This is Awkward with Virginia Sole-Smith

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For the maiden voyage of the Culture Study podcast, we’re taking a hard look at a problem that plagues us all: terrible clothes. Why are shirts falling apart or pilling after just a few wears? Why does Gucci charge $3200 for a polyester sweater? What happened to ironing and will we ever dry clean en masse again?

Amanda Mull, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins me for a deep dive into the past twenty years of fashion production (and consumption) trends.

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Show notes:

• The tweet I describe in the beginning of the podcast
• Read Amanda Mull’s piece in The Atlantic: “Your Sweaters Are Garbage”
• Read Sarah Zhang’s piece in The Atlantic: “How I Got Bamboo-zled by Baby Clothes”
• Amanda mentioned: Sofi Thanhauser’s Worn: A People’s History of Clothing
• Some other Amanda pieces I love: Millennials Have Lost Their Grip on Fashion, The Free-Returns Party Is Over, How Shoppers Got Tricked By Vegan Leather
• You can see Amanda’s Jeffrey Dahmer glasses in the bio of her Instagram (which is private, so don’t friend request unless you actually know her)
• Paul Mescal’s rat tail situation (perhaps more appropriately called a mullet)

This week, we’re looking for your questions for future episodes about:

• Resurgent interest in early 2000s music (with Switched on Pop’s Nate Sloan)
• The Mean Girls Trailer
• A deep analysis of Taylor and Travis Kelce discourse
• Kevin Bacon’s Hott Instagram and Gen-X/Elder Millennial Instagram in general
• “Little treat” culture

You can submit them (and ideas for future eps) here.

Everything is interesting. That idea has guided the tremendously popular Culture Study newsletter, and it’s at the heart of the Culture Study Podcast, where host Anne Helen Petersen and the smartest people she knows answer listeners’ questions about the nooks and crannies of contemporary culture, from “why are clothes like this now” to “what’s the deal with F1?”

Subscribe to the Culture Study Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Listeners can submit their own questions here, and find weekly discussion threads, extensive show notes, transcripts and a lot more on Substack.

It's Work Appropriate's 50th episode, one-year anniversary episode, and last episode, all rolled into one. Producer Melody Rowell joins host Anne Helen Petersen to talk about their favorite moments from the show and share updates from listeners who have written in.

• Keep in touch! Subscribe to Anne's newsletter (it's free!) to stay in the know about future podcast plans.

From terse Slack messages to Zoom happy hours, the culture of remote workplaces can be frustrating to navigate. But it can also be an opportunity to experiment, to build friendships... and to have an annual retreat in an exotic location! Chase Warrington, head of remote for Doist, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer listeners' questions about how to create a healthy and enjoyable work culture when there's no water cooler to gather around.

• Read Chase's recent blog post, "How to build human connections in an async workplace"
• Check out our other episodes on remote work: "Onboard Me" with Adrian Hon and "Remote Work Done Right" with Marissa Goldberg

If all my coworkers are younger than me, am I still relevant? How can I stay motivated and engaged until retirement, when I've been working so long and it still feels so far away? Should I tell my boss I'm struggling at work because of menopause? Debbie Millman, educator, artist, and host of the podcast Design Matters, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer all these questions from listeners in the later phases of their careers.

• Like this episode? Check out "Big Working Parent Questions" with Lydia Kiesling and "Is It Too Late To Start Over?" with Ailsa Chang from our archives.
• Follow @CrookedMedia on Instagram and Twitter for more original content, host takeovers and other community events.

We wanted to tackle some of the most complicated management questions that listeners sent in, so host Anne Helen Petersen turned to our favorite management experts, Melissa & Johnathan Nightingale of the Raw Signal Group. Whether you’re suffering from micromanaging, a boss who loves to hear himself talk, or way too much work in too few hours-- we’ve got some suggestions.

• Listen to Melissa's fantastic advice on our previous episodes, "May I Speak to the Manager?" and "How to Be A Better Boss"
• Need advice about a sticky situation at work? Head to www.workappropriate.com and tell us about it-- we may use your question in a future episode!
• Follow @CrookedMedia on Instagram and Twitter for more original content, host takeovers and other community events.

We've done episodes on pivoting careers, on starting over, on starting a new job-- and now it's time to talk about the absolute slog that is searching, applying, and interviewing for a new job. Phoebe Gavin, career coach and founder of Better with Phoebe, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to give listeners advice on getting through the slog and landing the job you want.

• Need advice about a sticky situation at work? Fill out our form at www.workappropriate.com, or email us at workappropriate@crooked.com. You can stay as anonymous as you like!
• Follow @CrookedMedia on Instagram and Twitter for more original content, host takeovers and other community events.

Are hiring managers checking out your Instagram stories? Is it okay to tweet about the NSFW writing you do on the side? Should you expose the idiots who send vitriol to your company's inboxes? The intersection of work and social media can be a messy place. Rachel Karten, social media strategist and writer of the Link in Bio newsletter, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer listeners' questions about when online problems become IRL.

• Need advice about a sticky situation at work? Fill out our form at www.workappropriate.com, and your question may appear in a future episode! You can also send us an email at workappropriate@crooked.com.
• Follow @CrookedMedia on Instagram and Twitter for more original content, host takeovers and other community events.

We usually create Work Appropriate episodes around a theme, grouping similar questions together. But over time, we've amassed a collection of questions that are, shall we say, unique. Greta Johnsen, host of WBEZ's Nerdette, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer this cornucopia of singular submissions.

• Need advice about a sticky situation at work? We're here for you. Head to www.workappropriate.com and ask away-- or you can email workappropriate@crooked.com
• Listen to Anne's guest appearance on Nerdette
• Follow @CrookedMedia on Instagram and Twitter for more original content, host takeovers and other community events.

So your company put out a statement about its commitment to DEI (or DEIB, or IDEA, or whatever your workplace calls it)-- now what? Efforts to make workplaces more diverse, equitable, and inclusive can often get bogged down by the processes and culture that made the efforts so necessary in the first place. Sameera Kapila, product designer and author of Inclusive Design Communities, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer listeners' questions about how to keep doing the work, and make it effective.

• Get 50% off of Inclusive Design Communities with code WORK15, from September 6-20.
• Need advice about a sticky situation at work? Head to www.workappropriate.com and tell us about it, or send us an email at workappropriate@crooked.com.
• Follow @CrookedMedia on Instagram and Twitter for more original content, host takeovers and other community events.