We’re headed in to a holiday weekend here in the U.S., so if you’re preparing for a trip, why not download our latest podcasts and take them with you? In this post I’ll give you a sneak peek of the kind of conversations you can expect.

On Monday, we presented the episode “Boob Politics: The Cleavage Issue.” One of our Twitter followers has posed the question of whether this will be our most popular episode based on the title, and I have to admit I’m curious to see the numbers for this conversation about how the perception of breasts has changed over time in Western culture. Sometimes breasts were thought of as no big deal, sometimes they were idealized as a symbol of motherhood and sometimes it’s impossible to separate them from thoughts of sex. Quite a lot of pressure for women, and we talked a bit about how that pressure can carry over into the workplace. Women experience a good deal of stress picking out clothing that maintains a professional demeanor, and we’ve already heard from some of you about the hardships involved in finding tops that aren’t tent-like but still maintain adequate coverage.

Our sources for this episode include a mix of historical pieces and studies that aim to prove just how much men like looking at breasts:

• “A History of the Breast” by Marilyn Yalom (an excellent book)
• “Cultural Cleavage,” by Jocelyn Selim, Discover Magazine
• “Goddesses, Harlots and Other Male Fantasies,” by Natalie Angier, New York Times
• “With Great Cleavage Comes Great Responsibility,” by Amanda Hess, Washington City Paper
• “Study: Breast Baring Popular in 1600s,” by Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
• “More Men Have Something They Want to Get Off Their Chests — Their Shirts,” by Ray A. Smith, Wall Street Journal
• “The Power of Cleavage,” by Karen Salmansohn, Huffington Post
• “Risky Business: Decolletage at a Work Dinner,” by Christina Binkley, Wall Street Journal
• “NCBI ROFL: Eye Tracking of Men’s Preferences for Female Breast Size and Areola Pigmentation,” Discover Magazine’s Discoblog
• “NCBI ROFL: Bust Size and Hitchhiking, A Field Study,” Discover Magazine’s Discoblog
• “NCBI ROFL: Women’s bust size and men’s courtship solicitation,” Discover Magazine’s Discoblog

On Wednesday, our episode dealt with the question of whether men or women are better drivers. I’m going to pick on my dad a little bit here; I’ve noticed that when I’m driving with him, I get lots of comments about how I need to slow down. When my brother is driving, he doesn’t receive the same comments, even when he’s driving faster. Is there some assumption that I can’t handle the speed as well as he can? I don’t know. I also don’t know why Cristen dislikes the song “Drive My Car” by the Beatles, which is a fun fact we learned about her in this episode. I think it’s a fun song, and if anyone knows Paul McCartney, please tell him I said so.

Our sources for the lady driver episode:

• “Women drivers? They’re safer than men,” by Seth Borenstein, Associated Press/MSNBC
• “Do Girls Speed More Than Boys?” by Joseph P. White and Anjali Athavaley, Wall Street Journal
• “Women ‘need more lessons than men to pass driving test’” in the Telegraph
• Freakonomics series by Erik A. Morris that was published in the New York Times, including these articles:
  –“Sex and the SUV: Men, Women, and Travel Behavior”
  –“Mothers and the Model T”
  –“Who Drives Better, Men or Women?”
• “Top 9 Cars Women Buy More Than Men (since the $4/gallon)” in the Los Angeles Times
• “Women in high heels risk driving accidents,” by Chris Irvine, the Telegraph
• “A Gas Pedal Built for Stilettos,” Time Magazine

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on these episodes, so drop us a line or leave us a comment here. And don’t forget to join the fun on our Facebook page and on Twitter!