Following the death of Brianna Ghey, as well as an open letter penned by contributors of The New York Times condemning the publications reporting on gender, and the defence of JK Rowling that followed, transgender rights are once again under attack. For this week's podcast, Ione and Eden are revisiting an episode from 2020 in which we discussed the rise of TERF ideology, and how the media at large has fuelled anti-trans sentiment both in the UK and the USA. In another special edition of The Slee...
Feb 20, 2023•41 min
No longer is it enough for people on the internet to tell us what to buy, they've decided they have to tell us what not to buy, too. Like a consumerist superhero; influencers are trending for telling us the dyson air wrap is a waste of money, or that viral skirt you really want is actually uncomfortable. But are these internet personalities doing important work in turning us off these products, or are they just wise to the fact over-consumption is no longer trendy? This week Eden and Ione are di...
Feb 13, 2023•29 min
We've been cursed with a new 'core'l and this one may be the bleakest of them all. Celebrities are no longer wearing necklaces on the runway, minimalism is back, and a new trend dubbed 'recession core' is the latest fixation of TikTok trend forecasters. But does fashion really change in times of economic uncertainty? Rich people certainly aren't getting any poorer, so is this new conscious aesthetic just another attempt to glean relatability from the masses? Or do socio-economic theories such as...
Feb 06, 2023•30 min
Have you heard of lucky girl syndrome? The craze sweeping social media is bringing back manifestation and positive thinking for a new generation. With lucky girls taking over TikTok, we're asking if demanding what you want from the universe is uplifting or reductive? Can you really get what you want by just believing you deserve it? Or is it just a grossly naive flex that just shows us how little work has been done in terms of understanding privilege in our society? This Episode, Ione and Eden d...
Jan 30, 2023•29 min
Britney Spears is once again the focus point of internet gossip. The conspiracy theories grow more outlandish by the minute; from the pop star having a body double, to her husband placing her in a new conservatorship and pushing the star in front of a green screen to create Instagram content. But unlike in the early 00s, we now all have the ability to comment, dissect, and tear apart celebrities behaviour. No longer is the worst person online Perez Hilton, because millions of us on TikTok are el...
Jan 23, 2023•29 min
It's a tale as old as time: a woman experiences a breakup, and in the midst of her heartbreak, takes to the internet to tell us every sordid detail of the ways in which her ex did her wrong. Whether on TikTok, published in personal essays on prestigious platforms, or showcased on Instagram stories - the girlies can't get enough of exposing the men that have ruined their lives. But have we bored of hearing these stories? And even worse, do they paint women as perpetual victims unable to exercise ...
Jan 16, 2023•31 min
We're back! Did you miss us? This week Ione and Eden are discussing the trend that's dominated our Instagram feeds: In and Out lists. Written by everyone who's anyone; from Jemima Kirke and Hari Nef, to pretty much every influencer you've ever followed; the internet has become enamoured with notes app lists predicting what we will and won't enjoy in 2023. But do we really care what these people think? Or are they just away for us to flex our impeccable taste to our followers? We're discussing ho...
Jan 09, 2023•31 min
For our last episode of the year, Halima Jibril is BACK to go over our favourite podcast topics from 2022. We're looking at indie sleaze, toxic femininity, it girls (in particular, our patron saint Julia Fox), goblin mode and more! With hindsight, Ione and Halima take a trip down memory lane to look at the good, bad and ugly moments that came to define 2022 Thanks so much to everyone who has tuned in for The Polyester Podcast each Monday, we couldn't do it without you and we can't wait to contin...
Dec 19, 2022•33 min
If you've been on Instagram this week, you've probably come across the Lensa App. We've all been turning ourselves into fairies, manga characters, and painters muses using AI technology. But is creating these selfies ethical? Are they going to put artists out of a job? Are they just harmless fun? Or an example of our rampant narcissism? This week, Ione and Eden are digging into the rise of AI on social media; from whether these apps are stealing art from small creators, to horror in the AI realm...
Dec 12, 2022•31 min
This week, Ione and Eden are trying to get to the bottom of the Balenciaga story; separating the fact from fiction, as well as examining how the controversy grew so large in the media and on social media. As the conspiracy theories around the fashion brand continue to spread like wildfire, we're digging into the importance of media literacy and how far right propaganda runs rampant on the internet. With users searching for the most sinister explanation possible when it comes to any number of sub...
Dec 05, 2022•34 min
Another week goes by and another director is slamming Marvel for killing the movie business as they know it. No matter where you stand on Quentin Tarantino, one thing is for sure; celebrity is changing. As 2022 draws to a close, Ione and Eden are reflecting on the year in celebrity, and movie stars in particular. We're discussing whether the rise of streaming will result in the return of the old studio system, with actors being contracted by production companies to star in multiple films for the...
Nov 28, 2022•32 min
Do you spend hours fixated on five minute craft videos? Are you obsessed with the woman that pours liquid into cake, or the one that goes live on TikTok every night to create resin cups? We'll we've got some news — you're probably consuming fetish content. As the internet becomes more and more censored, creators are becoming increasingly niche in their approach to racking up engagement. But is this content an example of violated consent, or do we all need to lighten up? This week Ione and Eden a...
Nov 21, 2022•29 min
The TikTok girlies are creating makeup looks that make you look as though you're crying. Julia Fox is walking down the red carpet with grey hair, and declaring both ugly and ageing as 'in'. Trend forecasters are declaring that we're over the clean girl look, and that the next beauty trend is all about highlighting your 'imperfections' rather than concealing them. This week, Ione and Eden are discussing whether these trends are actually shifting beauty standards, who we allow to be 'ugly', whethe...
Nov 14, 2022•29 min
Anti intellectualism is having a moment. Express an opinion online and they'll be at least five people in your mentions telling you that you're wrong. Maybe you spend your morning drinking coffee with your partner, causing uproar from those who have to be at work in the early hours. Perhaps you hate Marvel films, or dare to prefer one type of bread over another. But is our inability to contextualise the posts we see a form of anti-intellectualism? Are the binaries of 'high' and 'low' culture cha...
Nov 07, 2022•32 min
All of a sudden, everybody is very skinny again. From Kim and Khloe Kardashian to the hundreds of models that just walked fashion week in each various city. Body positivity is no longer popular, Taylor Swift is calling herself fat in music videos, and it feels as though we're back in the same media hell scape that engulfed our pre-teen lives at the turn of y2k. This week, Ione and Eden are discussing why its been so easy for celebrity culture to disregard larger bodies, and what impact treating ...
Oct 31, 2022•30 min
Whether its the Try Guys cheating scandal, Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wildes latest drama, John Mulaney's infidelity or any number of other male celebs who have been caught behaving badly; we're living through the fall of the wife guy. This week, Ione and Eden are discussing the rise and fall of the softest boys of them all. Once a beacon of non-toxic masculinity, with us all being backwardly charmed by a mans ability to love his wife; we're now slowly realising that it was probably an a desperat...
Oct 24, 2022•29 min
Open TikTok and your for you page is likely filled with a slew of content capitalising on the lives of strangers without their consent. From random acts of kindness, to asking what someone walking past is listening to or simply starting to record when watching someone behave strangely in public; we're constantly seeking new spectacle to record on our phones in the hope of going viral. On this week's episode, Ione and Eden are discussing the moral ambiguity of building an online following using t...
Oct 17, 2022•29 min
From 'They Don't Build Statues of Critics' t-shirts that echo Britney's 'Dump Him' moment to Twilight baguette bags to controversial 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit' bikinis. We're obsessed with in-jokes, memes and internet nostalgia and their influence on fashion is more prevalent than ever. But why are we suckers for a reference? And why are fashion brands like Praying and Heaven by Marc Jacobs gravitating towards an aesthetic that mimics the early days of the internet? This week Ione and Eden ar...
Oct 10, 2022•29 min
From TikTok stars being called out for complaining about their working hours, to those with millions of followers bragging about helping the homeless in the same breath in which they tell us they're spending $90 a day on coffee; are we living through the death of the influencer? As each online personality merges into a homogenous face of capitalism, we're sick of those with more power than us telling us how to spend our money and what to like. But what comes next? This week Ione and Eden are tra...
Oct 03, 2022•28 min
why are rich people so obsessed with using working class people as entertainment? How does social media fuel our voyeuristic gaze on those experiencing poverty? And why are the upper classes still fetishising the poor? From competition prizes that pay off your energy bills to influencers that build their entire brands on 'thrifty' tips to survive the cost of living crisis; we're living in a dystopian nightmare. Instead of real, tangible advice that would ease the increase of price in essentially...
Sep 26, 2022•33 min
Representation discourse is back baby! From Ariel and Lizzo's Emmy win, to the queen being a woman, and our third evil prime minister; we're all obsessed with diversity yet again! For a brief moment in time, it felt like we'd left representation politics in the past. They'd we'd all come to a consensus that diversity discourse was pointless, serving as a shiny veneer to allow un-inclusive institutions to cover their backs and seem as though they were pushing for societal change. Now they're back...
Sep 19, 2022•30 min
If you're anything like us, the drama surrounding Don't Worry Darling has been consuming your every waking thought. Harry Styles spat on Chris Pine! Olivia Wilde lied! Florence Pugh turned up and drank aperol spritz defiantly! But with two weeks until any of us see the actual film, we're breaking down what the drama means for the larger cultural moment we're living in. From post me-too sentiment and the rehabilitation of rotten men, to two women semi-fighting publicly and the cast hooking up on ...
Sep 12, 2022•33 min
Toxic masculinity is running rife on the internet, with both incels and alpha males dominating online culture. But how did we get here? Following on from part one, this week we're concluding our deep dive into masculinity. Interrogating how the internet birthed a new masculinity, one that breeds hatred and division, Ione and Eden are discussing how unregulated media platforms allowed toxic masculinity to thrive. Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here! Want to support the podcast? If you...
Sep 05, 2022•33 min
Picture a bro in your head, what does he look like? This week, while Halima has two weeks off, Ione is Joined by Polyester social editor Eden Young to kick off our toxic masculinity deep dive. After watching Woodstock 99, we decided to put bro culture under a critical lens; from nu-metal bands to films like American pie and how bros changed the landscape of masculinity forever. Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here! Want to support the podcast? If you're a brand or organisation that co...
Aug 29, 2022•25 min
It's time to BeReal! As the social media app grows bigger and bigger, Ione and Halima have downloaded BeReal to try it out for themselves. The platform promises us the opportunity to see our friends as they really are - but do we really want to? How many selfies of ourselves sitting on the sofa can we really take? As we all strive for a more authentic online experience, the pair are discussing if posting genuinely is all it's cracked up to be; or if we all deserve to live in our inauthentic fant...
Aug 22, 2022•27 min
To celebrate our latest Dollhouse cover girl, Bodies Bodies Bodies star Rachel Sennott (read here!) , we're discussing gen z representation in film and tv. Many of this summer's big cinematic releases are geared towards gen z, from A24's aforementioned slasher to Hulu/Disney + Satire, Not Okay. With the Los Angeles times declaring these releases a 'major test' as to whether Hollywood can accurately represent the generation, we're weighing in. Are these films accurate, and entertaining? Or are mi...
Aug 15, 2022•34 min
What do Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant have in common? They're all girlies! This week Ione and Halima are exploring gender in the world of technology and artificial intelligence. Is the fact all of our 'virtual assistants' women sexist? Does it reinforce backdated gender roles? Or are we other thinking it? Ione and Halima break it down, looking at the research and history of female voices in the virtual world. Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here! Want to support the podcast? If yo...
Aug 08, 2022•28 min
Everyone, including The Kardashians , are very very upset with Instagram. After the head of the app was forced to make a statement following an onslaught of complaints by high profile users towards Instagram's insistence to become TikTok - we're once again taking a deep dive into all of the current social media drama. Why are people protesting outside Meta's HQ? Do celebrities have a right to complain about the algorithm? And did you know high follower users get special treatment when it comes t...
Aug 01, 2022•29 min
This week, Ione and Halima are discussing the ick. Defined as; Something someone does that is an instant turn-off for you, making you instantly hate the idea of being with them romantically. We've all been there. But is the ick a natural response, and something we should talk about openly with each other. or does it signal a toxic strand of #DumpHim feminism that views people as disposable, replaceable commodities? We'll be deep-diving into all of the above and much more, including some of your ...
Jul 24, 2022•25 min
Sugar, spice and everything nice; thats what coquette girls are made of. But is the trending aesthetic as innocent as it seems? While self proclaimed coquettes love frills, heart shapes, Lana del Rey, all things french AND all things Americana — and want everyone on TikTok to know their aesthetic is totally unique — the saccharine style reminds us of one thing, Lolitas. But has this new wave of ultra-feminine girlies managed to shrug off the damaging stereotypes associated with Lolita style? Or ...
Jul 18, 2022•27 min
