Pop Syllabus

Forget the stereotypical image of ADHD. For many women, it looks a lot different.  This week, Christiana sits down with Corinne the Coach to explore why women and girls are so often overlooked, why women of color face even greater barriers to diagnosis, and how ADHD can impact everything from mental health and shame to motherhood, money, and work. Corinne also opens up about her own diagnosis, navigating medication, and building a business while neurodivergent. Corinne’s website: https://corinnethecoach.life/  Follow Pop Syllabus: YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | Substack Merch available now! Sponsor Pop Syllabus: [email protected] If there’s a topic you’d like us to deconstruct, tell us in the comments. Email: [email protected]  01:43 Corinne’s ADHD diagnosis  06:45 Why it takes longer for girls and women to get diagnosed with ADHD 11:30 Different types of ADHD  16:30 Underdiagnosis among girls and women of color 22:15 How ADHD can be related to eating disorders and substance abuse 26:58 Skepticism around women of color having ADHD  29:30 Signs that a woman may be struggling with mental health challenges 31:45 How women hide their shame  35:12 Strains on mothers 38:58 How Corinne started her business while being neurodivergent  39:50 How ADHD keeps people impoverished  41:04 Taking medication for ADHD  48:00 Corinne’s experiences with ADHD medication  54:45 How we can support the people in our lives who might have ADHD 01:08:21 How you can find Corinne the Coach Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We love to talk about motherhood like there’s a right way to do it. But the rules have never been as simple as they seem. This week, Christiana sits down with WIRED senior culture writer and author of One Bad Mother Ej Dickson to explore the cultural history of the “bad mom,” from the “welfare queen” to today’s MAHA moms, momfluencers, tradwives, and stage moms. They unpack why the ideal of the “good mother” has always been complicated, why dads seem to get a much easier assignment, and how motherhood became one of our favorite ways to police women. Follow Ej: Instagram Ej’s website: https://www.ejdickson.com/  Follow Pop Syllabus: YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | Substack Merch available now! Sponsor Pop Syllabus: [email protected] If there’s a topic you’d like us to deconstruct, tell us in the comments. Email: [email protected]  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Botox, filler, beauty trends, and the pressure to keep up with it all. This week, Christiana sits down with NYT columnist and UNC Chapel Hill professor Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom to explore how beauty culture is changing around the world, why our appearances carry so much power, and what happens when the rules of beauty keep changing. Follow Tressie: Instagram   Thanks to our sponsor, Bilt Rewards, for supporting today's episode: https://joinbilt.com/popsyllabus Follow Pop Syllabus: YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | Substack  Merch available now! Sponsor Pop Syllabus: [email protected] If there’s a topic you’d like us to deconstruct, tell us in the comments. Email: [email protected] 01:37 Meet Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom  03:45 Sculpt and how beauty norms became what they are right now 06:12 The democratization of plastic surgery and injectibles  09:06 Beauty and ugliness as structural concepts  13:14 The end of body positivity a return to whiteness  15:13 How technology has changed time, our attention, and beauty norms  16:55 Peptides  19:45 How what is seen as beautiful has changed  21:00 Thinking of ourselves as scientific compositions  22:05 Grappling for community  22:39 Discourse around “the Black community”  24:15 Ethnic rhinoplasty  25:51 The death of the natural hair movement  26:30 What is Black beauty now? 27:10 The homogeneity of beauty  30:14 How the formula we were taught for a good life isn’t working and cruel optimism 35:26 Observing neutrally and knowing our choices aren’t neutral  39:10 The cost of resistance and choosing our defeats  42:49 Bracing for impact  45:00 Black women being punished  45:40 Conservative movements among white women and where white women go next 49:55 “One Household, One Vote” and women retreating from the workplace  52:30 Late-stage capitalism and AI will come for everyone, including men 54:00 Men committing Interpersonal violence 55:30 Going analog  56:38 How Tressie approaches reading and engaging with ideas 01:01:22 What Tressie is turning to for nourishment and delight  01:06:25 What Tressie is working on now Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Divas! We all love them, and we all have very strong opinions about who deserves a spot in our personal top 3. So this week, Christiana sits down with journalist, culture critic, and the NFL’s first LGBTQ+ brand ambassador Ryan Mitchell to bring back our signature pop culture rubric and rank the biggest divas of the 2020s. But who will take the crown? Listen in to find out. Follow Ryan: Instagram   Follow Pop Syllabus: YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | Substack Merch available now! Sponsor Pop Syllabus: [email protected] If there’s a topic you’d like us to deconstruct, tell us in the comments. Email: [email protected]  00:00 Intro 00:13 Meet Ryan 05:00 Showing up as a Black queer fat person  07:20 Growing up in the South  08:22 Ryan’s role as the NFL’s first queer ambassador  12:12 Navigating the current conservative backlash 15:02 How to show up for queer folks right now  19:02 How pop culture brings people together  22:20 The definition of a “Diva”  27:20 How Christiana made this 2020s diva list  29:17 The “general population” category for 2020s divas 30:10 The “technicalities” category for 2020s divas 30:48 The “sleeper divas” category for 2020s divas  32:50 Attitude as part of the criteria  36:00 Ariana Grande 47:27 Billie Eilish  55:14 Chappell Roan 59:00 Celebrities are still humans  01:00:35 Olivia Rodrigo 01:02:50 Sabrina Carpenter 01:04:43 Olivia Rodrigo 01:05:55 Beyoncé 01:12:26 Charli xcx 01:19:29 Cleo Sol and Syd 01:19:37 Yebba 01:20:40 PinkPantheress 01:20:54 SZA 01:20:59 Doechii 01:21:03 Where you can find Ryan Mitchell  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Only a small percentage of women are naturally blonde, yet blonde hair has become one of the most powerful symbols of beauty and privilege in American culture. This week, Christiana sits down with Sarah Mesle, USC professor and author of Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity, to examine the cultural politics of white women’s hair. Through stories of blonde privilege, Britney Spears, and Princess Diana, Sarah explains how hair reveals the complicated relationship between beauty, identity, and power. Sarah’s website: https://sarahmesle.com/  Follow Sarah: Instagram Follow Pop Syllabus: YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | Substack   Merch available now! Sponsor Pop Syllabus: [email protected] If there’s a topic you’d like us to deconstruct, tell us in the comments. Email: [email protected]  1:26 Meet Sarah  1:47 Hair and white feminine power 3:50 Sarah’s interest in hair 5:08 White visual performances and whiteness as a currency  8:50 January 6th uprising 10:40 Partisan aesthetics  13:50 Princess Diana and women with short hair 18:43 Blonde hair  20:58 JoJo Siwa 21:33 Maternal love and white resource hoarding  22:40 White mothers giving their daughters elaborate hair styles  25:00 Blonde privilege and the value of the currency of whiteness 27:47 How Black women are treated depending on their hair styles 29:30 Class and white women’s fear of “trashiness”  32:40 Relationship between white women’s hair and thighs  33:30 Thin hair  35:17 Long hair and the women surrounding Trump  36:06 Picking white women to focus on in “Tangled”  40:32 Britney Spears 45:50 Complicating the idea that there are victims and villains 47:00 Cruel optimism  48:10 Gwyneth Paltrow  51:00 Opting out and diverging from the norm  54:30 The game is rigged  55:20 What’s next?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices