Is the Beauty Industry a Cult? Linguistically...

Allison Statter has spent her career helping shape the brands, personalities, and cultural moments that capture our attention. As co-founder and CEO of Blended Strategy Group, she works at the intersection of celebrity, influence, marketing, and consumer behavior—often behind the ...  Show more

After 25 years, the FDA has approved bemotrizinol (BEMT) — the first new sunscreen filter in the U.S. since 1999 — and it could be a gamechanger for your SPF routine. The approval closes a real gap in UVA protection, with better coverage, better texture, and less irritation than ...  Show more

Amanda Montell (@amandamontell) is a language scholar and author of critically acclaimed Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language. Her latest book is Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, which explores how cults co-opt the words we use in order to control us ...  Show more

Judith Butler joins Adam Shatz to discuss a landmark in feminist thought, Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949). Dazzling in its scope, The Second Sex incorporates anthropology, psychology, historiography, mythology and biology to ask an ‘impossible’ question: what is a woma ...  Show more

In this week’s episode, Kendra talks with Elissa Washuta the author of White Magic, which out now from Tin House Thanks to our sponsors! Go to AncientNutrition.com right now and enter promo code readingwomen at checkout. Go to Acorn.tv and use the code ReadingWomen to get your ...  Show more

The cartoonist Liana Finck’s new book, “Let There Be Light,” recasts the story of Genesis with a female God who is a neurotic artist.

“At the very beginning ...