Cult Linguistics with Madeline Argy
The 24-year old TikTok and podcast star opens up about breakups, life lessons, and her dream podcast guest.
Madeline Argy recently made the jump from the cold English countryside to the inviting vales of California—at least partially. “I think I might end up doing a bit of 50-50,” the 24-year-old TikTok influencer and host of the Pretty Lonesome podcast admits from her new home in West Hollywood. She’s already become obsessed with one upscale regional grocery chain in particular, and no, not one. “This place called Bristol Farms!” Argy says. “It’s spectacular. It’s so much better than Erewhon; I’ve converted.”
Argy and I are speaking shortly before the holidays, during that twilighty, introspective part of December that warrants a little check-in RE: life, love, and one’s ambitions for the new year. Even by her own chaotic It Girl standards, the West Sussex native had a busy 2024: since launching her podcast on Alex Cooper’s Unwell network a little over a year ago, Argy has leveled up her brand of viral overshare-y monologues she began from inside her 1996 Vauxhall Astra into a full-fledged weekly show on the ups and downs of early 20s-hood; is now in its second season.
While holding down her TikTok empire—where more than 9 million followers stay tuned for those inimitable Argynian “storytimes” about, say, having a 6.5-hour conversation with a plane seatmate, or tracking down a bottle of perfume she misplaced in another country—Argy has also ventured further into the fashion world, working with brands like Chanel, Gucci, and Calvin Klein, and familiarizing herself easily with the fashion month circuit. She also spent last summer dealing with the spotlight’s less savory dilemmas: that of a highly public breakup with the British rapper Central Cee, which embroiled Ice Spice and inspired explainers galore while inviting the whole internet into her personal life.Where someone less practiced in total disclosure might have shied away from the drama, Argy leaned in with several videos explaining her side—a move that only seems to have cemented her status as the internet’s relatable best friend (who happens to be wearing Chanel) whom you can’t help but to root for.In conversation, Argy and I discussed her biggest lessons learned from last year, and her manifestations for this one.
We originally met right when you were just about to launch . What has been the biggest lesson from your first year of podcasting?What are you most proud of with the podcast?Who’s been your favorite guest?
It’s definitely the importance of not feeling intimidated by an audience. I started out the podcast with a lot of excitement and passion—it was just really something I enjoyed. And then I kind of became closed off, so then the podcast lacked some depth on my end. I think the biggest lesson for me is: If you’re going to undertake something, you have to do it wholeheartedly. This was a big project that required a lot of personality to execute properly. So I brought on a production team and learned that running a podcast by myself is not the most tangible thing, especially if I want to enjoy it. And I think the amount that enjoy it translates into people enjoying it.I’m proud of the fact that I’ve positioned it so that people will come on it. I think that’s the main thing: that when I reach out to people that I want to speak to, I might get an email back so that I can execute the new guest segment where I have experts come on and talk to me about strange fields that they work in.I filmed the one with the author Amanda Montell last week where she talked about linguistic techniques used by powerful people and often in cult contexts. That was really interesting, especially since I originally went to the University of Kent to study linguistics.
Wait, tell me more about this. Are there specific linguistic techniques that cult leaders use?I want to ask you about how the internet has changed. You’ve been on TikTok in earnest since 2021, but I’m curious if there’s a world where you’d move off that platform entirely to focus on your podcast.When we last spoke, it was right after your first big fashion month. What has being immersed in that world been like for you?
Amanda was telling me about a technique people use to basically stop the thought. So when someone comes to you with a question that may lead to a discussion that would be quite enlightening, people often have these one-liners that essentially just cut off any further investigation. She gave the example “it is what it is,” which really stunts the conversation. Or “act as if you already believe and you’ll get there.” Apparently it’s really effective.I think TikTok is always going to have a place in my heart, to be honest with you. I can’t imagine actively trying to move away from it. It’s genuinely fun to me still; it never became something that felt stressful. The podcast has deadlines and deliverables, and it’s really fun in a different way than I find just regular social media fun. Posting on TikTok and Instagram—that still evokes the same feeling in me as how it always has when I’m just posting to my friends. I enjoy the way that I can interact with my audience there; it feels so much more real sometimes. So no, I can’t imagine ever not wanting to be on.God, there are so many interesting things that I’ve noticed just from being on set on shoots or at after-parties and at shows. I think the main thing that surprised me was how intertwined the community is. It feels a little bit like you’ve walked into a high school, but everyone’s been attending for ten years and you are very much like, “oh, everyone really does know each other.”I’m definitely still feeling very shy. But there are just a few more familiar faces when I walk into a room now; before, I just didn’t know anyone.
Would you want fashion to be a bigger part of your career in the future? Or do you think it’ll always be something adjacent to content creation?Last year, your personal life got put on full blast. Did that whole ordeal change your approach to fame or your platform?
Yeah, I was very hesitant at first to accept work with the fashion world because I felt like people wouldn’t want to see it. I was nervous that people would think: “Oh, we lost her to all this fancy stuff.” Because when I came onto the internet, I was at university and I was pretty limited in what I was wearing. We’ll say that it was definitely a different image.So fashion definitely came secondary to everything that I did, and I think the more I accepted the invites, the more I saw that people didn’t mind it. I think people can enjoy seeing you succeed, especially if it’s done in the right way. It’s hard to start out a certain way and then try and play off a Chanel event like it’s not going to have an effect on your persona, but I also think that there’s a way that you can just grow and change and stay very true to yourself, as cringe as that sounds.Honestly, no. I think my approach stayed the same, if it wasn’t actually slightly more open. I guess most people would assume the opposite. Prior to people knowing a bit more about me, I was really withholding so much of myself. And then I became very reserved, and then I stopped being so reserved for a second and was very, very, very honest. And everyone, whether I liked it or not, was really seeing something personal. And honestly, I think it was kind of a bit of exposure therapy of just like, what is the point in doing any of this?It just wasn’t resonating anymore to be so fearful of people seeing me. And I came to terms with, OK, if you’re going to put yourself out there online, you may as well do it authentically so that maybe if there ever is an impact, it’s real. If your words ever reach someone, they are words, and not something you pulled from your ass out of fear and fear of judgment. Weirdly, I think it made me feel more comfortable being open.
In one of your recent videos, you said that you’ve been “living a lot of life lately.” Is that a good thing? What did you mean by that?Any manifestations you’d like to share on the record for the coming year?Anyone in particular?
It’s definitely a good thing. Being in LA, there’s more to do. Before this, I was in the countryside of the UK, which is a notoriously boring place to be. Being out here, I’ve made a big effort to make friends because I didn’t want to fall into a slump of having been here for a while and still not really knowing anyone. So I’ve been forcing myself out. It feels like I am an active participant in my own life again, which is quite nice.Oh yeah, definitely. There are some people who I would love to have on the podcast. I’m putting their names under my pillow at night and crossing my fingers.We haven’t done any outreach to him, but there’s just this one name that’s always stuck out to me. It’s Tony Robbins! I’m intrigued by him as a businessman and as a life coach. Yeah, he’s one of them. But I guess I’ve got a lot of things I want to improve on and fix before that feels like even worthwhile to send an aspirational email. It’s on the vision board, though.
