Women’s health is being yassified online, from ill-advised marketing campaigns by companies trying to go viral to creators pushing anti-abortion agendas under the guise of “natural” birth control. It feels like there’s no one to trust when it comes to sexual health, and it’s playing right into conservatives’ hands. Writer Noelle Perdue experienced this first-hand, and joined host Kate Lindsay on today’s episode to talk about the real-world harm of this online rhetoric. 

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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In a matter of days, Jimothy the raccoon went from a neighborhood mascot to a viral sensation. But unlike the internet animals who came before him, Jimothy has no owners, and isn’t protected by a zoo. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Garbage Day researcher and editor Adam Bumas to talk about how Jimothy stole the hearts of the internet (except for Kate) and what that could mean for his future. Not only has he had to adapt to his disability in the wild, but now anyone hoping to catch a glimpse could find him, and potentially harm him in pursuit of their own viral moment. 

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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Is AI romance inevitable? And who are the people in these relationships? Bridget Todd, host of There Are No Girls On The Internet, joins us to talk about her new audiobook Love At First Prompt, where she speaks to real people who have found solace and comfort with AI chatbots.

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This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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The app-ification of dating has made meeting people even more difficult. But no one ever talks about what comes after: when you are in a relationship with someone, and have brand new digital etiquette to decipher. When do you hard launch? How much should you post each other? And is it really that bad if they’re still liking other people’s thirst traps? On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Slate senior editor Tony Ho Tran, whose long-term relationship took place mainly online before the pair could live in the same place. While there are still plenty of digital minefields out there, could the thing that ruined dating actually be responsible for making relationships…better?

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with production assistance from Kevin Bendis.

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An uncomfortable amount of the internet has been influenced by Barstool Sports. Many prominent online figures, particularly women, hail from the website, and the media company has planted its flag in everything from internet culture to crypto. Upon reading founder Dave Portnoy’s memoir, however, all Scaachi Koul found was an angry man made up of grudges. In this episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Koul to talk about Barstool’s legacy, its secret influence on the internet, and why, despite this, Dave Portnoy is so bitter about it all.

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have expanded from letting people bet on just sports to everything from political events to reality TV, and even the weather. But by injecting financial incentives into things like disease outbreaks, we’re even more susceptible to bad actors and manipulation. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by creator Austin Evans to talk about the spread of prediction markets, and how a tool once believed to help us make sense of society ended up making everything even more chaotic.  

***GET TICKETS TO OUR LIVE SHOW HERE!!!!***

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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As even more countries adopt social media bans for under-sixteen-year-olds, not only does one recent survey confirm they’re not even effective, but they also risk ruining the best parts of the internet. In today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined again by internet culture and tech writer Tatum Hunter to discuss how kids have been responsible for defining so many of the memes and apps we enjoy online. Without them, our entire online experience will be worse, and without properly addressing the root cause of the internet’s harm, kids won’t be better off, either. 

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with help from Kevin Bendis.

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Kylie Jenner and Mark Zuckerberg are trying to rebrand Meta Glasses as some kind of girlboss fashion accessory, even though women are the ones most likely to be the victims of their invasive technology. While Meta plows forward with this new collaboration, the glasses continue to be abused by users taking advantage of its covert filming capabilities, often by filming women without their knowledge and posting it online. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by A Bit Fruity host Matt Bernstein to discuss why sinister companies keep giving themselves girlboss makeovers—but also why it’s not working. 

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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As sex becomes more online, not only does it become more solitary, but also more surveilled. For instance: Back in December, OpenAI announced that they’d allow adult users to have erotic conversations with ChatGPT. On today’s encore episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by porn historian Noelle Perdue, author of the Porn World newsletter. While advances in AI and sex surveillance are intended to divide us, Noelle is confident that AI’s attempted sex-takeover will fail. 

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with help today from Kevin Bendis. 

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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick, creator of The Trend Report, to talk about how so many of our favorite influencers have started to retire. Glitter and Lazers deleted her entire digital footprint, and longtime vlogger Zoella has not posted since January, and parasocial fans are having to reckon with the fact that anyone they love online could just disappear. What do these creators owe their fans, if anything? And how can we prepare for this to keep happening?

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with help from Kevin Bendis.

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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Will Oremus, tech writer at The Atlantic and author of “The Feel-Good Story of the World Cup Is Too Good to Be True.” While our social media feeds have been flooded with thousands of viral and wholesome moments from the World Cup, Will discovered that a number of accounts behind some of the biggest posts aren’t what they seem. Some are using AI to write exaggerated stories, and others have become so mysteriously popular so mysteriously quickly that users are becoming suspicious. Is a Japanese tourist really writing odes to chips and salsa on X? And who is Freddy? Please say Merlin the duck is really a duck!

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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