It’s not that we aren’t making progress slowing our carbon and greenhouse gas emissions; it’s just that we still may not be doing enough—fast enough—to avert catastrophe. 

Guest: Umair Irfan, correspondent at Vox writing about climate change, Covid-19, and energy policy.

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Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim walk through the drama surrounding Foxtrot, an upscale cafe and mini market that abruptly closed all of its locations on April 23. Despite its popularity and over $100 million raised, Foxtrot’s sudden shutdown shocked employees and devoted customers who expressed their outrage and sadness on TikTok. Then, they discuss the rumors surrounding Outdoor Voices, the exercise clothing brand that was everywhere, until it wasn’t. But first, they debate this year’s song of the summer.

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.

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On today’s episode, Rachelle and Candice answer a listener's question about “Dr.” Natalya Toryanski, an influencer with almost a quarter of million of followers on TikTok who tune into her satirical videos mimicking a prototypical “bland influencer.” Our listener writes, “I have to believe that at least a major percentage of her content is intentional parody/satire; but then I have moments where I'm not so sure whether she is parodying something or just earnestly doing it (for example, when she talks nonsense about food).” We dive into the aforementioned “nonsense” and try to make sense of it. 

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton, with special thanks to Olivia Briley for her help on today’s episode.

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The TikTok ban that has been floating around Washington since the last administration has been signed into law. What does that mean for users, creators and the court battles ahead?

Guest: 

Louise Matsakis, reporter covering tech and China.

Dillon White, TikToker under the handle @dadchats

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On today’s episode, Steffi Cao explains Roblox to Rachelle. Cao, a culture writer with bylines at The Atlantic, Fast Company, Forbes, BuzzFeed and more, recently wrote about Roblox’s new attempt to venture outside of kids’ gaming.

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.

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From the Wayback Machine to the mass-digitization of the history of Aruba, the Internet Archive is a non-profit doing valuable work. But some of its other projects—a pandemic-era lending library and the ongoing digitalization of 78 rpm records—have led to lawsuits now threatening the future of this repository of the past. 

Guest: Kate Knibbs, senior writer at Wired.

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On today’s episode, Rachelle and Candice answer listener questions about the rapid rise of Donghua Jinlong, a Chinese company that manufactures glycine. Over the past few weeks, paradoxically deadpan and impassioned videos about the high quality of Donghua Jinlong’s products have taken over TikTok. Are teens actually consuming industrial grade chemicals? Or is something even weirder happening?

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.

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This week: Elon Musk wants his colossal, court-blocked pay package, and Tesla’s board wants to give it to him. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers also chat with Alicia Montgomery, current Slate audio VP and veteran of NPR, to discuss what is — and isn’t — behind NPR’s troubles. Also: inflation is high, but does the Fed really need to cut rates? In the Plus segment: Why Biden is going after Chinese steel.

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Podcast production by Jared Downing and Cheyna Roth.

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Tesla’s market cap has dropped. The company had its biggest round of layoffs ever. The Cybertruck doesn’t seem to be taking off. And Elon’s posting through it. Is Tesla in serious trouble?

Guest: Dana Hull, Bloomberg reporter and contributor to the podcast Elon, Inc.  

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Candice Lim is joined by We Signed An NDA co-host Ann Maddox, who you may know as Tom Sandoval’s former personal assistant. In March 2023, Maddox was teaching improv to a middle school in Japan when she found out Sandoval and his then-girlfriend Ariana Madix had split. At first, Maddox assumed this was simply routine tabloid fodder, which often plagued her employers as long-time cast members on Vanderpump Rules. But one specific photograph made her realize the rumors were true, which escalated into one of 2023’s biggest online watercooler moments: “Scandoval.” Maddox joins the show to discuss how she got into this line of work, what she knew when Scandoval went down, and what it’s like to have your personal and professional life dissected online.

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.

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Five years ago, tech investor Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz bet our own Felix Salmon a 100-year-old bottle of wine that 10% of Americans would be using Bitcoin to pay for something by now. Ben lost, of course, but he’s ready to double down with a new digital wager! He and partner Chris Dixon discuss the past and present of crypto, blockchain, and AI.

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Podcast production by Jared Downing and Cheyna Roth.

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