Culture Club

Hi pals, 

A conversation on TikTok is suggesting the microtrend era we’ve come to love to hate, is seemingly over. But that doesn’t mean trends are dead. 

We discuss this shift and reference fashion analyst Mandy Lee's TikTok on the subject. Underconsumption core is also trending at the moment. Will this stick around or is it just 2024's version of deinfluencing? 

Plus, when it comes to fashion influencers, should we be expecting more of them? We reference this TikTok by user Rian Phin and Viv Chen's substack The Molehill. 

Next, "fruity boys" i.e. straight men with traditionally feminine qualities, are the subject of internet discourse thanks to a Dazed article How Fruity Boys Became The New Soft Boys by Halima Jibril. We discuss their appeal, the issues with it, and the subsequent TikTok sound that's popped up in response. 

In recommendations, Maggie loved an episode of This American Life, 24 Hours at the Golden Apple while Jas enjoyed When The Collective Taste Doesn’t Include You by Corinne Fay for her fashion newsletter Big Undies. 

Chat next time! Jas & Mags xoxo

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How are we feeling, babes? 

After we spill the deets of our Book Club getaway, we dive headfirst into the week's wildest internet stories. This includes Sheer Luxe launching an AI bot as their new editor (at a time when journalists are losing jobs worldwide), and adidas pulling their latest campaign with queen, Bella Hadid. Yikes. 

Brat has been taking over our feeds but this week marks Charli XCX's foray into US politics. We discuss why nothing seems real at the moment and reference this article from Dazed by Günseli Yalcinkaya. 

We also reference a newsletter from Taylor Lorenz' substack on the Pop Craveification of breaking news. 

This week, Maggie recommends the book How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang while Jas has been loving the Working Hard, Hardly Working Business podcast by Grace Beverley.

Chat to you next time! Jas & Mags xo

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Alyssa Huynh is the Vietnamese-Australian writer you’ve most likely seen across your social media pages. With her pink aesthetic and educational text posts, Alyssa is creating anti-racism resources for the online generation. 

The writer has also just released her debut book, Safe Space, a part-memoir, part-anti-racism resource in which she shares her personal experiences with racism in Australia – including in the dating space. 

In this ep of Culture Club Chats, Alyssa discusses the model minority myth, internalised racism and what allies can do to help people of colour. 

You can follow Alyssa and her work @alyssahuynhwritings. 

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In today's ep, Jas & Mags debrief about the latest round of media redundancies that have hit ~very~ close to home.

The Devil Wears Prada looks like it's back for a sequel (good luck, Miranda) and Vogue US has appointed a Kennedy as its election political correspondent. Is this an iconic choice or good old nepotism? 

Next, we discuss Katy Perry's flop rebrand and ask if she's simply capitalising on the hyper pop train. We reference journalist Eilish Gilligan and this piece titled Why Are Mainstream Pop Stars Suddenly Getting Hyperpop Makeovers? by Kyle Munzenrieder. 

One of 2024's most viral memes has arrived in the form of Hawk Tuah. Hailey Welch has been catapulted into her 15 minutes of fame after a snippet of a TikTok street interview went super viral. We discuss this phenomenon and reference a piece by Thomas Mitchell titled From Chk-Chk-Boom to Hawk Tuah: How TikTok Transformed Street Interviews for the Sydney Morning Herald. 

We have two light-hearted recommendations this week with Jas loving A Family Affair on Netflix and Maggie reading Red, White, and Royal Blue. 

This episode is brought to you by I Want to Die But I Still Want to Eat
Tteokbokki, the sequel to the Sunday Times and international bestselling South Korean
therapy memoir by Baek Sehee.  

Chat to you next time - Jas & Mags xo

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Hi pals, 

In today's episode, we chat about Emma Robert's 'Nepo Baby' comments and Paul Mescal's latest pap shots with a certain indie musician. 

Next, do cheaters deserve to be exposed online? It's a question that was asked following the viral clip of a man on a United Airlines flight this week. We reference the article Exposing Cheaters Isn't Always A Flex by Angelina Chapin for The Cut and this TikTok. 

New friendship discourse dropped this week. What the hell is a 'medium friend' and why is the New York Times optimising friendship? And next, are people choosing their friends based on aesthetics only? That's what Dazed asked in an article by Nia Shumake. We also reference this TikTok by user Hey Miss Kelsey.

Also, have your friends ever airbrushed your social media pics? That's what happened to Manon Gilbart who wrote about it for Cosmopolitan UK. 

In recommendations, Jas enjoyed this personal essay by Victoria Spratt for Refinery29, while Maggie loved Elif Shafak's book which is out in August. 

Thank you for listening! 
Jas and Mags 

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Maggie is back from her holiday so let's get into it. 

Justin Timberlake was arrested last week and made Jas realise media literacy is DEAD. 

Next, Jas is being served 'No Sugar' videos on her TikTok. Is she alone in this or is it the next iteration of diet culture disguised as wellness? 

Pop music is dominating 2024 but not everyone agrees. We discuss two pieces with differing opinions. One is for British GQ titled How Pop Music Got Its Personality Back by Daisy Jones. The latter is for the Wall Street Journal and is titled Why Pop Music Is So ‘Meh’ Right Now by Neil Shah. We also reference an ep from Pandora Sykes' podcast Doing It Right titled How Tech Flattened Personal Taste, With Kyle Chayka. 

Charli XCX and Taylor Swift battled it out for the UK's number one album last week. We share our thoughts on whether this was intentional and reference this TikTok by pop culture journalist Eilish Gilligan and another by Zee Feed's Crystal Jane. 

In recommendations, Jas loved this debut novel while Maggie watched an animated film. 

Love you! Chat soon xo

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What doesn’t Aurelia St Clair do? The German-Cameroonian comedian, writer and podcaster has been bringing their hot takes and particular flavour of comedy to our stages and screens since their first open-mic comedy night in 2018.

With almost a million likes on TikTok, Aurelia tackles everything from suburban stereotypes, the housing crisis, and their takes on pop culture as well as sharing parts of their Melburnian life on Instagram. They’re a regular performer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival as well as Fringe Festivals in Melbourne and Sydney.

In this candid ep, we chat about navigating Australia’s male-dominated comedy scene, setting boundaries online, the capitalism of Pride month and so much more. 

Katie Zhou created our fab cover art and India Raine is our wonderful editor and composer of our jingle. Email us at [email protected], find us on Instagram @cultureclubpod, or on our personal accounts @jasmineeskye and @yemagz.

This is a DM Podcast.

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Are you feeling burnt out by "friendship admin"? 

This TikTok from author Jason Pargin got us thinking about our connectivity and how it's impacting our friendships. What are the expectations around messaging someone back? Is it normal to be available 24/7? We also reference this article from Bustle titled I Know Where You Were Last Night by Kate Lindsay which investigates the phenomenon of Find My Friends, and this episode of Figuring Out 30.

In other news, Australia is the world's largest fast fashion consumer (embarrassing) and we recommend a book and movie. 

Katie Zhou created our fab cover art and India Raine is our wonderful editor and composer of our jingle. Email us at [email protected], find us on Instagram @cultureclubpod, or on our personal accounts @jasmineeskye and @yemagz.

This is a DM Podcast.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Laura Henshaw is a co-founder of Kic, a health and wellness program that she began with her best friend, Steph Claire Smith. Since their e-book launch in 2015, Laura and Steph have created a community of millions and helped them to move and fuel their bodies with balance. 

Now, Laura is the CEO of Kic as well as having her own personal social media platform where she shares the ups and downs of her role, how she balances moving her body as well as her thoughts on relationships and (potential) children.

In this chat, we discussed Laura's journey from model to CEO, how she deals with being compared to her best friend and business partner, plus what it's like sharing so much of your life online. 

Kic and Laura have kindly offered Culture Club listeners a one-month Kic membership for free! Use the code CULTURECLUB when purchasing a one-month membership to access. 

You can follow Laura @laura.henshaw on Instagram and TikTok.

This is a DM podcast.

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Australian Fashion Week hit Sydney last week and the industry, TikTok and punters have thoughts... 

We take a deep dive into the ~discourse~ around fashion week shenanigans, and Maggie shares her personal experience of being on ground. We reference TikToks by creators Joely Malcolm and Carmen Azzopardi, Refinery29 Australia and recommend watching this video by Abby Butler.

We also reference this piece by Crystal Andrews titled The Unsexy But Necessary Way To Ensure A Truly Diverse Fashion Week. 

Next, we chat about book clubs. Are they inspired by the rise in celebrity book-inspo we've seen? We reference this piece by The Cut titled Why Does Every Famous Woman Have a Book Club Now? 

In recommendations, Maggie recommends The Honeyeater by Jessie Tu while Jas recommends Why Members-Only Clubs Are Everywhere Right Now by Emily Sundberg for GQ. 

At the top of the episode, we share some events we're attending in the coming weeks. They include the Bridgerton Queen's Ball and an evening with Dr. Jane Goodall, live in Melbourne. Hopefully see you there! 

Katie Zhou created our fab cover art and India Raine is our wonderful editor and composer of our jingle. Email us at [email protected], find us on Instagram @cultureclubpod, or on our personal accounts @jasmineeskye and @yemagz.

This is a DM Podcast.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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