The Polyester Podcast

If over half of gen z have interacted with an AI companion and dating apps are rolling out bots to date on your behalf - where is the line drawn between real love and falling for a fantasy?In this week's episode, Ione and Gina dig into the growing romantic relationships people are having with Replika, how AI companies are ignoring queerness, whether or not bot love is legitimate and why everyone is ignoring the ecological impact of AI chat bots.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another day, another Cumtown alumni going viral for doing something politically sound - from Adam Friedland's interview with Ritchie Torres to Stavros Halkias challenging his podcast guest on transphobic rhetoric, the former courters of controversy have apparently done a complete u turn on their previous edgelord output.This week, hosts Ione and Gina take a look at what's made the most famous male members of the dirtbag left change their tune on social justice, whether 'dark woke' is working in terms of making the left cool again and whether the overton window for acceptability in politics is shrinking.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The newest evolution of softboi has just landed with the most on the nose name yet - the performative male. He reads Sylvia Plath outside indie coffee shops as he sips matcha. He has a Labubu and his Labubu has a cute nickname. He is a little bit Letterboxd famous and he calls his mother once a week. He's also the worst man you have ever dated in your life.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with whether this new archetypal male is anything new, or if men have always manipulated what women want to get laid.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a bumper month for Taylor Swift - when is it not? - as she made her first ever podcast appearance, announced a new album and got engaged all within the space of a fortnight. As everyone online and off gears up for what will likely be a never ending news and meme cycle on the singer's upcoming nuptials, many quake in fear for what the Swift fandom are going to unleash on anyone who doesn't stan the songwriter in the upcoming months.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina use Swift/Kelce announcement to springboard a conversation on how pop music journalism died, when press tours became so sycophantic and what does it mean when even the most famous people alive can't be levied with any kind of thoughtful criticism.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our favourite Americana girlies are fighting! Alligator wife Lana Del Rey aired her beef with American Teenager singer Ethel Cain to the public by sharing a snippet of an upcoming diss track entitled 'All About Ethel'. The lyrics call out Cain for hating her Instagram post, posing similarly with the pair's shared ex Jack Donoghue and trying to be the most famous girl at Waffle House. In the hours and days since, Nicki Minaj has waded into the beef, fans think they've worked out which Peter Griffin meme tweet pissed Lana off and Azealia Banks has accused every tongue that rises against Ethel of transphobia.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get stuck into the nuances of stan wars, why certain artists get more leeway on being potentially problematic and whether or not the pair will work it out on the remix.Buy tickets for our London issue launch here!Check out https://www.squarespace.com/POLYESTER10 to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code POLYESTER10.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slop content - AI generated videos and images created to bait engagement on social media content - is getting more and more unavoidable. Whether you’ve been duped by bunnies on trampolines or enthralled by a AI cat fronted soap opera; we face a social media landscape that's no longer fit for purpose.This week, Ione and Gina dive into who benefits from the enshittification of the internet, why bots have taken over the comment section and how the bleakness of our feeds mirror the state of wider culture.Buy tickets for our London launch here!Read our Bad Taste Manifesto on WePresent 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Should you quiz your man on if he's doing princess treatment or the bare minimum? Are you allowed to look waiters in the eye or would that ruin you and your husband's night? Have you tried to check if your Hinge date is a creep and ended up getting doxxed by 4chan? If you're single and looking to mingle, these extreme situations - or, extreme online recommendations of how to act - are getting more and more commonplace. In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina discuss how the right wing agenda is poisoning the dating pool, whether the widening politics of gen z men and women are affecting romance and why uploading your ID online is the opposite of a step towards a safe internet experience.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been over a year since we last spoke about Sydney Sweeney and how many online and off see the Euphoria actress as a MAGA spokeswoman. Her latest scandal - an American Eagle advert celebrating the blonde's "great genes" - cements Sweeney's spot as the right's poster child.In this week's episode, recorded before that expose revealing Sweeney is a registered Republican - hosts Ione and Gina dig into how fast speed advertising has changed the role of celebrity, why brands are being more blunt about appealing to Trump fans and why we should be more comfortable in calling a spade a spade (or calling a eugenicist a eugenicist).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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just as the internet once spent years ripping into the minutia of what made up Millennial sociological habits and expression, now the younger generation is feeling the flack as social media takes the mickey out of 'the gen z stare'. The look itself is comprised of staring blankly when presented with a query, especially when in a work environment.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina ask whether young people have always been seen as rude or whether gen z have a particularly obvious feeling of apathy due to the lingering effects of COVID, the climate crisis and an inability to connect with one another. Are we on the brink of gen z being the main focus of online mockery or is it genuinely shocking that they don't say 'hello' upon answering a phone call?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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back from our (unplanned, sorry!!) break with a big one. Lena Dunham has returned to television with a Netflix series that many online are claiming to be as good as - or even better than - Girls, the much lauded HBO show that launched her career. Conversely, critics are writing scathing reviews for broadsheets about the portrayal of romance, women and London in the show. But which is it? And are our hosts impressed with the Megan Stalter fronted romcom?This week, Ione and Gina get to grips with whether Too Much is hot or a flop: exploring the representation of class dynamics, the acclaim the series is receiving for fat representation, and questioning why Jess, the show's lead, has absolutely zero mates.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ding dong the witch is dead - in a Scooby Doo worthy unveiling, the 'Helen McDougal' that began infamous British influencer gossip forum has been unmasked as vegan influencer Sebastian Bond. In the aftermath, TikTokers like Cory's World are cashing in on the moment to detail exactly how hate on platforms like these and trolls across the board has affected their mental health. Following a similar through thread of crashing out, Justin Bieber is going viral almost daily for his Instagram antics, scraps with paparazzi and alleged ill feelings towards wife Hailey.In this week's episode, our hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the continuing normalisation of brutality in the comment section, how the expanding definition of celebrity has negative ramifications and the rising forms of surveillance we are all putting one another under.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're addressing the elephant kids toy in the room - the Labubu craze. You've definitely seen these monsters everywhere from exclusive brand collabs to Gemma Collins' Instagram reels to hanging off handbags while you wait in line at the cocktail bar. But where did they come from? And why is everyone going absolutely mad for the Pop Mart blind box item? This week, our hosts Ione and Gina go head to head about the validity of Labubu collecting, the Lafufu fakes populating the market and why nobody is seeing the proliferation of this plush for what it is - just another trend in a long legacy of popular toy collecting.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freeze! The Polyester Podcast had a whole episode planned for our lovely listeners until Sabrina Carpenter delivered us feminist discourse on a silver platter, or rather, on a silver dog leash. On Wednesday, the singer announced her forthcoming summer album titled 'Man's Best Friend' along with artwork picturing Sabrina on all fours having her hair pulled by an anonymous suited figure.Is the cover art a clever continuation of Carpenter's satirisation of female sexuality or are we being conned into embracing misogynistic portrayals of women again in the mainstream? This week, hosts Ione and Gina get into the nitty gritty of the discourse; from pop star sensuality, to ‘puriteens’ and the continuing poison of choice feminism on our ability to think critically.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week Kylie Jenner cemented her new identity as a ‘girl's girl’ revealing the specificities of her boob job while momager Kris chimed in with details of not just one face lift, but two of them. Are the KarJenners finally letting their guard down about how they crafted themselves in line with the modern beauty standards they've helped craft, or is it all a marketing ploy to win relatability brownie points for the family?In this episode of The Polyester Podcast, hosts Ione and Gina are ripping apart the rampant normalisation of plastic surgery on social media - considering the actual statistics surrounding cosmetic procedures as well as the status of people turning their treatments into consumable content. Is self improvement culture to blame for our warped understanding of bodily autonomy? Has choice feminism poisoned all of our brains? And will our collective self esteem ever recover from the impact of 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The writing has been on the wall for a while - Thin is in, pop songs are referencing eating disorders and flexing our ribcages in selfies and fashion content is back full force. In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get stuck into the spectre that has been haunting social media platforms for the past six months and more - the pervasive return of pro ana content, now newly dubbed #Skinnytok.From influencers like Liv Schmidt launching secret members clubs with tips on cutting calorie counts to crunchy teens falling hook, line and sinker for Robert F. Kennedy Jr's Make America Healthy Campaign to hyper focus on their food intake, the internet is riddled in body negative language that stands to harm 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Currently trending on TikTok, FKA Twigs is going viral for an interview in which she asks the host and the crowd - "Where are the thinkers?"While internet users raise eyebrows at her question, one that ignores the socioeconomic conditions that affect our ability to create, this week our hosts Ione and Gina use the soundbite to discuss the wider problem at hand - when did pop culture turn into such a flopfest? We deep dive into the continuing escalation of how we consume media - from smashing that 1.5x speed button to the sheer amount of content available - and what effect it has on the creation of meaningful culture. 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The girlies are going feral across the internet - one one hand, Lorde is calling ovulation the best drug she’s ever taken. On the other, TikTok’s reveal during ovulation many of us get uncontrollably horny. But is it true? Do our hormones control our libidos and cognition or do we have more free will than that? TikTok wellness huns are using pseudoscience to back up their claims, while Twitter feminists take to their feeds to fight back against the dehumanising nature of having our personalities attributed to hormone cycles.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina pick apart the inherent bio-essentialism of ovulation discourse, the alt right's push for focusing on fertility and how these conversations feel like a step back for women.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Black tights under denim shorts? Recession indicator. Good outfits at the Met Gala? Recession indicator. Crying because you can't afford to pay your one in three Klarna payment for a Domino's pizza last month? Recession indicator.This week, our hosts Ione and Gina are dissecting our latest impulse to jump at the chance to label every single behaviour a recession indicator. Is it an attempt to make a meaningful connection with others about struggling under benefit cuts and Trump's tariffs? Or an irony tinged dodge at having to accept how bad things are? 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who'd have thought at the announcement of this year's Celebrity Big Brother cast that the two people being chatted about the most are Jojo Siwa and ex-Love Islander Chris Hughes. If you didn't know - the pair's intimate friendship in the house caused chaos on social media as many accused Jojo of emotionally cheating on her partner, the Neighbours actor Kath Ebbs. In this week's episode, our hosts Ione and Gina break down Jojo's complicated time in the limelight from Dance Moms to coming out to now, what queer celebrities owe to the communities they represent and why we all keep taking reality telly at face value.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a helluva week for the news cycle and our social feeds - Katy Perry's been on Amazon's first, girls only, space trip (for exactly 11 minutes), Aimee Lou Wood has taken to Instagram stories to call out an off colour joke about herself on Saturday Night Live and everyone has taken to ChatGPT to generate extremely specific and fairly ugly blister packed dolls of themselves. Stuck between which to cover, we decided to dig into it all.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina take apart everything wrong with the Blue Origin rocket trip that took an all female crew into space on the 14th April including the environmental impact, classism implications and faux feminism the journey's being marketed as. After the break, the pair get into the cringe inducing AI created dolls so many of our peers are posting on the Insta as well as the disheartening SNL impersonation that's caused distress for The White Lotus actress Aimee Lou Wood.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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.