Anne Helen Petersen (no relation) is one of my favorite cultural critics. When I was a baby writer just starting to collect bylines, Anne was someone I consistently looked up to. She can write about ANY topic--even one you think you might be bored by--and reveal what's interesting about it.

I will talk to Anne about anything any time, so when she asked me to come on the Culture Study podcast to talk about recent momfluencer trends, I obviously said fuck yes. I hope you enjoy our conversation about Brooke Raybould (always and forever); the trend of postpartum family communication (??); and much more. And if you're not already subscribing to Culture Study, you can do so here. Some of my favorite Culture Study eps/posts include:

Taylor Swift And The Good Girl Trap

"This Book Occurs Exactly At The Place The Far Right And The Far Left Meet"

Your Kitchen Objects Are Filled With Feelings

What's With All This Eldest Daughter Discourse?

How Your House Makes You Miserable

Anne and I have also collaborated on this essay about Kate Middleton's cancer remission video, and this analysis of the launch of the Ballerina Farm electrolyte powder. To quote Rufus Wainwright, oh what a world we live in!

This week, Emily and I talk about the very real consideration of what to watch, what to read, and what to listen to on any given day. There are SO MANY buzzy new shows, hard-hitting podcasts, and novels everyone is talking about. If one has a job, has relationships, and goes to bed at 9:30 PM (for example!), how does one prioritize media consumption? If you're on a book bender, do you let TV fall by the wayside? Can you read simultaneous books? DO YOU EVEN LISTEN TO MUSIC EVER?

Also: Are you guys interested in a Consumption Club? ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Sound off in the comments!!

Last week, I wrote about Lee Tilghman's LATEST reinvention, which has triggered quite the response. Some of my favorites include this essay by fitness and exercise writer Anna Maltby and this incisive analysis by Mallory DeMille.

In her book, Lee Tilghman wrote about how the wellness influencer economy exacerbated her tendency towards restriction, tracking, and disordered eating. Not even a year later, her online presence is effectively rewriting this thesis. In Tilghman's "method" launch, she includes a before/after photo; props her own body up as "proof" that her "method" works (ie will make you lose weight and appear toned); employs "beautiful from the inside out" marketing language; and places moral weight on particular foods. In other words, Tilghman's launch might be triggering for anyone who is actively steering clear from diet culture, anti-fatness, and wellness as a stand in for worthiness.

Emily has discussed her relationship with disordered eating and eating discovery recovery on a few of our eps, and I wasn't sure she'd be up for talking about Tilghman's rebrand, but she was, and both her insight and her unique perspective made for a fascinating conversation. Because this episode contains personally vulnerable content (and because I get a little spicy lol), we've paywalled it as a bonus ep for premium subscribers at around the 15ish minute mark. If you'd like to upgrade so you can listen to the entire conversation, you can do that here. Premium subscriptions are either $5/a month or $50 a/year and give you access to one extra essay per week, access to the entire archive, and commenting privileges. They also enable this newsletter to exist! Thank you!