trendingFIONA

For the women who want confirmation that an interest in pop-culture, fashion, and all things considered frivolous and silly are neither frivolous nor silly and in fact are totally, completely worth deeping.

I first came across Shameless in 2022. I was working in a job that was supposed to be my dream job, and somehow still feeling totally lost. I went to school for Writing, Literature, & Publishing—and graduated with both a love of writing and a feeling of, what the fuck do I do now? My saving grace was an unexpected career in social media and marketing. Maybe it shouldn’t have been so unexpected, considering my lifelong passion for pop culture & fashion, and my habitual chronic online-ness, but it was an unexpected turn for me nonetheless. But as I built up my career in fields I wasn’t necessarily passionate about, I started to feel that missing piece of those things that I was passionate about. I loved pop culture, and felt stupid for it. I loved reality TV, and felt frivolous for it. I loved celebrity gossip, and felt dumb for it. I loved fashion, and felt demeaned for it. As someone who’d spent her life seeking to excel academically and then professionally, the things that truly interested me felt out of place.

And when all of those feelings came to a head as my new social media career began to grow, I happened across the Shameless podcast. I honestly don’t remember how I found it—I didn’t listen to any other podcasts at the time, and had a general feeling of apathy and disinterest towards the medium as a whole. I didn’t know anyone else in Boston who listened to the Melbourne-based podcast, but from the moment I heard their tagline, “for smart people who love dumb stuff,” I knew I’d found a podcast I’d be listening to for a long time.

The first episode I listened to was titled, “Are the men actually OK?” It was September 2022, and the title was more than enough to draw me in to an episode about the Try Guys and one member’s scandalous infidelity. If you want to understand my relationship with consuming pop culture content, let me explain it in relation to this particular situation. I’d vaguely heard of the Try Guys. Could maybe pick one or two of them out of a lineup. Didn’t really know what they did, and honestly to this day couldn’t tell you any of their names. But even before I found the Shameless podcast, all of my social media feeds were flooded with musings over one of the Try Guys’ sudden disappearance from all of their recent posts and videos. I didn’t know who they were, but I was fascinated by the change in dynamic and the theories surrounding it. And when the reason behind the shift was revealed, I was locked in. And again, felt foolish for it. Because why should I care about some guy I don’t know and his relationship with his partner? But when I came across the Shameless podcast, all it took was one episode to erase that uncertainty. Because the women behind the podcast, Michele and Zara, wanted to overthink it in the same way that I did. They wanted to dig into the nuance of the social media strategy that the Try Guys chose. They wanted to overanalyze the details, and consider the sociological and marketing and human reasons behind it all. They spoke about everything with such thought and consideration—and joy and silliness—that not only did I feel seen in my own interests, but I was also presented with new perspectives to consider. I didn’t feel dumb for caring—in fact, I felt smarter.

And so my years-long love affair with the Shameless Media empire was born. Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews, founders of Shameless Media and host of the Shameless podcast, became an example to me of what your career can look like when you believe in the value of your own interests. Currently, there are a number of podcasts under Shameless Media: Shameless, Everybody Has a Secret, Inherited, Shameless Bookclub, and the real reason I’m yapping your ear off right now: the Style-ish Podcast.

It took me a while to finally lock in and listen to Style-ish. Originally launched on May 7, 2024, I didn’t listen to my first episode until September 3rd of that year. I blame my general distrust of podcasts (which I stand by, to this day. Not everyone should have a microphone). The first episode I listened to was titled, “The world’s most coveted bag: the Birkin.” Considered a “traced” episode, the Style-ish hosts Maddison, Anika, and Joanna—all experts in the fashion or beauty fields—outlined Jane Birkin’s fascinating life and how it led to the inception of the Hermès Birkin bag. You might read that and think, okay? A history lesson on the fashion world—full of information you could probably get on Wikipedia, or god forbid, with a ChatGPT search. But there’s something about the Shameless Media empire and the women they employ—maybe it’s their deep understanding of the fields they’re passionate about, or maybe it’s their interest in those things that we (society) consider girly or silly, but when they tell a story, they know which details to give you to keep you engaged without losing the core of a story. They know how to balance details about Jane’s personal life with the enigmatic person that she was to the greater public—how to narrate something fantastic while still grounding it in something real.

With episodes dropping every Tuesday (in the US EST—again, this is a Melbourne-based podcast) the hosts cover everything from trends in luxury houses and big business moves in fashion (Donatello Versace stepping down) to beauty trends on social media (an alarming uptick in facelifts in your 30s) to how businesses utilize marketing (why is Duolingo having a funeral on TikTok?). They understand the multifaceted nature of both fashion and pop culture, and where the two collide. And they understand how to bring all of those facets together seamlessly, while still engaging with their unique personalities and interests. Host Anika Josh-Smith is the founder and director of Sage Agency, assisting fashion brands in their launch to global markets. Maddison Sullivan-Thorpe is a Senior Marketing Manager with a prominent voice in fashion and beauty across social media platforms. And the third host, Joanna Fleming, is a beauty expert. She’s a dermal therapist with extensive experience in both social and content channels for major retailers.

The expertise of each of these women, along with their passion for the topics they’re discussing, make for an engaging and enlightening podcast that covers beauty and fashion in new and unexpected ways. It’s why I love Shameless Media so much—they create podcasts that platform engaging voices, ready to talk about beauty, fashion, and business in new and unexpected ways.

So if you’re in need of a new listen this week, I can’t recommend the Shameless Media podcasts enough. The Shameless podcast can range from sugary to serious, not just from episode to episode, but from minute to minute. You’re likely across the pop-culture happenings they’re talking about, but listening to Michelle and Zara talk about them will feel like breaking new grounds on perspectives you never even considered. And for my fashion lovers—my girls who want skincare recs, to hear interviews with fashion experts, to hear intelligent women explain beauty and fashion phenomenons, to understand the rise and fall of trends, to know more about the beauty and fashion worlds from the perspective of women who are relatable and engaging and knowledgeable—I cannot recommend the Style-ish podcast enough.

It’s the perfect outlet for expanding your knowledge on fashion and beauty without it ever feeling like a chore, or like research. I’ve learned so much about both the history and current happenings in fashion just by listening to these women once a week, and I wish more than anything that I could get all my fellow fashion girls to give it a listen. If you’re looking for something new to listen to, let this be the sign you’re looking for. The Shameless Media girls know what the fuck is up.