Everything Is Content - The Substance, presidents on podcasts & posting your partner online

Episode Date: October 11, 2024

This week on the pod, Ruchira and Beth are taking The Substance! Taking it for a spin around the content playground, that is. We discuss whether Mubi’s latest film release is a feminist masterpiece, or just a mess of blood, guts and big fake boobs. Did we love it, hate it or rush out of the cinema retching before it was over? Listen to find out!Next up is the Kamala Harris x Call Her Daddy interview which saw the Vice President get stuck into women's issues with Gen Z podcasting powerhouse Alex Cooper. Genius masterstroke by a savvy Gen Z campaign team or potential PR disaster for everyone involved? Finally, we debate the age old internet question: should you be posting your partner on your social media or has Lana Del Rey done it right by keeping her relationship under wraps until she was halfway down the aisle? If you have anything you want to add to this week’s episode then we insist that you tell us immediately on Instagram @everythingiscontentpod. See you over there! -PENGUIN - Serious Money MUBI - The Substance SPOTIFY - Call Her DaddyDAZED DIGITAL - Lana Del Rey and the case for keeping your relationship private PAPER - Notes on Lana Del Rey's 'Trashy Diva' Wedding Dress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Call her daddy. Oh my god, did I just say call me daddy? Cut that out and just have it. I'm Beth. I'm Richera. And this is Everything Is Content. We're the podcast that delves into the biggest and best of pop culture stories. We do long reads, we do books, we do ridiculous TikTok trends, we do celebrity.

In fact, we do it all. We're the boots crunching through the autumnal leaves of content. As you will have noticed, there is no Anoni this week. She is absolutely fine just having a very well-deserved holiday. We miss her a lot, but don't worry, she'll be back with us as normal next Friday. This week on the podcast, we're talking about everyone's fave new body horror film, The Substance. Vice President Kamala Harris on Call Her Daddy and the pros

and cons of keeping your relationship off social media. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at EverythingIsContentPod and make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode. But before we get into this week's topics, I have to know what have you been loving this week, Beth? So I've got two which I'll tell you very quickly well medium quickly one is a more highbrow one and one is pretty lowbrow the higherbrow one is I picked this book off my bookshelf oh god that was a real leap for me I picked a book off my bookshelf it's called Serious Money Walking Plutocratic London and it's by caroline knolls and i was sent this months and months ago maybe even longer by a publishing house and just never got around to reading it

or maybe felt a bit intimidated because i was at the time i don't think i even knew what plutocratic london is and anyway so it's a book about the hyper wealthy of london why london has so many billionaires how this kind of concentration of the super wealthy and the super, super wealthy in a city like changes the landscape, how they get so wealthy, like what it means for us all. And it's really fascinating. It's actually very good. Do I sound smart? No, you do. I also didn't know what plutocratic is that the word? Plutocratic. Yeah. So that was the first word I had to google and that's on the cover and since then it's maybe every other every other paragraph I'm like oh god I wonder

what that means but I will say I want to challenge myself more with my reading more with my non-fiction in areas I don't know much about and the economy is one area that I've always felt like oh I don't really know anything I'm a bit silly a bit ditzy and I just thought well why don't you read a book about it and I like the feeling that I'm bridging a gap even though I only understand maybe at a push 65%. You know what I think that's really impressive I don't know if I would pick up a book that intellectually sounding on the economy and immediately push myself through it so no I think that I think that's great is there anything that you've picked up already through reading? Do you know what I think in the first chapter maybe it's even the prelude

she's talking about how many billionaires or how many kind of super wealthy became even more wealthy around the time of the pandemic and I'm hoping she gets into that more because she says you know maybe they're connected maybe they're not but it that, it's facing that reality that it did, in fact, make a lot of people way better off. Whereas most of us obviously quite naturally were like, this is dreadful. And she's just walking around the streets of London. I think she starts in Mayfair and she's talking to like, because no bankers will talk to us.

She's talking to people who like know financiers and I'm finding it really fascinating. It's just that glimpse into a world which actually, aside from watching Made in Chelsea, which is like a microcosm of it I have no idea about but I will report back with any findings I'd love that that sounds great what was your other one my other one is Love is Blind which everyone listening if you know you know you will have watched it I don't need to explain it but great series and I say this every time it is the best series so far I know you know you will have watched it I don't need to explain it but great series and I say this every time it is the best series so far I know you like are you watching this series I haven't got round to it because the the l word you know lost is bloody taken over my life oh yeah

I am reaching the end of it so guys don't worry I will have you know a personality and a brain outside of this but no I haven't watched it why is this series allegedly the best one why i think there's just so much drama there's this great blend of lovely heartwarming couples and couples which should never have met in any lifetime um there's this former trump supporter there's this really wealthy art dealer who will not shut up about how much money he has and can't decide who he wants to be with. There's a really wholesome love triangle. Yuck, indeed.

There's a really wholesome love triangle where everyone in it feels like actually really evolved as people and you just want them all to be happy. But I know they can't all be happy unless they decide to be the show's first throuple, which I just don't see coming. And so it's just a great blend of characters. I personally think you should quit your job and just watch all the episodes. But that's just one't see coming. And so it's just a great blend of characters. I personally think you should quit your job and just watch all the episodes, but that's just one person's opinion. So apart from Lost, and maybe your one is Lost this week again,

what have you been loving? So I'm going to be completely honest. I do feel forced every week to select another culture item because it has taken over my entire life. It's like a bacteria, a viral entity in my life but anyway I just started the new Real Housewives of Salt Lake City this week and it feels it feels nice to have a familiar you know group of I would call them friends at this point to turn to I wouldn't say things have kicked off just yet I I'm about two episodes in, but I will say it just

feels good to have the housewives back in my life. So I saw from Brian Moylan, a famous Real Housewives correspondent on the internet, that the break we had this summer, I believe two or three months, was the longest break of Real Housewives since the Obama administration, which, yeah, no one should be without Housewives. I'm going to report back with if there's anything super juicy, but I think more generally, it's just having that comfort show in my back pocket just always makes me feel quite soothed every evening, I'd say. Those crazy, wacky Mormons. Where would we be without them? Exactly.

Quick question, Beth. you have to answer within a second. Would you take the substance? I'm going to let you have some and then if there's any left, I'll have a bit. Oh, you're so kind. Thank you. So for anyone who has been living under a rock at this point, I think we need to discuss the substance, which is movie's latest body horror directed by Coralie Farge also if i said that wrong please please do not tell me i'd rather live in ignorance um it's a dark look at what happens when our battles against aging spiral out of control and go to a very very hideously dark place demi moore plays elizabeth sparkle a 50 year old award-winning actress turned 80s style tv dance aerobics instructor it's almost

like very jane fonder coded she's fired by her honestly disgusting odious tv exec boss who on the nose is called harvey and is performed by dennis quaid and he essentially suggests that she's over the hill and she just is not of interest in them anymore they want to get some fresh blood in elizabeth is offered a black market drug called the substance a black green injectable liquid you can get by subscription service she buys it injects it into herself and births a younger more perfected version of herself this clone comes from her back and we are treated to some like grotesque views of her back ripping in half as a body climbs out it is it is shocking and honestly horrifying in equal measure the younger clone is played by margaret qualley who calls herself sue sue is breathtaking and

she's alluring and vivacious and you can't not fall in love with Sue. She's just perfect. She's essentially the replacement of Elizabeth as the new dance instructor and starts living her best life. But the issue is the rules of the substance mean that they have to switch every seven days or else there's going to be consequences. But Sue doesn't want to agree to that bargain. She doesn't play by the rules and starts extending her time in the real world and that comes at a very high cost to Elizabeth. Beth I want to know have you seen the film what do you think of the premise are you intrigued by all of the kind of body horror and like feminine body horror of the film? So I have seen the film i saw the film last night at the

cinema and i left the screening and i was like i enjoyed that immensely i have so much that i want to talk about regarding the film i will never watch that film again as long as i live i don't think i have been made so physically nauseated by a film since gravity you know the sandra bullock film where she's like floating around in space and that was only because i felt carsick because of the motion this made me feel faint sick i'm glad i didn't take any snacks in it it's it's kind of exceptional because it just it's so confronting it's it's revolting on a level that has to be seen to be believed but it also is threaded through with plenty of

meaning even if parts of it aren't subtle so amazing pick this week I did come out of it cursing your name because I was like this is going to stay with me the whole tube ride home so those are my unformed thoughts what did you think having seen the film so I loved it I had been pre-warned by Anoni that it was disgusting so I was almost almost like a jump scare I was waiting for the hideousness to come through so I was like honestly like hands over my ears kind of like squinting from like 10 minutes into the film and my boyfriend was with me and he I did tell him it's meant to be pretty gross but he just was like sitting there so when when the you know proper grotesque body horror came up he I feel like he was just like like genuinely terrified horrified shaking and looked at me was like what the fuck what the fuck but I think overall I loved it I absolutely loved it yeah I agree it was it's kind of film I wish I was like still at

university analyzing film in a classroom because I think this I could write or both of us could write an essay about this I think they'd both be so different because it is it takes on aging it takes on fame it takes on youth it takes on beauty and and it does all of it in yeah some less subtle ways but I think there's I think it's really sad in points actually I wonder if you felt this watching the film as a woman I felt really sad not that you know this is a character Elizabeth Barkle who is clearly desperate she is aging out of the Hollywood kind of ideal but she's also very rich she's also she is also objectively incredibly beautiful because she's been in Hollywood.

So I didn't expect myself to feel so sad for her as a character. Yes. Yeah, I I feel the same. I think it's strange because she's essentially made a Faustian deal with the devil in taking this subscription service, black market drug. And she's almost brought all of this on herself but it is just it is just so sad and I think there is an element to which I can completely sympathize empathize with this idea that you just want a little bit more than your lot especially when it comes to preserving protecting yourself from the beauty industry from aging and especially when the world has mirrored back to you that you are lesser than because of the fact that you are aging which is a fucking natural human process it makes so much sense to me that she would gravitate grab

this very dangerous offering in order to try and live a life where she's not valued less yeah even though she is rich even though she is beautiful still fucking hell Demi Moore is not a figure that you would look at and automatically feel sorry for because she is so beautiful her body is tight still like that's not the average woman but I think there is something very very relatable about the concepts of her character and it's so hard not to see yourself in that I think that's the question isn't it that's the central kind of conflict when you're watching the film as a woman it's like what would I do where would how much would it take for me to say yes to

something like this because I really love the concept it's not a traditional take a potion it's age reversal it is a complete splitting of one body into two she gives up like you say seven days of her life at a time where she's sort of immobile so this younger self can gallivant around being young enjoying the spoils of youth and it becomes quite blurry later on how connected they are are they going to act against one another and what's that going to look like as a body which the mysterious creator of the substance can keep reminding them you are one you are connected and which is a great metaphor for how we do turn on ourselves we do turn on our bodies as we age I think a lot of young people we don't maybe think of our bodies as the same bodies that one day touch wood we will be old in and I think

the age I would love to talk about aging because very early in the film there are some kind of aged parts of bodies that's all I'll say and they're just normal parts of aged bodies but I was like uh recoiling and it made me it was so kind of confronting actually because I went oh well hang on I that's my ageism because it wasn't like the where this film goes with body horror you're not prepared for. All of this was showing like an old part of someone's body, like perhaps an 80 year old or something. And I used to work in a care home

and in people's homes caring for them. So I felt really disappointed in myself. And then I was like, no, you're just primed for jump scares. But I think that's the magic of the film as well. It will confront you with how much you maybe revile aging even if you think you don't and that got me the film the film kind of looked back at me and I didn't like it yes I completely agree with you so this is a concept that I really wanted to bring up so perfect segue have you heard of the term hagsploitation I haven't actually ever in my life so So I went down a little rabbit hole because

horror, especially more kind of recent feminist horror has had quite a bit of this. And it's essentially utilising ageing female bodies as the jump scare, as the horror, the grotesque of a film. So yeah, as you said, just super ageist and also not very feminist and very, very offensive, actually, the fact that it kind of draws us out to feel revolted by an aging female body, rather than, you know, I don't know, a red devil running around the building of a horror film. And I think with this film, I was kind of battling with, do I think it fits under the term of hagsploploitation do I think that it's a cheap scare for us the fact that we see Elizabeth Sparkle's aging body towards the

end of the film and you know various parts like sagging boobs and um sagging bum and arms and all these kind of things and I think we are invited to look at it and just think oh gross like oh she's really ruined her life by aging so quickly in exchange for this substance agreement and I don't know I think I think you're possibly right that we're being looked at with a mirror and it's almost like exploiting our natural disgust at it I don't know if it's better this one is trying to make a moral judgment on us, but it's still utilising those same methods. That is very interesting.

And now you say it, so many horror films do this. I mean, I'm just thinking like The Shining, the moment of like horror and revulsion really revolves around the naked body of an older woman. There's just so many films where this happens that now I see it, I don't think I'll be able to unsee it. the naked body of an older woman um there's just so many films where this happens that at night now i see i don't think i'll be able to unsee it and it'll probably i probably will struggle to enjoy certain films because of it i yeah i wish i had more of an insight i need to

i need to watch it again but like i said earlier i just can't face it but i think great points on the aging the male characters in this are their own kind of monster as well. And I think I went from kind of feeling sad about this kind of creature that she's becoming and that internal battle to then wanting the whole of Hollywood, as it's portrayed in this film, to kind of get their comeuppance because they have caused this. They've poisoned her for years. Kind of push her to a point where she can't imagine worth even though she's rich even though she's still beautiful she can't imagine a life beyond

being young and beautiful and Dennis Quaid in this is this disgusting I found him as like difficult to watch parts as I did the latter parts of the film with Elizabeth he is yeah he's this kind of gluttonous and he's not taking care of his body in any way he's like smoking pissing not washing his hands he's like yeah he's like hungry for life and he doesn't care because he's a man and it's and it some parts of it like that were just too real so I'm like oh that is what the world is go back and I need some more body horror yeah they really ramped up the gain or like the volume on this one scene where he's shoving giant you know king prawns into his mouth and you hear every chew and every smack of his lips it is disgusting like absolutely revolting I think he did such a good job playing that character because in a way it's cartoonish sexist misogynistic lens that is applied

to Demi Moore and to Margaret Qualley's characters because you see so they're basically really naked for most of the film and the camera shots get into you know all sorts of crevices it really like languishes over Margaret Qualley's's ass to be honest and you know takes long pandering shots of her body when she first is birthed and there's one scene where she is doing this 80s aerobic style dance video and i think it's called pump it which is hilarious and she's just thrusting into the air and the camera goes almost like right up into the bit where how do I say this like the g-string of her of her um what do you even call it like like what she's wearing or her actual body the g-string area yeah what is it called those like

lycra body seats anyway that's it the g- drink of a Lycra body suit and you see everything. Like it goes like really in there. And I felt, I felt quite sick. I was just a bit like, oh, at first I was really almost taking it in and being like, oh, nice, like hot women on screen. This really is like quite

an enjoyable lens through the like various shapes of their body, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then it got to that bit and I was like, oh, it's almost like the scene with Dennis Quaid shoving the shrimp it's too much as excess I agree and I think that comes across well and in terms of it being misogynistic it's very difficult to make a body horror film about the female body without having nudity without showing precisely

what it is that Elizabeth Sparkle hates about her body versus what Sue is able to love and celebrate and kind of adore and the scenes that you're talking about had exactly the same reaction it's like you go oh this is quite fun it's a bit of relief this is you know it's quite campy and then there are parts where you're not quite sure what bit of the body you're seeing because it's like shot from a certain angle and it's like this kind of plump flesh and it's almost like exactly as you say it's like this feast for the eyes actually becomes quite revolting so I think I wasn't getting a huge glare of misogyny I mean for this to work you have to have a character who is self-obsessed you have to have a character that is able to spring from her body a monstrous against self-obsession so i don't i don't know that i

was receiving a message that this is sort of what women are like or that it was made for you know men to leer at because by the end of this film i think i was quaking in my boots my stomach was officially turned and you know it takes a lot for that so I think maybe it's even a kind of catch and release of like oh we're going to titillate you but by the end you're going to feel very different do you know what and can we say on the topic of just this film performances Demi Moore incredible like what I think it's like a complete like performance of a lifetime she is perfect for this like you say she's still very beautiful but having lived her life I think she's been subjected to a kind of ageism and scrutiny

that not a lot of working actresses have just as she's been there a long time she was married to Ashton Kutcher who was the younger man I think she's seen it all and I think for her to do this at this her this point in her life and career I was just you know I think she's seen it all and I think for her to do this at this her this point in her life and career I was just you know I wanted to stand up and like clap my hands together for her but that would not have been appropriate did you think she was very good yeah I thought she was brilliant and I also think no one else could have played this role other than her because when she immediately comes on screen your backstory of who she is as a person, all of her, you know, new stories in the media, it's almost lifted and placed onto Elizabeth Sparkle. And you don't need to know anything about

Elizabeth's career, because Demi Moore's career and her role as this woman who has been judged and picked apart by the media who was ridiculed for dating a younger man is a perfect backstory for Elizabeth so it just they work in synergy together and I think it was absolutely perfect for her to play it and I think I think it was very cool that she did this because she will know that people will be drawing comparisons between her and Elizabeth and even with the nakedness you know putting herself up for more consumption it is really cool and i really rate her for doing it and i think she was exceptional 100 so please please please let us know what you think of the film if you see it and let us know if we've put you off and you'd rather throw yourself into a bin rather than watch this film we want to hear it all please do last sunday the u.s vice president and presidential candidate kamala harris was a guest

on the podcast call her daddy hosted by alex cooper despite getting its start in 2018 as a very saucy sex positive show with early episodes titles, Stop Nutting Early Please, Squirting and Ghosting and Butt Stuff. Call Her Daddy has somewhat rebranded as Time Past and is now a go-to for major celebrity interviews. Recent guests, just to give you a flavour, include Miley Cyrus, Hunter Schafer and Amanda Knox. Though some have critiqued Cooper's quote-unquote soft interviewing style, there is no doubt that she gets the big names. And for this last episode, she went all the way down to the White House and sat with current VP and the 2024 Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for a 45-minute

conversation about female power, reproductive rights, democratic policy, and what she offers the women of America over her rival candidate, Donald Trump. Now, in the episode, Alex says that she is not intending to tell her audience who to vote for. She knows that her audience is a blend of all political leanings and no political leanings. She also says that she has extended the same invite to former President Trump to come on the show and have his say. At the time of recording this, that has not happened, but this is the American election. And so truly, who knows what will have happened by the time this episode comes out. Ruchira, you actually sent me this interview, so I know that you've heard it.

And many of you at home will have as well. Call Her Daddy is the number one podcast for women on Spotify, I believe. And so this episode has been absolutely everywhere and everyone has had an opinion. But the opinion I care about today, Ruchira, is yours. What did you think of the interview? What are your sort of first thoughts? So I remember when I saw this pop up on my Spotify feed, I literally mentally screamed. I didn't physically scream. But I yeah, I was. I was shocked. It was almost as if, of course, this has happened. But still a level of disbelief that this has happened. I think I don't know, I feel like on the content bingo card of this year we possibly could have predicted that kamala harris

would turn to call her daddy because it feels like you know with the gratification of her campaign which we spoke about and kamala hq leaning into that this just feels like the natural next step but it is just it is just so insane that alex cooper has pocketed one of the very special few interviews during this campaign it really is a huge moment for culture and i think it's a huge moment for her and also a real sign that podcasts are just like such a dominant media platform now and this is this has cemented it big time i agree i mean we've got kirsten coming I mean, we've got Keir Starmer coming on next week. We've got, no, I'm just kidding. It's exactly that.

It's an electoral campaign or electoral campaigning like we've never seen it before because Trump is going on his podcast. Kamala's obviously, they're approaching this at a new angle. And I suppose it's to capture the Gen Z vote. I mean, I'm not going to do a lot of political analysis. That is another one of my areas. I'm not an expert in American politics, but it feels very guided towards capturing her audience, which I think it's mostly 18 to 24 year olds. It is primarily women. It's going to be a

lot of very young people. So it is, you know, to capture a certain demographic and it feels on the surface, a really smart way to do this. And I think you did actually call this, you're going to be modest, but I think when the brat thing was going on, I swear that you called this back in the summer when we were doing the episode. And as usual, you were right.

I think I maybe have underestimated Alex Cooper or simply not known her deal because I don't listen to the podcast I see some clips on TikTok and I love Miley Cyrus I watched a bit of that interview I've seen a little bit here and there but I just didn't think she had the access and so I'm I'm sort of shocked that they've both gone into this because I think an interview like this is sort of risky on both sides one it seems like an easy in for the Republicans, and they're already taking it to kind of do her down and go,

look, she's going on this smutty podcast. She doesn't care about America. Look at all the, just as I did at the top of this episode, but mine was appreciative. All of these names of the early episodes, sex positive fun, but Republicans can take that and run with it. And for Alex, I think she's getting flack, or she could get flack from

her supporters who are republicans who do feel maybe like are you just you're you're this is propaganda you're just telling me who to vote for this is not why I came for this so I think they've both taken a risk will it pay off yeah I am absolutely fascinated to see the subsequent weeks of this and also even the November result because because it is really risky. It is, you know, a very brazen shoot for young voters and possibly a lot of disenfranchised voters, rather than, you know, your secure seats and ensuring that older people, middle aged people, various different other age groups are on board. A lot of people could look at this and just think, oh, well, that's quite a cheap shot her going on. Yeah, a podcast and talking about all of these things. No, so I think I think you are right. I think it is. It is definitely it feels like quite a high risk move. So if it pays off, it will be so interesting to see. And also, I think will very much shape what we see with how politicians

engage in campaigns in the future. I don't think we've seen as much of that in the UK. I was thinking about when have we seen a politician do something as kind of left field as this and, you know, very openly turn to the content fields to approach and plug themselves into and do you remember in 2015 Ed Miliband went on Russell Brand's The Truth I think it is his YouTube channel and it was such a giant moment for that election run at the time he got so much stick for it and Russell Brand got so much shit for it as well because it really felt insane that politician was going on a russell brand youtube channel and also the fact that russell brand who had previously said that he was not going to register to vote had gone out on a

limb and invited only the labour leader onto his channel and he got all of that shit for allegedly, you know, pushing out propaganda during the election. And it kind of felt like it ended up being egg on both of their faces. In the end, I think I think it just didn't feel like it worked out for either of them. He obviously didn't win that election. But I think that accusation that he done something that was a little bit unserious, stuck with him that's it it's the unbecoming element we don't really get on board with that i think like it is funny to imagine like rishi sunak on chicken shop day oh my god kirsten on the receipts but like it just couldn't i just don't think it we will get there i mean america is the land of the reality TV president. It's a different animal,

not that ours is inherently better, because it's, you know, a bit stuck up and serious. I just don't think we can replicate it. So watching it from over here, I'm like, Kamala Harris is on a podcast called Call Her Daddy. Like, you said those words to kind of like, an 18th century peasant, their head would just fall off and explode. Like none of those words are in the Bible. But in a way, it makes sense for what she's doing. And especially that her platform is so fixed and focused on women's issues. And Alex Cooper can capture,

you know, her platform does exactly the same. They are women who are aligned on wanting, at least nominally, to look after women, champion women's rights, protect women. And so that is essentially, for anyone who's not listened to the conversation, you should. It's what they talk about.

It's how does this affect women? And they talk about protection from abuse. They talk about reproductive rights and the place that that's in in America. And it's very, very scary and how fatal that is for women women they talk about kind of female empowerment and the fact that Kamala is a stepmother and she has a very modern family as she says but she doesn't she's never birthed a child and how Republicans I think it is Senator Sarah Huckabee I will double check that took a

very cheap shot at her and said you know she she has never had a child and so she can't be humble something like that and I'm probably butchering that and they talk about it and they you know it's a great I think they land it as how pathetic that the other side thinks that women who don't who are stepmothers or you know aunts or who aren't birthing mothers are any less fully formed. And, and I enjoyed those parts. I think it humanized her and it, it, I came away feeling more warmly towards her. I'm not a huge fan and obviously I have no real stakes in the selection. I can't vote in it, but I think she comes across brilliantly in discussing that because she will talk, she talks about her own

life. She talks about her career. She talks about the wisdom that her late mum gave to her I think in terms of how I kind of came away from it I thought it's kind of a home run yes I I completely agree with you I had the exact same impression um I I think it was a win for her I think the interview and I don't think I really would call it an interview I think I would call it a conversation and that might seem like I'm being pedantic but I think the difference is with interviews pre-election during this kind of campaign run you would get a lot of pushback if you were a politician the interviewer would hold you to account would ask you so but what do you mean about that? Let's talk about it in real terms. What was your policy

ambition on this? They would really push to get those details. There was none of that in this interview, this chat, but there was a lot of humanizing of Kamala, as you said. And I don't really know much about her story. I don't feel like she's especially forthcoming about lots of her upbringing or things like that or maybe I just as you said I'm not plugged into that because we are in the UK but I think I got that during this chat so I felt like I quite liked her because she felt less like Kamala politician she felt more like oh okay so these were the lessons that your mum passed down to you okay so these are the kind of fundamentals of who you consider yourself. Oh, I see how that translates into your stance

on abortion rights, and why you became a prosecutor. So yeah, I completely agree with you. I think if I was going to observe this and come to a conclusion, I would say that this did her benefit. I would agree. And I think she's coming from a place of Donald Trump has been in people's minds and on their televisions for decades. He was in a Home Alone film, for goodness sake. So I think she is positioned where it's kind of her visibility would need to increase. People feel like they know Donald Trump, the Donald. His fans feel that he's, you know, the second coming of Christ. So I think it's a very smart move to get her in a comfortable setting. So I didn't watch the entire interview, interview chat. It's, it's filmed. And I think that's a great move as well. I was just busy doing housework.

But I think getting her in that comfortable position, woman to woman, she's laughing, she is letting Alex talk. Yeah, she does come across very well. And I think it will boost her in terms of relatability for a demographic that probably has been seeing Donald Trump memes that almost humanize him for as long as the Internet's been around. Because Kamala Harris's power is that she's not him. And in debates, she can sort of let him essentially what it looks like is digging his own grave whether that will be what it is come voting day but in these moments it's like okay step into your own are you presidential are you and all the questions that undecided voters will be asking and we saw with hillary you think a home run is a home run until it absolutely is not so i'm really interested to see if this blows back on either of them or if this is just another kind of like well done to whatever Gen Z is running this campaign from

behind the scenes. Oh my god they would be so smart to get a super online Gen Z just like orchestrating the whole thing that would be a home run if we're going to talk about it one thing that I did see is that Alex has already started getting shit for this episode and I saw some journalists talk about the fact that a fair bit of Alex Cooper's demographic will be republican you know she gets something like let's look here five million weekly listeners which is insane absolutely insane figures and naturally with you with that many people it's not all going to be one side there will be a considerable amount of people who fall ideologically across the board and yeah she has already been getting comments apparently on her instagram of listeners saying that they're really disappointed they're not going to listen to her podcast anymore that it is just brazen propaganda and yeah just I wonder I wonder

what this will do to her audience and whether that is all talk because you know next week she'll get somebody like charlie xx on the podcast which I think I think will be coming I imagine or whether this has yeah thrown a spanner in the works of her media empire and people will really really be quite angry for a while yeah because there's nothing relatable it's not celebrity it's not like it's a statement to interview an active political candidate and because I completely forgotten that this was like a barstool sports enterprise and I think that they parted ways since but barstool sports is a kind of like fratty bro outlet and to have parted ways with that but then i guess retained a lot of your core audience who trust you like a big sis who really like you and who probably enjoy and i've

not listened to many episodes but i'm assuming they keep it bipartisan they keep it out of so then to make this very hard left i mean had she i think if she'd kind of been able to book both guests and said okay this week it's kamala and next week it will be donald trump oh i mean i would have been absolutely sat and watching that as much as i hate to see him be platformed we can't deny that would have been an absolutely fantastic interview oh my god you're so right yeah it is it is quite the move for her and her platform to not have that balance and she says herself she said that she went back and forth on whether to do it or not but she landed on the side of women's

issues regardless are a huge part of this election and the amount of states that have now cracked down on abortion and abortion rights is absolutely horrifying across the US. So she felt like she had to talk about it. And she offered it up to Trump. And he said, well, he hasn't replied. And the offer is still there. But yeah, it is, it's gonna be quite messy for her. But I do really rate her for doing this, I have to say, ultimately, agreed. If you listen to slash watch the interview at home, please tell us what you thought. Did it change your opinion of Kamala? Did it change your view of the election? Are you on board with politicians doing these kind of podcasting interviews? Or are they better off

sticking to where we're used to seeing them behind lecterns making speeches? RDMs are wide open and waiting at everything is content pod on Instagram. So there's a debate, probably as old as the internet itself, about whether or not it's important to post your partner on your social media and have your partner post you on theirs. I've overheard arguments about this, read countless Twitter threads, and have absolutely fallen into the trap myself where I've measured someone's feelings towards me on whether or not they upload a photo of me to their various grids. And it comes off the back of the news that Lana Del Rey, in classic Del Rey unpredictability, married her alligator tour guide boyfriend mere days after the internet even found out he existed. In the article, Izzy talks about how we've arrived at posting the bad, with TikToks going viral every day of the week, showcasing the implosion of regular people's relationships, cheating reveals, breakup texts, live streamed arguments, just dirty laundry being aired with apparently no care for digital footprint or the outcome. And I think it raises a lot of

questions about whether in this digital age, it really is better to just keep your love life off the internet. Or if we've kind of crossed the Rubicon and we're just too deep in everyone else's business forever. Thankfully, the article came loaded with advice about how to decide what and how much to share on the internet about your relationship Izzy suggested that we ask ourselves about our motivations set better digital boundaries try and become less love obsessed as a rule and just try and find that sweet spot of posting versus not posting so to begin what did you think of the article I I thought it was really funny I love that they linked it to Lana Del Rey's yeah how do you even say it like hard launched relationship slash mariage yeah like the that is the most the hardest the absolute hardest launch I've ever seen in my entire life just suddenly like I'm married

now that's it full stop um yeah no so I thought it was I thought it was really funny and I think it was also quite an interesting take um placed well against the past year that we've had you know we did a podcast on who the fuck did I marry the seven part TikTok serial that a woman did while she was driving for what looked like eight hours about her relationship with a scammer and even with celebrities just like Molly Mae and Tommy Fury and that kind of very vague breakup post but us almost doing the digging and finding out everything about what could be an alleged cheating scandal all that kind of stuff we're in each other's business so much and it feels more intense than ever in this year so I think there is definitely something about possibly normalizing this intense amount of sharing specifically on

TikTok I'd say of our dirty laundry our lives everything that goes on with us and kind of you know cannibalizing it into content what did you think I really liked I think it was a breath of fresh air because it feels like quite a kind of contentious place. And it's like this old tired wisdom of like, and I absorbed this wisdom, quote unquote, in the past. If he isn't posting you, it's because he isn't serious about you, because he hates you,

because you're a disgusting hag and he hasn't a million other girlfriends. And I think having taken that in absorbed it and ran with it it's caused real friction in relationships where probably I could have just relaxed and not worried so much and I think it's a great topic of discussion people will really agree and disagree some people it's a hard rule you've got to post me other people are very chilled if their boyfriend just posts or their partner just posts like brunches and hot dogs at sporting events so it's it's fascinating to just ask people where they stand on it I am very glad that I no longer feel as hardline as I do about

being posted on the internet because like I say I caused all this friction it there was really no need for it because actually it wasn't if there's an issue in a relationship it can either be solved you know nor alleviated by that one kind of act of digital love which really doesn't end up meaning anything if there are actual problems in the relationship and if there aren't it almost feels like creating one and that's what I've done in the past sometimes it has been because they were trying to keep me a secret but for the most part it's just people who aren't that online which is a great kind of person today yes I think I think you've hit the nail on the head of why it's so

tricky because sometimes there are nefarious reasons why somebody wouldn't post you online and that is so legitimate and yes you're right it can be a sign of a red flag, it can be a sign of all of this kind of shady behavior, or even an approach, or a lack of interest in you, ultimately. Or yeah, like a kind of unseriousness about the relationship or dating you. But on the other side, that's just not the full story. And I have, I don't post my partner at all, really. And I think my approach has been not any kind of concrete reason. It's just that Instagram, for me has felt less like a personal space over the past five years. So it feels like I don't really post personal things on there anymore. I will treat it more like an exhibition or a gallery of my life and my work, which sorry if that sounds so pretentious.

I just heard myself say that and I'm sick with what I just said. But it is kind of true. That's how I feel about it. So that's always been my approach, really. And it hasn't been a decision that I've made. It's just kind of what I've leant into. And I have to say, I think maybe this is me being quite toxic, but've made it's just kind of what I've leant into and I have to say I think maybe this is me being quite toxic but I think it's quite chic sometimes not posting your partner

and people not knowing much about you it feels very it girl I just think of Melissa's wardrobe the influencer like the best influencer on earth love her yes and I remember when she did her engagement announcement she put up this gorgeous post of the ring in her hand and there was just like no man in sight. And I just was like, wow, that's so fucking chic. and I think it's that is good digital boundaries it's saying you are not entitled to anything beyond what I give you uh and I think for a long time I was I spent most of my 20s being like oh we need to be all over each other's socials that's you know sign of love and it's all the good couples are doing it and obviously one behind the scenes a lot of them were not good couples they were just great at taking photos but now I've realized there is so much peace in just not having having some things which the internet doesn't get any of and now for me that's my dating life unless it's an article in which case I will dredge through

my horrible history happy to do that but my current situation it's such a peaceful feeling to not post it and to kind of choose what the internet gets so the internet will get what's in all my mental health because that's part of my job and it's something that I've kind of made an agreement with the people that choose to follow me is I will write about mental health I will really tell the truth I'll give you live blow by blows but in other areas I don't need to do that oversharing actually can just be quite contained and some things are so nice to just have IRL and not URL and I do feel very sad when I see something like Molly Mae and Tommy Fury if you put your relationship public especially if it

becomes part of your respective brands and it makes you money to then have to tell a bunch of strangers hey I'm going through one of the most painful things a person can go through but also I had to tell you lot because otherwise you'd be annoyed we've broken up I just think it puts you in a really tricky spot to monetize and that's different I've just decided to do a whole different point to monetize your relationship to make it a part of the internet's fabric to kind of really lean into it as like we're this relatable couple we do this this and this because you can't really unring that bell people will follow you and they all want the goods and it's almost like I wonder if people stay together because they're a part of like a TikTok couple or whether they feel ashamed to say okay the relationship has ended a normal totally normal thing because people will be like oh no you're my favorite I'm really

disappointed in you etc I think it's a really murky place online I'm kind of glad that I have just held off and been kind of coy yeah and I think the unsaid thing is we do public facing things um you know we're both writers we have this podcast so there is an element to which it is definitely different doing a public facing job and trying to build an audience and putting yourself out there versus being somebody who doesn't do that and has a different kind of job and career path sharing their relationship on the internet there is definitely some differences in the level of scrutiny that you're putting your relationship out there for but I definitely think there is still an overlap with this idea of boundaries and if it is something that is you

know becoming an issue in your relationship and you're fighting over being posted but everything else is going well that feels really sad and I don't know it just feels quite it feels quite horrible that that would just be a source of discontent in something that is otherwise great and I think as a general rule fighting over something to do with the internet just feels like shit I just don't think that we should be allowing the internet to influence our love lives or our relationships in that way because it it already takes up so much of our lives why orchestrate a whole genre of problems because of it exactly it's everything is content but everything does not need to be content in your personal life it's we have arrived at such a spooky scary place where people will mind their

own lives for sort of digital impact and people will always be fascinated by romance and relationships and it is a kind of like easy viral moment to post the cute things or on the flip side to post the arguments but I think what it takes from you sort of cannibalizes something potentially beautiful and I would just not recommend it I mean I think we should do a whole episode on kind of digital literacy and the Gen Z demographic who don't seem to care the way that we did about digital footprints

because posting the really sad parts of your relationship on the internet, which is pretty much forever, I would not advise against. I would also say, maybe this is my closing thought, I would also say that if you do want your partner to post you,

I know we're here saying, you don't need it, it's fine, chill out. You know, you don't have to chill out and it can matter to you to have sort of a validation, but I would just say, talk about it, understand the reasons because normally they do have a reason,

whether it's, I don't want people to know, I want to keep, you know, I don't want questions, I don't want people to slide in your DM, something like that. I think it's well worth having a conversation about if you do feel really strongly and really shitty about it um because I do relate to that yes yeah absolutely don't feel like we're shaming or you know judging you if that is something that is important to you

I guess everyone's coming at it from a different point of view and one thing I will say is I think I'm quite relaxed about posting partners online because I come from an Indian family and my family friends of friends friends of the family are just in my business online offline every kind of line so I've long been quite private with sharing things into the wild because the whisper network that would just be inflamed from anything is very real for me so that's where I'm coming from and I think it is yeah I think you're totally right it is just people are coming at it from different point of views the article will be linked as always in our show notes so do go and give it a read and let us know where you stand is posting your partner a

loving act is refusing to assign that something is wrong or are we just getting our knickers in a twist over nothing let us know at everything is content pod on instagram thanks so much for listening to us this week if you enjoy the podcast we'd love for you to tell a friend maybe share us on your story or and i know this is a faff, but it helps us so much. Leave us a good rating or even a review on your podcast app. It is just so, so helpful for us as a growing show. And remember to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at everythingiscontentpod, please.

See you next week. Bye.