If there's one scapegoat the government loves to roll out when it's doing poorly, it's the benefits thief. This imaginary person uses loopholes and caveats to steal tax money to buy themselves tellies and holidays in Lanzarote. In the UK, the new-ish-ly elected Labour party has announced new budget reforms that plays into this trope with an especially sinister new edge - tightening the pursestrings of the benefit system specifically against disabled people.

In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina break down what's actually being proposed by our Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the need to work being framed as life's purpose and the ableism that has always been inherent in capitalist society.

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Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!

Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!

A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians.

Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. 

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

You must've seen some form of this morning routine on your feed in the last six months: A woman removing a chin strap, mouth tape, sheet mask, lip stain, silk bonnet, heatless curling rod and/or nose magnets with a caption explaining how 'the morning shed' saves them time, helps regulate breathing and, ‘most importantly’, aids the de-aging process.

While we thought we were past the point of portraying skincare as self love, this week our hosts Ione and Gina try out the morning shed for themselves and report back on whether the trend is a bit of fun, actually useful, a load of bollocks or a lie in and of itself.

Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3

Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!

Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!

A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians.

Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. 

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

Pass me my moustache print mug and 3D glasses with the lenses popped out because millennial cringe is finally being lauded online. The latest meme du jour - 'I would be a great millennial. I was born to write Buzzfeed quizzes and listen to Ke$ha' - has been a beacon of light in a social media landscape previously used to bully milliennials at every chance.

This week, hosts Ione and Gina look at the past, present and future of millennial nostalgia, how Lena Dunham's Girls is recontextualising the early 2010s and why hipsters don't exist anymore.

Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3

Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!

Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!

A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians.

Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. 

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

To celebrate the release of Gina's memoir Greedy Guts, this episode hosts Ione and Gina get to grips with the current state of fat liberation. Is body positivity too commodified to be salvageable? Are people scared of fatness due to lingering Covid scaremongering resentment? Will GLP-1 injections end fat existence entirely?

Join Ione and Gina as they reckon with what it means to be fat in what is potentially the most fatphobic time to be alive in history.

Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3

Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!

Order Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!

A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians.

Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. 

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

In a new interview, singer songwriter Sam Fender claimed he understood why young white men from Northern towns are being radicalised by misogynist social media influencers like Andrew Tate - it's because they're being accused of having privilege. In similarly convoluted language, Novara Media has rage baited the nation by releasing content claiming Woke Is Dead to promote Ash Sarkar's new book that includes questions on the effectiveness of identity politics.

All in all, it feels like the left is turning its back on being societally progressive in order to win click bait points in the culture war and in this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina ask why leftist figureheads are so happy to sell out their marginalised comrades in favour of media attention.

Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3

Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!

Preorder Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!

A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians.

Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. 

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

At the start of this month Bianca Censori and her husband Kanye West courted controversy at the 67th Grammy Awards with a stunt that they've become fairly renowned for - brazen female nudity. The act got them allegedly kicked out of the award show and made waves across social media as many rushed to put words into the notoriously mute Bianca's mouth. Across the board, people wonder publicly if Kanye's wife is a a victim of coercive abuse or a performance artist in her own right.

In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina explore Bianca's backstory, get to grips with the repercussions of assigning someone as an abuse victim without their input and question what it is precisely about Bianca's styling choices that inspire such extreme reactions from the press and the public.

Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3

Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!

Preorder Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!

A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians.

Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. 

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

Each week we are greeted with new flash photos of Young Republicans celebrating, Trump government rulings, and regressive Conservatives embracing their right to say slurs as often as they can. But why are our left leaning peers, Oscar winning movies and Twitter pals using the R word so casually too?

This week, hosts Ione and Gina dissect the politics of language, the pendulum swing to being anti-Woke and why everyone feeling apathetic about the impact of slurs needs to take a good, long, hard look at themselves.

Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3

Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!

Preorder Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!

A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians.

Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. 

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

In the midst of Trump causing high hell for everything he can regarding reproductive rights Stateside, one birth announcement caused massive controversy on the grid - a post by Lily Collins and Charlie McDowell welcoming their daughter to the world via a surrogate mother.

Twitter users went wild on both sides of the coin; one half defending the couple's right to surrogacy, referencing queer families and infertility as reasons that this method of childbirth is an inherent right, the other asking why any of us feel entitled to having kids, especially at the cost of using another person's body to make it happen. In this week's episode hosts Ione and Gina dig deep into the process of surrogacy, the morality behind reproduction as well as the reasons why this conversation is coming up in our current political climate.

Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3

Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!

Preorder Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!

A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians.

Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. 

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

There's been two OnlyFans stars absolutely dominating (not literally, actually) the UK tabloid headlines, Twitter trending topics bar and the girls' group chats in the past eight weeks, and their names are Bonnie Blue and Lily Phillips. The latter kicked off December's discourse by starring in a YouTube documentary about having sex with 100 men in a day while the former stole the show by live-blogging her own sex marathon, shagging 1000 blokes in 24 hours.

The acts have led to condemnations across the board from SWerfs and incels to the alt right and This Morning hosts. Should we be worried about what acts like these mean for female objectification? Why is everyone only worried about the ramifications of sex work when middle class, white women do it? And why do we suddenly believe all porn is real?

Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3

Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!

Preorder Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!

A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians.

Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. 

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

In a stark contrast to Trump's first inauguration as president in 2016, this month's event became a showcase for fashion houses wanting to dress the Republican party's top ladies. Not only that, but the fashion press and style influencers took to Instagram stories and long read columns to praise the looks presented throughout the festivities.

In this week's episode, Ione and Gina analyse how irony fuelled style choices led us to open acceptance of fascist leaders in the fashion industry, what sartorial celebration of the alt right signifies and why we should be extra wary of sharing Melania Hamburglar memes.

Support our work and become a Polyester Podcast member <3

Order Ione's book, Poor Little Sick Girls, here!

Preorder Gina's book, Greedy Guts, here!

A statement by journalists: We condemn Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and urge integrity in Western media coverage of Israel's atrocities against Palestinians.

Have an opinion and want to be featured on an upcoming episode? We want to leave from YOU! Leave a review, send us your thoughts on this episode to ione@polyesterzine, or drop us a DM on Instagram. 

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