The Polyester Podcast

Paper Magazine, Gal-dem, and Buzzfeed news have all recently ceased publication, with rumours circulating that Vice and i-D are next on the chopping block. Once again, this has been a tumultuous year for digital publications. But how did we get here, and who is at fault? This week Ione and Eden are digging into why it feels like a new publication closes once a week, from the power hierarchies with...

This week, social media decided on a common enemy. After this video went viral, showing two young women mocking another who was taking selfies and filming TikToks at a sports game - the entire internet came together to dox the two perpetrators. But who really was the mean girl in this scenario? Was it the pair, annoyed at being filmed in public? Or the poster for exploiting their experience in exc...

Spoiler warning! The golden age of telly is over. This week, hosts Ione Gamble and Eden Young lay bare the ways that streaming services have decimated the TV watching experience. Is there any good to be gleamed from binge watching? Or do you long for the era of waiting for new episodes to air on the terrestrial television channels' primo spot? And how is anyone meant to enjoy an anticipated episod...

Have you ever received a message along the lines of, "Do you have the emotional/mental capacity for me to vent about something"? Or have you accused your friends of overstepping your boundaries, or not holding space for you to prioritise yourself? Over the past few years, this formalisation language - dubbed 'therapy speak' has infiltrated the way we talk to each other. But is that person really g...

For the finale of our Confessions mini series, cover girly Doechii lends us her agony aunt services to solve the problems of Polyester readers across the globe. The musician sits down with Ione and Eden to discuss just how important (or not) sex really is in relationships, what to do about bigoted family members, whether being loud is the best way to bring about social progress, and much more. In...

All of the girlies, from Bella Hadid to Kim Kardashian herself, are dressing like they love the football. Blokecore is the latest microtrend to sweep the internet - and suddenly, going to the pub with a footy scarf round your head (the style itself now christened the 'litty scarf') is a personality type. This week, Ione are examining the history of how we treat working class aesthetics - from the...

Confessions is back! Long time listeners will remember our summer of solving all your issues, lending our agony aunt services to Polyester readers across the globe. Well now, we've returned with the second of three new episodes and a few very special guests. This episode, we're joined by Piri. Best known for dance music that infiltrates every corner of TikTok, as well as her pole routines and Only...

It's been a grim week, month, and year when it comes to abuses of power in Hollywood. As a string of stories in the past few weeks have been published pertaining to the abuse of women on film and tv sets; Ione and Eden are contemplating the effectiveness of Hollywoods activism. From allegations surrounding Sam Levinson's 'The Idol' production to Jonathan Major's assault arrest and women coming for...

Confessions is back! Long time listeners will remember our summer of solving all your issues, lending our agony aunt services to Polyester readers across the globe. Well now, we've returned with the first of three new episodes and a few very special guests. First up, we're joined by the incredible singer-songwriter and full time legend Cat Burns. Ione and Eden sat down with Cat to tackle your conu...

You've probably seen the thin green line of misogyny - a new wave of infographics peddled by far-right twitter accounts and satirised by practically everyone else, highlighting incel-adjacent theories around gender and feminism. But while these images may be ready made meme material for most of the world; in the manosphere (a term we decode in this episode), these anti-feminist ideologies are grow...

Brad Troemel has coined a term to describe the diversity quota meme-laden photoshoots that take over our feeds these days - Cloutbombing. But what does the term actually mean? Are brands referencing digital culture in an attempt to stay culturally relevant? And are we doomed to play into the hands of cloutbombing forever more? This week on the pod Ione and Eden are getting into cloutbombing, consu...

As the remnants of fourth wave feminism cling on for dear life, it's become impossible to ignore the idea that we're now living through a post-feminist era. In the 10 months since the release of our host Ione Gamble's debut Poor Little Sick Girls, body positivity has died, #MeToo is non-existent and the discourse has stripped any semblance of nuance from online life. This week, Ione and Eden discu...

Penn Badgley has managed to single handedly set alight the discord over the past couple of weeks. Revealing that he no longer wants to perform sex scenes out of respect for his marriage, his comments have stoked the flames of a long running Twitter storm. Gen Z supposedly thinks sex scenes should be eliminated from film and tv entirely. Are they all prudes? Or do they have a point? This week; Ione...

Following the death of Brianna Ghey, as well as an open letter penned by contributors of The New York Times condemning the publications reporting on gender, and the defence of JK Rowling that followed, transgender rights are once again under attack. For this week's podcast, Ione and Eden are revisiting an episode from 2020 in which we discussed the rise of TERF ideology, and how the media at large...

No longer is it enough for people on the internet to tell us what to buy, they've decided they have to tell us what not to buy, too. Like a consumerist superhero; influencers are trending for telling us the dyson air wrap is a waste of money, or that viral skirt you really want is actually uncomfortable. But are these internet personalities doing important work in turning us off these products, or...

We've been cursed with a new 'core'l and this one may be the bleakest of them all. Celebrities are no longer wearing necklaces on the runway, minimalism is back, and a new trend dubbed 'recession core' is the latest fixation of TikTok trend forecasters. But does fashion really change in times of economic uncertainty? Rich people certainly aren't getting any poorer, so is this new conscious aesthet...

Have you heard of lucky girl syndrome? The craze sweeping social media is bringing back manifestation and positive thinking for a new generation. With lucky girls taking over TikTok, we're asking if demanding what you want from the universe is uplifting or reductive? Can you really get what you want by just believing you deserve it? Or is it just a grossly naive flex that just shows us how little...

Britney Spears is once again the focus point of internet gossip. The conspiracy theories grow more outlandish by the minute; from the pop star having a body double, to her husband placing her in a new conservatorship and pushing the star in front of a green screen to create Instagram content. But unlike in the early 00s, we now all have the ability to comment, dissect, and tear apart celebrities b...

It's a tale as old as time: a woman experiences a breakup, and in the midst of her heartbreak, takes to the internet to tell us every sordid detail of the ways in which her ex did her wrong. Whether on TikTok, published in personal essays on prestigious platforms, or showcased on Instagram stories - the girlies can't get enough of exposing the men that have ruined their lives. But have we bored of...

We're back! Did you miss us? This week Ione and Eden are discussing the trend that's dominated our Instagram feeds: In and Out lists. Written by everyone who's anyone; from Jemima Kirke and Hari Nef, to pretty much every influencer you've ever followed; the internet has become enamoured with notes app lists predicting what we will and won't enjoy in 2023. But do we really care what these people th...

For our last episode of the year, Halima Jibril is BACK to go over our favourite podcast topics from 2022. We're looking at indie sleaze, toxic femininity, it girls (in particular, our patron saint Julia Fox), goblin mode and more! With hindsight, Ione and Halima take a trip down memory lane to look at the good, bad and ugly moments that came to define 2022  Thanks so much to everyone who has...

If you've been on Instagram this week, you've probably come across the Lensa App. We've all been turning ourselves into fairies, manga characters, and painters muses using AI technology. But is creating these selfies ethical? Are they going to put artists out of a job? Are they just harmless fun? Or an example of our rampant narcissism? This week, Ione and Eden are digging into the rise of AI on s...

This week, Ione and Eden are trying to get to the bottom of the Balenciaga story; separating the fact from fiction, as well as examining how the controversy grew so large in the media and on social media. As the conspiracy theories around the fashion brand continue to spread like wildfire, we're digging into the importance of media literacy and how far right propaganda runs rampant on the internet...

Another week goes by and another director is slamming Marvel for killing the movie business as they know it. No matter where you stand on Quentin Tarantino, one thing is for sure; celebrity is changing. As 2022 draws to a close, Ione and Eden are reflecting on the year in celebrity, and movie stars in particular. We're discussing whether the rise of streaming will result in the return of the old s...

Do you spend hours fixated on five minute craft videos? Are you obsessed with the woman that pours liquid into cake, or the one that goes live on TikTok every night to create resin cups? We'll we've got some news — you're probably consuming fetish content. As the internet becomes more and more censored, creators are becoming increasingly niche in their approach to racking up engagement. But is thi...