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There's a new beauty trend in town: why are women trying to look...lifeless?

Today’s guest, Jessica DeFino - beauty reporter, critic, and author of the FLESH WORLD Substack - says contemporary glamorization of anti-aging products and long dead icons like Caroline Bessette Kennedy all fall within a macabre beauty trend, what she calls ‘the morgue gaze.’ Ageless, poreless, lifeless beauty inspiration keeps consumers coming back for more numb, frozen aesthetics - forever. Jessica joins host Brittany Luse to break down what the morgue gaze is and why we’re so fascinated with the beauty of lifelessness.

(0:00) The Resurgence of Carolyn Bessette and the 'Morgue Gaze'
(2:03) Aesthetic Immortality: Unpacking the Morgue Gaze's Appeal
(5:49) From Mannequin Skin to Cadaver Fat: The Rise of Lifeless Beauty
(9:41) Billionaire Longevity: Transhumanism, AI, and the Undead Future
(12:59) The Dissociative Pout
(17:58) The Inescapable Grip of Beauty Culture

Want more about beauty? Check out these IBAM episodes: 
The beauty industry has an Epstein problem
Looksmaxxing is teaching men that pretty hurts.
Peptides & the pursuit of the "perfect" body

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Everyone has to make the decision to have or not have kids. There are good reasons for both.

Are you sick of dating? Terrified of how expensive everything is? Frustrated with America's so-called social safety net? Horrified by the state of healthcare? If you answered yes to any of these, you might be one of the many people deciding to go childfree.

Host Brittany Luse is joined by Sarah McCammon, Senior Fellow at Third Way, and Emma Gannon, author of the novel Olive, to explore the reasons people feel like life might be better without a child -- and how that impacts everyone.

(0:00) Why women choose to go childfree
(1:53) The economic & ideological responses to declining birth rates
(6:01) Pushing back against negative assumptions of childfree women
(10:39) How to deal with society's judgment of family size and choice
(17:33) How childfree women shape modern society
(25:45) How culture and policy lag behind women's expectations of life
(31:02) What true childbearing freedom looks like for everyone

Want to hear more about modern womanhood? Check out these episodes: 
Enough is enough. Is it time to leave America?
Why are people freaking out about the birth rate?
The myth of modern "adulthood"

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Why is the government obsessed with whole milk?

In January, the USDA account on X posted a picture, possibly AI generated, of President Trump with a milk mustache. The caption was, “Drink up America. #DrinkWholeMilk.” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted what seems to be an AI video that shows him being transported to a nightclub when he drinks milk. The caption is, “when you take that first sip of whole milk.” Whole milk is also at the top of the new food pyramid. But what’s all this for? How do we make sense of this push for whole milk, especially when milk has some unsavory ideological associations?

Brittany gets into it with Yasmin Tayag, staff writer for The Atlantic who covers science and the future of food, and Andrea Freeman, Second Century Chair Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School and author of the book Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch.

Want more about modern health? Check out these episodes:
Were Americans actually healthier in the past?
The difference between losing weight & being "healthy" 
Is tech making us too obsessed with our bodies?

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What happens when tech billionaires control the media you consume?

With the help of his father, Paramount CEO David Ellison's purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery has gained him a roster of franchises and networks, from Looney Tunes to CNN. But the sale hasn't come without serious concerns, from data privacy to the rising costs of streaming services to what this means for workers in the entertainment industry.

Brittany is joined by Mandalit Del Barco, NPR culture correspondent, and David Folkenflik, NPR media correspondent, to cut through the corporate drama and figure out what this deal means for all of us.

(0:00) Why Brittany thinks you should be interested in the Paramount/Warner Bros deal
(4:12) How this deal will impact journalism and what you watch on TV
(7:19) Who are the Ellisons? And what's their relationship to Trump?
(11:49) Why cuts to the entertainment industry impact the entire country
(16:45) Who really controls American culture: the people or the rich & powerful?

Interested in more TV conversations? Check out these episodes:
Sinners vs. One Battle After Another: who should win Best Picture?
Melania Trump’s multi-million dollar “infomercial”

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It's easier than ever to cheat and to catch a cheater, but is that a good thing?

For example, there are apps and social media groups dedicated to outing a cheater. But what if that paranoia about cheating is actually hurting our relationships? And on top of that, definitions of "cheating" vary widely. How do you decide for yourself what really counts as cheating? And what's really fueling our fear of being cheated on?

Brittany is joined by Kathryn Jezer-Morton, writer of the Brooding column from The Cut, and Shannon Keating, freelance culture journalist, to get to the bottom of why fear of infidelity haunts our culture and our dating lives.

Want more about modern dating? Check out these episodes:
The embarassing truth of dating men
Is he a good guy? Or is he manipulating you?

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Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse

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See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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