Checking In On The Momfluencers

This one's a classic Culture Study ep. We've got a return Culture Study guest, Sara Petersen, talking about a recurring Culture Study topic: WTF is going on with the momfluencers? Because when we talk about momfluencers, we're obviously also always talking about the ways we want motherhood to be performed in public... and how we also want/crave/need to police that performance. How are today's up-and-coming (and old school and tired) momfluencers managing politics, MAHA, privacy, and the constant demand for more reels? What is it about these accounts that always make "family" feel like a conservative project? And what's going on with the Canva-style checklists for "how to visit my newborn baby"??? We have SO much to talk about.

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Show Notes:

• Definitely subscribe to Sara Petersen's newsletter (I read every issue) and check out her new podcast with Emily J. Smith, Clean Countertops
• Like..... read her latest missive on Mr. Ballerina Farm
• The Ballerina Farm pregnancy announcement/Protein Powder promotion short film
• Like Sara, I am now obsessed with BROOKE RAYBOULD (pictured above) SO MUCH HAPPENING
• I reference MTPromiseLand
• Read Sara's interview with Fortesa Latifi, author of the book about the kids of influencers
• Brooklyn and Bailey (whom I call the Baylor Influencer Twins)

We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

SUMMER CAMP, SPECIFICALLY THE SUMMER CAMPS LIKE CAMP MYSTIC — camp-as-society-funnel, what counts and doesn't count as safety — with Kerry Howley, the author of this deep dive feature into the aftermath of the Mystic tragedy

WHITE LADY HAIR! Cultural critic Sarah Mesle will be joining us to talk about her new book Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity. If there's a white lady whose hair interests you, I guarantee you it interests Sarah, too. We can talk about specific celebrity/actress haircuts but also specific styles/trends. I cannot wait for this one.

INTERGENERATIONAL FRIENDSHIP with Andrew Sean Greer, author of Less (and Villa Coco, a new book with an intergenerational friendship at its center). You can ask questions about how to find intergenerational friends, how to sustain those friendships, what people seem to love so much about them, wherever your heart takes you.

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