Culture Club - #MomTok Won't Survive This, Olivia Rodrigo's New Era & The Influencer-fication Of Red Carpet Hosts

00:00:00.000 lord goes independent in defense of influence of red carpet hosts and when does reality tv become 0.98

00:00:11.120 too toxic i'm maggie zow and i'm jasmine wallace and you're listening to culture club where two

00:00:16.400 writers and editors chat about pop culture current affairs the internet and our lives today we are

00:00:22.040 on the lands of the wawundjeri woiwurrung people of the kulin nations we would like to pay our

00:00:26.900 respects to elders past and present and extend that to any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

00:00:31.460 listeners today. I don't know if this is a thing just in the media world, but people always refer

00:00:39.760 to this month of March as March Madness because it's just so busy. I feel like every month is

00:00:45.720 busy. Everyone's like this month, it's really kicking off. I'm like, but isn't every month

00:00:50.840 like this intense at the moment? No, I feel like I've been, it's been a very lovely week,

00:00:55.380 but it's been like jamming maybe three or four events in every day.

00:00:59.560 Woe is me.

00:01:00.580 Hard life.

00:01:01.480 It's a hard life.

00:01:02.960 But we actually went to an event together last night

00:01:05.720 for the launch of the Melbourne Writers Festival.

00:01:08.520 Yes, Melbourne Writers Festival is back for another year.

00:01:10.660 This year is actually the 40th year and it's happening in May.

00:01:14.380 There's some really great events.

00:01:15.680 I was really impressed with the program last night.

00:01:19.200 I think one of the biggest authors that is coming to Australia

00:01:22.980 is RF Kuang who wrote Yellow Face, Babble and she's also got a new book coming out. Her like

00:01:29.060 solo event is obviously no surprise already sold out but she's also on another panel

00:01:33.540 discussing dark academia. I feel like College Club listeners will love the dark academia panel.

00:01:39.340 There's also a talk with Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's former prime minister which looks

00:01:44.900 amazing. Lots of great First Nations panels and authors as well. It's a First Nations like

00:01:50.720 curation program well I'm really excited because they've also brought in like a Canadian First

00:01:55.660 Nations curator as well and it's like a global First Nations perspective which we actually don't

00:02:00.600 see much of us in Australia it's a really global program which is really nice to see apart from

00:02:06.140 that we are both oh my gosh I'm coffee less this morning you haven't had a coffee I haven't had a

00:02:10.700 coffee this morning um so bear with me but I feel like I'm gonna be running on adrenaline I actually

00:02:15.780 try to not have coffee every day to like make sure I'm not reliant on it sorry that's crazy to

00:02:21.700 me whereas I just sat down I was like I need another coffee I've already had one but I need

00:02:26.360 another yeah I've seen what caffeine addiction does to the people in my life and I don't want

00:02:30.300 to be someone who gets like headaches and everything so so far so good but I would like

00:02:35.660 one myself included yeah I don't have a coffee before don't talk to me before I've had my coffee

00:02:40.900 millennial jazz is out i have got to say i'm so excited for olivia rodrigo's impending album

00:02:49.180 release or even announcement impending sounds so like ominous yeah well it's coming i don't know

00:02:55.440 when like no one knows when hopefully soon i actually didn't see this anywhere on the internet

00:03:00.960 i saw this through the articles that were like olivia is teasing a new album i didn't see like

00:03:05.900 the actual teaser itself yeah I feel like she's been slowly defrosting because her first album

00:03:12.320 Sour came out in 2021 then Guts followed in 2023 and then after that she's been obviously doing

00:03:18.200 worldwide tours as well but I'm like I haven't seen much of her but she's been at more events

00:03:22.860 recently I'm seeing her pats I'm seeing her cute outfits and then now we're seeing more teaser

00:03:28.360 things about her new album she was profiled in Vogue US this week as well love those shots you'll

00:03:35.220 see them on culture clubs instagram i can't wait i sent them i dm'd them again love they'll be live

00:03:40.320 by the time that this episode is out so can you tell me more about the album rollout like

00:03:45.560 what were people seeing yeah so first she was teasing it a bit so for instance in october last

00:03:52.460 year she told nylon quote i won't say too much but i think 2026 is going to be a busy year for me

00:03:58.720 i've been having a lot of fun dreaming things up and then since then we've seen some changes to her

00:04:05.060 visual world so she's dropped a new uh like logo which is her initials or it's very cute but the

00:04:11.400 main big pr move that she's done that we've seen is this big mural in la and it's this big wall

00:04:18.600 and it started off with her signature purple color and it had that new logo up the top or but then

00:04:24.720 every single day for like over the course of a week it was repainted to a lighter shade until

00:04:30.300 hit baby pink what do you think of this i think it's quite cute i think it suits her demographic

00:04:36.840 and her like the fans as well i can't really see her as like a pink artist you know i think just

00:04:44.060 because purple is so olivia yeah yeah baby pink it's so funny that we're like talking about this

00:04:49.220 like new color change and it is a big deal it's like a gender reveal but like but like color real

00:04:55.920 and to coincide with that her website also changed that baby pink as well I found this

00:05:01.440 funny because I was like oh it's a PR move that's literally watching paint dry so good and like to

00:05:07.300 be honest in an age of quick quick quick in the age of like fake news AI it's nice to see something

00:05:13.280 so human made and so tangible and you're actually watching it happen in front of your eyes

00:05:18.360 I'm laughing because like the bar is so low like we're literally like wow paint on a wall it's

00:05:25.800 so human it's so real man it's not like it's not like a freaking hologram oh you're so right but

00:05:35.680 to be honest my one of my favorite like marketing things is when people get like real painters to

00:05:40.500 paint ads on walls it happens quite a bit in melbourne and i'm sure other places so yeah

00:05:45.280 for movies and stuff yeah yeah i'm the same when i see like them painting on the wall i'm like wow

00:05:51.440 art and it's like by a big corporation but I'm still like no like pay the artist I know I'm like

00:05:57.120 it's the least you could do yeah

00:05:58.440 the Oscars took place last week did you watch not live but like I was following the news of it I've

00:06:16.720 literally never watched an award show I'm like how do people stream these things it was on channel

00:06:20.780 seven do i even have free to air probably i probably do it's really bad guys sorry i watch

00:06:25.540 it in my grandma's house channel seven because i wouldn't have been able to stream it at home so

00:06:29.700 you're kind of right there you're right and i watched it live for like the first time maybe

00:06:34.220 ever it was really nice yeah okay oh i did see your tiktok getting teary over it which is classic

00:06:41.220 jazz classic i just love seeing people achieving their dreams and like working so hard and getting

00:06:45.900 recognition for it as well i just thought it was really sweet and loved seeing jesse buckley win

00:06:51.300 her oscar yeah michael p jordan as well everyone's speeches yeah well the only thing i kind of sent 0.74

00:06:59.060 you on the day that made me so sad like i was gonna cry was that uh k-pop demon hunters won

00:07:04.880 like best song and then they had their speech and they had like their whole like the band up there

00:07:09.080 and then like the woman's speaking and then she's like passing it on to the man next to her and he's

00:07:14.180 got his hand written no and English is not his first language and he starts he's like he starts

00:07:18.080 speaking and then the music like cuts him off straight away and then like the woman on the

00:07:22.960 stage and the other white there was another white like there was a white guy on stage they jumped

00:07:27.340 they literally jumped on stage being like no no and I it broke my heart I was like literally just

00:07:32.420 give him 10 seconds it's such a shame as well because all these celebrities have these like

00:07:36.300 bits during like before each award thing and they're not even funny like I'm trying to think

00:07:42.480 like conan o'brien was funny the presenter but there was a few skits there was one with like

00:07:47.500 robert downey jr and chris evans what the hell have they sorry marvel 10 years ago marvel stuff

00:07:53.780 i didn't like that and hathaway and a winter one i just didn't find it that funny i'm like sure

00:07:58.140 yeah like it's fine but i just don't think it's like that funny and i feel like snl is the same

00:08:05.580 some of the snl skits where i'm like this isn't even like isn't that the whole point of the show

00:08:10.520 Yeah, it's a comedy sketch, but I just think American humor,

00:08:13.160 no offense to Americans listening, I just find it very,

00:08:15.240 I think it's quite straight, if that makes sense.

00:08:19.800 Like I feel like British and even Australian humor and comedy

00:08:23.300 is just a little bit more intelligent, not to sound like pretentious.

00:08:28.660 We talked about this last week.

00:08:30.260 I think it's just a bit more layered and there's a bit more nuance,

00:08:33.000 whereas Americans just kind of like, ha-ha.

00:08:35.320 Yeah, yeah, they're like punchline after punchline.

00:08:37.640 Yeah, and like get it, get it.

00:08:40.520 elbowing you so i found some of the skits to go back to the point found some of the skits like

00:08:44.540 that so they're wasting time on those little skits before the present presentation and then the people

00:08:49.880 who are actually winning the awards don't get the time which is so sad and i think there's a little

00:08:54.160 bit of backlash online from that as well another big topic of course was the fact that timothy

00:08:59.300 charlamais did not win his oscar i love how we even say his oscar like he had ownership of it

00:09:04.320 we're not even going to get into that too much we're talking about the fact that he lost his

00:09:08.360 biggest fan club charlamé club charlamé is a like a fan page essentially mostly on x isn't it

00:09:15.720 yeah but she's across all platforms yeah it's actually run by a 59 year old fan simone cromer

00:09:21.700 we've spoken about club charlamé on the podcast before because i remember like a year or two ago

00:09:25.620 she was getting a bit like stalker-ish vibes you remember there's a few there's a little bit of

00:09:29.920 kind of conversation around like she knows his siblings yeah like that yeah yeah but now she's 1.00

00:09:36.520 like off him imagine yep after eight years of being a public stand for him she has now kind of

00:09:45.260 like withdrawn her support and I feel like this is so hard so essentially leading up to the Oscars

00:09:51.300 she started posting about him like less and then she also said after the Oscars she posted on X

00:09:57.740 saying that she's okay with the results saying believe it or not I am very very happy for Michael

00:10:03.460 be Jordan as I love sinners so much. Respect. But there's also some like inklings of her now

00:10:11.400 leaning towards Connor Story, who is the breakout star, one of the breakout stars of heated rivalry.

00:10:16.760 And do you think she's going to change her name to Club Connor? Club Connor? Yeah, that sounds

00:10:21.820 better. I hate it because it's kind of close to our name. I'm like, it's a culture club Charlemagne.

00:10:27.280 Lots of own coming for us. I know. But we'll see. I kind of find it surprising that she's attached

00:10:32.720 herself to Connor so quickly since that you know he's known to his like one major role so far

00:10:38.580 to hedge your bets on this man I actually feel like it shows a lot I'm like she's got some

00:10:43.220 weight behind her name like I trust her

00:10:44.880 just a content warning we touch on domestic violence in this next segment

00:10:59.480 The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which is a Disney Hulu reality TV series, season four

00:11:05.560 premiered last week. I've been watching Friends of Ours, I've been watching You Are Not a Fan.

00:11:12.900 Oh, okay. That sounds so harsh. I've never watched it. I just like have no interest. I

00:11:17.540 rarely watch reality TV shows just because it feels like such a big commitment.

00:11:21.800 So this I'm already like seasons behind. But you've been talking, you wanted to talk about this.

00:11:27.340 you've been watching as you said I feel a little bit of FOMO I want to know what's happening but I

00:11:32.560 can't be bothered watching I'm also the same I don't watch a lot of reality tv just you're at

00:11:38.460 the investment and then like being behind and like you don't know the storylines you don't

00:11:42.200 know the characters but for some reason I started this a couple years ago and I actually really

00:11:48.880 enjoy it it's like one of the only reality tv shows I enjoy and we are going to talk about it

00:11:53.260 briefly because there's a lot of drama going on with the star of the show taylor paul so taylor

00:12:00.800 is a tiktok mom influencer they're all mormon wives who live in utah in the name and taylor

00:12:08.180 went viral on tiktok in 2022 for like swinging with her ex-husband i remember this story this

00:12:16.080 was big this like broke into the mainstream because she was like soft swinging with other

00:12:20.660 couples in the mormon community yes yeah that's right and then because it kind of blew up they 0.88

00:12:27.500 made a reality tv show out of it oh so that came fast yeah like chicken or the egg yes swinging 0.79

00:12:32.300 or the show it's like tiktok stars they all it's kind of like the utah high pass vibe like they

00:12:37.460 were all mums all mums all friends um on tiktok all their individual followings the swinging

00:12:42.860 scandal like blows up and then i hate that i know so much about this yeah so he's gonna blows up

00:12:48.160 and then they start a tv show and now we're on season four yeah but one of the main storylines

00:12:53.600 is taylor and her ex and like ex-father of her child um dakota mortenson they are really on and

00:13:02.680 off again oh wait isn't her ex-husband's name tate so she has a few exes okay tate is her

00:13:08.380 ex-husband and father of her two children indy who's eight and ocean who's five and then she

00:13:13.700 has another ex-boyfriend well on again off again dakota mortensen who is the father of her son

00:13:20.560 ever okay who's like a still a baby a toddler um so one of the main storylines is them like

00:13:26.480 on again off again fighting they're like super super volatile i think as a side note i realize

00:13:32.580 i don't think i want to watch reality tv shows of that like maths is obviously one of the biggest

00:13:37.060 shows in australia i have no desire to be pulled into this like extremely volatile situation of

00:13:43.420 like people making bad decisions for tv shows i'm like this is like not good for us dare i say

00:13:47.720 yeah that sounds so like natty state watch what you want but just for me i'm like i actually don't

00:13:53.420 think it would add anything does that mean no i know a lot of people i haven't watched it so

00:13:58.700 there's that as well i don't think it started that way as well like it was definitely more like

00:14:01.920 focusing on the moms and a big part of their storyline is like the their careers them like

00:14:06.380 gaining more fame one of them whitney levitt she's like now on broadway she's like starring

00:14:11.700 in Chicago as Roxy Hart so like that's really nice to see seeing like the friendships and like

00:14:17.320 yes there's a lot of fighting but like I don't know I think a lot of people watch reality TV

00:14:21.400 for like psychological reasons as well like why people make decisions or like would I do that

00:14:25.660 like moral reasons but you're right like with this drama that I'm about to go into I watched

00:14:32.140 a couple of episodes last night and like Dakota and Taylor are fighting on the show and I was just

00:14:37.780 like this isn't fun to watch but in saying that in the first episode one of the biggest storylines

00:14:43.940 is her getting literally arrested for fighting with dakota right and then like the season pauses

00:14:49.120 and then it comes back and then it's like from there so people have known that this is like a

00:14:54.160 volatile situation there's been domestic violence like allegations and stuff but season four just

00:14:58.000 aired in episode 10 taylor paul is about to go off and be the bachelorette from a different reality 1.00

00:15:02.560 tv series but she's still like fighting with her ex like on again off again she slept with dakota 0.95

00:15:07.340 like the night before she goes off on this tv show and this bachelorette is now about to air

00:15:12.860 in march right so this was filmed end of last year and this week um like the night before days

00:15:19.480 before the airing of her own show a new video has been released of taylor and dakota fighting

00:15:25.560 and it's so awful maggie like i can't even tell you i watched it first thing a lot of publications

00:15:31.000 aren't even like re-sharing it because it's so awful essentially like it's physical abuse

00:15:39.040 taylor is like hitting dakota and then she starts throwing metal kitchen stool chairs across the

00:15:45.240 room to him and her child's in the house it's so disturbing that we have like access that the fact

00:15:52.700 that you watch this video is like this morning like first thing i was like oh my god like taylor

00:15:57.340 Paul News because it kind of was like unraveling yesterday about is The Bachelorette going to get

00:16:00.720 cancelled and it was like new like firstly Bachelorette is cancelled second of all there's

00:16:06.720 this new TMZ video from like 2023 but it's been released and here it is on TMZ it's like it's

00:16:13.240 really awful. Are they saying that Dakota her ex-boyfriend released that video or like do we

00:16:18.200 know where that came from? That's like word on the street a lot of people are like why would he do

00:16:22.200 this like he sabotages her all the time um like this is meant to be her big moment with The

00:16:26.960 Bachelorette like why is this coming out now but it's really really messy and the ABC like the US

00:16:35.540 ABC pulled it saying in light of the newly released video just surfaced we have made the decision to

00:16:41.280 not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time and our focus is on

00:16:45.880 supporting the family and Taylor's was planned to be on The Tonight Show that was cancelled

00:16:50.940 and a representative for taylor said to people it's sad to see the latest installment of his

00:16:57.020 never-ending desperate attention-seeking destructive campaign to harm taylor without any regard for the

00:17:02.720 consequences for their child releasing an old video which conveniently omits context on their

00:17:07.980 son's birthday is a reprehensible attempt to distract from his own behavior thankfully the

00:17:13.900 public has seen this act before and knows who he is and sadly many will recognize this pattern of

00:17:18.720 manipulation both in his actions on the show and from their own experiences so her team is saying

00:17:24.060 yeah he's done this on purpose he's released this okay so it's interesting that you mentioned up top

00:17:28.780 that in season one there was already like violence embedded into this show do you think that this

00:17:33.600 situation changes anything for like for the fans of the show like are people still going to be

00:17:38.260 watching does this change anything for you i saw a take this morning on that like why are people so

00:17:44.320 shocked about this because like we've known from from episode one that there was violence there or

00:17:50.400 there was like abuse taylor is a really volatile person i don't think she's like well basically i

00:17:57.040 don't think reality tv is a good environment for her at this point in her life not to be like a

00:18:03.380 judge and jury sitting here on a podcast but you can see it and i think it's unraveling more and

00:18:08.540 more and I do think it will begin to affect the fans like yeah that video was so graphic

00:18:14.700 and even in the last season a lot of fans were like she's really got self-destructive behavior

00:18:20.920 but she's self-aware of it she knows it's toxic they're both toxic but I just think like it gets

00:18:26.940 to a point and especially when there's children involved like there's a child there's a child in

00:18:30.140 that video crying like I think that's a really strong line for a lot of people and that's how

00:18:35.300 i felt watching the last couple episodes i was like i love the storylines about the other girls

00:18:39.020 and like whitney going to broadway and like so fun and like the dad talk so that's a whole other

00:18:43.120 side thing as well the moms they're getting famous and rich and stuff and then the dads and the

00:18:47.640 husbands are like we want in on this as well like there's kind of that fun like everyone online is

00:18:51.740 like why the dad's here like go away like whatever then you see the taylor and dakota stuff taylor

00:18:56.520 and her mom there's a lot of trauma there that's like not fun to watch yeah i think for me the

00:19:02.340 onus goes to the producers and the people making money from the show obviously the stars of the

00:19:06.580 show are too but I think it feels very unethical to be putting these storylines out there when

00:19:14.260 these are real people's lives again I know that they probably consented to this and like they've

00:19:18.660 chosen to go on a show for a reason I just don't know if it like I don't oh it just this makes me

00:19:24.680 feel icky like reading about hearing about this I'm like oh my god I just want to stay far away

00:19:29.720 from this show yes but very fair but again I know it's um so many people's you know quote-unquote

00:19:36.340 guilty pleasure or they really like like some of the other women and storylines but for me

00:19:41.060 that's just like it's become not this like oh trivial show that's about these women's lives

00:19:46.740 I'm like oh no it's it's quite serious yeah and they paused production on season five as well

00:19:52.920 at the moment apparently that was the women's decision um so a lot of like all of the main

00:19:59.240 stars are also executive producers on good morning good morning america they actually

00:20:03.720 like questioned taylor on that they were like but you're a producer like aren't you in charge of like

00:20:08.680 what happens or like the production and stuff because taylor's like i don't know if we're

00:20:12.620 paused or not so that's an interesting point too but yeah you're right i think

00:20:16.200 it gets to a point and this is a real it does feel like a watershed moment for reality tv

00:20:29.240 jazz it is your 10 year anniversary this week with laurie congratulations thank you so much

00:20:38.180 can't believe it's been a whole decade that we've been together a decade and so much has

00:20:42.680 changed in that time hasn't it truly when we first got together i was 20 i was at uni and we did a

00:20:49.500 lot of like long distance back and forth between different countries we've lived in different

00:20:52.500 countries we've been married for a few months now so it's funny like celebrating 10 years this month

00:20:59.080 but like it also feels like a brand new chapter after getting married completely and I look back

00:21:03.760 to a decade ago and I feel like what we expect or what we see from relationships has changed

00:21:10.220 so much I think about the pop culture I'm consuming and the tv shows I'm consuming like of course

00:21:16.180 heated rivalry great representation for bi men you've also been with Tom for over a decade you

00:21:23.280 guys were high school sweethearts how has that been like going you know from high school sweethearts

00:21:29.080 you've been through so much together to now you're in your mid late 20s yeah I feel so lucky that

00:21:36.380 I've been able to grow up with Tom literally and we've both been able to grow and change as people

00:21:41.540 together but separately and we have changed a lot and that's so normal I'm not the same person I was

00:21:46.920 at 16 so I feel like checking in with myself seeing how I'm changing what interests I'm liking

00:21:52.740 or not liking is really important to me and that's that introduction to today's sponsor

00:21:58.180 Field. If you're wondering what Field is it's a dating app for people who are tired of dating apps

00:22:02.860 it's for people who are craving deeper connection and really wanting to know themselves and to get

00:22:07.440 curious about themselves and their relationships. And speaking of they've just released Reflections

00:22:11.980 which is a guided self-discovery tool that you and I have both done it's to learn more about

00:22:17.240 yourself as well as your romantic and sexual interests that pertain to yourself but also

00:22:21.940 with partner or your partners. Like Maggie said up top even though we're both in long-term

00:22:26.020 relationships I still think it's really important to stay curious about yourself your sexuality

00:22:30.620 and your relationship in general. It was a good moment of reflection where I actually really had

00:22:36.600 to think critically about like hey do I actually like this hey do I not like this and why and you

00:22:41.420 don't really get those chances I feel. No especially when you are in that long-term relationship. What I

00:22:48.340 loved about doing this reflection was we've done Maya Briggs we talk about love languages and I'm

00:22:54.780 huge into astrology like every single day I'm on some sort of app like seeing what the planets are

00:23:00.080 doing and like what that means about my life so this was so satisfying to like get deep into like

00:23:04.980 our psyche and our relationship reflections goes through your desires your boundaries and your

00:23:09.180 relationships it was really thought-provoking and definitely made me feel quite introspective and

00:23:14.340 also more in touch with myself yeah and you know what I love when people talk about sex is that we

00:23:20.460 should be having like sexy chats or like sexy conversations in unsexy environments like before

00:23:25.880 bedtime happens right so I feel like this was a perfect chance to do that I think we both sent

00:23:32.000 our results to our partners as well and I'm encouraging mine to also do this reflections

00:23:36.800 and it's just so nice to be able to bond and to talk about these things openly when you get your

00:23:42.100 answers on reflections it gives you like a scale like a sliding scale which I find so satisfying

00:23:47.400 it gives you percentages of like where you're sitting on this spectrum of relationships one

00:23:53.120 thing I enjoyed was knowing that like yes I'm literally married but I still was like answering

00:24:00.400 questions like no I do want to just be with one partner but like maybe in the future like I'm not

00:24:05.040 totally rejecting the ideas of non-monogamy I love that I feel like I would highly recommend

00:24:10.880 our listeners whether they're single dating or partnered to do this reflections because I think

00:24:16.400 it's just nice to give yourself more insight about yourself and allow yourself to think about your

00:24:22.140 desires in a non-judgmental and safe environment I also think if you struggle with that direct

00:24:27.340 communication about topics like desire which can be quite confronting to bring up I think

00:24:32.680 reflections acts as a really great tool to like pass some feedback to your partner in like a way

00:24:37.720 that is nice to receive yeah and it's all laid out really neatly and nicely and like it's so easy to

00:24:43.640 just send a link and just be like hey this is like i'm feeling at the moment or this is like what i

00:24:48.020 might want in the future it was really good so if you do want to try reflections for yourself visit

00:24:52.700 field.co slash reflections that's f-e-e-l-d or you can download field on the app store or google play

00:25:00.080 and there's also a link in our show notes where you can click straight through thank you field

00:25:03.640 for sponsoring today's episode and if any listeners try it we'd love to hear your thoughts so just send

00:25:08.380 us a dm big news in the music world lord has left universal music group after her 17 year old

00:25:15.620 contract quietly expired at the end of last year so that means now she's fully independent i had

00:25:22.360 no idea that lord signed this contract when she was 12 years old oh my god yep isn't that wild

00:25:28.860 and she's now 29 so to spend uh actually i was going to say most of your life all of your adult

00:25:34.600 life and all of your teen years tied to this contract and this one company would be so it

00:25:41.200 would really change your perspective of music on yourself and it would just change your entire

00:25:46.120 career so lord sent her fans a community voice note and said i feel a real hunger for newness

00:25:52.000 and i feel like a new leaf is turning or there's a blank slate that's been presented and i feel

00:25:56.900 this way because at the end of last year my label deal with Universal came to an end. I adore them

00:26:02.600 they're incredible people and I've had an amazing experience but the truth is that a 12 year old

00:26:07.740 girl pre-signed and pre-sold her creative output before she knew what it would be like and before

00:26:13.220 she knew what she was signing away. She continued I'm sure I'll have a deal again could well be with

00:26:18.860 Universal but I knew that I needed to take a second to have nothing being bought or sold

00:26:23.800 that comes from me when I see an opportunity for a clean slate I take it I don't know if you saw

00:26:29.800 my phone background that says I have no master but I'm trying to feel what that feels like

00:26:36.120 I love Lord she's so like esoteric no but that last line wasn't right because like the rest of

00:26:42.380 it is she's like clean slate and like you know just my own like new leaf whatever but then she's

00:26:49.180 like oh my god and my phone background literally said like i have no master which feels quite

00:26:54.840 intense being like okay so your master was this record label perhaps yeah one fan and twitter

00:27:02.760 user fk jack agreed with this they said kind of fascinated by this revelation as lord has always 0.80

00:27:09.200 felt like an artist the label let do whatever the fuck she wants at whatever pace in brackets four 0.99

00:27:13.880 to five years between each record and I feel that too I think like she has had long breaks between 0.94

00:27:19.160 with Solar Power she definitely said like this is like my creative vision I don't really care

00:27:24.040 if you guys don't get it this is you know it wasn't critically lauded even with her new album

00:27:32.200 Virgin that's been more popular but it still feels very like creative independent artist vibes yeah

00:27:40.560 I think they've gone about it the right way. They being like universal because from the outsider

00:27:45.700 perspective, it looked like Lorde was almost operating as a somewhat independent artist

00:27:50.820 because she really like moved to the beat of her own drum from someone who's not in the music

00:27:55.340 industry, right? You're right. The albums were very herself. She was not following, I guess,

00:28:00.760 general trends in the music industry and her rollouts felt different. But we just don't know

00:28:06.800 what's going on behind the scenes like how much money they're taking or what other expectations

00:28:11.260 they have of her and how much ownership they have of her music those are big those are big deals

00:28:17.260 we've seen this time and time again like with taylor swift buying back her masters

00:28:21.060 britney spears selling her catalog like it's it's an industry like we can say music is

00:28:27.400 like about art and like the fans and stuff but it is a massive industry and there's a lot of

00:28:32.500 executives who want to get paid. This makes me really excited for like a new era of Lord. I'm

00:28:38.120 sure this girl's resting. She just released a new album, but whatever she drops next, I'll be, I'm

00:28:44.400 like very, very, very excited for, obviously love her in general, but to have this fully on her own

00:28:49.680 terms will be a new level entirely.

00:29:02.500 Okay, we want to start with a question that I feel like everyone asks themselves at some point

00:29:06.780 when it comes to dating. The question being, is this normal? Exactly. Like, is it normal to want

00:29:12.740 a lot of independence in a relationship? Or is it normal to need emotional safety before you're

00:29:17.240 comfortable being casual with someone? Or even, is it normal to not want a relationship at all

00:29:21.560 for a while? These are the kinds of questions we've been thinking about because we recently

00:29:26.200 tried reflections a self-discovery tool from field spelled f-e-e-l-d field is a dating app built

00:29:32.960 around curiosity and being honest about what you want and reflections is essentially a series of

00:29:38.220 prompts designed to help you think about your desires boundaries and relationship style and

00:29:43.100 what i liked about it is that it kind of dismantles the idea of quote-unquote normal when it comes to

00:29:48.500 relationships because when you start answering the questions you realize there isn't really one way

00:29:53.440 to do dating. Exactly. And everyone's answers are going to be different. And that's kind of the

00:29:57.840 point. It's less about fitting into some idea of what relationships should look like and more

00:30:02.380 about understanding what actually works for you and what you truly want, not what society or your

00:30:07.420 friends tell you you should want. And when saying this, it sounds kind of obvious, but I think a lot

00:30:13.140 of us make decisions in dating based on what we think we're supposed to want. Exactly. And the

00:30:18.400 interesting thing about doing reflections was realizing there are parts of your preferences

00:30:21.860 or boundaries that you might not have fully articulated before and once you have the language

00:30:25.960 for it it becomes way easier to communicate that with other people so if you're curious about your

00:30:30.960 own dating style or just want to think a bit more deeply about what you want from relationships you

00:30:35.460 can try reflections on field yourself just head to the link in our bio to try or download field

00:30:41.340 f-e-e-l-d on the app store or google play because the better you understand yourself the easier it

00:30:47.380 is to find connections that actually make sense for you. Influencer, actor and therapist podcast

00:30:53.140 host Jake Shane is currently copying a lot of criticism after his red carpet interviews at the

00:31:01.720 Vanity Fair after party, Oscars after party. Yeah, we'll go into this criticism. There is a part of

00:31:09.240 me that feels bad for this short man. Like he, like I will say, sorry, we'll get into the main

00:31:15.460 criticism later the first video i saw of him hosting this was with emma chamberlain right

00:31:19.760 and he he could not get a word in sideways he was really trying to be part of the conversation

00:31:24.660 and it was like he was struggling with quenlin blackwell as well yes as a as a co-host yeah um

00:31:31.700 and then i don't know he just it was it was kind of sad it was kind of a hard watch it wasn't that

00:31:37.740 bad but i was like oh my god well i guess the main criticism is regarding jake's comments on

00:31:44.880 the movie if I had legs I'd kick you which uh Rose Byrne was nominated for an Oscar did you

00:31:49.640 watch if I still have not but you have so that's good I have it was like the um opening premiere

00:31:55.800 movie at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August last year I think I might have said this

00:32:01.180 on the podcast before so stressful a stressful stressful like amazing really good I'm glad I

00:32:06.740 watched it but I bit all my nails down in the cinema like it was stressful and in the movie

00:32:12.820 it's about a mother who has a sick child and you never actually see this child you only hear her

00:32:19.700 voice um and it's kind of how rose byrne's character is like dealing with being like a

00:32:27.180 solo parent her husband is like away working away and it's definitely a commentary on modern

00:32:32.420 motherhood right so jake shane is trying to like chat with some of the actors and they're talking

00:32:37.740 about if i had legs i'd kick you and we'll just play the clip of him and julia fox if i had legs

00:32:43.780 i'd kick you wow really good like really every mother's story you know especially the kid was 0.99

00:32:49.520 annoying no i can't yeah you know that kid was so damn annoying but she had a shoes and it's like 0.98

00:32:58.420 that's the thing i think the kid was annoying because the thing is no can i tell you something

00:33:01.580 it's it's it's not that it's the mother's fault or the child's fault it's society's fault it sets

00:33:06.300 mothers up to fail you know even the fact that like school gets out at three but most jobs are

00:33:11.840 done at five or six like like they all those little things are so positioned to just not

00:33:18.440 are not conducive to mothering if that makes sense you know and it's julia fox for president

00:33:24.460 yeah okay i feel like we've dragged this on a little bit and jake also tried to make the same

00:33:28.660 joke with damon idris yeah so he's like repeating the same joke he's like the kid's so annoying

00:33:35.120 low and it's not landing well like Damon is kind of like like he even says like oh I'm not going

00:33:40.880 to answer that and it kind of like laughs it off. It's a bit awkward but it is bringing back

00:33:46.200 a long had conversation in the past like five years which is influencers versus journalists

00:33:53.040 on the red carpet. There was this piece in Variety called Jake Shane's questions at the

00:33:59.320 Vanity Fair Oscar party prove influencers shouldn't be red carpet reporters and that

00:34:04.300 was written by daniel daddario so daniel writes shane's manic derision of a movie his guests

00:34:10.140 actually wanted to talk about seemed to speak to a sort of discomfort with the setting with the

00:34:14.880 idea of asking questions and perhaps with this influencer facing the danger of getting out shined

00:34:20.740 the problem as far as red carpet reporting is concerned is that preparation and being able to

00:34:26.660 think on one's feet and respond to what's actually being said in the moment all elements of

00:34:31.620 generalistic practice are more important than personality. There's a pretty scathing conclusion

00:34:37.040 in this article as well. They write, this doesn't in and of itself matter much. The Vanity Fair

00:34:43.880 Oscar party red carpet is not where people turn for insights about the state of the world,

00:34:48.860 but every little chip away at standards of excellence is something that our culture cannot

00:34:52.780 get back. It sounds prudish and corny, but it's hard to imagine the inventor of the Vanity Fair

00:34:58.320 oscar party grayden carter an editor who stress tested every single word on his magazine's cover

00:35:04.060 would have thought that a tiktok personality and podcaster with one joke expressed with

00:35:09.560 increasing volume but no other development was an appropriate booking like anything red carpet

00:35:16.400 reporting is a craft it ought to be practiced by people who know what they're doing oh my god if

00:35:22.380 someone called me out like that being like you're saying nothing you're just speaking louder

00:35:25.820 it's pretty scathing i'm like i'd feel so modified so some people are coming to jake's defense

00:35:33.500 one user yolanda fister said i agree with this but also think this is so bitter boots like oh

00:35:40.120 your journalism degree from columbia didn't get you the job asking celebrities about their favorite

00:35:44.480 movies this year girl grow up and start a tiktok you're not owed anything in this life 0.56

00:35:49.640 oh yeah and I get it because sometimes um we've spoken previously about this on mic as well and 0.65

00:35:56.680 I'm like we never want to come across being like why are those influencers like getting those jobs

00:36:02.100 and we're not because we studied journalism right and it can be a fine line because it can feel a

00:36:07.740 bit petty or jealous um but this conversation is rearing its head again and I'm glad for that

00:36:14.700 And I saw this great snippet of an episode of the Cutting Room Floor podcast, and it was with

00:36:21.360 Kelty Knight, who is a Canadian TV presenter. She's won three Emmys for her red carpet hosting.

00:36:29.100 She's amazing. I'm going to play a clip here because she talks about how it's about the quality

00:36:34.040 of what these red carpet journalists are doing. It's not necessarily about what your background is.

00:36:40.140 I have to first realize how I got into this. I don't have a journalism degree. I didn't go to

00:36:45.240 some pedigreed school to get in. My problem is that I am wanting excellence. I'm not as concerned

00:36:52.060 how you got there, but I need you to treat the red carpet with the respect that it deserves.

00:36:58.740 If you're covering awards season and you didn't spend your holiday season watching everything

00:37:03.300 and making notes, you kind of don't belong there, you know? They're going to say, well,

00:37:07.260 I'm not there to like be a journalist.

00:37:09.080 I'm there to like make a viral dance.

00:37:10.900 Okay, and? 1.00

00:37:11.960 Because I have done many interviews where I've done a stupid dance. 0.87

00:37:15.080 I've did the duet with Pink from her music video. 0.99

00:37:17.980 I've stripped with Channing Tatum.

00:37:19.540 I still saw the movie.

00:37:20.300 I knew everything about that man.

00:37:21.540 Funny you bring that up.

00:37:22.200 I just subscribed to The Cutting Room Floor this week on Patreon.

00:37:25.460 Okay, good on you supporting media.

00:37:27.680 Yeah, I think it's $10 a month.

00:37:30.000 But I was seeing more and more clips from the Instagram.

00:37:33.300 And I was like, I really want to like hear the whole episode.

00:37:35.600 so I'll link that in the show notes as well if anyone wants to check it out and yeah you're so

00:37:39.540 right about coming across as holier than thou the article it's pretty scathing but like there are

00:37:45.740 definitely points in there that stand true but the thing is we live in an attention economy you

00:37:50.720 cannot deny that we saw this all the time at pedestrian as well pedestrian journalists would

00:37:55.680 get criticism for going to these press junkets and asking like slay mama or boots the house down

00:38:02.720 yeah it's like a thought daughter or gay son yeah yeah and people in the comments will be like this 0.98

00:38:08.360 is so ridiculous but those are the videos that would go viral and when you work at a publishing 0.98

00:38:13.580 company that is what the executives care about they care about the numbers they care about clicks 0.61

00:38:19.740 and it's not gonna be like people journalists would then ask like you know the thoughtful

00:38:24.200 introspective questions maybe about the art or like whatever they're talking about those videos

00:38:28.160 get 200 views yeah so like what it's if you want to see that quality rather than like the viral

00:38:35.340 clickbaity thing you also have to then go and engage with that and I think that's what a lot

00:38:39.120 of people don't think about they just think well that's a boring answer or like the discourse comes

00:38:43.500 from like this Jake Shane thing yeah because Julia Fox's answer to the question about the movie was

00:38:49.360 so thoughtful and it was really nice he had reflections but without this Jake Shane commentary

00:38:53.880 do you think we would have heard that clip even yeah so true would we probably not I think it came

00:39:00.400 from Julia being like well no there's a little bit of tension there I also do want to defend

00:39:05.520 Jake a little bit because in an interview with Rolling Stone like in the same week Jake says

00:39:12.460 I'm not a journalist alongside the article there was also a recorded interview so we'll play the

00:39:18.000 clip where he talks about not being a journalist do you ever feel like you're doing acts of

00:39:23.080 journalism with your interviews or do you feel it's a different category altogether i think it

00:39:26.140 is insulting to journalists to say what i do is journalism i don't know about that uh it is and

00:39:31.680 you can clip that so i'm not a journalist i didn't go to school for journalism there are real

00:39:37.660 journalists out there asking real thoughtful hard questions what i am having with people

00:39:43.260 is a conversation you can say that's journalism but it's not hard-hitting what i do isn't hard

00:39:49.280 hitting i want to create a comfortable friendly environment for my guests i don't ever want them

00:39:54.280 to feel i've always said i want my show to feel like if you were just to sit down with them and

00:39:59.580 get to know them what it would feel like i'm not a journalist i also learned through this that

00:40:04.100 shane's mother is actually a writer for washington post or was so i think that that was really good

00:40:10.680 of jake to be like i'm not a journalist and there are people out there who are doing really

00:40:15.840 important work and what i am doing is a conversation chat show yeah and i think there's a lot of

00:40:20.880 conversation chat shows out there at the moment like royal court britney broski love her she's

00:40:26.220 so funny but it's entertainment yeah but then there is a thing called entertainment journalism

00:40:31.100 so like yeah and it there's a you're so right there's so many categories like this why do we

00:40:37.720 put a lot of heat on people like jake but perhaps lord like we you know we're big fans of chicken

00:40:43.200 shop date whereas in in a similar way she's not asking these quote-unquote hard-hitting like

00:40:48.600 journalist questions but I think what audiences perhaps want is that like care and that research

00:40:55.640 or that background info even with Brittany Broski like even when I imagine the set of it all I'm

00:41:01.640 like there's been so much like energy poured into it and perhaps that's what we want we don't want

00:41:06.960 people rocking up on the day not knowing who they're talking about not knowing what they're

00:41:10.180 talking about and for those people to be leading the conversations and on amelia of chicken shop

00:41:15.380 date she actually has a background in communications she has a ba in fashion comms from central st

00:41:21.360 martin's which is a university in london she also hosted the oscars red carpet in the lead up to it

00:41:27.420 she was doing so much prep like she was talking about on instagram stories and i think amelia

00:41:32.560 does a really good job of researching as she should like that's her job right i think she's

00:41:36.800 takes it quite seriously too yeah but then it was funny I think it was actually maybe in that

00:41:40.660 Kelty clip up the top but it was like or I saw somebody else saying it's like we don't want to

00:41:45.280 see two people meeting for the first time as a red carpet clip of like having these internet

00:41:49.900 personalities being like oh my god it's so good to see you oh I love yourself like that's what

00:41:55.260 we're getting a lot from these celebs I want to say someone who's doing so well again I think

00:41:59.500 Kelty said this Mary Beth Barone she's been touted to be like she's done her research she

00:42:05.140 like knows these people but she can also bring that levity and she's so funny and she can be very

00:42:10.580 like approachable and personable and that mix I think is great for red carpet reporting as well

00:42:17.020 it's interesting that you bring up like oh Amelia's got this degree in something because

00:42:21.060 is that just what makes a journalist if you've done a degree in it because I don't know if I

00:42:26.840 agree with that um well I think it shows that you studied and you like have found a foundation of

00:42:33.960 like the basics of like communications um how the industry works and I'm not saying that you can't

00:42:40.400 get that from like being on the job but I think having that communication professional experience

00:42:48.200 like she's done work for vice and stuff oh yeah I'm not talking about her I'm just talking about

00:42:52.320 generally I'm just talking in general for instance I was at an event earlier this week and talking to

00:42:57.420 this journal who's probably been working like 30 even 40 years and she didn't she didn't study

00:43:02.180 journalism despite the fact that I did my journalism degree I'm like it helped me a bit

00:43:06.920 it wasn't like the most thorough and extensive course and I don't I didn't leave that feeling

00:43:12.200 like a journalist I felt it after working in journalism yeah definitely but I think if you're

00:43:18.820 like going back to this point of the red carpet stuff if you don't have a journalism background

00:43:24.200 or a degree you've never worked in the space as a writer or whatever producer whatever and then

00:43:29.320 you're you only have a background of like posting videos on the internet and being comedian and then

00:43:34.220 you're on a red carpet and then get called out for it like you're gonna have more confidence and

00:43:39.000 more like experience from having at least worked in that space whether it is just a degree or is

00:43:45.500 work experience like a couple years and then being online and then being having a podcast and then

00:43:50.840 getting to that point I think that does give you more legitimacy than someone like Brittany like 0.91

00:43:57.420 i think britney's really really great at what she does she's hilarious she's entertaining she's

00:44:02.040 obviously really smart she blew up from a kombucha video a kombucha reaction video so many of these

00:44:07.600 pop culture stars did like um delaney rowe she was also a red carpet presenter this year

00:44:13.660 uh at the after party she like made sketches on tiktok as well similar to jake that kind of like

00:44:20.360 online comedian not discounting what they do and i'm really not trying to be like a purist about it

00:44:25.960 But I think definitely having some level of experience, whether it is a degree or is the work, I think work experience does mean more because like you said, you meet people who don't have degrees who are really successful in the industry as well.

00:44:39.940 But I do think in this conversation, that's what people are saying.

00:44:43.800 Like having that background gives you more legitimacy.

00:44:47.140 yeah I completely agree with that and I also want to make space for like an emerging creator

00:44:52.700 emerging in some way of like people who make really considered and exhaustive like video

00:44:58.960 essays on topics usually on YouTube but of course through podcasts and stuff where a lot of them

00:45:04.200 don't call themselves journalists but they kind of dabble more so in that space as well I think

00:45:09.200 there's so many different levels to being a content creator online and you can't just be

00:45:12.860 like oh if you post videos on the internet like you can't do this definitely

00:45:17.140 it's now time for bookmarked jazz what are you recommending this week mine's actually kind of

00:45:31.060 on theme with what we were just talking about i'm so so late to the party on this one like

00:45:35.960 a year late but i finally watched benito skinner's tv show overcompensating yay yay did you watch this

00:45:42.740 yeah i recommended it on the podcast ages ago tell me what you thought okay okay i'm like wait

00:45:47.360 i loved it so it features benito who plays benny who's a former high school jock and closeted

00:45:53.500 college student navigating freshman year um and then he has a sister grace scanlan who is played

00:46:01.320 by mary beth barone they also have a podcast like podcast together that's so funny i love them

00:46:07.200 wally barham is carmen benny's best friend and there's some great cameos to charlie xcx and

00:46:13.980 caleb here and who's also a comedian i really enjoyed the show i watched it because i felt like

00:46:18.080 everyone was talking about it like a year ago and i needed to catch up um it was a bit more like

00:46:24.280 mainstream than i thought that makes sense like kind of i guess like that's the theme it's like

00:46:29.540 all american college vibe so it felt like less like a i thought it's gonna be more sitcom yeah

00:46:36.500 and it felt a bit more polished yes that makes sense yes yes it's quite heartfelt and earnest

00:46:40.860 yeah especially because like Benito and Mary's comedy I think isn't super earnest they're very

00:46:46.620 like I when I see them I feel like they're like the cool kids but then in the show Benny as a

00:46:52.420 character is yeah very earnest very insecure but it's also based on Benito's like real kind of

00:46:58.100 coming out story so I think having that in mind um definitely made it like a bit more felt and

00:47:05.960 heartwarming season two has been confirmed thankfully because it ends definitely on a

00:47:10.380 cliffhanger yeah it ends it could have ended there but i also think that was a good cliffhanger

00:47:15.480 yeah i hope it's like a two season run yeah there's only so much yeah so many places you

00:47:20.500 can go exactly i kind of i wish people would just sometimes know when to end something and

00:47:24.680 just keep it as like a nice capsule that's a good point sorry for recommending something twice if

00:47:29.840 you recommended this before but i enjoyed it and i feel like i now need to also go watch adults

00:47:35.400 which is kind of like in the same universe like really similar like living in your 20s in the US

00:47:40.340 I watched them at like the same time like back to back and I'm much referred overcompensating oh

00:47:45.720 okay so I started with the highlight yeah well I also started with overcompensating so I don't

00:47:50.220 know how you'll find it I guess adults is more like like off kilter and rogue and but I just

00:47:57.020 found I don't know if you want me to say it like the character is quite grating but also like

00:48:02.160 quite like one-dimensional and i just i yeah this was very much more like endearing overcome

00:48:08.420 settings like a sweet watch but it's also funny see how you go though i think maybe that's why

00:48:13.880 i put off watching it because they came out at the same time then i was like i'm overwhelmed with

00:48:17.420 this like american college content so i'm just gonna leave it and so i finally got to it so

00:48:22.960 highly recommend that maggie what are you recommending this week also a tv show fun you

00:48:29.420 never really do tv shows no and mine's an australian tv show too have you heard of deadlock yes this is

00:48:36.720 also a bit of an older one isn't it well kind of it's from 2023 i will say as a disclaimer i'm

00:48:41.960 actually working on promoting season two it's like i'm doing social content but this is like

00:48:47.080 so separate from that so i watched season one in prep for that and i loved it guys i did not

00:48:53.060 watch that many australian tv shows actually there's been a few in the past few years i've

00:48:57.380 really enjoyed like colin from accounts etc but deadlock to watch more australian tv guys girl

00:49:02.540 we need to watch we need to support australian content girl i know i know and i'm doing it now

00:49:07.360 because uh deadlock is a black comedy crime mystery tv show and it was like so funny and

00:49:16.700 this is a thing sometimes i think with australian things especially like things that would produce

00:49:21.660 older it doesn't really feel real like authentically australian i'm like i don't know like the humor

00:49:28.320 doesn't feel right or it's like caricatures of australians exactly whereas this one i was like

00:49:33.760 oh no this feels so real so the show is created by kate mccartney and kate mclennon which is just

00:49:38.880 incredible to have two kate mcs making a show and it stars kate box another kate madeline um sammy

00:49:46.820 alicia gardiner and ninoyama and it's set season one is set in this fictional town called

00:49:52.480 deadlock in tassie and it's like this like half gentrified by like lesbian town and what happens

00:50:01.060 it's like a crime show so there's like murders start happening um and it was just so good because 0.61

00:50:06.720 the humor is so good but they also take the crime portion of it seriously and it's not your average

00:50:12.420 cop show because like acab i don't watch crime shows but this one like knows its place and isn't

00:50:19.860 afraid to talk about it yeah smart yeah it's like for the woke gen if i could say that um but yeah

00:50:28.100 season two is also out now it's on prime video but i really loved season one i need to watch season

00:50:34.540 two then yeah i know you could text it now i would recommend watching it in order yeah i've seen

00:50:40.340 season one oh you've seen it yeah oh my god did you like it yeah okay sorry second season sent

00:50:45.820 darwin so it's a bit of a scene change well that's all we have time for today but thank you so much

00:50:52.520 for listening to culture club we hope you enjoyed if you did give us a little rate and review on

00:50:57.720 apple podcast or spotify and we'll talk to you next time yes we'll actually be dropping a bonus

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Culture Club - March 23, 2026

#MomTok Won't Survive This, Olivia Rodrigo's New Era & The Influencer-fication Of Red Carpet Hosts

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