Culture Study Podcast

This episode is just satisfying. I've heard from so many of you about how to deal with accumulated stuff. Not just accumulated linens, or too many hair products, but stuff with emotions attached: stuff that's been directed your way (with great import) from relatives, stuff you're trying to sift through when a parent died unexpectedly, or just artifacts from the last few decades of your life that you feel like you should keep (but definitely don't want to, or have space to). Professional organizer (and Culture Study reader) Tara Bremer joins the pod to grapple with so many of your complicated questions, like:

What do I do with (very old) photo albums? Like, from the early 1900s?

We moved into my Grandparents house and now we have to figure out what to do with boxes and BOXES of old history/Catholic theology books

WTF do I do with my My Little Sisters' Vacuum-Sealed Cabbage Patch Dolls

WHAT DO WE DO WITH ALL THE CHINA

How to subtly tease the messaging between "I don't want this many things in my house" vs. "I don't want this many of YOUR things in my house"

Will I regret not holding on to more things as I age?

We have such a meaningful discussion about the various forces we encounter when figuring out what to keep and pass on — and, of course, I can't wait to hear your own suggestions (and help with your own conundrums) in the comments.

Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoc.com/CULTURE to find and instantly book a doctor you love today

Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! If you’re in the market for a beautiful new sofa, dining table or bed, head over to https://www.article.com

Use code CULTURESTUDY to get 15% off your first order at zbiotics.com/culturestudy

Our listeners get a free gift with their first purchase when they use code CULTURE at Jonesroadbeauty.com

Show Notes:

Follow Tara on IG here and her professional account (for House Peace) here

If you missed our subscriber-only episode about The Pitt, it's here

That's it, no more show notes!

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

WHITE LADY HAIR! Cultural critic Sarah Mesle will be joining us to talk about her new book Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity. If there's a white lady whose hair interests you, I guarantee you it interests Sarah, too. We can talk about specific celebrity/actress haircuts but also specific styles/trends. I cannot wait for this one.

INTERGENERATIONAL FRIENDSHIP with Andrew Sean Greer, author of Less (and Villa Coco, a new book with an intergenerational friendship at its center). You can ask questions about how to find intergenerational friends, how to sustain those friendships, what people seem to love so much about them, wherever your heart takes you.

Anything you need advice for/want musings about for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment.

Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In today's BIG MARGARET ANNOUNCEMENT, we mentioned that we'll be doing (consistent) monthly bonus episodes from here on out — and here's the first one! It's part of an ongoing series that we're either calling 1) Late to the Party or 2) Cool Takes, in which we arrive a few weeks late to whatever cultural text is dominating the discourse (because that's when most of us have actually found the time to watch/listen/read/whatever). This month, we're talking about Season Two of The Pitt, which also means we're talking about melodrama, medical procedurals, the hottest doctor, what it was like for Margaret to binge both seasons to prep for this ep, whether the show knows Dr. Robby is a dick (yes) and whether the show is also teeing us up for the Night Shift in Season Three (yes).

There's obviously a lot here for anyone who watches the show — but we purposefully crafted this ep to focus on larger questions of what makes a television show effective right now. Can't wait for alllllll your thoughts on this one.

If you'd like access to this paid podcast-subscriber-only episode, you can upgrade your Culture Study subscription SO EASILY here.

Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Weddings are such a rich text. Maybe the richest text? At least how they're performed today, at the intersection of conspicuous consumption and cultural capital. What do your wedding favors say about you? What about your cell-phone policy? The number of times you post your wedding photos? If you have three separate wedding outfits, is that extra? But is just one... not enough? And if people talk so much shit about weddings (going to them, paying for them, planning them) why don't we just get married like it's 1962?

Amanda Montell — author of The Age of Magical Overthinking and architect of an extremely extra wedding — joins the pod to unpack wedding culture's turn towards content creation (with a bunch of bonus talk about how to do what actually feels right for you). What a wacky, joyful, yet still classically Culture Study ep!

Via Pinterest, of course

Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

Take the Hormonal Life Stage Quiz and get 32% off your first purchase at Biologica.com/CULTURE

Treat yourself to the most advanced bras on the market and get 20% off at honeylove.com/CULTURE

Go to wildalaskan.com/CULTURE for $35 off your first order of premium, wild-caught seafood

Get $25 off the best-selling Carver Mat frame at AuraFrames.com with promo code CULTURE

Show Notes:

Follow Amanda Montell on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/amanda_montell/?hl=en

We talk a lot about Amanda's wedding/wedding photos — a peek here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DK2R0NzsruX/?hl=en&img_index=1

Buy The Age of Magical Overthinking here: https://bookshop.org/a/56144/9781668007983

Buy Cultish here: https://bookshop.org/a/56144/9780062993168

Listen to Amanda's podcast, Sounds Like a Cult: https://www.soundslikeacult.com/

And her other podcast, Magical Overthinkers: https://bio.site/magicaloverthinkers

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

BOOK CONCIERGE... BUT FOR IRISH LITERATURE. We're so thrilled to have Maggie O'Farrell (author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait) on the pod to do an Irish version of our book concierge: tell us what books you love, and Maggie and I will suggest Irish books to check out (or ask us Maggie O'Farrell-related questions! Her new book, Land, is set in Ireland before and after 'The Great Hunger')

HEARTTHROBS with return guest Adib Khorram! Who are the heartthrobs in 2026, where did they come from, who gets to be one, etc etc

WHITE LADY HAIR! Cultural critic Sarah Mesle will be joining us to talk about her new book Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity. If there's a white lady whose hair interests you, I guarantee you it interests Sarah, too. We can talk about specific celebrity/actress haircuts but also specific styles/trends. I cannot wait for this one.

BOOMER MOMS! Tracy Clark-Flory and I need your questions about why boomer moms (very broad designation here, I realize) are the way they are — we're specifically going to talk about the constrictions of growing up in '60s/'70s U.S., particularly around femininity, race, education, body image, employment, and motherhood. This one's gonna be really good, I know it.

INTERGENERATIONAL FRIENDSHIP with Andrew Sean Greer, author of Less (and Villa Coco, a new book with an intergenerational friendship at its center). You can ask questions about how to find intergenerational friends, how to sustain those friendships, what people seem to love so much about them, wherever your heart takes you.

HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH A CITY with Lilah Raptopoulos, editor of the Financial Times city life vertical. We're going to talk about how to fall in love with cities WHILE VISITING (for fun, for vacation, for work) and how to fall in love with the city where you currently live. What tips do you want? What city are you struggling to fall in love with?

Anything you need advice for/want musings about for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment.

As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

For this week’s discussion: How have you observed the content-ification of weddings in your world... and how have you seen people resist it?

Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When we wax poetic about the wonders of 2007 and 2008... what are we actually yearning for? Serendipity? Hope? The as-yet uncompromised belief that the arc of history bends toward justice? Or maybe just... a world without smartphones? Atlantic writer and bestselling novelist Xochitl Gonzalez joins the pod to talk about what it felt like to be at the epicenter of 2007/2008 nostalgia, and how it created the perfect backdrop for her take on very Brooklyn Great Gatsby.

This was such a dynamic discussion, filled with tangents and joy and trying to parse the contradiction of feeling nostalgia for an era that objectively sucked... but also generated a feeling of optimism and possibility that many of us have not felt since. I can't wait for the discussion on this one.

Brooklyn October 2008 (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

Get $25 off the best-selling Carver Mat frame with code CULTURE at auraframes.com/culture

If you're in the market for a beautiful new sofa, dining table, or bed, head over to Article.com

Start your dog's obsession with 70% off your Welcome Kit by using code CULTURE at Ollie.com/CULTURE

Show Notes:

Buy Xochitl's Last Night in Brooklyn here

Follow Xochitl on Instagram here

More on the YOUTHQUAKE

A solid overview from Marketplace on the housing affects (and ramifications of) the recession — including the stat referenced by Xochitl that nearly 10 million people lost their homes

Xochitl's first novel, Olga Dies Dreaming, is about a Sunset Park wedding planner (something Xochitl talks about extensively in this conversation)

Our episode re: "Are Millennials the Most Nostalgic Generation?"

Michelle Obama in J.Crew (and why it mattered)

Photo evidence (from my FACEBOOK ALBUM) that the scene I describe re: Brooklyn with my brother on Fourth of July did occur

 

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

BOOK CONCIERGE....BUT FOR IRISH LITERATURE. We're so thrilled to have Maggie O'Farrell (author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait) on the pod to do an Irish version of our book concierge: tell us what books you love, and Maggie and I will suggest Irish books to check out (or ask us Maggie O'Farrell-related questions! Her new book, Land, is set in Ireland before and after 'The Great Hunger')

HEARTTHROBS with return guest Adib Khorram! Who are the heartthrobs in 2026, where did they come from, who gets to be one, etc etc

WHITE LADY HAIR! Cultural critic Sarah Mesle will be joining us to talk about her new book Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity. If there's a white lady whose hair interests you, I guarantee you it interests Sarah, too. We can talk about specific celebrity/actress haircuts but also specific styles/trends. I cannot wait for this one.

BOOMER MOMS! Tracy Clark-Flory and I need your questions about why boomer moms (very broad designation here, I realize) are the way they are — we're specifically going to talk about the constrictions of growing up in '60s/'70s U.S., particularly around femininity, race, education, body image, employment, and motherhood. This one's gonna be really good, I know it.

INTERGENERATIONAL FRIENDSHIP with Andrew Sean Greer, author of Less (and Villa Coco, a new book with an intergenerational friendship at its center). You can ask questions about how to find intergenerational friends, how to sustain those friendships, what people seem to love so much about them, wherever your heart takes you.

HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH A CITY with Lilah Raptopoulos, editor of the Financial Times city life vertical. We're going to talk about how to fall in love with cities WHILE VISITING (for fun, for vacation, for work) and how to fall in love with the city where you currently live. What tips do you want? What city are you struggling to fall in love with?

Anything you need advice for/want musings about for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment.

As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

For this week’s discussion: Tell us about your 2007/2008 — and your feelings about it (and how it relates to this larger nostalgia for this era).

Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Did you see the stat from last week that the U.S. could've fully funded universal daycare for two million children... using the money spent on the War on Iran (only leading up to the ceasefire)? Do you look at the billions spent on ICE enforcement and think: my federal taxes are funding this? Are you super annoyed that only the rich get praised for "tax loopholes" — while the poor get told they're freeloaders? And what about billionaires bragging about not paying taxes?

So many of you have asked for a sharp conversation about the morality and civic duty of taxes and money, and I'm thrilled to have sociologist Ruth Braunstein — whose new book is about these very questions — on the show to answer all of your deep and difficult questions. This one's a just trust me: you might not think you're that interested in the morality of taxes, but this conversation will stick with you for days.

Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

Wake up with clearer skin, smoother hair, and cooler sleep. Use code CULTUREPOD for an extra 30% off at blissy.com/CULTUREPOD

For a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off using code CULTURE at oneskin.co/CULTURE. That’s 15% off oneskin.co with code CULTURE

Get 40% off select Lola Blankets products at Lolablankets.com by using code CULTURE at checkout. Experience the world’s #1 blanket with Lola Blankets

Show Notes:

Learn more about Ruth's work: https://www.ruthbraunstein.com/

Subscribe to Ruth's newsletter: https://ruthbraunstein.substack.com/

Order Ruth's book, My Tax Dollars: The Morality of Taxpaying in America: https://bookshop.org/a/56144/9780691254999

Also check out Ruth's documentary podcast: https://www.ruthbraunstein.com/podcast

Just a very straightforward representation of the history of the marginal tax rate: https://taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-highest-marginal-income-tax-rates

I promised links to War Tax Resistance Sites —

War Tax Resistors League: https://www.warresisters.org/war-tax-resistance/

National War Tax Committee Resistance Coordinating Committee: https://nwtrcc.org/

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

BOOK CONCIERGE....BUT FOR IRISH LITERATURE. We're so thrilled to have Maggie O'Farrell (author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait) on the pod to do an Irish version of our book concierge: tell us what books you love, and Maggie and I will suggest Irish books to check out (or ask us Maggie O'Farrell-related questions! Her new book, Land, is set in Ireland before and after 'The Great Hunger')

HEARTTHROBS with return guest Adib Khorram! Who are the heartthrobs in 2026, where did they come from, who gets to be one, etc etc

WHITE LADY HAIR! Cultural critic Sarah Mesle will be joining us to talk about her new book Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity. If there's a white lady whose hair interests you, I guarantee you it interests Sarah, too. We can talk about specific celebrity/actress haircuts but also specific styles/trends. I cannot wait for this one.

BOOMER MOMS! Tracy Clark-Flory and I need your questions about why boomer moms (very broad designation here, I realize) are the way they are — we're specifically going to talk about the constrictions of growing up in '60s/'70s U.S., particularly around femininity, race, education, body image, employment, and motherhood. This one's gonna be really good, I know it.

INTERGENERATIONAL FRIENDSHIP with Andrew Sean Greer, author of Less (and Villa Coco, a new book with an intergenerational friendship at its center). You can ask questions about how to find intergenerational friends, how to sustain those friendships, what people seem to love so much about them, wherever your heart takes you.

HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH A CITY with Lilah Raptopoulos, editor of the Financial Times city life vertical. We're going to talk about how to fall in love with cities WHILE VISITING (for fun, for vacation, for work) and how to fall in love with the city where you currently live. What tips do you want? What city are you struggling to fall in love with?

Anything you need advice for/want musings about for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment.

As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

For this week’s discussion: How are you thinking about tax protesting right now?

Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.