Why admitting 'freak' felt freeing

I've written a bunch of mildly serious stuff about having BIG NO-KIDS ENERGY. I've talked with so many others — and published interviews with them! — about how they've negotiated conversations with others about not having kids, leaned in to the expansiveness of their no-kids lives, and figured out their own life priorities when they're not what society tells you they should be. But all of these conversations have been pretty, well, serious. But not having kids can be many things. More specifically, not having kids can be hilarious.

Today, comedian (and not-kid-haver) Natasha Vaynblat joins the pod to answer all your questions about the awkward, unconsciously ridiculous, and straight-up offensive questions that people ask when you don't have kids — and how to figure out how to answer (sometimes seriously, sometimes with a sense of humor). I don't think any Culture Study guest has made me spit out my water as much as Natasha, so regardless of whether you don't have kids and relate immediately or DO have kids and just relate to the idea of strangers and/or supposedly beloved family members asking you inappropriate shit... I hope you almost spit out your water, too.

AND GREAT NEWS: WE HAVE VERY GOOD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTS NOW! They come out within 24 hours of the pod, so you just have to be a little patient and then come back and click here. We pay an actual human for help with these, so thank you for either being a paid subscriber or listening to the ads that make this model possible!

If you're a paid subscriber and haven't yet set up your subscriber RSS feed in your podcast player, here's the EXTREMELY easy how-to .

And if you're having any other issues with your Patreon subscription — please get in touch! Email me at annehelenpetersen @ gmail OR submit a request to Patreon Support. Thank you for making the switch with us — the podcast in particular is much more at home here!

Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode!

• Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! If you’re in the market for a beautiful new sofa, dining table or bed, head over to https://www.article.com/

• Go to Graza.co and use CULTURESTUDY to get 10% off your first order of olive oil, and be sure to look for Graza Mayo the next time you're at your local grocery store!

• For a custom-fit night guard, go to shopremi.com/CULTURE and use code CULTURE  at checkout for 50% off.

• Get 40% off select Lola Blankets products at Lolablankets.com by using code CULTURE at checkout.

Show Notes:

• Follow Natasha Vaynblat on Instagram here (worth it I promise)

• BUY A TICKET TO SEE NATASHA ON APRIL 28TH IN NEW YORK!!!!

• Visit Natasha's website for links to alllll of her stuff, including her stand-up special We're All Dads Here

• If you want to read the previous posts in the BIG NO-KIDS ENERGY series, they're all collected here!

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

• New trends you've noticed in the world of MOMFLUENCERS (with Sara Petersen, of course)

• Dark academia — the trends, the themes, the popularity, whatever you want (for an episode with R.F. Kuang!)

• Conversion Therapy (how it affects people late into life, how it still exists, etc. etc.)

• Your Parent(s) Died — How Do You Deal with All This PAPERWORK and bureaucracy??? (with death doula Becky Robison)

• What would LIFE AFTER CARS look like?? (With the hosts of the War on Cars pod!)

• KID INFLUENCERS — what happens when your parent puts you on camera before you can really consent?

• Anything you need advice or want musings on 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: Natasha offered so many possibilities for how you could respond to various weird questions... do you have more?

  Or: let's hear the most awkward (having kids or not having kids) question someone has asked you about your reproductive future!!!!