A new season means a new Troye Sivan track, and we are sat for the medieval music video that came with it. We reference Gladys Lai's trend piece for Vogue Australia on the rise of the Renaissance Fair. Plus, Lena Dunham is officially Mother, having had a baby via surrogate.

In culture's biggest story of the week, Ed Sheeran is in strife after bowing to stadium owners and dropping Macklemore from his tour. We chart the story and dissect how Ed being Mr Nice Guy contributed to the controversy.

Sydney Sweeney is once again the face of a hugely controversial advert, having posed nude for sports prediction company Novig. Are we surprised? We read from an op-ed by Marina Hyde for The Guardian.

Next, it's apparently the year of the intellectual influencer. Dazed's Laura Pitcher wrote about the phenomenon happening on our algorithms, and we dissect why people are craving education on reels (hint: it's that damn phone).

We have a spring bumper Bookmarked coming to your podcast feeds later this week, so stay tuned for that! 

Thank you for listening - Jas & Mags xo

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Wimbledon bans influencers, Australia might be opting out of social media algorithms, and unpacking the Stella Lefty nepo pop-star drama. 

First up: Current SNL cast member Veronika Slowikowska (AKA Veronka is Cool) revealed a new singing project: Me As A Girl. Even local sleuth, Triple J presenter Abby Butler, made a TikTok on the subject. 

Next, Nathan Fielder has made a documentary about Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes. We reference this Vanity Fair feature.

In world-breaking news, Australia might be the first to switch off social media algorithms. Thanks to the campaigning of local not-for-profit, Teach Us Consent, the Australian government may encourage an "opt-in" algorithm. Is this a positive? Or is the algorithm becoming a close comfort? We reference our own interview with Teach Us Consent founder, Chanel Contos, from 2023! And this piece in The Conversation by Rob Nicholls.

Wimbledon is banning influencers? Kind of. Wimbledon will not have any accreditation category for influencers or content creators, sparking a debate not just online but also in the Culture Club studio. 

There’s a name that hasn’t left the internet’s lips this month, and that is Stella Lefty. Her country-pop song ‘Boston’ has gone super bonkers viral and, as a result, brought about a LOT of attention. We break down the plagiarism accusations and billionaire father claims. We reference a Yahoo article by Kelsey Weekman and a review by The Guardian: Boston singer’s debut is bland, boilerplate and beyond banal.

In recommendations, Maggie loved Sterling Point while Jas recommends the new A24 movie about Anthony Bourdain, TONY.

Thanks for listening! You can follow us on Substack and YouTube as well.

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The internet's sexual beginnings, cyberfeminism, and the intersection of design, fashion and tech with author and academic Mindy Seu.

Mindy Seu is an American designer, researcher, author and one of the youngest tenured professors teaching Design Media Arts at UCLA. In 2023, Mindy published the Cyberfeminism Index. What began as a public spreadsheet on the topic of cyberfeminism evolved into a book charting three decades of online activism and net art. 

Now Mindy is touring a new project, A Sexual History of the Internet. Described as part participatory lecture-performance, part 700-page artist book, the performance traces the tangled history of our digital tools. Guests gather to explore the intertwined histories of sexuality and technological development, all while becoming active participants by reading historical citations and anecdotes aloud through a shared script delivered via Instagram Stories.

Mindy’s lectured everywhere from MoMA to Pornhub, and has been profiled in The Los Angeles Times, Dazed, Vogue, Vanity Fair, and more. Read our Substack interview with Mindy here. 

Thanks for listening to Culture Club. 

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Amazon is burning rare books, why girls are dressing up for the Dolomites, and the pros and cons of trending pregnancy bumps.

Shoutout to the state of Queensland for our slate of AI updates up top. From Australia banning AI music in the ARIA charts to Brisbane banning "smart glasses" in public pools, it's a good news week. Although, Amazon have been caught shredding rare books, so...

We reference this TikTok by 404 Media and read from Why is Anthropic destroying books? By rare books librarian Kathryn James.  

There’s been an uptick in fashion hiking content recently, with creators showing off their outfits while in the outdoors – most notably, in the Dolomites, a mountain range in Northeastern Italy. It has parts of the fashion algorithm in a tizzy, with some asking if one of the last spaces women have to not perform (when touching grass) is being capitalised on by brands and influencers. We play @_evemmore's TikTok. 

Next, dispatches from Copenhagen Fashion Week catalogued a new trend – the baby bump. We reference the Vogue Adria article Copenhagen’s trendsetters prove maternity style can be every bit as chic as it is practical by Sonja Knežević and The Tradwife Aesthetic Has Reached Copenhagen Street Style by Steph Saltzman for Fashionista. 

We also read from Baring the Bump: How Celebrities are Leading a Shift in Maternity Fashion by Ellie Violet Bramley and Inside The Unregulated World Of Pregnancy Influencers by Australian writer Madison Griffiths.

In Bookmarked, Jas recommends Rose of Nevada and Maggie recommends Nervous Laughter by Rick Morton.

Thank you to Pandora for sponsoring today's episode! You can shop the new Pandora Zodiac Talisman collection here.

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Role Model’s break-up, the ethics of auto-fiction, and how has the ‘kinda chic’ trend altered our vocabulary?

Maggie is back from her Europe trip, meaning we're back with a pop culture episode for you!

First up, Role Model and Dakota Johnson have broken up. But wait? Didn't she just feature on a song from his brand new album? Yes. Yes she did. Lena Dunham and Carly Rae Jepsen have teamed up to maximise their joint slay with a “10 Things I Hate About You” musical. Plus, Rachel Cusk’s new book is making headlines in the literary world after the main character in Life of M had some striking similarities to a famous actress. We reference this article from The Cut.

According to social media, everything is chic. But what happens when social media trends hit fever pitch and become meaningless? Earlier this month, Berlin-based fashion editor and influencer Brenda Weischer posted a Substack that picked up a lot of heat. We read from the Substack titled oh my god. we're in template slop? and another by type designer Paola Kassa titled How Typography is Making People Famous.  

We also deep dive on the word 'chic' itself and reference RIP “Chic” – The Word Has Finally Lost All Meaning by Lauren O’Neill, for British Vogue from 2025. What Is Chic? Race, Aesthetics, and the Politics of Elegance by India Low for Liverpool Guild of Students and The Slipperyness of Chic by Marie Solis for The New York Times. 

In Bookmarked, Maggie recommends the movie The Friend’s House Is Here and Jas recommends The Chronology of Water which is in Australian cinemas now. 

Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Instagram here and our Substack here. 

Jas & Mags xo 

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Why the AI bubble is bound to burst, the influence of Big Tech and the concept of ‘enshittification’ with tech journalist Cory Doctorow.

In today’s episode of Culture Club Chats, we sit down with Canadian-British author, activist, journalist and blogger Cory Doctorow.

Cory’s work at the intersection of technology and culture reached new heights following the publication of his 2025 book, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It.

The term ‘enshittification’ was coined by Cory and describes the degradation of online services and platforms like Facebook, Amazon and X in pursuit of profit. 

In this conversation, Cory unpacks why the AI bubble is bound to burst, how Big Tech has reshaped the internet, and what the future of our increasingly online lives might look like.

Cory is coming to Australia this month. He'll be at Sydney’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas from the 22nd to the 23rd of August, and Melbourne’s Now or Never Festival, presented by The Wheeler Centre, on the 25th of August. 

In Bookmarked, Cory recommends Here Where We Live Is Our Country by Molly Crabapple and Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer.

Thanks for listening - Jas & Mags xo 

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Cosy fantasy, famous fathers, and spinning fact into fiction, with author Naomi Ishiguro. Our guest today is British author Naomi Ishiguro.

She’s the author of the short story collection, Escape Routes, and the novel, Common Ground. If her name rings a bell, it could be because her dad is the Nobel Prize-winning author, Kazuo Ishiguro.

The first book from her new fantasy series, The Rainshadow Series, is now out in the world. Book one, The Rainshadow Orphans, is a cosy fantasy read blending magical whimsy with real-world political stakes.

In Bookmarked, Naomi recommends Nina Mingya Powles’ Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai and Small Bodies of Water.

Enjoy!

Follow Naomi Ishiguro here and Culture Club podcast here. 

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The history of the witch hunts, the devaluation of female power, and how to tap into your witchy side, with Good Witch author and journalist Lucianne Tonti. 

Lucianne Tonti is an Australian-based fashion expert, author, and journalist. She’s the fashion editor of The Saturday Paper, sustainability editor of ELLE Australia and a contributor to The Guardian.

In 2022, Lucianne published her award-winning book Sundressed: Natural Fibres and the Future of Fashion, which explores the garment industry and how regenerative fibre farming can help revolutionise the future of clothing. 

Now, Lucianne has written Good Witch, a brand new non-fiction book that explores how the witch hunts were the catalyst for much of what is wrong with our world today: climate change, our disconnection from nature, and the corrupt patriarchal systems we live under.

Good Witch looks back at the witch hunts that swept Europe and America in the 16, 17 and 18th centuries and explores how ‘witchy’ or ‘women’s work’ like gardening and textiles is regaining popularity in the current moment. 

We hope you enjoy this chat and if you want to see more of Lucianne's work, you can follow her on Instagram.

Watch this episode on YouTube and follow us on Substack. 

Jas & Mags xo

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This week, enjoy a bonus bumper Bookmarked episode. This is what we've enjoyed watching, reading and listening to this winter. Plus, what we're looking forward to consuming in August.

References:

Famesick by Lena Dunham 

Good Witch by Lucianna Tonti 

Hot History Podcast 

Frances Ha 

Who Is Lily Jay? The Australian influencer Accused of Using AI in Aid Videos

Australian influencer Lily Jay’s tangled web of AI manipulation

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Whistler by Ann Patchett

My Brilliant Career coming to Netflix August 13

The Invite

Let us know what you've been loving as well! Thank you for listening - Jas & Mags xo

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The rise of cool girl content, Shein’s UK rebrand, and Olivia Rodrigo’s new finance bro.

Olivia Rodrigo reportedly has a new beau and fans are talking about his "fake job". Who is the mystery man? 

In some fashion popcorn bits: Christopher Nolan banned uggs from his set, Zara has created "death" pants, and Shein has launched a brand named Musera to sell its cheap clothes without the tarred reputation. Ick. We reference Rachel Grif, Save the Planet Society and Women's Wear Daily.

In our new segment, 'Off The Record', we discuss the rise of Cool Girl Content that's flooding our algorithms at the moment. We hear from local content creator and stylist Joely Malcolm and read from Nylon's article on the new wave of Coolness titled The New Cool Looks A Lot Like Trying by Zara McIntosh and Sam Tracy. Who determines what's cool, and is it just a homogenous term for 'trend'? 

No Bookmarked this episode as we have an extended episode later this week! Stay tuned. Thanks for listening - Jas & Mags xo

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