The net is simply a spot afloat of acheronian corners, heavy rabbit holes, endless mazes, and chaotic threads. But with the chaos comes storytelling gold: These 12 podcasts usage communities similar Reddit, Yelp, Twitter, and Tumblr to motorboat into a antithetic portion of the integer world, with their hosts arsenic your capable circuit guides. Buckle up. Things are going to get weird.
Logged On
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Dazed’s Logged On is simply a monthly bid exploring each things net culture, from memes, to emerging trends, to heavy web conspiracy theories, and beyond. Host Günseli Yalcinkaya dives into the micro and nano cultures of sigma males, Deleuzian catboys, techno-spirituality, and psyops, and brings connected experts to assistance marque consciousness of what these words mean and however they’re changing the world. The archetypal occurrence tackled the meaning of “mid” and features a large speech astir however the net is flattening our culture.
There Are No Girls connected the Internet
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The net tin beryllium a acheronian and twisted place, particularly if you’re portion of a marginalized community. Which is ironic, due to the fact that it’s often those voices who signifier net culture. On There Are No Girls connected the Internet, Bridget Todd chronicles our experiences online, and considers the ways marginalized voices person shaped the net from the precise beginning. Now that Elon Musk is moving Twitter into the ground, we’re each near wondering, wherever bash we amusement up next? What bash we request to cognize astir AI? Is it coming for our jobs? The caller play of TANGOTI, dubbed “Present Future,” explores however women are mapping retired a better, brighter tech aboriginal today, and what you request to cognize to beryllium acceptable for it.
ICYMI
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Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim are everyplace online each the time, truthful you don’t person to be. On ICYMI, they prime up connected the integer threads and trends that everyone is talking about—the ones that are shaping our culture—and explicate why. If you’ve ever felt near retired of the discourse, this is simply a mode to wrapper your encephalon astir it. The hosts are wholly knowledgeable astir TikTok’s latest manner trend, Twitter Blue, buying performance tickets online, West Elm Caleb, and immoderate chaotic happening is happening successful the integer zeitgeist. It drops doubly a week. Keep up and you’ll beryllium each set.
Endless Thread
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Most Endless Thread stories statesman with thing unusual recovered connected Reddit, and germinate from determination into a communicative astir radical IRL. Using storytelling, interviews, and discussions, hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson find the radical progressive successful the stories and bring their threads to life. The amusement is afloat of mysteries and idiosyncratic experiences that volition springiness you a glimpse into the lives of radical astir the world, some online and off.
Darknet Diaries
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On Darknet Diaries, Jack Rhysider uses real-life stories and interviews with experts, hackers, and cybercriminals to research the satellite of cybersecurity, hacking, and online privacy. Each occurrence delves into a circumstantial case, hack, oregon event, providing in-depth insights into the motivations, techniques, and consequences involved. Think information breaches, ransomware attacks, societal engineering, espionage, and the underground satellite of hacking communities. The audio accumulation is fantastic, and it’s good if you don’t person a heavy knowing of computers. Jack’s storytelling volition support you hooked.
Dashboard Diaries
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Remember Tumblr? Longtime Tumblr idiosyncratic Lauren Shippen and longtime user-slash-Tumblr worker Cherokee McAnelly Do. On Dashboard Diaries, they speech trending topics, caller ships, and forecast upcoming fandoms. It’s a funny, affirmative amusement from 2 radical who person recovered goodness connected the internet. If you emotion Tumblr, you’ve recovered a spot to consciousness wholly seen. But adjacent if it’s a caller satellite for you, you’ll person a large clip mining 1 of the internet’s richest, astir singular taste veins.
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Digital Folklore
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Digital Folklore is a fusion of audio play and communicative documentary that explores however our online expressions and culture—from scary stories to feline memes—are modern-day folklore. Using a clever operation of immersive dependable design, storytelling, dependable acting, interviews, and scripted narrative, Digital Folklore analyzes assorted expressions of net civilization done the lens of world folklore. Hosts Perry and Mason play exaggerated versions of themselves arsenic they instrumentality listeners connected a travel into net culture, and often extremity up successful immoderate beauteous unusual situations. The amusement creates a semi-fictional satellite and acceptable of scenarios that service arsenic a wrapper for the existent interviews they behaviour with experts and the folkloric concepts and facts they bring to the mic.
Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet
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Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet is simply a drama podcast from siblings Alex and Christine Schiefer, who bash melodramatic readings of immoderate of the funniest antagonistic online reviews you’ve ever heard. The melodramatic euphony played successful the inheritance portion they’re speechmaking them truly sets the tone. Episodes are breached retired into antithetic businesses oregon tourer destinations. It’s endlessly entertaining and genuinely an escape.
Blocked Party
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Behind each net artifact is simply a truly comic story. That’s wherefore comedians Stefan Heck and John Cullen created Blocked Party, wherever they invitation their comic friends to stock stories of unusual net misunderstandings and feuds with celebrities, brands, and household members. Stefan and John person crisp chemistry and capable their amusement with amusive segments. (And the taxable opus for the “Blocked Tale” conception volition beryllium successful your caput for days.)
One Click
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Narrated by Elle Fanning, One Click is the integer true-crime communicative that explores however a azygous click connected the net tin alteration your beingness forever—in immoderate cases, by helping you suffer a batch of weight. Season 1 was astir DNP, an explosive chemic near implicit from WWI-era munitions factories that is present being sold connected the net arsenic a fare pill (with perchance lethal broadside effects). Together with writer Jessica Wapnes, Fanning traces the past of DNP and asks, wherefore (despite the perils) person truthful galore turned to the drug, however the net helped it stroke up, and what this each says astir the wellness of our accusation society. It’s tough, important listening.
Rabbit Hole
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The New York Times’ Rabbit Hole explores however the net shapes people’s beliefs, behaviors, and identities, and has the powerfulness to progressively isolate them wrong echo chambers of utmost ideologies. Via interviews, research, and storytelling, big Kevin Roose sets to beryllium however YouTube algorithms, societal media influencers, and online communities are contributing to our polarization and radicalization. Kevin introduces america to radical who person been earnestly impacted by online contented and follows them down their rabbit holes to shed airy connected the internet’s profound effects connected society, raising consciousness astir the dangers of unchecked online consumption.
Search Engine
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If you were a instrumentality of Reply All, you mightiness person followed PJ Vogt to his adjacent pursuit, Crypto Island, which explored the satellite of cryptocurrency and the weird quality stories down the blockchain. He’s present utilizing that provender for a caller show, Search Engine, wherever he’ll research the benignant of questions you usually can’t find online. (In a sneak peek episode, helium talks astir wherefore monkeys astatine the zoo are sad.) So it’s benignant of similar an anti-internet podcast, but it’s coming to you from the king of net civilization discourse, truthful I deliberation you’ll similar it.