The Polyester Podcast

Please note this was recorded and released prior to the release of series four of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, the cancellation of The Bachelorette and the news regarding Taylor Frankie Paul.Growing up, Mormonism's pop culture imprint belonged solely in South Park jokes and the occasional mention in American politics. Now, it feels like we can't move without a new Mormon influencer - from Nara Smith to MomTok - taking over our feeds.This week, hosts Ione and Gina explore what Mormonism actually is, how the new wave of Mormon influencers have changed how the Latter Day Saints are perceived and whether or not reality telly can truly sugar coat the toxic problems within the religion.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before 21 year old looksmaxxer streamer Clavicular walked the Elena Valez runway at NYFW, his brand of hyper misogynist masculinity was confined to teenage boys in their bedrooms and the terminally online taking the piss out of him. But after making his fashion debut, Clavicular has garnered attention from nearly every mainstream mag imaginable. With other designers sending ‘looksmaxxing’ T-shirts down the runway, has inceldom found a mainstream home? In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina unpack Clavicular's lore, from bone smashing to extreme racism, dissect the fashion world's continuing flirtation with the alt right and ask whether or not deplatforming really works for gen z influencers?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emerald Fennell has only gone and done it again - made a visually stimulating but emotionally empty film for posh people to coo over. Is it a faithful adaptation of Wuthering Heights? No. Is it an amazing film in its own right regardless? Also no. Do the sets and costumes make up for bad casting and crap script? Unfortunately, this time, I'm afraid it's a no. In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get to grip with a movie made to try and cause controvery, and answer the question of whether it actually manages to achieve, well anything. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“TAKE THAT BETA BLOCKER, GIRL!" exclaims Rachel Sennott on your iPhone from the Oscars red carpet. A couple of years ago, you remember a Kardashian episode dedicated to Khloe taking beta blockers on the back of Kris's advice. Giggly Squad sell you a baseball cap with 'Beta Blockers' emblazoned across it.This week, hosts Ione and Gina dig into the normalisation of the blood pressure medication for treating anxiety. Is celebs talking about anxiety a net positive? Should we be making more of a fuss about the ease we can dupe online pharmacies? Is Big Pharma using meme culture to exploit us all?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we've come to expect with a political crisis, celebrities have no idea how to act - Do you post to story even if you get labelled performative a la Billie Eilish? Do you prepare a speech in case you're stopped on the red carpet wearing an ICE OUT pin, so you're not caught out like Jack Antonoff? Do you align yourself with the worst people in the world, as Nicki Minaj as opted for in the past couple of months?This week, hosts Ione and Gina delve into the ICE in Minneapolis, how AI is playing a factor and the different ways that celebs getting involved - to varying degrees of success and authenticity.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final hour before recording this week, we had to push our planned research aside and get stuck into the meat and bones of the juiciest celeb drama 2026 has given us so far: Brooklyn Beckham released an eight part Instagram story tell all about his much rumoured estrangement from his parents, Victoria and David Beckham.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the implicated misogyny of everyone’s response, the particular Britishness of this scandal and why, for once, this is gossip we can engage with guilt free.Please note we recorded this episode on Wednesday, 21st January at 4pm GMT - if any new goss has unfurled, we have not addressed it in this ep. And if you want to listen to our secret episode on 2016 nostalgia: Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would you like an app that analyses your Google calendar and plans your day for you? Have you tried ChatGPT for meal planning? What about this ring that tracks your sleep habits and creates a routine that will mean you get to sleep even faster than before? We're suffering a convenience endemic, where the tech and AI solutions to being uncomfortable are breeding new, depressing ways to avoid the realities - and even the fun! - of life.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with frictionmaxxing: The new term encouraging us to add discomfort, time and human interaction to our everyday experiences. The pair discuss how class and disability play into this trend, why our joie de vivre is being robbed from us by capitalism and how we should make more efforts to dilly and dally in our day to day.Buy our newest issue here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A dark new issue has arisen on the platform formerly known as Twitter (a likely place for it to happen) where users are asking X's inbuilt AI bot, Grok, for indecent and sexualised images of women and children. While, as discussed in the ep, nudeification isn't exactly a new problematic facet of life online, it's only in the last month that the act has become a "trend" - for lack of a better word.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina delve into the specifics of what is happening, the continuing issues we're facing with AI and the lack of control any government or governing body has over internet abuse.Buy our newest issue here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy new year girlies! As is tradition in this joint (and across the internet at large), our hosts are giving their hot or not predictions for the upcoming twelve months.In this week's episode, Ione and Gina discuss the possible return of woke, whether Substack is over, Timothée Chalamet’s chances of winning the Oscar, whether we’ll finally see the death of on the street voxpop TikToks, and much more. Buy our newest issue here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vanity Fair has gone and done it, they've revealed the true grotesqueness of the Trump administration with high res, close up photos of the White House staff. Or is it really all that surprising, when we've been chatting about Republican makeup and Mar-A-Lago face for months?This week, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the reasons behind why MAGA women are investing so heavily in this particular beauty look, with all signs posting to power dynamics, a desire to shock and obscene displays of wealth.Buy our newest issue here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Surprise! A little midweek episode to keep you updated on the Polyester goings on! This week, hosts Ione and Gina chat the new issue with Sky Ferreira on the cover, the launch events in New York plus a little sidebar into this week's cultural going ons.Buy the issue here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a bumper week for the Timothee Chalamet stans - Marty Supreme is getting hit reviews, his hair is starting to grow back and the very controversial key holder of the kingdom has done her first ever media feature. That's right, Club Chalamet just got profiled by the Wall Street Journal.This week, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the reaction surrounding the feature, Club Chalamet's fraught political and internet history, and what her disproportionate impact tells us about fandom and fan culture today.Check out https://www.squarespace.com/POLYESTER10 to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code POLYESTER10.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we're all subjected to another Wicked press tour for the second instalment of the blockbuster, the question on everyone's lips is whether the Wicked press tour ever stopped in the first place? Greeted with another series of emotional interviews, reaction tweets and harrowing body discourse, it felt urgent to dissect what precisely is dampening the furore this time around.This week, hosts (and Wicked haters) Ione and Gina take their magnifying class to the discourse surrounding Wicked: For Good. Have we all become desensitised to memeing eating disorders, is the palpable fatigue from the stars getting in the way of our enjoyment or does it just boil down to the fact that the film itself just isn't very, well, good?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Fuentes has spent five years building not only a name for himself but an army of his own to fight in what the far right incel community has dubbed the groyper war. The live streamer uses his platform, America First, to push for an ultra conservative agenda not just among his peers but with actual political figures too.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina track the impact of Fuentes and the groypers on the Trump administration, the faux deplatforming of alt right darlings like Red Scare's Dasha Nekrasova and why we need to rally against the widening of the Overton window.Check out https://www.squarespace.com/POLYESTER10 to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code POLYESTER10.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The internet, left and right leaning, has been set ablaze by a ragebait headline and a deep dive into our dating practices or rather, our online posting of our burgeoning and established relationships. The British Vogue article, titled 'Is It Embarrassing To Have A Boyfriend' feels like harkening back to an earlier time on the internet, when one op-ed could get everyone talking about one topic and in this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina take their lens to the comms on courtship.Do we want our favourite influencers to remain perpetually single? Are we once bitten, twice shy about men after the scary stories we hear about dating online? And is any of this influenced by the rise of nuclear family and trad wife rhetoric shared repeatedly by the alt right?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

West End Girl has taken the internet by storm as Lily Allen returns to the charts with a new confessional album dissecting the relationship breakdown between her and ex husband David Harbour. From the extremely detailed lyrics to the, well, even more extremely detailed lyrics, fans are thrilled to get fully behind the curtain of everything that's gone wrong in Allen’s marriage.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina dig into the album, asking whether encouraging parasocial relationships is a marketing ploy, how influencer culture has changed the landscape of songwriting and why more cynicism is required when listening to pop music.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would you rather one payment of $150 or three monthly payments of $50? Is this pizza basically free if I pay $4 for a few months rather than twelve bucks at once? As the famously moral financial institution CashApp once said, “Little payments are so much cuter.”In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina look at the rise of "cute debt" - the monicker given to Buy Now, Pay Later schemes that pointedly target young women - discussing how the dangers of debt have been replaced by the glamorisation of Klarnamaxxing, whether we should trust these brands to budget for us and why shopping addictions aren't treated sincerely in society.Check out https://www.squarespace.com/POLYESTER10 to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code POLYESTER10.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2025 has been the year of the pube, from bushtok going viral for promoting an overgrown mon pubis to the sold out SKIMS merkins that Kim Kardashian launched last week, we can't stop talking about our intimate hair - or lackthereof.While some point to the Margiela couture show last year that promoted fake pubic freedom for the rise in intimate hair's popularity in the zeitgeist, this week's episode looks at the wider implications that the Kardashian pube thong represents. Tackling the fashion week shows that limited body types and compromised movement for models alongside the lingerie launch, hosts Ione and Gina ask whether there's been a worse time for feminism in fashion.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The reception to Taylor Swift’s twelfth studio album has been markedly different than historic fan reactions; as Swifties and Swift haters unite to deliver the best meme about how bad the new music is.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina dissect the poorly received Charli xcx diss track, why the album’s lyricism has fallen flat, and whether just how rubbish The Life Of a Showgirl is indicates how an ardently capitalist point of view rots the joy out of good pop music.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It doesn't take much to goad JK Rowling into a Twitter tirade these days (allegedly.) A fake news story about bra buying in Markses? Up for days raving about it? A former colleague gives a milquetoast response about differing opinions and expresses love towards her? Time to take advantage of the X Premium perk of no word count limit. Pronouns in bio? Great opportunity to go berserk. In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the ongoing dissonance between actors signing up for Harry Potter related roles and their supposed ethical standards, whether or not we should want previous Potter stars to stand up in the press against Rowling's views and if we should promote the 'accepting differences and loving each other' rhetoric in such a politically dangerous time. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.