What happens when someone who built their career on being Indigenous turns out to be ... a white lady? Award-winning writer and reporter Michelle Cyca shares how she came face to face with Indigenous identity fraud, why academia and the arts have a 'Pretendian' problem and what these scams means for Indigenous rights and sovereignty. **This episode originally aired on January 31, 2023** Read Michelle's MacLean's cover story, The Curious Case of Gina Adams: A "Pretendian" Investigation Send...

**Unladies' Room Patreon preview** With Real Housewives of Salt Lake City having a pop cultural moment, it's the perfect time for a reality check on women, gender and Mormonism.  Listen to Cristen's uncut 2018 interview with Kate Kelly, who sent shockwaves through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) when she dared to ask why women aren't allowed into the Mormon priesthood. Originally featured in Unladylike episode 8: How to Be a Mormon Feminist. To hear the full, ad-free...

Since when did parenting opposite-gender kids get branded as #BoyMoms and #GirlDads (not to be confused with "fathers of daughters")? Cristen unravels their origins and compares what these viral identities tell us about motherhood, masculinity and societal pressures to have at least "one of each." Highlights include: toxic boy moms of TikTok, Etsy merch, Rhianna, the Kardashians, a brief history of mother blame, Kobe Bryant, virtue signaling and angry dads at gender reveal parties. Send...

Ready or not, the 2024 presidential election is fast approaching. So why hasn't the Democratic Party pushed for President Biden step aside and run the Veep instead? And how come the even bigger question swirling around Kamala Harris is whether SHE'S the one who should step down? Follow Unladylike: IG | Twitter | TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Shop Unladylike merch Contact Multitude Productions for ad rates, etc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The invention of tabloids was both revolutionary and regressive for women, and it all goes back to The Daily Mail (yes, that Daily Mail with the book-length headlines and endless celeb photos). In this Unladies' Room bonus episode, Kristen Meinzer (How to Be Fine, The Daily Fail) regales us with the surprising women's history of The Daily Mail, feminized news and what tabloids actually get right. Follow Unladylike on IG, Twitter, TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Patreon Shop mErCh...

How did a line of expensive, educational dolls overtake 90s girlhood? Historians and Dolls of Our Lives hosts Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney tell us the backstory of Pleasant Rowland inventing American Girl, the brand's uneasy relationship with feminism and Barbie, and why Molly et al remain iconic despite their obvious flaws. Their new book is Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl. MORE, MORE, MORE: Follow Unladylike on IG | Twitter | TikTok Join the Unladies' Room...

The pelvic floor is so much more than Samantha Jones' kegels and postpartum prolapse. In this Unladies' Room bonus episode, pelvic floor physical therapist Dr. Kara Strauss breaks down "the keystone of the body" (!!), its many functions and why we don't talk about it enough. Kara also guides Cristen through pelvic floor therapy and how it applies to painful intercourse, elusive orgasms, peeing your pants when you laugh and gender-affirming healthcare. The body's KEYSTONE, y'all! Absolutely...

Is it sexist when straight men call each other the b-word? Cristen tracks down how bitch has (and hasn't) evolved and advises an unlady whose boyfriend thinks the b-word is no longer gendered. Then, a neurodivergent unlady is unsure how to ask friends to stop casually dropping the r-slur. BUT FIRST! Some recommended listening on Palestine: Rethinking Palestine Unsettled On the Nose Ethnically Ambiguous 5-4 More, more, more: Follow Unladylike: IG, Twitter, TikTok Join the Unladies'...

What does a good life mean, especially when bad things are happening? The Mash-Up Americans creators and hosts Amy Choi and Rebecca Lehrer are celebrating their 10th podcast anniversary by answering just that. Amy and Rebecca share their epic story of deep friendship, storytelling partnership and why living a good life is neither boring nor simple. (Nor does it cater to men.) Follow Unladylike: IG | Twitter | TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Patreion Shop merch Contact Multitude Productions...

What do Miss Universe, Miss World and international beauty pageants tell us about globalization and national identity, and why are pageants becoming MORE popular across the Global South? Feminist sociologist Dr. Oluwakemi Balogun embedded in Nigeria’s beauty pageant industry to find out. Kemi takes us beyond Western feminism’s tête-à-tête with pageant culture and to see what big international beauty pageants can tell us about gender, globalization, and the precarious power of being a beauty...

SCOTUS just kicked off a new term, and Strict Scrutiny hosts and law professors Leah Litman and Kate Shaw are here to explain how the Justices pick which cases to hear / what fresh hell might be in store. Then, Leah and Kate break down the stakes of Acheson Hotels v. Laufer, civil rights testers and what it has to do with last year's SCOTUS win for the Colorado website designer who wished to refuse (nonexistent) gay clients. We also get into the MINDBOGGLING case of US v. Rahimi, what's next...

Are magic mushrooms poised to become the next big mental health med, and if so, who stands to benefit? Psychologist and Chacruna Institute co-founder Dr. Clancy Cavnar reframes today's psychedelic renaissance through the lens of social justice, queer liberation and Indigenous reciprocity. Along the way, we confront the ugly history of LSD conversion therapy, the wildly high cost of legal psilocybin therapy in Oregon and why it all comes back to patriarchy. Follow: IG | Twitter | TikTok Join...

Call the tripsitter! We’re macrodosing on magic mushrooms, psychedelic sexism and psilocybin breakthroughs with journalist and fact-checker Jennifer Chesak. Author of The Psilocybin Handbook for Women, she explains why psilocybin could work wonders for anxiety, eating disorders, endometriosis, PCOS, PTSD and more, and the drug’s unresolved legacy of Indigenous exploitation. Cristen also journeys into Western psychedelics’ white boys’ club culture where men are psychonauts, and women are...

Welcome to the shroom boom. It's hard not to be a mushroom enthusiast considering all the practical and medicinal magic they can do. Not to mention, they're nutrish and delish. But also sometimes deadly! In part one of three, Maria Pinto - writer and mycophile (aka fungi lover) - takes us on a foray into wild mushroom hunting, the mycological (aka fungi study) community and how a hen of the woods mushroom changed her life.  Follow Unladylike: IG | Twitter | TikTok Join the Unladies' Room...

To change or not to change? That is the married-last-name question that actor, host and proud hyphenate Ashley Blaine Featherson-Jenkins (Dear White People, Trials to Triumphs) loves to answer. In this latest Ask Unladylike installment, Ashley and Cristen advise a listener in construction who's weary of being the "trophy worker" and an affianced unlady who worries whether taking her husband's last name is giving away part of her identity and/or caving to patriarchy. But first, they bond over...

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?. Follow Unladylike: IG | Twitter | TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Patreon Shop Unladylike merch Contact...

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. Follow Unladylike on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Patreon Shop unlady-merch Contact Multitude Productions for ad...

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. Follow Unladylike: IG | Twitter | TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Shop Unladylike...

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. Follow...

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". Follow Unladylike: IG | Twitter | TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Shop merch Contact Multitude...

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.”  This interview originally aired in 2022 in the Unladies’ Room Patreon,...

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. Follow Unladylike: IG | Twitter | TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Patreon Shop bRaNd NeW mErCh Contact...

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). Follow Unladylike: IG |...

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. Follow Unladylike: IG | Twitter | TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Shop bRaNd NeW...

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. She also reveals why it's no coincidence that historically white sororities were founded in the antebellum South, how they remained segregated far longer than frats, and the regional race and class roles sororities perform in her book, Southern Beauty: Race, Ritual and Memory in the Modern...