When TV and radio brought the voices and images of public figures into our very homes, we began to feel kinship with people we've never actually met. But these one-sided "parasocial" relationships have kicked into overdrive with the advent of social media. Now we subscribe to the daily minutia of YouTubers and Instagram influencers under the guise that this format is more honest — more "real" — than the scripted world of mass media. The bonds we feel across the Internet can be powerful and life-...
Mar 18, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 75
As we become ever more physically entwined with our technology, and medicine extends our lives beyond anything our ancestors could imagine, we may not be too far away from implanting or genetically manipulating superhuman powers, or even escaping death entirely. If that sounds pretty cool and pretty terrifying at the same time, you're not alone. Alli and Jen talk transhumanist future shock with Dr. Natasha Vita-More, the executive director of Humanity+, an organization devoted to enhancing the q...
Mar 11, 2019•50 min•Ep. 74
Some people are great at taking flattering selfies and writing witty Tinder taglines. Others, not so much. That's where Meredith Golden comes in. For a fee, she'll take over your profile, learn your voice, and optimize your flirting so you don't screw it up. Then she'll hand the reigns back to you for the IRL date. The system works, and Golden has the record to prove it. But what are the ethics of outsourcing your love life to a consultant? Jen and Alli go deep with Golden and get the skinny on ...
Mar 04, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 73
In 2005, Bobby Henderson wrote a letter to the Kansas board of education suggesting that if Christian creationism is taught in schools, so should his theistic view: that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. And so, Pastafarianism was born. The Internet-based social movement spread rapidly as a critique of anti-science fundamentalism, but in some corners of the world like New Zealand, Pastafarianism became recognized by the government as a religious order, with all the rights and priv...
Feb 25, 2019•47 min•Ep. 72
If data-driven matchmaking platforms like Tinder have you down, consider an "old school" online dating method where your friends auction you off in a Facebook group with 300,000 singles who are ready to meme...I mean, mingle. That's how it goes down in "Subtle Asian Dating," a thriving Facebook community where Asian Americans can comfortably dish about their cultural identity and perhaps even meet "the one" with enough likes and comments. It grew out of a predecessor Facebook group called "Subtl...
Feb 18, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 71
Before Tinder, Grindr, J-Date and Christian Mingle, most of us just had a MySpace page and the dream of finding true love in a sea of extremely emo profile pics. Megan (from the U.S.) and Whitney (from the UK) started a long-distance relationship there, which blossomed against all odds into a international marriage, a TV appearance on Say Yes to the Dress, and a media empire focused on empowering LGBT couples. Their story is a beacon of hope that yes, long distance relationships can have a happy...
Feb 11, 2019•55 min•Ep. 70
Most of the tales that come out of Facebook these days are about the attention sucking qualities that make it terrible for mental health and democracy. But there are shining beacons of hope where the platform has empowered communities that could not exist IRL or elsewhere on the Internet. Ashley Eakin is a filmmaker with an extremely rare bone disease that caused her great insecurity when posting online. That all changed when a powerful video about her story went viral across Facebook. The Faceb...
Feb 04, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 69
If you do enough math, you can generate every combination of letters and numbers possible. Most of the results will be gibberish, but they will also contain Shakespeare, Harry Potter, the unpublished final Game of Thrones book, your 6th grade diary, the actual cure for cancer, and every email and text message anyone has ever sent — or will ever send — ever. Even the words I'm typing right now already exist somewhere in the Library of Babel, an algorithm conceived by evil genius/literature studen...
Jan 28, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 68
Apps like Tinder know a lot about you, but why should they horde all your dating data? In order to settle an argument, one man conducted an exhaustive experiment on the platform to determine if he was more attractive with a beard or without. He shared the results on the subreddit r/dataisbeautiful. He woke up the next morning to thousands of comments about this methodology, graphs, and why his chin was ugly. The discussion about attractiveness, cultural biases, data, and controlling variables in...
Jan 21, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 67
The History of the Web is a weekly newsletter that began as a place for coders to reminisce about CSS and Bulletin Board software. But it quickly evolved into a definitive timeline of our shared online history. The story of the Web (the public-facing network of pages that everyone has access to) is arguably the most important sociological endeavor of our time. Alli and Jen chat with Jay Hoffmann, author of The History of the Web, about the proto-communities that formed online in the '90s around ...
Jan 14, 2019•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 66
Has the internet made things easier for the transgender community? That may depend on which corners of the web you hang out in. For Luna Baker (who transitioned from male-at-birth to female), a variety of digital havens for trans people came and went: Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Facebook groups, etc. Harassment and bullying followed in all of them. She finally arrived at Discord, where strict permissions and moderation carved out a place where members of the trans community could talk about anyth...
Jan 07, 2019•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 65
Craig Benzine (better known as WheezyWaiter on YouTube) has been making online videos for a living since 2007. That's a long time to be living and working on the Internet, and when he felt social media was sucking up all his time, he challenged himself to quit for an entire month. His wife Chyna, feeling similar stress, joined the cause. The couple went dark(ish) for 30 days, then resurfaced with a hilarious video about what they learned from being disconnected for so long in a 2018 world. Alli ...
Dec 24, 2018•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 64
As media has shifted from broadcast to social, so too have our perceptions of beauty and self-confidence. Plastic surgeons are seeing their patients get younger, and who aspire to look more like their own highly curated selfies, rather than a celebrity or model. What does this say about a culture that is increasingly focused on documenting self image? Alli and Jen speak to Marla Frezza, who modified her nose to match her own selfie filters. They're also joined by producer Maria Chiu, who documen...
Dec 17, 2018•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 63
Esperanto is a language invented 130 years ago with the goal of uniting the world under a simplified common tongue and creating everlasting peace. Spoiler alert: That never happened. But the Internet is rekindling the passion of the global Esperanto community, and millions of people are speaking and learning it through the power of language courses like Duolingo and online communities. Alli and Jen talk with Stela Besenyei-Merger, one of only 350 native Esperanto speakers in the world, and Chuck...
Dec 10, 2018•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 62
What if you could 3D print that new lamp, designed by an Internet stranger for free, rather than ordering it from Amazon? When 3D printing tech goes mainstream, it will almost certainly revolutionize ecommerce (and create a whole new kind of online piracy). But until then, we're observing a microcosm of that play out in the tabletop gaming space, where designers are modeling pieces and creating entirely new games that players can download, print, or play virtually. Alli and Jen talk to Arian Cro...
Dec 03, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 61
When Oobah Butler was hard-up for cash, he found a gig writing fake reviews for London restaurants he'd never been to. He fell into an abyss of forgeries on TripAdvisor that gave him an idea. What if he invented a fake restaurant, powered by more fake reviews, to fool everyone? The performance art stunt took on a life of its own, and compelled him to have a fake grand opening of "The Shed," London's #1 restaurant on the Internet -- which served microwave meals in Butler's backyard. The ultimate ...
Nov 26, 2018•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 60
Ghost stories around the campfire are as old as humanity itself, but spooky tales became memes unto themselves as the Web matured. Creepypasta (a derivative of "copypasta" which is derivative of "copy/paste") is the catch-all term and dominant wiki for the spooky stories that circulate and mutate on the Internet. Alli and Jen talk to Andrew Movitz (aka ClericOfMadness), the founder of the Creepypasta wiki, about why these stories tap our deepest fears, and the transformation of Creepypasta cultu...
Nov 19, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 59
When Bryan Denny, a retired 26-year U.S. army veteran, started getting marriage proposals from strangers on Facebook, he knew something was up. Thousands of scammers were using stolen pictures of him in uniform to trick well-meaning Facebook users into sending money, iPhones, and gift cards overseas to a military hero with an honest face. Kathy Waters' family friend was among the victims. Denny and Waters now spend their free time busting fake accounts and pleading with lawmakers and Facebook fo...
Nov 12, 2018•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 58
Sex dolls have been around since at least the 17th century, but advances in AI and robotics are bringing them ever closer to meaningful companionship. Alli and Jen speak with Susan Pirzchalski, the chief robotics engineer of Realbotix, who is working to make the popular Real Doll sex toys come to life with sophisticated personalities. This week's episode is supported by Penguin Random House Audio, which publishes thousands of award-winning audiobooks every year, including your sci-fi and fantasy...
Nov 05, 2018•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 57
If you leave a toddler alone with an iPad long enough, YouTube's algorithms will guide her down a deep, dark rabbit hole of strange, low-quality, and often disturbing videos manufactured for kid consumption. These channels use recognizable characters (Mickey Mouse, Paw Patrol) to draw kids into horrifying click-bait narratives they can't resist. Who is making these videos, and what is YouTube doing about it? Alli and Jen talk to K.G. Orphanides who has written extensively about YouTube's strange...
Oct 29, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 56
If you've ever sought a soundtrack for your home movies that wouldn't get removed by YouTube, chances are you've come across Kevin MacLeod's music. He's composed thousands of original tracks, in every imaginable genre, that he gives away under a Creative Commons license, on a variety of platforms, absolutely free. His music has been used in commercials, films, video games, and an uncountable number of YouTube videos and podcasts without any compensation. So, how does Kevin feed himself? Alli and...
Oct 22, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 55
Way back in 2007 Tay Zonday uploaded the original song "Chocolate Rain" to YouTube, and nothing happened. Then Digg and 4chan found it. And then Zonday was on CNN and Jimmy Kimmel trying to explain his music on national television. His meteoric rise led to a 10-year journey of identity confusion, and eventually self-actualization. Alli and Jen have a long, deep talk with Tay about coping with viral fame and his new podcast about that very topic, called "Chocolate Pains." This week's episode is s...
Oct 15, 2018•1 hr 18 min
Robots have a long way to go before they replace artists and writers...but they're getting closer. A collective known as Botnik is using algorithms, predictive text, and machine learning to challenge our traditional notions of art, and create some hilarious TV Guide show synopses in the process. Alli and Jen speak with Jamie Brew, the creator of Botnik, about his ambitions to build new creativity tools for the digital age. This week's episode is supported by Penguin Random House Audio, which pub...
Oct 08, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 53
Rule 34 is alive and well on the Internet, but the enterprising sex toy company Bad Dragon has taken it even further with their epic dildo designs that imagine what kind of heat our favorite high fantasy creatures might be packing: dragons, aliens, elves, and even a demogorgon. Turns out there's a huge market for fulfilling sexual fantasies, Tolkien-style. Alli and Jen speak with Derek "Tsukaza" Young, a representative of the toy company, about the evolution of these products, what customers kee...
Oct 01, 2018•1 hr 11 min
Kids today have it easy, with their "swiping right" and their "J-dates." Back in the early '90s, you could barely send a profile pic to your crush. Gary Kremen wanted to change that. He co-founded Match.com, disrupted the personal ads industry, and forever changed how humans fall in love. Alli and Jen ask Kremen about the tumultuous early startup days, the data behind lasting relationships, and why they're still single after countless Tinder matches. Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon....
Sep 24, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 51
Porn is typically made by men for men, but women have needs, too -- and traditional porn doesn't always meet them. Alli and Jen talk with Michelle Shnaidman, founder of Bellesa.co, which creates porn videos, erotic fiction, erotic audio, and sex toys with a focus on female empowerment. Shnaidman also addresses the site's rocky beginnings and the common misconceptions about the porn industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 17, 2018•57 min•Ep. 50
Move over, food porn. Competitive eating is about slamming as many calories as possible, and there's a massive YouTube community around it. Erik the Electric's food challenge videos have been viewed 80 million times. Alli and Jen talk to him about approaching this extreme lifestyle in a healthy way, and his personal battle with anorexia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 10, 2018•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 49
Most people think of emoji as trivial text message pictures. But creating them is a complex process debated by a consortium of tech giants. And as emoji become more widespread, so too does their cultural and linguistic importance. Alli and Jen talk to Jennifer 8. Lee about her campaign for multi-racial emoji, and whether emoji might evolve into a true language with grammar and identity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 03, 2018•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 48
Thousands of "Preppers" are amassing food, water, tools, batteries, and other essentials in their basements and bunkers. But for what? Alli and Jen speak with Todd Reynolds, AKA The Dynamic Prepper, about survivalist culture, YouTube, knives, aliens, and why a "Go Bag" is a smart idea, whether you think the apocalypse is coming or not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 27, 2018•56 min•Ep. 47
For countless historical and social reasons, most of the people editing Wikipedia are white men. This has led to broad bias across the world's de facto repository of online knowledge. But a loose affiliation of women are making up the ground by writing and editing the biographies of historically significant women and minorities who might otherwise be overlooked by academic or popular culture. Alli and Jen speak with Rosie Stephenson Goodknight, a lauded Wikipedian with more than 4000 articles to...
Aug 20, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 46
