Waxing Cynical
🎙️ Waxing Cynical is here – yes, it's another podcast nobody asked for, brought to you by two brown girls who were never given the mic (so we took it). As self-appointed outsiders and full-time sceptics, we're not here to solve anything – just to dig in, analyse, and side-eye the world of culture and business.
I'm an existentialist; Jamila Ali is a nihilist. Together, we’re here to see if there’s any meaning, substance, or even hope in consumer culture, or if it’s all just noise with a nice aesthetic. From fashion to digital, beauty to retail, we’ll be wading through it all and asking how brands might find more depth (without us holding our breath). Tune in if you’re into grumpy insights, big questions, and a little eye-roll or two.
Waxing Cynical
Latest Episodes
Ep 4 - Body Politics: Wellness, Power & Who Gets Left Behind - TIME CAPSULE EDITION
In these Time Capsule editions, we make our predictions about the year ahead and seal the conversation away. The episode is time-stamped, archived, and only released the following year. When it drops, we revisit the thinking: what we got...
Ep 3 - Trend forecasting SUCKS
In this third episode, we dive deep into the "flop era" of luxury brands – how once-iconic names seem to be losing the plot. We break down why the allure of luxury is fading: declining quality, a loss of unique brand identity, obsession with tr...
Ep 2 - Post Brand Era
In our second episode, we're taking a cynical look at the trend forecasting industry in 2024. Spoiler: it's not pretty. We dive into why everyone seems to be recycling the same tired insights, with little depth or staying power.From rel...
Ep 1 - Short Form is DEAD
Thrilled to announce our new podcast, Waxing Cynical – where Jamila Ali and I, two unapologetic outsiders, get real about the culture brands push and the realities they ignore.In our first episode, we tackle Jamila's hot take: “Short-fo...
