So many of you have been asking for an episode on plastic surgery culture for so long — but I knew I couldn’t do it until I had the perfect co-host. Someone deeply familiar with the allure and contradictions that infuse the world of plastic surgery… but also conversant in plastic surgery as a form of gender and class performance. I needed Arabelle Sicardi — and was so thrilled when they agreed to come on the show. This conversation will take you to some very unexpected places: it will challenge you, alarm you, and I can promise you’ll never look at Elon Musk the same again. This is one of my favorite episodes we’ve recorded — I think you’ll quickly see why.

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Whether you’ve been deep in the fanfic world for years or have only heard others talk about it — we’ve worked really hard to make this episode for all of you. Yes, you might have to hear someone define what slash is (very useful for newbies!) but then we go deep on how fanfic is influencing genres, general fanfic mainstreamification, how and why AU (alternative universe) fics work more or less effectively with different texts, and, best of all, WHERE TO FIND THE GOOD STUFF.

This is a classic case of the Culture Study Pod making the argument that even if you’re not super into a cultural object/phenomenon (and especially if you are) there is so much interesting stuff to talk about — you just have to the find the right people, like our brilliant cohosts Emily and Vee, avid fanfic writers (and theorists) and cohosts of Mind the Tags.

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This is such a delight of an episode! We’ve been wanting to do a big cookbook conversation since the start of the podcast, and when America’s Test Kitchen emailed to see if we’d be interested in talking to Sarah Ahn about Umma— the cookbook she put together with her mom (!!!) documenting the Korean recipes that have defined her past and present life— we were thrilled. We just wanted one more layer: what if we had a cookbook editor as well? Enter: Adam Kowit, editoral director of all books at America’s Test Kitchen. You’re going to learn so much about the making of this cookbook (which, as you’ll see in the episode, I cannot shut up about) but also how cookbooks just generally go from a handful of recipes to an actual text. Again: what a delight, and I can’t wait for your thoughts.

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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. If you're already a subscriber-- thank you! Join us in the discussion thread for this episode! Got a question or idea for a future episode? Visit culturestudypod.substack.com