Anne Helen Petersen
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As seen in:
Culture Study,
Culture Study Podcast,
Apple Podcasts,
Medium,
MSN,
The New York Times,
Bloomberg News,
HuffPost,
Post Outlook,
Scribd,
The Guardian,
The Times of India
and
Covers:
celebrity, celebrity gossip, stardom, classic hollywood, gender studies, hollywood history, scandal
I write Culture Study & also books — most recently, OUT OF OFFICE.
Speaking: @prhspeakers
IG: annehelenpetersen // email: annehelenpetersen @ gmail
Articles by Anne Helen Petersen
Would Your Organization Give Someone Baby Formula? — Church Anew
Anyone who's worked in nonprofits or with vulnerable populations knows that this sort of binary (offers to immediately buy formula vs. does not immediately offer to buy formula) lacks nuance. Many religious organizations have direct associations with food pantries, services for people who are struggling to make rent, refugee and migrant assistance programs, and shelters.
On Patreon: FIFTH ANNUAL CULTURE STUDY SOUP EXTRAVAGANZA
Good morning to everyone still reading on Substack! Culture Study moved over to Patreon a week ago today — and from this point on I’ll just be sending weekly digests of what I’m posting over there (instead of a duplicate email for every post). Tomorrow there’s an interview that’s going to rearrange your brain, there’s the ongoing BIG NO-KIDS ENERGY series, and so much more.
Shape the Future of Culture Study!
I’ve been writing Culture Study for five years — and doing the Culture Study pod for two. I want to keep doing it for another five (if not more!!) but I also want all of you, as part of the community, to be part of shaping that future. I want to figure out any annoying parts of subscribing and smooth them, and I want a sense of what stuff from the recent past feels particularly “Culture Study” to you.
OCTOBER OPEN CHAOS THREAD
Last night I went and saw One Battle After Another and I feel like I need to see it three more times and talk about it forever! I’m also reading the best book I’ve read this year and the new Taylor Swift album just came out?!? Plus it’s fall and the light is just so good right now??? I want to talk about everything! Cue: OUR FIRST OPEN CHAOS THREAD SINCE…
What Makes a Recipe Go Viral (and Other Contemporary Food Mysteries)
Last Friday’s Thread on Your Relationship To Your Given Name has proven wildly popular — if you haven’t spent time there yet, there’s so much to think about.Then get some ideas of what to watch this week from Tuesday’s What Are You Watching! And make sure and check out this week’s episode of The Culture Study Podcast, which is all about how internet speech develops, spreads, and expands into our offline conversations (if you want to understand the Skibidi Rizz of it all, or if you’re just...
What Are You Watching (in September??)
I’m gearing up to watch the new season of Love is Blind *for content* — or should I just say that I’m watching it because Audie Cornish asked me to? (And when Audie Cornish asks, you say yes?) She’s coming on the Culture Study podcast to serve as the expert while I ask questions as the newbie (if you have questions for us to answer, SUBMIT THEM HERE). B…
An End-of-Summer Blowout of Links & Recs
Back-to-school-pics! Sunset before 8 pm! Costco trying to convince me to buy massive lawn skeletons! Most of my non-dahlia plants looking exhausted! All of Instagram selling me sweaters and so many boots! MUST BE THE LAST DAY OF AUGUST! Summer is my favorite season and yet like so many of you I revel in the promise of seasonal change: how good it feels, even if just for a few weeks, to choose warmth, instead of desperately trying to escape it.
Friday Thread: What Were Your Parents Right About?
Today’s Friday Thread prompt comes from Ellmo, who simply asks: What were your parents right about? We also have a few sub-questions: • None From Joy: We could also add what were they wrong about and how it impacted your relationship - I'll never forget the first time my mom admitted to being wrong. It massively changed our relationship (for the better)
The Great Feminist Exhaustion
Do you read this newsletter every week? Do you forward it or text it to your friends?? Do you value the work that goes into it??? Consider becoming a subscribing member. You get access to the weekly Things I Read and Loved at the end of each Sunday newsletter, the massive link posts, and the knowledge that you’re paying for the things you find valuable. Last week’s ADVICE TIME thread was incredible, like 2000+ comments incredible.
Playlist Thread #1: Workout/Pump-Up Songs
I ran my fifth Ragnar Relay this past weekend and on the third leg — when all of us were operating on about 3 hours of sleep and nearing around 20 miles in mileage — our van would find the perfect place at the top of a hill (SO MANY HILLS) and take out the portable speaker and start blaring the runner’s pump-up song of choice as they crested the hill.
The Cost of Being Undocumented
It’s sobering to see so few comments yet but I’m hoping it’s just a result of it being a weekend. The coverage of the brutal ‘ICE’ raids (I put that in quotes becuz I’m 99% positive most of them are bounty hunters being paid by the pick-up… 😞) disturbs me constantly. I know my tax dollars are paying for this but I DID NOT vote for this and I don’t support this AT ALL. Most of us didn’t (?). And yet, we are trapped in this timeline. Every option to respond feels weak and impotent.
The Cost of Being Undocumented
And if you want the full Culture Study experience — all the reading suggestion threads, the movie/tv concierge, the mega links/recs posts, and everything else that goes behind the paywall, including this week’s Friday Thread on How You’re Reinventing What You Do For Work, become a paid subscriber today: It’s difficult to articulate all the ways Alix Dick’s story, which you’ll read below, matters right now.
An Obituary for Reading the Internet
I like to call those days “when the internet was fun.” And it really is a feeling of nostalgia.
An Obituary for Reading the Internet
This week’s episode of is all about men’s fashion trends — like why everything is earth-toned and why so many moms still buy underwear and socks for their adult sons. Listen here — and remember that all paid Culture Study newsletter subscribers get 35% off their podcast subscription, so if you want to skip the ads and always get access to the Ask Anne Anything segment, just click here to get the discount.
Teen Mags, Dead Girls, Cults, and Calorie Tracking
If you want the full Culture Study experience — including and especially the weekly threads and the comments sections — become a paid subscriber today. What you’re missing: Your Favorite Part About Being Queer, How To Start Doing Something (With a High Barrier to Entry), The Smallest Hill You’d Die On, all the tremendously popular books/movies/podcast/music rec threads, and the Culture Study Classifieds, which are returning next month.
Tuesday Thread: What Are You Working On??
We did a version of this thread back in February and I loved the multiple valences of “working on”: it could be a garden project, detailing your car, a new quilting project (or an old one that’s been languishing), a piece of jewelry, refining your perfect version of a recipe, edits on a dissertation, a book draft…..or you could be working on letting go …
Just a Superb Collection of Links & Recs for Your Three-Day Weekend
I don’t know how the Friday Thread about little lies got so lovely and compelling and weird but it did. Come read all sorts of lies (and why we tell them).
Tuesday Thread: What Are You Watching???
Thanks to a previous thread I’ve been watching The Residence, a screwballish Netflix mystery set in the White House after the death of the head usher. I love the way it treats the White House like a doll house, both aesthetically and narratively, and Uzo Aduba is flawless as a birdwatching master sleuth, but sometimes the bombast tilts over into slightl…
A Beautiful Conversation That Will Shift Your Thinking About Parenting
If you love this newsletter and open it all the time but haven’t made the switch to paid, you’re missing out on half the content — and the very heart of Culture Study. Like Tuesday’s 1100+ comment discussion of what we’re all reading, loving, and quitting halfway through…..and Friday’s fascinating discussion of the family summer vacation.
The Pitt is a Show About
I don’t usually focus a piece on a single piece of media, but The Pitt has affected me in unanticipated ways — ways that make me want to talk about the entire show with anyone else who’s watched it and cajole others into watching it as well.
Tuesday Thread: Podcast Concierge
We haven’t done one of these in a long time and spring/summer gardening requires a LOT of podcast material. I’ve previously recommended Amy Poehler’s new show, Good Hang, which has filled a need I didn’t realize I had (famous people who aren’t dudes talking about being famous but also being normal). Switched on Pop has also been on a real jag of greatne…
Specific Ways You're Preparing to Protect Yourself & Your Community
I am feeling fucking bleak about the state of everything. If you’ve kept a distance from the day-to-day developments here in the U.S., I understand, but I also encourage you to read or listen to Ezra Klein’s latest, “The Emergency is Here,” for a concise and explicit understanding of what is happening right now — and the very real threat to all of our rights and safety. If you’re a visual person, you can watch below. If you’d like to hear it in audio, it’s here.
Tuesday Thread: What Are You Watching???
I fucking love a (well-done) Hollywood production about Hollywood. I love A Star is Born (every version, legitimately) and I love The Aviator and I really love Adaptation!!! The Player! Singin’ in the Rain are you kidding me! Even The Stunt Man, a solid B- of a movie about Hollywood buoyed by Ryan Gosling’s charisma, got me. So no surprise that I love …
Culture Study Classifieds, In Like a Lion
Welcome to the Culture Study Classifieds, one of my favorite recurring features in the newsletter. People love reading the classifieds, but they also love offering their esoteric (or not so esoteric) services, offering to provide connections between readers, figuring out Culture Study book/cooking clubs, and so many other purposes. It’s such a vibrant space filled with unexpected thrills. I’m always excited to send out the next edition.
Friday Thread: Non-Traditional
Today’s Friday Thread Prompt comes from Lauren, who asks: What aspect(s) of your life are non-traditional, as in, don't match your culture's norms? Was this something you chose or not? If so, how did you come to that determination? In what ways does it improve your life, and in what ways is it challenging? You can take this in the more obvious directions…
Friday Roundup: Carrie Bradshaw’s wedding dress, SAVE Act & the perfect banana bread
Happy Friday everyone - I hope you are doing okay! A lot of people, myself included, have been hit with *ailments* this winter. Life is hard enough without norovirus or pneumonia. Sending you an UGH! if you are team unwell.
The 67 (!) best articles to help you grow your Substack
It’s a President’s Day Sale! Get 30% off an your annual subscription by upgrading now. Click to see all the great content that comes when you do;) From time to time I’ve written posts about Substack itself, for which some of you have liked and said RAH RAH THANKS CLAIRE.
Tuesday Thread: Donation & Volunteer "Concierge"
Today’s thread prompt comes from Culture Study reader Jordan, who asks: I've been thinking about this since gift-giving season, as something like a "donation/volunteer concierge" to complement the gift concierge. Basically, I just want to hear from smart people about where they donate and/or volunteer (and why!). This is 90% selfish, as I also want new i…
Friday Thread: Later Loves
Today’s Friday Thread Prompt comes from Anaïs, who asks: I want to read about people's experiences of second, third and other loves in later life! I'm thinking 40+ but it could be younger if it feels "later in life" or second or third act to you. It's much easier to be away from the relationship escalator which is so freeing — but even coming from a div…
Fugs & Pieces, January 17, 2024 - Go Fug Yourself
Hello! Things are still a real shitshow here. I hope you are okay. Anne Helen Petersen put together an excellent post at her Substack called How to Help People in LA *Right Now.* The short answer is, honestly, money.
Blake Lively Reshoots the End of Her Story
Also: Consider donating to this GoFundMe for Mimi and Greg Rogers, who lost everything in the Altona Fire — including vital medical equipment to move and care for Greg, who has severe ALS. As if this writing, they’ve raised around $43,000 of their $100,000 goal; I think we can significantly reduce the gap. And if you somehow haven’t seen it — Los Angeles Mutual Aid has a massive spreadsheet of resources for those in need. You can support their work here.
The Most Beautiful Swim You've Ever Taken
First, like everyone else I’ve been watching the Los Angeles-area fires with horror and grief; if you or a loved one is displaced and needs help, please comment below and this community will figure out how to assist the best we can. Second, World Central Kitchen is on the ground providing meals to first responders and others displaced or affected by the…
How to Be a Joiner
And if you’re already a Paid Subscriber: You’re the Best. Make sure you check out yesterday’s Comfort Watch Thread…..plus last Friday’s Senescence Planning. We’ll also be doing Winter Culture Study Classifieds soon (see last year’s); watch this space. Also: This week’s episode of addresses all of your excellent and provocative questions about the weird world of kids toys — and we got the brilliant to comebe the cohost.
Tuesday Thread: Your Comfort Watch
It’s the time of year for comfort watches, for any number of reasons: it gets dark at 4 pm, it’s wet, it’s snowing, the world is full of emotions and so is your heart, etc. etc. Comfort Watches are often holiday-oriented because the film itself is, in some way, cozy or reverse engineered to make you feel that way — but a Comfort Watch can also be the ep…
Posting Less
This Friday’s Subscriber-Only Thread is one of my favs in a long time: How Are You Planning For Your Senescence?
Extreme Pain, Extreme Joy
AHP Note: Every so often I get a great pitch for a guest interview and hand the Culture Study reins over to someone else (usually a reader who *gets it*) to handle the interview (and get paid for it, of course — your subscriptions made it possible for me to pay significantly above the going industry rate). This week, Zachary Ayotteinterviews photographer Maggie Shannon about her new book documenting the work of midwives. It’s a beautiful, expansive interview, and I’m honored to publish it.
Tuesday Thread: What Are You Watching?
I watched Season One of The Diplomat after my beloved dog, Peggy, died unexpectedly — and I watched Season Two of The Diplomat in the grey haze of the election. It is a spectacularly easy show to lose yourself to — and unlike grief, the season ends (fairly quickly). Plus: this season has Alison Janney in a truly spectacular turn (I won’t reveal the char…
How to Show Up For Your Friends Without Kids — and How to Show Up For Kids and Their Parents
Note: This essay was first published on July 20th, 2022; you can read the original version here. I updated this week because we’re grappling with a lot of BIG QUESTIONS about what it means to be in community with one another — plus this is one of the topics that comes up most often in our weekly threads…and I’d love to hear more about how you’re working through these tensions now.
Abusers In Plain Sight
Before this week’s interview, I wanted to draw your attention to the Consistent Money Moving Project. I first heard about it from the great Lydia Kiesling several years ago, and have been part of it ever since. It’s very straightforward: every week, people with a little extra give to others who could use a little extra. No bureaucracy, no hoops to jump through, just money moving to people who really need it.
I'm Just So Mad
A quick note: Election Day writing is fraught, and I’ve become wary of doing it in a way that can circulate widely or be readily decontextualized and used for trolling purposes. For that reason, today’s essay is behind the paywall. If you want to read what I’m so mad about, and get a few links to make you feel even slightly less nauseous, subscribe below.
FOUR ANNUAL SOUP EXTRAVAGANZA
Can’t believe I delayed this thread four solid weeks after I turned on the heat but here we are, early November, and I’ve definitely already made at least eight soups (we are a soup family, what can I say). Some are old stand-bys, which I’ll list below, but some are part of my ongoing attempt to cook a new Rancho Gordo bean every week — and nearly all of those attempts have been winners (I’ll share those, too).
The Secret to a Hobby-Filled Life
Subscribers, be sure and check out this week’s Tuesday Thread on where to find/buy/source art — it’s lovely. This past Sunday, I started digging and dividing dahlias at 8 am, and was on my feet (or bent over, pulling them from the ground) until 6 pm. My partner, Charlie, was helping out for the day, along with my dahlia growing partner Beth and her husband. We finished the day sore and accomplished. “I looked at my watch at like 11 am,” Charlie said as he collapsed on the couch.
Tuesday Thread: Where are you buying/finding art?
The first thing you see when you walk in my door is a giant framed print of Kristina Barker’s “Wind Chill.” This was the first piece of art we found specifically for this house, and I find it tremendously calming. I found out about Kristina’s photography — which is absolutely stunning — when another photographer friend of mine, Ilana Panich-Linsman, po…
Friday Thread: Ideas for Future Threads!!!
All my best Friday Thread ideas come on the shower or about 40 minutes into a dog walk. And all *your* best Friday Thread ideas come to me in direct emails (see: last week’s thread) and in this thread, which I send once or twice a year. One of the fun things about running my own newsletter is getting to talk about what I want to talk about with very sma…
Cultivating Non-Romantic Intimacy
Sometimes I’ll get an email in my inbox asking me to take a look at an upcoming book and as soon as I read the book description I know: this is deeply Culture Study. Sometimes it’s because the topic and approach asks us as readers to look much closer at some component of the culture that surrounds us — whether that’s the culture of gay Republicans or tracking our kids.
Friday Thread: Theories of Resilience
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Friday Thread: Theories of Resilience
I was talking to a friend about what it felt like to come through a stressful set of weeks. They’d made it to the end of their most intense obligations, but found themselves flummoxed by the smallest annoyances: the dog wanting to go out at a time that wasn’t normal, a slight delay from road construction, Starbucks running out of Spinach-Feta Wraps. “I just have no resilience,” they said.
Did Your Parents Have Friends?
My primary memories of childhood are of boredom, of reading, of Star Trek: The Next Generation, of endless hours at the pool — and of my parents hanging out. We did plenty of stuff as a family, but the weekends were always a mix of us going to other people’s houses or them coming to ours (or us at home with a babysitter while my parents went elsewhere).
Becoming Little Shell
If you’ve read this newsletter over the last few years, you know I’m a card-carrying member of the Chris La Tray fan club. His newsletter, An Irritable Métis, is one of a very small handful of newsletters I open immediately whenever they land in my inbox. His writing both challenges me and makes me feel at home in the world; he is deeply funny and readily moved and his broad love for the world, and anger at all the ways we’ve fucked it up, is always right there on the surface.
How Greek Life Stayed Segregated at Bama.....Until 2013
Welcome to Part Two of Bama Confidential, a week-long series that goes deep into the past and present of Greek Life at the University of Alabama.If you missed Part One — on sorority rush — or just want to read the intro to the series, and how it found its way to Culture Study, you can find it here. You can read Part Two, on The Machine, here. If you want to explore the content coming out of #Rushtok this week, I’m curating it over on my Instagram (and make sure and check the pinned stories).
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