Culture Study Podcast

I've written a bunch of mildly serious stuff about having BIG NO-KIDS ENERGY. I've talked with so many others — and published interviews with them! — about how they've negotiated conversations with others about not having kids, leaned in to the expansiveness of their no-kids lives, and figured out their own life priorities when they're not what society tells you they should be. But all of these conversations have been pretty, well, serious. But not having kids can be many things. More specifically, not having kids can be hilarious.
Today, comedian (and not-kid-haver) Natasha Vaynblat joins the pod to answer all your questions about the awkward, unconsciously ridiculous, and straight-up offensive questions that people ask when you don't have kids — and how to figure out how to answer (sometimes seriously, sometimes with a sense of humor). I don't think any Culture Study guest has made me spit out my water as much as Natasha, so regardless of whether you don't have kids and relate immediately or DO have kids and just relate to the idea of strangers and/or supposedly beloved family members asking you inappropriate shit... I hope you almost spit out your water, too.
AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!
If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .
And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!
Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!
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/

Go to Graza.co and use CULTURESTUDY to get 10% off your first order of olive oil, and be sure to look for Graza Mayo the next time you're at your local grocery store!

For a custom-fit night guard, go to shopremi.com/CULTURE and use code CULTURE  at checkout for 50% off.

Get 40% off select Lola Blankets products at Lolablankets.com by using code CULTURE at checkout.

Show Notes:
Follow Natasha Vaynblat on Instagram here (worth it I promise)

BUY A TICKET TO SEE NATASHA ON APRIL 28TH IN NEW YORK!!!!

Visit Natasha's website for links to alllll of her stuff, including her stand-up special We're All Dads Here

If you want to read the previous posts in the BIG NO-KIDS ENERGY series, they're all collected here!

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:
New trends you've noticed in the world of MOMFLUENCERS (with Sara Petersen, of course)

Dark academia — the trends, the themes, the popularity, whatever you want (for an episode with R.F. Kuang!)

Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc.)

Your Parent(s) Died — How Do You Deal with All This PAPERWORK and bureaucracy??? (with death doula Becky Robison)

What would LIFE AFTER CARS look like?? (With the hosts of the War on Cars pod!)

KID INFLUENCERS — what happens when your parent puts you on camera before you can really consent?

Anything you need advice or want musings on 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: Natasha offered so many possibilities for how you could respond to various weird questions... do you have more?
Or: let's hear the most awkward (having kids or not having kids) question someone has asked you about your reproductive future!!!!

Why is weird spelled like that? Why is yacht pronounced like that? Why is a firefighter a person who fights fires... but a pickpocket is neither a pick nor a pocket? We're so lucky to have linguist Colin Gorrie on the pod to talk about the "disaster" of English spelling and the history you can unearth in pretty much every English word. This one's such a nerdy delight — if you found yourself enraptured by our episode on accents, you're gonna love this one, too.
AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!
If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .
And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!
Thanks to the Sponsors of Today's Episode!
Celebrate your number one valentine, your greatest love, your dog! Head to Ollie.com/CULTURE, tell them all about your dog, and use code CULTURE to get 60% off your Welcome Kit.

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

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

Get 15% off your first order at Blueland.com/CULTURE

Show Notes:
Subscribe to Colin Gorrie's newsletter, Dead Language Society, here

I personally really love 'Dog' is a Weird Word (you can find all the Weird Word editions collected here)

Listen to our episode on The Ridiculously Interesting World of American Accents!

I reference Wound Man — here's my interview with the art historian on the historical representations of him

A very weird 1818 illustration of a pickpocket

Just for fun, a map of Europe with place names in the dominant language of the place

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:
New trends you've noticed in the world of MOMFLUENCERS (with Sara Petersen, of course)

Dark academia — the trends, the themes, the popularity, whatever you want (for an episode with R.F. Kuang!)

Getting into Gaming as AN ADULT (and especially as a woman or non-binary person) (with Keza Macdonald, author of the new history Super Nintendo)

Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc.)

Your Parent(s) Died — How Do You Deal with All This PAPERWORK and bureaucracy??? (with death doula Becky Robison)

What would LIFE AFTER CARS look like?? (With the hosts of the War on Cars pod!)

KID INFLUENCERS — what happens when your parent puts you on camera before you can really consent?

Anything you need advice or want musings on 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: Just gonna be real basic here and ask... What did you learn from this episode? So many tidbits and delightful explanations!

What happens when the "move fast and break things" start-up philosophy comes for infertility treatments? Exactly what you'd expect: cut corners, bad service, aesthetically pleasing offices that can't seem to stop churning staff, upsells backed by dubious science, and more. This week, journalist Jackie Davalos joins the pod to talk about her reporting on IVF start-up Kindbody, breaking down why so many of these women's health start-ups give us the ick... and also answer all your questions about sketchy IVF business practices. I cannot tell you how much I learned from this episode — and how wild it is to have this corner of health care remain this unregulated.
If you're not in the right place to listen to other people's complications with IVF, feel free to skip this episode — but if you want to get pissed about how difficult, weird, and opaque the process can be, definitely listen to this episode.
Finally, a special thanks to Culture Study reader & listener Shawn Wen for making this episode happen.
AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!
If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .
And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!
Thanks to the Sponsors of Today's Episode!
Get 50% off your purchase of a new night guard at shopREMI.com/CULTURE

Head to ZBiotics.com/CULTURESTUDY and use the code CULTURESTUDY at checkout for 15% off

If you’re in the market for a new sofa, dining table, or bed, check out the beautiful options at Article.com

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

Show Notes:
Go listen to IVF Disrupted

You can find in-depth descriptions of all the episodes here [IN GENERAL, IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT SOURCING, THEY'RE ALLLLLLLL RIGHT THERE IN THE PODCAST]

You can follow host Jackie Davalos (in her new French bakery era) on IG here

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:
New trends you've noticed in the world of MOMFLUENCERS (with Sara Petersen, of course)

Dark academia — the trends, the themes, the popularity, whatever you want (for an episode with R.F. Kuang!)

Writing Queer Historical Romance (with Cat Sebastian)

Getting into Gaming as AN ADULT (and especially as a woman or non-binary person) (with Keza Macdonald, author of the new history Super Nintendo)

Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc.)

Your Parent(s) Died — How Do You Deal with All This PAPERWORK and bureaucracy??? (with death doula Becky Robison)

What would LIFE AFTER CARS look like?? (With the hosts of the War on Cars pod!)

KID INFLUENCERS — what happens when your parent puts you on camera before you can really consent?

Anything you need advice or want musings on 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: This is a space to share how the more unregulated (or business-minded) components of IVF manifested in your own experience — or just to talk about what pissed you off the most from this episode.

How does an audiobook narrator know how to pronounce everything? Do they have editors? How many books can they do a year? What differentiates the live voice from AI — and how do they get paid (vs. how should they get paid)? And why are so many beloved books read by Julia Whelan? WELP, FRIENDS, GOOD NEWS, WE GOT JULIA WHELAN TO COME ANSWER ALL THESE QUESTIONS. This is a conversation about mechanics and production flows and vocal health... but it's also a conversation about how we conceive of and compensate artistic labor. This one's gonna stick with you — it's certainly stuck with me.
AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!
If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .
And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!
Thanks to the Sponsors of Today's Episode!
Head to moshlife.com/CULTURE to save 20% off plus FREE shipping on the Best sellers Trial Pack or the NEW plant-based trial pack

Cozy up with your pup this season! Go to ollie.com/culture and use code culture to get 60% off your first box

Take your food to the next level with Graza Olive Oil. Visit https://graza.co/CULTURESTUDY and use promo code CULTURESTUDY today for 10% off your first order

OneSkin is making it even easier to stay consistent with your skincare routine with 15% off when you use code CULTURE at oneskin.co/CULTURE

Show Notes:
Follow Julia Whelan on Instagram here and find out more about Audiobrary here

An interview with Julia about the Audiobrary model

The episode of romance podcast Fated Mates featuring Julia

Julia Whelan named Spotify's Top Audiobook Narrator for 2026

To give you a sense of how many books Julia has narrated, you can see 432 of them listed over at Audible (she's narrated more than 500)

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:
New trends you've noticed in the world of MOMFLUENCERS

Dark academia-- the trends, the themes, the popularity, whatever you want

How to process all the STUFF accumulated from relatives (we have a really helpful organizer with a bunch of mental health training for this one!)

What would LIFE AFTER CARS look like?? (With the hosts of the War on Cars pod!)

Anything you need advice or want musings on 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: What did you learn about audiobook production from this ep — and how are you going to think differently about audiobooks moving forward?

If you don't make your living creating content online, you probably think of yourself as the furthest thing from an influencer — a designation that has developed the same slightly dirty connotation as being a celebrity, especially a celebrity like Paris Hilton, back in the 1990s. But influencers have cultivated and refined a mode of existing online that has filtered down into the way so many of us navigate online spaces: in the way you craft your profile on LinkedIn, in your font choice for a pic of your houseplant on IG, in the TikTok your coworker cajoles you into making on a slow day at work. The subtle way that influencer vernacular has entered our lives.....that's INFLUENCER CREEP.
Sophie Bishop coined the term to talk about the ways that influencer behaviors (specifically: self-branding, performance of authenticity, constant optimization) were codifying and re-setting online norms, and joins me to answer all your typically excellent (and complicated) questions about the performance of self and work online.
AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!
If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .
And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!
Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!
Get 40% OFF select Lola Blankets products by going to LolaBlankets.com and using code CULTURE at checkout

Go to shopremi.com/CULTURE and use code CULTURE  at checkout for 50% off

Save 20% off Honeylove at honeylove.com/CULTURE

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

Show Notes:
Find out more about Dr. Sophie Bishop's work here

Buy Influencer Creep: How Optimization, Authenticity, and Self-Branding Transform Creative Culture here

Just another example of a weird workplace tok where everyone's awkward

The Atlantic piece about getting bullied for adopting dogs online

Sophie references Brooke Erin Duffy's work on authenticity

Sophie references Jodie Dean's work on communicative capitalism

In case you don't know who Bama Morgan is (and here's her TikTok)

Silly Pink Shoes on Instagram!

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:
New trends you've noticed in the world of MOMFLUENCERS

For our next Culture Of Place: Puerto Rico!

How to process all the STUFF accumulated from relatives (we have a really helpful organizer with a bunch of mental health training for this one!)

The State of The CHAIN RESTAURANT — and chain restaurant supply chain!!! (I'm so excited for this one)

What would LIFE AFTER CARS look like?? (With the hosts of the War on Cars pod!)

Anything you need advice or want musings on 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: What sort of influencer creep have you noticed in your feeds... or in your own behavior?