The Cut

Michelle and her mother were nothing alike. Now the lead singer of Japanese Breakfast, Michelle Zauner grew up as a little punk kid running around the Pacific Northwest wearing Daniel Johnston T-shirts and patched overalls. Her mother was glamorous, refined, and secretly homesick for her hometown of Seoul, Korea. The bridge between them, however, was their shared love of adventurous eating and Korean food. Although Michelle only realized how significant this connection was once she had to learn to cook for herself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As soon as producer Jazmín Aguilera got vaccinated, she felt like she could daydream again. The possibilities for a life post-vaccination seemed endless. A summer of love! Debauchery! Parties! Travel! Jazmín finally felt there was a light at the end of the tunnel. And so she followed that light to somewhere she never expected to go. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When producer B.A. Parker was looking to decorate her apartment, she wanted to buy a poster of one of her favorite films from 1943. And upon revisiting the poster she realized... it was just a little more racist than she felt comfortable with. So what do we do with the problematic art of the past? B.A. Parker goes in search of answers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are all fried. Doctors, teachers, therapists, activists and even white collar workers and podcasts hosts are working longer hours and smashing into a wall of depletion. But what does it mean to be so burnt out, even if you have a job where you just sit in front of a computer all day? What if you’re feeling burnout in a job you’re supposed to love? And is there any way to break free? Host Avery Trufelman sets out for answers, guided by a Japanese novel, a mastermind of self care, and the one and only Esther Perel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lindsay Peoples Wagner's meteoric career in fashion and media is impressive. She was the youngest Editor In Chief of a Conde Nast publication while Editor In Chief of Teen Vogue magazine. She is an ASME Next Winner and a Forbes 30 under 30 recipient. She authored the highly acclaimed piece on The Cut "Everywhere and Nowhere: What It's Really Like To Be Black And Work In Fashion" and started The Black In Fashion Council with Sandrine Charles, a nonprofit dedicated to holding the fashion industry accountable for change. And, she is the new Editor In Chief of The Cut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No matter who you are, inevitably there is someone telling you to “be nicer” or “stop being so nice”. Girlbosses preach that nice girls don't get the corner office, and yet Instagram slogans plead to "be nice." But what is niceness? Is it a virtue? A defense mechanism? A personality trait? And how can one try to be nice in a mean world? Host Avery Trufelman turns to Jonathan Van Ness for answers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There is so much to say about Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters. Lauded as the first book by a trans author to be released by a major publishing house, Detransition, Baby is a novel about queerness, motherhood, mothering, and, ultimately, the way we all present our genders. This week, Torrey speaks about how the Kardashians have “transitioned” from female to female, the impossible performance of womanhood, and how the common feeling of “failing at gender” can bridge divides between cis and trans women. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

U.S. politics are starting to look a little bit more like the United States itself. More queer people, women, and POCs. People who have never worked in politics before, have no corporate backers and are running campaigns out of their kitchen. So, what about you, or your friends? Producer Jazmin Aguilera tests whether she could actually run and what she would have to give up in the process. Writer Brock Colyar profiles Sarah McBride. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been an awful year for almost every single person on the planet. And at the one year mark of the pandemic, Cut producer B.A. Parker decided to try to escape the stress and trauma by getting out of her own head. But it turns out getting out of your own head is a real mindf--k. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Avery Trufelman was a pre-teen, the film 13 Going on 30 was like a roadmap to everything she wanted to be as a grown up: "thirty and flirty and thriving." But as Avery enters her third decade, she revisits the movie and grapples with what 30 means today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices