The changes Elon Musk has made to Twitter are making it impossible to sort out what’s happening in the Israel / Hamas conflict. From gutting the Trust & Safety team to making verification meaningless and paying for engagement, Elon Musk has systematically removed the few safeguards we had that were able to keep disinformation on the platform (somewhat) in check. Today, while the world is watching in terror as the Israeli-Hamas conflict unfolds and intensifies, Twitter is more awash in fake c...
Oct 13, 2023•31 min
Sometimes it’s difficult to remember how far we’ve come in the fight for equality. Kevin Jennings is CEO of Lambda Legal, the country’s oldest LGBTQ+ legal rights organization. He says it’s important to remember where we’ve been and how far we’ve come to have a clear sense of where we’re going, explains why he’s optimistic about young people, and shares his vision for a future where no one needs to come out - we’re all just free to be ourselves. LEARN MORE ABOUT LAMBDA LEGAL : https://lambdalega...
Oct 11, 2023•38 min
Want to bring Bridget to your school, job, or event? Email us! [email protected] Bridget on Anita B’s podcast Be The Change: https://anitab.org/b-the-way-forward/ Men Overran a Job Fair for Women in Tech: https://www.wired.com/story/grace-hopper-celebration-career-fair-men/ Instagram isn’t causing overcrowding in parks as much as assumed, OSU study suggests: https://www.opb.org/article/2023/10/01/oregon-state-university-study-overcrowding-state-parks-not-all-instagram-fault/ Mobile apps fueling ...
Oct 06, 2023•53 min
In this special episode taped from the iHeart Music Festival in the Bose recording booth, Bridget and Mike talk about the rise of many-to-many social surveillance via social media and what it means for all of us. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 03, 2023•52 min
Bridget’s other podcast BEEF is nominated for 3 Signal Awards! Can you vote for BEEF to win? Just go to https://ncpodcasts.com/signal Apple removes app created by Andrew Tate: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/sep/22/apple-criticised-for-hosting-app-created-by-andrew-tate Why We’re Pulling Our Recommendation of Wyze Security Cameras: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/wyze-security-breach/ The EU says Twitter/X is the worst platform for disinformation: https://www.techspot.com/news/1002...
Sep 29, 2023•54 min
Apple joined the Google Play store in dropping Andrew Tate’s pyramid scheme app. And while Tate was in custody, Just Pearly Things rose up in his place. Justin Horowitz, researcher at Media Matters, explains the hold these misogynistic manosphere influencers have on the internet and what it means for all of us. Read Justin’s Media Matters research: https://www.mediamatters.org/diversity-discrimination/beyond-andrew-tate-meet-misogynistic-manosphere-influencers-proliferating Apple removes app cre...
Sep 26, 2023•56 min
For Bridget's full take on Ashton Kutcher and anti-trafficking work, check out the Patreon: Patreon.com/tangoti Russell Brand accused of sexual assault by multiple women; but defended by Elon Musk and Alex Jones: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russell-brand-youtube-suspends-monetization-rape-sexual-assault-rcna105750 New chatbot connects abortion-seekers with care options: https://mashable.com/article/abortion-chatbot-charley Amazon leaders were ‘okay’ with people being secretly signed up fo...
Sep 22, 2023•48 min
Spill is a meme forward, highly visual social media platform that is putting power in the hands of the people who use it. Kenya Parham, Spill’s Global Vice President of Community and Partnerships, explains how the team is building a new platform that feels like a safe, fun party with all your favorite cousins. TRY SPILL: https://www.spill.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 20, 2023•43 min
Bridget is having an “off day” in this one, but Joey helps her through it. Virginia election candidate responds after leak of tapes showing her performing sex acts with husband – "It won't silence me": https://www.cbsnews.com/news/susanna-gibson-candidate-responds-leak-tapes-sex-acts-husband-live-videos/ Actually, That AI Drake and The Weeknd Song Is Not Eligible for a Grammy: https://gizmodo.com/ai-drake-and-the-weeknd-song-not-eligible-for-a-grammy-1850818801 Open letter from parents of trans ...
Sep 15, 2023•57 min
Ashton Kutcher recently wrote a letter to a judge, asking for leniency for his friend and TV co-star Danny Masterson (Kelso and Hyde from That 70’s Show). It was surprising, because for the past decade Ashton Kutcher has been trying to rebrand himself as an anti-trafficking hero. Not just any anti-trafficking hero, but a tech guru type who could use the power of technology and venture capital to save the children. We take a look into his organization, Thorn. Like so many other “save the children...
Sep 13, 2023•49 min
Are you still on Twitter? Over on the Patreon we’re having a conversation about the decision to stay on the platform or leave: https://www.Patreon.com/tangoti US law firm alters diversity fellowship criteria after lawsuit: https://news.yahoo.com/us-law-firm-alters-diversity-231155108.html Good company! Indeed Will Give Trans Employees $10,000 to Relocate for Gender-Affirming Care: https://www.them.us/story/indeed-trans-employees-relocation If You’ve Got a New Car, It’s a Data Privacy Nightmare: ...
Sep 08, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Fearless Fund is a Black woman led venture capital firm that offers investment, financial support, and mentorship to Black women owned businesses. But they are under attack for providing support for traditionally marginalized entrepreneurs. Edward Blum, the professional hater at the heart of the supreme court’s legal challenge of affirmative action, is suing them for what he says is racial discrimination. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 05, 2023•50 min
Opt out of meta using your facebook to train ai (this isn't a fake fb chain letter, it's real!): https://www.zdnet.com/article/meta-uses-your-facebook-data-to-train-its-ai-heres-how-to-opt-out-sort-of/ College professor harassed students to quench 'clown fetish,' offering extra credit, cash: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2023/08/31/clown-fetish-professor-kent-northern-illinois-nicholls-state/70603544007/ Giuliani loses defamation lawsuit from two Georgia election workers: ht...
Sep 01, 2023•57 min
It’s been a historic year of wildfires in Canada. But as thousands in the country are trying to safely evacuate, Canadians can’t use Facebook or Instagram to get even basic information about what’s happening because Facebook has banned all news content in the country. Bridget talks with the always insightful Paris Marx about what it means and why it matters for Canadians, Americans, and democracy around the world. Paris’ podcast Tech Won’t Save Us is one of our favorites. Listen here: https://te...
Aug 30, 2023•45 min
Welcome our producer Joey Patt, who is joining Bridget for their first news roundup! Fresh & Fit, misogynistic manosphere podcast and enemies of the pod, demonetized on YouTube: https://www.insider.com/fresh-and-fit-host-cries-when-announcing-podcast-demonetization-2023-8 Bridget’s piece on Fresh & Fit from the Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/toxic-podcasting/ DON’T MISS: Bridget’s long, petty take on Fresh & Fit on the patreon! https://www.patreon.com/tangoti Tik T...
Aug 25, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Hollywood screenwriters and actors have joined workers across the economy to demand better pay, better conditions, and better protections against encroaching technology. Because it’s not just about Hollywood - it’s about an entire country of working people who feel fed up with a dynamic where they get squeezed harder and harder to make someone else richer and richer. Writer, actor, and producer Francesca Ramsey (Broad City! The Larry Wilmore Show! Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell!) says it’s ab...
Aug 23, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Listen to TANGOTI producer Joey Patt talk with the hosts of Stuff Mom Never Told You to break down why the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is actually a threat to kids and the to the Internet: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-is-kosa-and-why-is-it-so-scary/id304531053?i=1000624187418 New Illinois law entitles kid influencers to earnings: https://fortune.com/2023/08/13/social-media-influencer-law-illinois-kids-sue-parents/ Iowa educators use ChatGPT to identify naughty books: https://www....
Aug 18, 2023•1 hr
Writer Jane Friedman has a stellar reputation in publishing. But a huckster, armed with AI impersonations of her writing, was trying to scam folks by using her name on Amazon GoodReads. She raised hell, and last week Amazon finally took them down. But what about new authors who don’t have her huge platform? Who is looking out for them? Jane joins to talk about the threat AI presents to authors, publishing, and the rest of us. I Would Rather See My Books Get Pirated Than This (Or: Why Goodreads a...
Aug 16, 2023•47 min
The role of misogynoir and disinformation in the Tory Lanez trial: www.Patreon.com/tangoti Here’s the story on Jane Friedman, the author AI impersonated- Amazon author AI counterfeit books: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/08/author-discovers-ai-generated-counterfeit-books-written-in-her-name-on-amazon/ New Zoom AI policies were loudly hated across the internet: https://www.zdnet.com/article/zoom-is-entangled-in-an-ai-privacy-mess/?ftag and https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjg...
Aug 12, 2023•55 min
It's the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and that’s a great opportunity for Bridget to dig into one of her favorite subjects to nerd out about: trends in audio. In this episode, she breaks down the history of auto-tune. Today it’s incredibly common, but when musicians first started using it there was a huge backlash. Prominent musicians said it was ruining music, and Time Magazine put it on their list of “50 Worst Inventions.” Yet artists like T-Pain and Cher used it to create new sounds that liste...
Aug 08, 2023•35 min
Henrietta Lacks’ family settles lawsuit with a biotech company that used her cells without consent: https://apnews.com/article/henrietta-lacks-hela-cells-thermo-fisher-scientific-bfba4a6c10396efa34c9b79a544f0729 Uber CEO balks after a reporter tells him the cost of his 2.9-mile Uber ride: 'Oh my God. Wow.' https://finance.yahoo.com/news/uber-ceo-balks-reporter-tells-171042745.html Man Behind U.S. Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Decision Sues VC Fund Supporting Black-Women-Owned Businesses htt...
Aug 04, 2023•54 min
We were off last week while Bridget recovered from surgery. But don’t feel bad for her, she’s been screwing up emails for 6 months and she is sorry for that. Send more emails to Bridget at [email protected] Texas A&M president resigns over "controversial" hire of a Black woman to lead the journalism school. Similar to the White House cybersecurity director, it sounds like the incoming professor was well qualified but faced a different level of scrutiny because of her identity: https://www.po...
Aug 02, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Lena Dunham is in the news, which means a particularly sticky misleading claim about her is, too. We have no strong position on Lena Dunham, but we are solidly against misleading claims. In this best-of episode from last year, Bridget sits down with producer Mike to explain the origins of the idea that Lena Dunham abused her little sibling, why it persists, and why it matters for the rest of us. Got a burning question for Bridget and the TANGOTI team? We’ll answer it in a live AMA! Submit your q...
Jul 29, 2023•1 hr 22 min
Rolling Stone’s Miles Klee has become a target of an extremist harassment campaign after publishing a review of the new movie Sound of Freedom. ‘Sound Of Freedom’ Is a Superhero Movie for Dads With Brainworms https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/sound-of-freedom-jim-caviezel-child-trafficking-qanon-movie-1234783837/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 26, 2023•55 min
WANT TO LISTEN TO AD-FREE BONUS CONTENT AND SUPPORT THE SHOW? CHECK US OUT ON PATREON AT PATREON.COM/TANGOTI Laid-off Twitter Africa team ‘ghosted’ without severance or benefits: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/17/tech/ghana-twitter-layoffs-severance-intl-hnk/index.html Meta rejected scores of women’s health ads. Democrats want answers: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/17/meta-rejected-dozens-womens-health-ads-democrats-want-answers/ Threads Usage Drops By Half From Initial Surge:...
Jul 21, 2023•54 min
The disgraced CEO of Theranos, the scam blood testing company, built her career with savvy press moves. Now she’s headed to prison, but not before doing a flashy New York Times Magazine profile on the way in. Bridget talks with legendary media OG Lea Goldman, deputy editorial director of G/O Media and founder of the social first media newsletter Hazmat Hotel about what it means, what it tells us about women’s media, celebrity profiles, and why it matters. FOLLOW HAZMAT HOTEL! I ALWAYS LEARN SOME...
Jul 19, 2023•52 min
Happy Birthday There Are No Girls on the Internet! The podcast turned 3 years old this week! We are officially a toddler! Thanks to everyone who made this possible by listening! Twitter promises payouts for ad share...but will they pay up? https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/13/twitter-creators-payments-right-wing/ The FTC is reminding Open AI that laws are a thing! https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/13/ftc-openai-chatgpt-sam-altman-lina-khan/ Did Google steal everyt...
Jul 15, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Bridget has a deeply fascinating and important conversation with the brilliant Vitus Spehar from Under The Desk News about “the news.” TikTok and social media have changed who gets to tell the news, for good and for bad. On the positive side, engaging creators are making important issues resonate with their communities more deeply than Walter Cronkite ever could have dreamed. On the negative side, social media algorithms reward outrage and encourage disinformation that entrenches polarization. I...
Jul 12, 2023•52 min
Jonah Hill’s ex released some pretty controlling texts from the actor policing her Instagram posts. Keke Palmer’s boyfriend publicly shamed her concert outfit on Twitter. It’s clear we need to talk about the role social media plays in controlling relationships. We get into it all on Patreon and here’s a preview. For the full ad free episode, check our our Patreon: Patreon.com/tangoti See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 10, 2023•6 min
So much happened with Twitter. It broke, or maybe they broke it. Then they broke it more, possibly trying to fix it. It's still broken and the vibes are off. Meta launched its new Threads app into the social hole abdicated by Twitter, and 30 million people said "ok" even though Meta is a demonstrably terrible brand that chooses profit over people over and over and over again. We'll probably check it out. The ever increasing availability of digital surveillance tools is threatening privacy in Fra...
Jul 08, 2023•1 hr 18 min
