Latest Stories from Flo
How an all-woman unit is tackling elephant poaching in Zimbabwe
The Akashinga rangers are Africa’s first all-women, entirely plant-based anti-poaching unit. And they’re operating with astounding success. According to their website, the Akashinga Rangers are a community-led organisation that serves to protect wildlife conservation across Africa. The group, whose name means ‘the Brave Ones’ in Shona language, is made up entirely of women and is also completely plant-based. Given this niche identity has generated a wildly successful anti-poaching campaign, it’s...
Gen Z like their love with a small price tag
According to a new survey, young people are spending very little on dating – if anything at all. If you thought the pandemic was the only thing forcing us to stay at home, think again. These days there’s plenty to keep Gen Z off the dating scene – but the main culprit for their waning engagement with romance is money. According to Bank of America, young people aren’t just cutting back on...
What’s changed with National Living Wage in 2025?
If you’re working part-time alongside university or just starting out in full-time employment, you’ve probably come across the term National Living Wage. It’s often confused with the minimum wage, but there are key differences that can affect your paycheque. So, what’s changed in 2025, and why are some big employers getting caught out for not paying it? National Living Wage vs Minimum Wage The National Minimum Wage is the lowest legal hourly rate for workers...
The #BLM and #MeToo conversations are far from ‘done’
Ayo Edibiri’s interjection to terrible journalism is commendable and disheartening in equal measure – for the simple fact it was needed at all. Questions surrounding pertinent issues like #MeToo and BLM are – rightly – regular talking points on the annual film festival press cycle. But they usually crop up in layered conversations between filmmakers, actors, and journalists seeking to highlight the many ways Hollywood shapes, and is shaped by, the socio-political landscape. They...
Housing priorities are depriving UK children of green space
With urban planners racing to meet housing demands, a generation of UK children – particularly in deprived areas – faces growing up without safe, accessible spaces to play. In towns and cities across the UK, children are increasingly missing out on safe outdoor spaces. New research published by Cities and Health has found that urban planners are prioritising housing developments over playgrounds and parks, with serious consequences for childhood development...
TikTok wants you to fact-check your For You Page
With its new ‘footnotes’ feature, the platform is betting on crowdsourced context to clean up the chaos of viral video culture. TikTok’s endless scroll has always been a cocktail of brilliance, absurdity, and the occasional conspiracy theory. For every dance challenge or cooking hack, there’s a dubious wellness tip promising to fix your gut in three days or a breaking news claim with no evidence beyond a shaky iPhone video. The...
Is social media demonising female contraception?
The wellness narrative on apps like TikTok is driving a distrust of the contraceptive pill. Is this a regression of modern feminism, or a valid stance against medical intervention into women' s bodies? Speaking about her role as a school sex educator, Maya Walsh-Little told Polyester readers that the most frequent question she hears from students is ‘I heard on TikTok it will completely mess up your hormones if...
What does Vogue’s new editorial lead mean for the brand?
Chloe Malle has been named editorial lead of American Vogue. The self-confessed ‘nepo baby’ marks a new chapter for a former fashion mecca that seems to have lost its way. Anna Wintour stepped back from American Vogue in July of this year, signalling a seismic shift for the editorial powerhouse amidst growing criticism around its political stance and commercial priorities. Wintour had been at the helm for 37 years, and her...
What Rylan Clark tells us about the failure of government communication
The presenter’s stance on immigration has caused widespread backlash. But is the response a sign that the immigration debate is shifting? When Rylan Clark first appeared on the X Factor in 2012, sporting a set of blinding white veneers and a wotsit shade of spray tan, it was hard to imagine he’d one day be at the center of a national argument about immigration policy. But on a recent episode of...
Opinion – nobody can relate to TV’s mega-rich
Almost everywhere we look, TV and film are hell-bent on portraying characters with exorbitant amounts of wealth. I’m tired of it. And Just Like That, the Sex and the City reboot, has had largely negative – if not heavily mixed – reviews since it premiered a few years ago. And for many viewers, its loss wouldn’t be that heartfelt were it not a symbolic ending to the beloved world of Carrie...
