A weekly podcast, hosted by Ryan Broderick, about how the internet warps our minds, our culture, and eventually reality.
90 episodes transcribedIf a fandom exists long enough in isolation, does it inevitably become toxic or at least, very strange? This is the main question we’ll be exploring t...
Ryan and Grant discuss that American Eagle ad and why everyone is arguing about Sydney Sweeney's "good jeans." Want to hear the rest of their convers...
Eating disorder content has been a problem on the internet since as early as 2001, but it accelerated with the advent of social media. Today we’re exa...
Often, like in the case of the Momo Challenge, when parents freak out about a thing online, it’s probably not really a thing. But, today we are talkin...
What is the creepiest thing you’ve ever seen on the internet? For many people, it was Slenderman. This particularly lithe fellow started off as kind o...
In April this year the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a “woman” excludes trans women. Then — apparently celebrating her years-lon...
When did fandom become so zealous? Today we’re looking back at the release of the “Snyder Cut” and the people who still think that Zack Snyder should...
We've got a (good) announcement about the future of the show. We'll be back with your regularly scheduled panic next week. Enjoy the Fourth! L...
First they came for our mobile apps, then they came for our videogames, and now, it seems pretty much every aspect of our lives is being re-oriented a...
Some urban legends are just for fun, like the “Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus,” while others are not. Today we’re investigating the claim that while b...
When Grant talked to his friend whose dad had become a Holocaust denier, we got a huge response from folks who had family members with other… interest...
This week we’re asking an important question: Who is really inspiring the “vibe” of Trump 2.0? No, it's not Elon Musk. We’re talking about President N...
America’s not doing so hot right now. Kanye West, on the other hand, hasn’t been well for quite some time. Akilah Hughes joins us again to discuss the...
Ryan wrote about using ChatGPT for therapy, and a lot of responses to that announcement involved calling him an idiot. This week, he sits down with Gr...
Last time we had Charlie Warzel on, it was to determine whether the insurrection had been a political success. Now, 100+ days into Trump 2.0, he joins...
In the past decade, true crime has gone from a niche and somewhat disparaged genre to one of entertainment’s most prolific. What is it about true crim...
Today, we’re telling a story of human ingenuity. Except, in a dumb way. It’s one of the craziest things that has happened in a long time — which is re...
On March 13, 2025, Netflix released Adolescence, and ever since, parents have been learning that Andrew Tate is bad. What are we to do? Ryan talks to...
Today we’re talking about a panic that’s been simmering for a while but has, in the past couple of years, become a full-blown panic. And that’s the te...
Today, we’re doing something a little different. Grant asks Ryan to step back from being host, and instead to step in as a social worker for people wh...
