The Polyester Podcast

'Sydney Sweeney's blonde hair and big jugs are a sign of the end of wokeness!' is a sentence that is unfortunately being touted legitimately by the right wingers who yearn for the day of toxic beauty standards and Y2K celebrity scrutiny. In this week's episode, Ione and Gina are digging into how the Euphoria actress' double Ds have become a point of contention across Twitter and beyond as many use...

These are the days of girlhood - pink beer cans, bathtub breakdowns and picking up your meds. All trending topics that are highlighted in the debut track from Dylan Mulvaney, but why is the song receiving vitriol from TikTok teens, the alt right and the left? In this week's episode, Ione and Gina are defending the right of women to be frivolous, uncool and girly - and addressing the hypocrisy and...

In a world where authenticity is lauded above all else in a celebrity's brand, how could the ever aloof It Girl ever survive? Is it parasocial relationships, red carpet q and a's or a need for relatability that ended the reign of the It Girl? This week Ione and Gina are digging into the new brand du jour - being the people's princess. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3 Or...

Has short form media rotted our brains or is the future one without tech? With generations unable to use a printer, and our social platforms ridden with bots - it seems we're becoming increasingly disenfranchised with our digital lives. This week Ione and Gina are digging into what happens next when the internet and all its apps become unusable. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast memb...

Why is work that takes aesthetics seriously always considered vapid? This week, joining Ione and Gina live is Priscilla costume designer and frequent collaborator of Sofia Coppola, Stacey Battat . We discuss everything from costuming one of the most fashionable women in history, to working on low budget productions and utilising clothing within feminist films to further push unspoken narratives. R...

Change is in the air for the start of 2024: Those who used to universally love Taylor Swift suddenly seem to be turning on her. Is it the far right convincing themselves that shes a psyop for the democrat party? Or the fact she’s producing more CO2 emissions in a year than most people would in their entire life? Maybe it’s her too good to be true whirlwind romance with Travis Kelce taking up headl...

Have tweens always been this interested in beauty products? And how is ageism affected by classism? In this extra special episode of the podcast, Ione and Gina are joined by writer, editor and brand strategist Funmi Fetto to discuss Wellcome Collection ’s exhibition The Cult of Beauty. Tracking how we went from religious obsession with the visuals of virtuousness to generation alpha purchasing ret...

Another day another seemingly innocuous trend borne from TikTok style videos - this week Ione and Gina are using mob wife glamour to get into the nitty gritty of hyper specific aesthetics. Is mob wife glamour a PR move by HBO for The Soprano's 25th Anniversary? Or a fast fashion ploy to shift some coats during the February sales? And why are we all, after all this time, still aspiring to be someon...

Do you have a Stanley Cup? Maybe like Gina, you own a different reusable cup for every occasion. Or perhaps you're more like Ione, who can't stand the sight of them. This week, the girls are fighting their corner as to whether the Stanley Cup craze is harmful or helpless. Should we let people enjoy things? Or is the aggressively feminised marketing and overconsumption something that should concern...

Poor Things discourse has taken over the internet; with Yorgos Lanthimos latest film being declared a masterpiece in one breath and a misogynistic let down in another. Can a film that traces the consequences of a baby’s brain being implanted into a grown woman’s body ever be called empowering? Or does the story of Bella Baxter - masterfully portrayed by Emma Stone - begin to make more sense when v...

From Fancams to Lana Del Rey comparisons - she's been the internet fixation for the past fortnight, but what does it mean for the culture that Gypsy Rose Blanchard has exited prison straight into global and meme fame? This week Ione and Gina are discussing the reaction to Gypsy's release, the terror that is the true crime industry, and how women are commodified then dropped in trend cycles that do...

Will 2024 give us hope or apathy? Which cartoon cat is due a comeback? And is the Instagram story a dead artform? To kick off the new year Ione and Gina are taking us through their ins and outs lists while reckoning with the question of if anyone has the authority to make hot or not calls for 2024 anyway. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3 Order Ione's book, Poor Little S...

Hey everyone, for a variety of reasons, mostly that we all need a little break we'll be taking a few weeks off the podcast until the near year. Thank you for your support this year love you all! Have a lovely rest of the year and we'll see you in 2024 xxx Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jacob Elordi in angel wings, period sex, and a MILF Rosamund Pike: Saltburn has been the film du jour but does it deserve its controversial accolades? Ione and Gina get into the many ways that Saltburn remains a contentious watch for most working class people, especially when audiences contextualise the movie through the writer and director, Emerald Fennel's gaze. While critics ask if Saltburn is...

It's the season finale of The Kardashians and this series can be only summed up as self serving: Every single piece of imagery given in this series has been a medium to send a message: Scott's birthday party serves only to remind the audience that Kim used to grace the covers of canine magazines and now she has featured multiple times on the front of Vogue. But when will the family - made up of li...

Another trend has spawned across TikTok and the site formally known as Twitter - Are you girl pretty or boy pretty? The difference largely lies in how you appeal to the male gaze as hosts Ione Gamble and Gina Tonic explore in this week's podcast episode. Have labels become limiting, do we need to care about our attractiveness or is this all a misogynistic psyop? Support our work and become a Polye...

This week, The Kardashians are leaning into the uncanny valley nature of their narrative construction, taking us behind the scenes on Kourtney's pregnancy announcement and Kim and North debating fashion as she gets dressed for the Met. Marie and MJ are questioning the hierarchies of who the family - and those around them - defers to. Is North being a brat or is she a creative with valid criticisms...

In an extra special live episode in collaboration with Barbican, we invited our art history columnist Zara Aftab to host a conversation with artist Rene Matic and journalist Diyora Shadijanova exploring their exhibition RE/SISTERS: A Lens on Gender and Ecology. The trio discuss the ways categorisation has diminished our connection to nature, the growing intersectionality of feminism relating to th...

What is there to day? There’s an apology tour to squeeze out what’s left of the scandals.  Then a lot of time being spent creating more structures and storylines about Kim working constantly, so we’re gonna show her being tired. What does that mean though? Why do we care? A way for The Kardashians to show us a version of true slices of life - the busy reality of trips to New York, meetings, a...

It's finally here: The trailer for the movie of the musical of the movie Mean Girls, but the promotion for 'Not your mother's Mean Girls' has the generations united in disdain. Why did they say that? And why is Regina George wearing combats? This week Ione and Gina are discussing nostalgia culture and the eroding of tweenhood. A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists...

This episode they packed in a loooot of storylines. Lots of the Momager and with Kris needing to be everywhere at once, she finds new ways to do it. There’s questions about Kendall and talk of more Scaffolding to protect the privacy. And a bit more from the NPCs and how it feels to enter it and how it feels to be on the outside of it.  Anand in the world of celebrity action this week we’ve go...

Why has Macklemore got a better take on war than Kier Starmer? This week Ione and Gina are taking a look at the culture surrounding celebrity opinions in relation to major political events. From back peddling to blindly sharing infographics, should we be turning to the feeds of the upper classes for news anyway? READ, A DANGEROUS CONFLATION: AN OPEN LETTER FROM JEWISH WRITERS, IN FULL ACTIONABLE W...

What stood out to you sisters? Fake drama on the show? Could they ever? There’s the relevance of incredibly empty and fluffy episodes when so much is happening outside of the show. A very tame Palm Springs for easter trip, some trouble in the grey gardens and it’s clearer than ever the show is just a bunch of scaffolding to shield the sisters from their reality.  Kim tells the fam about her n...

Is the dirtbag left just conservatism and facism in a pretty outfit? More and more women are joining the alt-right under the guise of irony, playing a crucial part in the widening of political divides and making bank by broadcasting their bigoted opinions. With tradwifes going mainstream and shock-politics podcasts drawing in hundreds of thousands of listeners; Ione and Gina are examining what it...

First things first, a famous well loved . . . cat. In all the unreal-ness of the reality you can’t get more real than a cat, and a hiss.  We’re used to the family FaceTiming to name drop - but this time the person on the other end is an important player in The Kardashian effort - the goal is always to expand. And we go behind the latest campaign, SKIMS soccer, with a live reaction from t...