Charitable Deductions: Incentive or Cynical Subsidy?

Did you see the stat from last week that the U.S. could've fully funded universal daycare for two million children... using the money spent on the War on Iran (only leading up to the ceasefire)? Do you look at the billions spent on ICE enforcement and think: my federal taxes are funding this? Are you super annoyed that only the rich get praised for "tax loopholes" — while the poor get told they're freeloaders? And what about billionaires bragging about not paying taxes?

So many of you have asked for a sharp conversation about the morality and civic duty of taxes and money, and I'm thrilled to have sociologist Ruth Braunstein — whose new book is about these very questions — on the show to answer all of your deep and difficult questions. This one's a just trust me: you might not think you're that interested in the morality of taxes, but this conversation will stick with you for days.

Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

• Wake up with clearer skin, smoother hair, and cooler sleep. Use code CULTUREPOD for an extra 30% off at blissy.com/CULTUREPOD
• For a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off using code CULTURE at oneskin.co/CULTURE. That’s 15% off oneskin.co with code CULTURE
• Get 40% off select Lola Blankets products at Lolablankets.com by using code CULTURE at checkout. Experience the world’s #1 blanket with Lola Blankets

Show Notes:

• Learn more about Ruth's work: https://www.ruthbraunstein.com/
• Subscribe to Ruth's newsletter: https://ruthbraunstein.substack.com/
• Order Ruth's book, My Tax Dollars: The Morality of Taxpaying in America: https://bookshop.org/a/56144/9780691254999

• Also check out Ruth's documentary podcast: https://www.ruthbraunstein.com/podcast
• Just a very straightforward representation of the history of the marginal tax rate: https://taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-highest-marginal-income-tax-rates

I promised links to War Tax Resistance Sites —

• War Tax Resistors League: https://www.warresisters.org/war-tax-resistance/
• National War Tax Committee Resistance Coordinating Committee: https://nwtrcc.org/

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

BOOK CONCIERGE....BUT FOR IRISH LITERATURE. We're so thrilled to have Maggie O'Farrell (author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait) on the pod to do an Irish version of our book concierge: tell us what books you love, and Maggie and I will suggest Irish books to check out (or ask us Maggie O'Farrell-related questions! Her new book, Land, is set in Ireland before and after 'The Great Hunger')

HEARTTHROBS with return guest Adib Khorram! Who are the heartthrobs in 2026, where did they come from, who gets to be one, etc etc

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.

BOOMER MOMS! Tracy Clark-Flory and I need your questions about why boomer moms (very broad designation here, I realize) are the way they are — we're specifically going to talk about the constrictions of growing up in '60s/'70s U.S., particularly around femininity, race, education, body image, employment, and motherhood. This one's gonna be really good, I know it.

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.

HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH A CITY with Lilah Raptopoulos, editor of the Financial Times city life vertical. We're going to talk about how to fall in love with cities WHILE VISITING (for fun, for vacation, for work) and how to fall in love with the city where you currently live. What tips do you want? What city are you struggling to fall in love with?

Anything you need advice for/want musings about for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment.

As always, you can submit your questions (and ideas for future eps) here

For this week’s discussion: How are you thinking about tax protesting right now?

• Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.
• Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.
• Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.
• Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.