Ethically Questionable

Big Oil just posted $93 billion in profits in three months while the rest of us pay more to fill up our cars. Jamila and Jenn dig into the Guardian investigation showing eight major oil companies nearly doubled their earnings during the Iran conflict, why "the market" means we all pay more even when a country produces its own oil, and the surprising twist: even Trump thinks Exxon and Chevron are making too much money. Then, Shein's tariff reckoning a $99 million loss just as it heads into its Hong Kong IPO and what it means for the future of ultra-fast fashion. Plus: France's influencer ad ban, the EU's new parcel tax, a very expensive White House ballroom, and a dust tornado in Greenwich Park that nobody knew how to react to.

This week, Jamila and Jenn tear into OpenAI's very first influencer trip, a "digital detox" weekend at a luxury eco-farm upstate, complete with workshops on using ChatGPT more, because nothing says reconnect with nature like a company whose data centers are draining it. They debate whether OpenAI is uniquely tone-deaf or just doing what every tech giant does at Cannes Lions, and why Anthropic still gets the benefit of the doubt (one good podcast interview will do that). Then the conversation turns local: a new data center approved in Jamila's own London borough of Ealing boasts the world's largest solar panel wall, which, once you do the math, will power the facility for a grand total of three hours a year, while residents brace for flickering lights and low water pressure. All of it lands in the middle of London's third drought in five years, a crisis the UK still has no public playbook for. Grab your hose pipe ban and settle in.

Ethically Questionable: Joe Roberts WalkerJamila's back from a summer break with Mejuicer founder Joe Roberts Walker, whose circular ginger-shot subscription business supplies offices, festivals, and film sets (Netflix, The Crown) across London. Riding in the Polestar, they dig into six years of building a business reputation: why treating reputation like compounding capital beats chasing viral moments, why "virtue signaling" got an unfairly bad rap, and the customer-service instinct to hit refund rather than argue. Joe opens up about early-career regrets managing his own staff, why he turns away arms-fair clients on principle, and his frustration with governments pushing individual sustainability guilt while big polluters coast on PR. It closes with a rapid-fire Ethical or Questionable on daily LinkedIn posting and working with reputationally shaky clients.

Meta's AI glasses are being called "pervert glasses" for a reason. Jamila and Jenn break down the covert filming, the "Hey Meta" data pipeline, the content reviewers, and why wrapping all of it in a Kylie Jenner collab makes it worse, not better.Electrified by PolestarFollow us below for more:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ethicallyquestionable/TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@ethicallyquestionablepodYouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@EthicallyQuestionablePod

In this week’s Ethically Questionable news segment, Jamila Brown and Jenn McGarrigle dive into the viral “death pants” conversation around Zara and what it reveals about fast fashion, overproduction, and the hidden cost of trends. From pants getting caught in escalators and bikes to the bigger problem of flammable jumpers, destroyed stock, and overflowing secondhand markets, they unpack how price, status, and brand image can mask serious quality and sustainability issues. The conversation turns to the EU’s new rules on unsold textiles, exploring whether legislation can actually push brands toward better design, more transparency, and a more circular future. It’s sharp, funny, and hopeful with a clear message: progress may be imperfect, but the fashion industry has to start doing better.Electrified by PolestarFollow us onInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ethicallyquestionable/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ethicallyquestionablepodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EthicallyQuestionablePod

This week on EQ News we cover 2 stories both about the US Secretary of War (gag) Pete Hegseth. With a new investment in testosterone for US troops, and divestment in Women's Leadership... what other conclusions can we really come to? Pete Hegseth is a weirdo misogynist and we really gotta vote the folks who put him in power out ya'll...

We're off this week guys so dropping one of our most listened to episodes in the feed for you with ByRotation Founder Eshita Kabra-Davies on building out the wardrobe of your dreams without f*cking up the planet.

In a world where your options for political leadership are a man often confused for a walking trash can or Count Binface who will the people of Clacton-on-Sea vote for?

Elise Som is the serial entrepreneur behind Mijenta, a B Corp tequila made with recycled glass bottles and just three ingredients, and Bare la Terre, a compostable kids' skincare line her daughter asked her to build. On the pod, she and Jamila get into why simpler products are actually cheaper to make, why ESG departments are mostly talk without action, and why banning kids from skincare doesn't work when they can just buy it themselves. Plus, the "Ethical or Questionable" round covers B Corp, sustainability degrees, and the sorry state of plastic recycling.Ethically Questionable is electrified by Polestar, the Swedish electric performance brand created to accelerate the shift to zero tailpipe emissions.