Culture Club - Harry Styles’ Taxi Cab Theory, Meryl Streep’s Money Advice & Rebel Wilson’s Court Case

00:00:00.000 Harry Styles' taxicab engagement theory, the latest on Rebel Wilson's lawsuits, and Meryl

00:00:10.220 Streep's pay rise energy. I'm Maggie Zhao. And I'm Jasmine Wallace. And you're listening

00:00:14.840 to Culture Club, where two writers and editors chat about pop culture, current affairs, the

00:00:19.800 internet and our lives. Today we're on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people

00:00:23.860 of the Kulin Nations. We would like to pay our respects to elders past and present and

00:00:28.420 extend this to any aboriginal or torres strait islander listeners today

00:00:32.000 long time no see max we actually saw each other almost 12 hours ago we said goodbye at midnight

00:00:41.760 so was that midnight it was midnight yes we actually hosted a panel uh last night it was

00:00:47.880 at a very cool it was called le club and it was like this like cabaret jazz thing and we had

00:00:52.760 alice harris who is a social media specialist working at on the house at the moment and we

00:01:00.020 had a lot of fun and we had a lot of drinks cocktails cocktails and martinis it was so fun

00:01:07.240 yeah host the panel as part of the rise conference that's happening in melbourne

00:01:10.660 this week so it's so nice to meet some listeners and to chat in person with everyone it was great

00:01:17.040 this is actually one of my first ever hangovers like i can probably count the hangovers i've ever

00:01:21.340 had in one hand because this didn't usually affect me but I did I did not drink enough water

00:01:26.740 the cocktails are strong it's all lighting me on the tram this morning I was like and me

00:01:32.320 I love I got like a message from you this morning that was like love you hope you're feeling okay

00:01:37.340 or like hope you're going all right and I replied to it being like do you mean hungover and I was

00:01:42.120 like yeah I was like I could tell like your fragile energy just from like your message to me

00:01:48.040 i was like i felt a bit dusty but i was like okay no and i was like i like yelled at tom first thing

00:01:52.380 in the morning it was like everything was too loud like i was like oh my god oh no terrible

00:01:57.720 terrible but we're bringing the energy today regardless first up we have to talk about harry

00:02:04.020 styles and zoe kravitz i want to call it an alleged engagement me too yeah we haven't even

00:02:10.280 like a message about this i felt no impulse to even post about it on culture club socials at

00:02:16.100 first i was like i should it's like a chore i was like oh i should post about harry styles and zoe

00:02:20.720 kravitz like post paparazzi shots and then i was like i actually don't care well at first i was

00:02:25.720 like how lecklasser and anticlimactic was it it was these ugly blurry pap photos and then you just

00:02:32.920 see there's like a over it's an overblown photo it's zoomed in quite a bit so it's quite pixelated

00:02:37.960 and it's like zoe kravitz's hand with like this massive rock that's like off to the side yeah i

00:02:43.440 like is this real but i don't see harry styles and so like how it's like making a post about it

00:02:48.180 because i feel like both their instagrams are very professional like it's just photos from like

00:02:52.600 press tours and stuff versus like their day-to-day yeah but it just felt like i don't know why i

00:02:58.560 just didn't it just felt wrong it just didn't feel right also it was just such a big ring i

00:03:04.260 think that's one of the big things that's throwing me off because i feel like it's not in either of

00:03:08.300 their styles to go something so like gaudy almost yes again I've literally not seen a close-up photo

00:03:14.820 I'm just seeing this like really blurry like hand in my head well people did actually think it was

00:03:19.660 a PR stunt at first because Zoe is an ambassador for Jessica McCormack which is a jewelry line

00:03:25.120 so at first when the paparazzi shots came out people thought no this is just like a PR stunt

00:03:29.160 it's just an ad for this ring and jeweler but a source has since revealed to People magazine

00:03:34.740 that it is true yeah and like I get it and this is how it works you know you don't want the couple

00:03:40.740 in question to be going to the press about it that would feel weird but sources always just

00:03:45.560 feel so distant or like fake because obviously we're not getting the name and like even without

00:03:50.900 reading the quote I can imagine what a quote about this would read it would be something like

00:03:54.900 they are just so happy in their love bubble at the moment and they just couldn't wait and we're

00:03:59.960 just very happy for them you know what I mean like nothing. A lot of fans are also talking about the

00:04:05.460 fact that they have only been together for eight months so they were first spotted walking arm in

00:04:10.900 arm through Rome in August 2025. That was so recent I still remember that and I think the

00:04:18.580 other thing that's throwing me off about this engagement is Zoe Kravitz has been engaged now

00:04:22.600 for the third time in a very short period of time like she is a forever fiance. She was a wife at 0.58

00:04:29.460 one point oh for you i forgot about that she got engaged to the actor carl glisman in february 2018

00:04:34.600 and they were actually married from 2019 to 2021 and then she was engaged to channing tatum and

00:04:42.240 that was from october 2023 to october 2024 that is a quite short turnaround and i can't and like

00:04:50.020 that's no judgment and i get it i was talking to tom about this and he's like yeah like you make

00:04:54.000 sense like yes Zoe Kravitz would be getting proposed to all the time for sure like yeah

00:04:59.160 what a woman what a woman but the fact that she's accepting so many I'm like no good for her yeah 0.63

00:05:05.700 but I mean the deep connection she can form at in such a short period it's amazing like like she's

00:05:11.540 kind of she's got some spell going on totally she's incredible going back to Harry Styles though

00:05:16.560 earlier this year Harry actually spoke about marriage and kids with Zane Lowe Harry said

00:05:21.240 that witnessing his friend's wedding showed that there is just a magic

00:05:24.160 when you find the right person that you want to be with.

00:05:26.480 We'll play a little bit of the clip here.

00:05:28.300 And it's like being truly vulnerable with someone,

00:05:31.540 like sharing a life with someone like that.

00:05:35.020 Having the time to stop and assess like all of it

00:05:41.040 and really look at my life from like a bird's eye view

00:05:43.740 and go like what do I actually want in my life?

00:05:47.860 Like I have all these things around me all the time.

00:05:51.240 It's hard to pull those things in without making space for them.

00:05:56.060 So if I stop everything, then I get to decide what I want to bring back in.

00:06:02.160 Like what are really the things that I want in my life?

00:06:05.220 And like, yeah, I kind of see it.

00:06:06.820 He's 32 years old now.

00:06:08.480 He's in a new life phase, life chapter.

00:06:12.520 So I am surprised by this because I think in my mind,

00:06:15.360 he's always going to be like that like 22-year-old boy.

00:06:18.460 Yeah.

00:06:18.760 i was literally at a cafe today and they were playing one thing by one direction and um yeah

00:06:26.080 it tugged at my heartstrings given the quick engagement many fans have also been speculating

00:06:31.720 about the taxicab theory so had you heard of this no tell me essentially the taxicab theory

00:06:37.440 posits that men commit to marriage based on timing rather than a specific person so like a taxi with

00:06:44.360 its lights on a man who's ready for the commitment of marriage will marry the next suitable person

00:06:50.020 in his path regardless of past relationship lengths and this is actually popularized by

00:06:55.360 miranda hobbs in sex in the city in season three miranda says men are like cabs when they're

00:07:01.080 available their light goes on they wake up one day and they decide they're ready to settle down

00:07:05.480 have babies whatever then they turn their light on the next woman they pick up boom that's the

00:07:10.760 one they'll marry it's not fate it's dumb luck I see some truth in that so fans are saying that

00:07:16.920 obviously Zoe is a beautiful woman not discrediting that at all she I'm sure they have a lovely

00:07:22.980 relationship not speculating on that but I do think the timing is interesting of a 32 year old

00:07:28.040 man only been dating for eight months he's famously non-committal like it's a kind of a running joke

00:07:34.300 and him seeing his friends get married wanting to have a family it's like oh I'm dating you now

00:07:40.340 okay let's get married and maybe they have been together longer that's just how like how long

00:07:46.180 they've been spotted together but it feels quick I find it sorry no shade do whatever you want but

00:07:51.160 when people get engaged after being together for under a year I'm like you haven't even seen each

00:07:55.880 other through the literal seasons at least experience the seasons together when you know

00:08:00.580 you know especially because Zoe Kravitz and Harry Styles sure but we've also seen that exes crash

00:08:08.700 out online which has been quite funny to witness yes in a now expired instagram story olivia wild 1.00

00:08:15.300 shared an animated video of what appeared to be a woman like complaining about zoom meetings and

00:08:20.320 then she crashes her head through the computer screen did you see it and then she captioned it

00:08:24.320 with like my monday and i just think if you are the famous ex of someone why are you posting on

00:08:33.520 that day like when that news comes out i mean do whatever you want channing tatum also posted a

00:08:37.760 poem on his story it reads my brain and heart divorced a decade ago over who was to blame

00:08:44.560 about how big of a mess I have become eventually they couldn't be in the same room with each other

00:08:49.900 and you have to know that the text posts that he posted was like like an old twitter screenshot

00:08:56.000 but then with this filter this like garish like old-fashioned like vignette filter over it it was

00:09:02.740 like what you found tumblr 10 15 years ago literally it had been deep fried yes deep fried

00:09:09.240 like posts from like yesteryear um so both of them posted on the monday obviously the news come out

00:09:16.580 people were obviously looking at their socials a bit more closely if it was me i would just not 0.92

00:09:21.440 post anything because everyone's going to overanalyze olivia wild was most likely talking 0.91

00:09:25.020 about work most likely she's on a production team or something and like she's tired of looking at a

00:09:30.340 computer but you can also see why that reads as like crashing out over your ex who you were

00:09:36.160 together with for two years the whole world was on your neck about dating Harry Styles during

00:09:41.820 Don't Worry Darling so much criticism and then he's now getting married to famous Zoe Kravitz

00:09:47.900 after eight months I just think it shows that celebs also yearn to post an Instagram story

00:10:00.340 so this week taylor swift featured in a new york times magazine interview as she is one of the 30

00:10:10.460 greatest living american songwriters according to them they polled over 250 music insiders and

00:10:16.700 gathered six times critics to select this like top 30 and she then had this 30 minute interview

00:10:23.560 go live with joe coscarelli in the interview taylor explains her process the stories behind

00:10:29.440 the songs and her love of a rant bridge which is famous taylor swift and also how the public eye

00:10:35.840 informs the stories that she tells in her songs a few key takeaways from this interview we can't go

00:10:41.620 through everything but one thing or a few things that stood out to me were she shouted out somber

00:10:47.500 and admitted that she was quote a massive fan of his songwriting yeah she was saying that she wants

00:10:53.800 more male songwriters to write as I guess diary-esque as he does or quite vulnerable as he

00:11:00.380 does and she really was like that's going to help us all and we know we're missing at the moment

00:11:04.700 with Harry Styles's new album so true she also revealed that Reputation is her favorite album

00:11:10.880 of all time which it is famously a slow burn famously was you know panned by critics and

00:11:17.860 she was you know in her cancelled era at the time but on reflection it's one of her favorites and

00:11:23.600 she also said that her song nothing new which was released as part of red taylor's version in 2021

00:11:29.620 was written alone in a hotel room when she was only 22 years old and felt quote completely washed

00:11:36.080 up i loved listening to this interview and i haven't been on like my taylor swift grind for

00:11:42.400 like a year now i just haven't really cared and this was really nice i found myself nodding along

00:11:47.560 a lot to what she's saying the way that she unpacks her music and the way that she thinks

00:11:53.880 deeply about it and then I realized that unconsciously I have also you know understood

00:11:59.660 what she's doing or seen some of the through lines that she does and stuff it was just nice

00:12:04.220 she does really give English teacher and also in that way that sometimes she I think she's

00:12:09.520 thinking that what she's saying is like very poetic and philosophical but then it's really

00:12:13.580 not but it's still nice it was a nice listen one thing that i found a little grating though yes

00:12:21.780 that i wanted to talk about with you was she kind of talks about really intense fans she says she

00:12:30.580 doesn't like the fact there are corners of her fan base where people are going to take things

00:12:34.720 to a quote really extreme place but at the same time there's sort of so many of of them now which

00:12:44.000 is great but there's corners of my fan base who are going to take things to a really extreme place

00:12:49.500 there's nothing I can do about that there's people who are going to try to like

00:12:53.840 do detective work figure out the details who is that about what is this when it gets a little bit

00:12:59.540 weird for me is when people act like it's sort of like a paternity test like this song's about that

00:13:04.240 person because i'm like that dude didn't write the song i did so fans on x were really quick to

00:13:10.200 call this out it definitely popped up on my algorithm they were saying things like taylor

00:13:15.540 has explicitly encouraged this behavior from her fans for like the majority of her career

00:13:19.980 and at this point she's just rewriting the narrative like always taylor you literally

00:13:25.080 encourage this parasocial behavior now you act like you hate it but still keep those fans around

00:13:30.100 to drag others and buy your 100 variants jade what are your thoughts on this i have a different take

00:13:37.560 so for me when i especially listen to the whole interview where she takes so much pride in her

00:13:42.840 songwriting and song crafting abilities i think what she's saying here is that she doesn't like

00:13:49.060 when people are misinterpreting what she's doing like i hate being misrepresented i hate it when

00:13:53.540 people like take my quotes out of context so obviously that's a minuscule thing in comparison

00:13:59.120 into what Taylor Swift deals with but I think she's like no I want the credit for crafting this

00:14:04.380 story I don't really care whether you think like who and so and so is a father I just want to be

00:14:11.020 seen for what I'm putting out into the world like the the art form of it but I think she is

00:14:17.060 surely what do you mean I think she is credited no but in the sense that like she'll release a

00:14:22.700 song and then fans will latch on trying to find out like who she's talking about rather than

00:14:27.740 the song itself yeah but don't you think that she has created that with all of her easter egg stuff

00:14:34.460 and creating like games for her fans like in music videos and like this taylor's version and

00:14:40.980 like in this song or it's usually music videos isn't it like in this music video it harks back

00:14:46.360 to like this thing from this album 15 years ago like she created that world of like essentially

00:14:53.380 detective like creating detectives out of her fans yeah and so I get her saying like the songwriting

00:15:00.820 credit but I think her complaining about that energy of like her fans being extreme and like

00:15:07.200 trying to figure out who the song is about I do think that she encouraged it I think over the

00:15:12.500 years yeah I think her like Issa Egg persona and all that stuff that she does stands and I think

00:15:18.920 she would back that I think it's different when it's specifically just about her love life I think

00:15:22.740 that's what she's got like a gripe with and then that's what she finds weird not the other like

00:15:28.320 iseg stuff like i definitely think she encourages that don't you think it's like a venn diagram

00:15:32.020 though oh yeah for sure it's like for sure this is really bad like what lucky number is this what 0.98

00:15:37.160 color is this like all that and like obviously people her fans are invested in her music sure

00:15:42.180 but they're also invested in her as a person and therefore a lot of her public relationships like

00:15:47.300 it does make sense so it was yeah it was weird that she called this out in this interview i 0.88

00:15:52.420 think we all know that Swifties are the most parasocial fans of all time and I just wonder

00:15:58.060 if she's in this new era where she is trying to distance herself a bit from it but she also

00:16:01.760 reaps the benefits from it you know with all of her fate of Ophelia variants all the vinyls all

00:16:07.340 remixes so sometimes I think I'm a Swiftie but sometimes I feel like fans can feel like

00:16:13.400 do you want it both ways like what what are you trying to do here because you know the Swifties

00:16:19.080 are almost well they are cult-like now it's time for culture shock and this week we are talking

00:16:35.780 about rebel wilson's new australian film that has been faced with so much controversy it's even

00:16:42.240 funny that we called it new then because it came out in 2024 yet we are still talking about it

00:16:47.160 the controversy yes because of the controversies and actually in Australia it's only recently hit

00:16:53.160 our screens and it's now on its way out so it's been a funny film to discuss right because when

00:16:59.000 no one's really talking about the film itself but we're talking about all the drama the lawsuits

00:17:04.240 around it so as a quick synopsis the Deb is actually an adaptation of a stage performance

00:17:11.220 it's about two teenage girls attending a debutante ball in a small rural town so yeah this was

00:17:17.440 released back in 2024 but has been buried heavily since it's totally tanking as i mentioned like

00:17:24.280 even right now i try to see screenings and there's like one screening this week

00:17:28.280 tomorrow at 10 a.m oh wow which is a friday friday morning yeah uh it has just taken 237

00:17:37.040 a screen in Australia in its second week. Ouch. So what is the controversy behind this? We did

00:17:44.340 talk about this last year on the podcast. We went into a little bit more detail about the

00:17:49.180 legality of everything. We'll link that episode in our show notes if you want to go back and

00:17:53.680 listen to some more details. But what's the latest with this new controversy? So right now

00:18:00.400 they are in court for her defamation, like the defamation case against her. And I feel like

00:18:05.640 there's like three main takeaways that I'm getting like three kind of plot points that we're going to

00:18:10.900 run you through today just I don't think we need to disclaim we are not lawyers I'm so I'm just

00:18:16.300 gonna get some words wrong okay and that's going to be fine but Rebel is being sued by the lead

00:18:21.540 actor Charlotte McInnes and Charlotte is accusing Rebel of falsifying stories about her in social

00:18:27.880 media posts and also a separate like fake takedown website of the producer of the movie her name is

00:18:35.300 Amanda Ghost okay we're gonna we're gonna take you through it don't worry I will say one of the

00:18:40.060 big headlines of this week is that Rebel Wilson has been accused by a lawyer of dumping her mobile

00:18:45.520 phone to avoid handing over her key like text messages and whatsapp she was also yeah she said

00:18:51.240 in court like oh it got stolen I can't show you the text which just feels sus so there are three

00:18:57.420 parts to this case the first at its heart is an incident in September of 2023 when producer Amanda

00:19:04.120 ghost shared a bath in swimwear with charlotte in a sydney apartment after they'd been swimming

00:19:09.760 on bondi beach rebel claims that charlotte told her that the events made the young actress

00:19:14.680 uncomfortable and charlotte then changed her story when amanda offered her career development

00:19:19.780 opportunities so to be clear about this charlotte actually said um in court that she never made this

00:19:26.560 complaint to rebel and that she didn't like walk back or detract anything the weird thing is rebel

00:19:32.160 actually went on Instagram stories in 2023 to share this story which is wild and that's why

00:19:38.260 we're here talking about it to add to this so one of the big parts of this trial is that relationship

00:19:43.560 between Rebel and Charlotte so again it's just so embarrassing when you have to go to court and

00:19:48.200 everything gets revealed so I can't believe we're talking about this but there's a chain oh and we're

00:19:52.520 going to do a role play but essentially Rebel has like invited Charlotte to watch Oklahoma you know

00:19:58.860 musical, has bought her a ticket, and then Charlotte didn't go. This was back in May 2023.

00:20:05.960 Let's go. I'll play Rebel if you want to open up the link. Okay, so I am Rebel Wilson. We got you

00:20:12.260 a ticket. New message. We're standing right where they scan the ticket. New message. We got you a

00:20:17.860 ticket. New message. It's at the Winhams Theatre. New message. It's like a seven-minute walk. New

00:20:23.880 message. If we don't hear from you, we will leave a ticket for you at the box office under your name

00:20:28.680 Charlotte says sorry I ended up getting dinner with Amanda and only just got wi-fi hope the show

00:20:33.580 was amazing thank you again for today it was fabulous it's going to be an absolutely incredible

00:20:38.400 film new message hello just wanted to check in about the show on Tuesday night new message PS

00:20:44.860 huge apologies again for last night there was lots going on I lost track of time and ended up

00:20:49.660 eating with Amanda and Pia so sorry I missed it but really looking forward to Tuesday kiss

00:20:54.300 Rebel. Hi, Charlotte. I appreciate the apology. In the future, it is terribly rude to say you

00:20:59.980 wanted a ticket to a show and then you don't reply or follow up knowing a ticket has been

00:21:04.240 purchased for you. It's not a great start to our working relationship. New message.

00:21:08.800 Please try and be more respectful to both me and your fellow castmates in the future.

00:21:13.600 Charlotte. Completely understand. Again, hugely sorry for my poor communication.

00:21:18.640 I'd love to send you the money for the ticket as you stuck to your word and got an available ticket.

00:21:22.820 you've been nothing short of wonderful and you stevie and nat deserve the same respect and

00:21:27.780 communication so nothing like that will happen again how do we feel about that exchange awkward

00:21:34.300 yeah your voice like trembled at the end because it is awkward like your boss it's essentially like

00:21:40.560 a boss employee relationship i think he was kind of handled okay on both sides so how do you what

00:21:48.440 Yeah, that just seems like a normal, like, boss relationship,

00:21:51.560 manager relationship where it's like, I've done the wrong thing.

00:21:54.740 Obviously, it's pissed her off.

00:21:56.660 You've been reprimanded.

00:21:58.140 But it's not bullying.

00:21:59.280 No, and it's not a big deal, but it is annoying.

00:22:02.320 Like, I could feel annoyed from Rebel's side.

00:22:05.860 So rude.

00:22:06.380 But, yeah, it is.

00:22:07.160 Oh, you think it's, like, so rude.

00:22:08.720 No, it is rude.

00:22:09.500 It's so rude.

00:22:11.060 Yeah.

00:22:11.460 To be like, here's a ticket.

00:22:12.560 Like, where are you?

00:22:13.260 And it's like, oh, sorry, I went to dinner with other people.

00:22:15.580 Yeah.

00:22:16.200 I hate stuff like that.

00:22:17.140 No, you do.

00:22:18.440 So yeah, this was brought up in court and Rebel said that she did not regard, quote,

00:22:22.800 one text message as bullying. And then this is my favourite. I think this is my favourite line

00:22:27.000 for this whole court case. She says, I can't, I love it. She said, quote, like she did not,

00:22:32.080 quote, see how inviting someone who loves musical theatre to a musical is bullying.

00:22:38.200 So the third part of the story, there were smear websites created by a crisis PR team

00:22:43.140 that described Amanda as a, quote, Indian Jelaine Maxwell and a sex trafficker.

00:22:48.500 This was terrible.

00:22:49.640 Like the headlines that came out about this came out a little while ago

00:22:54.080 and it was so shocking that essentially, allegedly,

00:22:58.560 Rebel had sent messages to her like team being like,

00:23:01.840 we need to like brandish Amanda really badly,

00:23:05.220 like something we have to brandish her with something really unethical, very bad.

00:23:09.880 Rebel denied authoring or ordering the creation of the malicious websites, and she said her U.S. lawyer hired the agency group to assist her with a legal dispute with her co-producers.

00:23:20.700 The firm that Rebel allegedly used is also accused of creating smear websites against Blake Lively on behalf of her co-star, Justin Baldoni.

00:23:31.200 It's so messy.

00:23:33.080 Like, there are so many parts of this.

00:23:34.420 like even us doing the notes it's like there's a lot going on there's like a lot of throwing

00:23:39.820 stones from both sides there's a young person's career you know who obviously there's a power

00:23:46.360 dynamic between producers and managers and everything else that's going on and I just

00:23:52.280 think this is like spiraled out of hand like I think the original incident might have been able

00:23:59.420 have been handled internally privately or whatever and it's just hollywood producers power money

00:24:06.120 everything that is creating this like massive yeah defamation case yeah and what sucks is that

00:24:14.220 a byproduct of this is that we will probably be seeing less original australian musical movies

00:24:20.800 we barely have any to begin with and the fact that this is being riddled and embroiled in so

00:24:27.240 much controversy does not help the case for new works being made which is so unfortunate we were

00:24:33.340 talking about this movie last night with uh some friends and we were like will you still see it and

00:24:38.580 i still will like i didn't even know that it was in theaters in australia um but whenever it's out

00:24:44.080 streaming i will watch it and support it uh because it's not just about rebel wilson the australian

00:24:51.860 who moved to Hollywood and is super successful. There are like hundreds of cast and crew and

00:24:57.600 people who work in the Australian film industry who benefit from this and who need our support.

00:25:13.100 Devil Wears Pride at You came out this past week. Everybody is talking about it. It's

00:25:18.560 everywhere, but we are actually going to take you to a story from two decades ago.

00:25:24.320 On the pulse here. So while doing press for this new film, Meryl Streep actually told US Today

00:25:30.460 show that she asked to double her salary when she was in talks for the first film.

00:25:37.400 Let's play the clip here. And they called me up and they made an offer

00:25:40.700 and I said no I'm not going to do it. Why? I knew it was going to be a hit and I wanted to see if I

00:25:49.420 doubled my ask. Wow. And they went right away and said sure and I thought I'm 56. It took me this

00:25:57.520 long to understand that I could do that. That you can ask for what you want. Yes. They

00:26:05.700 needed me yeah I felt I was ready to retire but you know it was that was a lesson I sent this to

00:26:14.260 you when I first came across it I was like yes Meryl I love this for you for women what are your

00:26:21.180 thoughts yes I mean did you watch the people's faces in the background like Anne Hathaway and

00:26:26.500 Emily Blunt no no there's nothing much to it but they were kind of like just like smiling their

00:26:32.520 quite blank face because I mean money is still always a taboo despite like whether you're famous

00:26:39.380 or not being in a room with your colleagues and being like oh yeah 20 years ago I doubled my 0.88

00:26:43.880 salary maybe you're there in the room being like shit I should have doubled my salary too 0.51

00:26:47.820 yeah obviously I'm that's just me projecting like they didn't say anything they just were there in 0.98

00:26:52.740 the room um but I mean that was cool to hear and it was nice to see that paid transparency brought

00:26:59.080 Yes. I didn't see Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway's faces, but I can imagine they were a lot younger

00:27:04.700 as well. Meryl makes a point to say that she was 56 and she was ready to retire. So I think it was

00:27:10.440 really inspiring to hear an older woman. Yes, she's very powerful in the industry, very successful at

00:27:16.680 that point in her career, but just being like audacious. And it's something that we spoke about

00:27:21.060 on our panel last night as well. Yes. Before we get into that, because I very much love the mindset

00:27:26.960 of audacity essentially but to me watching that clip of Meryl yes he was empowering to listen to 0.58

00:27:32.520 but I'm also like yeah as you touched on you have a massive career behind you you are a white woman

00:27:38.500 like there were so many factors in your favor yeah I think he was very honest of her to be like

00:27:44.600 and it took me this long to realize this you know so there's truth behind that for sure so we were

00:27:49.760 talking about this topic last night at the bar before the panel when it was just the two of us

00:27:54.520 and we were talking about sometimes the guilt I guess you call it that you can feel when you ask

00:28:01.980 for more money it's usually always financial and you had some feelings around like something not

00:28:10.860 going exactly to plan and we're still getting paid pretty good money to like do a job that we

00:28:15.540 were hired to do and I kind of caught you out on it a bit I was like a man would never think this

00:28:20.680 way and I was like you are so right but I think it's so hard when what a lot of our job entails

00:28:27.340 it's about our like opinions our our us as a like a media persona if you want to call it that

00:28:35.080 it's our words it's our voice it's it is you and a lot of the time we are putting monetary values

00:28:40.700 on ourselves like we are treating ourselves like a product it can be very dehumanizing

00:28:45.140 and I hate being pulled into money conversations that's why I haven't managed yet but even

00:28:50.340 recently yeah it's come to a head quite a few times this past fortnight I don't know why

00:28:55.180 I just keep getting things like things about money and brands and then being like oh my god like

00:29:01.480 they offered you no like they gave you it was like a piss take you know like getting things

00:29:05.340 like that and receiving um that dialogue isn't nice to hear yes especially like you said when

00:29:11.600 you are kind of the product. And then on the flip side, like what you're saying, sometimes when

00:29:15.960 we're talking about trying to back ourselves in terms of our value, that can be tough. And then

00:29:21.940 I get insecure about that too. You hear this a lot as well in the kind of girl boss conversation

00:29:27.980 where women are, you know, they build these companies and maybe they don't go perfectly. 1.00

00:29:33.340 maybe there's different allegations of like toxic workplaces or um money issues but women are put on 0.99

00:29:43.020 the pedestal and then dragged off it whereas men have more i'm speaking very generally here of

00:29:48.700 course men do get more permission to just like make mistakes i heard an anecdote as well i think

00:29:54.600 it was on a podcast where they were saying that men will like ask for investment money for

00:30:01.760 businesses like go around like build capital make the business fail at it and rather than be like

00:30:07.120 I will never do anything like that ever again which I think is something that women are kind 1.00

00:30:11.620 of taught and like needing to repent etc they just go out and make something else again especially

00:30:17.680 if you're like an entrepreneurial type of person I think that's something that we are like conversations

00:30:23.420 keep coming up about this where I'm like I just don't think a man would have the guilt and the

00:30:29.620 feeling associated with work and money that women traditionally do yeah where we have that mentality

00:30:36.460 of we should be grateful to be here yes and anything else is a bonus or you're asking too

00:30:41.700 much so I'm trying to get rid of that mindset and I think I'll keep I'll keep wanting to say

00:30:47.120 Miranda Priestly hearing Meryl Streep so happily and like proud of herself like she was she had

00:30:52.240 this pride in her voice when she was telling the audience about that pay rise that she asked for

00:30:57.140 I feel like that's a nice like she wasn't meek about it we should feel confident enough to share

00:31:02.640 these wins also something we spoke about last night was the audacity of putting yourself out

00:31:08.840 there and like kind of increasing your chance of luck it's something that Anna McKenzie of

00:31:13.820 Anna Max stack which is an Australian sub stack and Anna McKenzie is a big proponent of the

00:31:19.580 portfolio career and freelancing she's kind of created something online called shoot your shot

00:31:25.320 Wednesday, which is where she is super audacious on a Wednesday and messages someone that she

00:31:32.120 wants to email, put herself out there, sends a DM and just to see what will happen.

00:31:38.440 What I loved about this was she made something that's scary into a weekly practice, right?

00:31:45.100 Something that feels really out of grasp, out of reach and made it into an actionable thing that

00:31:49.880 she does on a Wednesday. And if you're breaking it down, like what she's doing is trying to get

00:31:53.900 in contact with people who are like her dream clients or people that she really aspires and

00:31:58.340 looks up to and that sounds really scary but at the end of the day all she's doing is sending an

00:32:02.480 email from her inbox and that feels so doable I like this practice because it gets us out of our

00:32:08.600 comfort zone every week and it makes you think differently and like aim higher we'll link Anna

00:32:14.080 McKenzie's sub stack in our show notes if you want to learn more about the shoot your shot Wednesday

00:32:18.580 but I feel definitely more inspired to do this I did it recently with a book publisher for us I was

00:32:25.200 like why aren't we on this list like I really want to read these books like we're talking about them

00:32:29.420 on the podcast rather than waiting for them to come to us I was like they just probably don't

00:32:33.300 know let me send this email explaining who we are what we do and now we're on the list yeah we got

00:32:38.420 a reply we got a reply within like a day and I was like oh that wasn't even that hard and worse is

00:32:44.000 somebody doesn't get back to you and that's actually fine yeah

00:32:46.760 now it's time for bookmarks where we share something we've loved watching reading or

00:33:00.600 listening to this week maggie what are you sharing this week i am recommending a podcast

00:33:06.920 a podcast that i think i do bring up kind of often but just i lightly like sprinkle it in

00:33:12.540 but i'm talking about the modern love podcast and i did check my notes because i was like have i

00:33:16.060 recommended this lately no i feel like once a year you recommend yeah maybe once a year and that's

00:33:20.860 allowed okay so if you don't know modern love is run by new york times and it originated as a column

00:33:27.960 and it's been running for 20 years and they get people to uh like readers actually so a mix of

00:33:33.400 readers and writers send in their own love story that has now exploded into like a life of its own

00:33:41.220 it was also like a Netflix TV show and I really like the podcast iteration of it so I love the

00:33:49.080 host her name's Anna Martin I think she's just got like such a warm inquisitive way about her

00:33:55.540 she's got a lovely voice and I love the way that she interacts with her guests and I like the

00:34:02.340 caliber of love that they cover it varies a lot they'll have celebrities coming on for press

00:34:08.060 junkets but then they'll also have um more salacious stories maybe something about a marriage

00:34:13.220 breakdown or you know coming out at the same time as your dad or lots of different facets of love

00:34:19.360 and I for instance really enjoyed this recent episode called my husband's breakdown was my

00:34:26.140 breakthrough about mental health but what really stood out for me was just like the little quips of

00:34:31.580 love that this woman and her partner like have for each other and like it felt like I was watching

00:34:37.640 like a rom-com like a christmas rom-com like some of the i was like in the shower i'm like

00:34:41.680 it just was so lovely and i get that feeling quite a lot when i listen to this podcast i am

00:34:47.140 specifically also bringing this up now because they have new episodes every wednesday but

00:34:52.220 recently they've been now paywalling all the episodes but they're unpaywalled for like the

00:34:56.820 first week or two to like listen and then it's like you can't later unless you're paying but

00:35:03.400 i don't really support new york times so um i am really liking the podcast though

00:35:09.740 so listen to it for free that's a good hack as well yeah it's good it's good for them as well

00:35:15.420 drives up their numbers and downloads so win-win how about you what are you recommending to us

00:35:21.820 today i'm so late to the party so late have you seen this i haven't watched this but when i saw

00:35:27.520 this in the notes it's this is a recurring theme you keep recommending like very popular tv shows

00:35:32.080 It's just like a couple months late.

00:35:34.740 But I haven't seen it.

00:35:36.060 Okay, okay.

00:35:37.060 See, this is why I'm recommending it because I heard about this show last year

00:35:41.420 and then I just didn't watch it.

00:35:43.480 Yeah.

00:35:43.980 Let's say the show.

00:35:44.820 And then finally watched it and I enjoyed it.

00:35:48.700 So I feel like there'll be people in my position who are the same.

00:35:52.020 The show is The Pit. 0.93

00:35:53.900 Crazy.

00:35:54.740 Whoa, super niche. 0.99

00:35:55.780 Crazy, so niche. 0.86

00:35:57.220 Crazy.

00:35:57.780 But I'm recommending it as well because I don't normally like medical dramas.

00:36:01.120 Like I don't like gore, blood, medical stuff.

00:36:05.340 I've never, I've watched like random episodes of Grey's Anatomy

00:36:07.860 like when they were on TV when I was little.

00:36:09.720 I never have invested, but I'm so invested in this.

00:36:14.180 It's so good.

00:36:15.500 So if you haven't heard of it, if you're also under a rock like me,

00:36:18.620 it's an American procedural medical drama and it's on HBO Max.

00:36:23.000 You can stream it.

00:36:24.300 Every episode is one hour, but every episode is like one hour

00:36:28.780 of a whole shift.

00:36:29.560 so it's like almost like a roll I think that's what keeps you like watching more and more more

00:36:33.300 because it's like it's still the same day so obviously it always ends on a cliffhanger because

00:36:37.080 it's like this just happened oh my god I have to see what happens next new episode I think

00:36:41.760 Laurie and I watched like five or six episodes on the weekend wow two three at a time but then

00:36:47.900 it was like okay this is quite intense because there's like people dying it's like emotional

00:36:51.900 there's drama the season two has also just aired and finished so that's I'm like a season and a

00:36:57.980 half behind oh yeah but season two averaged 15.4 million views per episode and the finale drew 9.7

00:37:06.360 million on like when it came out so it's obviously massive not niche but I highly recommend it

00:37:12.560 because it is really about humanity all the different characters in the hospital it's set

00:37:19.680 in emergency room so it's high stakes I just look away when there's like super gory parts

00:37:24.140 and there's also a through line of COVID-19 PTSD which I think is really interesting to

00:37:31.820 explore in media because it's like now been over half a decade since 2020 and I think now we're

00:37:39.580 seeing like the after effects you know its effects on society are felt every day but

00:37:45.060 the after effects of like seeing it in the media I think is interesting because we all remember it

00:37:50.760 but seeing it yeah portrayed on tv I find fascinating especially in a medical setting

00:37:57.160 as well yes I tried to watch this when it came out and I watched the first episode and it was

00:38:02.560 a bit too gory for me or like I don't mind gore in like a action movie but realistic gore I guess

00:38:09.520 like it's a hospital um but I feel like I should try the way that people would just be like have

00:38:14.760 you watched a new episode yet it felt like severance or the summer I turned pretty I know

00:38:19.020 it was such a big cultural moment so my and if you can watch it no shade i was like maybe i can

00:38:24.840 laura and i watched the first episode together and he got up at one point he was like this is

00:38:28.420 too stressful like i can't but then i was like okay i'm gonna keep watching it and then he did

00:38:32.200 come back and like then he got invested you do fall in love with like the characters really

00:38:36.820 funny writing uh obviously sometimes quite overly american but it's set in america so what are you

00:38:42.520 gonna do but yeah highly recommend this super famous tv show that everyone loves no i like

00:38:48.300 But, you know, there's probably people like you and I who are not medical gals.

00:38:52.780 And I've heard from doctors that it is actually quite realistic.

00:38:56.060 It's a pretty accurate portrayal of what it's like.

00:38:59.460 Yeah, I do feel like I learn stuff as well.

00:39:03.100 You're going to like HBO doctor school.

00:39:07.080 Well, thank you so much for listening today, listeners.

00:39:09.840 We've had so much fun on the pod and we'll be back in your ears soon.

00:39:13.960 yes we're actually going on a very special trip that we will be talking about we're very excited

00:39:20.220 but don't worry we will still have episodes rolling around so that's just a little sizzle

00:39:25.320 but you'll hear more about that when we are back thanks for listening bye

Culture Club - May 04, 2026

Harry Styles’ Taxi Cab Theory, Meryl Streep’s Money Advice & Rebel Wilson’s Court Case

Episode Stats

Transcript