Ambient Eugenics

We’re back with another episode of The Review of Mess: a podcast collaboration between FLESH WORLD (by me, Jessica DeFino) and I Today we’re talking about: Skims’ dystopian skull shapewear (nytimes.com/2025/07/30/style/skims-shapewear-f…) [3:50], Alicia Keys’ “It’s Like Skin” (keyssoulcare.com/its-like-skin-2-in-1-conceale…) foundation [18:40], Anna Delvey’s Trumpian approach to scandal (thecut.com/article/anna-delvey-rabbits-drama.h…), the politics of beauty’s WNBA takeover (fashionista.com/2025/08/wnba-basketball-beauty…) [39:00], the “Stretch Armstrong” trend (or the manspreading of garments) [49:35], Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ads (youtu.be/AK8s3iqL99c) [56:55], ambient eugenics in the beauty industry [1:10:00], Sydney Sweeney’s bathwater DNA (instagram.com/reel/DKx1vaWy-md/?hl=en) [1:20:00], rage-bait as a gimmick [1:24:55], “The Summer I Turned Pretty” [1:30:25], and the Virgin Mary’s botched glow-up (nytimes.com/2025/08/12/world/europe/spain-sevi…) [1:36:00]. Plus more!
Media we mentioned: Aesthetic Labour : Rethinking Beauty Politics in Neoliberalism (searchworks.stanford.edu/view/12100471) [forward by Susie Orbach], “Alicia Keys Opens Up About The Pressures of Perfection” (nylon.com/articles/alicia-keys-lenny-letter-no…) [Nylon], “haterade: the ny liberty think your vagina stinks” (thefrankiedlc.news/p/haterade-the-ny-liberty-t…) [Out Of Your League], “athlete beauty campaigns in the age of transvestigations” (thefrankiedlc.news/p/athlete-beauty-campaigns-…) [Out Of Your League], Calvin Klein’s 1980 Brooke Shields commercial (youtu.be/ssJF-UXDJLc), “How Sydney Sweeney Became the Most Talked-About Woman in Hollywood” (wsj.com/style/sydney-sweeney-career-path-5d615…) [WSJ], “Sydney Sweeney Knows Exactly What She’s Doing” (salon.com/2025/07/31/sydney-sweeney-knows-exac…) [Salon], Gwyneth: The Biography (Gwenyth’ by Amy Odell - simonandschuster.com/books/Gwyneth/Amy-Odell/9…) [Amy Odell], Theory of the Gimmick (hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674278745) [Sianne Ngai]
About the podcast: The Review of Mess is a podcast by Jessica DeFino and Emily Kirkpatrick that takes a critical look at the dregs of pop culture. Jessica is the writer behind FLESH WORLD, (jessicadefino.substack.com) which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I Subscribe to receive future podcast posts in your inbox:

About the theme music: The Review of Mess theme song is “Hot Mess” by Carly Lind (youtube.com/watch?v=9jiJBL1XHMk). Find more about Carly here (carly-lind.com) and listen to her music here (open.spotify.com/artist/0Szg3fhUbnpHK9bVrJZnvF…).

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