Get ready for an incredibly fun and slightly fork-obsessed discussion about Chicago and the process of writing musicals in general. We talk about room songs, corridor songs, The Little Mermaid, and the perfection that is every single shot of this incredible movie. Are you a Cell Block Tango girl or a They Both Reached For the Gun kinda girl? Natasha Hodgson is one of the writer/performers behind Operation Mincemeat, which is on the West End from March 29th. She is also the creator of the BBC com...
Jan 19, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 10Ep. 4
Monica Heisey was an unusually young divorcée and a writer of unusually famous sitcoms when she began writing her iconic break-up novel Really Good, Actually, and we're here to talk about both. Why will Jennifer Aniston always be the heartbreak queen, despite Adele and Taylor Swift vying for the title? Do friend break-ups hurt worst of all? And did Caroline learn all her emotional cues from Frasier? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 12, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 10Ep. 3
From earliest childhood, girls are taught to obsess over weddings as the one thing in common we'll ever have with a Disney princess. We talk about women and weddings, the cult of the Chill Bride, and whether wedding cynicism has gone too far. It's a real mish-mash today: we talk Friends, Abigail Again, Emma Bunton, Father of the Bride, Maid Marian, Richard Curtis and much more. Lauren Bravo is the author of How To Break Up with Fast Fashion and the forthcoming novel Pre-Loved. Hosted on Acast. S...
Jan 05, 2023•59 min•Season 10Ep. 2
Whether you're a die-hard Jo fan or an Amy apologist, there's no way to be a woman alive in the 21st century without having an opinion on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. We get into it, discussing all three major film adaptations, plus the now canon March Sisters at Christmas. We also discuss the female expectation of auto fiction, the limits of writing around a dead loved one, and the Cool Girl-ification of Jo March. Works cited: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/08/29/the-real-tragedy...
Dec 22, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Season 10Ep. 1
Jen Cownie returns for a tarot-infused culture ramble where we cover tiny dogs, long nails and blue jeans. Also Joe Alwyn and Margaret Atwood get a shout out. If you're hitting Cheltenham Literature Festival this weekend, come find us! Caroline's dates: 8 October: Live Sentimental Garbage with Alexandra Haddow at the Daffodil Restaurant (9.30) 8 October: Live Wild Garbage with Jen Cownie at Boston Tea Party (18.30) 9 October: The Sunday Papers with Marcus Brigstocke (12.15) 9 October: Literature...
Oct 04, 2022•51 min
Author and essayist Sloane Crosley shares her pre-teen love of Enya in the final episode of the season! We talk about music, conflicting nationalities, Zadie Smith's phone, and secret places. Sloane is the author of several books including her latest novel, Cult Classic. This is the final episode for a few months, so in the meantime, I'd really appreciate it if you could keep an eye out for my books. For adults, Promising Young Women and Scenes of a Graphic Nature. For younger readers: All Our H...
Aug 11, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 9Ep. 21
Is Kate Moss the fit version of Forrest Gump? We track the career of Kate in a handful of photos, picked by lifelong fan and comedian Alex Haddow. We discuss the fall of the 80s supermodel, the famous shoot for The Face, her era-defining romance with Pete Doherty, her friendship with basically everyone famous ever, and a brief emotional moment about the royal wedding. Catch Alexandra Haddow at Edinburgh this year with her show Woman in Progress at the Southsider theatre https://www.comedy.co.uk/...
Aug 04, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 9Ep. 20
It's time to go back to an era where you hung around a shopping centre all day with no money for no reason! We talk about Avril Lavigne's impact on millennial women, the allure of being "one of the boys", the Girlfriend era, the question of authenticity and Avril's eventual life with the Backstreet Boys. Annie Lord's first book, Notes on Heartbreak, is out now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 28, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 9Ep. 19
This week we attempt to cover the entire career of Anne Rice and quickly realise that it's impossible, so this conversation takes some of the most enjoyable twist and turns of the season. Caroline and Siobhán discuss vampires, witches, magic in Ireland, trans rights, women who take up TOO much space, Paul McCartney for some reason, sleeping beauty, and much much more. Siobhán McSweeney is the star of Derry Girls, Holding and the is the host of the Great Pottery Throw Down. She is more famous tha...
Jul 20, 2022•54 min•Season 9Ep. 18
The bad boy of BBC iPlayer Connor Finch comes on to talk about one of his foremost musical heroes, Lily Allen. We talk about Lily's place in pop culture, her treatment by the British press, what a "London" sound is, the nepotism problem in the arts, and much much more. We don't talk about every single song on Connor's list in detail but the full list is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2IKpqKPTNJCXFrv0bbClCF?si=ec606c16a49f4286 Connor Finch plays "Street" in Everything I Know About Love, ...
Jul 14, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 9Ep. 17
It's Wimbledon week, and both Caroline and Jessica prefer the romantic, fictional rendering of Wimbledon to actual Wimbledon itself. We discuss Kirsten Dunst's slow-building status as a millennial icon, how this script is a perfect rendering of the rom-com formula, the last great era of the sincere rom-com, and the profound emotional effect of sports movies (even when you don't care about sport itself). Jessica Brown Findlay is the star of Harlots, and formerly of Downton Abbey. Caroline is stil...
Jul 07, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 9Ep. 16
The host of Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV joins us to talk about this quintessentially 21st century art form. Can we talk about reality TV as a monolith? What's worth keeping, and what's worth throwing away? And was I the only person to watch Celebrity SAS? Pandora Sykes is the host of Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV, as well as Pieces of Britney and The Missing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jun 30, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 9Ep. 15
Janina Matthewson returns to discuss Alanis Morissettes 1995 smash hit album, Jagged Little Pill. We discuss Alanis as a survivor and a songwriter, her enormous good brain, and whether she's the Barack Obama of 90s music. Janina Matthewson is the co-host of History is Sexy as well as the writer/producer of Within The Wires. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 23, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 9Ep. 14
Costume dramas are the most dominant way that ordinary people engage with history, so why are we so frequently snobby about them? Dr Emma Southon gives a historian's perspective about the usefulness of costume drama, as well as the pure pleasure of just looking at nice fabrics. We talk Shakespeare in Love, Marie Antoinette, The Lion in Winter, I Claudius, Vanity Fair and even make a pretty good case for A Knight's Tale over Gladiator. Dr Emma Southon is the co-host of History is Sexy and the aut...
Jun 16, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 9Ep. 13
Jen Cownie is back on to celebrate our 100th episode with a boozy tarot round up of all the things that need Sentimental Garbage tarot readings: when will men embrace pyjamas? Why does it feel so good to cry in public? And when will prosecco liberate herself from its Basic Bitch prison? Jen Cownie is the co-author of Wild Card: Let The Tarot Tell Your Story, and it's available from all good book shops. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jun 14, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 9Ep. 12
Punk rock prom queens assemble, today we're talking about the criminally over-looked and under-loved Josie & The Pussycats. Why was this movies so misunderstood, and why do so many critics refuse to believe that women can do sarcasm? We talk about the amazing soundtrack (RIP Adam Schlesinger), the even more amazing fashion (RIP transfer tattoos) and Alan Cumming (RIP my boner) Andrea Cleary is a music journalist and the host of the My Favourite Album podcast. Our Josie & The Pussycats gu...
Jun 09, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 9Ep. 11
Do influencers make fame feel less special? Influencers distort our ideas of where wealth and fame should come from, and often provoke our hate-follows in the process. We discuss the power of influence and its humble beginnings in the blogging world, the metamorphosis into big business and a curated lifestyle, the exhaustion of the influencer life, and why influencers are so often destroyed by the followers who created them. What happens to them when their influence dies down? Is it better to bo...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 9Ep. 10
Journalist Grace Medford joins us to talk about the endlessly entertaining dress-up box that was the noughties Charlie's Angels reboot. We discuss the giddy fun of this movie, the power of the Diaz/Barrymore/Liu trio, why a "woke" version was never required and a surprise TED talk on the Pussycat Dolls. Grace Medford is a journalist and the author of the substack oneofthosefaces.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
May 26, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 9Ep. 9
Before Self Esteem was selling out venues as a solo artist, she was Rebecca Taylor of Slow Club, a band who helped bring British twee to its apex in the 2010s. We talk about glockenspiels made out of Shloer, making cakes for the audience, the backlash against twee, the obsession with babytalk and the way bad men could use tweeness to hide in plain sight. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 19, 2022•56 min•Season 9Ep. 8
Usually on the podcast I speak to people about the culture they love that has been unfairly dismissed, but I’m also interested in talking to the artists who created that work. This week we're starting an "indie twee" investigation. This is the movement that brought us tote bags, and ukuleles, and arguably, adult colouring books; it brought us the Juno soundtrack, and Zooey Deschanel, and dressing like a 1950s secretary, but despite how massive indie twee was, there’s actually not that much about...
May 12, 2022•59 min•Season 9Ep. 7
Sarah Griffin is back to worship at the altar of Maeve Binchy and to deliver a new taxonomy about men and the wind. Evacuated from Blitz-battered London, shy and genteel Elizabeth White is sent to stay with the boisterous O'Connors in Kilgarret, Ireland. It is the beginning of an unshakeable bond between Elizabeth and Aisling O'Connor, a friendship which will endure through twenty turbulent years of change and chaos, joy and sorrow, soaring dreams and searing betrayals. We discuss motherhood, Ir...
May 09, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 9Ep. 6
We're joined by journalist and long-time Swiftie Marisa Bate to talk about why the most decorated artist of her generation is also one of the most polarising. We cover All Too Well, the Squad era, Taylor's obscene productivity, her endless fascination with love and her talent for imagery and storytelling that continue to captivate us. Marisa's list of Taylor songs here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2gzz992oNTEMFxichq4Ktb?si=7a7c3bca60d14082 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...
May 05, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 9Ep. 5
Guardian host and producer Leah Green is in the garbage vault this week with 2000's dance classic Save the Last Dance, a movie that has since become famous for having... sort of shitty dances? We talk about music video culture, Step Up, and the ensemble cast of Save the Last Dance that made it a covertly revolutionary movie. We also discuss whether "problematic" discourse has finally run its course, Kerry Washington's magnetic performance and whether we actually want Twitter movies. Leah Green p...
Apr 28, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 9Ep. 4
We're limping towards the finish line of an uneven first season, talking about what we would have done differently, whether Carrie can even be called the main character of this show anymore, and pitch our new TV show, Steve & The City. The three AJLT eps will be spread across April, and then the normal Sentimental Garbage season will resume in May. Like you, we’ve been so distressed and heartbroken to see what has been happening in Ukraine, and so we’ve have both decided to donate all the pr...
Apr 21, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Season 9Ep. 3
It's part two of our And Just Like That recap, and we're talking about Charlotte's horrible dinner party, the terrible music choices, our blind adoration of Seema, That Jackie and the emotional burden of the mealy mouthed teacher. The three AJLT eps will be spread across April, and then the normal Sentimental Garbage season will resume in May. Like you, we’ve been so distressed and heartbroken to see what has been happening in Ukraine, and so we’ve have both decided to donate all the proceeds fr...
Apr 14, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Season 9Ep. 2
Dolly Alderton is back, and we're finally getting balls deep into And Just Like That. This is the first of THREE Sentimental in the City episodes covering the reboot, and while the show was famously uneven and a bit cringe in places, we still had a great time. In this episode we cover the first three episodes, discussing Big's death, Susan Sharon and Carrie's feud, the wasted potential of Gloria and Charlotte's inexplicable robot voice. The three AJLT eps will be spread across April, and then th...
Apr 07, 2022•2 hr 18 min•Season 9Ep. 1
Nora Ephron is a writer and filmmaker whose fame was huge in her lifetime and has only snow-balled since her death in 2012. Now that her name is on t-shirts, her novel is an established classic, and she's even the subject of fictional renderings ('sup, Good Girls Revolt), is there more to the Ephron legacy than meets the eye? Caroline and Ella pick through her personal life, victories, failings, and many many famous friendships to get to the bottom of the following question: we LOVE Nora Ephron,...
Dec 22, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Season 8Ep. 20
How did a Bukowski-style piece published in 1997 by Elizabeth Gilbert in GQ magazine turn into the quintessential sleepover movie of the early noughties? Author Hannah Woods brings the 2000 movie Coyote Ugly to the garbage truck, and we discuss this baffling film that is nonetheless still stylistically perfect and so much fun to watch. What happened to Piper Perabo? Why does John Goodman get hit by a car, after we're teased his heart attack for SO LONG? And just how deep does all our noughties t...
Dec 16, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 8Ep. 20
Whether it's a baked potato in a M&S cafe, a Jane Norman shopping bag, or a limited-range of celebrity dresses at Topshop, there's nothing that gets our hearts racing or our wallets twitching like the high street. Fashion writer Lauren Bravo joins Caroline to talk about the nostalgia of the high street, the evolution of Christmas gift giving, the unique personalities of each shop (Warehouse is for cool girls who have long weekends in Berlin, end of) and the ever-changing world of retail. Lau...
Dec 09, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 8Ep. 19
There is a very clear narrative on Julie & Julia, Nora Ephron's final feature film, and it's this: the Julia Child portions of the movie are heavenly, and the Julie Powell side of the movie is both infuriating and a drag. American Girl In Paris correspondent Fiona Zublin returns to the podcast to defend Amy Adams' performance but ends up bashing it just like everyone else. Still, for a movie that is so uneven, so confusing, and so curiously lacking in stakes... why is it so much fun to watch...
Dec 02, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 8Ep. 18
