Pop Syllabus

Welcome to another week in pop culture, where nothing is calm and everything is a headline.

In this episode, Christiana flips through the latest tabloids and magazines, breaking down celebrity chaos, unhinged headlines, and the editorials everyone can’t stop talking about.

Sydney Sweeney, Doja Cat, Timothée Chalamet, Anne Hathaway, and more all show up in this week’s rundown as Christiana shares her hot takes on what’s worth the hype and what’s just noise.

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01:50 Sydney Sweeney’s “Magazine Milkies” Moment

02:59 Sofía Vergara’s Sketchy Skechers Ad

03:54 Sydney Sweeney’s Viral Lingerie Editorial

08:15 Why Everyone Is Suddenly Obsessed With Tyriq Withers

10:04 Twilight Taylors

10:22 Is Robert Pattinson the New Leonardo DiCaprio?

12:40 Teyana Taylor as Lady Liberty

14:26 Inside the “MAGA Land” Editorial

21:54 Doja Cat on Vogue

24:48 India’s Growing Influence on Pop Culture

27:10 Bhavitha Mandava, Versace & Fashion’s Rising New Faces

29:08 Jelly Roll’s Weight Loss Transformation

34:20 Sarah Michelle Gellar’s People Magazine Cover

35:48 The Royal Roundup: Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle & More

37:22 Anne Hathaway’s Best Oscars Look

38:14 Sarah Michelle Gellar Is Making a Comeback

40:19 Harry & Meghan “Exiled” From Hollywood?

43:21 Christiana’s Top Magazine Recommendation
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In Hollywood, everyone wants a “perfect” face, but the goal now is to make it look like nothing was ever done. But behind that natural look is a growing set of procedures most people would never recognize.

Today, Christiana sits down with Double Board Certified Facial & Reconstructive Plastic Surgeon Dr. Carl Truesdale to understand what’s driving Hollywood’s obsession with undetectable plastic surgery, from subtle lifts to revision procedures, as well as how cosmetic work among men and AI are shaping today’s beauty standards.

Dr. Truesdale’s website 

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01:02 Meet Dr. Carl Truesdale 

02:07 How Dr. Truesdale got into cosmetic surgery 

03:50 Cultivating a diverse practice with cultural competency 

09:05 The costs of cosmetic surgery 

10:01 Thread lifts, fillers and botox 

12:20 How Dr. Truesdale contributes to beauty standards and pressures 

15:00 Psychological shifts for patients

17:00 Patients who are unhappy after their procedures  

18:55 Dr. Truesdale on sharing his work on social media 

21:46 Not being able to share the work he does for some celebrities 

22:58 Celebrities who don’t share that they have had work done 

25:20 Karama Brown 

25:38 Lower blepharoplasty

26:06 Men getting plastic surgery 

30:08 Looking younger longer 

31:24 Revision surgeries  

34:17 Knowing when to operate and turning patients away 

34:57 Mid-facelifts 

35:45 Responding to those who say plastic surgery is bad 

39:10 A rapper whose “friend” paid for her cosmetic work 

40:41 The future of plastic surgery, AI, and beauty standards 

46:02 Christiana requests a free consultation from Dr. Truesdale  

47:30 Dr. Truesdale doing his parents’ plastic surgery 

49:00 Where you can find Dr. Truesdale online
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Non-monogamy is everywhere right now, and so are the opinions about it.

In today’s episode, Christiana sits down with psychologist and Chapman University Professor Dr. Amy Moors to unpack open relationships, ethical non-monogamy, and why more people are exploring love outside the traditional mold.

Dr. Amy Moors research

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Email: [email protected] 01:07 Meet Dr. Amy Moors

03:31 Defining non-monogamy 

04:30 Defining polyamory and open relationships 

05:50 Different types of polyamory 

07:06 Who engages in consensual non-mongamy? And how common is it?

10:25 Loving multiple people

14:10 Stigmas towards people who practice consensual non-monogamy 

17:35 Christiana’s familial experiences with polygamy 

21:35 Both monogamy and non-monogamy can be messy 

22:40 How societal inequities show up in relationships 

25:19 Lindy West, millennial feminism, and trad wives

27:04 Gender ratios among non-monogamous couples

28:10 Measuring “success” among non-monogamous relationships 

31:01 Couples who open their relationships after being monogamous 

34:20 Why is non-monogamy seemingly everywhere? 

39:18 Americans don’t like to talk about sex 

41:45 LGBTQ+ couples and non-monogamy 

44:28 Learning from people who practice non-monogamy 

46:16 Non-monogamous parents and their children 

53:20 Non-hierarchical polyamory 

55:30 Finding the time to sustain non-monogamous relationships   

57:42 The future of consensual non-monogamy

01:04:30 Where to find Dr. Moors’ work 
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No matter where you find yourself on the internet, celebrities’ lives are constantly in front of us, but who’s actually a star and who’s just famous?

From icons like Beyoncé to rising names like Sabrina Carpenter and Sydney Sweeney, Christiana sits down with award-winning reporter and podcaster Sam Sanders to play “star, celebrity, or famous person” and break down what really makes someone last in pop culture.

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#SugarBaby culture is everywhere online. But why is it making such a big comeback now?

As money gets tighter and “SugarTok” gains traction, conversations around sugar dating and hypergamy are becoming more mainstream.

Christiana sits down with Cornell lecturer Dr. Megan Sawey to examine what’s driving the trend and what it means for modern dating.

Megan’s research on sugar dating

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01:17 Meet Dr. Megan Sawey

07:20 Understanding hypergamy and dating up 

12:29 Sugar dating in relation to sex work 

17:55 Sugar dating as an entrepreneurial endeavor 

31:50 Sugar dating and the digital intimacy economy 

33:50 Sugar dating and politics  

37:20 How sugar dating is portrayed as heteronormative in media and marketing 

41:45 Sugar daddies and how sugar dating is regulated 

45:20 Sexual racism and sugar dating

48:28 Sugar dating for men vs. women

51:07 The future of sugar dating and hypergamy
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