The Fascinating Podcast

The Bachelor turns 21 this year, so we take a deep dive into the world of reality dating. Our guide is reality TV show expert Nguhi Ross, who leads us through the highs and lows of Bachelor Nation. Why does this franchise have such staying power? What is the best reality dating show to follow in its wake? And what has this done to our culture as a whole?

Heather Radke joins us to talk about, well, butts. What is a butt, exactly? Why don't we have a proper term for it? And how did she come to write a whole book about them? We do a deep dive into the Booty revolution of the 90s, including that ultimate booty song, Baby Got Back. Don't worry... this is a very serious conversation (with surprisingly few puns!).

Social Media platforms aren't agnostic; they have a particular purpose - one that's often invisible to casual users. Author Jason Pargin joins us to explore the implications of this reality. How do we trace what social media wants from us? How can we tell if we should use carefully or abandon it all together? Oh yeah, and what about Jason's latest book?

Wakanda Forever is out and the response has been... mixed. This major Marvel release tries to tackle grief head-on. How does it do? Join us as we dive deep into this film and discuss what we loved and what didn't work.

What is America's fascination with the macab? Author and professor Scott Poole returns to the show to take us into the Dark Carnivals of American Empire. And since we just had an election, we consider how our devices are haunted houses - and whether we're scared of the right things.

The US is running out of water. From Tuscon to Flint to Jacksonville, we don't have enough to drink. What does it mean that other countries are buying up our water rights? What is the role of faith in addressing this crisis? And what good does gluing ourselves to paintings do?

It's Halloween, so your Fascinating pals ruminate on what scares us, some of the best spooky movies and books for the season and more! You might want to grab a blanket and a mug of cider... thought they won't stop the chill from running down your spine!

After three kids, Carolyn Hays and her husband figured their fourth would be a piece of cake. But almost immediately, their daughter proved to be transgender. A GIRLHOOD is Carolyn's memoir of raising a transgender kid while navigating a world hostile to her very existence. We dive deep with Carolyn on everything from the insidious varieties of discrimination she and her daughter face to how she navigates her Catholic faith to her hope for her daughter's future.

As the war in Ukraine rages on, Alex Shvartsman returns to the show to share his unique perspective on the conflict. Alex is Ukranian-American, and fluent in Russian, Ukranian and English. What does this war look like from the Russian side? The Ukranian? And what further surprises might be in store? PLUS: it's been 60 years since the Cuban Missile Crisis - the closest we've come to all-out nuclear war. Have we learned anything since then?

A recent deluge of new media - from A League of Their Own to She-Hulk to Little Mermaid have some folks angry that media is getting too woke. What does that even mean? And how should we be thinking about these media as we consume them?