
The Polyester Podcast
Is Blake Lively a bitch or being misconstrued? Will Elon ever stop cringing us out? And why is everyone using slurs again? Every week Polyester's head girlies Ione Gamble and Gina Tonic take you down a weekly rabbit hole of online discourse and pop culture - from trad wives and surrogacy to porn stars and unhinged press tours. Exploring the intersection of IRL and URL through a feminist lens, the Polyester Podcast is your weekly digest on absolutely everything everyone on the internet is talking about. With guests like Tavi Gevinson and Sofia Coppola collaborator Stacey Battat, and special episodes beamed into your ears from cultural centres like London’s Tate Modern and Barbican Centre, every Monday we offer a down-to-earth take from the front lines of the internet, feminism, and the weird world of celebrity it has spawned.Hosted by Editor in Chief Ione Gamble with Senior Editor Gina Tonic. Edited by Olivia Graham. Have faith in your own bad taste!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Polyester is a self published, intersectional feminist arts and culture publication aiming to bridge the gap of URL cyberfeminism with the IRL world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Latest episodes

Nov 28, 2022 • 32min
The Sleepover Club: Has Marvel Killed The Movie Star, As Quentin Tarantino Believes? Or Are We Seeing A Return To The Old Hollywood System?
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 same streamer. As well as whether the industry is really getting more inclusive, if we need to return to the cinema, and whether a monopoly on film, tv, and even publishing companies is killing creativity as we know it. 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 about our podcast. Fill out this survey here to have your say <3 Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, leave a review, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nov 21, 2022 • 29min
The Sleepover Club: Keeping Up With The Kinky Crafts - Are We All Watching Fetish Content Without Realising?
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 are discussing the world of fetish mining, and how this content is changing the way we consume online. 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 about our podcast. Fill out this survey here to have your say <3 Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, leave a review, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nov 14, 2022 • 29min
The Sleepover Club: Will The Rise Of Ugly Beauty Save Us All? Or Is It Another Capitalist Gimmick?
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', whether it's ever impossible to block out the male gaze, and how we stop aspiring to beauty. 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 about our podcast. Fill out this survey here to have your say <3 Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, leave a review, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nov 7, 2022 • 32min
The Sleepover Club: The Death Of Nuance, Why Being 'Chronically Online' Gives You Brain Worms, And The Era of Anti-Intellectualism
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 changing? And should we just let people enjoy things? This week Ione and Eden are discussing whether this constant dumbing down of discourse, art, and everything in between is more insidious than it may seem.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 about our podcast. Fill out this survey here to have your say <3 Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, leave a review, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 31, 2022 • 30min
The Sleepover Club: The Return Of Skinniness & Why Body Types Are Still Treated As Trends
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 body types as trends has on us long term. 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 about our podcast. Fill out this survey here to have your say <3 Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, leave a review, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 24, 2022 • 29min
The Sleepover Club: The Fall Of The Wife Guys
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 desperate bid to garner likability all along. 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 about our podcast. Fill out this survey here to have your say <3 Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, leave a review, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 17, 2022 • 29min
The Sleepover Club: Society Of The Spectacle And How Filming Strangers For Content Became Common Practise
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 the unsuspecting public. 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 about our podcast. Fill out this survey here to have your say <3 Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, leave a review, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 10, 2022 • 29min
The Sleepover Club - Digital Retrofuturism and the Influence of Internet Nostalgia on Fashion
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 are discussing digital retrofuturism in fashion and the life cycle of fashion brands that rely on a pop culture reference or a meme to remain relevant and the early days of the internet aesthetic making a comeback.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 about our podcast. Fill out this survey here to have your say <3 Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, leave a review, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 3, 2022 • 28min
The Sleepover Club: The Death Of The Influencer
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 tracing the rise and fall of influencers, as well as discussing what type of content creators are ushering in the next era of social media power. 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 about our podcast. Fill out this survey here to have your say <3 Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, leave a review, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 26, 2022 • 33min
The Sleepover Club: How The Media Have Spun The Cost Of Living Crisis Into Poverty Porn
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 everything needed to survive, the media has decided to turn our current crisis into poverty porn. This week on the podcast, we're discussing why and how the medias attempts to 'help' or 'spotlight' working class people so often fall short. 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 about our podcast. Fill out this survey here to have your say <3 Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to hear from YOU! Send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine.com, leave a review, or drop us a DM on Instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts
Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.