Culture Club

A new season means a new Troye Sivan track, and we are sat for the medieval music video that came with it. We reference Gladys Lai's trend piece for Vogue Australia on the rise of the Renaissance Fair. Plus, Lena Dunham is officially Mother, having had a baby via surrogate.
In culture's biggest story of the week, Ed Sheeran is in strife after bowing to stadium owners and dropping Macklemore from his tour. We chart the story and dissect how Ed being Mr Nice Guy contributed to the controversy.
Sydney Sweeney is once again the face of a hugely controversial advert, having posed nude for sports prediction company Novig. Are we surprised? We read from an op-ed by Marina Hyde for The Guardian.
Next, it's apparently the year of the intellectual influencer. Dazed's Laura Pitcher wrote about the phenomenon happening on our algorithms, and we dissect why people are craving education on reels (hint: it's that damn phone).
We have a spring bumper Bookmarked coming to your podcast feeds later this week, so stay tuned for that!
Thank you for listening - Jas & Mags xo
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Wimbledon bans influencers, Australia might be opting out of social media algorithms, and unpacking the Stella Lefty nepo pop-star drama.
First up: Current SNL cast member Veronika Slowikowska (AKA Veronka is Cool) revealed a new singing project: Me As A Girl. Even local sleuth, Triple J presenter Abby Butler, made a TikTok on the subject.
Next, Nathan Fielder has made a documentary about Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes. We reference this Vanity Fair feature.
In world-breaking news, Australia might be the first to switch off social media algorithms. Thanks to the campaigning of local not-for-profit, Teach Us Consent, the Australian government may encourage an "opt-in" algorithm. Is this a positive? Or is the algorithm becoming a close comfort? We reference our own interview with Teach Us Consent founder, Chanel Contos, from 2023! And this piece in The Conversation by Rob Nicholls.
Wimbledon is banning influencers? Kind of. Wimbledon will not have any accreditation category for influencers or content creators, sparking a debate not just online but also in the Culture Club studio.
There’s a name that hasn’t left the internet’s lips this month, and that is Stella Lefty. Her country-pop song ‘Boston’ has gone super bonkers viral and, as a result, brought about a LOT of attention. We break down the plagiarism accusations and billionaire father claims. We reference a Yahoo article by Kelsey Weekman and a review by The Guardian: Boston singer’s debut is bland, boilerplate and beyond banal.
In recommendations, Maggie loved Sterling Point while Jas recommends the new A24 movie about Anthony Bourdain, TONY.
Thanks for listening! You can follow us on Substack and YouTube as well.
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The internet's sexual beginnings, cyberfeminism, and the intersection of design, fashion and tech with author and academic Mindy Seu.
Mindy Seu is an American designer, researcher, author and one of the youngest tenured professors teaching Design Media Arts at UCLA. In 2023, Mindy published the Cyberfeminism Index. What began as a public spreadsheet on the topic of cyberfeminism evolved into a book charting three decades of online activism and net art.
Now Mindy is touring a new project, A Sexual History of the Internet. Described as part participatory lecture-performance, part 700-page artist book, the performance traces the tangled history of our digital tools. Guests gather to explore the intertwined histories of sexuality and technological development, all while becoming active participants by reading historical citations and anecdotes aloud through a shared script delivered via Instagram Stories.
Mindy’s lectured everywhere from MoMA to Pornhub, and has been profiled in The Los Angeles Times, Dazed, Vogue, Vanity Fair, and more. Read our Substack interview with Mindy here.
Thanks for listening to Culture Club.
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Amazon is burning rare books, why girls are dressing up for the Dolomites, and the pros and cons of trending pregnancy bumps.
Shoutout to the state of Queensland for our slate of AI updates up top. From Australia banning AI music in the ARIA charts to Brisbane banning "smart glasses" in public pools, it's a good news week. Although, Amazon have been caught shredding rare books, so...
We reference this TikTok by 404 Media and read from Why is Anthropic destroying books? By rare books librarian Kathryn James.
There’s been an uptick in fashion hiking content recently, with creators showing off their outfits while in the outdoors – most notably, in the Dolomites, a mountain range in Northeastern Italy. It has parts of the fashion algorithm in a tizzy, with some asking if one of the last spaces women have to not perform (when touching grass) is being capitalised on by brands and influencers. We play @_evemmore's TikTok.
Next, dispatches from Copenhagen Fashion Week catalogued a new trend – the baby bump. We reference the Vogue Adria article Copenhagen’s trendsetters prove maternity style can be every bit as chic as it is practical by Sonja Knežević and The Tradwife Aesthetic Has Reached Copenhagen Street Style by Steph Saltzman for Fashionista.
We also read from Baring the Bump: How Celebrities are Leading a Shift in Maternity Fashion by Ellie Violet Bramley and Inside The Unregulated World Of Pregnancy Influencers by Australian writer Madison Griffiths.
In Bookmarked, Jas recommends Rose of Nevada and Maggie recommends Nervous Laughter by Rick Morton.
Thank you to Pandora for sponsoring today's episode! You can shop the new Pandora Zodiac Talisman collection here.
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Role Model’s break-up, the ethics of auto-fiction, and how has the ‘kinda chic’ trend altered our vocabulary?
Maggie is back from her Europe trip, meaning we're back with a pop culture episode for you!
First up, Role Model and Dakota Johnson have broken up. But wait? Didn't she just feature on a song from his brand new album? Yes. Yes she did. Lena Dunham and Carly Rae Jepsen have teamed up to maximise their joint slay with a “10 Things I Hate About You” musical. Plus, Rachel Cusk’s new book is making headlines in the literary world after the main character in Life of M had some striking similarities to a famous actress. We reference this article from The Cut.
According to social media, everything is chic. But what happens when social media trends hit fever pitch and become meaningless? Earlier this month, Berlin-based fashion editor and influencer Brenda Weischer posted a Substack that picked up a lot of heat. We read from the Substack titled oh my god. we're in template slop? and another by type designer Paola Kassa titled How Typography is Making People Famous.
We also deep dive on the word 'chic' itself and reference RIP “Chic” – The Word Has Finally Lost All Meaning by Lauren O’Neill, for British Vogue from 2025. What Is Chic? Race, Aesthetics, and the Politics of Elegance by India Low for Liverpool Guild of Students and The Slipperyness of Chic by Marie Solis for The New York Times.
In Bookmarked, Maggie recommends the movie The Friend’s House Is Here and Jas recommends The Chronology of Water which is in Australian cinemas now.
Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Instagram here and our Substack here.

Jas & Mags xo
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