Bradley Cooper would very much like an Oscar. If you’ve been paying attention to Hollywood at any point over the last five years, you know this. It’s evident in the films he makes, the way he talks about them, the cheesesteak food truck he opened for a weekend to keep himself in the press cycle. There’s nothing wrong with wanting an Oscar — what actor doesn’t want one?! — but what happens when that desire becomes the overarching theme of your entire image? The dominant way the public understands you?

The great Sam Sanders joins the pod to talk about Cooper’s star image, Hollywood masculinity, and the Tracy Flick of it all.

[If you’re familiar with Culture Study/my work/Sam’s work, you’ll recognize this type of star image analysis — if not, a reminder that we’re talking about what Cooper means, not trying to be mean.]

• The Tracy Flick of it all

• If seven-year-old celebrity gossip is your thing, listen to the conversation Sam and I had about my book Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud

• Bradley Cooper serving cheesesteaks was a real thing

• Bradley Cooper asking Robert De Niro a question from within the audience in Inside the Actors Studio

• Bradley Cooper’s episode of Smartless, in which he tells his story of getting sober

• The scene from Alias that was sexiest thing 13-year-old Melody had ever seen

• Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s iconic profile, Bradley Cooper Is Not Really Into This Profile

• Allie Jones’s excellent piece on Bradley Cooper’s Oscar Women

• Sam Sanders talking soft news versus hard news on Las Culturistas

• Listen to Vibe Check!!!

• Online shopping culture, including but not limited to people’s reliance on reviews and/or compulsion to leave reviews

• Student loans— how we talk about them, think about them, take this wherever you want

• The romance novel boom

• Anything you need advice on!

• You can submit them (and ideas for future eps) here (and here’s the subscriber-only priority form)