Sentimental Garbage

We talk disordered eating, body image and diets through the prism of pop culture, with Hanna Flint, the author of Strong Female Character. Is there such a thing as a "responsible" way to depict an eating disorder? Can we ever forgive Richard Curtis for what he did to Martine McCutcheon? And can we fairly say that we in a more body positive era when Ozempic is becoming more normal than ever? And has pop culture made us think that eating disorders are a White Girl Problem? We mention Love Actually, Bridget Jones Diary, The Whale, Heathers, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Jacqueline Wilson, School of Rock, Queen Latifah, and the Special K "drop a jean size" challenge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 1990s answer to Hard Day's Night was Spice World: The Movie, 92 minutes of pure joy that also provides Baby's First Blueprint to how fame works when you're a young woman. We talk about Wannabe as the Kennedy Assassination for millennial women, the subtext of the Spice Girls songbook, the insane cameos, the incredible plot strands, and the sad uselessness of the pregnant friend. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Could Joe Alwyn's departure from Taylor's life be the skeleton key to understanding Midnights, Taylor Swift's murkiest album? Jen Cownie returns for a track-by-track study that, she believes, tells the story of a woman who is breaking up with herself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Filmmaker and author Emma Forrest on her lifelong relationship with Cher. We talk noses, outsiders, plastic surgery, Mermaids, Moonstruck, I Got You Babe, the Sonny years and much much more. This is a really good one. Emma Forrest's new book, Busy Being Free, is available everywhere now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Novelist Ore Agbaje-Williams joins us for a childhood favourite that almost threatens to fall down behind the couch: the straight-to-video Cinderella, starring Brandy, Whitney Houston and Whoopi Goldberg. We talk about the baffling charm of this adaptation, the star-power of the cast, the new Little Mermaid, the endless drudgery of the 'representation' conversation, childhood desires and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Curious about what Sentimental Garbage sounds like live? Journalist and author Emer McLysaght joins us to talk Taylor Swift, 10 Things I Hate About You, roast dinners, social media activism, Karens vs Aislings, Adrian Mole, Phoebe and Paul, and why aren't our ex-boyfriends online. Thank you to Cúirt Festival for recording this for us, particularly to our stage manager Naomi Cantwell and sound engineer Dan Smith for sorting it all out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether it's prestige HBO dramas or Below Deck, there's no doubting that we're more obsessed with – as well as empathetic towards – the extremely wealthy than ever. But as the 1 per cent expands and extreme poverty becomes more common than ever, do we have to ask ourselves: is all this rich person content actually good for us? Jenny Jackson, the author of the best-selling Pineapple Street, joins us to talk Succession, The White Lotus, Real Housewives, Abigail Disney and much much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we're picking through our most complicated cake feelings with novelist and author of the Little Library Cookbooks, Kate Young! This episode is sort of about cake and sort of about gender representation, realising you're gay, and growing out of your "mum" phase. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WAKE ME UP INSIDE! As a reformed fan-fiction head and ex-moderator of an Evanescence forum, Jessica Moor epitomises everything that was great and weird about being online as a teenager. We talk about the power of Amy Lee, how enormous "Fallen" was, being a wannabe goth girl, the lost art of forums and the infamous "My Immortal" fan fiction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Von Duchess is back as we recap noughties fashion and why we're seeing such a huge resurgence of it. As with all Irish guests, we talk confirmation money, regional skirt lengths and the Celtic Tiger, but also get to global trends: Von Dutch caps, logo-fever, new money anxieties, post-9/11 fashion and how we all got Joan-pilled by the 2007 arrival of Mad Men. This one Goes Places but I'm so glad it did.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.