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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LAST EPISODE

Why Moments of Insanity Are...

05.26.2020

Did you know there is a word in German for 'social distancing whilst wearing swimming pool noodles as a hat'? We're sceptical, but charmed. As the heaviness weighs on many of you, we have a batch of podcasts, books, articles ...

The High Low episodes:

05.26.2020 Why Moments of Insanity Are Part of Keeping Sane; And The Worrying Increase in Lockdown Mullets Did you know there is a word in German for 'social distancing whilst wearing swimming pool noodles as a hat'? We're sceptical, but charmed. As the heaviness weighs on many of you, we have a batch of podcasts, books, articles ...
05.19.2020 'Seksbuddies', Robert Pattinson's pasta & information overload It's a pot noodle of an episode this week. From our favourite pandemic stories around the globe - selected especially to cheer you up - to a bunch of recommendations, a deep-dive into the way we metabolise information now, and ...
05.12.2020 Cottagecore, Covidism & Other Lockdown Theories; Plus, An Author Special with Samantha Irby Today we discuss the surprising lockdown sales boom, an animal fact and a few new pandemic lifestyle theories. Just another episode of The High Low, then. We also ring up Samatha Irby in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to discuss her hilarious new ...
05.05.2020 Are Your Book Shelves A Reflection of Your Character - Or Your Curiosity? This week we discuss what your books on your bookshelf say about you, the new lockdown lingo (are you drinking furlough merlot?), whether lockdown telly might have reached its apex, and the concept of heteropessimism. You can e-mail thehighlowshow@gmail.com and ...
04.28.2020 The Micro-Trends of Lockdown & The Wonder That Is The Quarantucci Thank you for bearing with us. We weren't able to bring you an episode last week for personal reasons, but we will try and make it up to you today - starting with a BIG apology to Lizzo for saying ...
04.14.2020 An Author Special with Holly Bourne & The Problem With Tiger King It's Week 4 of lockdown and we hope all you cats and kittens are doing okay. Sorry - blame Carole Baskin. We've been watching Tiger King and eesh, do we feel icky. We discuss why that is and why streamed ...
04.10.2020 An Extra Easter Treat & The Return of Ask The High Low It's been a rough few weeks so we thought we'd bring you an extra episode for the long Easter weekend. Lots more culture reccs and more thoughts on lockdown life (with a belated shout out to Madonna's Instagram page.) We've ...
04.07.2020 A Bumper Back To School Special What a time to be alive. It feels like we've all aged a decade since our last episode under 4 months ago. Today we discuss lockdown life - what we're wearing; eating; meme-ing - and recommend a plethora of articles, ...
12.17.2019 A Christmas Special with Joan and Jericha Oodles of cracker jokes, festive Dolls polls, jolly songs and weird Christmas facts; and Dolly pays a snowy visit to everyone’s favourite filthy agony aunts, Joan and Jericha for their first EVER audio interview. Their top tip for Christmas? A ...
12.10.2019 Does A Slogan Tee Have The Power To Offend? The High Low has launched merch! Roll up, roll up: berets, sweaters, t-shirts, tote bags and notepads are on sale at www.thehighlowshop.com and 10% of all profits go to Women's Aid. Order by December 18th to get your goodies in ...
12.03.2019 Why Mental Health Is Nothing To Do With Wellness, with Author Bella Mackie We talk perineum sunning, Christmas tree erection, global idioms and polygraphs. And we host the journalist and author of Jog On: How Running Saved My Life and The Jog On Journal, Bella Mackie, to discuss mental health, running and why ...
11.25.2019 What Women Want: The Rise and Fall of Victoria's Secret This week we discuss the party leaders Question Time, the tragic murder of Grace Millane (and what we have learned and still need to learn about BDSM), the incredible documentary that is For Sama and the upcoming shortage of middle-class ...
11.20.2019 What Was He Thinking? Prince Andrew's Car Crash Interview Dolly goes wild for Rod's railway, whilst Pandora decides to spend her upcoming maternity leave at the world's first vagina museum. Plus: Gregg's diet donut, the cassette tape revival and Nan Goldin's protest against the Sackler family. And of course, ...
11.12.2019 Megan Phelps-Roper On Leaving The Westboro Baptist Church, AKA 'America's Most Hated Family' We talk about rapper T.I.'s incredibly creepy confession that he gets his teenager daughter's hymen checked every year, what 'shitposting' really means and Emma Watson's re-naming of singledom as 'self-parternering'. And of course: there are some updates in the now ...
11.05.2019 Obama on Wokeness & Our Love for Modern Love <3 This week we discuss Snapchat dysmorphia, the data-collection of period-tracking apps and why Dolly wants to shag Autumn. Also today we discuss Obama's speech-gone-viral on wokeness - which wasn't really about wokeness but on seeking not to shame, or humiliate ...
10.31.2019 Soft Ghosting, Driving Lessons & An Author Special with Louise Callaghan on The Zookeeper That Defied ISIS We've got facts about sloths, sea turtles and rats that drive cars. We also discuss the new terms we've learned this week - 'soft ghosting' and 'gradualism' - and Harvey Weinstein's appearance at a showcase for emerging comics. Our author ...
10.22.2019 It's An Omnishambles! Our Fave New Words To Be Added To The OED We discuss Extinction Rebellion, Meghan and Harry's African tour documentary for ITV and Deborah Orr, the brilliant journalist who sadly died this week. And it's our favourite time of year: that time when The OED adds its new words into ...
10.15.2019 We've Only Gone And Done It: A Deep-Dive Into Wagatha Christie The chicken nugget Reddit scandal and our favourite polls from the week including what is no longer selling in shops (drones and suspenders) and what not to say on a date. And of course, it's the Wagatha Christie scandal. Coleen ...
10.07.2019 Prince Harry's Letter To The Tabloids; & Do Brits Spend Money On Being Polite? It's a big week for the food chains: Pizza Express - every millennial's favourite nostalgic restaurant - is in chronic debt; and Rory Stewart has pledged allegiance to Pret. We talk loos and why women spend 2.3 times as long ...
10.01.2019 An Author Special With Drag Queen Amrou Al-Kadhi Greta Thunberg gave an emotional speech at the UN Climate Summit in NYC, Sally Challen did her first video interview about emotional abuse and coercive control to Sky News since she was cleared of murdering her husband in July and ...
09.24.2019 Digital Etiquette (& Why We Need It); & Male Vs Female Vanity It’s a riot of celebrity news this week: Madonna, J-Lo and Brad n Leo’s sarnie dates. Whole gang’s here. Plus: Mark Ronson’s sapiosexuality, Fleabag’s Emmy sweep, Thomas Cook’s crash and Justin Trudeau’s blackface scandal. Also this week: we discuss male ...
09.17.2019 She Said; Once Upon A Time In Hollywood; & The Personal Essay That 'Broke' The Internet It's always good to start with a jolly, and this time we've found a woman who wore a dinosaur costume to her sister's wedding. Also today, we play a clip from Chanel Miller, the "Emily Doe" of the Brock Turner ...
09.10.2019 An Author Special on Being The Other Mother with Comedian Jen Brister Dolly's found an emotional support horse called Flirty; Pandora is in love with a Twitter thread about what it was really like to work in HMV. And - gird your loins - Thatcher Wine has done his FIRST INTERVIEW. It's ...
09.03.2019 A Bumper Back To School Book Special Hello High Lowers! Sharpen your pencils, the heat wave is over and a new school term is upon us. We cover some of the news stories of the summer plus our favourite bonkers surveys, including a shockingly disgusting underpants poll ...
07.29.2019 Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Style Guide; & On Young People Not Watching The News on TV Have you survived the heat wave? HAVE YOU? This week, Dolly discovers a woman who loves a chandelier, Jared O’Mara resigns after assault charges and his press chief sensationally quit via Jared’s own Twitter, and justice is served as the ...
07.23.2019 Instagram's Proposed Removal of The 'Like' Counter; & Why Are We So Obsessed With Other People's Process? Ding dong the BoJo's in. Duuuuuude. This week: curry seagull; the controversial Cats trailer; and why Ireland's 8th amendment might have been repealed - but is far from what has been legally mandated. And on today’s agenda, we delve into ...
07.15.2019 An Author Special with The One, The Only, The National Treasure: David Nicholls Westminster rules in favour of gay marriage and abortion rights in Northern Ireland, former EDL leader Tommy Robinson is sentenced to 9 months in prison (and banned from YouTube), a man dressed in a gimp suit terrorises the people of ...
07.09.2019 Meghan & Harry's Godparent Privacy Furore; And What Makes A True Eccentric? Glasto's been and gone and the USA won the Women's World Cup - as the crowd began chanting "equal pay, equal pay." This week we cover the latest royal storm in a bone-china teacup, as Prince Harry and the Duchess ...
07.02.2019 Debunking Wellness Myths with Is Butter A Carb? Authors, Rosie Saunt & Helen West We're recording this in advance, so no news update this week but a bunch of reccs and an author special! Do you swear by your daily turmeric latte? Are you a celery juice fanatic? From placenta pills to kombucha, the ...
06.25.2019 EPISODE 100 Why Do Brits Hate Other Brits Abroad? & The Influencer Engagement #Sponcon Furore ‘Twas the week of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds’ sofa row, the ‘tube pusher’ is charged with attempted murder and the president of Colombia warns against the hypocrisy of the “woke who do coke”. Dolly’s obsessed with Pink Gin Lady ...
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 ...

Older episodes

The High Low

What's The High Low about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The High Low episodes:

Why Moments of Insanity Are Part of Keeping Sane; And The Worrying Increase in Lockdown Mullets

'Seksbuddies', Robert Pattinson's pasta & information overload

Cottagecore, Covidism & Other Lockdown Theories; Plus, An Author Special with Samantha Irby

Are Your Book Shelves A Reflection of Your Character - Or Your Curiosity?

The Micro-Trends of Lockdown & The Wonder That Is The Quarantucci

An Author Special with Holly Bourne & The Problem With Tiger King

An Extra Easter Treat & The Return of Ask The High Low

A Bumper Back To School Special

A Christmas Special with Joan and Jericha

Does A Slogan Tee Have The Power To Offend?

Why Mental Health Is Nothing To Do With Wellness, with Author Bella Mackie

What Women Want: The Rise and Fall of Victoria's Secret

What Was He Thinking? Prince Andrew's Car Crash Interview

Megan Phelps-Roper On Leaving The Westboro Baptist Church, AKA 'America's Most Hated Family'

Obama on Wokeness & Our Love for Modern Love <3

Soft Ghosting, Driving Lessons & An Author Special with Louise Callaghan on The Zookeeper That Defied ISIS

It's An Omnishambles! Our Fave New Words To Be Added To The OED

We've Only Gone And Done It: A Deep-Dive Into Wagatha Christie

Prince Harry's Letter To The Tabloids; & Do Brits Spend Money On Being Polite?

An Author Special With Drag Queen Amrou Al-Kadhi

Digital Etiquette (& Why We Need It); & Male Vs Female Vanity

She Said; Once Upon A Time In Hollywood; & The Personal Essay That 'Broke' The Internet

An Author Special on Being The Other Mother with Comedian Jen Brister

A Bumper Back To School Book Special

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Style Guide; & On Young People Not Watching The News on TV

Instagram's Proposed Removal of The 'Like' Counter; & Why Are We So Obsessed With Other People's Process?

An Author Special with The One, The Only, The National Treasure: David Nicholls

Meghan & Harry's Godparent Privacy Furore; And What Makes A True Eccentric?

Debunking Wellness Myths with Is Butter A Carb? Authors, Rosie Saunt & Helen West

*EPISODE 100* Why Do Brits Hate Other Brits Abroad? & The Influencer Engagement #Sponcon Furore

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

Other shows like The High Low:

EPISODE 100 Why Do Brits Hate Other Brits Abroad? & The Influencer Engagement #Sponcon Furore