Culture Study Podcast

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?

"Family-friendly society" sounds SO BORING but listen: it's what we all want. It's what singles and elders want, it's what parents and partnered people without kids want, it's what KIDS WANT. A society that takes all of us — and our needs and capacities — seriously?? That considers all of us, in whatever scenario we find ourselves, AS A FAMILY? When we announced that we were doing this episode, we got a ton of questions asking us to also consider people who weren't parents in their 30s and 40s, and yes, of course, team, I would never approach this topic without thinking expansively about it — as in, expansively enough to include me, and our beloved co-producer Melody, and all of our various family configurations.
I would only do an episode with expansive questions like yours with someone (with tremendously policy experience) who understands "family-friendly" expansively. So listen in as Elliot Haspel and I imagine a better (and possible!) family-friendly world.
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 15% off your first order of high-quality, refillable cleaning products at Blueland.com/CULTURE

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

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

Get $35 off your first box of wild-caught, sustainable seafood—delivered right to your door. Go to:  https://www.wildalaskan.com/CULTURE

Show Notes:
Find out more about Elliot's work here — and buy Raising a Nation: 10 Reasons Every American Has a Stake in Child Care for All here

Subscribe to Elliot's truly excellent newsletter, The Family Frontier, here

A pretty fantastic write-up of the 1971 Comprehensive Childhood Development Act (and its failure) by the Institute for Research on Poverty

More on "the curb-cut effect"

Elliot cites a now famous maxim from the former mayor of Bogotá mayor, Enrique Peñalosa: "children are a kind of indicator species, if we can build a successful city for children, we will have a successful city for everyone.”

"70% of children under the age of 6 have all available parents in the workforce"

Elliot cites Elissa Strauss's book When You Care — here's my interview with her

Only 13.9% of US workers were part-time in December 2024 — compare to the EU numbers here!!!

Chamber of Mothers!

The AMAZING coconut-miso-ginger curry I mention in the Wild Alaskan ad!

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

How we think about the morality of money and taxes — who should pay taxes, who shouldn't, who "deserves" money, who doesn't, how we came to decide that religious organizations shouldn't pay taxes (and how that belief is changing), SO MUCH

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)

Wedding culture (especially the more, uh, cult-like or obligatory components)

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

For our next Culture Of Place: Puerto Rico!

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 this conversation make you want the MOST? What feels like it could be possible in our lifetimes, and what still feels intractable?

This episode is the result of years of listener requests: how did dating get SO bad, and how can we possibly make it better? Melody and I have been out of the dating game for a hot minute, but we knew that the combination of your excellent questions + an excellent co-host [Jonquilyn Hill, host of Vox's Explain It All who is, importantly, currently dating] + sociological discussion of how dating has historically functioned (and why it no longer functions that way) could lead us to something that manages to be at once cathartic and hopeful (and educational for anyone who hasn't tried to date in the last decade).
We answer your questions on "informational intimacy," how long is too long to chat (before setting an actual date), optimization culture, and whether or not it's weird for someone to run your Hinge account (I LOVE THIS QUESTION).....plus bonus content on how to actually meet people off the apps. You don't have to be dating to love this episode, but if you are — let's go after it in the comments.
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!
Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoc.com/CULTURE to find and instantly book a doctor you love today

If you're in the market for a new sofa, dining table, bed, or filing cabinet, peruse the beautiful and long-lasting offerings at Article.com

Get 15% off your first order of Pre-Alcohol at zbiotics.com/CULTURESTUDY using code CULTURESTUDY at checkout

Get 50% off your purchase of a new night guard at shopremi.com/CULTURE, using code CULTURE

Show Notes:
Follow Jonquilyn on Instagram here

You can find all episodes of Explain It To Me here

Listen to Jonquilyn's episode of Explain It To Me on Cuffing Season

Melody found this super-interesting article: Men Are Just As Picky As Women About Who They’d Date—If They’re the Ones Being Pursued

Jonquilyn mentions the Netflix show THE LATER DATERS

I mention my interview with sociologist Corinne Low re: figuring out what you actually want in terms of a future life (before finding a partner)

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

How we think about the morality of money and taxes — who should pay taxes, who shouldn't, who "deserves" money, who doesn't, how we came to decide that religious organizations shouldn't pay taxes (and how that belief is changing), SO MUCH

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)

Wedding culture!!

For our next Culture Of Place: Puerto Rico!

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: Tell us your dating frustrations! What's changed, what annoys you, what strategies have worked?