The girlies on TikTok are using their vagina fluid as perfume, practising their 'O' faces under the assumption it helps attract a lover, and practising pseudo spirituality as a means of empowering their 'dark femme energy'. But are these practises feminist, or simply pick up artist techniques for the girls? And do these behaviours enable women to take a greater portion of control in relationships, or is it all an illusion? Ione and Halima are discussing all this and much more this week. Order Io...
Jul 11, 2022•29 min
Cultural critic Rayne Fisher-Quann tweeted "Ottessa Moshfegh is on the verge of getting woman’d I can feel it (woman’d is what I call it when everyone stops liking a woman at the same time" at the end of June and opened up the debate for whether female celebrities always deserve to be "cancelled". This week's episode debates whether it is always a case of misogynistic hatred, which women have suffered from being woman'd and how the internet is becoming a more and more toxic place for women to ex...
Jul 04, 2022•28 min
All across our social feeds, girlies online are embracing religion and creating memes out of catholicism. Whether you've bought the Praying 'father, son, and Holy Spirit' bikini, or still can't stop thinking about Julia Fox praying in her cut editorial - christianity is back baby! But is this appropriation of religious iconography a harmless foray into aesthetics, a subversion of their power, or simply in bad taste? We're discussing the origins of the trend, its current incarnation, and if we sh...
Jun 27, 2022•29 min
Love Island is back! And as the reality series returns, so does the age old discourse; should reality tv be inclusive? Or is inclusivity on these shows a poisoned chalice that sets the 'diverse' contestants up for failure? This week Ione and Halima are discussing whether its best to let reality tv be trashy, guilty pleasures that do not reflect the wider world; or if there's a better way forward, in which inclusivity is not retroactively fitted and those of us who love the genre aren't left with...
Jun 20, 2022•26 min
In this live Sleepover Club special, Halima and contributing culture editor Misha MN sit down with director Ninja Thyberg to discuss her debut feature film, Pleasure . A raw and groundbreaking exploration of the adult film industry, we chat with Ninja about her decision to use actors from the adult industry, maintaining safety on set, challenging conceptions about porn, how she went from anti-porn activist to advocate, and much more. We've also teamed up with MUBI to offer 30 free days of MUBI t...
Jun 17, 2022•26 min
Musicians are being held captive! Forced to step onto the content treadmill and churn out TikTok's that they supposedly don't want to make, this week Halima and Ione are discussing whether the social media platform is helpful or harmful to those in the industry. We'll be dissecting the impact of those videos; the ones in which musicians lament the fact their labels are forcing them to partake in TikTok trends. As well as debating autonomy, whether forcing artist's into content creation is stifli...
Jun 13, 2022•25 min
DeuxMoi has been unmasked, with the famed gossip account being run by two socialite-adjacent white New York women. In honour of her no longer anonymity, we're discussing the legacy of modern gossip accounts. Do celebrities set themselves up for this type of attention, or do gossip accounts encourage a gross surveillance state? And once these accounts aren't anonymous anymore, can they ever retain their integrity? Especially when they start monetising their content? Ione and Halima argue it out o...
Jun 06, 2022•28 min
As the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard civil trial comes to an end, Ione and Halima are discussing the case. From why the internet is so anti-Amber, what the discourse surrounding it says about how we treat white men, and whether #MeToo is well and truly finished. Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here! Want to support the podcast? If you're a brand or organisation that could help us continue the show, Please fill in this form . Can't wait to hear from you! We'd love to know what you think ...
May 30, 2022•33 min
This week Ione is in the hot seat, as she sits down for an interview with our one and only Halima to dish all the deets about her debut non-fiction book, Poor Little Sick Girls! Exploring how Wellness is oppressive, self-love is a trap, hustling is a health risk and it's all the patriarchy's fault, Halima and Ione delve into the process of writing the book that has been dubbed 'the anti girlboss bible'. The pair also discuss how we can pull feminism from the rubble of commodification, oversharin...
May 23, 2022•30 min
We're told being confident is the answer to all of life's problems. That to be a good feminist, or friend, or to excel at your job and learn to love yourself, you must be confident. But when did empowerment become dependent on our ability to be believe in ourselves? And is the cult of confidence merely a distraction that keeps us from tackling real systemic oppression? This week Ione and Halima are discussing how the pressure to be confidence is actually holding us back, and how we can find a ba...
May 16, 2022•28 min
For the last five years, we've all collectively been lamenting the downfall of instagram. First, they took our chronological feed. Then, they pivoted to Reels. But as we all become increasingly exhausted with the platform, why can't we let go? And with the reaction to Elon Musk buying Twitter being so intense, do social media platforms owe anything to their users? This week we're discussing how Instagram has become culturally void, whether TikTok is the future, and whether insta's downfall is an...
May 09, 2022•29 min
Lived experience is a debate that comes up time and time again in our cultural landscape - should only gay people play gay roles on-screen? Should white people be able to tell people of colours stories? And should non-disabled people be allowed to portray those with disability? This week Ione and Halima are discussing this article, and all of the discourse surrounding our lived experiences. We're talking about whether the lived experience argument is based in fact, or is merely a myth conjured b...
May 02, 2022•28 min
Why does every famous person have even more famous parents? This week we're delving into why nepo babies still have such a stronghold on our culture. Is talent genetic or are we just overly obsessed with celebrity culture? And by keeping it in the family, who is excluded from doing well in these industries? Pre-order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here! Want to support the podcast? If you're a brand or organisation that could help us continue the show, Please fill in this form . Can't wait...
Apr 25, 2022•32 min
Independence is sold to us as a necessity, as YouTubers and TikTok stars emphasise the need for being an individualist and having your own space. But can promoting isolation ever be dangerous? Are we allowed to say we feel lonely when alone? Hosts Ione Gamble and Halima Jibril explore loneliness as a self preservation tool in order to avoid vulnerability, the online aspiration to thrive on your own and how any of us can afford being alone in the first place. Pre-order Ione's book, Poor Little Si...
Apr 18, 2022•29 min
Forget middle aged, white cis male comedians telling us they've been cancelled. While they all hopefully disappear into irrelevance, how we approach humour as a generation is coincidentally changing. From our obsession with policing each other in comments sections, and unexplainable TikTok's making us laugh until we cry, to stand up comedians getting all their material from twitter and influencers treating the internet like their own personal group chat. Something weird is going on with our sens...
Apr 11, 2022•31 min
Being a hater is the one thing none of us are happy to admit to. But with a wave of new TikTok trends normalising our tendencies to be nasty little cows, Ione and Halima are asking the question, is being a hater such a bad thing? We're breaking down everything from why hate can actually be a productive force, and why we shouldn't be ashamed to be haters, to discussing why we all feel we have to present our hate as an intellectual hate rather than an emotional one. Pre-order Ione's book, Poor Lit...
Apr 04, 2022•27 min
This week we're joined by Polyester socials editor and regular podcast guest Eden Young to dissect the mood of the moment, Goblin mode. Call it going feral, call it whatever you want, but we're all obsessed with exposing the very worst part of ourselves online. Ione and Eden dissect statements from Goblin Mode viral article author Kari Paul, and illustrator Esme Blegvad, to get to the bottom of why at this moment we're all obsessed with embracing our inner goblin. But are all goblin modes made e...
Mar 28, 2022•28 min
2019 may have been the year of the scam, but its in 2022 in which we're seeing all of these infamous stories played out on our tv screens. From Anna Delvey's plight to open a members club and Elizabeth Holmes becoming the first female billionaire, to the rise and demise of WeWork being depicted by Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto - we can't get enough of a good con story. But what does our infatuation with these stories say about us? Ione and Halima are discussing what makes us root for these scamme...
Mar 21, 2022•30 min
For our first Obsessions episode of the year, we're joined by fashion historian extraordinaire Mina Le! Mina creates immersive fashion, costume and film history content and analyses them through the video format. As the girls on twitter say... Mina Le just gets it! Mina is talking to us about her love of old Hollywood movies. From Casablanca (1942), Bringing Up Baby (1938) and Paddington 2 (you have to listen to find out more about that!), she tells us about how old Hollywood movies have impacte...
Mar 14, 2022•30 min
The it girl is a tradition as old as time itself; impossible cool and beautiful in equal measures, they set not only the tone for culture and beauty standards, put fill our brains with aspirations of how we should be living our lives. But why, in 2022, are we still obsessed with it girls? With the archetypal it girl being white, cisgender, skinny and obscenely rich, surely it's time we stop putting these women on pedestals? Or are our it girls shifting, away from old markers of success and towar...
Mar 07, 2022•24 min
In this special bonus instalment of the podcast, we're joined by the one and only Chloe Cherry, aka Faye from Euphoria! Chloe sits down with Ione and Gina to discuss her role on the most talked about tv show of the year, improvising her character's most iconic lines, and how she dealt with becoming a fan favourite. We're also discussing how fashion influences Chloe's work on and off screen, how she dealt with the discourse surrounding her appearance, and what roles she'd most like to play next. ...
Mar 04, 2022•31 min
It's been practically impossible to move for the last two weeks without being told about 'the vibe shift'. We've all heard its coming, but what does it even mean? This week on The Sleepover Club Ione and Halima are discussing the viral essay by Allison P. Davis titled ‘ A Vibe Shift Is Coming. Will any of us survive it?’ for The Cut. The changing course of culture is inevitable, but with so much of our lives being played out online, can huge cultural swathes really effect the majority of us? How...
Feb 28, 2022•27 min
The internet has decided: the bimbo is back. But what does a return to bimboism mean for feminism? Is it just a regression into outdated stereotypes, or a reclamation of a set of aesthetic codes that have previously harmed us? And most importantly, is it really radical to be a bimbo? Halima and Ione are dissecting it all; from the problematic Pam and Tommy miniseries, to leftist women embracing being a bimbo with their whole heart and whether this resurgence in popularity is just another symptom...
Feb 21, 2022•28 min
From Kimye's divorce, to the new Hulu show, North's TikTok and Kourtney's emo phase, whether you love to hate them or can't help but being obsessed with them, not a week goes by where we don't hear from the Kardashian family. This week on the podcast we're joined by MJ Corey, founder of Kardashian Kolloquium , to break down why they continue to dominate celebrity culture, how she avoids unhealthy parasocial relationships with the family, and what draws her to applying academia to the very thing ...
Feb 14, 2022•36 min
Today, we are seeing more and more discourse about the rise of the trad (traditional) wife, with the gorls on Tiktok and Instagram romanticising having a family, being a wife, sundresses and staying at home. Very Lana del Rey 2012 vibes. In 1963, Betty Friedan wrote about the “problem with no name.” Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique detailed the widespread unhappiness of the idealised happy-suburban-housewife in the 1950s and early 1960s. So why have we returned to pining for these outdated notion...
Feb 07, 2022•24 min
It's part two of the 'toxic' women deep dive! This week we're discussing the backlash against the 'evil' women genre and how the TikTok girlies are catapulting our obsession with these characters into a new era. From being in your 'fleabag era' and basing your whole life on the protagonist of My Year Of Rest And Relaxation, to femcels and the emerging trend of 'dissociative feminism'. We're exploring why so many people view these characters as apathetic but aspirational, and what it all says abo...
Jan 31, 2022•25 min
'Evil' women are everywhere, from on our screens, to between the pages of the books we read, and across our feeds in the form of memes. The discourse as to whether these characters are idol worthy, or in fact just rationalising our worst behaviours, is a conversation that has the internet torn. So we're getting into it! In this first instalment of our toxic women two-parter, we're exploring the reasons we love these depictions of femininity. From why these characters feel more real than those ac...
Jan 23, 2022•26 min
Haven't you heard? Indie Sleaze is back! Dig out the coloured tights, find your old American Apparel hoodies and dust off your old copies of NME. This week we're joined by Polyester socials editor Eden Young , as her and Ione describe what Indie Sleaze was really like to someone who was never there: Halima, aka our resident Gen Z. What is the difference between Twee, Indie Sleaze, Nu Rave, and the 2014 Tumblr Girl? And why is TikTok lumping them all together when discussing the current cultural ...
Jan 17, 2022•29 min
Twitter is obsessed with normalising things. From the benign, such as normalising going to the cinema alone, to the vaguely political such as normalise body hair, right up to the extremes of social justice; if there's an issue, we want to normalise it. But does condensing our problems into this meme-esque format really do anything to push things forward? Or when we plea to the internet for a normalisation, are we really just trying to signal how tuned we are to the issues that matter? This week ...
Jan 10, 2022•24 min
For our last episode of the year, we're joined by the genius Amelia Dimoldenberg to talk us through her love of the England football team. From how the 2021 Euros set her obsession alight, to how her love for the game has transcended from just thirsting after fit boys; Amelia is talking us through why the current football team cast a shining beacon of hope in extremely bleak times. Amelia is our Christmas digital cover star for 2021! To read the full profile with her and gaze your eyes on the go...
Dec 20, 2021•33 min
