Sentimental Garbage

Rich People with Jennifer Jackson

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Whether it's prestige HBO dramas or Below Deck, there's no doubting that we're more obsessed with – as well as empathetic towards – the extremely ...

Baking with Kate Young

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today we're picking through our most complicated cake feelings with novelist and author of the Little Library Cookbooks, Kate Young! This episode is s...

Evanescence with Jessica Moor

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

WAKE ME UP INSIDE! As a reformed fan-fiction head and ex-moderator of an Evanescence forum, Jessica Moor epitomises everything that was great and weir...

Noughties Fashion with Muireann O'Connell

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Von Duchess is back as we recap noughties fashion and why we're seeing such a huge resurgence of it. As with all Irish guests, we talk confirmatio...

Dirty Dancing with Curtis Sittenfeld

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week Caroline is joined by one of the greatest novelists of her generation to talk about Dirty Dancing, Sylvia Plath, and whether Adam Driver is ...

Girl Games with Sarah Maria Griffin

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Gaming used to be for everybody, like Lego. But somewhere around the early noughties gaming became extremely gendered, with first person war shooters ...

Bring It On with Tessa Coates

02 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Girlbossing with Otegha Uwagba

23 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Otegha Uwagba is finally on the podcast and we're having a far-reaching and slightly rogue conversation about girlboss feminism, being a bad bitch, th...

Runaway Bride with Dolly Alderton

16 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dolly is back and we're talking commitment-phobia, memorabilia, and the noble failures of Julia Roberts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for m...

Snacks with Laura Goodman

09 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Food writer Laura Goodman joins us this week to talk about the modern phenomenon of snacking and the breakdown of the three-meal day. This is sentimen...

Gilmore Girls (pt. II) with Jof Owen

02 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We're carrying on from last week's deep dive into the Gilmore Girls with chats about Jess, Luke, Max Medina and our mystery number one slot. We also d...

Gilmore Girls (pt. I) with Jof Owen

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's the first of our two-part special on Gilmore Girls! Today we discuss: did Dean storm the capital? Is Christopher a serial people pleaser? Could w...

Chicago with Natasha Hodgson

19 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Get ready for an incredibly fun and slightly fork-obsessed discussion about Chicago and the process of writing musicals in general. We talk about room...

Break-Ups with Monica Heisey

12 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Monica Heisey was an unusually young divorcée and a writer of unusually famous sitcoms when she began writing her iconic break-up novel Really Good, ...

Weddings with Lauren Bravo

05 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From earliest childhood, girls are taught to obsess over weddings as the one thing in common we'll ever have with a Disney princess. We talk about wom...

The Little Women Christmas Special!

22 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Whether you're a die-hard Jo fan or an Amy apologist, there's no way to be a woman alive in the 21st century without having an opinion on Louisa May A...

Wild Garbage #2 (with Jen Cownie)

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Jen Cownie returns for a tarot-infused culture ramble where we cover tiny dogs, long nails and blue jeans. Also Joe Alwyn and Margaret Atwood get a sh...

Enya with Sloane Crosley

11 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Author and essayist Sloane Crosley shares her pre-teen love of Enya in the final episode of the season! We talk about music, conflicting nationalities...

Kate Moss with Alexandra Haddow

04 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Is Kate Moss the fit version of Forrest Gump? We track the career of Kate in a handful of photos, picked by lifelong fan and comedian Alex Haddow. We ...

Avril Lavigne with Annie Lord

28 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's time to go back to an era where you hung around a shopping centre all day with no money for no reason! We talk about Avril Lavigne's impact on mi...

Anne Rice (but mostly vampires) with Siobhán McSweeney

20 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week we attempt to cover the entire career of Anne Rice and quickly realise that it's impossible, so this conversation takes some of the most enj...

Lily Allen with Connor Finch

14 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The bad boy of BBC iPlayer Connor Finch comes on to talk about one of his foremost musical heroes, Lily Allen. We talk about Lily's place in pop cultu...

Wimbledon (2004) with Jessica Brown Findlay

07 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's Wimbledon week, and both Caroline and Jessica prefer the romantic, fictional rendering of Wimbledon to actual Wimbledon itself. We discuss Kirste...

Reality TV with Pandora Sykes

30 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The host of Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV joins us to talk about this quintessentially 21st century art form. Can we talk about reality TV ...

Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill with Janina Matthewson

23 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Janina Matthewson returns to discuss Alanis Morissettes 1995 smash hit album, Jagged Little Pill. We discuss Alanis as a survivor and a songwriter, he...

Costume Dramas with Dr Emma Southon

16 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Costume dramas are the most dominant way that ordinary people engage with history, so why are we so frequently snobby about them? Dr Emma Southon give...

Bonus: WILD GARBAGE with Jen Cownie

14 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Jen Cownie is back on to celebrate our 100th episode with a boozy tarot round up of all the things that need Sentimental Garbage tarot readings: when ...

Josie & The Pussycats with Andrea Cleary

09 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Punk rock prom queens assemble, today we're talking about the criminally over-looked and under-loved Josie & The Pussycats. Why was this movies so...

Influencers with Louise O'Neill

02 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Do influencers make fame feel less special? Influencers distort our ideas of where wealth and fame should come from, and often provoke our hate-follow...

Charlie's Angels with Grace Medford

26 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Grace Medford joins us to talk about the endlessly entertaining dress-up box that was the noughties Charlie's Angels reboot. We discuss the...

Indie Twee, pt II with Self Esteem

19 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Before Self Esteem was selling out venues as a solo artist, she was Rebecca Taylor of Slow Club, a band who helped bring British twee to its apex in t...

Indie Twee, pt I with Jof Owen

12 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Usually on the podcast I speak to people about the culture they love that has been unfairly dismissed, but I’m also interested in talking to the art...

Light A Penny Candle with Sarah Maria Griffin (BINCHYCAST #3)

09 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Griffin is back to worship at the altar of Maeve Binchy and to deliver a new taxonomy about men and the wind. Evacuated from Blitz-battered Lond...

Taylor Swift with Marisa Bate

05 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We're joined by journalist and long-time Swiftie Marisa Bate to talk about why the most decorated artist of her generation is also one of the most pol...

Save the Last Dance with Leah Green

28 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Guardian host and producer Leah Green is in the garbage vault this week with 2000's dance classic Save the Last Dance, a movie that has since become f...

Sentimental in the City: And Just Like That, pt III

21 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We're limping towards the finish line of an uneven first season, talking about what we would have done differently, whether Carrie can even be called ...

Sentimental in the City: And Just Like That, pt II

14 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's part two of our And Just Like That recap, and we're talking about Charlotte's horrible dinner party, the terrible music choices, our blind adorat...

Sentimental in the City: And Just Like That, pt I

07 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Dolly Alderton is back, and we're finally getting balls deep into And Just Like That. This is the first of THREE Sentimental in the City episodes cove...

The Nora Ephron Christmas Spectacular! with Ella Risbridger

22 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Nora Ephron is a writer and filmmaker whose fame was huge in her lifetime and has only snow-balled since her death in 2012. Now that her name is on t-...

Coyote Ugly with Hannah Woods

16 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How did a Bukowski-style piece published in 1997 by Elizabeth Gilbert in GQ magazine turn into the quintessential sleepover movie of the early noughti...

The High Street with Lauren Bravo

09 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Whether it's a baked potato in a M&S cafe, a Jane Norman shopping bag, or a limited-range of celebrity dresses at Topshop, there's nothing that ge...

Julie & Julia with Fiona Zublin

02 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There is a very clear narrative on Julie & Julia, Nora Ephron's final feature film, and it's this: the Julia Child portions of the movie are heave...

The Word 'Like' with Amanda Montell

25 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Young women's use of the word 'like' has been parodied for decades, but where did it come from, why do we use it, and why is it, like, so goddamn usef...

Titanic with Janina Matthewson

18 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When Titanic first came out, it made history for the epic scale of James Cameron's filmmaking. But like the ship itself, its reputation started to cap...

Songs about Jane by Maroon 5 with Catriona Innes

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Guardian once compared Maroon 5 to 'rats scavenging through pizza boxes', but to a generation of millennial women, they were as close to sex-posit...

Grease 2 with Séamas O'Reilly

04 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

According to best-selling author Séamas O'Reilly's family, this is not just the superior Grease film, but a classic movie on a par with Jaws and Scar...

Halloween BONUS: Magic with Michelle Tea

31 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Author, witch and host of Your Magic Michelle Tea talks about one of the most guilt-ridden feminine practices of all: magic and witchcraft. Caroline a...

Sunset Boulevard (1950) with Joe Black

21 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"I AM big... it's the pictures that got small." Drag Race UK star Joe Black joins us to talk about the camp Billy Wilder classic that took the best of...

Mona Lisa Smile with Kate Young

14 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mona Lisa Smile was a 2003 movie about women's education in the 1950s, and it was also the first Julia Roberts drama to spectacularly fail. We talk a ...

The Music of Amanda Palmer with Tom McInnes

07 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Coin Operated Boy Tom McInnes is back and we're here to cry about Amanda Palmer. Amanda Palmer is a singer, songwriter and performance artist who firs...

The Bodyguard (1992) with Irenosen Okojie

29 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If I should stay, I would only get in your way. Caroline and Irenosen Okojie get extremely giddy about The Bodyguard, arguably the best date movie of ...

America's Next Top Model with Juno Dawson

23 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How did ANTM become one of the most influential reality shows of all time? Caroline and Juno bond over their shared love of this pioneering reality se...

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (the book) with Ayisha Malik

16 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's 1997 and Bridget Jones is navigating New Labour, the sudden death of Princess Diana, and her on-again off-again relationship with the elusive Mar...

Mamma Mia with Zoe Terakes (sponsored episode)

04 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Super Trouper Zoe Terakes has brought Mamma Mia to the garbage dump and is ready to celebrate it for the mad camp wonderland it truly is. We talk abou...

RuPaul's Drag Race with SELF ESTEEM (a.k.a, Rebecca Lucy Taylor)

02 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rebecca Taylor of Self Esteem (formerly Slow Club) talks about how Drag Race literally dragged her out of a dark post-break up depression and hel...

Red Carpets with Muireann O'Connell

26 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We're back with season 8 and TV presenter Muireann O'Connell is making the case for award season red carpets being a competitive sport in their own ri...

Get ready for a new season!

18 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There's a whole new season of Sentimental Garbage on the way! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sentimental in the City 8: Sex and the City The Movie 2 (2010)

15 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This episode was edited by Caroline O'Donoghue, mixed by Hannah Varrall, with music by Harry Harris and artwork by Gavin Day. Dolly Alderton is the au...

Sentimental in the City 7: Sex and the City The Movie (2008)

08 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's the movie!!! And it's... not as good as we remember! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sentimental in the City 6.5: Sex and the City, Season Six, Part 2

01 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's the winter of this content, and we're debating Aleksandr Petrovsky (call me Bob) so hard that it risks ending our friendship entirely. We discuss...

Sentimental in the City 6: Sex and the City, Season Six, Part 1

25 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What does Charlotte do all day? We finally have the answer and it's Judaism. We go hell for leather on Jack Berger, fall in love with Smith the baby c...

Sentimental in the City 5: Sex & The City Season Five

18 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is the FIRST class sleeper? Put on your visor and trapeze dress, it's time for the big bag of fun that is season five. We talk about Atlantic Cit...

Sentimental in the City 4: Sex and The City, Season 4

11 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Don't you bring that cardboard baby in here! This week we're coming into Season 4 with tears, and the firm knowledge that CABS ARE BULLLSSSSH*T. We di...

Sentimental in the City 3: Sex and the City, Season 3

04 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Take your seats, turn off your phones, it's time to settle in for the National Theatre's presentation of THE MCDOUGALLS ARE COMING FOR SUPPER and ther...

Sentimental in the City 2: Sex and the City, Season Two

25 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's season two and the hair is great, the clothes are even better, and Mr Big is fundamentally depressing. We argue that season two of Sex and the Ci...

Sentimental in the City 1: Sex & The City, Season One

18 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we're kicking off our Sex and the City mini-series with our discussion of the character arcs and themes (take a drink) of season one. After...

Introducing: Sentimental in the City, with Dolly Alderton

15 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's the first ever Sentimental Garbage mini-series: a big basket of episodes about Sex and the City! In this mini-series, author Dolly Alderton joins...

Unforgivable Love with Sareeta Domingo

28 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sophfronia Scott re-imagination of Dangerous Liaisons set in the Harlem Renaissance is sexy, surprising and so entertaining that we're willing to forg...

Evening Class with Sarah Maria Griffin

21 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ciao bella! It's our second Maeve Binchy-cast of the season, with returning guest Sarah Maria Griffin. It’s the dawn of the Celtic Tiger in early ni...

Le Divorce with Fiona Zublin

14 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Get your Kelly bag and your load-bearing beams ready, this week we're talking about Diane Johnson's Le Divorce with real-life American Girl in Paris, ...

The Children's Books Christmas Special Spectacular!

24 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Merry Christmas everyone! Usually this time of year, you’d be in your childhood bedroom, re-reading the books that got you through primary school. T...

The Fifteen Streets by Catherine Cookson with Milly Johnson

17 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Best-selling romance novelist and Yorkshire lass Milly Johnson talks to us about her biggest writing inspiration, Catherine Cookson. If you haven't re...

Daisy Jones & The Six with Tom McInnes

10 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's the best-selling fictional oral history about your favourite 70s rock band that never existed! This week, Caroline and writer/musician Tom McInne...

The Meaning of Mariah Carey with Okechukwu Nzelu

03 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Don't even act like you don't know her. This week we talk about the diva of all divas, Mariah Carey with author of The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney,...

Lucky by Jackie Collins with Jessie Burton

26 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're back after a long break with our first Jackie Collins episode, with the one and only Jessie Burton! Jessie's debut novel The Miniaturist became ...

Scenes of a Graphic Nature by Caroline O'Donoghue (me!!!)

27 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Scenes of a Graphic Nature has been out for over a month, so Caroline and Ella are talking about it! We say this is an 'all spoiler' edition, but in p...

Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin

06 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're talking about food, friendship and the cult favourite of Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin. Brian Eno once said that everyone who bought T...

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

30 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

CONTENT WARNING: frequent, graphic mentions of suicide We're back after a short break with more Covid-appropriate reading material, and what's more pa...

Scenes of a Graphic Nature is out on ebook and audio!

18 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

My second book is out on audio and ebook today, here's me talking about it and doing a reading! Scenes of a Graphic Nature by Caroline O'Donoghue http...

Reading Recommendations

05 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

No new episode this week, but here are some fiction recommendations that you might be interested in given the current political climate:Heads Of The C...

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

22 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're talking about 1989's smash-hit debut The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. We talk debut novels, immigration literature, why so many women fin...

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

06 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week on the Corona Cast, Caroline and Ella discuss the ultimate smart lady holiday book (she's going to Split) American Wife! American Wife is a ...

Valley of the Dolls with Ella Risbridger

29 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

CONTENT WARNING: rape, fat shaming, homophobia, literally all possible triggers a person could have. This week it's another special edition of Sentime...

The Changeover with Ella Risbridger

03 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's week two of the Corona Cast, and we're still stuck in our bedrooms. What better time to get into supernatural YA classic, Margaret Mahy's The Cha...

Brother of the More Famous Jack with Ella Risbridger

28 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to our Corona Cast, a series where I invite my favourite people (mostly Ella) to record remotely on their favourite books, regardless of genre...

The Camomile Lawn with Kate Young

21 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Hold steady everyone, there’s a WAR ON! Joining Caroline O'Donoghue is author, cook and currently in love with a set of twins, KATE YOUNG and today ...

The Mitford Sister Christmas Spectacular with Ella Risbridger

19 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Nothing says Christmas like freezing to death in your country estate while your sisters commit themselves to fascism and/or Marxist theory! Caroline O...

Rivals with Cathy Kelly

05 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Rupert Campbell Black is back, he's fighting for a TV franchise in rural Gloucestershire (????) and he's in love with an Irish teenager! This week bes...

Why Mummy Drinks with Adele Parks

28 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Why DOES Mummy Drink? This week we're talking about the Gill Simms blog-turned-literary sensation WHY MUMMY DRINKS. WMD tells the story of Ellen, a mo...

Set Me On Fire with Ella Risbridger

21 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Regular guest and deep friend of the pod Ella Risbridger is back, but this time to talk about poetry! In her anthology SET ME ON FIRE, Ella gathers so...

Less with Phil Ellis

14 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Is this the only Sentimental Garbage to win a Pulitzer? This week we talk to writer, editor and spiritual bottom Phil Ellis about Andrew Sean Greer's ...

Riders with Jojo Moyes

07 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This week is the anniversary of our first episode, so what better way to celebrate than with the MOST requested book on our list - yes, I've received ...

The Fortnight in September with Andy Miller

31 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Grab your bucket and spade and your flask of ginger beer, because we're taking a trip back to 1930s Bognor Regis! Today we're talking about RC Sheriff...

Sweet Valley High with Jessica Pan

17 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Rev up your motorcycle and buckle in for your drink driving accident because the Sweet Valley twins are here and a trail of death and destruction usua...

A Court of Thorns and Roses with Jennifer Cownie

10 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we're exploring Sarah J Maas's insanely popular A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES series with Litwitchure maven Jennifer Cownie. This fantasy-ret...

The Thorn Birds with Caroline Kepnes

03 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We're back for season 4 with Caroline Kepnes, the bestselling author of YOU, to talk about the book that made her lock herself into an ice-cream shop....

The Signature Of All Things with Gavin Day

29 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's the last episode of the season, and we're rounding it off with one of my favourite books of all time The Signature Of All Things by Elizabeth Gil...

Rachel's Holiday with Louise O'Neill

22 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

CW: addiction, anorexia, bulimia. They tried to make her go to rehab... and frankly, it was a good idea. This week we're talking about the most antici...

High Fidelity with Alan Maguire

15 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

What came first, the music or the misery? We invite podcaster Alan Maguire on to talk about Nick Hornby's classic High Fidelity, discussing relationsh...

Postcards from the Edge with Tessa Coates (with audiobook extract!)

13 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

To celebrate the release of the audiobook of Caroline's book, Promising Young Women, writer, podcaster and now audiobook star Tessa Coates comes to t...