Recurring Character

In this episode, we time-travel to the late-2010s, an era where the hottest thing a man could be was Very Online.From the philosophical YouTuber in Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture (2010) to the self-styled literary fuckboy that is Sean Thor Conroe, in the first part of this two-part essay we ask the question: who is the Online Boyfriend, and why did we spend so long waiting for his texts? Digressions include: the Beta men of the Vice era, the allure of the online troll, and the sexual disinterest crisis that I am linking to laptop addiction with absolutely no evidence.Join me in this collective memorial of the Online Boyfriend: a character who may have died in 2019 but still lives on in the overactive imaginations of Millennial bloggers everywhere.Show Notes:Subscribe to my SubstackFake Accounts by Lauren Oyler (2021) Tiny Furniture (2010)Girls (2012-17)The I in Internet by Jia Tolentino Adjacent characters: The Hetero-optimist, The Losers, The FemcelWashington Post pollBini Yamin on SubwayTakesFuccboi by Sean Thor Conroe (2022)Has Fuccboi killed literature? via Unherd

I’m joined by Sebastian Lloyd, a writer from South London, to ask the question: is Englishness inherently weird?We discuss how Britain’s colonial hangover has shaped the ‘plucky’ national character, whether Dunkirk is the Roman Empire for blokes, and how TikTok is complicating neurodiversity discourse. Along the way, we stop to take shots at Seb’s old workplace, Noel Fielding, the entirety of Soho, Francis Bourgeois, and Brexit. We also dig into real-life London eccentrics, such as Hackney’s mole man and a Nunhead Elvis impersonator, characters who appear to answer a generational yearning for Authentic Community™ in a city at the mercy of American sweet shops, noise complaints, and slop bowl salad bars.Show Notes:Pinterest BoardThe English Eccentrics by Edith SitwellSeb’s Substack post on Steve BennettHenry Paget / Madfabulous (2026)The Mole Man of Hackney / Karen Russo Paddy Power World Cup advertAdjacent characters: The Free Spirit, The Branded CoupleRethinking Eccentricity by Miranda GillSoho eccentrics: Philip Sallon & Thierry AlexandreJonathan Nunn on ‘Sohoification’Eccentric Soho spots: All Is Joy, Bradley’s Spanish Bar & Bar ItaliaThe Mighty Boosh (2003–2007)Withnail & I (1987)Wallace & Gromit (1989–Present)Gromit’s upcoming autobiographyRichard E. Grant’s InstagramSaltburn (2023)SpaceX goes publicScrapheap Challenge (1998–2010)Poetry and the Turning World: Work by the LRB Francis BourgeoisMission to Space with Francis Bourgeois (2026)Noel Fielding on Talk ArtBritish eccentricity is dying out by the TelegraphThe King of SE15 (2021)New York NicoThere Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack by Paul Gilroy (1991)Year of the Rat by Harry Shukman (2025)VittlesCaffs not Cafes and Wooden City by Isaac Rangaswami

I’m joined by my friend Emma Glenn Baker to discuss the undeniable allure of the Free Spirit, charting her journey from whimsical romcom girlfriend to self-authored internet forest nymph.Ripe with sensuality, sex appeal and an array of halter tops, the Free Spirit lives a life of nourishment and goodness, rising with the sun, bathing in waterfalls, and relying on her intuition over Google Maps. In the age of the Oura ring and corporate burnout, she also appears to release us from our technological hysteria.Emma is the host of ⁠STARGIRL⁠, a podcast about girls who stand out, and she’s also a personal trainer and health goddess at large. Show Notes:Almost Famous (2000)50 First Dates (2004)Along Came Polly (2004)Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008)500 Days of Summer (2009) The Blithe Spirit by TV TropesManic Pixie Dream Girl by TV Tropes‘What time was I born’ memeGirls (2012–2017)Hippies by Dear AmericanaFaye Wong’s pixie crop in Chungking Express (1994)Tao Lin’s SubstackJoel Golby on Eat Pray Love (2006)Health GossipEmma’s interview with Lily Sperry, founder of Health Gossip, and episode on HitomiSigh SwoonHitomi MochizukiSotceKamryn RenaeKamryn Renae on Getting Glam to Hike the Pacific Crest Trail by Interview

Let's wrap up Femcel Studies.In Part II, we explore how a post-Femcel internet has cultivated an appetite for online stalking, emotional scarcity, and sexual competition, and why this has left us in a crisis of disembodiment.We also spotlight two of the freakiest writers working today – Sheena Patel and Sayaka Murata – whose estranged heroines reveal what happens when romance loses its grip on reality. Expect questions like: is love entertainment? Is celibacy anti-establishment? Do anime boyfriends and emotionally unavailable men have more in common than we think?Show Notes:he needs me by The FemcelsPost-Femcel Femininity by Virginia KarnsteinI’m A Fan (2022) by Sheena PatelFandom with Sheena Patel by Literary FrictionPillion (2025)Sayaka Murata: The Cosmic Novelist by The GentlewomanConvenience Store Woman (2016) by Sayaka MurataVanishing World (2025) by Sayaka MurataSayaka Murata Inhabits A Planet of Her Own by Wired‘Marriage feels like a hostage situation, and motherhood a curse’ – Sayaka profiled in The GuardianThe rise of mixed-orientation marriage by ImpactWhat’s going on with straight women? by Dee SalminTo Rest Our Minds and Bodies (2025) by Harriet ArmstrongMimetic theory of desire by René GirardDoomers in Love by Mana Afsari

In this episode, I talk about the first character who actively scares me: The Femcel.In Part I, we define what a Femcel actually is: an aesthetic? Alt-right? Is she actually celibate? Is it involuntarily? Join me as we chart the demise of the Millennial Slut and the SHEconomy, as a new generation of chronically online sadgirls embrace performative – and actual? – sexlessness. In an era where everyone is beautiful and no one is horny, where heterosexuality is deemed ‘embarrassing’ and female loneliness is on the rise, is the Femcel really a cute feminine dream, or is she a symptom of a bigger, and much scarier, cultural reality?Show Notes:Femcel by Aesthetics Fandom Wikir/psychologyofsex “Femcels”The Rise of Femcels by The Hook UpThe woman who founded the ‘incel’ movement by BBCAdjacent characters: The Hetero-optimistMy thoughts on the ‘having a boyfriend is embarrassing’ discourseShe’s Not Celibate – She’s Boysober by The New York Times2025 Was the Year Single Women Chose Themselves by Voguer/FemaleDatingStrategyEveryone is Beautiful and No One is Horny by RS BenedictThe Sex Recession by Andrea MizrahiRise of the SHEconomy by Morgan StanleyMarried moms twice as likely to be be ‘very happy’ than single childless women by YouGovMaterialists (2025)Sophie as a tragic character by @marmaryeesa2026i want to be a girl in love again by Ismene Ormonde

In this episode, we honour the beautiful universality of loserdom. From America's bromance comedies to the UK's weirdo sitcoms, we explore the 2000s tropes for the genre, and whether two misfits can cancel each other out.We also deep-dive on Ghost World, the 2001 indie cinema classic that not only bridges the generational loser divide, but asks a question that, in today's loneliness epidemic, has never been more relevant: can loser friendships save us?Show notes:TV Tropes: The Loser archetypeThe Loser Canon by Crooked MarqueeLosercore by Nymphet AlumniThe Mainstreaming of Loserdom by Tell the BeesMark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk at fashion weekSuperbad (2007)An Oral History of Superbad by Vanity FairThe Inbetweeners (2008–2010)Booksmart (2019)Peep Show (2003–2015)Peep Show Still Proves That Self-loathing is Pretty Universal by The New York TimesSuccession Owes its Genius to Peep Show by iFour Naan, Jeremy?Ghost World (2001)Discussing Ottessa Moshfegh on STARGIRLTypes of Social Networks: Samplers on TikTok