FIRST THINGS FIRST: IF YOU NEED HELP ADDING YOUR SUBSCRIBER-ONLY FEED TO YOUR PODCAST PLAYER, JUST CLICK HERE! Dark Academia is a literary genre. Dark Academia is an aesthetic. Dark Academia is a fantasy space. Or maybe Dark Academia is kind of a overgeneralizing label that few authors actually embrace. That's what R.F. Kuang, author of Babel and Katabasis thinks — and having her on the pod to talk about the trappings of the genre made for a fascinating discussion. We talk about the rise of genre right now, whether it subverts or reinforces the world it depicts, why State School Dark Academia doesn't really exist, and of course race, class, and the ideologies fantasy allows us to explore (and explode), just generally. Come hang out in R.F. Kuang's brilliant mind!! Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode: Ready to upgrade your eyewear to something functional, fashionable, fun, and affordable? Head to goodr.com/CULTURE to claim $10 off your first order. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code CULTURE at https://www.oneskin.co/CULTURE Use code CULTURE at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a free gift with your first purchase! Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! If you’re in the market for a beautiful new sofa, dining table or bed, head over to https://www.article.com/ Show Notes: Pre-order Taipei Story here: https://bookshop.org/a/56144/9780063473744 Katabasis is now out in paperback! https://bookshop.org/p/books/katabasis-standard-edition-a-novel-r-f-kuang/078c5e32fe5f2db6?ean=9780063021488&next=t The New Yorker profile I reference: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/25/the-otherworldly-ambitions-of-r-f-kuang Subscribe to Rebecca's newsletter here: https://rfkuang.substack.com/ Taipei Story tour dates in the US, UK, Ireland, and Canada! https://www.harpercollins.com/pages/taipei-story#tour We reference Possession by A.S. Byatt: https://bookshop.org/a/56144/9780679735908 (also Possession was published in 1991, we were way off!) Rebecca mentions Audre Lorde's 1982 talk, "Learning from the 60s": https://garadinervi-repertori.blog/post/620761451560386560/audre-lorde-learning-from-the-60s-talk We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about: THE NEXUS OF LLMS/A.I. AND CREATIVITY: A.I. Boosters argues that LLMS can free us for more creative endeavors — or "facilitate" our creative work. THOUGHTS???? (This one's with the brilliant Vauhini Vara, whose work grapples with these questions in a way I've never seen before). Hopefully this piece on how A.I. keeps wasting my G-D time will spark some questions on your end. WOMEN'S FITNESS INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. As our co-host Zoe Rom puts it: "Women are told they need to do fasting, creatine, lifting, fueling, and recovery differently than men. Sometimes the science backs it. More often the "different" is a marketing mechanism: invent a gendered problem, sell a gendered protocol, collect the markup." What's going on here? Where have you seen it, what pisses you off about it... take this wherever you'd like. HOW HAVING A FAMILY BECAME SO DAUNTING (and DIFFICULT). Anna Louie Sussman is coming on the pod to talk about her incredible new book on the feeling of "impossibility" when it comes to contemporary family. We can talk about fertility, cost, equal partnership, affordability, safety, climate grief, so many things. 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.
