Share

cover art for Summer 2023 Recap: The Tabi Swindler, The Roman Empire, Timothée & Kylie, Barbie, Bottoms and more

The Polyester Podcast

Summer 2023 Recap: The Tabi Swindler, The Roman Empire, Timothée & Kylie, Barbie, Bottoms and more

Hello! We are back, with an episode that obviously probably feels as strange for us as it is for you (this is ione typing btw). I'm now joined by miss Gina Tonic, who listeners of the podcast will know as someone mentioned frequently. Gina is our senior editor as well as mine and Eden's bestie. We'll be returning on a weekly basis to discuss the discourse through a feminist lens, but to ease us into it, this week we're discussing whats hot or not for 2023. From The Idol, Victorias Secret Relaunch, The Tabi Swindler, Bottoms, Barbie, Timmy and Kylie, The Roman Empire, Twitter/X and more.


Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3


Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!


Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, or drop us a DM on Instagram

More episodes

View all episodes

  • Is Giving Up Men a Form of Political Resistance?

    29:44|
    The 4B movement is a South Korean fringe feminist movement operating on four principles - Bihon (no to heterosexual marriage), Bichulsan (no to childbirth), Biyeonae (no to dating), and Bisekseu (no to heterosexual sexual relationships) - the aim being to remove women from patriarchal lifestyles. After the announcement of Trump's win in the American election on the 5th November, women in the States have been making the 4B movement trend across Twitter and TikTok as they consider this kind of lifestyle as an act of protest to the election result. In this week's episode, Ione and Gina dissect the ethics of the use of the practice by Western feminists, the extreme reactions of alt right men across social media to the Trump win as well as the under discussed gen z Republican women who voted this year.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, or drop us a DM on Instagram.
  • Is Online Superiority & The Irony Epidemic Rotting Our Brains?

    30:22|
    How many times a day do you - publicly or privately - berate someone online for being worse than you? From Halsey calling out critics to Pitchfork doing the aforementioned critiquing and Ethel Cain telling us to cut the irony - this week Ione and Gina are discussing how social media has made us all into holier than thou nightmares. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, or drop us a DM on Instagram.
  • Sabrina Carpenter, Pedobaiting And The Infantilisation Of Adult Women

    29:48|
    Sabrina Carpenter's 'Short n' Sweet' tour is off to a (literal) bang as right wing parents and TikTok teens are up in arms over Carpenter wearing lingerie on stage, claiming her costume is too sexual for her underage audience. Simultaneously on SWERF twitter, a new term has reared its head: Pedobaiting.Is the internet combining the Madonna/Whore complex to produce a new kind of sexism? Is this all because of decades of a cultural infantilisation of adult women? This week Ione and Gina get to terms with the issues facing female sexual expression in a post Qanon landscape.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, or drop us a DM on Instagram.
  • Tavi Gevinson on Influencers, Old vs New Media & Performativity

    55:30|
    This week Ione and Gina are joined for an extra special long episode with writer, actor, producer and all round internet legend Tavi Gevinson! The three centre their conversation around class differences in the dying days of influencer culture, the changing face of fandom, and the performance of life online. Tavi's newest project, the Audible Original series Glimpses Of The Moon, an adaptation of the 1922 Edith Wharton novel of the same name, is available to listen to now. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, or drop us a DM on Instagram.
  • How Rage Bait Replaced Moral Compasses

    25:03|
    Is it cynical to question if podcasts are being recorded just to get viral social media clips? And is it ironic that we're saying that on OUR podcast?This week, hosts Ione and Gina delve into the murky ethics of posing questions around sex work and marriage to self promote, the need for having a definite opinion over admitting nuance and whether we're all individualising theory far too much.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, or drop us a DM on Instagram.
  • Celebrity Culture Is Dead and Fandom Killed It

    31:51|
    Last week The Last Dinner Party caught major heat from fans after security at their show screened cis male attendees. Meanwhile across the pond, Billie Eilish stans are overstepping boundaries by hurling abuse at her team over the Birds Of A Feather music video. And as usual, Chappell Roan devotees are being little bastards.This week, Ione and Gina are delving into the death knell surrounding celebrity culture and asking what has caused stans to wade into unhinged - and unsafe - territory. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, or drop us a DM on Instagram.
  • Sally Rooney, Post Individualism and How Marketing Became a Part of Culture

    33:11|
    Has the internet killed our sense of self? Why are the advertising campaigns for films, albums and books lauded more than the art itself? And can everyone leave Sally Rooney alone already? This week Ione and Gina are dissecting how creativity and marketing became so intertwined - as well as how social media made Mad Men of us all.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, or drop us a DM on Instagram.
  • Body Horror, Beauty Standards, & The Substance as a Feminist Masterpiece

    42:36|
    This week we've partnered with MUBI to bring you an extra special live episode from HOME Manchester to dig into The Substance - Coralie Fargeat’s flamboyant body horror that provocatively lambasts beauty standards with killer performances from legends Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. Ione and Gina look at the film's use of the male gaze, the meta commentary of the casting as well as the inherent value of embracing being a gross girl.Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, or drop us a DM on Instagram.
  • Summer Catch Up: Chappell Roan, Nikocado Avocado, Harry Potter Castings And Taylor Swift's Politics

    32:14|
    The Polyester Podcast is back after a couple of episodes break so our hosts could go on holidays and for this extra special episode Ione and Gina are digging into all of the discourse we missed in the past month.We're giving our two cents on the burning topics that have plagued our feeds recently, like is Taylor Swift supporting Kamala Harris genuinely? Why won't the Harry Potter franchise die already? Who the hell is Nikocado Avocado and can everyone please be normal about Chappell Roan for once?Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, 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.Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, or drop us a DM on Instagram.