The Polyester Podcast

It's kinda chic to eat a sandwich. It's kinda chic to lean on a bollard. It's kinda chic to intellectualise an Instagram trend as a signifier of the end days.This week, hosts Ione and Gina talk about the growing need to be seen as cool across social media - spawning everything from tutorials on how to be cool to long read Substacks dissecting the tutorials. Has the the algorithm has fully drained the joy of recommendation and curation? Is the quest for coolness futile? And if everyone is kinda chic, then is no-one chic at all?Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a long, hot American Summerween and we're so excited for Jane Schoenbrun's third feature film to finally hit our screens. 'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma' is Schoenbrun's third feature film and this time, they're taking on the slasher genre.This week, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the queer metaverse of Camp Miasma, the poignancy of casting Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, and how trans narratives translate to universal experience in the movie of the summer.Watch the film in all good US cinemas now and in the UK from August 21st!! Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Caroline Calloway penning viral essays to the constant discourse surrounding Ariana Grande - it’s no news to listeners of this podcast that thin is in. Yet on a weekly if not daily basis, a new Internet fixation surrounding weight loss rears its ugly head. The content is impossible to avoid, but in a culture that is normalising extreme thinness more and more, is it any wonder how we got to this point?This week, hosts Ione and Gina dig into the proliferation of not just skinniness but pro-ana rhetoric, and whether we will ever return from the ongoing requirement of extreme restrictions in women.Trigger warning: This week’s podcast discusses eating disorders and weight loss and may be triggering for some readers.Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been three years, how are we still 'just girls'? Is it because of food trend focussing on nostalgia? A need to heal our inner child? Or a lack of definition of what adulthood without conservative family goals can be?This week, hosts Ione and Gina reckon with what some media outlets are calling 'toddlercore'. From eating tater tots and fro-yo to wearing baggy jeans, is arrested development a serious problem in gen z and millennial adults or are we just reacting to the crumbling society we've inherited?Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It appears tech bros are shaking in their boots because... they're being called cringe - even when they buy a Rimowa suitcase and a full wardrobe from The Row. In a now viral essay, writer Emily Segal assigns the term 'tasteslop' to the lack of taste signified by items that used to be upheld highly in the taste algorithm when enjoyed by those who don't get it - aka, AI bots and the AI company owners.This week, hosts Ione and Gina rub their hands together because The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste is landing on shelves just in time to tackle the tasteslop phenomenon. The pair chat through why everyone is speaking about taste right now, how the inherent hierarchies of taste are changing and whether or not we're heading towards the worst outcome of all: The era of no taste.Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's no surprise to many that the third season of Sam Levinson's former hit TV show has had a less than best reaction from audiences. Aside from the show's actual plot and characterisations - don't worry, we'll get into those later - Levinson's real life reputation and his own world view has seeped into even the most die hard Euphoria stan's perception of the show.This week, hosts Ione and Gina dive into a show that few seem to ride for: from OnlyFans to human trafficking, fentanyl, fetish content, sugar babies and rattle snakes - Euphoria is falling trap to cliche while committing the biggest TV sin of all: Being boring.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Celebs are no longer monoliths, Instagram is my diary and you no longer need to buy a memoir to know the intricate details of a public figure’s life. Across PR campaigns, podcast appearances and TikTok lives, influencers, musicians and actors alike push to seem authentic and relatable. With those in the public eye sharing more and more, why does the incredibly personal art still manage to shock us?In this week's episode, join hosts Ione and Gina for an extra special live episode at Tate Modern as they discuss their incredible exhibition Tracey Emin: A Second Life and explore the ways classism, ableism and sexism intersect within the work of one of Britain's most notorious artists. This episode is in partnership with Tate Collective, Tate's young people scheme for 16-25 year olds. It's completely free to sign up and gives you access to £5 tickets to see shows like Tracey Emin: A Second Life. The Tracey Emin show is open until 31st August and you can get in late to see it Friday and Saturday at 9pm, and 8pm on Sundays!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While the biggest audience for true crime content is young women, it's not often that anyone considers the every growing cultural phenomenon through a feminist lens. What do podcasts, documentaries and tv shows get right about revealing the reality of crime against women? And do we benefit from being more about what violence can (and has) happened against women throughout history?This week, our hosts Ione and Gina are joined by The Polyester Podcast editor and host of Crime Next Door: The Beast of Birkenhead, Olivia Graham, to explore the complex feelings surrounding the genre from behind the mic, as a consumer and as a society that often depersonalises femicide.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we’re slowly learning more about drugs like Ozempic, we’re also finding out more about their side effects. Does botox reduce our ability to empathise? Are we all just numbing ourselves from the world in the pursuit of self optimisation?In this week’s episode, hosts Ione and Gina dig into how people are using tweakments not just for their advertised effects - but for the ways they change our emotions and habits.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back and the world has gone ape in our absence! Between X discourse about Slut Walks and criticism of Lindy West's new memoir Adult Braces, it's time for a full retcon of the past and present state of Millennial Feminism.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina reflect on 2010s sex positivity, the commodification of feminism throughout the ages and the nihilistic point of view gen z feminists are left to reckon with. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before 21 year old looksmaxxer streamer Clavicular walked the Elena Valez runway at NYFW, his brand of hyper misogynist masculinity was confined to teenage boys in their bedrooms and the terminally online taking the piss out of him. But after making his fashion debut, Clavicular has garnered attention from nearly every mainstream mag imaginable. With other designers sending ‘looksmaxxing’ T-shirts down the runway, has inceldom found a mainstream home? In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina unpack Clavicular's lore, from bone smashing to extreme racism, dissect the fashion world's continuing flirtation with the alt right and ask whether or not deplatforming really works for gen z influencers?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“TAKE THAT BETA BLOCKER, GIRL!" exclaims Rachel Sennott on your iPhone from the Oscars red carpet. A couple of years ago, you remember a Kardashian episode dedicated to Khloe taking beta blockers on the back of Kris's advice. Giggly Squad sell you a baseball cap with 'Beta Blockers' emblazoned across it.This week, hosts Ione and Gina dig into the normalisation of the blood pressure medication for treating anxiety. Is celebs talking about anxiety a net positive? Should we be making more of a fuss about the ease we can dupe online pharmacies? Is Big Pharma using meme culture to exploit us all?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final hour before recording this week, we had to push our planned research aside and get stuck into the meat and bones of the juiciest celeb drama 2026 has given us so far: Brooklyn Beckham released an eight part Instagram story tell all about his much rumoured estrangement from his parents, Victoria and David Beckham.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the implicated misogyny of everyone’s response, the particular Britishness of this scandal and why, for once, this is gossip we can engage with guilt free.Please note we recorded this episode on Wednesday, 21st January at 4pm GMT - if any new goss has unfurled, we have not addressed it in this ep. And if you want to listen to our secret episode on 2016 nostalgia: Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.