Happy Friday (following the longest week of 2024).

First up, artist and poet James Massiah has claimed that bestselling author Coco Mellors (Blue Sisters) brazenly based one of her characters on him. Beth, Ruchira and Oenone dig into the story and ask: just how much can artists borrow from real life, especially when inspiration comes from people around them? 

Also, would you sign up for an influencer academy? A New York Times feature dives into influencer Valeria Lipovetsky's new and exclusive scheme that promises to help budding influencers break into the industry. Is it a scam or a savvy business idea for everyone involved?

And finally, a "global gender divide" is sweeping the world, as experts warn that more and more young men are voting right, as young women vote progressively. A political split is widening between the two everywhere from the UK, to South Korea and Tunisia. Are we f****d as a society? 

Thank you so much for listening to us. We love every single person who blasts us in their ears - especially those who follow us and gift us a 5* on their podcast app. 

----------- 

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/760838/fundamentally-by-nussaibah-younis/

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/17/movies/anora-review.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b0b7r2k6/mortimer-whitehouse-gone-fishing 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/nov/04/london-poet-accuses-author-coco-mellors-of-basing-blue-sisters-character-on-him

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-person

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/what-it-felt-like-when-cat-person-went-viral

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/26/style/influencer-creator-method-valeria-lipovetsky.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/exit-polls 

https://cawp.rutgers.edu/gender-gap-voting-choices-presidential-elections 

https://www.ft.com/content/29fd9b5c-2f35-41bf-9d4c-994db4e12998

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.