Sentimental Garbage

It's been the Roman Empire for all tween girls for over 100 years, so for this year we investigate: what is it about the Anastasia myth that we just can't let go of? Caroline and Ella attempt to examine the real story versus the many false ones that grew around it, touching on Anna Anderson, the Romanovs, the emergence of new media in 1918 vs now, the 1956 movie starring Ingrid Bergman and the 199...

Writer of Really Good Actually and creator of Sky’s Smothered joins us for a definitive ranking of every relationship in Love Actually Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everyone's favourite public transport-cum-coma romance that is, somehow, also a Christmas movie. Sam Sedgman joins us to talk about his enduring love of both Sandra Bullock and trains in general. Sam Sedgman is a children's author whose next book The Clockwork Conspiracy is out Feb 2024. Join the Sentimental Garbage mailing list for priority ticket access here: https://sentimentalgarbage.substack....

Returning Cindy horse Jof Owen talks to us about the woman who broke all records and changed pop music forever. It's time for a potted history of Shania Twain! With jokes, Wotsit similes and wild theorising about Lyme disease Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Austentatious star Cariad Lloyd takes us through the 1995 BBC Pride & Prejudice classic Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

what a superbly featured room and what excellent boiled potatoes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yes, the Sentimental Australia trip wasn't just a figment of our collective imaginaton, here's the proof. Radio and TV star Myf Warhurst joins Caroline on-stage at the Wheeler Centre's Spring Fling for a Sentimental live show that includes dissections of The Secret Garden, Baz Luhrman, novelty hair-slides, Wolford tights and menu-splaining in restaurants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Our Sweet Valley sweetie Jess Pan returns with the rom-com that changed the definition of what a rom-com could be. My Best Friend's Wedding gave us an anti-hero worth rooting for, a 'Gay Best Friend' that goes above and beyond the usual clichés, and an early Paul Giamatti role that makes you sit up and say "Is that Paul Giamatti?" Jess Pan is the author of I'm Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come...

You paid a whole dollar for that? Richard Makin joins us to talk about the queer touchstone and eternal sleepover movie Romy & Michele's High School Reunion. In his words "this movie is to me what Pretty Woman is to them". We discuss high school, bullies, our inner Heather Moonys, the Simpsons DNA that runs through this movie and how Lisa Kudrow will inherit the earth. Richard Makin is a cook...

You either know everything about Caroline Calloway, or nothing at all. This episode is for everyone in the first category. Author Diana Reid comes into the studio to get balls deep in mid 2010s influencer culture, the politics of young friendship, digital media trends of yesteryear and the first person essay economy that reigned over our lives for so long. We try to use the Caroline Calloway/Natal...

Padam, padam, we feel it and we know. The doyenne of Aussie pop culture and co-host of the Shameless podcast Michelle Andrews joins us for a chat about the southern hemisphere's premier pop icon Kylie Minogue. We cover a lot here, but it's not a biography – for that we recommend Michelle's three-part series on Shameless Media.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-original-kylie-part-two...

In preparation for Caroline's Australian book tour, Aussie friend of the pod Kate Young joins us to dissect Strictly Ballroom. We talk about why Strictly Ballroom is "Dirty Dancing for nerds", 90s Australian cinema, and our efforts to beat the snakes. Kate Young is the author of several cookbooks as well as the forthcoming novel Experienced, a queer rom com, out in May 2024. Hosted on Acast. See a...

Last season, we opened the season on Weddings, where we talked about planning, hen parties, dresses and the cultural expectations of being a bride. Now we've had the wedding, what have we *learned*? Maid of Honour and longterm friend of the pod Ella Risbridger comes back to discuss the wins, losses and lessons of...Caroline's wedding. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're coming back off break to offer our opinions on the most formative Sentimental Garbage there is, Barbie. Caroline and Jen talk about their early memories of Barb, Greta Gerwig's new movie, the hunk-to-hero trajectory and the ascendancy of Ryan Silly Gooseling. The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue is available everywhere now. Jen Cownie's Wild Card: Let The Tarot Tell Your Story is every...

Hey everyone! Caroline's been on tour with The Rachel Incident so the Straight Up girls have kindly agreed to allow their podcast to feature on the Sentimental Garbage feed. It's a really fun episode where we talk about all kinds of pop culture, including Sex and the City, Fleishman is in Trouble, Brooke Shields, and much more. This is the final episode of Sentimental Garbage for this season, plea...

An ancient, deathless vampire attempts to woo a young woman. And also, we talk about about Twilight. Maisie Peters album, The Good Witch, is out now! Caroline O'Donoghue's book The Rachel Incident is out now also Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

*SPOILERS FROM 48 MINS ONWARDS* Friend of the pod Dolly Alderton returns to interview me about The Rachel Incident, the latest novel from Caroline O'Donoghue (me) Order The Rachel Incident: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clare-Caroline-ODonoghue/dp/0349013551/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LAN076BK3XQ&keywords=the+rachel+incident+caroline+o%27donoghue&qid=1687367028&sprefix=the+rache%2Caps%2C477&sr=8-...

Tom McInnes is back for the ultimate test of this podcast's entire premise. Namely, can two people have an incredibly long and feelings-y chat about a three minute pop song from 1983? Let's see x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a big week to be a Taylor Swift fan, so we're back for a second go of Midnights with Jen Cownie. We talk the bonus extras, the great ironies of “The Great War”, the Blake Lively fan fiction on “Bigger than the Whole Sky”, real Paris vs American Paris, and much much more. Also: what exactly DID happen to Caroline's Instagram? Apologies about the sound quality, the ever evolving narrative...

We talk disordered eating, body image and diets through the prism of pop culture, with Hanna Flint, the author of Strong Female Character. Is there such a thing as a "responsible" way to depict an eating disorder? Can we ever forgive Richard Curtis for what he did to Martine McCutcheon? And can we fairly say that we in a more body positive era when Ozempic is becoming more normal than ever? And ha...

The 1990s answer to Hard Day's Night was Spice World: The Movie, 92 minutes of pure joy that also provides Baby's First Blueprint to how fame works when you're a young woman. We talk about Wannabe as the Kennedy Assassination for millennial women, the subtext of the Spice Girls songbook, the insane cameos, the incredible plot strands, and the sad uselessness of the pregnant friend. Hosted on Acast...

Could Joe Alwyn's departure from Taylor's life be the skeleton key to understanding Midnights, Taylor Swift's murkiest album? Jen Cownie returns for a track-by-track study that, she believes, tells the story of a woman who is breaking up with herself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Filmmaker and author Emma Forrest on her lifelong relationship with Cher. We talk noses, outsiders, plastic surgery, Mermaids, Moonstruck, I Got You Babe, the Sonny years and much much more. This is a really good one. Emma Forrest's new book, Busy Being Free, is available everywhere now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Novelist Ore Agbaje-Williams joins us for a childhood favourite that almost threatens to fall down behind the couch: the straight-to-video Cinderella, starring Brandy, Whitney Houston and Whoopi Goldberg. We talk about the baffling charm of this adaptation, the star-power of the cast, the new Little Mermaid, the endless drudgery of the 'representation' conversation, childhood desires and much more...

Curious about what Sentimental Garbage sounds like live? Journalist and author Emer McLysaght joins us to talk Taylor Swift, 10 Things I Hate About You, roast dinners, social media activism, Karens vs Aislings, Adrian Mole, Phoebe and Paul, and why aren't our ex-boyfriends online. Thank you to Cúirt Festival for recording this for us, particularly to our stage manager Naomi Cantwell and sound engi...