Writer and cultural critic Christiana Mbakwe Medina joins Question Everything to dissect the strange, shifting logic of our current moment, from the collapse of celebrity mystique to our obsession with wealth, power, and proximity to influence. Christiana and Danielle, explore why “cancel culture” doesn’t really cancel anyone, how pop culture functions as soft power, and why so many modern myths, from the tradwife fantasy to the American Dream, are starting to crack. They also look ahead to what 2026 might bring: a more irreverent cultural mood shaped by fear fatigue, AI, and a hunger for something that feels human. In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why pop culture is a mirror of society, not a distraction from it
• How celebrity lost its mystique in the age of access and social media
• Why cancel culture rarely has lasting consequences
• Why Lauren Sánchez Bezos may be one of the most important power brokers in culture right now
• What the Diddy verdict reveals about power, fame, and forgiveness
• How and why powerful men are so often culturally forgiven
• What “soft power” really means—and how culture shapes politics more than we think
• Why we confuse wealth with moral worth
• How the American Dream functions more like a myth than a reality
• What the tradwife / “soft life” fantasy is really selling to burned-out women
• Why staying home is far harder and riskier than TikTok makes it look
• How AI is quietly reshaping creativity and culture already
• Why culture may be entering a more irreverent, punk era after years of fear and caution
• What’s actually changing about fame, influence, and the influencer economy
• Why celebrity apologies rarely work (and never really have)
• How we should think about aging, relevance, and cultural exits (including Beyoncé)
• What we’re misreading about power, gender, and modern ambition

Follow Christiana on Instagram @christianaama, and don’t miss her Substack and podcast, Pop Syllabus.

Book recommendation: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

Substack:  https://popsyllabus.substack.com/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-syllabus/id1866754314

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