The Cut

A few months ago the Cut's Jazmín Aguilera talked with NY 23 Congressional candidate Jaslin Kaur about what it's really like to say "fuck the old white guy political establishment," and run for office as a woman of color. Now, in the midst of New York City's rank choice electoral purgatory, we're revisiting that conversation and updating with what it's like to crash toward a finish line and just suddenly... have nothing to do but wait. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gaby Grossman is no stranger to weight gain. From her childhood stint at a fat camp to the daily struggles of daring to wear a (gasp!) cute shirt in public, she's never been allowed to get totally comfortable in her body. That is until she tried one last thing: not trying to lose weight at all. As many of us emerge from quarantine a few pounds heavier, Gaby tells us what she's learned about gaining weight and loving herself. Check out Intuitive Eating Dietitian Nicole Grohman @thehungryclementine and Jessamyn Stanley's new book "Yoke: My Yoga of Self Acceptance" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on In Her Shoes, Executive Producer of the Vox Media Podcast Network Nishat Kurwa sat down with acclaimed actor Katey Sagal. A fixture on prime time TV for more than thirty years, Sagal began her reign with Married Children, one of the longest-running sitcoms on Fox. In her most recent leading role, she played the title character of the Erin Brockovich-inspired ABC drama “Rebel.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the Cut's B.A. Parker, the pandemic was going to be the time to learn to play the guitar or do yoga or study French...but how do you even start? For the past year especially, it's felt impossible to try. Parker talks to an Olympic skier who went viral for being a perpetual trier, and a friend who tried all the way to a baking competition on national television. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of In Her Shoes, New York Magazine Editor at Large Stella Bugbee sat down with Crazy Ex Girlfriend star Rachel Bloom. The American actor and comedy singer/songwriter spoke to us about motherhood, writing a memoir in quarantine, and why she hates when people call her show *MY* Crazy Ex Girlfriend. Here’s how it went. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Paul Brammer isn't your typical advice columnist. As Hola Papi, he answers questions like "is space gay?" and "I saw my manager on Grindr, do I say something?" But what started out as a spoof became a source of joy, comfort, and commiseration for so many. The Cut's Jazmín Aguilera sits down with John Paul Brammer to discuss the powerful nature of advice and who, if anyone, is qualified to give it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They say in life you gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. But like... could you be more specific? This week, the Cut's Jazmín Aguilera talks to professional poker player Melanie Weisner about approaching life with poker strategies, and when to walk away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a lot of ways, things are kind of starting to look up. The summer is here and so is the vaccine. The world is coming back... for better and for worse. This week, for her last episode with The Cut, Avery Trufelman revisits what it means to be optimistic, with the help of a Palestinian peace activist who can’t help but look on the bright side. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Like many people during lockdown, the Cut host Avery Trufelman thought she’d emerge extremely buff. That this time alone would be a moment to do pushups, or start jogging. But the motivation just wasn’t there. So what does it take to work out? And why do we work out in the ways that we do? These are the questions cartoonist Alison Bechdel seeks to answer in her newest book, The Secret To Superhuman Strength: an autobiography told through decades of workout trends and exercise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some people just know if they want to grow up to have kids. And there are those who never want to entertain the idea. And then, there are some people who are strictly, truly, exactly on the fence about parenthood. The Cut host Avery Trufelman is one of the undecided people, and this week she collaborates with Anna Sale, a mother and the host of the podcast Death, Sex, and Money. Together, they explore the decision whether or not to have children, and how it balances with creative ambition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michelle and her mother were nothing alike. Now the lead singer of Japanese Breakfast, Michelle Zauner grew up as a little punk kid running around the Pacific Northwest wearing Daniel Johnston T-shirts and patched overalls. Her mother was glamorous, refined, and secretly homesick for her hometown of Seoul, Korea. The bridge between them, however, was their shared love of adventurous eating and Korean food. Although Michelle only realized how significant this connection was once she had to learn to cook for herself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As soon as producer Jazmín Aguilera got vaccinated, she felt like she could daydream again. The possibilities for a life post-vaccination seemed endless. A summer of love! Debauchery! Parties! Travel! Jazmín finally felt there was a light at the end of the tunnel. And so she followed that light to somewhere she never expected to go. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When producer B.A. Parker was looking to decorate her apartment, she wanted to buy a poster of one of her favorite films from 1943. And upon revisiting the poster she realized... it was just a little more racist than she felt comfortable with. So what do we do with the problematic art of the past? B.A. Parker goes in search of answers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are all fried. Doctors, teachers, therapists, activists and even white collar workers and podcasts hosts are working longer hours and smashing into a wall of depletion. But what does it mean to be so burnt out, even if you have a job where you just sit in front of a computer all day? What if you’re feeling burnout in a job you’re supposed to love? And is there any way to break free? Host Avery Trufelman sets out for answers, guided by a Japanese novel, a mastermind of self care, and the one and only Esther Perel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lindsay Peoples Wagner's meteoric career in fashion and media is impressive. She was the youngest Editor In Chief of a Conde Nast publication while Editor In Chief of Teen Vogue magazine. She is an ASME Next Winner and a Forbes 30 under 30 recipient. She authored the highly acclaimed piece on The Cut "Everywhere and Nowhere: What It's Really Like To Be Black And Work In Fashion" and started The Black In Fashion Council with Sandrine Charles, a nonprofit dedicated to holding the fashion industry accountable for change. And, she is the new Editor In Chief of The Cut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No matter who you are, inevitably there is someone telling you to “be nicer” or “stop being so nice”. Girlbosses preach that nice girls don't get the corner office, and yet Instagram slogans plead to "be nice." But what is niceness? Is it a virtue? A defense mechanism? A personality trait? And how can one try to be nice in a mean world? Host Avery Trufelman turns to Jonathan Van Ness for answers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There is so much to say about Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters. Lauded as the first book by a trans author to be released by a major publishing house, Detransition, Baby is a novel about queerness, motherhood, mothering, and, ultimately, the way we all present our genders. This week, Torrey speaks about how the Kardashians have “transitioned” from female to female, the impossible performance of womanhood, and how the common feeling of “failing at gender” can bridge divides between cis and trans women. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

U.S. politics are starting to look a little bit more like the United States itself. More queer people, women, and POCs. People who have never worked in politics before, have no corporate backers and are running campaigns out of their kitchen. So, what about you, or your friends? Producer Jazmin Aguilera tests whether she could actually run and what she would have to give up in the process. Writer Brock Colyar profiles Sarah McBride. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been an awful year for almost every single person on the planet. And at the one year mark of the pandemic, Cut producer B.A. Parker decided to try to escape the stress and trauma by getting out of her own head. But it turns out getting out of your own head is a real mindf--k. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Avery Trufelman was a pre-teen, the film 13 Going on 30 was like a roadmap to everything she wanted to be as a grown up: "thirty and flirty and thriving." But as Avery enters her third decade, she revisits the movie and grapples with what 30 means today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's always exciting when there's a new first: the first Black President, the first Latinx Supreme Court Justice, the first woman Vice President. But when you're first, you're only just arriving at the starting line. Comedian and activist Cristela Alonzo talks with Avery Trufelman about how to be first, when to say no to being first, and discusses her new documentary podcast series, Chicano Squad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Celebrities like Armie Hammer and Marilyn Manson have tried to deny allegations of abuse by excusing their behavior as just kink. So what is kink? And why is it considered either a super scary taboo thing or a nerdy pastime? Writers Lux Alptraum, R.O. Kwon, Garth Greenwell, and Roxane Gay weigh in on the power of kink. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Desire, commitment, passion — these are all words that often make up a romantic relationship. But what if you feel a strong, deep love for your best friend? This week, Cut producer Allison Behringer on what happens when your soul mate moves away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The burden of quarantine has made a lot of people question their drinking habits. Among them is producer Alex Sujong Laughlin, who has been cutting back on alcohol but isn't quite ready to be sober. This week, why we drink. And what happens when we don't. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Biden was sworn in a week ago, but we’re still dealing with the emotional and global turmoil left by the previous administration. The Cut talks to journalists Olivia Nuzzi and Maria Ressa, who both cover their country's presidents. And they have both learned ways to deal with the last four years of fear and anxiety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With yoga studios shuttered, people are practicing and teaching yoga in their living rooms and bedrooms. Or at least, they're trying to. This week, what yoga means without the studio- for students, for teachers, and for the entire culture of American Yoga. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Black girls growing up in the 90's grew up seeing actors who looked like them on film. But these child actors were rarely in the spotlight. Usually, the spunky black kids were cast as sidekicks on childhood adventures. Producer B.A. Parker navigates the feeling of being relegated to the sidelines with a little help from her favorite ‘90s Black child actresses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lost in the Mall experiment is a classic case study in Psych 101 classes. The study's conclusion: if you are told something happened to you as a child, you're inclined to believe it and that we're all susceptible to false memories being implanted in our minds. But the story behind this study is complicated. And so is the nature of memory. Cut writer Katie Heaney and host Avery Trufelman investigate how an accusation of sexual assault turned shakey science into widely accepted truth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, people continue to get married. The way that people have been getting married in 2020 might change weddings forever. And that's for the better—or at least, that's what host Avery Trufelman is trying to convince her friend, who is wondering what kind of pandemic bride she's going to be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For more than a decade now, NYM Editor-at-Large Stella Bugbee has lived with her parents, and raised a family in the home she grew up in. But for a long time, she kept that a secret, perhaps because it's so stigmatized in American culture. But the percentage of people living multigenerational households has been on the rise since the 1980s. In this episode, we'll hear from people who've done it out of necessity, and by choice—even when it's not the easy choice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tamron Hall made daytime television history becoming the first Black woman to host the Today Show. After her well-publicized exit, her next step was to host her own talk show, currently in its second season. The Cut’s Stella Bugbee talked to Tamron about her ever-evolving mission as a journalist , not feeling liberated after leaving the Today Show, and what she’s learned from boxing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why do white men get so many chances, but marginalized groups get so few? Author Ijeoma Oluo talks with the Cut’s Avery Trufelman about her new book Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, why we need white men to believe in their ability to grow, and why cancel culture doesn't actually exist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ana is an activist and a reporter. Art is an active duty border patrol agent. Their two worlds collided in the Arizona desert, over a series of conversations. When it comes to the border, what does it mean to see the other side? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While president of J. Crew, Jenna Lyons was once labeled the “The Woman Who Dresses America.” But in 2017, she left the company and there’s been this question of what she’s going to do next. The answer: starting her own company called Lyons L.A.D. and hosting her own reality show Stylish with Jenna Lyons premiering December 3rd on HBO Max. Both showcasing what style, beauty and living could look like through the lens of Jenna Lyons. Izzy Grinspan, Deputy Style Editor for The Cut, talked to Jenna along with L.A.D.’s stylist Sarah Clary and chief of staff Kyle DeFord about trying to make the world a more stylish place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

These days, it's easy to forget how to be with other people. And it's hard not to feel like a solipsistic weirdo all the time. But writer Cazzie David and filmmaker Zoe Lister-Jones are embracing that uncomfortable feeling. Cazzie is publishing a new book of essays about her anxiety, her family, and heartbreak. And Zoe has made a teen horror film about the collective female trauma of high school. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Erica Chidi went from being a doula to a women’s health entrepreneur. All of this culminated in the creation of Loom, an inclusive platform dedicated to sexual and reproductive health education. There, Erica is the CEO and gained recognition when she recently raised $3 million for Loom’s digital relaunch. Noteworthy because only 0.3% of venture capital dollars goes to Black female CEOs. Izzy Grinspan, Deputy Style Editor for The Cut, talked to her about giving women the tools to educate themselves about their sexual health and the intimacy of digital spaces. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chimere's fingers were tingling. She was losing her vision. She could barely get out of bed. She was pretty sure she had COVID. But again and again, the COVID tests came back negative. Doctors told her it was all in her head and she started to question herself too. Until she found a community of people exactly like her. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aya Kanai been a fashion editor for nearly 20 years. She worked at Teen Vogue when it first launched. She was fashion director at Nylon, Cosmopolitan, 17, chief fashion director at Hearst. She’s styled countless celebrities and worked on fashion ads. And she just went from being editor-in-chief of Marie Claire to a whole new world, taking on the role of Head of Content and Editorial Partnerships at Pinterest. Aya’s own social media presence is incredibly fun and authentic, with frequent cameos by her small daughter. Izzy Grinspan, Deputy Style Editor for The Cut, talked to her about career change, taking risks, the highs and lows of working in fashion, and where she thinks social media might go from here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We don’t know what the future holds, but we're dying to know. From polls and surveys and weather reports, there's a burning desire to know what will happen next. This week, a case study in three different tarot card readers, and three very different theories of how we should approach the future. We're nominated for three Discover Podcast Awards! vote here: https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5978795/2020-Discover-Pods-Awards-Finalists Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week’s appointment of Amy Coney Barrett will change the United States Supreme Court for generations to come. What will happen to Roe v. Wade? Host Avery Trufelman talks with Rebecca Traister about how we got to this precarious moment for reproductive rights. And how the battle may be steep, but all is not lost. We're nominated for three Discover Podcast Awards! vote here: https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5978795/2020-Discover-Pods-Awards-Finalists Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Michelle Lhooq stumbled onto a protest outside her door, it didn't look like a protest at all. It looked like a party. Or a music festival. In fact, people were calling it "protestchella," and it got a lot of backlash. This summer, when protesting felt both dangerous and at times joyous, many activists started to wonder: is there a right way to protest? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Society is in need of a radical change. And yet, still, we are constantly told that we need to lower our expectations, be reasonable, and be practical. To vote for the moderate, to fall in line. But what do we gain and what do we lose in compromising? This week on The Cut, host Avery Trufelman wonders: am I radical enough? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Being a snob takes too much energy. This is the time for the comfort food of culture. The Cut host Avery Trufelman talks with author Raven Leilani about Leilani’s debut book Luster and the importance of being earnest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It feels like everyone’s moving. The Cut host Avery Trufelman talks with Chanel Miller, author of Know My Name, about what it’s like to move to a new neighborhood when it feels like a shadow of itself and whether we can become our new selves in a new place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Jane Austen novels to Schitt’s Creek, rich people have been a source of fascination and perverse envy. But there was this moment during our time in lockdown, where the rich and famous seemed so tone deaf, so out of touch, so bad at singing John Lennon songs, that there seemed to be a turn against them. So why can’t we stop looking at rich people? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emily Ratajkowski is a model. In her line of work, her image is not always treated as her own. Ratajkowski wrote an essay for The Cut about the ways her likeness has been bought and sold and separated from her. Now she talks with the Cut host Avery Trufelman about what it’s like to try and take back her own power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Finding love in the city already has its own set of hurdles without adding a global pandemic to the mix. But that hasn’t deterred Tamara, our heroine. When she meets her potential dream man online, she makes the ultimate leap of faith and asks: Would you like to quarantine with me? And what happens next is straight out of a rom com… or is it? The Cut is made possible by the team at New York Magazine. Subscribe today to support their work at thecut.com/subscribe We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes no more than five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: voxmedia.com/podsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now that hookup culture is on pause, sexting has become a true form of intimacy. And it’s really highlighted how terrible dick pics can be. Aesthetically. We're talking terrifying angles. Ghastly use of flash. Toilets in the background. This week on The Cut: the art of the nude, and why people socialized as male aren’t allowed to see themselves as desirable. The Cut is made possible by the team at New York Magazine. Subscribe today to support their work at thecut.com/subscribe We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes no more than five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: voxmedia.com/podsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The images of dolphins in the Venice canals and coyotes parading through Chicago and elephants asleep in a field were held up as the silver lining of 2020. And from these nature memes emerged a sort of mantra: “nature is healing, we are the virus.” But is humanity the virus we’ve condemned ourselves to be? The Cut looks at how people see themselves in the environment, and who is allowed to have access to the outdoors. The Cut is made possible by the team at New York Magazine. Subscribe today to support their work at thecut.com/subscribe We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes no more than five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: voxmedia.com/podsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Being an optimist seems ridiculous right now. Especially because the meaning of the word itself is slipping, amid polite talks of "optimistic" reopening schedules and "optimistic" vaccine timelines. The word has become a euphemism for... delusional. In this inaugural episode of the new podcast of The Cut, host Avery Trufelman tries to navigate what it means to begin a new chapter in 2020. Maybe it doesn't matter if the glass is half empty or half full. Maybe we should just throw the liquid out all together. Or maybe we've all just been defining optimism wrong, and the people who have come to represent optimism incarnate have a lot to teach us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices