Everything Is Content - Celebrity Traitors, Sugar Daddies & Zack Polanski

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

Dearest faithful EIC listeners, happy Friday, it's time for a round table discussion to dissect the biggest stories from the week.The UK’s first ever celebrity Traitors is here, following beloved series across in the US. This cohort include huge figures like Stephen Fry, Claire Balding, Jonathan Ross, Charlotte Church, Alan Carr and Nick Mohammed to name a few. The show, which was recorded earlier this year at Ardross Castle in Scotland, features 19 celebrity contestants competing for a prize of £100,000 for a charity of their choosing. We talk about whether or the beloved show is executing this new famous format.Next up, sugar daddy finances. We recently read a piece for Bustle by Camille Soheet Pesha called Even The Sugar Daddies Are Feeling The Squeeze: As costs of living climb, high earners who once had money to burn on their sex lives are cutting back.” And in the piece she explores a troubling trend where the men who were once willing and able to splash the cash on sugar babies are now struggling to keep up. Sugar dating, for anyone not aware, is a type of transactional relationship where sugar daddies, typically older and wealthier, would offer gifts and money and a better quality of life to often younger, very beautiful women who offer companionship and intimacy. We discuss our thoughts on the piece.Lastly, last year we had Brat girl summer, but the season of green might not be over yet, are we potentially having Zack Polanski autumn? The Green party has reached over 110,000 members at the time of recording, for the first time. In England and Wales the party has had over a 55% rise in membership since Polanski took over last month. Polanski has had an unconventional path to politics, previously working as an actor, hypnotherapist and mental health counsellor. And yet is proving to be one of the most effective communicators we've seen in a very long time. One of Polanksi’s slogans is ‘Let’s make hope normal again’, is this stratospheric new interest in the Green Party making us feel hopeful?We hope you enjoy listening, please do leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and a rating on Spotify or wherever you get podcasts, love, O,R,B xxRuchira's been loving: RoofmanBeth's been loving: Better ManOenone's been loving: Game Of ThronesThe Celebrity TraitorsEven The Sugar Daddies Are Feeling The SqueezeGreen Party over 100k membersThanks so much to Cue for editing this podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pele in his yellow and green strip and Cameroon in their iconic onesie. What are you talking about? Football shirts. Okay, tell me why I should give a shit. I'm Jack. And I'm Kim. And in this Forever Better podcast by Puma, I'm taking Kim into my world so together we can uncover everything days to know

about football shirts, about the history, the fandom, the environmental impact. Don't forget the fashion. And the fashion. This is Who Gives a Shirt? Listen on your favourite podcast app or watch on Puma's YouTube. I'm Beth. I'm Ruchero and I'm Anoni and this is Everything is Content. The Pop Culture podcast that keeps you in the loop.

With a shiny green olive of content on the skewer of pop culture dropped into the Friday evening martini of excellent podcasts. You can follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Everything is Content Pod and please do leave us a rating or review wherever you listen. We're an independent podcast and your feedback really helps others to find us and keep us going. This week on the podcast, we're talking about celebrity traitors, the impact of the cosy lives on the sugar daddy industry, and the leftist party coming for Labour's Crown. But before we get into that, Rootira, what have you been loving this week? So I was lucky enough that a friend got a ticket this week for me for London Film Festival.

So I got a preview of a film that's going to come out, I'm not sure when, possibly next year, called Roofman. and the premise is wild. It's essentially Channing Tayson playing a man, I can't remember his name, it's something Manchester, and it's based on a real story of a former war veteran who can't really make the money that he wants to support his family. So starts getting into, you know, theft, crime, robbery and basically becomes a fugitive and Toys R Us and starts living out there secretly for like days on end and nobody's spots him. It's such a wild story and learning that it's based quite, you know, detailedly

on a real story. It's not, you know, somebody going out into the wild and changing a lot of details. A lot of these details are real. They show you the real people afterwards kind of cutting to, you know, what actually happened. And lots of it sounds really nail on the head, same on same detail-wise. So yes, really good. Channing Tatum was excellent as well. That sounds so good, but also most because it reminds me of this book. I don't know if you guys got this one younger. I think they turned into a film which I used to read and read over and over again called The Greatest Store in the World about a woman who becomes homeless as she moves her and her daughter into a department store and I used to want to live in a department store.

That's, wow, that's insane. But that's just fiction, right? That's not based on anything. Yeah, it's also a children's book. Oh. But it's really fat. Oh my gosh. It really does feel like night at the museum vibes where it's unlock this fantasy in my mind. I'm sure it would be really difficult, really horrible. But he's just having the best time at different points. He's like grabbing the toys, driving the trolleys round, just skidding around. It looks so fun. That's so funny. So what is the vibe of this, but like what genre would you say it is? So I think it's definitely comedy, but it's also got an element of drama to it. So I think I would be surprised if it's in the Oscar buzz, but I think it's kind of gunning for a bit of

both where it's like something you would laugh at, but also it's got some kind of serious notes in it. Channing Tatum, like I said, is really good in it. It's not just a comedic performance. There's some like quite emotional scenes I guess that really make you reflect on just who are the good guys and who are the bad guys in life, which is quite a nice message to go away with, I think. Looking at the poster, I would have thought this was for children and probably like allowed a child to go because it's just a big teddy pair on this and I'm very visually led. I'm really excited to see this. I will see anything with Carson, Dunstan, and Channing Tatum simply a bonus. Yes. What about you and only? What have you been loving?

I can't remember. Have I told you both that I finally started watching Game of Thrones? Have I bought this up before? I think you did actually, yes. Oh, sorry. Well, in that case. Not on the podcast, sorry. This is separate, I think. We were talking about you getting finally into the Titties and Willie's show. Oh, my God. Well, that I just, I did say to you both that it's very heavily rapy, which is quite exhausting. But I, yeah, I'd never really gotten into it, and I finally gotten into it.

And now that is, I'm really having to let my love. laptop die before I go to bed because the night before we wanted to chant them, I think I was up until maybe two in the morning when I had to be able to at five in the morning just watching because once the dragon started, I mean that is obviously my favourite thing. I was like, well, I have to keep watching now. So I've just got, I guess, quite a good few months ahead of me basically just watching Game of Thrones, which is if no one's heard of it, you're welcome. Do you plan to watch the whole thing? Because I have watched Game of Thrones, but then I just actually pulled up short and didn't finish it because everyone was like, oh, I don't know about

the ending. Ever? Did we not talk about this? Yeah, I just stopped and I never watched the ending, which was kind of a me thing. You might have said that, but that is such a good shout because I have watched it right to the very last episode and I kind of wish I didn't watch that final series. Yeah, I have seen people saying the final series is bad, but mostly because there's some other, is there another prequel being made at the minute or something and people to keep

being like, I wish they'd just make the last series again and just pretend that didn't happen. I don't know because I remember when I, I love coming to things late. I watched prison break about 10 years too late. I watched peeky blinders way too late and I kept thinking I was going to stick with them. But as they started to fade both of those series, I think I did just drop off after a while. I think it's nice. You know, I think things will affect you less because I remember with Game of Thrones watching it week to week, people were really distressed and really annoyed for it felt like five years during that final series. Whereas now, I feel like it's going to be water for ducks back. You can just stop when you want. I think this is going to be

really good for you. Thank you. I'm really excited to find out what happens. What have you been loving bear? I can't, again, I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, because my brain is my sheep is. On the flight back from America, I finally watched the Robby Williams monkey film Have we talked about this on the podcast? No, I really need to know what you thought about this because the monkeys put me off, so I never watched this. I'll never watch this. It's bonkers, it is bananas, if you're all, pardon the pun.

But it's also absolutely great. I honestly loved it. And he literally is just a monkey. Like, I thought I would have more questions and it would take longer for me to grasp and, like, get used to it. But basically, you see the film, he's a monkey. It's like, okay, Robbie Williams is a monkey and you just get into the film. For anyone who doesn't know, a better man, or I think it's just called Better Man, is a biopic about the life of the pop star Robbie Williams from Take That and then turned solo artist, turned just excellent human being, turned questionable human being, but still excellent human being.

And in the film, his counterpart is played by a CGI chimpanzee and everyone else in the film is human. And that's just the situation. and they don't explain it, that is just what's happening. And I was immediately like, okay, because the monkey's cute, because he's a little baby monkey at the beginning, a little, and you're like, I would die for that monkey. And it's just, it's just fantastic. So CGO Monkey is Robbie Williams.

Steve Pemberton plays his sort of wayward dad. Alison Hammond, Alison Stedman, very different Alison, Alison, plays his grand, loads of people who's, like, I hadn't recognised, play his bandmates and his form. my girlfriends and they're excellent and there was an actress in it called Rochelle Bano who plays Nicole Appleton who Robbie dated in real life and it's just like such it's like a really loving portrayal of this relationship that he obviously treasured but as many like young men especially troubled young men couldn't rise to squandered and it's I just think it's really good I like it's

really searing on himself but also really loving because it's just all about how he just could not deal with fame had all of these demons was searching for a way out through himself and just would have died had a series of things not happened and also he's a monkey and that's the craziest bit I wonder if he's a monkey because he didn't they were a bit worried about his acting skills so they thought like if we turn him into a monkey I don't think he was going to be cast in it to be quite honest I think he voices something but yeah I'm sorry is he not the voice of the monkey I thought he literally is the monkey. I think he does voice over later, but I think the voice acting is done by a series of talented young man, which is wild, because Robbie Williams, I think,

all ego in this has stepped back a bit. He does the voiceover of like the narration and he's very good at that. But I, yeah, I've seen a lot of interpretations about why he's a monkey. Like, I guess it gives them freedom to do some really interesting things. Like there's one point where there's a huge monkey battle between all of his inner selves and he stabs himself, which I don't think you could do with a real Robbie Williams. So I just cannot recommend this highly enough. If you are curious at all, just see the, see the monkey film. You don't have to go on a plane to do it. I think it's on Amazon Prime. I really thought that he was playing the monkey. I'm so confused about what I've got, where I've got to. I am very endeared to him. I end up

listening to him in the most random places, i.e. like the Parenting Hell podcast with Rob Becker and Josh Whittaker. And he is very endearing even though I just can't, he loves calling himself a rock star which he is a rock star of course but it's just so funny how often he refers to himself as one the fact that you know he can't wake up before 12 p.m he's on zoom calls without any clothes on he's doing interviews with his top off like he is an eccentric pop star but he also says I'm an eccentric pop star like 20 times and I can't look out of that sort of like solidifies it or a little bit you're like hmm the lady doth protest too much yeah I just love him The UK's first ever celebrity traitors is here following the beloved series across the pond in the US.

This cohort includes huge figures like Stephen Frye, Claire Balding, Jonathan Ross, Charlotte Church, Alan Carr and Nick Mohamed, just to name a few. The show was recorded earlier this year at Ardos Castle in Scotland and features 19 celebrity contestants competing for a prize of £100,000 for a charity of their choosing. I have to say I was very, very dubious of the premise because famously, the psychological game show of traitors, which is based on lying and getting away with it, gets so dramatic when normal people are playing because, you know, the viciousness, the ruthlessness really shines through when real money's on the cards and people are literally fighting to pay for their IVF, buying a home or, you know, their pension. So my big wonder was, can a bunch of celebrities really replicate those stakes when it is a charity donation? Well, turns out it has been an absolute smash so far. And I think the real MVP of this whole series so far is definitely Alan Carr, who is quickly becoming the best, worst traitor in UK history. Within minutes of being picked to be a traitor, he is sweating like a pig.

He is having chats with fellow traitors in open light in front of other people. and he's cracking jokes with faithfuls that he's a trope to himself. Before we get into the nitty gritty, what have you guys thought of the episode so far? Do you think that it's working and what she thinks working about it? So just to say, at the time of recording, I think the third episode is out when it came out last night and we're recording this very early.

So we're only two episodes in. But I was the same as you were not entirely sure how this was going to work with the celebrity cast. But I don't know if it's because of the success of Last One Laughing. but casting directors have really figured out this celebrity ensemble game. Everyone works so well together. It's a stellar cast. I actually put it on at my sister's house when we were in Cheltenham.

And my sister and her husband haven't really watched the TV because they've just been parenting for so long. And they turned around, they were like, oh my God, every time it went to the different taxi and showed who's in the cars. They were like, oh my God, Jonathan Roche. Oh, my God, Alan Carr. Anyway, so I think that they've really done well with the casting. I feel like everyone's really involved. And I think maybe weirdly more than with when it's lay people that you don't know, watching the actors do it makes the game feel more real

because you have a kind of parasocial relationship with some of these people. So seeing their emotional rollercoaster journey of going through having to lie to each other and the fact that they actually have some pre-existing friendships, I don't know if we're going to do spoilers, but like Alan Carr and Pilema Faith are really good friends in real life. So I actually think the stakes are somewhat heightened on the emotional fund, even though the money obviously is usually the thing that drives it in the non-celebrity version. And I do just think it's really funny and it's really sweet.

I don't know if it's because they're actors, but Celia Emery is taking everything so seriously and is quite upset and emotional about it. And maybe that is that I do think this is perhaps true of people that are actors, is that they actually have extremely high empathy levels because every context they enter into, they're sort of used to reading the human stories and signs of it. So they're probably, even without meaning to, a lot of them are actually getting into a role and finding this almost more significantly real than perhaps someone else would who was able to separate it and see it as just like a game about the money. But I am, I'm really loving it. And I kind of forgot how good traders was.

I started watching it, you know, the bit at the beginning when they sort of like, it's dragged out for quite a while. The car's kind of gone somewhere else and you think, oh my God, can I be asked? And then it gets into it and you go, oh, yes, I forgot. This is a very good show. What did you think, Beth? Yeah, I'm a hooked, hook line and sinker. I will always love the civilian UK traitors, but it does, it wears on you as the wrong word, but it affects you. It does, like a big part of it.

And perhaps this will come in the celebrity traitors, but it affects you to hear why people need the money and they're not afraid because it's not, it's for entertainment in a different way. They're probably not afraid, e.g. the producers to underutilise or not squeeze the best out of these celebrities that they can lean with the civilians. Is it okay to call them civilians, by the way? Civilians and traitors. I prefer saying that the non-celebs because I don't like being a non-celeb. Or general public. That makes me feel sick, that phrase. General population.

There's civilians. You can lean on emotions. You can get a lot out of that. And I think that can be a lot. I really do enjoy it. But it's so fun. It is just celebrities scampering around a castle, trying to entertain one another and us at home. But also I think a lot of the time for getting they're there to entertain.

It's so funny to watch in a challenge, some of them do forget themselves and they're like, no, no, no, really competitive. Like Nick Mahomet doing the puzzle quiz in the big horse challenge, that man's like, I can do this and he just locks in. There's no, he's not there to entertain that moment. He's there to be impressive. And I think that was a golden moment. And I just really am enjoying it.

I am a bit nervous. We won't get enough mileage out of the quiet, quiet. And I don't think they are quieter, but I think they're just not making the edit because there's 19 of them. But like Lucy Beaumont, one of my favorite comedians, I love her. She has not, in the first two episodes at least, wasn't really in it because she just couldn't feature. Same with a lot of the others. It's just not an off time.

And I'm like, I don't want, I want to see more of you. And I think that might be a slight point of contention because I've already got favourites. In the normal show, it's like, I'm sorry you've been killed. I didn't get to know you. In this case, I'm like, no, I want more. I think it depends because Traders is on for so long. it's almost like you have several lives within the show like I remember with the normal people one it's like several of the characters who become the biggest people by the end you don't really

get much time with them at the beginning because there's just so many people in the castle so I'm hoping that sticking point gets ironed out later on because I think you are right there are definitely some people who haven't really made a splash yet who would be so fun to either become a traitor or kind of get their big moment. But yeah, it's interesting that it is funner than I thought it be. I think you're right an only. The last one laughing premise of just getting a lot of funny people together just to excel their funniness together is exactly what's happening.

And I should have really seen that because last one laughing was so funny and amazing. I don't know why I had that cynicism. Because what you said, Beth, about the stakes in the original being so high, that it really affects you is exactly how I felt with the last series. By the end, I almost felt so turned off and so upset by a lot of the gameplay and the way people are treated each other. I don't even know if I really enjoyed it. I felt really sad and almost like I was grieving something, like I'd seen something about humanity I didn't like. So on Jonathan Ross's podcast that he does with his daughter, Honey, called Wheel Talk,

he actually said that he found it quite hard. So he said, I found it really wearing on me, the lying made me genuinely increasingly uncomfortable. We were lying all the time because you're sharing a car with people in the morning, even though obviously not meant to be talking about the game, obviously sometimes people do. And he then went on to clarify later on X, formerly known as Twitter. He said, I'm pleased I did it, an extraordinary experience, but I did not enjoy the duplicity as the game progressed. It's a tougher psychological challenge than I expected is all. And I think that's a really interesting insight because it is so fun to watch but I constantly think that when I'm watching I think it's what makes it so good is you

almost can't believe whenever you watch it how good people are at lying in the moment about being a traitor but that definitely would wear on you and especially when alcohol's involved I would so be like Alan Carr he's making me laugh so much when he was like I'm like Linda but worse because I would do that I'd have a sip of wine I was actually saying this to my sister like sometimes she'll ask me a question and then like accused basically accused me something and I go bright red and get really embarrassed. So always it's like I'm guilty, even if I haven't done it like that, is just my natural response is just guilt and like shame. So I think I would be terrible at it. And I think it is interesting, Jonathan Moss coming forward and saying that, although from a

selfish point of view, I really hope that we don't get too much like aftercare on the show to the point where they're like, we actually can't make this because it's, it's too much on the contestants. But I do think that is really interesting. Because I don't know if I've heard perhaps the gen pop of traitors have said this before. but I don't think I've heard anyone actually come out and say that quite so frankly. Have you played the game Guess the Liar before? Because it's like a mini version of the traitors, I guess, but just like a party version. And I played it a few weeks ago and essentially you play the game on your phone.

I think you can easily find websites that help you do this. And you pass around the phone to a group of people and it gives you a secret word and you basically have to, with the other people who get that word, make allusions to it, but not say it. And then one person doesn't get it. So they have no idea what the secret word is, but they have to go undetected. So say the secret word is like Flamingo. People might say things like pink, tall, one leg, something like that. And then the person who doesn't know might say something crazy because they have no idea what you're talking about, but are trying to go undetected. We played that. I felt my heart hammering in my damn chest. And this was with my school friends.

So I totally get why being a traitor would be so stress-inducing. And I remember before, Anoni, you said that you think you'd be a sick traitor. And I can't remember what you said, Beth, but I feel like you actually would be the best traitor of all time. Wait, me. Yeah. Yeah, you. Oh, I'm really nervous to pull all that thread. I might actually just not even ask, why, because maybe that would hurt my feelings.

Or am I lying? I actually, on that game, I've seen people play this on TikTok loads. and I really want to play it, but I want to play it on the podcast and it feels like it might actually send you into a distressed state. But can we? We don't have HR, so I do wonder about being able to play that, but no, I'll play it with you guys. Rishira's taking a week off. That game, now you said, I'm so going to bring that to Christmas.

Although what always happens to we try and bring a game like that is my mum just completely forgets we're playing and gets really drunk and sort of like, we're all thinking that she's involved and she's completely checked out like two hours before. Yeah, I think, did I say to you, I think I'd be a good traitor? I think because what I really want to say is I want to be. You know where people are like, I'm a perfectionist. I love saying that. It's not true.

And I'd love to say I'd be an awful traitor because it makes you sound like a better person. But the truth is, I do like lying for recreation. I do it less. But like when I was at school, I would just full on lie about things all the time, just make stuff up. I remember being like, my dad's going to get me a yellow lotus release for my 21st birthday. Where has that come from? I remember, like, on nights out at uni, I would tell people that was like a Swedish princess. So, like, I do like just for, I like pretend, especially when I was younger,

especially when we went first one out clubbing. I used to find it really funny experimenting with just pretending to be other people and seeing how people reacted to that, which I guess in some ways is part traitor. So I think I've got some practice on the lying front. I'm not that good at lying about really important things, though, so that's maybe where it would fall flat.

But I'm very good at just making stuff up and seeing how far I can get away with it. I really need you both to be in the castle now because I need to see from a personal level how well you do at this game. So you know how much we've been lying to you? that too yeah I actually would not

I would deal with a lot in the castle but I would not deal I think with getting booed out first I think Paloma looking at her social media and we're allowed to say this spoiler or I've not seen the first episode of the show and it's all over social media Paloma Faith gets booed out

she is getting a good honour she's getting a lot of mileage out of it in terms of like content on social media making herself the butt of the joke but also not the butt of the joke clamming it up a lot and it's been really funny and she seems like a really good sport

but wouldn't you be a bit pissed off especially if you were she's a big name in there as in they've chosen people from all different walks of celebrity life niche Stephen Frye etc especially if you had a lot on you would be a bit pissed off

to go in and then your best friend is like you're going home now you would be I would be fuming I think it was so clever of Alan Alan Carr to do that and actually like again amazing gameplay from someone that I wouldn't necessarily express like that did shock me but obviously you've got claire balding is completely on tim and has

immediately gone like who is the least likely to get rid of paloma but i have to say my favorite at the minute and this is also why i'd hate to be a faithful because i do think you're constantly making a fool out of yourself because you're constantly being like i'm absolutely certain that this person and my favorite is just tom daily his eye rolls at kate garaway he's got it in for her he absolutely thinks she's a traitor and he is not willing to let it go and this is where maybe i would prefer to be a traitor because more than anything i'm just so embarrassable that I would probably go on a crusade convinced from my own like made up fantasy about why someone is a traitor only to make us evict a faithful and then everyone would hate me and that's

when I wouldn't be able to recover. It is so embarrassing to be those faithfuls who are just on a tirade with one person. Every single time it happens I cringe inside. I think this is this is humiliating my friend. Please stop here. And it's just yeah, him, I think, I think, presenting as the Sherlock Holmes of the castle as well. It just, you can't, you can't make it any worse. It just gets worse and worse and worse. You're right. There is no shame and humiliation like being a faithful who believes themselves to be the most intellectual in the castle. For those not already watching, Celebrity Traitors is out now on BBC and please keep watching and letting us know your thoughts and takes because we will be.

So we recently read a piece for Bustle by Camille Soheepeshire called Even the Sugar Daddies are feeling the squeeze. As costs of living climb, high earners who once had money to burn on their sex lives are cutting back. And in the piece, she explores a troubling trend where the men who are once willing and able to splash the cash on sugar babies are now struggling to keep up. Sugar dating for anyone not aware is a type of transactional relationship where sugar Daddy's, typically older and wealthier men, would offer gifts and money and a better quality of life to usually younger, very beautiful women who offer companionship and intimacy in return. She writes, quote, when we hear the term sugar daddy, the collective imagination conjures

images of penthouses, caviar and private jets. But in 2025, many are actually men like Jackson, mid-career professionals with some disposable income, but not so much that money is no object. And between inflation, skyrocketing rents, and a seemingly perpetually looming recession, even men who once seem financially secure have had to cut back. I found the piece fascinating as neither a baby or a daddy, but as someone very interested in these exchanges and dynamics and this type of work. And I found reading the piece at the top, quite funny, not necessarily in a ha-ha way, but more in an absurdist what on earth way, because these men are bleeding themselves dry to buy concert tickets, flights for these women, nails for these women,

but then can't afford takeout. And it's like, I think I can see the solution, my friend. You can't afford this. But then later, it does get quite sad because there's this knock on effect on the women in this industry and adjacent industries who are feeling the pressure from these men and in general. Anoni, I'll start with you. What did you make of the piece? because I'm quite curious, did other people feel sorry for the men who were going to bed hungry? Or did it sort of feel you've made your bed and now you have to lie hungrily in it? It's so interesting. I had the same reactions to you, both at the top line and kind of the thought of this piece.

I was like, this is such a funny, finally something funny coming out of the cost of living crisis. Then you read it and you start to think, actually, this is sad because also I actually did feel slightly sorry for the men in that they obviously feel this level of responsibility. One of the things that we hear about sort of like the male mental health crisis is that a massive tenet of that is their feeling that their reason for being on this earth is to provide, provide for their family, provide for women to be the one that is bringing home the bread. And I guess as an extension of that, sugar daddying, that sort of kink probably comes from a desire or want to fulfill or feel like they're fulfilling that male ideal that they've been socialized is going to make them feel. feel like they're a proper man or emboldening themselves as masculine or whatever it might be. And so I do think it was interesting that some of them felt a level of guilt like right at the top. There's one guy who sends a woman 100 pounds at the same time as he's thinking about ordering himself some food and he foregoes ordering themselves some food and spend some money

instead. And so I think that there is a level of even though some of it is about control and power, a lot of these sugar daddy dynamics, not just in this piece, but in other pieces I've read, actually do feel more respectful and potentially that is because it is facing up to the fact that they are transactional that both parties are profiting unlike in romantic relationships where often they still are transactional but the transaction is unpaid labour on the woman's behalf and then kind of financial control on the man's behalf and the woman ends up feeling like she is kind of in some sort of like financial abuse situation which is where some people see sugar daddying as kind of a more ethical means of like partnering in a heteronormative sense. because it's putting things out on the table, both parties are benefiting, and there is actually some kind of safety level in there, which is really interesting, especially if we look historically back at the institution of marriage and the way that that was very transactional. But yes, this piece I thought was fascinating not only because of the fact that actually this is a very real problem,

sometimes these setups for people are really important, they're good, they can be really positive for both parties. But also I found it interesting some people mentioning about how, because the shame and stigma of sugar-dadding has kind of dissipated a lot in recent years, it means that there are more and more people participating and it means it's kind of diluted the truth of what it means to be a sugar daddy. It means the quality of the sugar daddy's out there on as good as they used to be. They aren't spending as much money. And perhaps veteran sugar babies who are used to having a certain level of treatment

are finding that there isn't enough or as much money as they used to be. I guess some people can do it in a more professional capacity where it's more adjacent to sex work potentially. There is some sugar daddying that I guess isn't when it's very hands-off. and they're just sending you clothes. Sometimes you are meeting up. Sometimes you are exchanging sexual favours. So it is quite a broad term.

But I guess it is really fascinating because I think because the term is just so funny, Sugar Daddy's Sugar Baby, we often maybe don't hold enough weight for it. But actually much like any other career that is, again, yeah, adjacent to sex work, it's real people's lives, real people's incomes. And there is going to be a real impact because of the cost of living crisis. So it's almost like a funny concept. So when you get into it, you're like, oh, actually, this is just like anything else.

How did you feel reading the piece for Tura? Yeah, I think it makes sense that there's a knock on effect of the cost of living crisis on sex work. But for some reason, I had never really thought about sugar babies specifically. I think after this initial, like, pop culture boom of all of these stories or all of these pieces possibly helped in part through, you know, outlets like Vice, doing interesting reporting on things that other places like mainstream media wouldn't. I just haven't really read anything about sugar babies in a while, whereas it felt like almost this fascination and maybe like fetishization a few years ago of just knowing what it's like to be a sugar baby or knowing how much they make, almost like I guess what OnlyFans went through a few years ago after that in the wake of it. I also was really surprised knowing that

sugar daddies aren't necessarily these mega wealthy men. I think I still run on the assumption that these are, you know, like high-profiting people in society, possibly the top 5%. So to learn that they are feeling the pinch financially in really pronounced ways really surprised me. And I don't know if that was just a kind of gap in my knowledge about these relationships or, you know, the people who become sugar daddies. But I really didn't realize that they would be affected by this and the way they were. So this piece was super enlightening in that way. And it's made me kind of, I guess, understand. stand a bit more about these dynamics and the fact that, you know, it isn't just like the

biggest CEOs who are probably shielded from the cost of living crisis. It's not necessarily those people, all types of people become sugar daddies. What did you think, Beth? I found it so fascinating. And I'm very curious about the psychology behind sugaring. I suppose on the side of the client, not so much on the side of the women, because it's like, well, you're at work and you're making money, but definitely on the side of this provider fantasy and where it spills over into like a financial submission point of view. So a financially submissive person or a pay pig, someone who is getting off on the idea of like having a bank account drained or not having enough to eat versus a sugar daddy who the abundance is part of it. I can treat you. It's easy for me.

I'm very, very rich. You're taking care of. You can, you come what I call. It's power. It's money. I'm like, are some of these men, there must be an element of pleasure. I know there's an element of pressure for them because they don't want to end these. They can't afford to have, to fund these sugar babies, but they don't want to end these relationships because they are, you know, I know that there's an emotional connection there by. I am so fascinated about what is happening there, at what point does the pressure become too much? And it's like, there is no pleasure in this.

This is just like, I've got this horde of dependents who all desperately need Ariana Grande tickets. I found it really fascinating and I think sex workers kind of seeing a decline in what their clients will offer in terms of money

which she gets into in the piece but still expecting the same or better treatment is very telling and one of the women in the piece says quote they want the full girl for an experience but for less she tells me

noting that for the first time she had to offer a client a payment plan another site of the cost of living crisis when he tried to negotiate yet another asked for a discounted rate, then sulked when she had to leave his chosen date, an ecstatic dance class surrounded by Kears, my neck, my back, to see another client. And that, I think it's as absurd as it is to imagine these men in these situations. It's much more a story about men getting in like over their heads,

but then also somehow turning that around on the worker expecting as much time or as evolved a service or as involved a service for little money and then kind of threatening to go elsewhere or pressuring them or becoming hostile and it's like it's just another labour issue against this really startling and brutal economic backdrop and it's I think some of the interviewed workers in the peace say they're like we're not unionised, what can we do?

There's no choice here and that is the point where I was like, ooh, a dark story is brewing. So last year we had Brat Girl Summer, but the season of Green might not be over yet. Are we potentially having Zach Polanski autumn? The Green Party has reached over 110,000 members at the time of recording for the first time. In England and Wales, the party has had over a 55% rise in membership since Polanski took over last month. He has had an unconventional path to politics, previously working as an actor, a hypnotherapist and a mental health counsellor

and yet he is proving to be one of the most effective communicators we've seen in a very long time. Palansky was born in Solford in 1982. He's gay, Jewish and describes himself as an eco-populist, meaning he links environmental issues directly to people's everyday economic struggles, e.g. the cost of living, housing, energy bills, and this helps him to bridge the gap between climate activism

with broader social justice, which is really interesting, as I think for a long time, the Green Party actually felt like a bit of a joke to a lot of people. And I was listening to Alistair Campbell on the rest of politics, kind of say that we would treat the Green Party as this kind of silly, fluffy extra thing. But he's really done something clever in the way that he is defining himself as an eco-populist. He's so brilliantly succinct on his messaging, whether he's sat opposite Piers Morgan or Zia Yusuf or tweeting clapbacks at papers that try to embarrass him. He seems to be going from strength to strength. And his leadership announcement video on social media was received very gladly. And in fact, he's one of the only politicians on the left who seems to really understand content.

And we love to see it. One of Polanski's slogans is, let's make hope normal again. And I'd love to know from you both, is this stratospheric new interest in the Green Party making you feel hopeful? It's the hope that will kill us. I am feeling the glimmers, the flickers, the embers of hope. And I swore never to do this again. I swore never to do it again. But there is something very special about seeing Instagram stories from lots of people that I know just sharing that they've joined the Green Party.

Because I think so many of us have felt the exact same way this past year, which is hopelessness, fear, frustration. Because we just can't catch a break in Britain when it comes to having a... party that represents us that actively fights for marginalized communities that maybe has a good stance on climate change i'm not you know i'm not parroting all of this again everyone knows how we feel on this podcast it you know we can sing until um climate change comes to bite us in the face but it is really nice to feel hopeful because i didn't think it would be possible especially in this year so i'm i'm holding back a little bit but i am i am definitely optimistic how do you feel, Beth? I feel the same. I think what people had been waiting for, I mean, so I left

the Labour Party some time ago, like I did not and would not and will not vote for Kirstama because I think he's a disgrace of a man. But anyway, we could do a whole episode on that and I would not take a breath. What people were looking for was this feasible alternative to the labour of once upon a time. And at the very least, I think this is somewhere to put momentum and possibility and again hope, which people had hoped would be your party. I think green is now occupying that slot. And I'm very interested to see and support this because it has kindled something in me, which had been lagging and lost, which was hope and also just somewhere to put it

and somewhere to align action with and feel like, okay, I'm within something, I'm within a structure. It's not the only place to be. It's not the only useful place to be. But it definitely does feel to be part of a growing movement that is now has again overtaken or is about to overtake Lib Dems. It feels like being in that position that I think the Green Party was in about 10 years ago when sudden surge of memberships in 2015, impact was just slightly lacking.

It feels like this time things could transform. And I quite like the slogan. I think it does align with that. It's we might have been here before in some way, but we're here again. We're going to do something useful with it. And I think anyone with any hope left, and I don't blame anyone who has a crumb or who has less I think anyone who does have it should, you know, should do something with it or should try and kindle and nurture it. Because we do need, I think there's this listlessness

in British political and also just British social life. It is to live in Britain right now, I think is to feel a degree of despair. And if I'm feeling that at my sort of relative privilege, I think if I've got this moment of hope, I will join, I will see, I will give my money, I will give my time. It is, and touchwood, it is nice to just feel like I've got somewhere to go with this glimmer of maybe things could be slightly better. I agree. It's nice to have something to put somewhere that isn't despair.

And I think what I find so interesting about this is when Bratt summer was happening and Kamala is Brat happened, we said everything is content, but politics is not. We were kind of getting a bit fatigued with politicians showing up on Joe Rogan's podcast. my perspective on that has completely shifted because of reform and because of the impact reform has had because of that actually very good use of social media, their ability to capture people's minds and their hearts and their votes through quite good political campaigning, which obviously some of that is done maybe slightly nefariously. And so what I think is really interesting in this content situation is that Polanski

seems to be a real digital native. He knows what he's putting out there. every single tweet he does is so clever, like he finishes each one. I wrote a few things down. He'll tweet something and he goes, lower bills, fund NHS, touch the super rich. Let's tax the wealth fairly, fund the frontline services and make hope normal again. And it's just these little catchphrases where I think for so long, we all did really back here when he first came in and then slowly, but surely it all started to fall apart. And we were all like, wait, what is he backing and what does he believe? And now it's like I still actually know less than I did right at the start. And I don't actually know what he stands for, but what he says he stands for.

right now is the complete antithesis to what I thought I was voting for. And so I just think it's that ability to have that command of language. I think a lot of people were really endeared to him when he stood up against Pierce Morgan and said you're really punching down when it came to talking about trans rights. He's just not afraid to speak up, put his head above the parapet for all of these issues which Labor actually have now let fall behind in favour of. I think, I guess, trying to take the reform voters, Sat Plancky's gone, no, okay, let me pick up what you've dropped on the floor.

and make sure that all of those people are heard. And I'm just really impressed. And I guess maybe we should talk about it because it's the thing that's coming up time and time again, but about how when he was a hypnotherapist, a reporter from the son said, could you hypnotize my breasts to go big or something? He was like, well, it's not really anything that I do.

And if you put that in the piece, that that's not something that I do, I guess I can give it a punt for whatever they paid him. And this is being spun out. But what he's so good at and I really enjoy it is he just screenshots. There's been a couple of headlines in the last week from The Spectator about him wanting to tax the super rich. And he just screens such that puts on his Instagram and then goes, oh, interesting that so and so from The Spectator wants me, doesn't like my tax the rich mantra.

Isn't that interesting seen as it's owned by X, Y, Z, who has X, Y, Z money? And I wonder, do you think that actually perhaps, against all odds, it is going to be social media. That is going to be the channel through which we find our next leader through which politics is really changed. because I think even in a year, if we listened back to that episode, we would have thought that was a really damning conclusion that we'd reached. But being here and the now, I think perhaps that is actually the answer. It's so interesting and you put it across so well, like listing all of those examples, I'm just convinced that the differences, he's doing it well, and that's the distinction.

I think with the, I'm so sorry, I'm not going to do post-mortem on the Kamleris Brow thing, but I will say the problem with that is it just, it was so, fucking hollow. There was nothing behind it. There was no clear strategy. There was no clear call to action. There was no clear understanding of what she was saying or what she was standing for in that race. I think what he's doing is every point is sticky, everything you remember. And also it's very pithy. And it is literally telling you what he thinks and what he's saying and what he stands for. And I think that's the difference. You can't communicate incessantly without saying a goddamn thing. He's communicating.

communicating and saying everything that he needs to say. And he's clapping back in the way that Trump famously has done since he has become president. He has the authority on his public image and his, you know, communication. If you want to know what's going on with him, you go to his own channels. Everyone else is reporting on him all the time. But he essentially has the final word. And I really like that with him, not Donald Trump with the Green Party now, because I think that's what's been lacking. I think in politics, sometimes politicians, think that they need to go higher when you have all of this online discourse going on around them or about them. And I understand it because a lot of the stuff, you know, that we are discussing

online, a lot of the kind of media reports that spin out of control, they become so sensationalized. They become very silly. And it can feel like what is the point in, you know, dropping down to that discourse. It's just not worth my time. But we're seeing that it is becoming worth your time. A lot of these conversations that's been out of control online become essentially gospel, even if they're based on misinformation. You made such a good point about reform, making huge ground through online tactics. And I think what you said about us, having possibly an outdated take last year, I think it's right.

And I think it is important to make the distinction. I think it's not social media that's a problem. It's having an effective social media campaign. And just pumping out memes, just, you know, using a color, piggybacking on a pop stars, viral marketing campaign. It's not, it's not effective. It's not good. And I think he's proven that I need to eat my hat. There is a way to do it effectively. And I'm so glad somebody has found that way. What do you think, Beth? I think he's evidently brightened a lot of the media and the opposition. And frankly, long may that continue. And I think when the media has taken a

particular and unfavorable shine to you, social media can be that leveler and that point. going to talk directly to voters and constituents and say, okay, well, this is the media's opinion, form your own. And I think it's very clever. And I think he's very good on social media. Because again, it just cuts through the bullshit. And people are so tired of the bullshit. And I was watching earlier this week as the numbers were climbing. And I joined the Green Party this week. And I was watching it kind of surpass the 100,000, surpass the 105,000, make these great strides. And I think it's just a reminder. And he's really, and it's very clever to remind people this is the number this is you this is the population the collective these are

people that at the very least feel strongly that social issues climate issues this is not there is no time to wait you care other people care and that is a thing that i think does kindle a lot of hope seeing that number and i think it was i think he's very smart with his use of of content and yeah, I think he's rattled certain elites and the British media and I'm thrilled about it. So right about the media, I sent this to you guys,

but it's really funny. The people keep saying like the Daily Mail share headline from him, one of them recently being like, he basically said if someone's below the poverty line, like stealing baby formula, that's absolutely fair enough, which is I completely stand by that.

If someone is in a position where they cannot afford to feed their baby and they won't steal baby formula, we are failing as a society that is not a failure on behalf of the person. And so they share these headlines and that's how you find out something he said and everyone's like, oh, he's absolutely great.

And I think what's actually been so encouraging is no matter what happens with this for such a long time because of such loud but minority voices like Tommy Robinson and even like the overinflation estimation of the march and just the visibility of certain rhetoric, you kind of start to feel a bit like you're being gaslit into thinking you're the only one who cares about certain issues and especially for people that are directly impacted,

whether that's people who are trans or people who are subjected to violent, racist abuse, it can start to feel like the whole of society doesn't give a shit because we're just constantly being peddled these narratives that people are transphobic, racist, don't care about those that are struggling most in society. And so just knowing that actually there's all of these people who do hold these beliefs, who do want these things to be protected, who do want to feel like there are these causes that we want to stand behind, And because there's Benoa to funnel that desire, especially not through labor in its current iteration, I think that that is going to be quite emboldening and helpful for lots of people, including myself, who kind of felt hopeless because you're like, well, I have this set of beliefs, this set of ideals.

But apparently no one cares about that. And so just seeing those numbers, seeing that actually there are people who care about these issues and actually seeing the media inadvertently reporting it because they're trying to slam dunk him and actually everyone's like, oh, perfect. thank you. That's what I was looking for someone to say. It's really useful because it does somewhat dilute the constant. And there's been so many articles and think pieces and journalists talking about the way that Nigel Farage is constantly platformed. This might be the first time that we see someone else actually getting a spot in that limelight. But they think they're doing one thing.

They're actually doing something else. And that was very enjoyable to watch. The only thing I was going to say is I've seen what New York has done with Mam Darnie. And I just plead that we can do the same here. And if they can do it, everyone join the Green Party. Maybe we can do it too. Thank you so much for listening this week. Quick reminder that we're on Instagram and TikTok at Everything is Content Pod

with behind the scenes content and ways for you to take part and suggest topics for our midweek in-conversation episodes. If you enjoy the podcast or even if you're hate listening, please do leave us five-star review on your podcast player app. It's what keeps us on the air and talking pop culture with you all. see you next Wednesday Bye Bye

Bye Pele in his yellow and green strip and Cameroon in their iconic onesie What are you talking about? Football shirts Okay tell me why I should give a shit I'm Jack And I'm Kim

And in this Forever Better podcast by Puma I'm taking Kim into my world So together we can uncover everything days To know about football shirts about the history, the fandom, the environmental impact. Don't forget the fashion. And the fashion. This is Who Gives a Shirt?

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