Sister Club

Sister Club Media
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Shh… Mum can’t know we’re up past bedtime. Sister Club is our space for pop culture, politics, sociology, and a little sisterly bickering – hosted by real life sisters Monica and Sophia. Monica has domestic bliss and a thriving career, and Sophia is technically unemployed and figuring life out somewhere in Europe. Together, we’ve got all the bases covered and no shortage of opinions to share. Welcome to the Club! Membership is open and subscription is free.

Episodes

  1. Sep 8

    Katsu Curry !!!

    SPOTIFY / SOCIALS DESCRIPTION This week Monica and Sophia put two very different fears on the table, and find the same question sitting underneath both. What happens when we stop trusting the systems that are meant to keep us safe, and how far will we go to feel in control of our own bodies? Monica brings the one she has skin in the game on. Modern medicine has saved a staggering number of mothers and babies. It has also sent a lot of women home traumatised, and a growing number are now deciding they would rather birth alone than walk back into a hospital. She traces how that distrust got earned, follows the movement to reclaim birth to the point where it curdles into something much darker. Where is the line between a woman's right to choose how she births, and a movement that is getting mothers and babies killed? Sophiadigs into why longevity and biohacking have gripped our generation this hard, what all the self-optimisation is quietly costing the people doing it, and who is getting rich off the promise that this time we finally beat it. Can you optimise your way out of being mortal? And what do you lose while you try? RECOMMENDATIONS Sophia: not always having background fodder. Monica: Earle Meets World on Netflix. KEYWORDS freebirth, birth trauma, medical distrust, caesarean rates Australia, cascade of intervention, Free Birth Society, midwife-led care, continuity of care, Birthing on Country, maternal health, longevity, biohacking, Bryan Johnson Blueprint, Don't Die, self-optimisation, Andrew Huberman, Steven Bartlett, Diary of a CEO, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, women's health podcast, Australian feminist podcast, Sister Club @sisterclubpodcast · sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com EPISODE REFERENCES Monica - The rise of Free Birthing WHO (2015) Statement on Caesarean Section Rates. Childbirth Connection The Cascade of Intervention. https://nationalpartnership.org/childbirthconnection/maternity-care/cascade-of-intervention ABC News (2025) 'Our Birth Our Voice maternal health forum', 3 Nov. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-03/our-birth-our-voice-maternal-health-forum-mother-maternity/105962312 ABC News (2025) 'Freebirth movement called out for cult behaviour', 14 Jun. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-14/freebirth-stories-movement-called-out-for-cult-behaviour/104724512 ABC News (2025) 'Inside the freebirth birthkeeper movement', 14 Dec. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-14/inside-the-freebirth-birthkeeper-movement/106137044 Sophia - Longevity and biohacking Outside (2026) 'Bryan Johnson's Diagnosis Reminds Us That Longevity Isn't About Perfection', July. Available at: https://www.outsideonline.com/health/wellness/bryan-johnson-diagnosis-longevity/ Mashable Huberman husbands and the self-optimization trend. Available at: https://mashable.com/article/huberman-husbands-self-optimization Time Why Do People Want to Live So Long? Available at: https://time.com/4672969/why-do-people-want-to-live-so-long/ Dazed Self-care or self-erasure? Welcome to the age of bio-optimisation. https://www.dazeddigital.com/beauty/article/69207/1/self-care-or-self-erasure-welcome-to-the-age-of-bio-optimisation

  2. Aug 31

    An oddysey of laundry

    In this week's meeting, Sophia brings BookTok to the table. Romantasy, commercial fiction, the same handful of viral titles stacked on every For You page. Reading is having a moment, which sounds like a win. But she is not convinced it is. She gets into what happens when a whole culture reads the same easy, addictive stories, and whether the popularisation of commercial fiction is costing us more than we notice. Does what you read actually change who you are, or is that just a story readers tell themselves to feel superior? Monica explores that gut feeling that something is wrong with your kid before there is a single symptom to point at. Is a mother's sixth sense actually real, or is maternal intuition just a story we tell ourselves after the fact? The research on parental instinct is stranger and more convincing than you would expect, and it might not be a sixth sense at all. So where is the line between instinct and pattern recognition, and does it even matter which one it is if it keeps a kid alive? Keywords: maternal intuition, mother's sixth sense, parental instinct, gut feeling, spotting childhood illness, does reading make you a better person, reading and empathy, does fiction build empathy, literary fiction, women's issues podcast, Sister Club podcast - Follow us
Instagram: @sisterclubpodcast
Email: sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com - References Bal, P.M. and Veltkamp, M. (2013) 'How does fiction reading influence empathy? An experimental investigation on the role of emotional transportation', PLoS ONE, 8(1), e55341. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055341. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0055341 Kidd, D.C. and Castano, E. (2013) 'Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind', Science, 342(6156), pp. 377–380. doi:10.1126/science.1239918. https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1239918 Kidd, D. and Castano, E. (2019) 'Reading literary fiction and theory of mind: three preregistered replications and extensions of Kidd and Castano (2013)', Social Psychological and Personality Science, 10(4), pp. 522–531. doi:10.1177/1948550618775410. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550618775410 Pöyry, H. et al. (2026) 'Parental ability to identify severe illnesses in their children', JAMA Network Open. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.59998. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2845143 Van den Bruel, A. et al. (2012) 'Clinicians' gut feeling about serious infections in children: observational study', BMJ, 345, e6144. doi:10.1136/bmj.e6144. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23015034/

  3. Aug 23

    When Sophia neglected to put in a PTO request

    We're back! In this week's meeting, Sophia takes on Jason Arday, who in 2023 became the youngest Black professor in Cambridge's history and, three years later, resigned amid a plagiarism scandal and was found dead days afterwards. It is not a clean story. The allegations against him look substantiated, and the campaign that hounded him was racialised and relentless. Sophia ask’s how much culpability we should place on Cambridge, the institution that elevated a vulnerable man and then failed to protect him. If high standards are what protect every scholar, who answers for the person when the institution that put him there looks away? Monica brings the peptides boom, the wellness trend that has run from bodybuilding forums to looksmaxxing to the mainstream feed. She walks the spectrum from the approved and everyday, like collagen and GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, to the unregulated online market that has landed people in hospital and drawn a regulatory crackdown. Along the way she takes apart the "but alcohol kills more" deflection and asks why aesthetic risk gets waved through so easily. And with the thin ideal quietly creeping back, she wonders who gets to name a risk without being dismissed, and which goals buy a free pass. Keywords: Jason Arday, University of Cambridge, plagiarism, academic misconduct, DEI, racism in academia, Retraction Watch, peptides, BPC-157, Melanotan II, GLP-1, Ozempic, Mounjaro, Therapeutic Goods Administration, unregulated peptides, thin ideal, body image, body positivity, wellness culture, looksmaxxing - Instagram: @sisterclubpodcast Email: sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com - References 7NEWS (2026) Deadly peptide trade sparks regulatory crackdown [broadcast segment]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIdO4zzoP6E CNN (2026) 'Cambridge professor found dead after scrutiny over academic record faced "sustained abuse," family say', 15 August. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/15/uk/jason-arday-plagiarism-cambridge-dead-intl NPR (2026) 'Jason Arday's rise and fall tells a larger story about academia, a critic says', 18 August. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2026/08/18/nx-s1-5935396/jason-arday-former-cambridge-professor-found-dead-after-allegations-about-his-work Paterna, A., Alcaraz-Ibáñez, M., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M. & Sicilia, Á. (2021) 'Internalization of body shape ideals and body dissatisfaction: a systematic review and meta-analysis', International Journal of Eating Disorders, 54(9), pp. 1575–1600. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eat.23568 Piatkowski, T., Ganson, K.T. & Nagata, J.M. (2026) 'Illicit injectable peptides and regulatory gaps', JAMA. Available at: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2850449 Retraction Watch (2026) 'Exclusive: news outlet killed story on plagiarism allegations after Cambridge prof hired law firm', 27 July. Available at: https://retractionwatch.com/2026/07/27/cambridge-jason-arday-plagiarism-allegations-times-higher-education-exclusive/

  4. Jul 21

    Kim Kardashian's in our pass basket

    Sophia takes on plastic surgery and the story we tell ourselves about it. My body, my choice. I did it for me. She sits with why that line feels so airtight and why it might not hold, pulling in the feminist thinkers who argued that beauty standards were never really about beauty, and asking who actually profits when women are sold their own insecurity back. It gets personal too, into what cosmetic surgery costs beyond the money, and what it means to love a face that keeps getting edited. If a choice is only ever made inside a system that punishes the alternative, was it ever really a choice? Monica brings friction maxxing, the growing rebellion against convenience culture and the idea that we should be choosing the harder way on purpose. She is into it, mostly. But she has three thoughts, and the last one turns the whole thing on its head. It is about what we lose when life gets too smooth, why the boring hours are the point, and the uncomfortable question sitting underneath the trend. Whose life is actually frictionless, and who is doing the friction so someone else does not have to? Keywords: plastic surgery, cosmetic procedures, choice feminism, the beauty myth, Naomi Wolf, the male gaze, internalised misogyny, filler and Botox culture, female beauty standards, friction maxxing, convenience culture, deliberate practice, gig economy Australia, time poverty, women's unpaid labour, feminist podcast, Australian podcast, women's issues, Sister Club. - Instagram: @sisterclubpodcast
Email: sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com - References ADP Research (2025) People at Work 2025. Available at: https://au.adp.com/about-adp/press-centre/half-of-australian-workers-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-adp-report.aspx — source for half of Australian workers living payday to payday. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2017) Census reveals insights into Australia's labour force. Available at: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/MediaRealesesByCatalogue/7E56B97A3FEF932ACA2581BF00364712 — women in full-time work are roughly twice as likely as men to do fifteen or more hours of unpaid domestic work a week. Bartky, S.L. (1988) 'Foucault, femininity, and the modernization of patriarchal power', in Diamond, I. and Quinby, L. (eds) Feminism and Foucault: Reflections on Resistance. Boston: Northeastern University Press — the internalised gaze and self-surveillance argument. Bordo, S. (1993) Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body. Berkeley: University of California Press — the disciplined female body and beauty as social control. 'Gender bias in the integrated plastic surgery residency' (2020) Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery – Global Open, 8(1). Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7015597/ — source for the roughly five to one male-to-female ratio among practising plastic surgeons. Jezer-Morton, K. (2026) 'In 2026, We Are Friction-Maxxing', The Cut, 3 January. Overview and citations available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction-maxxing — coins the term and defines friction maxxing. Pitcher, L. (2026) 'Wait, whose life is frictionless?', Dazed, April. Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/70097/1/wait-whose-life-is-frictionless-frictionmaxxing-inconvenience — the privilege critique that friction gets passed down the line to the delivery rider. Wolf, N. (1990) The Beauty Myth. London: Chatto & Windus. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beauty_Myth — socially approved self-injury and the choice versus collective pressure argument.

  5. Jul 13

    We're not putting that on this podcast

    Sister Club — 14 July 2026 Sophia unpacks the 2026 "analogue trend" and what it reveals about performative online culture. She starts with the discourse that having a boyfriend is only embarrassing if you post about him, then traces the trend from dumbphone sales climbing 25% in a single year to the Silicon Valley figures who kept their own kids off the products they built: Steve Jobs and the iPad, the Los Altos school full of eBay and Google parents, the Facebook insiders who later called their own platform exploitative. Is going offline a genuine cultural correction, or just the newest way to signal you can afford to disconnect? Monica traces three turning points in the history of what we eat: the Agricultural Revolution, the postwar rise of the TV dinner, and the modern ultra-processed aisle. She looks at the toll each shift took on health and who ended up absorbing it. Every time, a real problem got solved, then quietly captured by whoever profited most: farmers, then women, and now a generation facing some of the highest rates of diet-linked disease on record. What does it actually cost us when convenience gets sold back to us as progress? RECOMMENDATIONS!!Monica – The Rookie, Season 7Sophia – The Rest Is Classified: The Murder of Litvinenko Instagram: @sisterclubpodcastEmail: sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com Links for show notes: Sophia — Online Performance, Authenticity & the Analogue Trend  https://www.forbes.com/sites/kianbakhtiari/2026/03/29/why-offline-is-the-new-luxury/ https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/fashion/steve-jobs-apple-was-a-low-tech-parent.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/style/phones-children-silicon-valley.html https://hannahconnolly.substack.com/p/notes-on-performing-authenticityhttps://www.elle.com/fashion/trend-reports/a71462939/algorithm-age-personal-style-offline/https://gabrielrealityofficial.substack.com/p/the-art-of-being-unapologetically https://junkmailman.substack.com/p/authenticity-is-embarrassing https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/23/never-get-high-on-your-own-supply-why-social-media-bosses-dont-use-social-media https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2026/jan/09/rise-of-analogue-bag-fashion-answer-to-doomscrolling https://ixcarus.substack.com/p/the-performative-epidemic-why-everythinghttps://plumpits.substack.com/p/the-thrill-of-living-privately https://www.thepostathens.com/article/2026/01/oh-well-cassidy-mcclurg-going-offline-deleting-social-media-doomscrolling-health-class-indicator-2026-trend https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2016/02/09/most-fortune-500-ceos-dont-use-social-media-and-thats-a-ok/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Anticonsumption/comments/1rzwfos/offline_is_the_new_luxury_in_an_age_of_constant/. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.htmlhttps://saakshiiiii.substack.com/p/for-gods-sake-please-have-a-personal https://theweeklyscrapbook.substack.com/p/your-phone-is-the-reason-you-have https://www.vogue.com/article/is-having-a-boyfriend-embarrassing-now https://www.webpronews.com/dumbphones-surge-in-2026-boosting-focus-amid-digital-overload/ Monica — The History of Food, and What the Rich Aren't Telling You https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2400691122 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2106743119 https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-archaeology-of-inequality/ https://www.nps.gov/articles/post-wwii-food.htm https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/how-highly-processed-foods-liberated-1950s-housewives https://www.bowelcanceraustralia.org/bowel-cancer/early-onset/ https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj-2023-077310 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/un-decade-of-nutrition-the-nova-food-classification-and-the-trouble-with-ultraprocessing/2A9776922A28F8F757BDA32C3266AC2A https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167718726000147

  6. Jul 6

    It was easy except for the part where I cried

    In this week’s Sister Club Meeting, Monica opens up about the loneliness that can accompany becoming a young mother. Drawing on her own experience of having her first child at 23, she reflects on the identity shift that comes with early motherhood, navigating friendships at a different life stage, and the quiet grief of outgrowing your old life while building a new one. Together, we discuss maternal mental health, motherhood, friendship, and whether we have a responsibility to meet the new parents in our lives where they are. Next, Sophia tackles one of the most ethically complex issues in modern medicine: commercial surrogacy. Looking beyond the headlines, she explores the global surrogacy industry, the power imbalance between intended parents and surrogates, and whether pregnancy can ever truly be treated as a service. Through real-world surrogacy cases, questions of reproductive rights, infertility, feminism, and bodily autonomy, we ask whether the desire to have a child can ever justify paying another woman to carry one. Keywords: young motherhood, motherhood, first-time mums, maternal mental health, motherhood loneliness, parenting, friendship, identity, postpartum, motherhood journey, commercial surrogacy, surrogacy, reproductive rights, infertility, IVF, feminism, bodily autonomy, pregnancy, women's health, ethics, family, parenting, Sister Club Podcast, Australian podcasts. - Instagram: @sisterclubpodcast Email: sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com - References Brandão, P. & Garrido, N. (2022). 'Commercial Surrogacy: An Overview.' RBGO Gynecology & Obstetrics, December 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9800153/ Syal, K. (2023). 'Who can afford to commodify women's bodies?' LSE Engenderings, July 12, 2023. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/gender/2023/07/12/who-can-afford-to-commodify-womens-bodies/ Ulloa, J. (2017). 'India's Commercialized Surrogacy: Blurring the Lines of Empowerment and Exploitation.' Nursing Clio, January 31, 2017. https://nursingclio.org/2017/01/31/indias-commercialized-surrogacy-blurring-the-lines-of-empowerment-and-exploitation/ 'Surrogacy laws: why a global approach is needed to stop exploitation of women.' The Conversation, 2018. https://theconversation.com/surrogacy-laws-why-a-global-approach-is-needed-to-stop-exploitation-of-women-98966 Smith, L. (2022). 'The dark side of celebrity surrogacy.' Spiked, November 15, 2022. https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/11/15/the-dark-side-of-celebrity-surrogacy/ Miller, L. (2026). 'Surrogacy isn't something to celebrate.' The Spectator. https://spectator.com/article/surrogacy-isnt-something-to-celebrate/ 'Sorry, Lily Collins, but when people outsource childbirth, their motives really count.' The Guardian, February 8, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/08/sorry-lily-collins-but-when-people-outsource-childbirth-their-motives-really-count Cripps, C. 'Lily Collins surrogacy: baby, millennial, Emily in Paris.' The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/lily-collins-surrogacy-baby-millennial-emily-in-paris-b2691874.html 'In surrogacy, a deal between rich and poor: only one is a free agent.' The Guardian, December 17, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/17/in-surrogacy-deal-between-rich-and-poor-woman-only-one-is-a-free-agent 'The baby died. Whose fault is it?' Wired, 2025. https://www.wired.com/story/the-baby-died-whose-fault-is-it-surrogate-pregnancy/ Brewster, J. 'Making Peace With My Surrogacy.' The Cut. https://www.thecut.com/making-peace-with-my-surrogacy

  7. Jun 30

    The showdown nobody asked for: Bonnie Blue vs. Pauline Hanson

    In this week’s Sister Club meeting, Sophia presents a deep dive into Bonnie Blue and asks what her meteoric rise reveals about the attention economy, pornography, and the limits of liberal feminism. Rather than asking whether Bonnie Blue is "empowered" or "anti-feminist," we explore how social media platforms reward increasingly extreme content, the role of algorithmic incentives, and what her widely discussed interview with Andrew Tate reveals about gender, power, and online culture. From Andrea Dworkin to influencer culture, we discuss whether the language of choice and empowerment is enough to explain what we're witnessing online. We ask how the internet is reshaping sex, work, and women's bodies in the pursuit of clicks. Next, Monica brings an explainer on the rise of Pauline Hanson, unpacking her decades-long political career, the resurgence of One Nation, and why the party is gaining momentum in Australia once again. We discuss the growing distrust of political institutions, the decline of the major parties, and how Hanson fits into a broader wave of reactionary conservative movements such as MAGA in the United States and Reform UK. Is her popularity driven by changing values, or by voters who feel the political establishment has stopped speaking to them? Keywords: Pauline Hanson, One Nation, Australian politics, Australian election, conservative politics, populism, MAGA, Reform UK, institutional trust, political commentary, Bonnie Blue, Tia Billinger, Andrew Tate, attention economy, OnlyFans, pornography, liberal feminism, Andrea Dworkin, feminism, influencer culture, algorithm, social media, internet culture, women's issues, Sister Club Podcast, Australian podcasts. - Instagram: @sisterclubpodcast Email: sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com - References Ahad, A. (2026) 'Why liberal feminists can't make sense of Bonnie Blue', girl online, 17 June. Available at: https://www.girlonline.in/p/why-liberal-feminists-cant-make-sense Austin, A. (2026) 'There is nothing wrong with Bonnie Blue', Abigail Austin (Substack), 3 June. Available at: https://abigailaustin.substack.com/p/there-is-nothing-wrong-with-bonnie DemosAU (2026) Federal voting intention poll, January 2026. Sydney: DemosAU. DemosAU (2026) MRP seat projection model, June 2026. Sydney: DemosAU. Dworkin, A. (1981) Pornography: Men Possessing Women. New York: Plume. Edelman (2026) 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer: Australia. Sydney: Edelman. Eikelboom, L. (2025) 'Sex with 1,000 men in 12 hours: why Bonnie Blue is neither a feminist nor a monster', The Conversation, 30 October. Available at: https://theconversation.com/sex-with-1-000-men-in-12-hours-why-bonnie-blue-is-neither-a-feminist-nor-a-monster-267982 Federal Court of Australia (2025) Faruqi v Hanson [judgment]. Green, A. (2026) 'One Nation's battleground seats: an electoral analysis', ABC News Election Blog, June. Le Monde (2025) 'Sleeping with 1,000 men in 12 hours: on OnlyFans, absurd challenges reflect the pressure of algorithms', Le Monde, February. National Press Club of Australia (2026) Address by Senator Pauline Hanson, 17 June. Canberra: National Press Club. Petter, O. (2025) 'What happened when I met Bonnie Blue', Olivia Petter (Substack), 30 July. Available at: https://oliviapetter.substack.com/p/what-happened-when-i-met-bonnie-blue Queensland Court of Appeal (2003) R v Hanson [judgment]. Rehash (2025) 'Bonnie Blue', Ask Uncut with Britt [Podcast], 27 April. Resolve Strategic/Nine Newspapers (2026) Preferred Prime Minister poll, June 2026. Sydney: Nine Publishing. Sky News Australia (2026) 'Pauline Hanson interview', Sky News Australia, February. South Australian Electoral Commission (2026) 2026 South Australian state election results. Adelaide: ECSA. TrustWatch (2026) TrustWatch report on institutional confidence in Australia 2026. Melbourne: TrustWatch. Wikipedia (2026) Bonnie Blue (actress). Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_Blue_(actress)

  8. Jun 24

    Monica’s shady ties to foreign nationals

    In this week’s Sister Club meeting, we discuss Emilie Kiser’s recent interview on Jay Shetty’s ‘On Purpose’ podcast, where she spoke publicly for the first time about the tragic death of her son, Trigg, and the devastating impact that online speculation had on her family. We unpack the internet’s tendency to search for someone to blame in the wake of tragedy, the ethics of online sleuthing, and why so many followers felt entitled to intimate details of an intensely private case. What do social media, parasocial relationships, and digital culture teach us about grief, accountability, and the boundaries between public and private life? Next, we turn to the recent "girlbossification" of AI, sparked by public comments from Reese Witherspoon, Mel Robbins, and Sophia Amoruso. We explore why calls for women to simply "embrace AI" rang hollow for so many, and whether the conversation ignores the structural issues surrounding artificial intelligence, work, and gender inequality. Can the challenges posed by AI really be solved by individual women "leaning in," or does the technology demand a much broader conversation about who builds these systems and to serve who’s interests? Keywords: Emilie Kiser, Trigg Kiser, Jay Shetty, On Purpose podcast, parasocial relationships, social media, internet culture, online grief, true crime ethics, influencer culture, Reese Witherspoon, Mel Robbins, Sophia Amoruso, artificial intelligence, AI, women in AI, feminism, girlboss culture, future of work, workplace inequality, technology, digital culture, women's issues, Sister Club Podcast, Australian podcasts. - Instagram: @sisterclubpodcast Email: sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com - References Amoruso, S. (2026, May). 'Women are sleeping on AI and it's going to cost them.' Sophia Amoruso's Newsletter. https://sophiaamoruso.substack.com/p/women-are-sleeping-on-ai-and-its Chapin, A. (2026, May). 'The girlbossification of AI.' The Cut. https://archive.li/SgRIo Frederiksen, K.M. (2026, June). 'I asked three AI systems the same question…' Humidity Speaks. https://humidityspeaks.substack.com/p/i-asked-three-ai-systems-the-same Ingram, L. (2026, May). 'Women's anti-AI backlash shows the broligarchs are out of touch.' AI Girl Gang. https://aigirlgang.substack.com/p/womens-anti-ai-backlash-shows-the Jagielnicka, K. (2025, December). 'There's a reason women aren't swooning over AI like men are.' The Noösphere. https://thenoosphere.substack.com/p/theres-a-reason-women-arent-swooning Kiser, E. (2026, June 17). 'Emilie Kiser exclusive: the loss that changed her forever' [Podcast episode]. In J. Shetty (Host), On Purpose with Jay Shetty. iHeart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTSreAw_fjE Otis, N. et al. (2024, October; rev. 2025, August). 'Global evidence on gender gaps and generative AI.' Harvard Business School. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=66548 Stanford Clayman Institute for Gender Research. (n.d.). 'Gender, power, and AI.' https://gender.stanford.edu/news/gender-power-and-ai-how-gender-bias-male-centered-mythologies-and-resource-extraction University of Waterloo. (2023). 'What would it mean to have feminist AI?' https://uwaterloo.ca/news/arts-research/what-would-it-mean-have-feminist-ai

  9. Jun 15

    The bad boy stole my bra??

    In this week’s Sister Club Meeting, Monica presents a deep dive into the enduring “bad boy” trope in fiction. From classic literary heartthrobs to modern romantasy antiheroes, she explores why audiences are so drawn to morally grey male characters and asks what the trope is actually teaching us. Are concerns about the influence of fictional bad boys justified, or is the backlash simply another example of moral panic around women’s media and desire? Meanwhile, Sophia brings a more personal presentation on her anxieties about aging, using the work of writer and cultural critic Susan Sontag as a starting point. Drawing on Sontag’s famous essay about the double standards of aging, she examines modern beauty culture, the rise of anti-aging content online, and the increasingly obsessive skincare industry. The discussion also touches on the 2024 horror film The Substance and what its popularity reveals about contemporary fears surrounding youth, beauty, and womanhood. Keywords: bad boys in fiction, morally grey characters, romance novels, romantasy, book tropes, fictional crushes, moral panic, women's media, Susan Sontag, aging, anti-aging, skincare culture, beauty standards, women's issues, feminism, self-image, The Substance, horror films, online culture, beauty culture, female aging, cultural criticism, Sister Club Podcast, Australian podcasts. - Instagram: @sisterclubpodcast Email: sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com - References Barrett, A.E. and Toothman, E.L. (2018) 'Multiple "old ages": the influence of social context on women's aging anxiety', The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 73(8), pp. e154–e164. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbx027 Fargeat, C. (2024) The Substance [Film]. Directed by Coralie Fargeat. France/UK/USA: Working Title Films / Mubi. Rikisahedew, J. (2025) 'Why are so many young women afraid of ageing?', International Women's Network in Estonia, 30 June. Available at: https://iwne.ee/why-are-so-many-young-women-afraid-of-ageing/ (Accessed: 14 June 2026). Shanspeare (2023) Inside the reverse aging community [YouTube]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wIdh91-QZ4 (Accessed: 14 June 2026). Sontag, S. (1972) 'The double standard of aging', Saturday Review, 23 September, pp. 29–38. Sontag, S. (1978) 'Susan Sontag: the Rolling Stone interview', interviewed by Jonathan Cott for Rolling Stone. Reproduced at: https://fleurmach.com/2017/03/18/susan-sontag-on-aging-1978/ (Accessed: 14 June 2026).

  10. Jun 8

    Anne Boleyn just had rizz

    In this week’s Sister Club meeting, Monica opens the floor with a presentation on the Mirror Fallacy—the idea that we see our perceived flaws far more intensely than anyone else. She explores why we become hyper-fixated on small insecurities, the psychology behind self-image, and what actually influences how attractive we are to others. From body image to confidence, it's a conversation about learning to see ourselves more clearly. Meanwhile, Sophia dives into the recent Dezi Freeman case and the rise of the Sovereign Citizen movement. Equal parts sociology, psychology, internet culture, and true crime, she examines the origins of the movement, the beliefs that unite its followers, and why it appears to be gaining traction in recent years. Is the growth of anti-government movements a sign of broader social change, or simply a product of the online age? Keywords: Mirror Fallacy, self-image, body image, confidence, beauty standards, psychology, self-esteem, attractiveness, mental health, Dezi Freeman, Sovereign Citizen movement, sovereign citizens, true crime, sociology, internet culture, anti-government movements, conspiracy theories, cult psychology, social trends, online communities, Sister Club Podcast, Australian podcasts. - Recommendations Monica: Off Campus (2026). Available on Amazon Prime Video Sophia: Rivals (2024-2026). Available on Disney+ - Instagram: @sisterclubpodcast Email: sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com - References Alao, L. C. (2023). We were never supposed to see our own faces this much. Dazed Digital. https://www.dazeddigital.com/beauty/article/60860/1/we-were-never-supposed-to-see-our-faces-this-much-social-media-zoom Anti-Defamation League (2024) Sovereign Citizen Movement — backgrounder https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/sovereign-citizen-movement-united-states Baldino, D. & Lucas, K. (2019) "Anti-government rage: understanding, identifying and responding to the sovereign citizen movement in Australia" Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 14(3), 245–261 https://doi.org/10.1080/18335330.2019.1663443 Gil, A. [@beingandbecomingvy]. (2025). The mirror fallacy [Instagram Reel]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/reels/DGcG3ttpPlk/ Hodge, E. (2019) "The Sovereign Ascendant: Financial Collapse, Status Anxiety, and the Rebirth of the Sovereign Citizen Movement" Frontiers in Sociology https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2019.00076/full Matheson, C. (2017) "Psychotic Discourse: The Rhetoric of the Sovereign Citizen Movement" Rhetoric Society Quarterly https://doi.org/10.1080/02773945.2017.1306876 McIntyre, J. (2025) "Pseudolaw and the Illusion of Legal Meaning" Victorian Judicial College / Alternative Law Journal https://judicialcollege.vic.edu.au/resources/detailed-brief-j-mcintyre-pseudolaw-and-illusion-legal-meaning Mussap, A. J., & Salton, N. (2006). Revisited in Yip, J. A., et al. (2024). The effect of self-focused attention during mirror gazing on body image. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 174. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005791624000119 Ramphul, K., Mejias, S. G., Ramphul-Sicharam, Y., & Joynauth, J. (2022). Zoom dysmorphia: The rise of a new issue amidst the pandemic. Cureus, 14(1). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8823563/ Robbins, M. (2025). You were never meant to see yourself this much [YouTube Short]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AQEuki9xHvk Sarangi, A., Garg, A., & Shah, P. (2022). Video conferencing dysmorphia: Assessment of pandemic-related body dysmorphia and its correlation with social media. Cureus, 14(3). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8989628/ Uddin, L. Q., Iacoboni, M., Lange, C., & Keenan, J. P. (2022). Face yourself: The social neuroscience of mirror gazing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9691426/

  11. Jun 1

    Turning inwards during our luteal phase

    In this week’s Sister Club meeting, Sophia unpacks the viral ‘cycle-syncing’ trend taking over social media and explores how it fits into the wider rise of “soft femininity” and wellness culture online. From hormone health advice to hyper-feminine lifestyle content, she examines why these trends resonate with so many women, and whether the science always stacks up. Meanwhile, Monica shares her thoughts on a recent Refinery29 article written in defense of Abbie Chatfield and asks a bigger question: what happens when our actions don’t align with our values? Together, the sisters discuss accountability, public figures, online discourse, and the gap between what we say we believe and how we actually behave. Keywords: cycle syncing, soft femininity, wellness trends, women's health, hormone health, femininity, social media trends, Abbie Chatfield, Refinery29, online culture, feminism, accountability, personal values, influencer culture, internet discourse, women's issues, lifestyle trends, self-development, Sister Club Podcast, Australian podcasts. - Recommendations Monica: Simka tinted facial fluid SPF 50 (https://simka.com/products/tinted-facial-fluid-spf-50) Sophia: home-made Vietnamese salt coffee - References McNulty, K.M. et al. (2020) "Female Sex Hormone Responses to Exercise" — systematic review and meta-analysis of 78 studies on cycle phase and exercise performance. Sports Medicine https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-020-01319-3 Pfender, E. et al. (2025) Content analysis of 100 top-performing TikTok cycle syncing videos — credential claims, scientific citations, and contraception framing. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12204122/ Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health — Apple Women's Health Study (2025) "Exploring Exercise Habits by Menstrual Cycle Phase" — analysis of 22 million logged workouts across 110,000+ participants. https://hsph.harvard.edu/research/apple-womens-health-study/study-updates/exploring-exercise-habits-by-menstrual-cycle-phase/ Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance / Australian Catholic University (2024) Resting metabolic rate and body composition across menstrual cycle phases in female rugby athletes. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism https://humanperformancealliance.org/news/study-challenges-cycle-syncing-finds-metabolism-consistent-during-menstrual-cycle/ McMaster University (2025) Muscle protein synthesis across follicular and luteal phases — resistance training study. Journal of Physiology https://news.mcmaster.ca/researchers-debunk-common-beliefs-about-cycle-syncing-and-muscles/ Wilcox, W.B. (2004) "Soft Patriarchs, New Men: How Christianity Shapes Fathers and Husbands" — on benevolent patriarchy and gender role ideals. Ethics and Public Policy Center https://eppc.org/publication/soft-patriarchs/ Anonymous (2026) "An Open Letter to Abbie Chatfield" — industry journalist writes in support of Chatfield amid intensifying media scrutiny. Refinery29 Australia https://www.refinery29.com/en-au/abbie-chatfield-open-letter-media - Instagram: @sisterclubpodcast Email: sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com

  12. May 31

    Welcome to the Sister Club

    Welcome to the Sister Club. This taster of what's to come explains the Club's origins and introduces your co-chairs, real-life sisters Monica and Sophia. - Instagram: @sisterclubpodcast Email: sisterclubpodcast@gmail.com

  • 12 Episodes

About

Shh… Mum can’t know we’re up past bedtime. Sister Club is our space for pop culture, politics, sociology, and a little sisterly bickering – hosted by real life sisters Monica and Sophia. Monica has domestic bliss and a thriving career, and Sophia is technically unemployed and figuring life out somewhere in Europe. Together, we’ve got all the bases covered and no shortage of opinions to share. Welcome to the Club! Membership is open and subscription is free.

Information

  • Creator
    Sister Club Media
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Sister Club Media
  • Show Website
    Sister Club

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