Culture Study Podcast

Kathryn Jezer-Morton, a writer and researcher of parenting, social media, and internet culture, joins the conversation on our strange posting habits. They explore social media as a compromised archive, the fading art of casual updates, influencer formats invading everyday life, and why we still crave ordinary-life gossip and connection. They also unpack privacy, illness updates, and the pressure to treat personal life like public relations.

Cheryl Wischhover, a veteran fashion and wellness journalist behind the Good for Your Age newsletter, unpacks fashion virality. They explore barrel-leg pants, dressy easy trousers, long jorts, Park sweatshirts, upside-down logos, dumpling bags, and the nostalgia driving trend cycles. Cheryl also reveals how TikTok, gifting, affiliate links, influencers, and e-commerce turn ordinary clothes into unavoidable must-haves.

Margaret H. Willison, a writer, critic, and co-host of Two Bossy Dames, joins a lively discussion of Dungeon Crawler Carl’s unlikely rise from online serial to fantasy sensation. They explore LitRPG, D&D, self-publishing, its wildly popular audiobook, Princess Donut, the edgelord AI, female characters, and the series’ distinctive take on masculinity.

Gabe Bullard, journalist and author of Against Convenience, examines the hidden costs of effortless living. They explore how food apps, algorithms, gig platforms, and disposable tech create new friction while isolating us from workers, neighbors, and shared culture. The conversation also tackles right-to-repair, mutual aid, public infrastructure, and whether saving time is really worth it.

Priya Parker, conflict-resolution facilitator and author of The Art of Gathering and The Art of Fighting, explores the art of productive disagreement. She discusses stubborn parents, gendered judgments at work, Slack conflicts, mismatched relationship styles, and crying during tense conversations. A practical guide to navigating conflict without avoiding it or letting it spiral.

Anna Louie Sussman, a journalist and author of *Inconceivable*, examines why parenthood feels increasingly out of reach. They discuss declining birth rates, fertility costs, childcare, housing, debt, and the anxieties of a polycrisis. The conversation also explores women’s agency, the “missing middle” between wanting and rejecting children, adoption, communal family, and what meaningful family policy could look like.

Jon Ronson, the Welsh journalist and author of The Psychopath Test, investigates men who unravel: a castle-building fantasist and a lawn-care influencer turned “third baby.” He and Anne Helen Petersen explore male isolation, algorithmic illusions, purposelessness, “Sad Dads,” recurring crises of masculinity, and the rise of the doofus dad. A lively, unsettling conversation about belonging, identity, and modern manhood.

They dig into why non-romantic breakups hurt so much and why our language for them is lacking. Stories and categories of friend splits are explored, from ghosting and blocking to group dynamics and expectation mismatches. They revisit personal histories, discuss boundaries and public visibility, and consider how cultural norms leave us unequipped to grieve these losses.

Sarah Mesley, author and cultural critic who studies hair, talks blondeness as a form of power. Short, punchy takes examine curls as unruly or cool, the rise and fall of iconic cuts, and why certain styles signal status. Expect lively cultural analysis and a few deep dives into famous movie hair moments.

They dissect what a stylist for regular people actually does and how style supports life transitions. They debate style versus fashion and why many feel clueless getting dressed. They unpack marketing tricks, body and color typing problems, and size inclusivity failures. They share practical fixes like finding a signature piece and the taste-and-adjust approach.