Vanity of Vanities [First Half]

Vanity of Vanities [First Half]

The first half of my conversation with guest Zoe Dubno—author of the novel Happiness & Love—on her recent article for NY Mag about whether we’ve gone too far in celebrating plastic surgery & extreme beauty routines. Also discussed: there's nothing new under the sun, corporate slop gyms, parents who force their ED on their kids, being allergic to cheap things vs being a snob, the obvious benefit to being more attractive as a woman, plastic surgery creating a paucity of beauty, the benefits of literally touching grass, Francesca reads the bible (again), the prison of self-obsession, being so hot it’s a problem, there are no attractive people on the UWS, searching for the illusion of purity, the depth of Francesca’s vanity, and the immortal question: is it good to get exactly what you want? Referenced: “I Spray Myself with Magnesium and Read Under a Chicken Light” [https://www.thecut.com/article/extreme-beauty-routines-plastic-surgery.html] - by Zoe Dubno, New York Magazine "The Year All My Friends Got Botox" [https://www.thecut.com/article/the-year-all-my-friends-got-botox.html] - by Emmeline Clein, New York Magazine The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

The Porn Debate [First Half]

My conversation with porn historian Noelle Perdue on the censorious attempt to regulate pornography today—and our heated debate about what a moral society owes its citizens. Also discussed: “pornography is neutral but our sexual culture is not,” box dye heritage, wanting to see things you can never unsee, “The Entertainment” in Infinite Jest, choking in porn is now illegal in the UK (!), vibes-based legislation, our sexual culture, the overlap between anti-trans and anti-porn rhetoric, Francesca just wants everyone to have good sex, the “porn industry” doesn’t exist as such, stalking the halls of the Bellagio, the feature of SESTA/FOSTA is to harm sex workers—it’s not a bug, the fallacy of the Nordic Model, and how “keeping people isolated is profitable business.” The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

You can’t have integrity if you’re always agreeing with everybody

A wide-ranging conversation with writer and filmmaker Sean Wilsey about literature, the left, and his film IXXI that’s premiering at Tribeca this week. We discuss how hard it is to hold on to your values, orthodoxy as a means to protect yourself, and how radicals have lost the ability to cooperate. Also discussed: translations that are funnier than the original, “it’s really easy to throw people under whatever bus you want to keep moving,” Italy’s reputation as frivolous, The Nation doesn’t want anyone to have a good time, adorning prostitutes with flowers in Czechoslovakia, fun is a problem for political orthodoxies, profound moral alterations brought on by a work of literature, nostalgia for the worst times of one’s life, Republicans are a better hang these days, suffering without redemption is true perversion, everyone has a Southern accent at NASA, the jet-setting lifestyle of the last international magazine feature writer (Sean), we’re becoming a country of scammers and liars, and the unresolved question: did all Gen X ideas come from Woody Guthrie?  Link to Sean’s film IXXI at Tribeca, almost sold out:  https://tribecafilm.com/films/ix-xi-2026 [https://tribecafilm.com/films/ix-xi-2026] Articles referenced: The Nation - “Luigi Pirandello’s Broken Men” [https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/luigi-pirandello-one-none-grand-review/] by Gus O’Connor GQ - “The Next Giant Leap” [https://www.gq.com/story/nasa-moon-astronauts-mars-space] by Sean Wilsey The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

Life in Beige [First Half]

The first half of my conversation with health and wellness journalist Leigh Weingus about GLP-1’s—and what it means for Americans to empty themselves of desire in pursuit of a fix-all miracle drug. Also discussed: optimization culture, Francesca’s time as a fat girl, how our food system is set up to be addictive, drug use in the UC system, thriving in moderation (Leigh is the human GLP-1), a hard pitch for intuitive eating, the drug-addictification of America, “being fat was good for my personality,” the finite nature of will power, how dieting itself creates obesity, marriage is a business transaction where putting out is part of the contract, GLP-1’s as another numbing tool, Ozempic face, everything is a treatment for pre-death these days, and the perennial question: would you take a drug if it made your everything in your life perfect? Articles referenced: "Life in Beige" [https://www.thecut.com/article/glp-1-weight-loss-drugs-ozempic-sex-drive-side-effects.html] - NY Mag "How Weight-Loss Drugs Can Upend a Marriage" [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/magazine/weight-loss-side-effects-sex-ozempic.html] - NY Times "The Ozempic Economy Is Here: Are We Entering A Workplace Doping Era?" [https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonwingard/2026/03/19/the-ozempic-economy-is-here-are-we-entering-a-workplace-doping-era/] - Forbes (Fact check on 40% of GLP-1 weight loss is from lean muscle mass — there seems to be conflicting research, but see here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12322565/ [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12322565/] ) The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo

New York Was Better Then [First Half]

Native New Yorker Alex Brook Lynn comes on the show to talk about the city in the 90’s—and what’s lost when only the rich can afford to live and work in NYC. We discuss the demise of rent controlled apartments, marking art when the stakes aren’t high, and how close to life Larry Clark’s Kids was (pretty close). Also discussed: middle class drug dealers, how the out-of-towners are the city’s own migratory bird population, “graft for the people,” we forget that Eric Adams was the Curtis Silwa candidate of 2020, when heroin addicts were good old-fashioned heroin addicts, the days when you could pee in Central Park, white kids using the n word, having a beeper, children buying hard drugs at bodegas, the moral stain of Riker’s Island, “the 90’s were cheap enough that you could be free,” and how a rent controlled apartment is it’s own kind of trust fund. The first half of every episode of CBT is free wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to become a subscriber and hear the second half, please go to www.patreon.com/criticalbabetheory. Thank you for your support xo Articles referenced:  Jerry Saltz’s photos of 90’s New York: https://www.vulture.com/article/jerry-saltz-new-york-art-world-1990s-slideshow.html [https://www.vulture.com/article/jerry-saltz-new-york-art-world-1990s-slideshow.html] RealPage NYC Landlord price fixing: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/technology/realpage-doj-settlement.html [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/technology/realpage-doj-settlement.html]