The faces of women in the Republican Party have changed drastically, and people have noticed. As the likes of Kristy Noem and Kimberly Guilfoyle become ever-pouchier, pouty-lipped, and blown out in the short time since Trump took office, the internet has been in a frenzy. Some, including plastic surgeons themselves, have suspected these women of getting cosmetic work done to get in Trump’s good graces. Others have suspected this botchedness to be intentional, that they’re deliberately “polluting other people’s field of vision” in an act of contempt. But are they? In this season 7 premiere, Hannah and Maia are joined by Biz Sherbert (of Nymphet Alumni) to discuss the many ways that beauty is absorbed into the never-ending culture war of our times. From “Republican makeup tutorials” on TikTok, to the widespread confusion around a chic Republican girl on the cover of New York Mag, it seems everyone is doing a whole lot of externalizing at a time when introspection is more necessary than ever. 

Support us on Patreon and get juicy bonus content:

⁠https://www.patreon.com/rehashpodcast⁠

Intro and outro song by our talented friend Ian Mills:

⁠https://linktr.ee/ianmillsmusic

Biz's article:

https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/16218/what-does-beauty-look-like-in-the-trump-era-anna-claire-howland-addison-rae

SOURCES:

Brock Colyar, “The Cruel Kids’ Table,” New York Magazine (2025).

Vanessa Friedman, “The Trumpification of Kristi Noem,” The New York Times (2024).

Doree Lewak, Trump supporters getting plastic surgery to look their best for Mar-a-Lago schmoozing: ‘They have face time with the leader of the free world’,” The New York Post (2025).

Amanda Marcotte, “From "Mar-a-Lago face" to uncanny AI art: MAGA loves ugly in submission to Trump,” Salon (2025).

Inae Oh, “In Your Face: The Brutal Aesthetics of MAGA,” Mother Jones (2025).

Emilia Petrarca, Can I Boom Boom? Falling for, and fretting over, the gilded and greedy new aesthetic.,” The Cut (2025).

Biz Sherbert, “What Does Beauty Look Like in the Age of Trump?” AnOther Mag (2025).

Ever since Seo Taiji and Boys broke onto the scene in their baggy overalls back in 1992, Korea has been working to cast as wide a cultural net as possible on the world stage. And, by placing young talent through rigorous game show incubators and pumping out dozens of attractive, talented, and universally appealing musical artists, they succeeded. With the meteoric rise of groups like BTS and Blackpink, K-Pop now had a hoard of die-hard fans in the West - a cross-cultural exchange to challenge Beatlemania. In this bonus episode, Hannah and Maia talk about K-Pop stans, who have become some of the loudest voices on the internet, and often use those voices for good. But when the conservative K-Pop industry subjects its artists to unprecedented levels of public scrutiny and input, and leaves them at the whims of a rabid global audience, can it spawn a new, dangerous form of parasocialism that we may never come back from? Tangents include an incredibly sophisticated T-Pain impression, and the tragically overlooked Lonely Island cinematic masterpiece, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. 

FULL episode can be found on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/rehashpodcast