The Polyester Podcast
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 16, 2026 • 29min
How Mormonism Took Over Pop Culture
A lively look at how Mormonism moved from joke status to a full-blown internet phenomenon. Short primer on Mormon history and early portrayals in TV and theatre. Deep dive into the new wave of influencers, reality shows and why TikTok is obsessed with Salt Lake lives. Conversation about monetized domesticity, fame, and the cultural fallout around wealth and religious identity.
Mar 9, 2026 • 30min
How Looksmaxxing, Clavicular, And Alt-Right Masculinity Went Mainstream
A deep dive into how extreme online masculinity and looksmaxxing migrated from niche forums to high fashion runways. They explore a controversial streamer’s rise, the fashion world’s flirtation with alt-right aesthetics, and debates over platforming, deplatforming, and how youth culture and loneliness feed radical trends.
Feb 23, 2026 • 29min
Our Take On Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights
Emerald Fennell has only gone and done it again - made a visually stimulating but emotionally empty film for posh people to coo over. Is it a faithful adaptation of Wuthering Heights? No. Is it an amazing film in its own right regardless? Also no. Do the sets and costumes make up for bad casting and crap script? Unfortunately, this time, I'm afraid it's a no. In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina get to grip with a movie made to try and cause controvery, and answer the question of whether it actually manages to achieve, well anything. Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 16, 2026 • 26min
The Girlification Of Beta Blockers
They trace how beta blockers became a pop culture accessory, from red carpet shoutouts to merch. They explore telehealth and online pharmacies making prescriptions easy to obtain. They question pharma and meme culture driving casual use. They highlight safety worries, evidence gaps, and stories of misuse and adverse reactions.
Feb 9, 2026 • 30min
Nicki Minaj is MAGA, ICE out, and If Celebrity Activism Can Be Successful
They unpack a pop star's surprising political pivots and the fallout from past anti-vax remarks. They analyze red carpet activism, including ICE OUT pins and awkward celebrity responses. They dig into TikTok moderation, AI-generated misinformation around Minneapolis raids, and how tech is eroding trust in visual evidence.
24 snips
Jan 26, 2026 • 27min
Our Take On The Brooklyn Beckham Saga
They unpack an eight-part social media reveal about a famous family's estrangement. They skim viral jokes and Twitter takes that turned personal drama into comedy. They examine misogynistic readings of the story and why British tabloids relish this sort of scandal. They tackle nepotism, public childhoods, parental responsibility for online exposure, and how PR shapes competing accounts.
Jan 19, 2026 • 29min
Is My Life Too Easy? What Is Frictionmaxxing? And Should We All Be Doing It?
The hosts explore the intriguing idea of frictionmaxxing, which encourages embracing discomfort in daily life. They discuss how technology fosters convenience at the expense of spontaneity and real human interactions. Examining class and disability issues, they highlight how not every inconvenience is desirable. The conversation touches on the joy of unpredictability and boredom, and the risks of relying too heavily on AI. With personal experiments in frictionmaxxing, they share ways to reclaim life's little discomforts for a richer experience.
Jan 12, 2026 • 28min
Why Are Men Using Elon Musk’s AI Chatbot to Undress Women Without Their Consent? The Latest In AI's Abuse Of Women
A dark new issue has arisen on the platform formerly known as Twitter (a likely place for it to happen) where users are asking X's inbuilt AI bot, Grok, for indecent and sexualised images of women and children. While, as discussed in the ep, nudeification isn't exactly a new problematic facet of life online, it's only in the last month that the act has become a "trend" - for lack of a better word.In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina delve into the specifics of what is happening, the continuing issues we're facing with AI and the lack of control any government or governing body has over internet abuse.Buy our newest issue here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 5, 2026 • 31min
The Only 2026 Ins And Outs List You Need
Happy new year girlies! As is tradition in this joint (and across the internet at large), our hosts are giving their hot or not predictions for the upcoming twelve months.In this week's episode, Ione and Gina discuss the possible return of woke, whether Substack is over, Timothée Chalamet’s chances of winning the Oscar, whether we’ll finally see the death of on the street voxpop TikToks, and much more. Buy our newest issue here!Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 22, 2025 • 32min
Mar-A-Lago Face And The Grotesque Beauty Of MAGA Women
Hosts dive into the bizarre world of MAGA beauty, highlighting the outrageous aesthetics of Mar-A-Lago face. They dissect heavy contouring, viral photos, and the influences of early 2000s glam and pageant culture. Discussions reveal how plastic surgery acts as a political badge of honor and contributes to a grotesque display of wealth. The conversation also touches on how these beauty choices reinforce gender norms, distract from policy issues, and reflect a troubling power dynamic within the GOP.
