The
Podcast
A weekly podcast about people, culture, politics, history…and the strange ways small things - like baking bread - become political.
Every week, UnTrad explores the weird, fascinating intersection of American culture, politics, history, belief, mythology, economics, and identity.
Why does sourdough get coded as conservative? Why is homesteading perceived as a political statement? What does the Virginia Colony have to do with motherhood? Why is metacognition relevant to the White House? Who gets to decide what “traditional” means in America? What happens when history tells a more complex story than someone wants it to? And what can each of us personally do - if anything - to help save “the American experiment”?
Through interviews, current events, cultural deep dives, and the occasional amateur-historian rabbit hole, UnTrad grapples with the myths, marketing, psychology, people, and politics that are shaping - and reshaping - modern America.
Launching Fall 2026
The stories behind the stories America tells itself.
About UnTrad
The stories behind the stories America tells itself.
It started with a sentence I got tired of saying:
"Yep...I bake bread, raise chickens, garden, sew, make yogurt...but NOT in like, a tradwife way."
At some point, I realized I wasn't the only one saying some version of that sentence and thinking, “Ugh, why do conservatives own homesteading and agrarian identity? When the f*ck did sourdough become synonymous with conservatism?”
There are a lot of us out here - definitely more than you think. People who love farming. People who hunt and fish. People who make their own clothes. People who make their own bread, yogurt, and canned goods. People who homeschool. People who grow herbs and flowers. People who want a slower, more intentional life. People who are spiritual but don’t use religion as a bludgeon. People who care about food sovereignty, strong communities, or spending more time outdoors…but not in a tradwife way.
Why do so many of us feel like we have to explain that these parts of our lives aren’t political?
Or maybe the better question is, when, how, and why did these facets of our identity become political in the first place? Who benefits from this? And how can we start to unravel the damage this social engineering has done to America?
These are the questions at the heart of UnTrad.
Each week, we explore the strange ways culture, politics, history, myth, belief, economics, and identity collide. Sometimes that means unpacking the latest tradwife trend or political talking point. Sometimes it means talking with historians, journalists, authors, or people living lives that don't fit neatly into America's political boxes. Sometimes it means diving into history to figure out how we got here, and asking what’s possible when we stop confusing aesthetics & ideologies with what it means to be American.
This isn't a history podcast.
It isn't a political debate show.
It isn't a culture-war rantfest.
It's a show for curious, intelligent people who see that simple labels hide complex identities, that stories and aesthetics shape who we are, and that no one ideology can rightfully captain America.
The stories we inherit shape the world and the lives that we imagine are possible…
…and those stories are always worth another, deeper look.
Hosted by Jack Thomas
Be My Guest
If you’re interested in being a guest on UnTrad, please reach out! Recording begins in late August, with a projected launch date of September 23rd.
Recordings will be conducted remotely (online) and require a stable internet connection, a computer with a microphone (or auxiliary mic), and headphones. If this is a barrier to participation and you live near St. Johnsbury, Vermont, live studio recording is available. If this is the case for you, no problem - please note it in the “Anything else I should know?” section of the outreach form.
Please note that while UnTrad is committed to hosting an array of guests from various political perspectives, backgrounds, and walks of life this podcast is not a space for impromptu political debate, to chase a fantasy of “owning the libs”, nor a pulpit for spreading disinformation. There are plenty of podcasts already providing a platform for that - this isn’t one of them. Guest submissions that vibe as such will be ignored. Thanks for understanding.