The Polyester Podcast

The girlies are going feral across the internet as they reveal during ovulation they get uncontrollably horny. But is it true? Do our hormones control our libidos and cognition or do we have more free will than that? TikTok wellness huns are using pseudoscience to back up their claims, while Twitter feminists take to their feeds to fight back against the dehumanising nature of having our personalities attributed to hormone cycles. In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina pick apart the inherent bio-essentialism of ovulation discourse, the alt right's push for focusing on fertility and how these conversations feel like a step back for women. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Black tights under denim shorts? Recession indicator. Good outfits at the Met Gala? Recession indicator. Crying because you can't afford to pay your one in three Klarna payment for a Domino's pizza last month? Recession indicator.This week, our hosts Ione and Gina are dissecting our latest impulse to jump at the chance to label every single behaviour a recession indicator. Is it an attempt to make a meaningful connection with others about struggling under benefit cuts and Trump's tariffs? Or an irony tinged dodge at having to accept how bad things are? Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Who'd have thought at the announcement of this year's Celebrity Big Brother cast that the two people being chatted about the most are Jojo Siwa and ex-Love Islander Chris Hughes. If you didn't know - the pair's intimate friendship in the house caused chaos on social media as many accused Jojo of emotionally cheating on her partner, the Neighbours actor Kath Ebbs. In this week's episode, our hosts Ione and Gina break down Jojo's complicated time in the limelight from Dance Moms to coming out to now, what queer celebrities owe to the communities they represent and why we all keep taking reality telly at face value.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

It's been a helluva week for the news cycle and our social feeds - Katy Perry's been on Amazon's first, girls only, space trip (for exactly 11 minutes), Aimee Lou Wood has taken to Instagram stories to call out an off colour joke about herself on Saturday Night Live and everyone has taken to ChatGPT to generate extremely specific and fairly ugly blister packed dolls of themselves. Stuck between which to cover, we decided to dig into it all.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina take apart everything wrong with the Blue Origin rocket trip that took an all female crew into space on the 14th April including the environmental impact, classism implications and faux feminism the journey's being marketed as. After the break, the pair get into the cringe inducing AI created dolls so many of our peers are posting on the Insta as well as the disheartening SNL impersonation that's caused distress for The White Lotus actress Aimee Lou Wood.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

"I'm too pretty to work." "This face wasn't meant to know excel." "Looking for a man who doesn't want me to work." On the surface these adages are silly throwaways in the face of a late capitalist work culture that has made trying to make a living a literal hellscape - or are they?In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina take apart the trend of dreaming for a rich husband and reckon with a not too distant past where women's liberation was inherently linked with being financially independent. Is it tradwife rhetoric that's making us romanticise reliance on a spouse? Can work ever be empowering? And what do we lose from seeing beauty as a requirement for a good life?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Just like clockwork, a gritty British Netflix drama about a taboo topic is doing the rounds - last year it was Baby Reindeer and this year it's Adolescence. The Stephen Graham produced and fronted programme takes a look at how the manosphere and incel culture are corrupting a whole generation of teenage boys - but does it manage the subject well? In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina discuss whether or not the TV show does a good job of exploring the radicalisation of young men, whether or not it should be shown as part of the curriculum and why we shouldn't totally dismiss telly that gets people talking about underrepresented issues.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

If there's one scapegoat the government loves to roll out when it's doing poorly, it's the benefits thief. This imaginary person uses loopholes and caveats to steal tax money to buy themselves tellies and holidays in Lanzarote. In the UK, the new-ish-ly elected Labour party has announced new budget reforms that plays into this trope with an especially sinister new edge - tightening the pursestrings of the benefit system specifically against disabled people.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina break down what's actually being proposed by our Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the need to work being framed as life's purpose and the ableism that has always been inherent in capitalist society.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

You must've seen some form of this morning routine on your feed in the last six months: A woman removing a chin strap, mouth tape, sheet mask, lip stain, silk bonnet, heatless curling rod and/or nose magnets with a caption explaining how 'the morning shed' saves them time, helps regulate breathing and, ‘most importantly', aids the de-aging process.While we thought we were past the point of portraying skincare as self love, this week our hosts Ione and Gina try out the morning shed for themselves and report back on whether the trend is a bit of fun, actually useful, a load of bollocks or a lie in and of itself.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Pass me my moustache print mug and 3D glasses with the lenses popped out because millennial cringe is finally being lauded online. The latest meme du jour - 'I would be a great millennial. I was born to write Buzzfeed quizzes and listen to Ke$ha' - has been a beacon of light in a social media landscape previously used to bully milliennials at every chance.This week, hosts Ione and Gina look at the past, present and future of millennial nostalgia, how Lena Dunham's Girls is recontextualising the early 2010s and why hipsters don't exist anymore.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

To celebrate the release of Gina's memoir Greedy Guts, this episode hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the current state of fat liberation. Is body positivity too commodified to be salvageable? Are people scared of fatness due to lingering Covid scaremongering resentment? Will GLP-1 injections end fat existence entirely?Join Ione and Gina as they reckon with what it means to be fat in what is potentially the most fatphobic time to be alive in history.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

In a new interview, singer songwriter Sam Fender claimed he understood why young white men from Northern towns are being radicalised by misogynist social media influencers like Andrew Tate - it's because they're being accused of having privilege. In similarly convoluted language, Novara Media has rage baited the nation by releasing content claiming Woke Is Dead to promote Ash Sarkar's new book that includes questions on the effectiveness of identity politics.All in all, it feels like the left is turning its back on being societally progressive in order to win click bait points in the culture war and in this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina ask why leftist figureheads are so happy to sell out their marginalised comrades in favour of media attention.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

At the start of this month Bianca Censori and her husband Kanye West courted controversy at the 67th Grammy Awards with a stunt that they've become fairly renowned for - brazen female nudity. The act got them allegedly kicked out of the award show and made waves across social media as many rushed to put words into the notoriously mute Bianca's mouth. Across the board, people wonder publicly if Kanye's wife is a a victim of coercive abuse or a performance artist in her own right.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina explore Bianca's backstory, get to grips with the repercussions of assigning someone as an abuse victim without their input and question what it is precisely about Bianca's styling choices that inspire such extreme reactions from the press and the public.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Each week we are greeted with new flash photos of Young Republicans celebrating, Trump government rulings, and regressive Conservatives embracing their right to say slurs as often as they can. But why are our left leaning peers, Oscar winning movies and Twitter pals using the R word so casually too?This week, hosts Ione and Gina dissect the politics of language, the pendulum swing to being anti-Woke and why everyone feeling apathetic about the impact of slurs needs to take a good, long, hard look at themselves.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

In the midst of Trump causing high hell for everything he can regarding reproductive rights Stateside, one birth announcement caused massive controversy on the grid - a post by Lily Collins and Charlie McDowell welcoming their daughter to the world via a surrogate mother. Twitter users went wild on both sides of the coin; one half defending the couple's right to surrogacy, referencing queer families and infertility as reasons that this method of childbirth is an inherent right, the other asking why any of us feel entitled to having kids, especially at the cost of using another person's body to make it happen. In this week's episode hosts Ione and Gina dig deep into the process of surrogacy, the morality behind reproduction as well as the reasons why this conversation is coming up in our current political climate.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

There's been two OnlyFans stars absolutely dominating (not literally, actually) the UK tabloid headlines, Twitter trending topics bar and the girls' group chats in the past eight weeks, and their names are Bonnie Blue and Lily Phillips. The latter kicked off December's discourse by starring in a YouTube documentary about having sex with 100 men in a day while the former stole the show by live-blogging her own sex marathon, shagging 1000 blokes in 24 hours.The acts have led to condemnations across the board from SWerfs and incels to the alt right and This Morning hosts. Should we be worried about what acts like these mean for female objectification? Why is everyone only worried about the ramifications of sex work when middle class, white women do it? And why do we suddenly believe all porn is real?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

In a stark contrast to Trump's first inauguration as president in 2016, this month's event became a showcase for fashion houses wanting to dress the Republican party's top ladies. Not only that, but the fashion press and style influencers took to Instagram stories and long read columns to praise the looks presented throughout the festivities. In this week's episode, Ione and Gina analyse how irony fuelled style choices led us to open acceptance of fascist leaders in the fashion industry, what sartorial celebration of the alt right signifies and why we should be extra wary of sharing Melania Hamburglar memes.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Is Count Orlok sexy? Or is Babygirl not sexy enough? With both films focus on female yearning - as well as the same US release date - Nosferatu and Babygirl have been paired together in the public consciousness. This week, hosts Ione and Gina dissect Barbenheimer part two; from sexy monsters and film discourse Twitter, to glugging milk and cringe worthy needle drops. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

We've finally gone and done it, our official breakdown of our generation's Scrooge McDuck, Elon Musk. From saying he wants to destroy the ‘woke virus' and spreading racist conspiracy theories on X, to pushing right-wing ideologies in the US, Germany and the UK - Elon's moved from being a punch-line in a joke about Grimes to being a serious political actor. In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina dive into Elon's full history and answer the big questions. How is he using his wealth to influence politics? How has he transitioned from a left-leaning tech CEO to an alt-right icon? And is he using his son X Æ A-12 as a child-sized assassination shield?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Last summer, we covered the dramatic press tour for the on screen adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel It Ends With Us, digging into the speculation surrounding a beef between co-leads Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Over the Christmas break the story exploded, as Lively and Baldoni filed lawsuits detailing not just the drama but levying accusations of on set abuse, social media smear campaigns and more. In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina question whether we are on the precipice of #MeToo round two.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Surprise!! As new year looms and as the internet declares in/out lists over, Ione and Gina share theirs for 2025. Will it be Lady Gaga's year? Is AI going rogue? Why are all the influencer girlies embracing having no taste? Should video content be longer or shorter? And are tabis finally over? Tune in to this extra special long episode to find out!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Are you an Anik Anik girly or are you misappropriating cultural language as an excuse to buy more stuff? Whether you love or loathe blind boxes, this year we've all become obsessed with collecting bits and bobs - with the internet fiercely debating the ‘right' type of knick knacks. In our final episode of the year, hosts Ione and Gina dig into the chaotic customisation trend and discuss why we're all pinning self worths on the bag charms we've accumulated in 2024. We're working with Hinge to our listeners to refresh their profiles for the new year ahead, focusing on the prompt 'This year I really want to...' #hingepartner Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As two members of the queer media, this week Ione and Gina are taking the lyrics of Defying Gravity, and taking a deep dive into the most mind boggling film rollout of 2024. From the holding of a singular acrylic nail that broke the internet, to Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo's friendship, we're left questioning what the hell Wicked is about to warrant all of this anyway. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

The 4B movement is a South Korean fringe feminist movement operating on four principles - Bihon (no to heterosexual marriage), Bichulsan (no to childbirth), Biyeonae (no to dating), and Bisekseu (no to heterosexual sexual relationships) - the aim being to remove women from patriarchal lifestyles. After the announcement of Trump's win in the American election on the 5th November, women in the States have been making the 4B movement trend across Twitter and TikTok as they consider this kind of lifestyle as an act of protest to the election result. In this week's episode, Ione and Gina dissect the ethics of the use of the practice by Western feminists, the extreme reactions of alt right men across social media to the Trump win as well as the under discussed gen z Republican women who voted this year.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

How many times a day do you - publicly or privately - berate someone online for being worse than you? From Halsey calling out critics to Pitchfork doing the aforementioned critiquing and Ethel Cain telling us to cut the irony - this week Ione and Gina are discussing how social media has made us all into holier than thou nightmares. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Sabrina Carpenter's 'Short n' Sweet' tour is off to a (literal) bang as right wing parents and TikTok teens are up in arms over Carpenter wearing lingerie on stage, claiming her costume is too sexual for her underage audience. Simultaneously on SWERF twitter, a new term has reared its head: Pedobaiting.Is the internet combining the Madonna/Whore complex to produce a new kind of sexism? Is this all because of decades of a cultural infantilisation of adult women? This week Ione and Gina get to terms with the issues facing female sexual expression in a post Qanon landscape.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 of the 1922 Edith Wharton novel of the same name, is available to listen to now. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 celebrity culture and asking what has caused stans to wade into unhinged - and unsafe - territory. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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

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 value of embracing being a gross girl.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 already? Who the hell is Nikocado Avocado and can everyone please be normal about Chappell Roan for once?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 steamrollered by Ryan Reynolds? And why has Justin hired Johnny Depp's crisis PR? In this week's episode, Ione and Gina get stuck into the nuances (or lack thereof) of the latest Hollywood spat to captivate our feeds. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 Podcast member

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 Podcast member

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

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 Polyester Podcast member

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. Across the pond, the the left seems to be just as pitiful - as indie fashion brands release ironic 'I

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 forums to give men body dysmorphia via looksmaxxing. Through analysing both trends, hosts Ione and Gina reckon with the fact that it seems that the male gaze has finally started to corrupt how men see themselves and ask the question if self-commodification has reached a head.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 of voting for different parties and why our generation is feeling so miserable about it all.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 does the music itself not match up to the genius of its rollout? Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 become a Polyester Podcast member

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 mental health condition, how this affects wider society and whether or not we should be worrying about the uptick in social media users centring their lives around being neurospicy.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 or just virtue signalling from people hoping to win the game of social media? This week Ione and Gina are getting into the pros and cons of digital activism, celeb altruism and the internet's dilution of what it means to be politically active.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 member

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 fetish content? And what does gene warfare even mean?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 safeguarding or a marketing ploy? Is this the final form of parasocial relationships? In this week's episode Ione and Gina are picking apart how social media's obsession with true crime has truly killed any kind of empathy and nuance we have for one another.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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, whether queer visibility is a good thing and why the culture has been longing for explicitly lesbian lyricism. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 current obsession with making health a lifestyle choice. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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 be proud of our professions? Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

'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 the objectification of Sweeney's melons to signify a society taking steps backwards in their definitions of beauty.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member