Fortunately, the research on the history of each subject is well done (thanks Alex). It is often interesting to hear how certain customs in our culture came to be. However, the actual “etiquette” part is surface-level to the extreme at its best, and at its worst, it only applies to woke circles.
For example: In “Nicknames”, Travis asserts that you never, ever have to justify to anyone the reason you go by a certain chosen name. This is just bad advice for the real world, and relies on a relatively new idea of just tossing out social norms in favor of individual “freedom”. The truth is, if you are, say, female-presenting, you will probably have to justify it to others if you decide to go by a masculine name. This is what living in society is about and it’s why we have etiquette in the first place.
In “Pool Parties”, Teresa opines that you should never judge anyone else’s swimwear because you never know the struggles someone is going through with their body image, etc. Sure, but the fact is that some styles of swimsuit are plainly not appropriate for some parties. Why not mention that in an etiquette podcast?
The answer is that etiquette no longer exists in our society in the same way it once did. People like Travis and Teresa advocate for a sort of libertarianism of manners: do whatever you want! Yet humans invented etiquette as a social lubricant: it makes social interactions easier for everyone, not just YOU. The whole point of etiquette is to coexist with other people in a society, and Travis and Teresa have missed that point entirely.
