Unladylike

Why are more young women trading in their natural teeth for veneers, and what does it say about beauty standards, class perceptions and the dental healthcare gap? Writer Jessica Goldstein drills down on the rise of cosmetic dentistry, aesthetic veneers, head-to-toe "hotness creep" and her brilliant Washington Post feature, Have you noticed that everyone's teeth look a little too perfect?...

Why are so many women getting into life coaching these days, and is it legit self-help? The Dream host (and certified life coach, technically!) Jane Marie sheds light on what it is, why it's appealing and how MLMs (multilevel marketing, a la Rodan + Fields) and influencer culture pipeline straight into life coaching and aspirational self-optimization...

Do tarot cards really have secrets to spill? Investigative journalist and Ritually host Nelufar Hedayat shares what happened when she turned to tarot for guidance on two major life decisions and how the cards connect to the history of women and minoritized groups. Cristen also discovers the surprising origins of tarot and how its fortunetelling lore came to be. Mixed and mastered by Multitude Productions...

A lifelong self-doubter, comedian Aparna Nancherla decided to get to the bottom of her angst, and things didn't quite go as planned. From a childhood speech contest to the standup stage, Aparna takes us along her journey to finding her comedic voice, claiming her identity and confronting her inner fraud in her new book, Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself and Imposter Syndrome. Cristen also retraces how women's imposter "syndrome" became a thing and why it's being called into question...

In the first-ever (!) mailbag episode, Cristen shares listener letters, DMs and life updates about dating apps, leaving academia, the bisexual closet, green card marriage and MORE! She also answers an unlady who is frustrated with negative media coverage of sorority life, gets some actionable advice on supporting local libraries and a juicy fact-check about the original "Little Mermaid"...

Commodified motherhood has come a long way, babies! Or has it? Now a multi-billion dollar industry, momfluencing also comes with a side of tradwives and mom guilt. Sara Petersen, author of Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture, talks to Cristen about the ideals they’re selling, the motherhood they’re performing and why mega-momfluencer @Ballerina Farm is such a “rich text...

Why is one of the largest school districts in the country turning libraries into student detention centers? Debbie Hall, certified librarian and co-founder of Students Need Libraries in Houston Independent School District, fills Cristen in on the difference school librarians make, why their jobs are in jeopardy and how Moms for Liberty is pushing book censorship in Texas and beyond...

How are real-life teachers applying “Abbott Elementary” inside and out of the classroom, and what can all of us learn from it? Cristen talks to Brown University senior and future teacher Jada Wooten about Black teacher representation and what education equity looks like in action. Then elementary ed associate professor Dr. Sara Jones created a college seminar on "Abbott" and she her own journey of unlearning white-savior teacher tropes (aka Dangerous Minds-itis)...

Long live White Gladis, orca queen of the deep. From today's yacht-sinking killer whale moms to 19th-century "devil fish," environmental historian Anna Guasco takes Cristen on an underwater expedition of mammalian matriarchy, seafaring masculinity and the revealing messiness of human-whale relationships. Come for orca uprising, stay for the powerful underbelly of whale stories past and present...

Pack your rush bags, unladies! It's sorority recruitment season in the South. Elizabeth Bronwyn Boyd takes us beyond the spectacle of #BamaRush into the "competitive femininity" and gender ritual of rush...