The Women's Fitness Industrial Complex
The Women's Fitness Industrial Complex  
Podcast: Culture Study Podcast
Published On: Wed Aug 05 2026
Description: Why is Planned Parenthood telling you that you should lift heavy during your menstrual cycle? Why will no one shut up about protein? How many different ways can a company try and convince you it's not a diet when it's TOTALLY A DIET??? How have companies taken advantage of the actual gaps in research on women's bodies to sell us crap? Journalist and elite distance runner Zoë Rom and registered dietitian Kylee Van Horn join the pod to break down how the women's fitness industrial complex convinces us of new health and training vulnerabilities (and then offers their products to fix them). This is one of those episodes that will piss you off and make you feel grateful that others are out here noticing how weird and manipulative these spaces can be. Via the Planned Parenthood Instagram Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code CULTURE at https://www.oneskin.co/CULTURE Go to  https://zbiotics.com/CULTURESTUDY and use CULTURESTUDY at checkout for 15% off any first time orders of ZBiotics probiotics. Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/CULTURE and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout. Taking care of your health just got easier – start here with Zocdoc: https://zocdoc.com/CULTURE Show Notes: Follow YOUR DIET SUCKS on Instagram here!!! Listen to YOUR DIET SUCKS here Find our more about Your Diet Sucks — including how to support them on Patreon — here Find out more about Zoë Rom's other work — including her book on How to Become a Sustainable Runner — here Follow Kylee / Fly Nutrition on IG here Learn more about Fly Nutrition here An example of the Planned Parenthood "how to exercise during what part of your cycle" messaging My now quite old piece on yoga teacher training as an MLM I reference the work of friend of the pod Virginia Sole-Smith; go check out her stuff! You can find a transcript of the episode here We're currently looking for your questions on the following topics: HOW WE SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY — how we narrativize our lives, what's changed, what's weird, what's still important and keeping us on these apps... with the great Kathryn Jezer-Morton WE'RE DOING A WHOLE FASHION SERIES! Submit any/all questions you have about viral clothing trends, plus-size thrifting and/or anything you want to ask Corinne Fay, author of Big Undies, or figuring out your style HOW TO FIGHT! Priya Parker has a new book on how to actually disagree (fruitfully!) with others, so this is your opportunity to ask all those questions about the people in your life who shut down when you disagree / escalate unnecessarily / immediately throw straw-men your way ('people in your life' can also include you, of course) All things CODE-SWITCHING with Ari Shaprio and Audie Cornish (how do you change your voice, your posture, your demeanor, your subject areas, the way you talk about reality television, whatever, depending on layered context) Anything you need advice for/want musings about for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything — it’s literally the name of the segment.   Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.