Straight Up

Straight Up

Society EN ↓ 253 episodes

The pop culture podcast with no filter, brought to you by besties and journalists Kathleen and Ellie. New episodes out every Thursday! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author

Straight Up

Category

Society

Podcast website

www.instagram.com

Latest episode

Jul 9, 2026

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Episodes

HENS: the most divisive hallmark of female friendship? 30.04.2025

Hen szn is here hunnies and so as promised here is our special deepdive! With the help of your excellent DMs, we assess the good and bad of this increasingly divisive topic: from money anxieties and the growing consumerism of the hen-do ‘aesthetic’ to how this tradition can provide a much-needed opportunity to celebrate and make time for those you love. Plus, the single gal perspective, hen ‘etiqu...

The Last of Us, ACOTAR and touchy-feely friendships 24.04.2025

Are Big Brother’s Jojo Siwa and Chris Hughes just friends or something more? We discuss what is ‘normal’ within platonic relationships and whether Chris is really who he appears to be on screen. In other celeb news: a debrief on the Tom Cruise and Ana de Armas rumours, and why Liz Hurley’s new romance is rather concerning. As promised hunnies Kath reports back on her first foray into ACOTAR and ho...

Elizabeth Day: pop culture, friendship and getting over the ick 17.04.2025

The queen of podcasting herself, Elizabeth Day, is on the show today to talk all things pop culture and we could not be happier about it huns! We get stuck into her three top recent recs across TV, film and books, the media’s obsession with first person pieces about ‘bad friends’ and the toll of maintaining a personal brand. We also chat about the psychic reading that changed Elizabeth’s life, rea...

Black Mirror, the Beckham feud and WhatsApp group politics 10.04.2025

Another week, another divisive op-ed from The Cut! This time about the fraught nature of WhatsApp groups: is it wise to use them to discuss such personal things as money, politics and parenting? First though, another op-ed, this time on the 'Singlehood Stigma', tackling why women feel like they are simultaneously being told by society not to want a partner, while also shamed for their singledom. I...

Sydney Sweeney, Chappell Roan and dystopian pregnancy 03.04.2025

Chappell Roan has received a backlash for saying all her parent friends are ‘in hell’ – is it warranted? We discuss her controversial Call Her Daddy interview and the perennial issue of the ‘unlikeable’ woman, including Amanda Knox, who has just given a fascinating new interview. Also, why does it seem like the internet has been waiting for Sydney Sweeney’s engagement to fail? Plus plenty of film...

MOVING: flatshares, break-ups and escaping the endless grind 01.04.2025

Welcome to another bonus episode, this time on the theme of moving: something we’ve been chatting about a lot over the last six months. Why are so many packing up the career ladder for a different way of life abroad? Is it easier to find love elsewhere? Why are people – including couples – flatsharing later in life than ever? And has it now become acceptable to live with your parents in your 30s?...

Temptation Island, Gwyneth Paltrow and incest at The White Lotus 27.03.2025

Reality TV is first on the agenda this week huns, as we debrief on Netflix’s bonkers cheating show, Temptation Island, and all the Made In Chelsea alumni currently hitting the headlines. In the wake of the conversations ignited by Adolescence, is a teary Jamie Laing the new face of positive masculinity? Plus, Zara McDermott’s alleged new relationship and the tabloid’s subsequent ‘sad case’ portray...

Adolescence, Fourth Wing and what ‘really’ counts as cheating 20.03.2025

Adolescence on Netflix has fast become the most talked about TV show of 2025, with Stephen Graham’s new drama igniting much-needed conversations around corrosive social media misogyny and violence against girls. We get into it all from our review to the reception. First, though, a chat about polyamory, non-monogamy and what constitutes ‘cheating’ in light of Ne Yo’s polycule reveal and the fallout...

With Love Meghan, a Blake Lively update and being abandoned by friends 13.03.2025

How has one of TV’s blandest cooking shows ignited such a storm of controversy? We review Meghan Markle’s new Netflix offering to see if those one-star reviews are valid. We also share our honest thoughts on The Cut’s viral piece about the fallacy of the nuclear family. Is it fair to say that friends flake once they have kids? And is the media exacerbating friction between women? Plus, why Blake L...

Millie Bobby Brown, ageing and Lucy Boynton on domestic violence 06.03.2025

We always love it when a guest comes to help us decipher the week in pop culture, and who better to make sense of the Oscars than British actor Lucy Boynton, brilliant star of Bohemian Rhapsody, the Ipcress File, The Politican and Sing Street. She's also in ITV's A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, a gripping new drama about the last woman to be hanged in Britain, which reveals the horrific elitis...

Girlfriend robots, Justin Bieber and blowing up your life 27.02.2025

We are finally getting stuck into the book everyone has been talking about hunnies: All Fours by Miranda July, which has prompted an 'erotic revolution', with a wave of women 'blowing up their lives' by ending their marriages and pursuing sexual liberation. Why is older women’s sexual desire so taboo? Next, following the viral pictures of a 'gaunt' Justin Bieber and Tuppenc...

The White Lotus, botox in cinema and Louis Theroux’s Armie interview 20.02.2025

Happy Thursday huns! We’re checking in at the White Lotus in Thailand to debrief on the start of season three, from our fave characters this time around, to the wild tales from the seven months cast and crew spent on set. But first this week: BAFTAs gossip, Amelia Dimoldenberg’s new boyfriend and a big debate on whether botox is really ruining cinema, as per a recent piece in Dazed. And finally, L...

Bridget Jones 4: grief, friendship and magical men 19.02.2025

It’s Bridget Jones season, huns, and so obviously we had to review the latest and fourth film in the franchise, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy as a special bonus episode. We laughed, we cried, then dissected everything from Bridget's new boyfriends to Pandora Sykes' official podcast. Be warned, there are spoilers! And don't worry, we’ll be back here tomorrow with our usual pop cultur...

Dating advice, Apple Cider Vinegar and the return of horny 13.02.2025

It’s Valentine’s week, hunnies, so ofc romance is top of the agenda on today’s show – kicking off with with a review of Elizabeth Day’s brand new podcast ‘masterclass’ How To Date, which she cohosts with MAFS’s Mel Schilling. Do you really have to be ‘healed’ to find love? And are we the only ones feeling a bit triggered by the ‘take your younger self for coffee’ TikTok trend? Plus: Netflix and Am...

Timothée Chalamet, the Romantasy craze and the ‘real’ Ryan Reynolds 06.02.2025

We finally got swept up in the Romantasy craze huns! Following the news that Rebecca Yarros’s latest novel Oynx Storm has become the fastest selling adult novel in 20 years, we’re giving her first book in the series, Fourth Wing, a whirl. What is it about these fantasy romances that has millions of women hooked? Plus, our reviews of  Timothée Chalamet’s Oscar-tipped turn as Bob Dylan, an excellent...

The Traitors, Holly Willoughby’s return and our splintered 'selves' 30.01.2025

The Traitors finale was so juicy we HAD to have a big old debrief: was Charlotte robbed? Did it all get too personal? What are the funniest The Traitors tropes? We also discuss Holly Willoughby’s first interview since a terrifying plot to kidnap and kill her was foiled a year ago, as well as Jameela Jamil’s unique ‘protection method’ against misogyny. Plus: has Angelina Jolie been snubbed by the O...

Cameron Diaz’s comeback, the Molly Mae doc and Lively vs Baldoni (again) 23.01.2025

We were not expecting to be weeping over the glossy Molly Mae Amazon doc hunnies, but it got us!! We discuss all the revelations and ‘the Molly Mae paradox’. We also had to dive into the latest explosive lawsuit in this increasingly wild It Ends With Us saga, which has now pulled in Taylor Swift and, er, Game of Thrones. Does the flippant public reaction suggest the worrying end of the MeToo movem...

Nicole Kidman’s Babygirl, Lily Allen and money anxieties 16.01.2025

Nicole Kidman’s erotic thriller Babygirl is finally out and so ofc we had to see it and give you our verdict this week huns! Before our spoiler free-review, though, we discuss all the latest pop culture stories, from Lily Allen’s reported divorce to Heidi Montag’s musical comeback. As always we’ve got lots of TV chat, plus our thoughts on two of our favourite books of 2024, both about the financia...

Blake Lively’s lawsuits, crisis PR and raunchy vampire remake Nosferatu 09.01.2025

Happy 2025 hunnies and welcome back, we’ve missed you! First up this week we’re debriefing on the holidays, from New Year’s resolutions to the culture that kept us entertained. Next, a deep-dive into the explosive developing story on the numerous (and ongoing) lawsuits surrounding It Ends With Us costars Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. Is the world of crisis PR as dark as it seems? And finally, s...

Fertility, pop culture parenthood and unspeakable truths 02.01.2025

Male infertility accounts for half of all IVF cases, so why does society so often consider it a ‘women’s issue’? We get into the taboo around fertility and masculinity, as well as the thorny topics of egg freezing, the 'queer tax' and the commodification of reproduction in this second part of our exploration of why more and more people are putting off having children. We also dive into plenty of o...

The Big Kids Question: does anyone want to be a parent anymore? 26.12.2024

The startling new data revealing the sharply declining fertility rate in the UK taps into the fraught and personal conversations that we’ve been having since turning 30: are we ready to have kids, financially and emotionally? How has everything from increased gender equality and the thriving child free movement to social media and the pandemic skip affected our reasoning? We try to answer all thes...

Hugh Grant, Lisa Kudrow’s new thriller plus the best TV and films of 2024 19.12.2024

Hunnies we’ve made it to the end of the year! And our Christmas present to you is a definitive top 10 across both TV and film of 2024, so that you are happily entertained over the next few weeks. Also, we thought it was a good time to dive into Hugh Grant’s ‘freak show era’ now that his intriguing new horror film Heretic is out, and of course it wouldn’t be Christmas without a feminist reappraisal...

Sabrina Carpenter, Keira Knightley’s Black Doves and brain rot 12.12.2024

Sabrina Carpenter has been accused of ‘marketing’ herself using problematic Lolita references, so we discuss in light of her new Netflix Christmas special A Nonsense Christmas. Plus, Keira Knightley is back on our screens with the highly entertaining spy thriller Black Doves, but will the media be kinder to her this time? Also, ‘brain rot’ is the word of the year, to which we hard relate, and Amy...

Lindsay Lohan, Hollywood transformations and hit thriller The Madness 05.12.2024

Linsday Lohan’s new Christmas film is being billed as her big comeback, so why is her alleged facelift at the centre of the story? We discuss the uncomfortable discourse around Lindsay’s recent transformation, from the hunt for her Hollywood surgeon, to our obsession with ‘ageless’ celebrities. Obvs we then had to get into The Cut’s latest viral piece on what a 30-something should look like, not t...

Wicked, Gladiator's flop and AI pets 28.11.2024

Everyone is talking about Wicked and so of course we had to share our review with you this week, from just how much we loved the cinematic spectacle, to the best moments from the utterly hilarious press tour. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s crying and hand-holding has us in a chokehold. Surely you’ve been holding space for the lyrics of Defying Gravity too? Also, Ellie delivers some sad news abo...

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