After Work Drinks

This week we’re talking to Alexis Haines, who you will probably know her by her maiden name, Alexis Neiers. Alexis was a pop culture sensation in the late noughties - star of the reality TV series 'Pretty Wild', and best known for her involvement in the infamous ‘Bling Ring’, a group of LA teens who were sentenced to prison for a string of burglaries of high profile celebrities in 2009. The case was immortalised by Sofia Coppola’s 2013 movie, 'The Bling Ring', in which Emma Watson starred as Alexis - portraying her as a superficial, materialistic teen with no substance. It was a description first made by Nancy Jo Sales in her article for Vanity Fair, 'The Suspects Wore Louboutins' - but it wasn’t exactly accurate. In fact, viewed ten years after the fact, we think Alexis is one of the most misunderstood women in modern popular culture. Portrayed as a fame-obsessed teen and mocked by the internet, Haines was actually a trauma-informed sexual assault survivor and teenage drug addict. Now, at 29, she's a drugs and alcohol councillor and a public advocate for youth addiction and sobriety. With her husband, Evan Haines, she co-runs the Alo House Recovery Centre, which has helped thousands of people achieve sobriety. She has written a book and launched a podcast on the same topic, both called Recovering From Reality, and is a registered doula - helping advocate for the racial gaps in maternal mortality. Alexis was really open with us about the sexist treatment she faced in the media and court system, and talks about how it feels to have the public’s perception of you be so at odds with who you actually are. We think you’re going to love this conversation.If you want to find out more about Alexis, listen to her podcast, Recovering from Reality.Just a warning this episode discusses drug addiction, mental health, sexual assault and suicidal ideation and may not be appropriate for everyone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11 Sep 202050min

Hello our favourite batch of humans. Welcome to another cross-country episode! This week, Izzy is officially back in London but Grace is galavanting in Italia. We have a frank discussion about revisiting places where you've experienced trauma, what growing up religious taught us (if anything?) and whether or not you should ever get back with your ex, a la Khloe Kardashian. Then, it's into a New Yorker profile of Tik Tok's hottest teen star, Charli D'Amelio - is the secret sauce to viral success being 'normal'? And why Miley Cyrus' Joe Rogan podcast has us seeing the megastar in a new light. As always, rate, review and subscribe, and we'll see you on Saturday.Recommendations:New York Times: When It's Either Your Ex, or Nobody, for Monthshttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/style/modern-love-coronavirus-single-your-ex-or-nobody-for-months.htmlMercy (2019)Educated by Tara WestoverWho Gets To Vote In Florida By Dexter Filkins in The New Yorkerhttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/07/who-gets-to-vote-in-florida Miley Cyrus on the Joe Rogan podcastHow Charli D'Amelio Became The Face of Tik Tok in The New Yorkerhttps://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/how-charli-damelio-became-the-face-of-tiktok Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

8 Sep 202052min

This week we are sooooo thrilled to be speaking to the iconic feminist author Naomi Wolf. This year is the 30th anniversary of her seminal book, The Beauty Myth - a book which changed both our lives (and which you would’ve heard us and AWD fave Florence Given reference many times before). We talk to Naomi about the ways beauty standards continue to oppress women, how women are pressured to be compliant and likeable (and how this turns into a kind of mass social grooming), how to figure out what you genuinely like versus what the patriarchy teaches teaches you to like, how to spot genuine male allies and how she’s reframing The Beauty Myth in an era of social media and internet porn. Since releasing The Beauty Myth as a 26-year-old Oxford grad, Naomi has become a celebrated cultural and political commentator, writing for The Guardian, The New Republic and The Huffington Post. She is also the author of eight best-selling books, including her latest - Outrages: Sex, Censorship and the Criminalisation of Love, which tracks the life of an unsung hero of the 19th century gay rights movement, John Addington Symonds.Just a heads-up that Naomi briefly discusses the topic of sexual assault, so if you want to skip over that part of the conversation, it lasts for two minutes from the 20 minute mark. You can follow us on Instagram: @afterworkdrinkspodcast, @grceoneill, @isabelletruman, or join our closed Facebook group, After Work Drinks Podcast. If you’d like to show your support, please rate, review and subscribe and share AWD <3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5 Sep 202054min

We’ve got it all covered this week: book recommendations, drunk DMs, dating apps gone wrong and Brad Pitt HAS A GIRLFRIEND?! (who unfortunately isn’t either of us). Then it’s onto a discussion around splitting the bill - when women are still paid substantially less than men, is it anti-feminist of us to want a man to pay for the first date? Plus, paid subscription platform OnlyFans made its millions - 700 to be exact - from the sex workers who use its services, but now celebrities are getting involved - and seemingly ruining everything. After Bella Thorne signed up and promised nude photos to all of the 50,000 (!) people who paid $200 (!) to see them and then failed to deliver, OnlyFans changed its policies, leaving the sex workers who rely on it for their income - especially during a pandemic - out in the cold. We. Have. Questions. We also speak about the impact Chadwick Boseman, the 'Black Panther' star who died last week after a private battle with cancer, had on the Black community and Hollywood as a whole and why his death now, in 2020, hits harder.Recommendations:The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead (book)She Wants It - Jill Solloway (book)Transparent (show)The Sex Ed (podcast)Black Panther (film)Hot Girls Wanted (documentary)You can follow us on Instagram: @afterworkdrinkspodcast, @grceoneill, @isabelletruman, or join our closed Facebook group, After Work Drinks Podcast. If you’d like to show your support, please rate, review and subscribe and share AWD <3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Sep 20201h 2min

If you’re from NZ, you’ll need no introduction to the powerhouse that is Chlöe Swarbrick who was elected age 23, making her the country’s youngest MP in over 40 years and who has since gone on to become a sort of AOC figure thanks to her no bullshit nature and insistence that she doesn’t have to give up on her personality - band tees included - just to be taken seriously in parliament. Internationally, Chlöe is known for her viral ‘OK boomer’ quip, where she succinctly shut up a Conservative MP twice her age who was heckling her during a speech about climate change - a moment that was covered everywhere from CNN to the BBC - and, just casually, she’s also behind the first-ever Green Party bill that passed unanimously through parliament. With so much talk about politics at the moment in the USA and beyond, we wanted to get Chlöe on the podcast to speak openly about how, as she’s said before, “politics is fucked”, but why we have to keep trying anyway. Our convo includes, but is not limited to, why millennial voters are disengaged with politics, why it’s worth losing electability to stand up for what you believe in, how she’s dealt with people assuming she doesn’t know what she’s talking about because of her age, the double-edged sword of speaking out about mental health as a politician, how drug laws tend to impact the most vulnerable people, and how toxic the political environment can be.Follow Chlöe on Instagramhere.If you’re a Kiwi, register to vote, check your details and ensure you’re all set to vote from overseas here. Voting opens Saturday 3 October and goes ‘til 7pm on election day, Saturday 17 October. You can vote online from overseas from Wednesday 30 September.If you’d like to show your support, please rate, review and subscribe and share AWD <3 You can also follow us on Instagram:@afterworkdrinkspodcast, @grceoneill, @isabelletruman, or join our closed Facebook group, After Work Drinks Podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

28 Aug 202054min

Izzy, pro surfer, has discovered a hot new gentleman who’s already pretty damn famous and Grace has finally listened to a recommendation: the brilliant new show Lovecraft Country, which we discuss on today's episode. Man Repeller founder Leandra Medine has returned to Instagram accompanied by a lengthy blog piece detailing her absence after the company was accused of racist practises. But does her apology, if that’s what it is, bode well? Plus, were we all too quick to tear down companies like Glossier and The Wing who were actually trying to be inclusive over those who didn’t bother at all? It’s been over five months since Breonna Taylor was shot to death in her own home and still no arrests. Vanity Fair’s tribute to the 26-year-old and interview with her mum will break you. Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, was just shot 7 times in the back by police. We discuss why it shouldn’t matter what kind of person the victim is - or whether they were cooperating - and why murders (or attempted murders) aren’t content to be shared on Instagram. Then it’s onto Paul Mescal’s brief foray on celebrity dating app Raya, how Claudia Conway became TikTok's Legend of the Week and an impromptu chat about looking after sick parents and grief <3You can follow us on Instagram: @afterworkdrinkspodcast, @grceoneill, @isabelletruman, or join our closed Facebook group, After Work Drinks Podcast. If you’d like to show your support, please rate, review and subscribe and share AWD <3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

25 Aug 202053min

We are so stoked that our first episode back from break is with Jari Jones, the incredible producer, model and activist whose Calvin Klein billboard, which was debuted on Juneteenth in New York City in the middle of Black Lives Matter and Pride Month, went completely viral, skyrocketing her into the spotlight - exactly where she belongs. We speak to Jari about trans inclusion in the fashion industry, being the first trans producer to be recognised by Cannes Film Festival, why it’s so essential that trans stories are told - and played - by trans talent, how it’s gaslighting that the stars of ‘Pose’ weren’t recognised by the Emmys and her personal journey with self-love.You can follow Jari on Instagram here and send her money for her work via the Cash App: $IAMJARIJONESJari’s recommendations:Pose (TV series)Kiki (documentary)She-Ra: Princess of Power (cartoon)You can follow us on Instagram: @afterworkdrinkspodcast, @grceoneill, @isabelletruman, or join our closed Facebook group, After Work Drinks Podcast. If you’d like to show your support, please rate, review and subscribe and share AWD <3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

21 Aug 202039min

We're back, baby! Up this week: surfing Malibu with Jonah Hill and the one time a former Bachelor frontrunner slid into Grace's DMs. Then it's onto Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's new song, WAP. Is the backlash - and a petition with over 70,000 signatures - over Kylie Jenner’s cameo justified? Why are men so shocked when women talk about their own bodies? WTF is a gushie? And the hilarious viral tweet that proves one conservative man has never had good sex. While we were on break, Kamala Harris was picked as Joe Biden’s running mate for the upcoming US election, which was both celebrated and, in part, criticised. While we discuss both sides, the literal president is busy stealing letterboxes from street corners and saying that America is better than ‘the world’ when it comes to COVID-19. And finally, Ellen DeGeneres has been the subject of a whole lot of accusations of horrific behaviour to staff ever since Legend Dakota Johnson went on her show and refused to pander to her shit - Ask everybody! Ask Jonathan, your producer! After a few tone-deaf celebrities have spoken out defending the talk show host, Ellen herself has taken to leaning on her queerness to deflect. You heard it here first: Toxic workplaces are the next frontier of Me Too. So, who should replace Ellen out of Stanley Tucci and Stanley Tucci? Answer: Dakota Johnson.You can follow us on Instagram: @afterworkdrinkspodcast, @grceoneill, @isabelletruman, or join our closed Facebook group, After Work Drinks Podcast. We’re also taking ongoing submissions from writers at submissions@afterworkdrinks.net. If you’d like to show your support, please rate, review, subscribe and share AWD <3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

18 Aug 202053min