Reclaiming "Self-Care" from the Brands
Reclaiming "Self-Care" from the Brands  
Podcast: Culture Study Podcast
Published On: Wed Jan 29 2025
Description: We’re at the point where we know a bullshit attempt to commodify our burnout when we see it. No one’s buying the self-care spiel the bath bomb companies are selling us. But the rhetoric of self-care has crept into the workplace, family dynamics, and TikTok therapy speak, usually divorced from any critique of the systems that make self-care feel necessary in the first place. Pooja Lakshmin MD, author of Real Self-Care, joins the pod to answer your very smart questions about contemporary self-care in workplace trainings, in conversations encouraging everyone to GET A HOBBY!, and in advice to perfectionist women to “lower the bar.” Pooja is so clear-eyed and compassionate — and I think this episode will make you feel seen and challenged.Show Notes:Subscribe to Pooja Lakshmin MD’s newsletter, Real Self-CareRead my interview with Pooja from 2023:Buy Real Self-Care on Bookshop!Re: menopause / perimenopause scams — I like this Dr. Jen Gunter piece from last yearIf you missed the episode from earlier this month on Therapy SpeakWant to see the art from our AAA asker, Erin? It’s here, and it’s beautiful!We’re currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:HISTORICAL ROMANCE (will neither confirm nor deny that we have a co-host whose confirmation made Melody faint)By popular request, all things fan fiction!Pre-teen influencersBudget Culture + Specifically Budget Advice You Find DubiousDark AcademiaHow cookbooks get madeSpiritual care for non-religious peopleAnything you need advice or want musings on for the AAA segment — WE REALLY NEED MORE!! You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment!You can submit them (and ideas for future eps) hereFor today’s discussion: How have you come to think about the role of self-care in your life? What’s the line between a self-care motivated boundary… and not doing anything you don’t want to do?