The High Low

By Pandora Sykes and Dolly Alderton

Society & Culture

What's The High Low about?

A weekly pop-culture / news podcast brought to you by Dolly Alderton & Pandora Sykes - the former co-hosts of The Pandolly Podcast.

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An Author Special with anti...

06.19.2019

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has undertaken her 3rd hunger strike (joined by husband Richard) and ship captain Pia Klemp, who rescued drowning migrants, faces 20 years in prison. On the other end of the news spectrum, Kylie Jenner has been criticised for ...

The High Low episodes:

06.19.2019 An Author Special with anti-FGM Campaigner Nimko Ali on What We’re Told Not To Talk About Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has undertaken her 3rd hunger strike (joined by husband Richard) and ship captain Pia Klemp, who rescued drowning migrants, faces 20 years in prison. On the other end of the news spectrum, Kylie Jenner has been criticised for ...
06.11.2019 Pride Month; & the Complex Conundrum of Euthanasia Apologies for some slight sound issues this week Dolly's lost her passport and Michael Gove's nose is feeling regretful. We talk Sally Challen, humpback whales and why sleep apps could make your sleeping worse. And we deep-dive into pride month ...
06.04.2019 Should Celebrities Be Involved In Prison Reform?; & The Lunacy of Hen/Stag Season There's been a garden gnome heist and Trump's on his state visit (those are inter-connected stories, naturally.) Love Island is back - but is there any actual body diversity? We discuss Kim Kardashian-West's campaign for clemency for convicted murderer and ...
05.28.2019 What The Moby-Natalie Portman Row Reveals About Entitlement & Truth-Telling; & Are Women Without Children Happier? Dolly talks bird-feeding and rabid Game of Thrones fans who want to re-make the ending; Pandora ponders what Spice Girl merch to get her hands on; and we discuss Oxbridge's first appointment of its first black female master. In this ...
05.21.2019 Alabama's Abortion Ban; & The Trouble with Uber's New 'Silence' Mode Grumpy Cat has died and we came last (again) in Eurovision. This week Dolly's down a Doris Day content-hole and Pandora's bewitched by the Instagram account @90sanxiety. We discuss Alabama's new abortion ban - the most restrictive in the States ...
05.14.2019 The concept of ‘workism’ & Bryony Gordon on mental health in teen girls Pandora’s listened to a podcast on ‘workism’ - the idea that work is now the cornerstone of your identity - and it’s changed her life; meanwhile, Dolly’s tits deep in Doris Day nostalgia. We talk Danny Baker’s racist tweet, why ...
05.07.2019 An Author Special with Rosie Price on the effects of trauma on the mind and body The new royal baby, the Caster Semenya furore, the 'hogspital' and the proposed raise to the minimum wage - oh, and 86% of people have revealed that they are disappointed by the Mona Lisa. Sorry, Lis. Dolly's discovered tribute bands ...
04.30.2019 A Bumper Spring Book Special Welcome back to the summer term, High Lowers! We recap some news and bring you a boat load of televisual, podcast and - mainly - book recommendations. Plus, Dolly falls for the ultimate whale hoax/ocean con. Enjoy. E-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.com Tweet ...
03.27.2019 An Author Special About Navigating and Embracing Failure with Elizabeth Day We discuss Lorraine Kelly’s “performative construct”, Dolly’s piece about I’m In Trouble syndrome and what we don’t know - and need to know - about women in prison, rehabilitation and reform. And we deep-dive into perfectionism, failure and why society ...
03.20.2019 An Interview With Director Dan Reed About Leaving Neverland We ring up director Dan Reed to discuss his sensational documentary, Leaving Neverland, which is all anyone else is talking about. We deep-dive into the allegations against Michael Jackson - so long, brushed over - and what Reed's documentary teaches ...
03.11.2019 An author special with Fatima Bhutto on radicalism & what the West doesn’t understand about ISIS * PLEASE NOTE: This episode was recorded several days before it was announced that Shamima Begum's baby had died, which is why it is not discussed in this episode * This is one of the most important - and certainly ...
03.04.2019 A LIVE episode on Emma Thompson’s Open Letter & Discovering Self-Discipline We’re live from Pandora jewellery’s flagship store in London on Friday 1st March, in partnership with Ovacome for Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. Aaaand this week we bring you Emma Thompson’s open letter to The LA Times after she quit an ...
02.26.2019 Separating the Intrinsic from the Extrinsic; & An Author Special with Candice Carty-Williams The High Low turns TWO this week! Excuse us while we wallow in (the admittedly shallow) nostalgia of it all. This week we discuss the Oscars; the ongoing case of Shamima Begum’s citizenship; the Insta-tributes to Karl Lagerfeld; and the ...
02.19.2019 The Complicated Case of Shamima Begum; & Why The ‘Tortured Artist’ Debate Should Be Retired * PLEASE NOTE: This episode was recorded about 8 hours before it was announced that Shamima Begum had been denied entry back to the UK and was stripped of her British citizenship.* This week, we discuss the most flammable news ...
02.12.2019 Valentine's Day, Liam Neeson's Race Row & A Most Literary Liar We couldn't not discuss Liam Neeson's race row and The New Yorker long-read setting the publishing world alight: about best-selling novelist Dan Mallory, aka AJ Finn, who built his career on an extensive web of lies. How did it take ...
02.05.2019 Fyre Festival, Sex Education & A Bumper Book Chat We’re back! Have you missed us? Dolly’s tits-deep in her Everything I Know About Love tour (buy tickets here: faneproductions.com/dolly and the paperback is out now) and Pandora’s essay, The Authentic Lie, for independent crowd-funding publisher, The Pound Project, is ...
12.29.2018 A Pretty Daft End to 2018 It’s our favourite time of year: Betwixtmas. We hope you’re face-planted on the sofa, whilst we waltz down your ears with this end of year episode. Dolly devises a very silly quiz which sort of refers to things that happened ...
12.21.2018 A Jolly Christmas Special It’s Chriiiiiiiistmas! From cracker jokes to festive songs; Yuletide readings and actual Christmas cards from the ACTUAL ye olde mail bag; a host of Christmas surveys unpicked and the ultimate question: should a parent ever tell their kid Father Christmas ...
12.12.2018 Why We Should Be Cautious Of Banning Songs; & The Internet’s Abuse Against Women It was the week of Knickers (the cow too big for the abattoir), a Guardian long-read about poo (much to Dolly’s dismay) and Ada Hegerberg, the Norwegian Ballon d’Or winner who coolly refused to twerk. This episode, we discuss the ...
12.03.2018 A LIVE Episode on 'Emotional Labour' - The New Gas-Lighting? - & How We Discuss Our Bodies on Social Media We're back at Google's Curiosity Rooms to celebrate the launch of their Google Pixel 3 phone and we're still not over Baby Shark. On the agenda today: the zeitgeisty new buzz-phrase 'emotional labour'. What does it mean and are we ...
11.28.2018 M&S Undiesgate; Lena Dunham's Bare-All Interview; & The Missionary Killed By A Tribe The Baby Shark ear-worm; Joanna Lumley saying the word 'waz'; and the Chinese man who got so drunk on Black Friday (aka Single's Day in China) he bought a salamander and a tiny Thai pig. Oh, it's a good week ...
11.21.2018 The Curious Case of Mrs Hinch; & Comedy's Diversity Issue It was the week of the BBC's 100 Women of the Year list, Hockney's record-breaking art sale and the story of Deke Duncan, a radio jockey playing to an audience of one (Dolly's spirit animal.) On today's agenda, the 'cleanfluencer' ...
11.13.2018 Collins Word of The Year; Iceland's Banned Xmas Ad; & Why Do 46% of Men Remove Their Body Hair? It's World Kindness Day & Dolly has a beautiful poem to kick us off, whilst Pandora has a new Spotify suggestion for everyone who went nutty for French Chill. 46% of men remove their body hair, up from 36% in ...
11.07.2018 A Deep-Dive Into The Epidemic of Anxiety, with Author Olivia Sudjic From Prince George memes (@garyjanetti) to vegan abuse (last week journalist William Sitwell was sacked from the Waitrose Food magazine, for his jokes about killing vegans) via the healthiest/ unhealthiest high streets in the UK, as voted by The Royal ...
10.30.2018 We Talk Mini Skirts; Philip Green; & The Role of Injunctions in Modern Society Since we’ve been gone, Apple has added cream cheese to its emoji bagel after furious complaints (we discuss what we have on OUR bagels and spoiler alert: it’s not cream cheese, Apple); Urban Outfitters has produced an “influencer’ Halloween costume ...
10.24.2018 An Author Special with Lindsey Hilsum, On Marie Colvin and War Journalism By the time she died in Syria, in 2012, Marie Colvin was one of the world’s most renowned and courageous war correspondents. Recognised for her trademark eye patch - the consequence of a grenade in Sri Lanka, in 2001 - ...
10.16.2018 Why 1/3 of Gen Z Don’t Drink; & How Feelings Took Over The World Everyone’s talking about Kanye’s nutty meeting with Trump in The Oval Office last week; whilst Melania, in her most frank televised interview yet, described herself as the most bullied person in the world. Meanwhile, Fendi has made a £750 scarf ...
10.10.2018 Strictly’s Scandal, Johnny Depp’s GQ Cover & The Nothingburger It’s our favourite time of year: The OED have released their new admissions. Are you feeling bongga? Or are you - whisper it - just a nothingburger? We also discuss the Banksy that shredded itself; Brett Kavanaugh’s ascendancy into The ...
10.03.2018 On Brett Kavanaugh; & Why Women Can’t (And Don’t Want To) Have It All Hello October! It’s Dolly’s favourite month of the year. If she were reincarnated, says Pandora, it would be as a knee-high boot. This week we discuss MeToo’s infighting - as Asia Argento unveils a new bloody dagger tattoo aimed at ...
09.27.2018 An Author Special with The Guilty Feminist creator and host, Deborah Frances-White New Zealand PM Jacinda Arden made history when she took baby Neve to the UN Assembly in NYC this week; meanwhile, Trump made world leaders laugh out loud with his address (“that’s not what I was expecting” he replied, surprised ...
09.19.2018 Carrie Symonds & ‘the scarlet woman’; & the end of Big Brother The High Low inbox was full of people asking us to cover the media coverage of Carrie Symonds, the former Tory comms director accused of having an affair with Boris Johnson. We discuss the ‘scarlet woman’ trope, historically embodied by ...
09.12.2018 Serena Williams & Kirstie Allsopp: Why Women Aren’t Allowed To Get Angry Roxanne Pallett has been cast (and since left) Celebrity Island since our last record (exploitative, much?) and Hurricane Florence is heading towards the USA. Meanwhile, 2 more people have attempted to make bookings at The High Low hotel. Our towels ...
09.05.2018 A Bumper Back to School Book Special & Thoughts on the Roxanne Pallet Assault Allegations We’re back! We wish we were still on the sun lounger, but here we are, at your disposal - with a giant book chat of what we have enjoyed in the last month. Also today, we discuss the social media ...
08.01.2018 Is "hey guys" anti-feminist?; & why we are better people than our worst joke Jeremy Hunt forgot his wife's nationality; someone tried to book 6 hotel rooms at The High Low (us neither); & Dolly smashed a glass of wine all over CJ's recording equipment. Hola August: the summer madness has officially begun! We ...
07.25.2018 On Plane Bae; and Teaching Children About Mental Health We might be a little delayed - much like a Ryanair flight - but we got there in the end. Yup, that’s a pun; we’re talking about Plane Bae. Unfolding like a modern meet-cute, the tweet story of a ‘romance’ ...
07.18.2018 An Author Special with Yomi Adegoke & Elizabeth Uviebinené of Slay In Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible The POTUS hit the UK for his week of ridicule: the balloon; the march; the press conference and that video gone viral of Trump barging in front of the Queen. Meanwhile, Dolly discovers a new music hero (David Keenan) and ...
07.12.2018 Trump’s Baby Balloon; & Why ‘Natural’ Beauty Is A Damaging Stereotype There’s a ton of cabinet reshuffles this week and baby Trump - all 6-foot helium-filled malevolence - is flying over London. Is the balloon a meaningful protest; or is it a childish blimp that could ruin a trade agreement with ...
07.04.2018 The Dangers of Self-Deprecation; & A Deep-Dive Into ‘Nanette’ It’s the week that England broke their penalty curse; Cheryl Cole and Liam Payne broke up; Roman Polanski (yup, he who is wanted for statutory rape) sat FROW at Miu Miu; and let’s not forget! There’s a bumper session of ...
06.28.2018 Fame, Fortune and Phone Sex, with Actor and Memoirist, Gabourey Sidibe In today's episode, we discuss that jacket worn by Melania Trump whilst visiting an immigrant children's camp in Texas; Lionel Shriver's follow-up to her anti-diversity rant; Johnny Depp's bonkers Rolling Stone interview; Dolly's new favourite podcast Dear Joan and Jericha; ...
06.21.2018 Clemmie Hooper on Misogyny on Social Media; & The World Cup We speak to Clemmie Hooper - aka the midwife and influencer Mother of Daughters, who recently suspended her Instagram account after the trolling got too much - about why men and women are not equal in the eyes of social ...
06.10.2018 The Curious Tale of Anna Delvey & Love Island’s Body Problem It’s a live podcast brought to you from the Möet & Chandon Summer House, in London! This week we are discussing the story gone viral, of party-girl-fraud, Anna Delvey. Are we living through the golden age of scamming? Also today, ...
06.07.2018 Greer’s Fall From Grace; Issa Rae on Kanye; & SATC's 20 Yr Anniversary What does a trailblazer owe us? That’s a question we’re pondering this week, as we discuss actor Issa Rae’s spicy monologue on Kanye West - who many believe is betraying his black identity, in support of Trumpian conservatism - and ...
05.30.2018 Domestic is Not A Dirty Word: An Author Special With The Great American Novelist, Meg Wolitzer It’s National Biscuit Day! One of (but not the only) favourite days in Dolly’s calendar. We discuss the huge response to our segment on Ireland’s abortion referendum (they repealed!) and issue some vital corrections; natter about why we’re in the ...
05.23.2018 Ireland’s abortion referendum; and a deep-dive into the royal wedding This week, we discuss why Ireland’s proposed repeal of the 8th amendment on 25th May, is so important. We learn about Ireland’s history (from the brutal 'symphysiotomy’ procedure, to the abuse of unmarried mothers in mother and baby homes like ...
05.14.2018 A Live Episode with Google on Georgina Chapman’s Interview About Ex-Husband, Harvey Weinstein; & Cannes Selfie Ban It’s another live episode, recorded at The Old Selfridges Hotel in collaboration with Google Pixel 2. Dolly’s hungover, Pandora’s no longer pregnant - so some things have changed since our last live episode; but some things have stayed the same. ...
05.09.2018 The Rachel Divide; & Dissecting The Met Gala It’s a week of controversy: Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who says she’s black, is back in the public eye thanks to a Netflix documentary, The Rachel Divide. What trauma led to her fraudulent ‘transracial’ identity? And why does Rachel ...
05.02.2018 Kanye’s Basic Tweets; and an Author Special with Trans Activist and Writer, Juno Dawson Amber Rudd’s resignation; Mary Beard’s sparkly sneaks; Kanye’s ‘basic Plato’ tweets - oh and the news that beer goggles really DO exist. Yup, it’s just another week at The High Low. This week sees the return of the author special, ...
04.25.2018 The Duchess of Cambridge’s Problematic Post-Partum Money Shot; & Is Millie Bobby Brown Too Young for Time’s 100 list? The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to another baby prince, but all anyone’s talking about is that bouncy blow dry, that red dress and those heels - a mere 7 hours after she gave birth. Is this glamorous portrayal of ...
04.18.2018 Crediting your sources in the internet age & why we all love to hate Coachella Some excellent e-mails on voice notes in The High Low mailbag this week - turns out The HL listeners are more than a little bit obsessed with voice notes. On this week’s agenda: a butt-load of article recommendations from Pandora ...
04.12.2018 Loneliness in the young & why we should all be a bit more like Neville Southall Well, THANK YOU High Lowers - last week’s episode pushed us over 2 million downloads and up to No.3 on the iTunes podcast charts. The mailbag was also bulging this week: some helpful kind corrections; some not-so-helpful - and we’ve ...

Older episodes

The High Low

What's The High Low about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The High Low episodes:

An Author Special with anti-FGM Campaigner Nimko Ali on What We’re Told Not To Talk About

Pride Month; & the Complex Conundrum of Euthanasia

Should Celebrities Be Involved In Prison Reform?; & The Lunacy of Hen/Stag Season

What The Moby-Natalie Portman Row Reveals About Entitlement & Truth-Telling; & Are Women Without Children Happier?

Alabama's Abortion Ban; & The Trouble with Uber's New 'Silence' Mode

The concept of ‘workism’ & Bryony Gordon on mental health in teen girls

An Author Special with Rosie Price on the effects of trauma on the mind and body

A Bumper Spring Book Special

An Author Special About Navigating and Embracing Failure with Elizabeth Day

An Interview With Director Dan Reed About Leaving Neverland

An author special with Fatima Bhutto on radicalism & what the West doesn’t understand about ISIS

A LIVE episode on Emma Thompson’s Open Letter & Discovering Self-Discipline

Separating the Intrinsic from the Extrinsic; & An Author Special with Candice Carty-Williams

The Complicated Case of Shamima Begum; & Why The ‘Tortured Artist’ Debate Should Be Retired

Valentine's Day, Liam Neeson's Race Row & A Most Literary Liar

Fyre Festival, Sex Education & A Bumper Book Chat

A Pretty Daft End to 2018

A Jolly Christmas Special

Why We Should Be Cautious Of Banning Songs; & The Internet’s Abuse Against Women

A LIVE Episode on 'Emotional Labour' - The New Gas-Lighting? - & How We Discuss Our Bodies on Social Media

M&S Undiesgate; Lena Dunham's Bare-All Interview; & The Missionary Killed By A Tribe

The Curious Case of Mrs Hinch; & Comedy's Diversity Issue

Collins Word of The Year; Iceland's Banned Xmas Ad; & Why Do 46% of Men Remove Their Body Hair?

A Deep-Dive Into The Epidemic of Anxiety, with Author Olivia Sudjic

We Talk Mini Skirts; Philip Green; & The Role of Injunctions in Modern Society

An Author Special with Lindsey Hilsum, On Marie Colvin and War Journalism

Why 1/3 of Gen Z Don’t Drink; & How Feelings Took Over The World

Strictly’s Scandal, Johnny Depp’s GQ Cover & The Nothingburger

On Brett Kavanaugh; & Why Women Can’t (And Don’t Want To) Have It All

An Author Special with The Guilty Feminist creator and host, Deborah Frances-White

Carrie Symonds & ‘the scarlet woman’; & the end of Big Brother

Serena Williams & Kirstie Allsopp: Why Women Aren’t Allowed To Get Angry

A Bumper Back to School Book Special & Thoughts on the Roxanne Pallet Assault Allegations

Is "hey guys" anti-feminist?; & why we are better people than our worst joke

On Plane Bae; and Teaching Children About Mental Health

An Author Special with Yomi Adegoke & Elizabeth Uviebinené of Slay In Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible

Trump’s Baby Balloon; & Why ‘Natural’ Beauty Is A Damaging Stereotype

The Dangers of Self-Deprecation; & A Deep-Dive Into ‘Nanette’

Fame, Fortune and Phone Sex, with Actor and Memoirist, Gabourey Sidibe

Clemmie Hooper on Misogyny on Social Media; & The World Cup

The Curious Tale of Anna Delvey & Love Island’s Body Problem

Greer’s Fall From Grace; Issa Rae on Kanye; & SATC's 20 Yr Anniversary

Domestic is Not A Dirty Word: An Author Special With The Great American Novelist, Meg Wolitzer

Ireland’s abortion referendum; and a deep-dive into the royal wedding

A Live Episode with Google on Georgina Chapman’s Interview About Ex-Husband, Harvey Weinstein; & Cannes Selfie Ban

The Rachel Divide; & Dissecting The Met Gala

Kanye’s Basic Tweets; and an Author Special with Trans Activist and Writer, Juno Dawson

The Duchess of Cambridge’s Problematic Post-Partum Money Shot; & Is Millie Bobby Brown Too Young for Time’s 100 list?

Crediting your sources in the internet age & why we all love to hate Coachella

Loneliness in the young & why we should all be a bit more like Neville Southall

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