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by Jessica DeFino
Mess World 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, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I jessicadefino.substack.com
Latest Episodes
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- May 4, 20261h 47m
The Cult of Cuteness
We’re back with a new episode of Mess World, a podcast collaboration between FLESH WORLD (by me, Jessica DeFino) and I (a fashion newsletter from Emily Kirkpatrick).Today we’re talking about: April Fool’s Day beauty products and the death of parody [1:30], even more fowl-inspired fashion [8:13], the return of the joutfit [17:00], diet-culture-beauty-culture mashups (Fat Oil Body Oil!) [24:30], inflatable attire [32:40], the machine behind the Swan Beauty mirror [41:10], Sianne Ngai’s theory of cuteness [58:00], Bieberchella x Hailey Bieber’s Rhode pimple patches and the reign of the digital doppelganger [1:16:00], Kris Jenner’s quest for tautness [1:35:52], and Euphoria makeup madness [1:48:40]. Plus more!Media we mentioned: “The rise and rise of ‘dewy dumpling skin’” [Sunday Times], “The Estée Lauder Companies is investing in skin-care technology to fight sugar’s impact on skin” [Glossy], Our Aesthetic Categories [Sianne Ngai], Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World [Naomi Klein], “My Strange Dysphoria” [The Cut], “Inside Kris Jenner’s Facelift-gate” [Puck], The Lowbrow Book ClubAlso: We’re on YouTube now, for those who prefer to watch their podcasts!About the podcast: Mess World 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, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I , a weekly roundup of the best of the worst celebrity fashion. Together, they dissect the biggest and dumbest celebrity happenings every month and give their unfiltered opinion on everything going on in the world of fashion and beauty.Subscribe to receive future podcast posts in your inbox:About the theme music: The Mess World theme song is “Hot Mess” by Carly Lind. Find more about Carly here and listen to her music here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jessicadefino.substack.com/subscribe
- Apr 7, 20261h 40m
The Butt Blush Boom
We’re back with a new episode of Mess World, a podcast collaboration between FLESH WORLD (by me, Jessica DeFino) and I (a fashion newsletter from Emily Kirkpatrick).Today we’re talking about: The Listerine Strip beauty boom [8:50]; poultry inspiration on the red carpet [14:15]; cadaver fat injectables as a form of cannibalism [21:30]; invisible and/or ephemeral shirting [25:39]; the Gen Z pout [44:44]; Chappell Roan, Timothée Chalamet, Lindy West, and discoursing celebrity to death [52:53]; blush for your butt and the aesthetics of spanking [1:11:03]; Kevin O’Leary’s $12.9 million necklace [1:24:14]; and beauty products for female humanoids [1:31:00]. Plus more!Media we mentioned: “Can feathers ever be ethical? Stella McCartney is betting on it” [Vogue Business], “How organ and tissue donation companies worked their way into the county morgue” [LA Times], “Worried about how your body parts will be used? Here’s what you can do” [LA Times], “The cult of the dissociative pout” [i-D], “Everyone Is Botoxed & No One Is Horny” [FLESH WORLD], “A New Report Has Found That Chappell Roan Was The Target Of A Bot-Driven Online Attack” [Buzzfeed], “Lindy West’s How-Not-To Guide to Polyamory” [Slate], Women, Race & Class [Angela Davis], Metropolis [Fritz Lang]Also: We’re on YouTube now, for those who prefer to watch their podcasts!About the podcast: Mess World 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, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I , a weekly roundup of the best of the worst celebrity fashion. Together, they dissect the biggest and dumbest celebrity happenings every month and give their unfiltered opinion on everything going on in the world of fashion and beauty.Subscribe to receive future podcast posts in your inbox:About the theme music: The Mess World theme song is “Hot Mess” by Carly Lind. Find more about Carly here and listen to her music here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jessicadefino.substack.com/subscribe
- Mar 4, 20262h 0m
Eugenicsmaxxing
We’re back with a new episode of Mess World, a podcast collaboration between FLESH WORLD (by me, Jessica DeFino) and I (a fashion newsletter from Emily Kirkpatrick).Today we’re talking about: Carrot-and-saddle-leather perfume to make you smell like a horse [2:07], protest fashion and shibari details on the AVN red carpet [8:11], investigating faux post-Botox photos of Florence Pugh [29:00], Deuxmoi’s affinity for AI slop [34:14], Deepak Chopra in the Epstein files & the fate of his (creepy!) beauty collab with Augustinus Bader [51:26], the cult of Clavicular [59:10], Brooklyn Beckham’s tattoo cover-up [1:35:44], and pilates and rosacea on Love Is Blind [1:38:48]. Plus more!Media we mentioned: “The Most Bizarre Covers of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s George Magazine” [Vanity Fair], “The AI Platform Reimagining The Future Of Wellness” [British Vogue], “Handsome at Any Cost” [New York Times], “CLAVICULAR Talks Female Psychology, Drug Habit, Infamy” [The Adam Friedland Show], “Inside the PSL Scale: The Looksmaxxer Rating System That All the Teenagers Are Referencing” [GQ], “Fashion’s Alt-Right Flirtation” [I “People Are ‘Harmonizing’ Their Faces. Why?” [FLESH WORLD] Also: We’re on YouTube now, for those who prefer to watch their podcasts!About the podcast: Mess World 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, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I , a weekly roundup of the best of the worst celebrity fashion. Together, they dissect the biggest and dumbest celebrity happenings every month and give their unfiltered opinion on everything going on in the world of fashion and beauty.Subscribe to receive future podcast posts in your inbox:About the theme music: The Mess World theme song is “Hot Mess” by Carly Lind. Find more about Carly here and listen to her music here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://jessicadefino.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast
- Feb 6, 20261h 59m
Longevity Erotica
We’re back with a new episode of Mess World, a podcast collaboration between FLESH WORLD (by me, Jessica DeFino) and I (a fashion newsletter from Emily Kirkpatrick).Today we’re talking about: The obscured asscrack [2:30], the obscured face [9:40] , Kendall Jenner’s “Accutane nose job” [13:40], Alix Earle’s perioral dermatitis (“if eczema, acne, and rosacea had this evil baby”) and new “Get Real With Me” Youtube show [18:30], Dolce & Gabbana’s umpteenth cancellation [23:49], everyone’s being stupid about the “male gaze” [51:30], we (unfortunately) watched Ryan Murphy’s “The Beauty” [1:05:00], Bryan Johnson’s longevity erotica [1:39:22], and brands turning anti-ICE activism into ads [1:52:30]. Plus more!Media we mentioned: “Mess Is The Moment: Our Trend Forecast For The Year” [MESS WORLD], “Cracks Are Back” [The Cut], “ICE is a Public Jobs Program for Losers” [Diabolical Lies], “When Beauty Becomes Background Noise” [FLESH WORLD], Ways of Seeing [John Berger], “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” [Laura Mulvey], Powers of Horror [Julia Kristeva], “Everyone Is Beautiful and No One Is Horny” [Blood Knife], The Shock Doctrine [Naomi Klein] Also: We’re on YouTube now, for those who prefer to watch their podcasts!About the podcast: Mess World 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, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I , a weekly roundup of the best of the worst celebrity fashion. Together, they dissect the biggest and dumbest celebrity happenings every month and give their unfiltered opinion on everything going on in the world of fashion and beauty.
- Jan 6, 20261h 38m
Mess Is The Moment: Our Trend Forecast For The Year
We’re back with a new episode of Mess World, a podcast collaboration between FLESH WORLD (by me, Jessica DeFino) and I (a fashion newsletter from Emily Kirkpatrick).Today we’re talking about: Our 2026 trend predictions: adult babies [5:30], lampshade dressing [6:40], chastity belts [10:45], clown aesthetics [12:12], fetal skincare [16:30], Pleaser innovation (maybe stilts?) [20:55], death-related beauty [25:50], ephemeral fashion [32:10], plastic surgery spon-con [35:00], the “bleph in a bottle” [37:00], outer space [41:45], hyperreal bodies [48:00], hypergender [54:00], mask-off marketing [1:01:05], Americana [1:05:00], 2-D shapes [1:07:00], manufactured messy girls [1:15:00], the obscured face [1:20:40], oil blotting sheets [1:24:00] and pet nail care [1:26:00], as well as our Messes of the Month (Tom Brady’s Instagram and Kris Jenner’s real nose). Plus more!Media we mentioned: “What Was Beauty In 2025?” [FLESH WORLD], “We Tried It: The $650 ‘Penis Facial’” [People], “Corporate types are clamoring for a new kind of plastic surgery — using dead people’s fat” [Business Insider], Mad Men’s “death drive” scene [YouTube], “The plastic-eating bacteria that could change the world” [The Guardian], Simulacra and Simulation [Jean Baudrillard], “The Year The Beauty Industry Made You Its Biche” [CNN]Also: We’re on YouTube now, where you can watch previous episodes.About the podcast: Mess World 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, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I , a weekly roundup of the best of the worst celebrity fashion. Together, they dissect the biggest and dumbest celebrity happenings every month and give their unfiltered opinion on everything going on in the world of fashion and beauty.Subscribe to receive future podcast posts in your inbox:About the theme music: The Mess World theme song is “Hot Mess” by Carly Lind. Find more about Carly here and listen to her music here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jessicadefino.substack.com/subscribe
- Dec 2, 20251h 40m
Welcome To Placenta University
We’re back with a new episode of Mess World, a podcast collaboration between FLESH WORLD (by me, Jessica DeFino) and I (a fashion newsletter from Emily Kirkpatrick).Today we’re talking about: Our Doppelgänger discussion last night with the Lowbrow Book Club, Emily’s Kim K body paint prediction came true [5:25], a wave of anti-plastic surgery essays on Substack [9:00], Cardi B’s chrome-plated umbilical cord [19:45], a wide-ranging rant about Rini, Shay Mitchell’s skincare brand for kids [29:30], Addison Rae’s blindfold [43:20], Simone Biles’ cosmetic transparency [52:40], the shadow side of fast fashion [1:08:32], The Costume Institute’s Spring 2026 Exhibition — Costume Art — sponsored by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos [1:15:00], Jennifer Aniston’s 30-year-old toe ring [1:29:00], and Sephora’s strange holiday campaign [1:32:50]. Plus more!Media we mentioned: “Is it weird facelifts are becoming normalized, or am I being too judgmental?” [The Guardian], “Shay Mitchell’s Kid Skin Care Line Isn’t That Deep. Neither Was Your Childhood Beauty Obsession.” [Glamour], “I’m getting ads for beauty products for my baby. Infants don’t need skincare – do they?” [The Guardian], “Hair and skin care products expose kids to hormone disrupting chemicals, study finds” [NPR], “Growing skincare use by children is dangerous, say dermatologists” [BBC], “What experts want you to know about Ozempic earlobes” [Hello], clothing waste in Ghana [Instagram], The House of Beauty: Lessons From The Image Industry [Arabelle Sicardi], “My Gucci Addiction” [GQ]Also: We’re on YouTube now, for those who prefer to watch their podcasts.About the podcast: Mess World 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, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I , a weekly roundup of the best of the worst celebrity fashion. Together, they dissect the biggest and dumbest celebrity happenings every month and give their unfiltered opinion on everything going on in the world of fashion and beauty.Subscribe to receive future podcast posts in your inbox:About the theme music: The Mess World theme song is “Hot Mess” by Carly Lind. Find more about Carly here and listen to her music here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episod
- Oct 31, 20251h 40m
Your Neck Is Saggy (Complimentary)
We’re back with a new episode of Mess World, a podcast collaboration between FLESH WORLD (by me, Jessica DeFino) and I (a fashion newsletter from Emily Kirkpatrick).Today we’re talking about: The Kardashians are stalking Emily [4:15], the European Wax Center is in cahoots with Skims [17:30], was Fashion Month anti-woman? [22:45], clown couture [41:30], why no one gets a neck lift “for themselves” [49:30], the hair extensions at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show [58:30], Shark Beauty and the rise of pore-vacuuming [1:04:48], Taylor Swift’s failed showgirl aesthetic [1:11:00], the Hollywood pumpkin patch PR crisis [1:31:28], and Wrinkles Week at The Strategist [1:34:25]. Plus more!Media we mentioned: Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste [Pierre Bourdieu], “Consider the Lip Kit” [Slate], “Why Can’t Fashion See What It Does to Women?” [The New York Times], “We Are All Disney Adults Now” [Mental Hellth], “Who Is Allowed to ‘Perform’ Gender and Identity?” [Many Such Cases], Thick [Tressie McMillan Cottom]Also: We’re on YouTube now, for those who prefer to watch their podcasts.About the podcast: Mess World 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, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I , a weekly roundup of the best of the worst celebrity fashion. Together, they dissect the biggest and dumbest celebrity happenings every month and give their unfiltered opinion on everything going on in the world of fashion and beauty.Subscribe to receive future podcast posts in your inbox:About the theme music: The Mess World theme song is “Hot Mess” by Carly Lind. Find more about Carly here and listen to her music here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jessicadefino.substack.com/subscribe
- Oct 3, 20251h 26m
Simulacra-Mania!
We’re back with a new name and a fresh episode of Mess World (formerly The Review of Mess): a podcast collaboration between FLESH WORLD (by me, Jessica DeFino) and I (a fashion newsletter from Emily Kirkpatrick).Today we’re talking about: The “scandal” at the mental health start-up Selena Gomez started with her mother [6:30], a very dystopian NikeSkims launch at the New York Public Library [15:00], Pamela Anderson’s capitalist absorption [33:30], Doja Cat dreams of edible lipstick [38:45], the (Emily-predicted!) rise of the “Bodies on Bodies” trend [45:30], a Fashion Month beauty recap (Simulacra Skin! China Doll Hair! What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? Makeup! Dirt! Pepto Pink! Butthead Sunnies!) [55:30], a Labubu on Karl Marx’s grave [1:16:18], and the inane “ear seeding for cortisol face” discourse [1:21:15]. Plus more!Media we mentioned: “Sick People Are Sick” [Freddie DeBoer], Dekonstructing the Kardashians: A New Media Manifesto [MJ Corey], Love, Pamela [Pamela Anderson], What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? [Tubi]Also: We’re on YouTube now, for those who prefer to watch their podcasts.About the podcast: Mess World 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, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I , a weekly roundup of the best of the worst celebrity fashion. Together, they dissect the biggest and dumbest celebrity happenings every month and give their unfiltered opinion on everything going on in the world of fashion and beauty.Subscribe to receive future podcast posts in your inbox:About the theme music: The Mess World theme song is “Hot Mess” by Carly Lind. Find more about Carly here and listen to her music here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jessicadefino.substack.com/subscribe
About Mess World
Mess World 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, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I jessicadefino.substack.com
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