The Polyester Podcast

This week Ione and Gina are joined for an extra special long episode with writer, actor, producer and all round internet legend Tavi Gevinson ! The three centre their conversation around class differences in the dying days of influencer culture, the changing face of fandom, and the performance of life online. Tavi's newest project, the Audible Original series Glimpses Of The Moon , an adaptation o...

Is it cynical to question if podcasts are being recorded just to get viral social media clips? And is it ironic that we're saying that on OUR podcast? This week, hosts Ione and Gina delve into the murky ethics of posing questions around sex work and marriage to self promote, the need for having a definite opinion over admitting nuance and whether we're all individualising theory far too much. Supp...

Last week The Last Dinner Party caught major heat from fans after security at their show screened cis male attendees. Meanwhile across the pond, Billie Eilish stans are overstepping boundaries by hurling abuse at her team over the Birds Of A Feather music video. And as usual, Chappell Roan devotees are being little bastards. This week, Ione and Gina are delving into the death knell surrounding cel...

Has the internet killed our sense of self? Why are the advertising campaigns for films, albums and books lauded more than the art itself? And can everyone leave Sally Rooney alone already? This week Ione and Gina are dissecting how creativity and marketing became so intertwined - as well as how social media made Mad Men of us all. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3 Order...

This week we've partnered with MUBI to bring you an extra special live episode from HOME Manchester to dig into The Substance - Coralie Fargeat’s flamboyant body horror that provocatively lambasts beauty standards with killer performances from legends Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. Ione and Gina look at the film's use of the male gaze, the meta commentary of the casting as well as the inherent v...

The Polyester Podcast is back after a couple of episodes break so our hosts could go on holidays and for this extra special episode Ione and Gina are digging into all of the discourse we missed in the past month. We're giving our two cents on the burning topics that have plagued our feeds recently, like is Taylor Swift supporting Kamala Harris genuinely? Why won't the Harry Potter franchise die al...

Our feeds have been overrun with a new celeb squabble as the press rollout for the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's 'It Ends With Us' goes absolutely tits up. Both TikTok and X users have spent the last week picking apart the behind the scenes drama between producer and star Blake Lively and producer, director and star Justin Baldoni. Is Blake giving feminism a bad name? Was Justin's vision ste...

How does embracing your divine feminine turn into an interest in eugenics? Are conspiracy theories making hippies move away from liberal spirituality and towards alt right ideals? This week, hosts Ione and Gina are dissecting the history of Goddess feminism, Elon Musks's mission to populate Mars and the similarities between trad wives and flower children. Support our work and become a Polyester Po...

Last week, Polyester suffered a great injustice on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter as right wing journalists piled on our humble hosts for sharing a pitch call out. This week, Ione and Gina dissect the discourse surrounding publishing industry standards, the declining state of the media industry, and the need to be right on social media. Support our work and become a Polyester...

The Kamalanomenon is here. You think you just fell out of the coconut tree? This week, hosts Ione and Gina break down how brat summer, among other Kamala memes, morphed from gen z nihilistic irony into millennial girlboss earnestness - and how the memeification of politics affects us all. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3 Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, h...

Does a crap economy spawn better music? And should being frugal be a trend, a lifestyle choice or just a case of bloody getting on with things? This week, hosts Ione and Gina dig into the self narration that has been bred into us by social media and whether, during the worst recession we've weathered as adults, we should be romanticising our shampoo purchases. Support our work and become a Polyest...

It seems as though its never been worse to be a woman participating in the discourse. The Hawk Tuah girl has used her blowjob technique to become a star; cashing in on the viral moment with a merch line, a manager and a possible documentary. But while she makes bank, the alt right have commodified her into a figurehead - once again proclaiming any woman with blonde hair and big tits as their own....

Fell over getting off the bus? Minus one hundred aura points. Discovered a band before your mates? Plus one thousand aura points. The new AP ranking system has taken TikTok by storm as teens rush to reveal the coolest and most harrowing moments in their lives to get engagement, sympathy and much coveted aura. Meanwhile incel rhetoric has once again broken free from the underbelly of the internet's...

We're all desperate to get the tories out, but for the first time in our hosts lives as voters, there's been an inescapable apathy in the air. As it seems certain that Labour will take over as the new British government, is it time to vote independent or spoil the ballot? This week Ione and Gina are getting knee deep in the culture war that's surrounding election year, discussing the pros and cons...

The name on everybody's lips is: Charli XCX. The musician's sixth studio album Brat dropped this month and all of a sudden everything is Brat. But while we continue to wonder if every lime green car is planted by charli herself or just pure coincidence, in this week's episode, Ione and Gina are taking on the behemoth Brat marketing rollout. Is this is truly Charli's most relatable album yet? Or do...

This week we've partnered with the Fitzwilliam Museum to take on the internet's renewed interest in all things literary. Inspired by the museum's rehang, where one portion of the Interiors gallery depicts women reading throughout the years, Ione and Gina talk through the oxymoronic literary it girl trend, the insidious nature of BookTok and the historical triumphs involved in female literacy. Supp...

The past two weeks have seen a new debate arise in the world of online activism - what is the place of AI in conversations around raising awareness of important political issues? In this episode, Ione and Gina ask whether all is fair in getting All Eyes On Rafah or if we need to be cautious of the intentions behind those creating viral images to be shared across social media. Support our work and...

Is it five signs you may have ADHD or is it five vague symptoms that could be applicable to anyone? In this week's episode, Ione and Gina are diving into the way that TikTok - and the internet in general - has made being neurodivergent a personality trait, a subculture and a community in and of itself. The pair look at the pros and cons of sharing information on having a condition, how this affect...

Following the luxury of the Met Gala - and one influencer's mistimed 'Let Them Eat Cake" lip synch - the internet is demanding action from the celebrity class in response to the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The #BlockOut2024 encourages social media users to block celebrities and cut short their income streams until they voice their opinion on the conflict - but is this a useful form of activism...

The day has finally come, the question has been asked and our hosts are ready to tackle the query of a generation: Why is everyone polyamorous now? Taking into account everything from the free love movement to tax breaks for married couples, Ione and Gina get to the bottom of why some people find a bad taste in their mouths in non monogamy discourse. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast...

Recently, Twitter was set ablaze by another creepy move by the incel community: AI generated women to have sex with while pumping into a boxed fleshlight. The viral video, which promises to put an end to declining birth rates, has sparked debates on the morality of combining intimacy with AI; and in this week's episode, Ione and Gina are getting into the root of it all. Is it gamification? Is it f...

It's been less than three weeks since Netflix dropped the true crime, true story drama Baby Reindeer and the discourse surrounding the show feels inescapable. As internet sleuths take it upon themselves to wreak vigilante justice on the real life people the series was based on, those who know Richard Gadd - the writer and star of Baby Reindeer - suffer the consequences. Is it a failure in safeguar...

The second weekend of Coachella has confirmed it: Chappell Roan is the lesbian pop star the world has been waiting for. Roan is one of a generation of pop girlies paving the way for sapphic representation in the mainstream - from Jojo Siwa to Renee Rap, we are truly in a queer woman power hour for music. In this week's episode, Ione and Gina break down what is so appealing about Roan's output, whe...

By tracking our blood glucose levels, harvesting our eggs and banking our collagen are we hacking the health system or are we contributing to the privatisation of NHS services and discrimination of chronically ill and disabled people? Who actually benefits from us following the inner workings of our bodies online? Will the horrors ever end? In this week's episode Ione and Gina are tacking our curr...

In 2024, are journalist and editor roles a privilege or meaningless? Last week a Substack essay went viral for calling media parties boring and this week Ione and Gina are having it out about whether roles in the media are still as fun, exciting and covetable as Sex and the City and every 00s Rom Com presented them to be - and more importantly do they even need to be? Is a job a job or should we b...