Jen Cownie returns for a tarot-infused culture ramble where we cover tiny dogs, long nails and blue jeans. Also Joe Alwyn and Margaret Atwood get a shout out. If you're hitting Cheltenham Literature Festival this weekend, come find us! Caroline's dates: 8 October: Live Sentimental Garbage with Alexandra Haddow at the Daffodil Restaurant (9.30)8 October: Live Wild Garbage with Jen Cownie at Boston Tea Party (18.30)9 October: The Sunday Papers with Marcus Brigstocke (12.15) 9 October: Literature's Worst Agony Aunt (16:30) Jen's dates: 8 October: tarot talk at Waterstones (17:00)8 October: Live Wild Garbage with Jen Cownie at Boston Tea Party (18.30) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author and essayist Sloane Crosley shares her pre-teen love of Enya in the final episode of the season! We talk about music, conflicting nationalities, Zadie Smith's phone, and secret places. Sloane is the author of several books including her latest novel, Cult Classic. This is the final episode for a few months, so in the meantime, I'd really appreciate it if you could keep an eye out for my books. For adults, Promising Young Women and Scenes of a Graphic Nature. For younger readers: All Our Hidden Gifts, The Gifts that Bind Us, and the forthcoming Every Gift A CurseBye for now! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Kate Moss the fit version of Forrest Gump? We track the career of Kate in a handful of photos, picked by lifelong fan and comedian Alex Haddow. We discuss the fall of the 80s supermodel, the famous shoot for The Face, her era-defining romance with Pete Doherty, her friendship with basically everyone famous ever, and a brief emotional moment about the royal wedding. Catch Alexandra Haddow at Edinburgh this year with her show Woman in Progress at the Southsider theatre https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2022/alexandra-haddow/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time to go back to an era where you hung around a shopping centre all day with no money for no reason! We talk about Avril Lavigne's impact on millennial women, the allure of being "one of the boys", the Girlfriend era, the question of authenticity and Avril's eventual life with the Backstreet Boys. Annie Lord's first book, Notes on Heartbreak, is out now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we attempt to cover the entire career of Anne Rice and quickly realise that it's impossible, so this conversation takes some of the most enjoyable twist and turns of the season. Caroline and Siobhán discuss vampires, witches, magic in Ireland, trans rights, women who take up TOO much space, Paul McCartney for some reason, sleeping beauty, and much much more.Siobhán McSweeney is the star of Derry Girls, Holding and the is the host of the Great Pottery Throw Down. She is more famous than Fiona Shaw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The bad boy of BBC iPlayer Connor Finch comes on to talk about one of his foremost musical heroes, Lily Allen. We talk about Lily's place in pop culture, her treatment by the British press, what a "London" sound is, the nepotism problem in the arts, and much much more. We don't talk about every single song on Connor's list in detail but the full list is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2IKpqKPTNJCXFrv0bbClCF?si=ec606c16a49f4286Connor Finch plays "Street" in Everything I Know About Love, which was created by some chick we've never heard of. Catch every episode on BBC iPlayer now Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Wimbledon week, and both Caroline and Jessica prefer the romantic, fictional rendering of Wimbledon to actual Wimbledon itself. We discuss Kirsten Dunst's slow-building status as a millennial icon, how this script is a perfect rendering of the rom-com formula, the last great era of the sincere rom-com, and the profound emotional effect of sports movies (even when you don't care about sport itself). Jessica Brown Findlay is the star of Harlots, and formerly of Downton Abbey. Caroline is still an author and you can find her books pretty much anywhere. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The host of Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV joins us to talk about this quintessentially 21st century art form. Can we talk about reality TV as a monolith? What's worth keeping, and what's worth throwing away? And was I the only person to watch Celebrity SAS? Pandora Sykes is the host of Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV, as well as Pieces of Britney and The Missing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Janina Matthewson returns to discuss Alanis Morissettes 1995 smash hit album, Jagged Little Pill. We discuss Alanis as a survivor and a songwriter, her enormous good brain, and whether she's the Barack Obama of 90s music. Janina Matthewson is the co-host of History is Sexy as well as the writer/producer of Within The Wires. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Costume dramas are the most dominant way that ordinary people engage with history, so why are we so frequently snobby about them? Dr Emma Southon gives a historian's perspective about the usefulness of costume drama, as well as the pure pleasure of just looking at nice fabrics. We talk Shakespeare in Love, Marie Antoinette, The Lion in Winter, I Claudius, Vanity Fair and even make a pretty good case for A Knight's Tale over Gladiator. Dr Emma Southon is the co-host of History is Sexy and the author of A Fatal Thing Happened on The Way to the Forum, and Agrippina: Empress, Exile, Hustler, Whore. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.