Cult of Perfect Virginia Sole-Smith
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- Society & Culture
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A podcast about the intersection of motherhood, public performance and bodies, from Sara Petersen and Virginia Sole-Smith.
cultofperfect.substack.com
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Cult Of Throw Pillows
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit cultofperfect.substack.com
Hello, and welcome to Cult of Perfect! Today we're investigating the pressure to perform domesticity—and how that leads to the erasure of actual domestic labor, with Angela Garbes, author of Like A Mother and Essential Labor.
This is a limited run podcast about the intersection of motherhood, public performance, and bodies. We are Sara Petersen and Virginia Sole-Smith, two moms and writers who are trying to figure out what our addiction to the idea of perfect says about us—and the world we live in.
Sara also writes In Pursuit of Clean Countertops, and is the author of Momfluenced. Virginia writes Burnt Toast, hosts the Burnt Toast Podcast, and is the author of Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture. You can read more about each of us here.
To hear today's episode in full—and join our Substack for awesome biweekly thread discussions—you'll need to subscribe (it’s just $5 per month or $15 for the whole series) to get full access to our every episode, plus commenting privileges and our biweekly live threads.
The Cult of Perfect podcast is produced and hosted by Sara and Virginia. Follow Sara on Instagram or Twitter; Follow Virginia on Instagram.
Our transcripts are edited and formatted by Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, an Instagram account where you can buy and sell plus size clothing.
The Cult of Perfect logo is by Deanna Lowe.
Our theme song is “Good Mom” by Farideh, from her new album, The Mother Load.
And Tommy Harron is our audio engineer. -
Let Them Be Beige
Hello, and welcome to Cult of Perfect! Today we're talking about the perfect woman as defined by evangelical Christianity, and exploring how evangelicalism has come to define so much of American culture with guest Jeanna Kadlec.
This is a limited run podcast about the intersection of motherhood, public performance, and bodies. We are Sara Petersen and Virginia Sole-Smith, two moms and writers who are trying to figure out what our addiction to the idea of perfect says about us—and the world we live in.
Sara also writes In Pursuit of Clean Countertops, and is the author of Momfluenced. Virginia writes Burnt Toast, hosts the Burnt Toast Podcast, and is the author of Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture. You can read more about each of us here.
To hear today's episode in full—and join our Substack for awesome biweekly thread discussions—you'll need to subscribe (it’s just $5 per month or $15 for the whole series) to get full access to our every episode, plus commenting privileges and our biweekly live threads.
The Cult of Perfect podcast is produced and hosted by Sara and Virginia. Follow Sara on Instagram or Twitter; Follow Virginia on Instagram.
Our transcripts are edited and formatted by Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, an Instagram account where you can buy and sell plus size clothing.
The Cult of Perfect logo is by Deanna Lowe.
Our theme song is “Good Mom” by Farideh, from her new album, The Mother Load.
And Tommy Harron is our audio engineer.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cultofperfect.substack.com/subscribe -
Trad Wives Hiding In Plain Sight
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit cultofperfect.substack.com
Hello, and welcome to Cult of Perfect! Today we're talking about the perfect woman as defined by evangelical Christianity, and exploring how evangelicalism has come to define so much of American culture with guest Jeanna Kadlec.
This is a limited run podcast about the intersection of motherhood, public performance, and bodies. We are Sara Petersen and Virginia Sole-Smith, two moms and writers who are trying to figure out what our addiction to the idea of perfect says about us—and the world we live in.
Sara also writes In Pursuit of Clean Countertops, and is the author of Momfluenced. Virginia writes Burnt Toast, hosts the Burnt Toast Podcast, and is the author of Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture. You can read more about each of us here.
To hear today's episode in full—and join our Substack for awesome biweekly thread discussions—you'll need to subscribe (it’s just $5 per month or $15 for the whole series) to get full access to our every episode, plus commenting privileges and our biweekly live threads.
The Cult of Perfect podcast is produced and hosted by Sara and Virginia. Follow Sara on Instagram or Twitter; Follow Virginia on Instagram.
Our transcripts are edited and formatted by Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, an Instagram account where you can buy and sell plus size clothing.
The Cult of Perfect logo is by Deanna Lowe.
Our theme song is “Good Mom” by Farideh, from her new album, The Mother Load.
And Tommy Harron is our audio engineer. -
The Myth of the Nuclear Family
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit cultofperfect.substack.com
Hello, and welcome to Cult of Perfect! Today we're exploding a whole bunch of stereotypes about single moms (especially Black single moms) with guest Ashley Simpo, and talking about why the nuclear family was never designed to serve us in the first place.
This is a limited run podcast about the intersection of motherhood, public performance, and bodies. We are Sara Petersen and Virginia Sole-Smith, two moms and writers who are trying to figure out what our addiction to the idea of perfect says about us—and the world we live in.
Sara also writes In Pursuit of Clean Countertops, and is the author of Momfluenced. Virginia writes Burnt Toast, hosts the Burnt Toast Podcast, and is the author of Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture. You can read more about each of us here.
To hear today's episode in full—and join our Substack for awesome biweekly thread discussions—you'll need to subscribe (it’s just $5 per month or $15 for the whole series) to get full access to our every episode, plus commenting privileges and our biweekly live threads.
The Cult of Perfect podcast is produced and hosted by Sara and Virginia. Follow Sara on Instagram or Twitter; Follow Virginia on Instagram.
Our transcripts are edited and formatted by Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, an Instagram account where you can buy and sell plus size clothing
The Cult of Perfect logo is by Deanna Lowe.
Our theme song is “Good Mom” by Farideh, from her new album, The Mother Load.
And Tommy Harron is our audio engineer. -
The Fat Mother Narrative
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit cultofperfect.substack.com
Hello, and welcome to Cult of Perfect! Today we're unpacking the intersection of anti-fatness and diet culture during pregnancy.
This is a limited run podcast about the intersection of motherhood, public performance, and bodies. We are Sara Petersen and Virginia Sole-Smith, two moms and writers who are trying to figure out what our addiction to the idea of perfect says about us—and the world we live in.
Sara also writes In Pursuit of Clean Countertops, and is the author of Momfluenced. Virginia writes Burnt Toast, hosts the Burnt Toast Podcast, and is the author of Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture. You can read more about each of us here.
To hear today's episode in full—and to join our Substack for awesome biweekly thread discussions—you'll need to subscribe (it’s just $5 per month or $15 for the whole series) to get full access to our every episode, plus commenting privileges and our biweekly live threads.
The Cult of Perfect podcast is produced and hosted by Sara and Virginia. Follow Sara on Instagram or Twitter; Follow Virginia on Instagram.
Our transcripts are edited and formatted by Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, an Instagram account where you can buy and sell plus size clothing.
The Cult of Perfect logo is by Deanna Lowe.
Our theme song is “Good Mom” by Farideh, from her new album, The Mother Load.
And Tommy Harron is our audio engineer. -
Unpacking Our Personal Perfects
Hello, and welcome to Cult of Perfect!
This is a limited run podcast about the intersection of motherhood, public performance, and bodies. We are Sara Petersen and Virginia Sole-Smith, two moms and writers who are trying to figure out what our addiction to the idea of perfect says about us—and the world we live in.
Sara also writes In Pursuit of Clean Countertops, and is the author of Momfluenced. Virginia writes Burnt Toast, hosts the Burnt Toast Podcast, and is the author of Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture. You can read more about each of us here.
Today's episode is free, but to hear the whole series—and join our Substack for awesome biweekly thread discussions—you'll need to subscribe (it’s just $5 per month or $15 for the whole series) to get full access to our next five episodes, plus commenting privileges and our biweekly live threads.
The Cult of Perfect podcast is produced and hosted by Sara and Virginia. Follow Sara on Instagram or Twitter; Follow Virginia on Instagram.
Our transcripts are edited and formatted by Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, an Instagram account where you can buy and sell plus size clothing.
The Cult of Perfect logo is by Deanna Lowe.
Our theme song is “Good Mom” by Farideh, from her new album, The Mother Load.
And Tommy Harron is our audio engineer.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cultofperfect.substack.com/subscribe
Customer Reviews
New favorite
Absolutely loved this chat! Will definitely be subscribing. Thank you both for simplifying and putting words to my feelings around perfection as it relates to motherhood.
Celebrating Bad Parenting
As a teacher I am begging you to disregard the messaging in this podcast. Constant screen time IS harmful. Children must go to bed at bedtime. Grades matter and homework should be completed.
Childen need clear boundaries and firm limits to become good members of society.
This podcast is about giving parents permission not to parent. Don’t fall for it.
Just OK
I listened to the first episode and then decided to subscribe, but I’ve been unimpressed by episodes 2 and 3. They’re just not that interesting or provocative. I also feel like their “perfect for us” bit at the end is just an advertisement in disguise, which is especially frustrating given that capitalism is at root of all the issues they’re trying to talk about in this podcast.