Straight Up

Poor Els got mugged last week huns, so today’s episode starts with the download on her enforced digital detox, before taking a sunnier towards perhaps the best news we’ve heard all year  – Maya Jama and Stormzy are back together!! – and our slightly tragic obsession with this ultimate modern day love story. Then, more summer reading recommendations, including Imogen Crimp’s A Very Nice Girl, the buzziest debut novel of last year, and Dolly Alderton’s upcoming second novel, Good Material, as well as some suggestions from you gorgeous listeners. We also debate why there are so few ‘bad boy’ voices in literature these days, the female protagonist overload, and whether we could ever be interested in an ‘incel-y’ perspective. Finally, an unfortunate look at Kanye’s builders bum in Venice (yes you read that correctly), plus a rundown on the ongoing Hollywood strikes, and how they’re shaping TV and film for the future. Recommendations discussed: Jockstrap, I Love You Jennifer B  Another Round on Netflix  Theatre Camp in cinemas now  The Woman in the Wall on BBC1 A Very Nice Girl by Imogen Crimp Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan  Good Material by Dolly Alderton (out this November) The List by Yomi Adekoke The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan  Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All the celebs are on holiday this week, angels, so we’ve got another jam-packed pop culture debrief for you, starting with Coleen Rooney’s fabulous – but divisive – Vogue cover for the September issue, the most important of the year! We get into all her explosive Wagatha Christie revelations and backstory with Wayne, as well as the criticisms of the cover. Are the suggestions that Coleen is not a Vogue cover girl rooted in classism? Then, a look at one of the most powerful and hated men in music, manager Scooter Braun – who discovered Justin Bieber and waged war with Taylor Swift in 2019 – who has just been dropped by Ariana Grande, following in the footsteps of J Balvin and Demi Lovato. We get stuck into the rumours as well as some of the disturbing allegations surrounding his management style. Plus, is it ethical for Amy Winehouse’s parents to be publishing her private diaries, and what the hell is going on with Britney’s divorce? Is Sam Asghari a scumbag who plans to take her to the cleaners? Or are the rumours that Britney cheated on him true? We lay out her prenup terms and all the other insider bits of intel, with a debate on her nude Instagram posts. Please leave us a review and send us a little DM @straightuppod on Insta, we love to hear from you!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the outrageous 'dirty' celeb dating story that has blown up our WhatsApp chats to the Harry Styles rumour that sent the internet spinning, it's safe to say we have been SHOCKED by the world of celebrity gossip this week huns!! And of course we are here to share all of our uncensored thoughts. In more serious news, we also look at the claims that Lyme disease is a 'celebrity' sickness that has become an identity for some, as well as the absolutely horrific allegations that have come out of an investigation into some of Britain's top drama schools.Plus, we get into Zayn Malik's underwhelming comeback (and a very strange story about his pet chicken), and the book you absolutely must bring on your next holiday.Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe, it really helps us in the charts and then we can get more fabulous guests! And we LOVE receiving your DMs on Insta @straightuppod, so please send us something cute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lizzo and Ariana Grande face scandal and controversy. Allegations against Lizzo and her production company. Analyzing cheating rumors surrounding Ariana Grande. Discussion on 'Brokeback Mountain' and TV show 'Yellowstone'. Debate on splitting expenses in a relationship.

We are SO excited to share this fascinating chat with our favourite chef and cookery writer Gizzi Erskine with you all this week, getting into everything from naked dinner parties to psychedelics, via public shaming, misogyny and body image. Author of killer books from Gizzi’s Healthy Appetite to Slow and Restore, you might recognise Gizzi from her various TV appearances over the years, or perhaps from her lockdown fakeway brand with Professor Green, Giz and Greens. She’s a proper celeb chef and a pop culture icon, writing regularly for the Independent and as a London party scene fave, with a whole host of famous friends and fascinating insight into that world. Gizzi talks incredibly honestly about how her extreme ADHD and cyclothymic disorder made life feel like utter “chaos” for decades, and how she’s since come through the other side, after addiction, losing all five of her businesses last year and hitting financial rock bottom. Ever the optimist, Gizzi reveals all the ways she’s been putting her life back together, from experimenting with different mushrooms, to settling down in Brighton. And, of course, her must-try restaurants in the UK!Enjoy huns, don’t forget to leave a review, and shoot us a DM with your thoughts on the episode @straightuppod on Insta.Thank you so much to our wonderful partner Flare Audio, who have game-changed the way we sleep thanks to their amazingly nifty little earplugs, Sleeeps, which totally block out pesky sounds — from snoring to traffic — ensuring a peaceful night’s sleep. Plus they are so tiny, so comfortable, and don’t fall out! Get your Sleeeps, starting at £4.95, from flareaudio.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The headline speaks for itself huns, this episode is spicy!! After seeing Barbie together last week (dressed in pink, obv) we couldn’t wait to discuss our verdicts and debate the VERY polarised online conversation, including Barbie-burning Republicans and some very cross incels. Plus, we deepdive into Barbie’s salacious origin story and the woman who created her, and reveal why Ken’s crotch became one of toymaker Mattel’s most unexpected nightmares.Also, what is going on with so-called Margot Robbie fans editing her face beyond recognition, and what does this say about our warped beauty standards? Which obviously prompted us to fret that everyone around us is getting tweakements and we should too *cries*Finally, we have a ‘cheugy’ moment dissecting the latest TikTok lingo, as well as the very strange success of new ‘robot’ social media star PinkyDoll.Please do rate review and subscribe, and send us a DM with all your hot pink Barbie thoughts to @straightuppod on InstaAnd enjoy our two delicious restaurant reviews of Little Kudu in Peckham and Sale e Pepe in Knightsbridge.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are SO excited to introduce you to this week’s utterly fascinating and highly controversial guest: Caroline Calloway, one of the very first internet celebrities, a self- anointed ‘scammer’ and perhaps our first guest who has been publicly shamed. If you haven’t heard of her before, don’t worry, we give you the complete lowdown in our intro, but in a nutshell: Caroline moved from New York to the University of Cambridge in 2013 and swiftly became famous as one of the first Instagram influencers, then was commissioned aged just 23 by a major British publisher to write a memoir. But by 2019 her life had fallen to pieces. The book was never finished, she was $100k in debt to her publisher, and her former best friend had written a viral, tell-all piece claiming all her fame and success was a scam. She was attacked from all corners of the internet as an emblem of everything wrong with influencer culture, while her ex-friendship became a sordid topic of public fascination. Now, she’s finally written a self-published memoir, Scammer (which is actually fab!) has built an incredibly successful personal brand off her own controversies, and has become a kind of anti-hero with a cult following. Her life rights have even been bought by Lena Dunham!!So we got her on Zoom to chat all about her insane and unusual experience of fame, the catharsis of rage, making ‘chaos’ her brand, how she dealt with an overwhelming online pile-on, her complicated feelings around friendship, and MUCH more. She was incredibly eloquent, charming and thoughtful, and we have to say, she very much won us over. But what do you think? Let us know!Buy Caroline's book Scammers via carolinecalloway.com and find her on Insta @carolinecalloway. Please leave us a review on Apple or Spotify, and find us on Insta @straightuppod. We'd love to hear from you, especially if you have a topic suggestion for future episodes.Thank you to our fabulous sponsors for this episode:Art Fund, which has an amazing art pass that allows you to see paid exhibitions at major galleries from the Tate to the V&A and National Gallery at half the price! Head to artfund.org/straightup to claim your discounted under 30 membership – then we recommend booking DIVA at the V&A.Yonder, the new lifestyle credit card that gives you the most incredible perks, allowing you to convert the money you spend on your card into points that are then redeemable at some of London’s best restaurants, bars, cafes and entertainment spots – from Lina Stores to BAO. AND if you join now you get your first 6 months for free! Get yours at ⁠yondercard.com⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No interview this week angels, instead, we're covering the hottest celeb talking points from the past few days. First, we get into the topic that's currently ruling the internet, actor Jonah Hill's toxic 'boundaries', which came to light when his ex Sarah Brady shared their private messages on her Instagram. We debate the dangers of therapy speak and at which point it becomes a tool for manipulation and narcissism, the difference between boundaries and controlling behaviour, plus why fame enables emotional abuse. Next, a rich-person drama to rival Succession: the epic fallout between Kim and Kourtney Kardashian over Dolce and Gabanna. Did Kourtney steal Kim's "wedding country" and "wedding singer" Andrea Boccelli? Is Kim a money-grabbing manipulator who puts fame before family? And finally, *whisper it*, has Louis Theroux lost his touch? We debrief on Louis' new Spotify podcast, in particular the episode with former Straight Up guest Amelia Dimoldenberg, where his interview style seemed to not only irk her, but in all honesty, us as well. Please leave us a review on Apple or Spotify, and find us on Insta @straightuppodArticles, TV shows, podcasts, films etc. discussed: normalondon.com restaurant on Charlotte Street Green Tea Peng live at Somerset House. Keep up to date with GTP's upcoming shows via her IG @greenteapeng Why are millennials talking in therapy speak? Sidney Lima for The Times You People The Kardashians The Louis Theroux Podcast on SpotifyThank you to our fabulous sponsors for this episode:Art Fund, which has an amazing art pass that allows you to see paid exhibitions at major galleries from the Tate to the V&A and National Gallery at half the price! Head to artfund.org/straightup to claim your discounted under 30 membership – then we recommend booking DIVA at the V&A.Yonder, the new lifestyle credit card that gives you the most incredible perks, allowing you to convert the money you spend on your card into points that are then redeemable at some of London’s best restaurants, bars, cafes and entertainment spots – from Lina Stores to BAO. AND if you join now you get your first 6 months for free! Get yours at ⁠yondercard.com⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Right huns, gets ready for an episode full of drama, because this week we're debriefing on America’s sweetheart Blake Lively getting her first taste of cancellation, and why celebs are in their peak chaotic divorce era (and we secretly love it). Plus, is it at all possible to escape the insane multi-million pound marketing campaign for Margot Robbie’s new Barbie blockbuster, encompassing everything from AirBnb to inflatables — and might it be overcompensating for a potential flop?We also get stuck into Idris Elba’s thrilling new role in Apple TV’s Hijack, in which he plays a VERY sexy corporate negotiator on a hijacked plane flying from Dubai to London. And of course we couldn’t not update you on the final of The Idol, which we are sorry to report enters a whole new realm of terrible. Finally, we discuss one of Lily-Rose Depp’s little known roles in the film Wolf, as a troubled young woman who identifies a cat and is sent to a sadistic treatment centre to be ‘cured’. Are we the only ones who seem to have watched it? Let us know!Please leave us a review on Apple or Spotify, and find us on Insta @straightuppodThank you to our fabulous sponsors:Art Fund, which has an amazing art pass that allows you to see paid exhibitions at major galleries from the Tate to the V&A and National Gallery at half the price! Head to artfund.org/straightup to claim your discounted under 30 membership – then we recommend booking DIVA at the V&A.Yonder, the new lifestyle credit card that gives you the most incredible perks, allowing you to convert the money you spend on your card into points that are then redeemable at some of London’s best restaurants, bars, cafes and entertainment spots – from Lina Stores to BAO. AND if you join now you get your first 6 months for free! Get yours at ⁠yondercard.com⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is the best-selling author Caroline O’Donoghue, the GENIUS behind one of our favourite podcasts, Sentimental Garbage, for a pop cultural deep dive on everything from And Just Like That and Desperate Housewives, to Fleishman in Trouble, the career vs kids conundrum and why fame is less like being the most important in the room, and more like being the entire public’s PA. Plus, Caroline’s top recommendations for you all, including Brooke Shields’s Pretty Baby documentary and her favourite London pub. If you take one thing from this chat gang, make sure you buy a copy of The Rachel Incident, which, as thought-provoking as it is funny, is without a doubt one of the best novels we’ve read in the past few years! It’s out now so you can grab yours from all good book shops.Follow Caroline on IG ⁠@czaronline⁠Enjoy the episode, please leave us a review on Spotify or Apple, or send us a DM ⁠@straightuppod ⁠on Insta.Thanks to our two amazing sponsors for this episode:Art Fund, which has an amazing art pass that allows you to see paid exhibitions at major galleries from the Tate to the V&A and National Gallery at half the price! Head to ⁠artfund.org/national-art-pass⁠ to grab your 3-month trial National Art Pass for just £15, PLUS until June 30th you can add a free plus one to your trial membership with promocode STRAIGHTUP.Yonder, the new lifestyle credit card that gives you the most incredible perks, allowing you to convert the money you spend on your card into points that are then redeemable at some of London’s best restaurants, bars, cafes and entertainment spots – from Lina Stores to BAO. AND if you join now you get your first 6 months for free! Get yours at ⁠yondercard.com⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.