Pop Syllabus

September is for back-to-school, changing weather, and apparently a LOT of celebrity magazine covers.

For the Season 1 finale of Pop Syllabus, Christiana picks up the September issues and takes us inside their biggest covers and most interesting stories. From Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere on Vogue to Rihanna, Usher, Charli XCX, and a powerful Essence cover celebrating Black women, she explores what these magazines choose to put on their covers, what they leave inside the pages, and what it all says about pop culture right now.

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01:30 Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere on the cover of US Vogue

02:42 Regime change at Vogue

03:30 Nepo babies

06:00 US Vogue cover

07:16 Rihanna on the cover of Elle

09:35 Rihanna’s relationship with Dior

10:47 Elle editorial with Rihanna

12:08 Jermey Strong on the cover of GQ

14:21 GQ editorial with Jeremy strong

16:33 Nicole Kidman on the cover of British Vogue

18:43 Brad Pitt on the cover of Esquire

20:04 Esquire editorial with Brad Pitt

26:18 Sanaa Lathan, Nina Compton, Mara Brock Akil and Nikole Hannah-Jones on the front cover of Essence

27:50 Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on the back cover of Essence

28:09 America at 250

30:00 Seeing Black women with mature skin and gray hair

31:30 Isan Elba

32:01 Hair styles and product recommendations in Essence

35:38 Mardi Gras

36:00 Essence editorial with Sanaa Lathan, Nina Compton, Mara Brock Akil and Nikole Hannah-Jones

37:19 Terrence Jenkins and Mikalah Sultan

39:12 Essence editorial with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

40:57 “Letters to America” in Essence

41:30 Afro-optimism

41:52 The American flag and who gets to own it

44:20 Christiana’s relationship with England and the English flag

46:19 Black women and reproductive health in Essence

46:42 Usher on the cover of Architectural Digest

49:25 A feature on decorative plates in Architectural Digest

49:58 Usher’s Architectural Digest feature

52:58 Charli XCX on the cover of Rolling Stone

54:40 George Michael feature in Rolling Stone

55:00 Comparing Rolling Stone to other magazines

55:13 Shaboozey in Rolling Stone

55:40 James Comey profile in Rolling Stone

57:00 Charli XCX editorial in Rolling Stone

57:40 Afroman in Rolling Stone

59:00 Keke Palmer editorial in Rolling Stone

01:00:18 Adam Friedland in Rolling Stone

01:00:42 The Legend of the Plaster Caster in Rolling Stone

01:02:16 A man who wants to help people print guns in Rolling Stone

01:02:30 Assessing Rolling Stone

01:03:12 Star Magazine

01:10:00 How to keep up with Christiana
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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/

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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
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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/

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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!

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Email: hello@popsyllabus.com

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
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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

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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
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