How Looksmaxxing, Clavicular, And Alt-Right Masculinity Went Mainstream

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 <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“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 <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we've come to expect with a political crisis, celebrities have no idea how to act - Do you post to story even if you get labelled performative a la Billie Eilish? Do you prepare a speech in case you're stopped on the red carpet wearing an ICE OUT pin, so you're not caught out like Jack Antonoff? Do you align yourself with the worst people in the world, as Nicki Minaj as opted for in the past couple of months?This week, hosts Ione and Gina delve into the ICE in Minneapolis, how AI is playing a factor and the different ways that celebs getting involved - to varying degrees of success and authenticity.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final hour before recording this week, we had to push our planned research aside and get stuck into the meat and bones of the juiciest celeb drama 2026 has given us so far: Brooklyn Beckham released an eight part Instagram story tell all about his much rumoured estrangement from his parents, Victoria and David Beckham.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the implicated misogyny of everyone’s response, the particular Britishness of this scandal and why, for once, this is gossip we can engage with guilt free.Please note we recorded this episode on Wednesday, 21st January at 4pm GMT - if any new goss has unfurled, we have not addressed it in this ep. And if you want to listen to our secret episode on 2016 nostalgia: Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would you like an app that analyses your Google calendar and plans your day for you? Have you tried ChatGPT for meal planning? What about this ring that tracks your sleep habits and creates a routine that will mean you get to sleep even faster than before? We're suffering a convenience endemic, where the tech and AI solutions to being uncomfortable are breeding new, depressing ways to avoid the realities - and even the fun! - of life.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with frictionmaxxing: The new term encouraging us to add discomfort, time and human interaction to our everyday experiences. The pair discuss how class and disability play into this trend, why our joie de vivre is being robbed from us by capitalism and how we should make more efforts to dilly and dally in our day to day.Buy our newest issue here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A dark new issue has arisen on the platform formerly known as Twitter (a likely place for it to happen) where users are asking X's inbuilt AI bot, Grok, for indecent and sexualised images of women and children. While, as discussed in the ep, nudeification isn't exactly a new problematic facet of life online, it's only in the last month that the act has become a "trend" - for lack of a better word.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina delve into the specifics of what is happening, the continuing issues we're facing with AI and the lack of control any government or governing body has over internet abuse.Buy our newest issue here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy new year girlies! As is tradition in this joint (and across the internet at large), our hosts are giving their hot or not predictions for the upcoming twelve months.In this week's episode, Ione and Gina discuss the possible return of woke, whether Substack is over, Timothée Chalamet’s chances of winning the Oscar, whether we’ll finally see the death of on the street voxpop TikToks, and much more. Buy our newest issue here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vanity Fair has gone and done it, they've revealed the true grotesqueness of the Trump administration with high res, close up photos of the White House staff. Or is it really all that surprising, when we've been chatting about Republican makeup and Mar-A-Lago face for months?This week, hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the reasons behind why MAGA women are investing so heavily in this particular beauty look, with all signs posting to power dynamics, a desire to shock and obscene displays of wealth.Buy our newest issue here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.