Fast fashion retailer Shein’s brand trip didn’t quite go as they planned. They sent a group of influencers to China to tour their facility after a bunch of bad press, but now those influencers are facing backlash themselves, and renouncing their partnership with Shein. The whole thing raises questions about the ethics and harm of fast fashion, as well as the influencers who shill for it. Aja Barber wrote the book on consumption. She explains why it’s about more than just Shein. Aja is the most s...
Jul 04, 2023•53 min
SCOTUS’ affirmative action ruling leaves us mad as hell; Dylan Mulvaney, the trans influencer targeted for extremist hate in the wake of a Bud Light brand partnership, returns to social media; Canva’s AI text to image tool labels Bantu knots “unsafe;” A new lawsuits says Open AI’s ChatGPT is taking all of our data; Google and Facebook threaten to go dark on Canadian news. Facebook’s bans news in Australia is silencing activists: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/disinformed-facebooks-bans-ne...
Jul 01, 2023•1 hr 11 min
There’s no denying that dating apps, social media, and smartphones have changed the way platonic, romantic, and sexual relationships play out in all of our lives. But it’s more than just that! Making meaningful friend relationships can be tough because of *everything* we’re all dealing with. Comedian and author Lane Moore explores how we all make friendships now and her new book You Will Find Your People. CHECK OUT LANE’S NEW BOOK: https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/you-will-find-your-people_97...
Jun 28, 2023•49 min
There’s a heavy musk of Elon in this episode. He tries to redefine the word ‘cis’ to be a slur and says it will be considered harassment on his janky platform that encourages deadnaming; he inspires the CEO of Reddit to follow his lead and alienate his own users by charging for API access; and he challenges Mark Zuckerburg to an ill-advised cage match that seems like it might actually happen. RFK Jr. went on Joe Rogan’s podcast to rehash some tired old medical misinformation from 2020, then Roga...
Jun 23, 2023•59 min
On Amazon Prime's new docu series Shiny Happy People, we're given a look into the Duggars' harmful religious ideology. Eve Ettinger shares their story in the film. Eve joins to talk about their work with the Coalition for Responsible Home Education to help advocate for homeschooled kids. Listen to Eve's podcast Kitchen Table Cult: https://kitchentablecult.com/ and subscribe to their Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kitchentablecultpod SUPPORT Coalition for Responsible Home Education: https://res...
Jun 21, 2023•53 min
A besmirched radio host sues OpenAI over ChatGPT hallucinations of impropriety. Google rakes in ad cash from anti-choice "pregnancy crisis centers" designed to trick pregnant people. GLAAD releases its third annual Social Media Safety Index on platform safety for LGBTQ individuals (spoiler: Twitter is going backwards). More Teslas are crashing than previously realized. Majorities of GenXers and Millenials would like to travel back in time before social media existed. Read the GLAAD report, it's ...
Jun 17, 2023•48 min
A few weeks ago in our news roundup we talked about a weird social post from Essence magazine on Viola Davis's incredible outfit at the Cannes Film Festival. Not only was her name spelled wrong, but the language just felt off, and Bridget speculated that it seemed like it was written by AI. Fast forward a few weeks, and Essence reached out to Bridget about it on Instagram! But their response was confusing, at first they admitted to being "busted" and it seemed all in good fun, UNTIL they accused...
Jun 14, 2023•40 min
This week we learned Amazon employees spied on Ring customers, YouTube is rolling back its policy about election disinfo, and Instagram is even worse than we thought (which was already very bad). In less terrible news, Twitter has a new CEO, and some low stakes drama between two Birthday Moms in the park reminds us why the Internet is great. Good news! Biden names a point person to counter extremists trying to ban LGBTQ books: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/08/1180941627/biden-pride-month-book-bans...
Jun 09, 2023•1 hr 5 min
When it comes to what’s next in technology and the internet, we’d all benefit from listening to sex workers. Dr. Olivia Snow, dominatrix and researcher at UCLA’s Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, explains why people who engage in sex work have been right about the internet all along. ‘Magic Avatar’ App Lensa Generated Nudes From My Childhood Photos: https://www.wired.com/story/lensa-artificial-intelligence-csem/ Are You Ready to Be Surveilled Like a Sex Worker? https://www.wired.com/story/ro...
Jun 07, 2023•49 min
This week, Elon Musk interacted with a fake Twitter account impersonating AOC, which had been banned until he decided to unban it, presumably so he could flirt with it. In less cringy news, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a landmark report calling for urgent action to protect young people from the harms of social media. TikTok is awash in creepy AI-generated true crime content being narrated by fictional murdered children, the National Eating Disorder Association learns that replacing humans wit...
Jun 02, 2023•57 min
Paris Marx, host of the hit podcast Tech Won’t Save Us says criticism about technology and the people and culture who build it, is imperative to securing a better tech future. Listen to Tech Won’t Save Us: https://techwontsave.us/ SUPPORT THE SHOW BY SUBSCRIBING TO OUR PATREON! PATREON.COM/TANGOTI See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 31, 2023•1 hr 4 min
This week we learned that police officers helped the insurrectionists, and that Google never stopped collecting data on visits to abortion centers like they said they would. Target pulled Pride merch to protect its employees from violent exhibitionists, and Ron DeSantis congratulated himself on Twitter (in between server crashes). For more content like this, check out our Patreon: Patreon.com/TANGOTI See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 27, 2023•53 min
When writer, cultural critic and OG Twitter icon Mikki Kendall created the viral hashtag #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, she changed the face of online feminism. Ten years later she looks back on where the platform, and all of us, are headed. Mikki’s MIT Tech Review Piece: I made it big on Twitter. Now I don’t think I can stay: https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/10/28/1062414/elon-musk-leaving-twitter-solidarity-is-for-white-women-virality/ Mikki’s NPR response about #SolidarityisForWhiteWomen (a...
May 24, 2023•54 min
We’re doing a new thing where we summarize tech, media, and internet news you may have missed this week. For more content like this, check out our Patreon: Patreon.com/TANGOTI Banning TikTok would hurt marginalized communities w/ Abbie Richards: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/banning-tiktok-would-hurt-marginalized-communities/id1520715907?i=1000606352152 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 20, 2023•27 min
In the first episode of our miniseries Present Future, Bridget talks with disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz. After being appointed to a position in the Biden administration to combat disinformation, she was targeted by a right wing smear campaign that upended her life and impacted her family. Now, she’s suing Fox News for defamation. Are defamation lawsuits a new blueprint for how to combat harmful lies and harassment in the future? Listening to Nina's story, it's clear we need a change. New ...
May 17, 2023•50 min
There Are No Girls on the Internet is back! And this season we’re diving into the future and making sure everyone’s voice is included with our new series Present Future. How has AI impacted women and people of color? What’s the next big social media platform if Twitter dies and how will we all show up there? What’s the future of our digital landscape? On this brand new season, we’ll hear from the women, LGBTQ folks, and people of color mapping out the future of the internet today to explore what...
May 10, 2023•2 min
VOTE FOR US TO WIN A SHORTY AWARD: TANGOTI.COM/VOTE You can vote every day until 4/26 and it only takes a moment! Bridget joined Main Accounts: A Myspace Podcast to reminisce about the role Myspace played in our digital lives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 18, 2023•32 min
TikTok disinformation researcher Abbie Richards breaks down the recent TikTok Congressional hearings and why she says a ban on TikTok in the US would hurt marginalized communities the most. Hands off My TikTok. Banning It Would Hurt the Most Marginalized: https://www.newsweek.com/hands-off-my-tiktok-banning-it-would-hurt-most-marginalized-opinion-1789597 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Mar 28, 2023•56 min
There's a difference between posting a picture of your child on social media and making a business out of posting content about your child. New legislation aims to keep minors from being exploited online See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 3 min
In this bonus Twitter Spaces conversation, Bridget is joined by #OscarsSoWhite creator April Reign and Dr. Jon Paul, screenwriter and co-host of BFF: Black, Fat, Femme podcast to discuss how marginalized creators are still celebrating our creativity even within industries that don’t always see it. How #OscarsSoWhite changed the Academy Awards: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64883399 LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE TO DR. JON’S PODCAST: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bff-black-fat-femme/id1...
Mar 17, 2023•37 min
Do you need another water bottle? How about another pair of leggings? If you’ve been seeing de-influencing videos on your social media feed telling you not to buy new stuff, this is the episode for you. Bridget joins Sam and Anney at Stuff Mom Never Told You to dig into why de-influencing is all over our social media feeds and what it says about where we’re all at. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Feb 10, 2023•47 min
We're popping in from our hiatus to celebrate Black history, Black presence, and Black futures by revisiting our conversation with archivist Jocelyn Robinson. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 08, 2023•39 min
Meghan and Harry are being targeted by a media manipulation campaign. Former counterintelligence agent Asha Rangappa breaks down how they’re fighting back. What Harry and Meghan Can Teach Us About Information Warfare: https://asharangappa.substack.com/p/what-harry-and-meghan-can-teach-us?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 12, 2023•35 min
Misogynistic, violent scam influencer Andrew Tate was detained in Romania in connection with a human trafficking ring. Let’s revisit our episode on who Tate is and why it matters that he has a platform. My piece at the Nation- It’s Not Just Joe Rogan. The Entire Digital Space Is Rotten. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/toxic-podcasting/ The Grid: Andrew Tate isn’t just another misogynist with an online following. Here’s why you need to pay attention. https://www.grid.news/story/technolo...
Dec 30, 2022•21 min
Ruby Freeman & Shaye Moss are heroes for their testimony before the Jan 6th commission, but they shouldn’t have to be. The Daily Zeitgeist’s Miles Gray joins Bridget to discuss what happened when the disgraced president and the right wing digital media ecosystem coalesced to attack Black women for simply doing their jobs as poll workers during the 2020 election. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 21, 2022•36 min
Last night Elon Musk banned a bunch of journalists, stormed out of a Twitter Spaces when questioned about it, then (maybe?) turned off the Spaces feature for everyone! Given how weird his tenure has been, let’s revisit how we got here with my friends at Stuff Mom Never Told You. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 17, 2022•59 min
The moral panic around the film Cuties explains why so many right wing extremists are using the “groomer” “child predator” attack to smear their enemies today See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 14, 2022•50 min
From pressure to create the perfect holiday scene for family, or the most over-the-top instagram post for “the internet,” the holidays can be a stressful time. As usual, gendered labor like cooking, presents, and kin-making most often falls to women and moms. Social media companies love to monetize our anxieties in order to sell stuff, and the holidays are no exception, but social media can also help us feel connected and learn tips like how to set boundaries around gift giving. Bridget talks wi...
Dec 13, 2022•25 min
Electrical engineer and AI ethicist Azariah Cole-Shephard breaks down what we need to know about AI art generation apps like Lensa See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 10, 2022•31 min
Elon Musk is trying to make fetch happen with the “Twitter Files.” He’s releasing internal Twitter emails about content moderation decisions on the platform before he took over as CEO. But here’s why it’s not be the bombshell he says it is. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 07, 2022•50 min
