Looking at a painting or sculpture on the Internet doesn't inspire the same awe as seeing the real thing in a museum. But standing INSIDE a painting in virtual reality is a mind-blowing experience you can enjoy from home, and socially with others online. Alli and Lindsey talk with Robin Stethem, the founder and CEO of The Museum of Other Realities, a VR space that contains a rotating collection of exhibits from artists working in 3D virtual space. These range from sculptures you can shrink down ...
Sep 19, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 228
In keeping with our recent coverage of VR communities, we're sharing this encore episode about deaf users of VRchat and the volunteer translators making a big impact in social VR. Enjoy! -- Original Show Notes // February 3, 2020 -- Deaf users of immersive social platforms like VRchat can face a tough time communicating. Unlike other social media, VR spaces rely on verbal and physical communication rather than text. And sign language with current-gen VR controllers is limiting and clunky at best...
Sep 12, 2022•54 min
Alli's on her way to Burning Man and Lindsey is enroute to the East Coast, so we catch up on life, world events, learn about Alli's guided tour of VR Kmart! Get tickets for Alli's show in LA, "Love Isn't Blind": https://www.loveisntblind.co/ And get tickets for Lindsey's show in NYC, "Letters to the Boys I've Never Kissed" https://www.frigid.nyc/event/6897:209/ Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1P Join the 2G1P Discord community: http://discord.gg/2g1p Join the 2G1P Facebook Gro...
Sep 05, 2022•55 min•Ep. 227
VR is used to create immersive video games, fantastical social worlds, and surreal art. Or you can make a Kmart from 1992. An enterprising community of VRChat players have built just that, and manage it every day, complete with employees, managers, cash registers, and products on the shelves, like Surge soda and Super Nintendo. It's one part role-play, one part time machine — a way to virtually visit what '90s American big box stores were like. And people from all over the virtual world are floc...
Aug 29, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 226
When filmmaker Jonathan Stack started to burn out on making documentaries about prisons and drug addiction, he decided to turn his attention toward building a positive movement. He noted that misconceptions about family planning are rampant, especially in developing countries and of course, on the Internet. So he co-founded World Vasectomy Day, a global movement for public health and destigmatizing family planning. And when he began interviewing men all over the world about why they had gotten t...
Aug 22, 2022•57 min•Ep. 225
Online grifters who peddle misinformation for influence and profit are a tale as old as the Web itself. But the more recent phenomenon of credentialed medical doctors decrying Covid a hoax and spreading anti-vax rhetoric has more serious ramifications. So who holds doctors (and other medical professionals) accountable when they spread misinformation online? The medical boards that license them should be investigating, but shocker: They're not. That's where Dr. Nick Sawyer comes in. By day, he's ...
Aug 15, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 224
Ever buy breadmaking ingredients, crochet hooks, or a papier-mâché kit, only to spend a bunch of money and then get bored with your new hobby? You're not alone, especially during the pandemic. And those with neurodiversity, especially ADHD, can become hyper fixated on something, only to completely abandon it later. The ADHD Hobby Swap Facebook group is a place where best intentions can be re-sold to like-minded hobbyists. It saves people money, reduces waste, and helps folks discover new project...
Aug 08, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 223
When the Web was created, it was open, inter-operable, and structured for everyone to participate. Today, most people consume online content through 5 mega-corps that make billions from our data and warp our social discourse. This has had profound effects on privacy and security. But how did we get here? And can we ever get back? Alli and Lindsey talk with Cindy Cohn, the executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Since 1990, the non-profit EFF has been working to protect the civi...
Aug 01, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 222
We are afk this week, but re-sharing an amazing episode about the virtual cemetery in the space MMO EVE Online, which started as a memorial to dead characters and quickly became a shrine to IRL friends, family, pets, and lost loved ones who have died. -- Original Show Notes, Episode 143 | August 17, 2020 -- Alli and Jen speak with Jason Marshall, a veteran player of the MMO 'EVE Online' about the game's 15-year-old player-run space graveyard. The Molea cemetery has been operating since 2004, and...
Jul 25, 2022•1 hr 12 min
Mushrooms, psychedelics, micro-dosing and more have recently come into fashion, but online communities and scientists have been studying their effects on mental health for decades. The social stigma on mind-altering substances still prevents many people from safely exploring them. That's where Plant Parenthood comes in. It's an online community that connects and educates parents on how psychedelics can reduce the stress of raising kids, and tap into the playful and creative mindsets that make fa...
Jul 18, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 221
The 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from abridging free speech and the press. And Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act prevents common carriers (like telephone companies) from being held liable for the speech of their users. But social media isn't quite either of those things, especially when a small handful of tech companies make huge profits by amplifying dangerous misinformation. So, what IS protected speech on the Internet, and what models of regulati...
Jul 11, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 220
You might assume that men drinking breastmilk is yet another kink — and it can be. But Mikalah says it's often a comfort and a lifestyle for many in the community. She would know, as she's a professional lactation consultant who also found a partner who breastfeeds from her regularly. Alli and Lindsey speak with her about the extraordinary misconceptions about breastfeeding, how anyone at ANY age can induce breastmilk (including men!), the barriers to selling milk online, and the medical reasons...
Jul 04, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 219
We're off this week, but sharing another one of our favorite episodes about turning fandom into something amazing on the Internet. -Original Show Notes // December 6, 2021 - The only thing bigger than "Bachelor Nation" is "Bachelor Instagram." That's usually where the contestants, stars, villains, and conversations around the Bachelor and Bachelorette franchises go during each season. But educator Suzana Somers had a fresh idea. When she had to start learning Excel for her job, she got bored cru...
Jun 27, 2022•1 hr 20 min
Fandom is the essential glue that holds most online communities together. But Kaitlyn Tiffany says the One Direction fandom — particularly fangirls — have a lot to do with with how modern social media culture is structured today. The author and journalist returns for her second appearance on 2G1P to discuss how the Internet fervor around 1D has influenced everything from commerce to politics to activism online. Her new book, "Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet ...
Jun 20, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 218
TikTok might seem like a bastion of youth, fun dance moves, and fun challenges. But like most social media, it's rampant with misinformation and weaponized disinformation, especially about the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist and professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, joined TikTok for the same reasons we all did: We were bored during the lockdowns. What she found on the platform was so horrifying, she had to step up and fight it. Alli and Lindsey talk with ...
Jun 13, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 217
If you need a break from the world crumbling around us, this episode is for you. Alli and Lindsey try as HARD AS THEY CAN to only talk about good things, and they almost manage to do it! UFOs are getting a rebrand, hummingbirds are dope, Katy Perry concerts are fun, Zac Efron continues to be attractive, and Ukrainians made an original song about U.S. missiles. Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1P Join the 2G1P Discord community: http://discord.gg/2g1p Join the 2G1P Facebook Grou...
Jun 06, 2022•24 min•Ep. 216
We have another one of our favorite classic episodes for you this week, so kick back, relax, and enjoy this wholly unnecessary diversion. --Original Show Notes: September 28, 2020-- Matty Benedetto is a product designer by training, but his sense of humor led him to a life of hilarious content creation instead. Benedetto builds Unnecessary Inventions, ingenious products that solve urgent problems you don’t actually have — like a drink holder for your shoe, or an alarm clock that snoozes itself s...
May 30, 2022•1 hr 15 min
The Bible can be pretty dense and outdated by today's storytelling standards. But what if you could hear the story of Lot, or Judah, or Abraham, expertly recounted by a cool dude at the barstool next to you, with all the hot goss about incest, murder, and rape? What started as award-winning Reddit comments on politics articles has morphed into The Woke Bible, an entire subreddit devoted to getting high and retelling Bible stories with modern vernacular, reality TV show references, and hip-hop ly...
May 23, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 215
Autistic children love Minecraft as much as anyone, but they're often bullied by other kids on multiplayer servers. When software developer and dad Stuart Duncan learned of this, he set out to create a private, safe Minecraft server exclusively for autistic kids and their families. The moment he shared it, he got 300 emails from parents who desperately wanted in, Today, Autcraft has a community of 15,000 kids with autism and their parents, and Stuart quit his job to run the server fulltime and m...
May 16, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 214
Lindsey is on vacation this week, so Alli and Matt check the newspaper to see if there's anything going on in the good ol' USA this past week (Spoiler alert: There was!). We also discuss the philosophical pros and cons of a more "decentralized" Web, and Alli pooped in a hole somewhere in Utah (good luck, Geocachers!). Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1P Join the 2G1P Discord community: http://discord.gg/2g1p Join the 2G1P Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2girls1p...
May 09, 2022•47 min•Ep. 213
r/Place is a blank canvas on Reddit. Every five minutes, you can add one pixel of any color. The result is thousands of Redditors working together (or against each other!) to carve out a visual space for their community, country, sports team, favorite video game, or a co-operative pixelated Mona Lisa. This fascinating social experiment has been conducted twice on Reddit, but also has roots in a similar gambit from 2005 called "The Million Dollar Homepage," where pixels were sold to any person (o...
May 02, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 212
Alli reports in from a Furry convention and Lindsey caught a bad case of "Ass Pee" from Mexico, so all-told a pretty average episode of 2G1P. Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1P Join the 2G1P Discord community: http://discord.gg/2g1p Join the 2G1P Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2girls1podcast/ Email us: [email protected] Call the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 18, 2022•26 min•Ep. 211
When Stephen Wilhite, the creator of the .GIF image, died last month at the age of 74, millions on the Internet shared their favorite (and earliest-known) looping animations in honor of the influential computer scientist. But how did this highly compressed CompuServe image format from 1987 become the ubiquitous communication method bursting from all of our smartphone keyboards? Nearly all the coverage of Wilhite's death links back to one interview from 2012. Fernando Alfonso, III, a reporter at ...
Apr 11, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 210
This week we learn more about Alli's TikTok strategy, dissect the Oscars' "Slap Heard 'Round the World," and the civilian Ukrainian hackers fighting back from Cyberspace. Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1P Join the 2G1P Discord community: http://discord.gg/2g1p Join the 2G1P Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2girls1podcast/ Email us: [email protected] Call the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...
Apr 04, 2022•33 min•Ep. 209
Secret spy messages are "hiding" in the airwaves all around us. It may sound like another Internet conspiracy theory, but this one is the real deal. Shortwave radio transmissions are among the most reliable ways for military, government, and intelligence agencies to exchange information. And every day for the last 40 years, one shortwave radio station called UVB-76 has been broadcasting static, beeping patterns, and cryptic Russian messages to ... someone. The contents of the messages are unknow...
Mar 28, 2022•57 min•Ep. 208
Hey, remember Tumblr? It was the most popular blogging platform on the Internet...until it wasn't. But the communities that formed there have had a lasting impact on social media, notably the passionate fandoms that exploded in the mid-2010s Alli and Lindsey speak with Elena Cavender, culture fellow at Mashable, who recently wrote the piece "Remembering Tumblr's strangest, most formative communities." It's a nostalgic look back at the single-serve "Fuckyeah" culture that celebrated everything fr...
Mar 21, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 207
This is one of our favorite 2G1Ps of all time! We'll be back next week with some very cool new episodes. --Original Show Notes: March 15, 2021-- The cult steampunk adventure book series "Ships of the Northern Fleet" has inspired a TV show, graphic novels, and even a breakfast cereal. But the influential show has fallen off the pop culture radar in recent years. That is until a TikToker named Mister Nickel brought a flood of nostalgia back to the Internet to reunite the rabid fan community. Alli ...
Mar 14, 2022•1 hr 11 min
When Ellen DeGeneres came out of the closet publicly on her hit TV show in 1997, it rocked the media. Her popular sitcom received parental warnings and ratings declined until it was cancelled the following year. Many wondered if Ellen, who was at the peak of her comedy game, would ever work again. We all know how that story played out. But for the LGBTQ+ community at the time, Ellen's "I'm gay" moment was monumental, and open the floodgates for representation in mainstream media. Meanwhile, as t...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 206
Alli and "Lil' Santa" attempt to record a podcast without Matt and it quickly goes off the rails. Also, why TikTok is like a toxic relationship, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEN! Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1P Join the 2G1P Discord community: http://discord.gg/2g1p Join the 2G1P Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2girls1podcast/ Email us: [email protected] Call the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...
Feb 28, 2022•24 min•Ep. 205
Making a living on the Internet is hard enough. But when you finally make something popular (a YouTube video, a TikTok) it's almost certain that someone will steal it and re-upload it somewhere else. It's not always malicious, but it can harm content creators' bottom line. Some platforms have the tools to find pirated content automatically, but it can be difficult to reclaim lost revenue. That's where SuperBam comes in. It's a one-of-a-kind company that helps creators identify stolen or misused ...
Feb 21, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 204
