Boy, do we have a bumper bank holiday episode for you this week!!! We stay a little bit longer on the mic to discuss: 

 * Rivals - the Hulu adaptation of Jilly Cooper's bonkbusting Rutshire Chronicles 
 * Netflix's Should I Marry a Murderer and the gendered nature of true crime consumption
 * A forgotten literary gothic horror gem, restored by Persephone Books in Bath, and method writing (like method acting but for creative writing!)
 * And the Financial Times article published this week about cycle syncing in the workplace. You won't believe the comments section... 



If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, subscribe and share - as it helps others find the pod :-) 

Passion in Hulu's Rivals, Peril in True Crime & Periods in the Workplace (plus Persephone Books!) 

This week: Charlie and Clementine talk The Devil Wears Prada 2, the slow erosion of quality (or the enshitification of absolutely everything), the tech bro colonisation of the Met Gala, how this new Vogue era is reputation-laundering billionaires, how Vogue is reputation-laundering billionaires, and what the magazine's future might look like - as well as Lena Dunham’s new memoir, Famesick. 

Disclaimer: If you enjoy podcasts that sound like they were recorded inside an acoustically challenged biscuit tin, this one’s for you. The audio quality this time is not perfect but we're saying it's part of the indie, lo-fi aesthetic okay!!! Maybe squint with your ears a little on this one.



Miranda Priestly, the Met Gala & a New Memoir by Lena Dunham 

We're back! And this week, we get into why the past is having such a moment. Charlie unpacks the rise of imperial nostalgia, as politics and pop culture keep circling back to airbrushed versions of what came before. 

From there, Clementine gets into the hyperreal chaos of HBO's Euphoria, Series one and two saw Gen Z's coming-of-age play out in full view, with nothing softened and very little spared. With series three back, we're dropped straight into it: growing up online, under constant scrutiny. 

And finally, Charlie makes the case for Zara Larsson as a role model for young women and girls - and explains why her version of fame feels refreshingly wholesome.

Imperial Nostalgia, Internet Adolescence in HBO's Euphoria & the Ideal of Zara Larsson

On our very first episode on Notes App Correspondents, we take on Coachella, global unrest, TikTok militarism, film theory, and the Vatican (and yes, they do all belong in the same conversation!)

Charlie gets into:

 * Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber at Coachella — spectacle and the lack thereof
 * Ireland’s fuel protests and motorway shutdowns — and why Britain’s barely talking about it
 * The Navy SEAL TikTok trend — meme-ified militarism?! 

Meanwhile, Clementine breaks down:

 * Male gaze vs female gaze — and how Sabrina complicates both 
 * The Trump-Leo showdown — and what it says about where power sits in 2026

If you liked the show, please do consider rating, reviewing, subscribing, and sharing - as it helps others find the show :-) 

Pop Stars, Popes, Protests & Propaganda

Two journalists take on culture and current affairs