Podcasts about Ione

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

This week: nostalgia for Moviefone and Rob Brezny's Dial-a-Horoscope, the Jungian idea that your unconscious is trying to help you, and the one Timothy Leary quote Ben has actually carried with him his whole life — "the goal of life is calm and compassionate gameplay."We saw Greg Araki's new film with Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman (co-written by Slutever's Karly Scortino) — a genuinely sexy movie that also makes you think, which is rarer than it should be. Plus: bumping into Peking Duk outside the Ritz in Randwick on the night their album went to #1 in Australia, ARIA plaques and all. (Randwick: possibly the least rock and roll suburb in Sydney.)A full Australian Traitors deep dive — how secretly Machiavellian Australians are, Dicko's voting block strategy, and the question the show keeps raising: is emotional gameplay still manipulation if the emotion is real?We saw the Bondi Boys at Hollywood Hotel (neon mic stand, expanded set, Gen X energy), Ben smells beer and thinks about his entire touring life, Ione smells Carmex and thinks about Paris 1987, and we're making a fanzine with Kate Dunn (@moonfurhat on Instagram) as merch for the Australia and Japan tour.We end with a challenge: Ione proves she's a better liar than Ben by closing the podcast with a lie. We'll let you decide if she pulled it off.

The OOTD has taken on a new look: A still snapped from the video your Amazon owned Ring doorbell. Or, if you're Kylie Jenner, a selfie taken on your Meta glasses after bossing around your assistants for an #ad on Instagram. Nadia Lee Cohen and Alex Consani are amongst the swathes of fashion industry heavyweights embracing surveillance tech - but why are they allowing their images to be used for something so seemingly evil?This week, hosts Ione and Gina take on the girlification of the surveillance state, the actual terrors that lie in the tech companies controlling our cameras, and why we need to stand up against the normalisation of peer to peer data capture.Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

This week: moving stuff out of our LA storage and crying over a broccoli pan, Ione's first visit to Phoenix Central Park, and a young band called Mouseatouille doing something genuinely exciting.We talk about Kelly from Camp Cope's book “It's Not For You” — about female musicians in Australia — and what it made us think about fighting for sensitivity in a cutthroat industry. Then a big conversation about masterworks vs. process: is the pressure to make your definitive statement actually just a marketing construct? Why Phoebe Bridgers is a genius of timing, why Fugazi understood something most artists don't, and our primary argument against AI music.And then there are the Kate Moss stories. Nirvana Unplugged. The airport with Naomi Campbell. The ecstasy at Max Fish with Evan Dando. What Kate actually said.Also big recommendations this week are Johanna Samuels' album “Sorry Kid” and Whitmer Thomas' comedy special “Terminal Crew of Dudes”.Plus: Ben's Australia and Japan tour with Georgia Maq (tickets available now), the condom misunderstanding that nearly destroyed our marriage, and the woman at dinner who had met every celebrity, billionaire and king — and was impressed by none of them.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

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

This week we're back together after Ione wraps filming her mysterious Melbourne movie. We talk about the impossible position the music industry puts beautiful women in (you need the looks to get in the door, then you get dismissed for them), the incredible 2charm show at the Enmore Theatre — think Pet Shop Boys if they took peptides — and what Stassi Schroeder's comeback show gets right that Drea de Matteo and Ariel Pink completely missed about their own cancellations.Plus: Ione accidentally texts her friend that her holiday “looks expensive,” and Ben gives a talk at APRA AMCOS about originality and why the “stay in your lane” era is finally over.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

What we like has never been entirely our own. Taste has always been shaped by class, culture and the people around us. But in the age of algorithms and AI, our preferences are increasingly being predicted, curated and sold back to us. In this episode, Mia Sorenti speaks with Ione Gamble, founding editor of Polyester zine, about how taste is formed, why it matters, and what happens when algorithms replace curiosity with convenience. From Spotify recommendations and TikTok trends to influencer culture and AI-generated content, Gamble argues that digital platforms are flattening culture by rewarding familiarity over surprise. Why do our feeds increasingly feel the same? Are we choosing what we like, or simply consuming what algorithms decide to show us? And what happens to creativity when artists begin making work for recommendation engines rather than people? Drawing on The Polyester Book of (Bad) Taste, a collection of essays by writers including Nicola Dinan and Yomi Adegoke, Gamble makes the case for reclaiming our own tastes. She argues that resisting algorithmic culture means embracing friction, seeking recommendations from real people, and allowing ourselves the freedom to discover things we never expected to love. Ione Gamble is the founding editor-in-chief of Polyester zine. She is a writer, editor and author of Poor Little Sick Girls, and editor of the new essay collection The Polyester Book of (Bad) Taste. Mia Sorenti is Senior Producer at Intelligence Squared. This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brian sits down with Doug from Washington State, a lifelong resident of Pend Oreille County in the far northeastern corner of the state, for a conversation that starts with one winter night on a county road and opens out into thirty years of reports from the same block of mountains.Doug and his wife were driving home from her job after dark, deep in the middle of winter, when something crossed in front of them in two strides. Not walking. Running, hunched forward the way a man runs when he's moving as hard as he can. Doug puts it at eight feet tall and somewhere around six or seven hundred pounds, covered head to toe in dark gray hair, moving through three and a half to four feet of snow at a speed no person on snowshoes could match. He went home and got an ax and intended to go back out after it, and his wife talked him out of it, which he now concedes was the better reasoning of the two of them.What follows is the kind of interview I like best, because Doug isn't selling anything. He was aware of the subject before it happened to him, he'd seen the Patterson-Gimlin film, and he still describes himself as somebody who simply hadn't seen it for himself yet. He talks about his great uncle Lou, a World War One veteran who worked the woods as a surveyor and spent time in the Civilian Conservation Corps camps during the Depression, and who called the thing he and his wife ran into out huckleberry picking the Skookum Man, and who got shut down by his wife Alsa before he could tell the boys any more about it.He talks about the military survival trainer who came into his family's bar and mentioned the instruction given to men training above Cusick, Washington, near Tacoma Creek, which was not to engage bipedal creatures in the woods. He talks about why he thinks these things are seen crossing roads so often when they're otherwise almost impossible to find, why he lands on a single species rather than five or six subspecies, and why he thinks the strangeness that clings to this subject may say more about our own government than it does about the animal. He also brings the Vietnam rock ape accounts he heard from his brothers and their Marine friends, and his answer to skeptics, which is that being skeptical is perfectly fine and he isn't going to beg anybody for anything.Partway through, I stop the interview and take a long detour, because Doug mentioned sightings up around Sullivan Lake and Priest Lake and I'd spent the previous few weeks going through the actual case files out of that country. What's on the record there is more substantial than most people realize A woman kayaking on Sullivan Lake in August of two thousand two who floated within fifteen yards of what she first took for a very tall old man in gray, sitting on a stump with his legs crossed and his hands folded over his knee, and who learned that evening that her niece had seen the same thing from her own boat. Two fishermen four months earlier on the south end of that same lake, run out of their tent at night by crashes, a musty smell, and a gray shape seven to nine feet tall through the mesh window.Two bear hunters northwest of Ione in September of nineteen ninety-eight who found three sets of tracks traveling together at eighteen inches, fifteen to sixteen inches, and thirteen inches, and who made a cast so poor the man freely admitted he had no idea what he was doing. A motorist outside Ione in nineteen ninety-one who stopped his car for something in the headlights and then wrote, in his own report, that he never said he saw Bigfoot, only that he saw something strange on the road and doesn't know what it was.Then the interlude crosses the state line, because the line is a survey mark and nothing more. Priest Lake sits in Bonner County, Idaho, which carries more reports than any other county in that state, and between the two lakes is the Salmo-Priest Wilderness and the Selkirk Mountains, grizzly country, some of the least broken forest left in the lower forty-eight, running unbroken north into Canada. Three backpackers woken at midnight in August of two thousand twenty by three loud bounces they later matched at daylight by throwing a four-foot log. A woodcutter east of Nordman in October of nineteen eighty who watched something slide down a five-foot embankment on its feet, walk alongside his moving pickup within arm's reach, look both ways before crossing in front of him, and reach a hand toward his hood, and who sat on that story for twenty-eight years. A fisherman on the Upper Priest River in two thousand sixteen, armed, who says he was too scared to move. Six hikers on Lion Creek in two thousand seventeen who found a sixteen-inch print, a pressed bed of sawgrass eight feet by nine feet, and knocks that came in threes from moving locations.And a three-toed cast out of the Priest River country in nineteen ninety-seven that I lay out honestly as the red flag it is, along with a warning about the generated web articles now circulating around it that I could not source back to any real reporting.I close the segment on what I think actually matters in that batch, which isn't any single sighting.It's that the woman volunteered nobody had been drinking, the hunter admitted his cast was garbage, the motorist refused to let anybody put a word in his mouth, the woodcutter reported finding no tracks, the backpackers went out and tested the sound until they matched it, and the fisherman admitted he lost track of where the thing went. Two lakes, one mountain range, a state line that means nothing to anything living there, and thirty years of reports from bear hunters, woodcutters, kayakers, fishermen, and backpackers, most of whom kept quiet for years before they told anyone.Email BrianJoin Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.Have you had a Bigfoot encounter, Sasquatch sighting, Dogman experience, or other cryptid or paranormal encounter? We'd love to hear your story. Email brian@paranormalworldproductions.com to be featured on a future episode of Sasquatch Odyssey.Sasquatch Odyssey is a leading Bigfoot and cryptid podcast exploring real encounters, field research, and scientific analysis of the Sasquatch phenomenon.Follow the show and turn on automatic downloads so you never miss an episode.

Pop's favourite provocateur Charli xcx is back - not that she ever went away - with a host of ‘anti-marketing marketing' launch her seventh studio album 'Music, Fashion, Film'. From ‘in conversation with' events and cover profiles to teasing lyrics via Substack posts and arthouse cinema screenings; the rollout for the project looks suspiciously like… the same old marketing tactics. But is the album any good? This week, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with Charli's indie influenced new sound, the connotations of her cultural commentary and how the music tracks as a follow up to her beloved 'brat'.Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Ben issues a formal apology for confusing his Pingers from his Nangs from his Yippers after an uproar in the comments section — the Australian drug slang correction nobody asked for but everyone needed. Ione reveals she was once hurt not to be invited to do cocaine on the set of a famous movie — connected to why dating Anthony Kiedis put her off drugs entirely. We also discuss Zooey Deschanel claiming she's never even seen cocaine, and why we believe her completely. Then: Ione's review of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey — loved it, even without IMAX — including the film's quietly radical political message about who the real invaders are, and a shout out to Welsh actor Andrew Howard who plays Matt Damon's sidekick. A deep dive into A Clockwork Orange after a family outing to the Dendy revival screening (yes, with the 16-year-old, yes, with grandma), the original optimistic ending Anthony Burgess wrote that Kubrick never filmed, and why 70s cinema made audiences grapple with their own morality in ways films rarely do anymore. Plus: Chloe Sevigny and the Grateful Dead, why punk and jamming have a complicated relationship, Ben and Georgia Maq prepping for their joint tour (learning "Junkie Logic" by Spikefuck), Japan tour tickets on sale with Shonen Knife on the Osaka bill, the Wile E. Coyote Will Forte movie Warner Bros killed for a tax break, and what it's actually like to see a real Tasmanian Devil.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

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

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE! PART TWOIn the quiet town of Ione, California, a fortress of red stone looms over the landscape — a place where hope once turned into horror. Preston Castle, opened in 1894 as a reformatory for troubled youth, quickly gained a darker reputation. Behind its towering walls, countless young men endured harsh punishment, despair, and untimely deaths. Today, it stands as one of the most haunted locations on the West Coast.From slamming doors and ghostly voices to sightings of shadowy figures pacing the cellblock halls, Preston Castle's tragic history has left a permanent spiritual scar. With Melissa Zelico, team leader of Preston Castle Paranormal, we uncover the chilling stories that echo through its corridors — stories of former wards, caretakers, and spirits who refuse to move on.Step inside the castle that was meant to reform lives… but may have trapped souls instead.#TheGraveTalks #PrestonCastle #HauntedCalifornia #HauntedCastle #GhostStories #ParanormalPodcast #HistoricHauntings #CaliforniaHistory #HauntedLocations #Paranormal #Ghosts #ParanormalActivityLove real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story:

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE!In the quiet town of Ione, California, a fortress of red stone looms over the landscape — a place where hope once turned into horror. Preston Castle, opened in 1894 as a reformatory for troubled youth, quickly gained a darker reputation. Behind its towering walls, countless young men endured harsh punishment, despair, and untimely deaths. Today, it stands as one of the most haunted locations on the West Coast.From slamming doors and ghostly voices to sightings of shadowy figures pacing the cellblock halls, Preston Castle's tragic history has left a permanent spiritual scar. With Melissa Zelico, team leader of Preston Castle Paranormal, we uncover the chilling stories that echo through its corridors — stories of former wards, caretakers, and spirits who refuse to move on.Step inside the castle that was meant to reform lives… but may have trapped souls instead.#TheGraveTalks #PrestonCastle #HauntedCalifornia #HauntedCastle #GhostStories #ParanormalPodcast #HistoricHauntings #CaliforniaHistory #HauntedLocations #Paranormal #Ghosts #ParanormalActivity Love real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story:

The Polyester queens, Ione Gamble and Gina Tonic, are back, and this time with a fabulous new book, The Polyester Book of (Bad) Taste. On this episode, we chat about the new plastic surgery status games, the return of old fashioned kitsch, why Charli XCX could only have exploded now, how wellness culture can be quite ableist, and more. More from Fat Mascara Instagram: @fatmascara @jessicamatlin Shop the products mentioned on Fat Mascara: https://shopmy.us/shop/fatmascara Private Facebook Group: Fat Mascara Raising a Wand Submit a Raise a Wand product recommendation, guest suggestion, or just say hello: info@fatmascara.com Production for this Podcast Provided by Redd Rock Music IG: @reddrockmusic www.reddrockmusic.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Gen Z have aged up, they have become known for a generational distaste (at best) and fear (at worst) of ageing. But how is this expressed and how does it manifest? And why has it developed at all? This week, hosts Ione and Gina are joined by Ellen Atlanta, author of Pixel Flesh, for an extra special live episode of the podcast at the Wellcome Collection. The three discuss sunscreens pros and cons, the fallacy of preventative tweakments and whether having a fear of ageing is an inherent part of human nature.This is a live episode recorded at Wellcome Collection Lates, a free after-hours event. Find out more wellcomecollection.org Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

This week: Ben drives five hours to the Snowy Mountains with 17-year-olds, visits the Yarrangobilly Caves — and completely freezes when the punk rock tour guide turns off the lights and says "if anyone here is a singer, this is your moment." We also get into: Ione discovering Girl in Red wrote a song called "Say Anything" named after her iconic film, but describes it as "an old movie your mom showed you." The night at the Unholy Playhouse — a historic Sydney church turned queer performance venue — and why Catholicism and queer nightlife were always going to end up together. The Otherworld Zine Fair in Glebe, including the "Hotness Review: 80s Australian Newsreaders" zine. King Street Crawl — why it might be the most important day on the Australian music calendar. Tropical Fuckstorm live at the Enmore Theatre, Zia from the Dandy Warhols, and why Gareth Liddiard is the best songwriter in Australia. Ben's Japan tour announcement — Tokyo and Osaka shows on sale now, with Shonen Knife on the Osaka bill. Plus: Ione working on a secret project with John Goodman, and how they resolved a morning fight at the Marrickville markets while Ione's mum hovered nearby.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

Before TikTok, before OnlyFans, before anyone used the phrase "sex positive" — there was Robin Byrd on New York public access cable. Sarah Jessica Parker just produced a documentary about her called Bang My Box on Max, and it's worth your time. Ben and Ione break down why Robin Byrd was genuinely radical and why she was impossible to put down.Also: why 90s indie artists were culturally forbidden from wanting success (and how that's completely changed), the Miles Davis quote that explains every artist's journey, Ninajirachi's victorious homecoming and why the horror film Obsession is better than it has any right to be.

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

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Ione is about to shoot a new film. Ben is thinking about covering Georgia Maq's “Joe Rogan” song on their upcoming Australian tour. We found a 1990 Elle magazine article where legendary LA writer Eve Babitz profiled Ione and her brother (attached in full below), which includes a birthday party guest list featuring Robert Downey Jr., Sarah Jessica Parker (before anyone knew her), Adam Horovitz, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.Also: Lars Von Trier once challenged Baz Luhrmann to make a Dogme 95 film. Baz's response is perfect. Plus — why the Hal Hartley clip went viral on film Instagram, Sofia Coppola and Zoe Cassavetes competing over a French director, and Ben's theory about how Baz Luhrmann changed the way every film gets edited.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

The UK - and a lot of other countries, actually - are rolling out social media bans for under sixteens as well as social media curfews for those under eighteen. The news has caused uproar with teens promising they'll find workarounds, parents stressing about the impact on their kids and everyone raising concerns about giving mega corporations access to our government ID info.This week, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the cultural impacts of excluding future generations from the internet, the implications of big tech taking on this responsibility and, most excitingly, an insight on the Sheila Matrix.Order The Polyester Book Of Bad Taste here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Dive deeper into our world + tour ticket presales at https://weirdertogether.substack.comBen's back from 60 shows around Australia (and avoided all crocodiles). Ione has been nursing a six-foot baby. And we have a lot to catch up on.This week: Olivia Rodrigo just announced Daisy Chain Fields — an all-female festival with Bikini Kill, Stevie Nicks, Mitski, Chappell Roan, Karen O, and more — and we get into why it matters, what Lilith Fair got right and wrong, and why the 90s community ethos feels more radical than ever in 2026.Also: it's the 40th anniversary of Wham! breaking up, and Ione has a memory involving a gay music promoter on her childhood street, early vinyl promos, and George Michael not yet being out. Plus: why Hal Hartley is the most underrated director of the American indie film era, the troll who called Ben a "soy boy," and Ione's lifelong crush on a boy who wrestled a crocodile.

Santi González comenta cómo la diputada de Podemos y candidata a la CAM amenazó al periodista.

This week we got completely sucked into DTF St. Louis on Max — and we have thoughts. David Harbour plays the most likable character in a show about suburban kinks, male loneliness and consensual weirdness, and we can't stop thinking about two middle-aged men tenderly dancing in their tighty-whities. Also: a woman yelled "you're my hall pass" at Ben during his Richmond show, and we're noticing a trend.Plus: the AI music backlash is real — Suno just raised $400 million and yet the public has definitively decided they do not want AI-created music. The Spotify CEO thinks bands should just drop a song every month. Reese Witherspoon is doing "let them eat cake" AI ads. And we explain exactly why tech platforms fundamentally do not understand creativity.Also: Seth Rogen's New York Times interview is essential listening, Ione had her first art show (get the painting at Vamped Vintage in Newtown), and we make the case for always having at least one normie friend in your life.

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.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Ben and Ione are fresh off Ben's Tasmanian tour — and they have opinions. They break down their first encounter with actual Tasmanian devils (terrifying, zombie-like, cannot be explained), rave about Woolworths Flu Shot (a six-piece punk band from Hobart who just might be the best new band in Australia), and dissect the Butthole Surfers documentary The Whole Truth and Nothing But — asking the bigger question: is transgressive art always rooted in personal trauma?Plus: Richard Pryor's bisexuality and what it meant to be that openly queer as a Black performer in the 70s, Phoebe Bridgers' no-phones tour as a stroke of marketing genius, and a full decode of the Charli XCX Music Fashion Film album cover — what does choosing John Cale, Martin Scorsese, and Marc Jacobs actually say about where she's headed?Also: Ione reveals the four fictional characters she most identifies with (one of them is Woodstock from Peanuts), and Ben has early intel on Folk Bitch Trio, the Australian band about to blow up internationally.Take a deeper dive into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

You're in bed on your own scrolling through your phone. On your screen, a woman your age is entering her new build apartment, making herself a bowl of pasta and a glass of Diet Coke on a lap tray, then sitting on a huge sofa to rewatch Friends with a candle burning. Her caption reads 'Life when you have no kids. No friends. No boyfriend.' and her comments are full of other women seeing her lonely lifestyle as aspirational.This week, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the new trend of lonely influencers: Female creators positing having no social circle as a net positive. Is it great to find joy in the growing isolation many of us are feeling? Or should we take a radical stance against introversion in order to stand up for the importance of community?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Joan Baez suggested pop stars should be more politically active. Swifties went on the attack. Ben and Ione have thoughts — including why picking a fight with someone who marched alongside Martin Luther King might not be your best move.Also this week: Jay-Z showed up at the Roots Picnic and did a 10-minute acapella freestyle attacking Drake, Kanye, Nicki Minaj, and Dame Dash. Ben breaks down why a whole generation just knows Jay-Z as Beyoncé's husband — and why that matters.Ben makes the case that Kylie Minogue's Impossible Princess is her Pinkerton — the misunderstood record that history will eventually get right. Pitchfork agrees. Nick Cave does not, and Ben has some words about that.Plus: The Backrooms movie at the Dendy, Rachel Ward's regenerative farm, Sparks at the Opera House (how gay is a Sparks crowd exactly?), and Ione's weekend at a Chanel-funded literary showcase for diverse female writers.—Weirder Together is hosted by Ione Skye and Ben Lee.New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

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

Ben and Ione discuss ribbon collections, Minnie Mouse comparisons, and a theory about why the first guy in your friend group to have sex always had great posture.Then: Ione and Ben went to see Georgia Maq (of Camp Cope) perform her first solo show back in Australia — and Ben has a bold prediction about her new song  "Rearranging Chairs on the Titanic." Also: Ben's track record of terrible  music predictions (Bruno Mars, Beastie Boys Sabotage, "nobody will watch movies on a computer").The Kylie Minogue Netflix documentary gets a full debrief — Michael Hutchence, Nick Cave, Olivia Newton-John as Sandy, the gay community saving her career, and what Kylie taught an entire generation of Australian artists about reinventing yourself.Ben brings some inside Australian music industry news: a major new study revealing community radio delivers $153M back to the economy on $28.6M in funding — and why live music venues are facing an insurance crisis that could kill the scene.And finally: Jacob Elordi faked a sprained ankle to skip the Cannes Film Festival jury and hang out with Kendall Jenner. Ben is weirdly pro this.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

Olivia Rodrigo is the subject of the internet's ire for *checks notes* allegations of pedobaiting. The star's music video and stage outfits - consisting of babydoll dresses, bloomers and ruffles - are causing controversy as the 'drop dead' singer is accused of simultaneously sexualising and infantilising herself and indoctrinating her young audience into pandering to the male gaze.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina question if the outfits are problematic in and of themselves and ask what happens when women are blamed for society's sexism.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

Ben and Ione take refuge from the Sydney gloom to pod. Beck plays the Palais with a full symphony orchestra and becomes the unlikely lens for a deep dive into sellout culture, punk idealism, and whether anti-commercialism has always been a rich person's sport. Keli Holliday was turned away at the US border — Ben thinks strong men politicians and the Real Housewives are basically the same show. Plus: they watched the Martin Short and Chevy Chase documentaries back to back and only one of them is a cautionary tale. Also SZA lied about her freckles. And her TV. And her birthday cake.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

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

Ben and Ione celebrate Ione's daughter graduating from Sydney Uni — the first in her family — and unpack what an Australian graduation ceremony actually looks like (part Downton Abbey, part casual). They dissect the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Part 3 reunion, debate the ethics of celebrity course-selling, and induct Mac DeMarco, Leonardo DiCaprio and Trent Reznor into the Ione Skye Hall of Fame Mispronunciations. Ben reflects on performing in Alice Springs the night after the vigil for Kumanjayi Little Baby, and why music is good medicine even when it feels trite. Plus: the Bluey/ABC rights debate, the expert economy, and divorce finances.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

Why are manosphere influencers, Hinge bios and cast members of Love Is Blind requiring 'doing pilates' from their potential beaus? In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the pervasion of this particular exercise in pop culture, the potential abuse inherent in men's preferences towards women's exercise and whether or not we should consider the fascist implications of influencers selling fitness.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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

Ben and Ione open with childhood party games (Catch and Kiss vs Seven Minutes in Heaven), then riff on their Pulp/Dave Grohl clip going viral and what it means to be living in "clip culture" where people quote your Shorts but never listen to the pod. Ione shares a tantalising story about a famous actress at a Hollywood party she can't name. They debate Gen X restraint on the internet versus younger generations' oversharing. Ben recounts a Bondi Boys album launch that felt like an 80s NYC loft party (no MDMA in the wine, definitely not). The second half digs into Lena Dunham's #1 NYT book, why divisive women in culture get asked to play the "mad bad crazy witch" role, and the Patti Smith vs Lena Dunham model of provocation. And finally a chat about the tactile fanzine revival moment — after an enlightening experience printing actual flyers for his May shows with Zoe from The Boys.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

Did Girls shape a generation (or two) of women? Yes. Is Famesick a great memoir? Yes. Should we be more forgiving of the writer considering everything she has (and hasn't) been through? Maybe.This week, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with one of the most controversial figures of our lifetime - the inimitable over-sharer Lena Dunham. It's undeniable that the multi hyphenate has had an indelible impact on culture and as the 2010s icon reflects on the highs and lows of a life shaped by a HBO deal at the age of 23, this episode charts the hits and misses of the much anticipated memoir.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

We are back with a wide-ranging one — was the rise of indie rock darlings Geese artificially manufactured? Ben recounts his debate with Dave Grohl about whether popular always means good. They dig into what happens to psychedelics when they get institutionalized. Ione has a life-changing moment at the Mountain Goats show. And The Bens almost played Coachella in 2003.Dig deeper into their world at weirdertogether.substack.com

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

A newly discussed investigative report is drawing renewed attention to allegations that contaminated water and failing infrastructure at Mule Creek State Prison may be harming both incarcerated people and residents in the nearby town of Ione. Journalist Emily Nonko said the issue has received far too little public scrutiny despite what she described as a major environmental and infrastructural breakdown. She noted that state agencies, prison officials and even many people directly affected appear to know little about the full scope of the problem. According to Nonko, the reporting began after incarcerated sources raised concerns about unusual illnesses, foul-tasting water and widespread sickness inside the prison. She said the investigation gained traction when prior litigation forced admissions that key infrastructure systems had broken down, giving reporters documentary evidence to pursue a deeper story. Nonko and co-reporter Dave Razorbab then expanded the investigation through interviews with attorneys, local officials, staff members and town residents. The report alleges decades of plumbing failures, wastewater mismanagement and possible contamination linked to prison operations. Nonko said residents with private wells found chemicals such as caffeine and dry-cleaning compounds that appeared tied to industries operating at the prison. She also described a broader accountability vacuum, saying multiple public agencies redirected responsibility rather than clearly identifying who was responsible for protecting water quality. Nonko said the story remains ongoing, with additional residents and former staff continuing to come forward. She argued that the crisis illustrates how prison conditions do not remain behind prison walls, but can directly affect surrounding communities as well. As public pressure grows, the investigation raises larger questions about environmental oversight, transparency and whether California officials will be forced to confront a problem critics say has been ignored for years.

It's that time y'all! The Polyester Podcast is wading into the discourse deep end about another widely critiqued movie but this time, there's a twist: We're actually enjoyed the film!In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina dig into the subtext of Kristoffer Borgli's new dark comedy The Drama. Is the Zendaya and Robert Pattinson fronted flick a failure at analysing such a sensitive subject matter? Does the film fail to take into consideration its casting? And will the culture ever move past needing movies to make their politics unequivocally clear?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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

We chat Chappell Roan, accountability, Ione's new role as a rep for Tourism Australia, Rupert Murdoch and the death of #sellout culture in the late 1990s.Dive deeper into #weirdertogether world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

At last, someone with some common sense in their head, some basic humanity in their heart, and some fundamental democratic values in their soul – is speaking out.Many someones, actually. Indeed, a coalition of dozens of progressive groups representing millions of Americans is uniting in straightforward populist opposition to the far-out right wing's loopy assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion.Bizarrely, Trump's menagerie of extremist Republican politicos has been waging a furious war against these basic egalitarian ideals, trying to turn DEI into a partisan bugaboo. That's goofy and ultimately self-defeating, for they are asking voters to reject their lifelong admiration for these positive social goals. Consider the value of D, E, and I:One, diversity. That's “us,” the marvelous mix of common people, cultures, and beliefs that gives America vitality and resilience.Two, equity. That's just another word for “fairness,” so why do they want to demonize that?Three, inclusion. Hello – that's what “democracy” means – we all belong and our voice matters.Yet, the Trumpians are using brute authoritarianism to try ripping these core democratic values out of the fabric of our society. And, pathetically, many major corporate powers, universities, media outlets, and other institutions that ought to stand against these Orwellian dictates, have pusillanimously capitulated, hoping the GOP's imperious regime will reward them with financial favors.When institutions fail the people, We the People have to rise up. That's the momentous rallying cry of some 70 nationwide groups of gutsy democracy fighters organized by Color of Change to stand up for the invaluable Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that make America… America! To connect, go to ColorOfChange.org.Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe

Please note this was recorded and released prior to the release of series four of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, the cancellation of The Bachelorette and the news regarding Taylor Frankie Paul.Growing up, Mormonism's pop culture imprint belonged solely in South Park jokes and the occasional mention in American politics. Now, it feels like we can't move without a new Mormon influencer - from Nara Smith to MomTok - taking over our feeds.This week, hosts Ione and Gina explore what Mormonism actually is, how the new wave of Mormon influencers have changed how the Latter Day Saints are perceived and whether or not reality telly can truly sugar coat the toxic problems within the religion.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

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

Emerald Fennell has only gone and done it again - made a visually stimulating but emotionally empty film for posh people to coo over. Is it a faithful adaptation of Wuthering Heights? No. Is it an amazing film in its own right regardless? Also no. Do the sets and costumes make up for bad casting and crap script? Unfortunately, this time, I'm afraid it's a no. In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get to grip with a movie made to try and cause controvery, and answer the question of whether it actually manages to achieve, well anything. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member

“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

THAT'S WHY IT'S SO QUIET.Eye One.I One.I Won.For the full written message and corresponding Scriptures, head to CurlyNikki.com.This is moment-to-moment witnessing. I share as they come.This is no longer just GoOD mornings.This is the Eternal Dawn.COMPLETION.I love you.