathryn's fantastic writing on The Cut re: parenting / social / everything in-between
• The NYT review of The Story of Your Life I briefly reference is here
• If you're interested in Kathryn's dissertation on momfluencers
• The Marie Claire piece on vacation posting reference by one of the questions: I'm Not an Influencer. So Why Do I Feel Pressure to Post Holiday Photos?

• WTF IS GOING ON WITH TELEVISION RIGHT NOW with Phil Maciak and Kathryn VanArendonk — podcasts-as-television, Netflix's Second Season Problem, what the networks aren't learning from Widow's Bay, ask us more!
• WOMEN LEAVING THE (CHRISTIAN) CHURCH — what are you seeing, what are you curious about, what are they leaving for?
• VENMO CULTURE: People who won't let you treat, people who say they're gonna Venmo you after you put a big dinner on your card and then don't, the utility (and annoyance) of Splitwise, Venmo-ing for a $4 coffee... convince Melody that there's an episode here
• LOW KEY SUPER RICH PEOPLE — ever since I read this piece on 'American Gentry' I've wanted to do a big episode about how the real (diffuse) wealth in this country is people who own care dealerships, HVAC companies, and other "pass-through" S-Corps. How does that wealth persist, what power does it wield, why do they vote the way they do, WHO ARE THEY, REALLY? (We're talking with some economists who've really crunched the numbers on this, so it's gonna be fascinating)
• THE LATEST IN BOOK TRENDS with Alyssa Morris (from our very popular BookTok episode!). Ask Alyssa about whatever you're seeing in the book world: covers, genres, how it's handling fan-fic, BookTok trends.....
• JOURNO-INFLUENCERS with s.e. smith — yep, another episode on influencers, this time on how they're changing the norms of journalism. What journo-influencers do you follow and what makes them compelling? What's the future of journalism when it's wed to this style of promotion? Is it actually anything new? Ask away!
• 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.

• Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
• Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
• Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
• Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It feels like a real symptom of the modern age that an article of clothing can just start... following you around online. There it is, in your Instagram feed (again, and again, and again). But it's also there in between paragraphs while you're reading the New York Times, or suggesting you click while you're sifting through your Buy Nothing group on Facebook, or accosting you every tenth video on TikTok.

It'd be one thing if these things were cute... but so many of them feel like they're trying to make fetch (or a barrel leg) happen. I'm so thrilled to have veteran fashion journalist Cheryl Wischhover here to explain how an item of clothing goes viral (we tackle so many of your specific asks) and how virality, e-commerce, and influencing intertwine. This is an absolutely fascinating ep — I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

• Machine Washable Rugs, Made Better. For a limited time only, our listeners get 10% off + free shipping at tumbleliving.com/CULTURE
• Ollie. Feed the Obsession. Go to ollie.com/culture and use code culture to get 70% off your first box!
• Listen to rePROS Fight Back wherever you get your podcasts.
• Get $35 off your first box of wild-caught, sustainable seafood—delivered right to your door. Go to:  https://www.wildalaskan.com/CULTURE

• Strongly suggest subscribing to Cheryl's newsletter, Good for Your Age
• Her piece on the Ruti pants that made me want to pod with her immediately
• Cheryl's Bloomberg piece on how affiliate links are even taking over group chats 
• This is the second entry in our 'Back to School' Fashion Episodes — check out our previous episode on All Your Questions About Personal Style, Answered

• WTF IS GOING ON WITH TELEVISION RIGHT NOW with Phil Maciak and Kathryn VanArendonk — podcasts-as-television, Netflix's Season Season Problem, what the networks aren't learning from Widow's Bay, ask us more!
• WOMEN LEAVING THE (CHRISTIAN) CHURCH — what are you seeing, what are you curious about, what are they leaving for?
• VENMO CULTURE: People who won't let you treat, people who say they're gonna Venmo you after you put a big dinner on your card and then don't, the utility (and annoyance) of Splitwise, Venmo-ing for a $4 coffee... convince Melody that there's an episode here
• LOW KEY SUPER RICH PEOPLE — ever since I read this piece on 'American Gentry' I've wanted to do a big episode about how the real (diffuse) wealth in this country is people who own care dealerships, HVAC companies, and other "pass-through" S-Corps. How does that wealth persist, what power does it wield, why do they vote the way they do, WHO ARE THEY, REALLY? (We're talking with some economists who've really crunched the numbers on this, so it's gonna be fascinating)
• THE LATEST IN BOOK TRENDS with Alyssa Morris (from our very popular BookTok episode!). Ask Alyssa about whatever you're seeing in the book world: covers, genres, how it's handling fan-fic, BookTok trends.....
• JOURNO-INFLUENCERS with s.e. smith — yep, another episode on influencers, this time on how they're changing the norms of journalism. What journo-influencers do you follow and what makes them compelling? What's the future of journalism when it's wed to this style of promotion? Is it actually anything new? Ask away!
• 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.

• Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
• Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
• Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
• Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There are eight books in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and people have bought fourteen million of them. First published online, then self-published on Amazon, with an audiobook version that people won't shut up about, Dungeon Crawler Carl has become the fantasy phenomenon of the year — and earned the moniker of "the book that all your [dude] friends who don't read are actually reading."

I went in skeptical: video game fiction is decidedly not my genre. But there were enough people in the Culture Study universe reading and loving them that I knew there was something going on — with the style, the worldview, the genre play — that would be the makings of a good podcast episode. (I just didn't expect to like it quite as much as I did — as you'll hear in the ep, I'm on now on Book Four!)

If you're deep in DCC and want to talk about what works (and doesn't), we go there. If you're mystified by the popularity, we go there too. And we try really, really hard to make this an episode that'll still be interesting to people who haven't read the books, but want to think more about why these books are so popular.

Also discussed: Princess Donut as child sidekick, editing (or lack thereof), Katia's surprising arc, whether this book is for teens, Foot Buffs, D&D, a particular stylistic tick, Wenatchee in-jokes, and truly so much more.

(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 dot com)

• As always, follow Margaret on Instagram and subscribe to Two Bossy Dames
• The piece I repeatedly reference: "You deserve better literature than Dungeon Crawler Carl"
• The best thing I've read on Dungeon Crawler Carl, no question: "Left in the Dungeon"

• Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
• Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
• Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
• Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Over the last six years, our conversations on Culture Study have often circled back to a handful of recurring themes: contemporary work culture, burnout, optimization culture, intensive parenting, the often hollow pull of the algorithm, the tattered social safety net, and the desire to engage more with the world (and community) around us. We're fun, I promise! And today we're going to weave together so many of those threads in an intricate conversation about the broken promises of convenience culture.

Gabe Bullard started writing Against Convenience years before "friction-maxxing" became a thing. He's thought deeply about the bad time bargains of conveniences large and small, and he's spectacularly well-equipped to work through your questions on everything from the tyranny of pre-check, the difficulty of letting go of a lunch-order-habit, and much bigger questions about how convenience culture facilitates our worst forms of individualism. There's so much for us to keep building on in the comments, too, so make sure and find us there.

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
• Ready to upgrade your eyewear to something functional, fashionable, fun, and affordable? Head to goodr.com/CULTURE to claim $10 off your first order.
• Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. Visit ARTICLE.COM/CULTURE and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.
• Save 20% Off Honeylove by going to honeylove.com/CULTURE

Show Notes:

• Buy Against Convenience at your local bookstore (or through Bookshop, which is more convenient than your local bookshop but purposefully less convenient than Amazon)
• Subscribe to Gabe's newsletter here
• Gabe references Never Done: A History of American Housework by Susan Strasser
• He also mentions this classic Wendell Berry essay, "Why I Am Not Going To Buy A Computer"

We're currently looking for your questions on the following topics:

• WHAT'S GOING ON INFLUENCER CULTURE? with Katie Sturino — what's going on with privacy, spon, monetization, politics, algorithm fatigue — anything you want to ask someone who's watched the influencing world transform from inside
• THE LATEST IN BOOK TRENDS with Alyssa Morris (from our very popular BookTok episode!). Ask Alyssa about whatever you're seeing in the book world: covers, genres, how it's handling fan-fic, BookTok trends.....
• JOURNO-INFLUENCERS with s.e. smith — yep, another episode on influencers, this time on how they're changing the norms of journalism. What journo-influencers do you follow and what makes them compelling? What's the future of journalism when it's wed to this style of promotion? Is it actually anything new? Ask away!

• Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
• Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
• Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
• Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Conflict happens — and navigating that conflict is essential to a healthy community, a healthy relationship, and a healthy workplace. But so many of us are conflict-adverse (often for good reason). We need better strategies, better paradigms... better fighting advice. Priya Parker, author of the Culture Study foundational text The Art of Gathering, is here to give it to us.

We talk about fighting with our parents — especially stubborn parents. We talk about women figuring out their tone and conflict navigation at work (and on Slack!!!). We talk about how to fight when you and your partner have opposite fighting "styles"... and how to fight when you start crying as soon you sense conflict. I often shy away from conversations like these because the advice can feel very theoretical and woo. But there's so much actionable advice packed into this episode — we finished recording and Melody immediately texted me to say wow, to which I replied, dude, I know. Listen and see what we mean!

• Wake up with clearer skin, smoother hair, and cooler sleep. Use code CULTUREPOD for an extra 30% off at blissy.com/CULTUREPOD
• Ollie. Feed the Obsession. Go to ollie.com/culture and use code culture to get 70% off your first box!
• Use code CULTURE at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a free gift with your first purchase!
• Get 40% off select Lola Blankets products at Lolablankets.com by using code CULTURE at checkout. Experience the world’s #1 blanket with Lola Blankets.

• Follow Priya Parker on IG here (I'm always getting ideas from her!)
• Buy The Art of Fighting here
• Subscribe to Priya's wonderful newsletter "Group Life" here
• The Group Help Learning Lab
• A transcript for this episode is available here.

• WHAT'S GOING ON INFLUENCER CULTURE? with Katie Sturino — what's going on with privacy, spon, monetization, politics, algorithm fatigue — anything you want to ask someone who's watched the influencing world transform from inside
• THE LATEST IN BOOK TRENDS with Alyssa Morris (from our very popular BookTok episode!). Ask Alyssa about whatever you're seeing in the book world: covers, genres, how it's handling fan-fic, BookTok trends.....
• JOURNO-INFLUENCERS with s.e. smith — yep, another episode on influencers, this time on how they're changing the norms of journalism. What journo-influencers do you follow and what makes them compelling? What's the future of journalism when it's wed to this style of promotion? Is it actually anything new? Ask away!
• 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.

• Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
• Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
• Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
• Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I love kids. In a different timeline, I'd almost certainly have them. But when I was in my 30s, I looked around — and looked at my own bank account, and the realities of childcare, the weight of my student loans, and how hard people without close family support were working just to get by — and I thought: I can't make this work. And because I didn't even try to have a kid, I didn't have to confront the likelihood of needing fertility treatment to get pregnant in my late 30s.

People often say that there's no good time to have a baby, so you should just ignore all the things that make it feel fraught and go for it. You'll make it work. But that argument has begun to feel increasingly out-of-touch. Parenting amidst a polycrisis is really hard. If you've delayed parenthood for whatever reason, getting pregnant — or adopting a child — has become incredibly expensive. Even in countries with robust safety nets, adults are increasingly deprioritizing having kids. In her new book, Anna Louie Sussman takes a non-sensationalist look at the declining birth rate in so many countries, digging past the surface-level data to get at the much deeper question: what makes parenthood feel increasingly inconceivable? And what could possibly be done to make it feel otherwise?

• NOBL gives you real travel peace of mind — security, design, and convenience all in one. Head to NOBLTravel.com for 46% off your entire order!
• If you’re looking to make a small change in your routine, you can get 15% off your first order at Blueland.com/CULTURE
• Get $35 off your first box of wild-caught, sustainable seafood—delivered right to your door. Go to:  https://www.wildalaskan.com/CULTURE
• Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/CULTURE and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

• Learn more about Anna Louie Sussman's work here
• Buy Inconceivable here
• We talk about the original NYT article ("The End of Babies") that sparked this book; you can find it here (gift link)

• WHAT'S GOING ON INFLUENCER CULTURE? with Katie Sturino — what's going on with privacy, spon, monetization, politics, algorithm fatigue — anything you want to ask someone who's watched the influencing world transform from inside
• THE LATEST IN BOOK TRENDS with Alyssa Morris (from our very popular BookTok episode!). Ask Alyssa about whatever you're seeing in the book world: covers, genres, how it's handling fan fic, BookTok trends.....
• JOURNO-INFLUENCERS with s.e. smith — yep, another episode on influencers, this time on how they're changing the norms of journalism. What journo-influencers do you follow and what makes them compelling? What's the future of journalism when it's wed to this style of promotion? Is it actually anything new? Ask away!
• 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.

• Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
• Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
• Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
• Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A man with a fairytale castle in upstate New York who keeps trying to make a self-produced reality show about "princesses" happen — and become a modern-day Hugh Hefner. A man who got famous on YouTube for lawn care who ends up filming himself as a baby — and has a SWAT team called to his house. These stories form the backbone of Jon Ronson's journey into the world of "unraveling men." Those two men's stories are exceptional, but they're also an entry point into a subject area I like to think of as "WTF is going on with dudes right now."

Join Jon and me as we avoid the usual discussion about "toxic masculinity" and go deeper into friend-less-ness, algorithms, purposelessness, Sad Dads, and male buffoonery. It's a wild ride that felt like the beginning of a much longer conversation (that I hope we can keep having in the comments)!

• Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
• Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
• Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
• Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In June, I sent out a Friday Thread prompt that readers had been asking for, in one shape or another, for years: How do we talk about non-romantic breakups? Why do they sting SO MUCH? Why is the vocabulary around a friend breakup so paltry? I know many people found tremendous solace just reading through other people's stories and knowing that 1) friend breakups are part of life and 2) yes, as a culture, we are very bad at acknowledging them let alone grieving them.

For this month's subscriber-only bonus episode, Margaret and I decided to do a deep read of the thread — and a deep revisiting of our own friend histories — to talk about different "buckets" of friend breakups, how we process them in the moment and as we age, what facilitates them (bad communication!), and why they're sometimes necessary. Discussed therein: ghosting, sub-tweeting, sucky boyfriends, recurring dreams about long-ago friends, expectation mismatches, friendship promiscuity, the dearth of pop culture representations of (lasting, non-comedic) friend breakups, and more.

(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 dot com)

• Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
• Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
• Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
• Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.