Shows
Culture Study PodcastDon't Mess With Texas CultureTexas Culture is at least a dozen cultures smashed into one enormous state — with a whopping 254 counties, four sprawling metro areas, 1255 miles of border with Mexico, the best breakfast item in the United States (fight me) and the best grocery store chain (fight me again). I needed a co-host who was up to the task — and, like all of our other regional-specific episodes, loves the place they’re from intensely… but is also willing to interrogate its mess. I needed longtime friend of the pod (and San Antonio native) Sam Sanders. In this ep, we go deep into so many corn...
2025-08-201h 04
The Sam Sanders ShowAre We Living in a Feminist Dystopia?This week, writer Anne Helen Petersen unpacks the idea of Feminist Exhaustion — a term she coined to describe the burnout, backlash, and disillusionment many women feel toward the hollow promises of modern feminism. Sam and Anne explore how pop culture shaped (and warped) our ideas of empowerment through shows like Scandal, Girls and basically every recent Nicole Kidman project. Plus, they dive into the evolution from girlboss to tradwife, and ask how future generations can redefine what feminism means.
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2025-07-2549 min
Culture Study PodcastNicole Kidman's Resting Rich FaceI could talk about Nicole Kidman for hours. Very few Hollywood actors have had careers this varied, this delightful, this weird — oh, and she’s also been married to Tom Cruise. She manages to be both chronically underestimated and overrated, and she’s recently found herself in a slew of roles where she embodies a slew of different rich white ladies, each miserable in their own specific ways. For this episode, I’m joined by the great Sam Sanders to talk about our own Kidman Syllabi and answer your questions about her most recent roles, (not) aging onscreen, and what mak...
2024-11-2054 min
From Beneath the Hollywood Sign"THELMA RITTER: CLASSIC CINEMA STAR OF THE MONTH" (060)EPISODE 60 - "THELMA RITTER: CLASSIC CINEMA STAR OF THE MONTH" - 11/04/2024There's a scene in the classic 1950 film All About Eve where Eve Harrington (ANNE BAXTER), a star-struck fan who has infiltrated the life of Broadway star Margo Channing (BETTE DAVIS), is telling the tragic story of her past to Margo and her friends. While Margo and company are drawn into the sad circumstances of Eve's life, Margo's acerbic dresser Birdie, played to perfection by the great THELMA RITTER, is not buying her sob story. After Eve finishes, Birdie mutters, "What a story! Everything but...
2024-11-0429 min
Culture Study PodcastThe Beautiful Cult of Dallas Cowboys CheerleadersA seven-part Netflix docuseries on the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders called America’s Sweethearts? Oh my god, WHAT a rich text. The uniform, the dances, the body norms, the coded language, the particular feminine ideals, the intersections with Texas culture and evangelical culture — there’s just so much there. And I was thrilled when Sam Sanders and Zach Stafford, two of the co-hosts of the indispensable Vibe Check, agreed to help answer all of your (excellent) questions. (We couldn’t get the rights to Thunderstruck, but you can just imagine it playing over the intro and on repeat forever.) Join t...
2024-07-2456 min
Culture Study PodcastWhat's Bradley Cooper's Deal?Bradley Cooper would very much like an Oscar. If you’ve been paying attention to Hollywood at any point over the last five years, you know this. It’s evident in the films he makes, the way he talks about them, the cheesesteak food truck he opened for a weekend to keep himself in the press cycle. There’s nothing wrong with wanting an Oscar — what actor doesn’t want one?! — but what happens when that desire becomes the overarching theme of your entire image? The dominant way the public understands you? The great Sam Sanders joins the pod to tal...
2024-02-2159 min
It's Been a Minute'The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman'Sam talks to writer Anne Helen Petersen about her new book, "Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman." They cover pop culture and the news, President Trump, the nature of celebrity, Kim Kardashian, Nicki Minaj, Serena Williams, Lena Dunham, Amy Schumer, how white women can learn to be woke, Anne Hathaway, Melissa McCarthy, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, Hillary Clinton, Ivanka Trump, Bernie Sanders and 'charismatic' politicians, and why Petersen's mother was an unruly woman. Email the show at samsanders@npr.org and follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders.Learn more about...
2017-07-1144 min