Dolly Alderton/Pandora Sykes

[slugella]

I think my point still stands though - in fact, I think that is quite an “upper classes” thing to do, to keep a school nickname as a professional name.

I’m well aware that I am now coming across on this thread as if I am obsessed with class and status! I’ll see myself out...

Not at all! You've made some good points. You mentioning her name just reminded me of Hannah and wasn't sure if it was actually true or I had made it up

 

[Lanavalentine]

Not at all! You've made some good points. You mentioning her name just reminded me of Hannah and wasn't sure if it was actually true or I had made it up

I had totally forgotten to be honest! Your post jogged my memory.

 

[Aliceinherpalace]

Dolly is definitely what we called a “rah” at uni. She’s around the same age as me and a friend went to Exeter uni with her - said she was one of those posh idiots who turned up to lectures with bed head and wearing what looked like pyjamas and the obligatory Uggs

 

[121212]

I can’t bear the posting of glamorous photos and then dolly putting captions such as “put on eye shadow and felt like Lily Savage” - it’s just the constant humble brag.

Ohmygiddyaunt this is so accurate It’s how I have felt but not been able to pinpoint into words. It’s a type of appearance humble brag isn’t it?

They’re too posh for me.

 

[captainhelix]

Pandora also aged early 30s just bought a MASSIVE mansion in NW London with her husband- and had it decorated and furnished to the 9s with very expensive stuff (photos of it are all over the internet in good housekeeping etc)- obvs she’s made some money out of the work they do etc but it’s just ridiculous when you compare it to the 99% of other brits who also work their arses off and could only dream of a house like that! (Including myself) Very privileged

I’ve listened to the High Low for a while, although enjoyable in a superficial way I find both women terribly pretentious at times and a bit out of touch with common opinion, especially when covering mainstream topics. Dolly is definitely the more personable and likeable of the two. Pandora often goes off on a word salad tangent or goes on and on about books I neither want to or will read.

However, both women went down in my estimation when they completely bypassed the furore caused by Clemmie Hooper/Mother or Daughters being outed as a Tattler, they didn’t even mention it even though it was dominating social media/twitter and news. They had MOD on their pod previously so it isn’t as if they weren’t aware of who she is and what her spiel was.

I also find that despite the common discourse on influencers and the ever increasing backlash they rarely if ever mention it as if it’s far too lowly as a topic for them to cover.

I find their book/literary talk terribly self indulgent and fast forward all the those bits. I genuinely couldn’t give a flying fig about Pandora’s latest literary passion project. Both sound and are incredibly posh which they can’t help but it does make me eyerolly when they try and “relate” to the common, non media, London dwelling woman.

THIS !!
The whole thing with the MOD event really ticked me off- they say they are pressing journalists etc investigating everything then coincidentally dont touch a story that was in mainstream media, when they share an agent with the person! (Or used too, think Clemmie Hooper was dropped by the agent)

 

[Lumpfish]

Unless she is flat-out lying, Dolly has said that she was renting a cottage on a Holiday estate in Devon to edit her book and then when lockdown was announced didn't want to break the rules by leaving - but it was the same estate she grew up going to Holidays on with her parents, so this may be where the confusion lies. In general I really enjoy the podcast in terms of it as an information source to articles and issues I may not have come into contact with otherwise - I do completely agree with the fact that they massively downplay their privilege though.

Oh okay! Well I still think that's absolutely ridiculous, she could easily have gone back home - she lives alone! It's so poor little rich girl, stuck in beautiful beach-side holiday cottage! Such a cliche to go there to write too lol.

 

[slugella]

Ohmygiddyaunt this is so accurate It’s how I have felt but not been able to pinpoint into words. It’s a type of appearance humble brag isn’t it?

They’re too posh for me.

Yes this is it for me too!

Also on Twitter it's always tweets like the attached, and I don't know why but they drive me mad. Very much "I said this hilarious thing to my famous friend and she said this about me".. I can't explain what I mean very well

I feel like I'm in the minority in that I have always preferred Pandora. Does anyone know what her husband does?

 

[Cloff]

Yes this is it for me too!

Also on Twitter it's always tweets like the attached, and I don't know why but they drive me mad. Very much "I said this hilarious thing to my famous friend and she said this about me".. I can't explain what I mean very well

I feel like I'm in the minority in that I have always preferred Pandora. Does anyone know what her husband does?

He works for a sports digital media agency. He’s not hugely senior. I do wonder how on earth they live in that massive place in Notting hill rammed full of expensive furniture and art on their salaries. I saw it in an interiors magazine!

Having said that, I love Pandora - she’s quite quick with her opinion and sticks with it. Dolly on the other hand is really “oh poor little me”. Her longwinded “hilarious” stories about singlehood are completely tragic as well!

 

[Shugsyshalone]

I used to love listening to The High Low, I do generally agree with their opinions on a lot of the things they talk about. But I just got sick of listening to them humble brag about everything. It’s hard to quite put it into words - they will discuss a topic and then vaguely compare it to something that’s happened in their own life but the comparison is so far detached that it’s just irritating, or they will simply talk about something and say how ‘thankful’ they are that they haven’t had to endure such hardships in their life.
I read Dolly’s book and just got frustrated. I really love her writing style, but just kept finding myself thinking this isn’t relatable for most people and wondering if she realises that the lifestyle she was living wasn’t the way most young people grow up, and wondering why such a privileged woman was constantly trying to play the victim.

 

[Coffeetrampbiatch]

I used to love listening to The High Low, I do generally agree with their opinions on a lot of the things they talk about. But I just got sick of listening to them humble brag about everything. It’s hard to quite put it into words - they will discuss a topic and then vaguely compare it to something that’s happened in their own life but the comparison is so far detached that it’s just irritating, or they will simply talk about something and say how ‘thankful’ they are that they haven’t had to endure such hardships in their life.
I read Dolly’s book and just got frustrated. I really love her writing style, but just kept finding myself thinking this isn’t relatable for most people and wondering if she realises that the lifestyle she was living wasn’t the way most young people grow up, and wondering why such a privileged woman was constantly trying to play the victim.

I think your point about the privilege is interesting as I noticed it less in the book than I did in the podcast. I did not grow up with the kind of wealth they had but I did have a sort of working gap year abroad after Uni where I didn’t make much at all. I did just muddle through With no help from my parents though but I related a lot to her stories about men and friends. Despite the privilege I found the human emotion parts to be quite relatable.

 

[emm]

Yes this is it for me too!

Also on Twitter it's always tweets like the attached, and I don't know why but they drive me mad. Very much "I said this hilarious thing to my famous friend and she said this about me".. I can't explain what I mean very well

I feel like I'm in the minority in that I have always preferred Pandora. Does anyone know what her husband does?

That’s the most nonsensical thing I think I’ve read.. I am not sure but I would imagine something like banking (total assumption based on the lifestyle they seem to lead tbh)

 

[Shugsyshalone]

I think your point about the privilege is interesting as I noticed it less in the book than I did in the podcast. I did not grow up with the kind of wealth they had but I did have a sort of working gap year abroad after Uni where I didn’t make much at all. I did just muddle through With no help from my parents though but I related a lot to her stories about men and friends. Despite the privilege I found the human emotion parts to be quite relatable.

Yes, that’s exactly why I like her writing because the emotional side of it is extremely relatable regardless of your background. Whether you’re privileged or not, having your heart broken still hurts the same.

 

[pipmint]

I used to listen regularly to the podcast but have now stopped. I found a lot of their 'woke' opinions misguided or wishy washy. They try and broach topics objectively but end up missing the mark. It grates on me that they like to use big descriptive words in place of more regularly used, less clunky vocabulary, just seems a bit show-offy. And I always remember the time Pandora mentioned her habit of eating half a bagel for lunch when she was either pregnant or had a young baby - it struck me as wholly unhealthy attitude towards food but was mentioned as if it were a completely normal amount to eat. I read Dolly's book and came to the conclusion that she hadn't lived enough years to write a memoir.

 

[Shugsyshalone]

I used to listen regularly to the podcast but have now stopped. I found a lot of their 'woke' opinions misguided or wishy washy. They try and broach topics objectively but end up missing the mark. It grates on me that they like to use big descriptive words in place of more regularly used, less clunky vocabulary, just seems a bit show-offy. And I always remember the time Pandora mentioned her habit of eating half a bagel for lunch when she was either pregnant or had a young baby - it struck me as wholly unhealthy attitude towards food but was mentioned as if it were a completely normal amount to eat. I read Dolly's book and came to the conclusion that she hadn't lived enough years to write a memoir.

Yes, I agree with the use of unnecessary ‘intellectual’ show-offy vocabulary. Dolly has openly spoken about her eating disorder but Pandora has never talked about the subject and I suspect going by the half a bagel comment that she most likely has history of unhealthy relationships with food.

 

[Pablomamma]

So left wing and woke but both of them let The Times pay their wages - no one ever mentions this nugget. BABYCCINO! MEMOOOOIRRRR

 

[holb93]

What's Pandora talking about on her Twitter thread today? Who's been bashing her? Also, when she says she responds to criticism...they openly mock people who criticize their podcast or leave poor reviews.

 

[slugella]

Hmm I thought it could be referring to here but then this bit "You do not need to (as one book's publicist did, having pitched me her author previously) tweet about how 'unbearable' they are." makes it sound like it was on twitter?

 

[lmcn23]

Hmm I thought it could be referring to here but then this bit "You do not need to (as one book's publicist did, having pitched me her author previously) tweet about how 'unbearable' they are." makes it sound like it was on twitter?

I saw someone earlier in the week tweet a photo of her book saying “really want to review this if anyone wants to commission me”. Could be related but I feel like I’m missing something as I didn’t quite get the tweet lol.

 

[holb93]

Hmm I thought it could be referring to here but then this bit "You do not need to (as one book's publicist did, having pitched me her author previously) tweet about how 'unbearable' they are." makes it sound like it was on twitter?

Yeah, definitely seems like Twitter. It just seems like a cry for attention tbh. Here come all the glowing responses telling her how much people love her. And of course she always likes to mention that she's a mum or has a baby now (no offense to new mums, but every time I've criticized her, her immediate defense is always "I'm a new mum!" as if that lets her off the hook).

 

[lipsticktaser]

I used to love the podcast but I’ve started to Peter out my listening. It’s just become a bit self indulgent. I’ve been feeling the same way about tables manners, I’ve all but stopped listening.
This pandemic (panny d ) has really highlighted how far removed they are from me.