There Are No Girls on the Internet - Love Island Fandoms Get Dark ; Kristi Noem Writes the Rules at CBS; Girls Do Porn Creator Convicted; AI Podcast Startup - NEWS ROUNDUP! w/ Ashley Ray

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

Welcome to our weekly news round up, where we dig into some of the tech stories you might have missed. This week, Bridget is joined by guest co-host Ashley Ray, host of Courier's smart podcast "TV I S...ay."   CBS just keeps caving harder and harder to appease the Trump administration. https://newrepublic.com/article/199889/kristi-noem-attack-cbs-kilmar-garcia-trump-scam    Creator of porn site "Girls Do Porn" sentenced to 27 years for sex trafficking. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/09/girlsdoporn-founder-27-year-prison-sentence-sex-trafficking    5,000 Podcasts. 3,000 Episodes a Week. $1 Cost Per Episode — Behind an AI Start Up’s Plan: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/ai-podcast-start-up-plan-shows-1236361367/    If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there to let us know what you thought about these stories, or email us at hello@tangoti.com    Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:02:24 So last week, we hit pause on our usual Friday News Roundup so we could dig into a different story. And that is, what is being erased from Charlie Kirk's legacy after his murder? That meant no news roundup, but don't worry, we've got it for you now. It is a fun one, so please enjoy. There Are No Girls on the Internet is a production of IHeart Radio and Unbossed Creative. I'm Bridget Todd, and this is There Are No Girls on the Internet. Welcome to There Are No Girls on the Internet, where we explore the intersection of technology, social media, and identity. And this is another installment of our weekly news roundup where we dig into some of the stories that you might have missed so you don't have to.
Starting point is 00:03:10 I am so thrilled to be joined by this week's guest host, Ashley, Ray, the host of TV, I Say, a podcast that I've loved for a really long time. It was on Haynes. Now it's back on the Corrier Network. Ashley, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. I am so excited and I'm a big fan of you. Oh, my goodness. Well, this is great. So, you know, this is a tech podcast, but it's also a culture podcast, which includes TV, which I watch a lot of.
Starting point is 00:03:38 For folks who don't know, Ashley has the most correct television opinions out of anybody out there. So if you disagree with Ashley, you're basically just wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong about TV. I just finished listening to your episode with Gibson Johns, which was delightful. I will say, like, something that I was so curious to ask you about that episode is that, you know, you were talking about reality TV, which, I'm obsessed with. I watch a lot of it. And it sounded to me that you both were kind of agreeing that you
Starting point is 00:04:06 don't kind of like get mixed up in the online fandoms. That is something I've really noticed. You can't just watch and enjoy a show like Love Island. Like let's say that you have an inconsistent opinion about somebody on Love Island. There's this like rabid fan-based style made in the conversation. Do you just stay out of it?
Starting point is 00:04:24 I mean, I got called out for that very reason. This last season of Love Island, I was a big Elandria fan. I loved her throughout the season. I was rooting for my girl. I wanted her to leave Taylor the whole time. And when, you know, it was that frustrating week when she just like kind of wouldn't do it. And her friends were like, no, you should try again. And I was like, I'm so frustrated. Like, you need to play the game differently and go for what you want, girl. Like, I'm so tired of this. And people were like, how dare you criticize her? Didn't you just say you liked her? And now you're
Starting point is 00:04:54 criticizing her. And I was like, so you can like someone and also not like everything that they do. and then yeah and people were like I don't understand and then I was happy when she got with Nick and people were like how can you be happy when you were just criticizing her and I'm like because she did because she went for what she wanted
Starting point is 00:05:12 and it's just wild like they're so it's standum all of it I don't quite get there's some docs out about it actually if you want to check about Stan on Paramount Plus people really really intensely love to love someone and reality stars, I guess, are the perfect target.
Starting point is 00:05:32 I've been a reality TV fan for a very long time. Some of the shows that I have watched, I have a very long relationship with them. I'm thinking about shows like OG, Real House House of New York. Oh, yeah. I feel like the stand-standom online fandom stuff, I feel like that is so, that it's gotten so much more toxic and so much louder.
Starting point is 00:05:56 And it didn't used to be like that. Back in the day, you would read what Kelly Ben-Simon had to say on the Bravo blog, right? But it didn't really necessarily go, like, you didn't have people watching, engaging in this level of fandom online around it. And looking at your every move, I just think Love Island is the sort of perfect example of how bad this just, I don't know, ecosystem has gotten where they went out and looked for things in these people's lives because they didn't like them just so they could pull that out and cancel them. people were calling ICE on someone in the cast family. Like, people were calling CPS and Hood's daughter and her baby daddy. Like, that's where I just, I don't understand. I also have been watching reality TV since the Osborne.
Starting point is 00:06:41 Since simple, you know, this is a simple life. Like, we didn't do this. Like, I was never watching the Osbournes and I was like, I need to know Ozzy's every thought and who he's friends with. And I need to follow him on every channel. And now it's the expectation is like, they need to immediately leave the show and they need to be on Snapchat and this and this and I should be able to know at all times what events they're going to. Are they still dating
Starting point is 00:07:04 this person? And I don't know exactly why people think they have that level of access or why they deserve it or why they think it's mandatory if you're on television. But I don't think that we can demand that of people just because they go on a reality show. No, and it also just makes it less fun. Yeah, it makes it less fun. I want to watch a silly fun show. I don't want to have everything this person has ever done and said dragged up on social media. And then be expected to litigate it myself. It's like, we're just watching this TV show. Yeah, like it's a political statement.
Starting point is 00:07:37 If I like watch Love Island and laugh at something Austin said, I don't like Austin, but you can say something funny. It's entertainment. And so I like with 90 day fiance, I try to separate like the real happenings and I just watch the show. I don't like pay attention to the gossip of the fans and what everyone's arguing. I just put my faith in the narrative that I'm presented by producers. Yes.
Starting point is 00:08:03 I mean, I have noticed, even beyond the fandoms, especially on Bravo, some of the shows have gotten quite dark. You know, I'm thinking about some of the, some of the, some of the season of Roney,
Starting point is 00:08:15 which was a mess. Some of the stuff, I don't know if you watch Potomac, some of the stuff with, like, Mia. Yeah. The valley is quite dark. Like, I had to sort of check out
Starting point is 00:08:24 of it for a while because I was like, well, I don't want to watch, like, like a family go through something that seems quite real. Even like below deck got really dark. Like I don't know what was up with Bravo or I don't know what was kind of going around the Bravo universe at the time. But like even below deck, I think it was below deck Mediterranean had this odd season where like two people were kicked off of the crew because they like assaulted other people on the crew.
Starting point is 00:08:50 And everyone was just like, should we still be doing below deck? And they kind of are like, we need to redo it. Like we just need to change everything. Like we need to make it fun again. Like, let's get some fun happy people in the crew. And I don't know. I think obviously everything is the pandemic and, you know, but I think there was something about that moment and people being more online where I feel like in reality TV people share more now. I think there was some expectation before of like this is fake or like we're making a storyline.
Starting point is 00:09:20 And now people are like, well, you know, during COVID I was fine like having a live blog of my life. so why would I make things up? Like, yeah, I'll share these kind of deep personal things. And I guess it's great TV. Like, I do think reality TV now feels more authentic in a way, especially the stuff like 90-day fiancé. But I guess that is encouraging people to go, yeah, you share everything. So I should have complete access to you.
Starting point is 00:09:44 You should be on, like, you know, TikTok live all the time whenever I want to see you. Yeah, I remember back in the day, I didn't watch OC, but like the stuff with Taylor Armstrong, There was like darkness there, but looking back now, it's clear we weren't. The audience was not being told everything. And there was still this attitude of like, oh, this, we need to make this seem a little more polished that it actually is. And I think today that they would, they would handle that in a completely different way.
Starting point is 00:10:13 Oh, yeah. Yeah. I, yeah. I will say, I do, I give respect to reality TV produced. They don't need respect. But I do think that they have put more focus on like mental health. and just trying to think of, oh, right, we're putting these people on TV and how they appear could have consequences. And we're a big part of how they appear and how those narratives are made.
Starting point is 00:10:39 I hate to keep going back to Love Island. But it was, you know, a lot of what, like, O'Andria face where they show kind of at some points made her seem like a bully, her and Shelley. And you had BuzzFeed, like, posting memes about, like, punching Shelly in the face and stuff. And it's like, you know, yeah, and it's like producers are feeding into that and they had to like kind of change the narrative. So I do think reality producers now are like, yeah, let's handle things with care. I will say, I'm sure people listening are like, I'm tuning in to hear tech takes, not reality TV takes. But I do feel like being a longtime scholar of reality TV, I think it helps me understand and explain a lot where we're at politically and socially. Trump famously got his start as a reality TV star.
Starting point is 00:11:29 If you understand the medium of reality TV, if you understand how villains work on reality TV, I think it can be helpful to understanding our current political moment. Our current political moment and moment in entertainment, I think if you want to understand why kids are watching kick now instead of television, why people prefer to watch a show on YouTube
Starting point is 00:11:49 versus traditional streaming, a lot of that has to do with reality TV and kids who've just grown up on that and they are used to it. And not only to the point where it's the entertainment they're accustomed to, but it's the entertainment that they want to make and know how to make. Like there are people that are so young and I engage with them on TikTok, and I'm like, oh my gosh, you would be perfect on real housewives. Like how, like you know how to do this.
Starting point is 00:12:15 You know how to craft a narrative out of like your life or whatever is happening. And I think, you know, as those kids grow up and start making media, I think we're going to see them really just doing more with, like, reality and it blending the line between that and documentary. There is a documentary that just came out called Thirstrap on Paramount Plus. It's about this TikTok influencer named, like, Whitey. He was, like, a white guy who was very attractive and he winked to some song by Rod Stewart. I don't know. There's, like, a different internet for white people that goes viral.
Starting point is 00:12:48 I didn't know this guy. But all of these, like, middle-aged women became obsessed. with him and started sending him thousands and thousands of dollars. And he basically dropped out of school to make this his career and slowly realized like, oh, this attention economy cannot last for forever. It has these negative impacts on my mental health and my psyche. And also it has a horrible impact on these people who demand constant access to me and, you know, start doxing his family when he like makes them mad because they don't
Starting point is 00:13:21 like that he had a girlfriend. And so I think, you know, if you want to understand why it seems like people are just so intense about everything now, I think reality TV, it's the answer. I need to watch this. Your last talk recommendation was a good one. I hadn't even heard of it. What is it? Furry police?
Starting point is 00:13:44 No. Oh, yes. Unmasking a murder of furry detectives. That documentary. Everybody should be talking to that documentary. Why isn't everyone talking about it? I am like, this is, it's the wildest thing I've seen. Every person I introduced to it is like, first of all, why did you do that?
Starting point is 00:13:59 I have nightmares now. And it's so well made. It's so well done. And it's a story that no one knows about. And you think like, oh, we've gotten to the worst part. And then they're like, so there's two more episodes. And you're just like, how? How does it get worse than this?
Starting point is 00:14:15 And it does. Okay. So this is actually a great segue into what I wanted to talk about, first, which is everything happening with CBS, I will give a little bit of backstory to sort of set it up. So a few months ago, CBS settled a lawsuit with Trump over allegedly a deceptively edited interview of then presidential candidate Kamala Harris. So we know Trump is not, we'll say Trump has a specific kind of relationship to the truth, but this is what the suit alleged. His suit alleged that a 60 minutes interview with Harris was deceptively edited to portray her.
Starting point is 00:14:51 her in a more favorable light. So specifically, the claim was that there were these different versions of Harris's response to a question that were used in different broadcasts, like a shorter, clearer, more favorable version on Face Nation, and then a more kind of rambling, less polished full version that was in a 60 minutes broadcast. I have heard both versions, and it is incredibly clear to me that the version in question that he is upset about is like just edited for clarity. Like, they've edited it for time because it's a shorter segment. It's like, very, very clear to me that's what's going on. So you're a podcaster, you work in media.
Starting point is 00:15:26 You know this is a pretty, like the podcast that you're listening to right now is not raw audio. It is edited for clarity. I don't want to burst anybody's bubble, but if media is edited. Yeah, you don't want to hear us going, uh, uh, you don't need that. So they cut it out. I don't really understand why he's upset because I feel like the same. It's not like the message becomes different. I don't think she looks much better in the other one.
Starting point is 00:15:58 It's just quicker. So, yeah, I didn't get it. I don't see the big deal. You and me both, but Trump's argument was essentially that CBS editing these interviews was election interference, sued CBS. CBS settled and agreed to donate $16 million to CBS's parent company, not to Trump himself, but to his sort of presidential. library fund.
Starting point is 00:16:22 Out of this came in agreement that CBS and 60 Minutes in the future will release transcripts of interviews with U.S. presidential candidates after they air with allowance for redactions for legal or national security concerns. Typically, I do feel like a company only will settle like this if they
Starting point is 00:16:39 feel like they might lose, but I think that Trump, I think that with CBS honestly, I think that they were like, you know, this is a way to curry favor with the new administration. I think from the perspective of a CBS executive, it's like, oh, a win, win, we get to avoid this what could be a nasty fight with a vengeful administration. And then we could hand that administration like a PR win, kiss the ring, easy peasy, right?
Starting point is 00:17:01 Yeah, they already sacrificed Stephen Colbert at his altar. There's already talk of them wanting to buy Warner Brothers Discovery today that Paramount. Just today, yeah. Yeah, just today that came out that this is the next move. They're just buying it all up to make it cable again. So I think them knowing that's going to get pushback, that would just be such a large conglomerate. I think they're trying to do whatever they can to abuse this administration so they can, I don't know, buy Peacock in every single streaming platform. I don't know why they want to do that.
Starting point is 00:17:39 But yeah. I don't know what the end game is either. But I will say, like they really did a lot, I think, to curry favor with the Trump administration. They appointed a bias monitor. And I think that just goes to show, like, there is no end to, like, when you give an inch, they take many, many miles. There is no end to what they take. And so CBS already has all of this unprecedented oversight from the federal government to make sure
Starting point is 00:18:06 that they're not being, I don't know, biased against Trump or mean to Trump. So it is against this backdrop. Enter the United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Christy Noam. She did an interview with CBS. and that she did not like how that interview was edited after the fact. So after the interview she tweeted, this morning, I joined CBS to report the facts of Kilmar Garcia. Instead, CBS shamefully edited the interview to whitewash the truth about this MS-13 gang member
Starting point is 00:18:35 and the threat he poses to American public safety. Now, mind you, when she tweeted this, CBS had already posted both the full transcript and the full recording of that interview. So it is sort of like, well, I don't know, it just, it just seems like what else do you want at this point? They're never going to be happy. It's just they'll never be happy. If they can find something to pick at to say I'm being victimized, they will. That's what they want is that ability to say you're targeting us.
Starting point is 00:19:07 It's unfair for us. So even if, you know, these networks do everything they want, they're still going to turn around and be like, oh, yeah, well, that South Park episode was rude. And so actually, no, we're not going to approve this. You know, they're never going to be on your side. You can't truly buy them. Yes, exactly. So, and again, as we were talking about earlier, it is just so common for networks to do this with lengthy interviews.
Starting point is 00:19:33 It is not unusual. It's totally commonplace. And again, the substance of the complaint doesn't even really stand because it's like, okay, well, somebody could just go watch the full interview. Honestly, when you look at what they chose to edit, so when the interview that upset her so. much. She's talking about Kilmar Garcia. Kilmer Garcia, of course, was the man who was sent to immigration prison in El Salvador because of what was widely reported to be an administrative error.
Starting point is 00:19:57 She accused him of essentially sex crimes against a child. He has not been charged with this. And as far as I know, there is no evidence of this besides Noam saying the Department of Justice is like looking into it. So, CBS, I think, kind of completely correctly made the correct call that like, oh, we can't just air based on unfounded accusations. Yeah. Like we don't want to get sued for libel like that is real. Yeah. And so I don't blame CBS for this at all. And to be honest with you, I feel like they're almost doing Christy a favor because
Starting point is 00:20:30 when you say something that is wild and also potentially legally actionable, editing that out is a favor. I almost thought they did her a favor by not allowing her most salacious, baseless, inappropriate accusation, just stand in that way. They almost are trying to make her look, I think, if anything, more sane. Yeah. And that's the thing is that she doesn't want to look sane.
Starting point is 00:20:56 She wants that clip that's going to go viral and, like, get people angry. So that's what it is at the end of the day. It doesn't matter if it's a lie or not true or unfounded. She dropped that because she knew, oh, this is what people are going to freak out over and say, like, oh, she's saying, she's making things up. And that's what she wanted. And she didn't get that moment. So she had to turn it around and say, you know, CBS is editing me and whitewashing what I had to say.
Starting point is 00:21:20 Exactly. And I guess I don't feel like journalists are required to repeat on authoritarian administrations baseless smears. And at the end of the day, like journalists do have an ethical obligation to not just let anybody say anything on their platform. However, because CBS is run by people who are really trying to curry favor with this administration, they announced, they are no longer doing any editing of interviews like this. So just days after these complaints, CBS News said that they would no longer allow editing of its guests' words on the Sunday morning public affairs show. So going forward, they're only going to do broadcast live or live to tape, meaning that guest statements could not be edited subject to legal or national security restrictions. CBS said this change was made in response to audience feedback, which I guess you mean
Starting point is 00:22:08 like an audience of one, Kristineh. No. You mean Trump? Intravid Noam, just like sitting. I do like this, honestly, because it feels a bit sarcastic and sassy on CBS's part because I do think this is going to come back to bite a politician in the ass. They're going to be like, oh, right, there was a reason why we wanted things edited and we wanted to have a second to collect our thoughts. So that's what I'm excited for. Someone is going to say something really dumb. This is a low-stakes podcast, and it is lightly edited for clarity. if you're talking about important global politics stuff with big implications, you're stressed out. If you're in this administration, maybe you've had a couple drinks.
Starting point is 00:22:50 You know what I'm saying? The lights are on you. We're about to get some gaffs. That's a great point. Yeah. Yeah. It's going to be good. Okay.
Starting point is 00:22:58 I wanted to include this story because there's another sort of sub-story in this, that it's my own little personal thing. So I have a little bit of a bone to pick with CBS, obviously. And I live in D.C. We've been dealing with the entire, you know, takeover of our police force and surge of a National Guard in my city. President Trump was trying to make a big show of how safe D.C. is and how he's finally cleaned up the city, yada, yada, yada.
Starting point is 00:23:25 So he was making a big show of going to dinner at a seafood restaurant downtown. When he got there, the activist group Code Pink had people in the restaurant to protest. They screamed. They called him Hitler. It was a great clip. However, when CBS News reported on it, their headline was, quote, when President Trump ate at a Washington restaurant to promote his federal law enforcement surge of the nation's capital, he was greeted by protesters inside, but cheers outside.
Starting point is 00:23:54 So I'm going to play you a clip, Ashley, and this is a clip of, I'll put it in the show notes. It is Trump walking into the restaurant. It is very clearly outside. I'm going to play you the clip and you tell me what you hear. Yeah. So that is the dynamic that CBS News described as cheers from outside. I don't know what you heard, Ashley. Would you have described that as cheers?
Starting point is 00:24:34 I know. I got to give that to the booze. The booze won that one. And people swearing, there were some woo's, but they were drowned out by the booze. Yeah. I feel like a more honest way to say it was cheers and jeers, something. But just to say that, oh, the. It clearly sort of suggests that the people outside on the street love them and there was echoes of truth.
Starting point is 00:24:58 But those activists inside, they've always got, they're always complaining about something. Yeah. You know, they were just people. They always making a ruckus. But everybody outside was like, yeah, we love this Trump. So, yeah, I just, CBS, what are you doing? What are you doing? Get it together. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:25:19 Let's take a quick break. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guide. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Jim Gaffigan to Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman, help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an Acapella band with their between songs banter. There's that worst singer in the group?
Starting point is 00:25:48 The worst? Yeah. Me. Is there anything to the idea that because you're from Harvard, you only got in because your parents made a huge donation. The yard herds, right? That's the name. The Harvard Yard, but they're open.
Starting point is 00:26:03 Do you have a name suggestion? We're open. Since you guys are middle-aged, one erection. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Humor me. I need some jokes to make me seem funny. Run a business and not thinking about podcast. Podcasting, think again.
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Starting point is 00:26:52 That's iHeartadvertising.com. What's up, fam? Miss Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.
Starting point is 00:27:11 And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by,
Starting point is 00:27:35 like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court,
Starting point is 00:27:52 and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, everyone. I'm Cheryl Stray, author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things. I'm excited to share that I have a new podcast called Mind Over Mountain. In each episode, I interview athletes, adventurers, and adrenaline seekers to discuss the inner landscapes and life experiences that informed and inspired their extraordinary feats. I also bring a bit of advice into the mix, so we too can better understand how to face
Starting point is 00:28:25 our own seemingly insurmountable challenges. Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to pull out what you already have inside. We're coming into this world fighting for our lives. All I'm going to do is pull out what you already got inside. We're there to support and celebrate each other. And that's not like your story versus my story. You're going to walk up and over that dang mountain.
Starting point is 00:28:44 You're not just going to put your mind over it. Yep, yep, exactly. And if I can't walk up and over it, I'm going to go through it. Listen to Mind Over Mountain every Thursday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents Soccer Moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:03 This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the Hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey.
Starting point is 00:29:19 With all the snacks and drinks. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of being? I would have a go go. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white color or something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing?
Starting point is 00:29:29 Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would. Come on. Can you believe? I would buy it. Cut through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious.
Starting point is 00:29:42 Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You are. I'm not a killer. I love this team, and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Oh.
Starting point is 00:29:56 Listen to soccer moms on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. At our back. Okay, so I also wanted to talk about kind of a darker story, which is the, well, dark, but I guess it is a story about justice being served. So I'll let y'all be the judge. So this website, this porn website, Girls Do Porn, the creator of this site has sort of been, he was on the lamb for a while. He was on the FBI's most wanted list. And this week he was sentenced to, you might have seen a documentary about it. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:36 I've seen this documentary yet. Yeah. I've definitely seen this documentary yet. So you know all about it. Michael James Pratt, the creator of the California-based porn website Girls Do Porn, was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for sex trafficking after pleading guilty for using force, fraud, and coercion to recruit hundreds of women, many of whom were in their late teens for adult videos.
Starting point is 00:31:00 He was sentenced on one charge of sex trafficking in my force, fraud or coercion, and one count of conspiracy to commit the same crime. So I've also, the documentary is quite good. Yeah. It does really make clear how long of a thing this has been that that documentary came out years ago. The site was online, even earlier than that. And only this week was he actually sentenced. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:24 I did not know that there was more happening with it. Like, it feels like it was so long ago. like, oh, right, how did that documentary? And like, did anything actually happen to him? I guess not until now. Yeah. So it's been kind of a long time coming. Pratt was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list when he was arrested in Madrid in 2022, three years after he fled while awaiting sex trafficking charges. The San Diego Union Tribune reports that Pratt, a 42-year-old New Zealand citizen, admitted in a plea agreement earlier this year, that between 2012 and 2019, he conspired to traffic 15 victims, though authorities have said that is a tiny fraction of the actual victims of the conspiracy.
Starting point is 00:32:04 It is a dizzying array of crimes. Basically, the site, it just sounds so awful and scammy. Basically, these are not women who were consensually wanting to be and signed up to be involved in making consensual adult content. This was back when, I guess you might call it, casting couch porn was like a growing thing online. And so he had this entire very gross, not to mention illegal, scheme worked up where him and his team would post what seemed like legitimate modeling ads on Craigslist that women looking for modeling work would reply to. Then they would pay other women to kind of act as like references to vouch for this company and say, oh, it's a legitimate modeling company.
Starting point is 00:32:48 I had a good experience with them. You can trust them. So when I was in college, I did a little bit of modeling on the side for extra cash. And I will say that it is a space rife with all kinds of gross stuff. But what is a, it's not a great space, I'll say. And when you're waiting through it, it's like scam, scam, scam, scam, scam. Yeah. My brother is a model. And he lives in Texas.
Starting point is 00:33:12 But one time he was like, hey, I'm going to be in L.A. I'm shooting. I'm a model. I'm going to do this thing with an agency. I was like, what are you talking? And he's like, he has the underwear thing. I'll be in a warehouse. And I was like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, baby.
Starting point is 00:33:24 It was a me undies ad. It was legit. Okay, it was legit. It was legit. But I was like, no, I'm coming with you. I will be checking this out. Good. Yeah, that was always my thing.
Starting point is 00:33:35 I would always show up with a male friend or like that, you know, that was always the way that I played it. But so even for a space that is rife with those kinds of gross things, what is described here I have never encountered and had not heard of? So when these women would, you know, think like, okay, this is a legitimate modeling gig. they would show up and then they would be asked to do sex acts on camera, but often would be plied with drugs or alcohol, made to rush through a contract that they were unable to read,
Starting point is 00:34:03 or even verbally promised that the videos would not be published in the U.S. only abroad, or it would only be sold for, like, private buyer, so it won't be widely distributed. So they would knowingly lie to these women. And with the understanding that these videos were going to be distributed widely and essentially blow up their lives. I found this to be really interesting. According to people who were in on this scheme,
Starting point is 00:34:28 50% of the women were not even paid the amount they were promised. So after all of that, you know, you're already kind of being forced into doing something that you don't want to do via lies. They're like, oh, we're going to give you $2,000, and they didn't even get that. So I don't think I don't need to tell anybody
Starting point is 00:34:45 all of this is not only just like scammy, it is also illegal. And the sex acts that they would do once the women, you know, agreed to do this were often violent and sometimes according to the Department of Justice criminal, right? It was assault. It was like very violent. The San Diego Union Tribune has some really in-depth reporting about the sentencing and how Pratt was made to listen to his victims and like face them for the first time. A lot of these women have been trying to communicate with him for
Starting point is 00:35:14 years saying like, take this down, take this down and he would just ignore them and eventually skip the country. So him having to actually listen to what they had to say for the first time, I think, was really resonant. Their testimony is horrifying. They talk about how after the footage was released online, their personal contact information would also be released, so they would face harassment. They would, you know, face consequences. People would send videos to their friends and family. They'd be fired from jobs, kicked out of school, lots of addiction issues, lots of suicidal ideation. So when these victims faced him in court and spoke to him, you really kind of hear how important of a moment it was for them. A couple of things that they said.
Starting point is 00:35:54 One victim said, we meet again, but this time it is you who cannot leave. Another said, we are not here for forgiveness. We are here for justice. I won. One woman told Pratt turning to speak directly to him, I am not your victim. I am your reckoning. So these were women who were like, I am waited so long. Like, I definitely think people should read the article because they talk about how these women almost formed a sisterhood because they were so, like, they had to band together to take down this.
Starting point is 00:36:21 Yeah, to even to get to get any of this to happen, to get anyone in law enforcement to like pay attention and to take it seriously. It's so sad how long this took. And I found this bit to be really interesting from the piece. One victim told the judge that Pratt provided her a cake on the day that she shot her video because it was her 18th birthday. another woman identified in the plead agreement as victim number one was also 18 years old when Pratt, quote, rushed her through a contract and did not provide her with a copy. He paid her $2,000 and then ignored her pleas to pick the video down when it posted online. That woman said in court that she has since graduated from Princeton University and now works with the tech industry
Starting point is 00:36:59 and has become a specialist in helping people send takedown notices to websites. You know what? I follow her. I follow her. Really? She's very cool. She's very cool. Yeah. She like, because people like, like, misogynists are always like, you know,
Starting point is 00:37:17 some rich guy probably paid for you to go to Princeton, like you're a sugar baby. And she's like, no, actually, I had a fluoride scholarship and I do this. And she's just such a badass who is not afraid to shoot back at these people who, you know, think that they can control women with online manipulation. Yes. And I think your point is such a good one because I think for so long, the application was that these women don't deserve respect. They did this.
Starting point is 00:37:44 They did it to themselves. Exactly. When you actually look at the charges and what the government says he did, they didn't do anything themselves. They showed up thinking there was going to be a modeling gig, and they were clearly lied to and manipulated. And so I don't think it's fair to be like, oh, well, you brought this on yourself, didn't you know this was going to happen, whatever, whatever, whatever.
Starting point is 00:38:02 And it's like, well, if I brought it on myself, he wouldn't have had to lie to me to get me to do it. He wouldn't have to manipulate me to get me to agree to it. To get me to agree to it. get me to agree, but it's coercion, exactly. And I remember kind of a while ago, I think it was two young women who were contestants in the Miss Teen USA pageant. They were, it was revealed that they were both on this site, and they had to drop out
Starting point is 00:38:24 of the pageant. And I remember thinking, you know, all these years later, clearly they were not the one who did something wrong. Yeah. Where was the smoke back then? I know we had a very different culture for women in them, but where was the smoke for the person who was breaking the law and trafficking women to enrich himself by victimizing and manipulating them. Yeah, that just at the time was not part of the narrative. Nobody thought about, like,
Starting point is 00:38:50 you know, revenge porn laws or, oh, the guy is doing something wrong here too. It was just, oh, it's her fault. She did, you know, she's their own fault. She didn't want this. She shouldn't have taken new. She shouldn't have done this. And now, at least kind of people are like, oh, you're committing a criminal act. Like this, it's just so intrusive. Like more than, like, just, I just think it's one of the worst things
Starting point is 00:39:14 that can happen to someone, even if it's someone like, I don't like, you know, like Kendall from Love Island, his nudes were leaked by someone. And you just felt awful for him. Like, it just, it's such a horrible invasion of privacy. And to see someone not only do that
Starting point is 00:39:31 because they want to humiliate these women, but also because they're making so much money, off of it and they know they can get away with it because there are other horrible men who want this content. Yeah. I just, makes me so mad. Yeah, you put that really well. I mean, it's something I think about a lot is, and I know that you remember this, but in the 2010s, the ICloud photo hacks where all of these new images and internet content got hacked and put online. And, you know, I remember so clearly the conversation that we had about that when it happened was exactly what you just articulated. Oh, they shouldn't have taken the pictures.
Starting point is 00:40:09 I remember the, it was a, the tech columnist at the New York Times. His advice to Starlets was don't take nude pictures. And here we are, you know, pen years later. And we really see how none of that met the moment. Because now we have AI enabled deepfakes where all you have to do is exist. You don't have to do anything. You could just be existing in like fully clothed, clothed existence. And then it's like, oh, well, you don't even actually have to have that part.
Starting point is 00:40:35 You can just have a personality. And then meta will take you and turn you into a sexual chatbot. So as they did with Taylor Swift. And it's just, I don't know. I think, you know, years from now, like as we've had this kind of reckoning with revenge porn, I think eventually we're going to be like, oh, right, that was a horrible invasion of privacy that we were just taking people's photos and making AI images and voices out of them. I think it was some brand just recently got in trouble.
Starting point is 00:41:05 I think it was maybe Fashion Nova, but they clearly were using AI to make their model things, and then the AI pulled in Luigi Mangione's face. Yes, it was Sheehan. Yeah, she in, yeah. And everyone's like, yeah, that's a problem. Yeah, and I wish I could rewind back to those moments like the ICloud photo hacks
Starting point is 00:41:27 and force us to have a different conversation because about digital consent, about consent more generally, about not just putting the onus on the victim or people to not do things in order to protect themselves. I wish we could have had a different conversation because I feel like where we are today in 2025 might be different. And it's a shame that we had all of these big moments where we could have had that conversation and work to create a different culture and we didn't. Yeah. And now we're still dealing with it. And you mentioned a good point of how this is, you know, lucrative. These videos from Girls Do Porn, they were distributed to other porn sites, like bigger porn sites and tube sites like Porn Hub.
Starting point is 00:42:10 According to The Daily Dot, Girls Do Porn videos were viewed over 800 million times on these websites, including roughly 680 million views on Porn Hub, where Girls Do Porn was among the top 20 most viewed channels. And it just sounds like even after porn. Porn Hub officially cut ties with the Girls Do Porn channel in 2019. It just sounds like they were very, very slow to take these videos down. It took, like, reporting. It took, I think, motherboard wrote a big piece about it. Like, it took a lot of cajoling to just simply take down these videos that, I think it sounds like Pornhub knew were made under very sketchy circumstances.
Starting point is 00:42:50 Yeah, and they're making money off of it. You know, I think they also have faced some lawsuits because they, you know, had videos up that were of people who were underage or trafficked, and they get those reports and just kind of were ignoring them until it was like, oh, we have to take it down. Like the cops are getting involved. Like, okay. So that's exactly why this whole Girls Do Porn thing
Starting point is 00:43:12 currently is also implicating Pornhub. In 2020, Pornhub's parent company agreed to pay more than $1.8 million to resolve a criminal probe alleging that it profited from sex trafficking through its hosting of Girls Do Porn videos. More than 120 women have sued Pornhub's parent company in San Diego in federal court, alleging porn hub illegally published sex trafficking videos. Pornhub's parent company settled the first of those suits under terms that were not disclosed. So exactly what you just said that, you know, this wasn't just one small site that was profiting off of this.
Starting point is 00:43:46 They were profiting off of it. But then those videos were then enriching like much bigger porn sites like Pornhub. And so, yeah, it's just a scheme where mostly men who run these sites get rich off of the manipulation of women. And then it's the women who also face this added burden of public scorn, public scrutiny. Why did you take the pictures, getting kicked out of school, getting online harassed, all of that. Yeah. And then, you know, like it reaches the Andrew Tate level where then they have the women who are making these videos. And then they use that to blackmail them into making more content.
Starting point is 00:44:22 and then they blackmail the women into scamming other men so that they can get more money. And yeah. Yeah, just a whole pyramid scheme built on manipulation and sex crimes. More after a quick break. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guide, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygle and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Jim Gaffigan to Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman,
Starting point is 00:44:55 help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey, Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. There's that worst singer in the group? The worst? Yeah. Me. Is there anything to the idea that because you're from Harvard
Starting point is 00:45:11 you only got in because your parents made a huge donation the group? The yard birds, right? That's the name. The Harvard Yard. But they're open to change. Do you have a name suggestion? We're open. Since you guys are middle aged, one Erection.
Starting point is 00:45:29 Listen to humor me with Robert Smygel and friends on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Humor me. I need some jokes to make me seem funny. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting, think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ads supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, IHearts twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only IHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio.
Starting point is 00:46:03 Think podcasting can help your business. Think IHard. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Call 844-844-I-Hart to get started. That's 844-8-4-I-Hart. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds.
Starting point is 00:46:19 Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series
Starting point is 00:46:41 because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing.
Starting point is 00:46:59 That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, IZAD, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app,
Starting point is 00:47:14 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the Hipsons High School. Absolutely.
Starting point is 00:47:26 Now a redacted amount of years later. We're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer?
Starting point is 00:47:43 Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just hit it. Oh, what are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would.
Starting point is 00:47:51 Come on. I would buy it. Cuts through the defense like a. Hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic.
Starting point is 00:48:04 You are. I'm lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team, and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, everyone. I'm Cheryl Stray, author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things. I'm excited to share that I have a new podcast called Mind Over Mountain.
Starting point is 00:48:30 In each episode, I interview athletes, adventures, and adrenaline seekers to discuss the inner landscapes and life experiences that informed and inspired their extraordinary feats. I also bring a bit of advice into the mix so we too can better understand how to face our own seemingly insurmountable challenges. Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to pull out what you already have inside. We're coming into this world fighting for our lives. All I'm going to do is pull out what you already got inside.
Starting point is 00:48:58 We're there to support and celebrate each other. And that's not like your story versus my story. You're going to walk up and over that dang mountain. You're not just going to put your mind over it. Yep, yep, exactly. And if I can't walk up and over it, I'm going to go through it. Listen to Mind Over Mountain every Thursday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:49:26 Let's get right back into it. Okay, so I have one other story I wanted to. to talk to you about, which I feel like as a podcaster, as somebody who cares about media, I know I have a lot of thoughts about it, but you might as well. Did you hear about this AI-based podcast startup? Yes, yeah. I heard about this. So as a podcaster, I am often asked if I'm worried about AI, specifically AI taking the
Starting point is 00:49:54 jobs of human podcasters like you and me, Ashley. And so I'm asked this so much that I've actually turned the answer to this question into one of my signature public talks about the intersection of creativity and technology, if you follow the conversation around AI, oftentimes that conversation is like, oh, what's going to happen to human creative professionals, human podcasters, human screenwriters, human artists, animators, musicians, whatever. Anyway, so I spend a lot of time thinking about this, talking about this. So I was not terribly shocked to read that Hollywood reporter piece about Inception Point AI.
Starting point is 00:50:25 This company is trying to build a stable of AI talent to host a podcast and a eventually become broader influencers across social media, literature, and more. The Hollywood Reporter reports, amid the high cost of producing narrative podcasts and pricey short-term contracts for popular hosts, the idea here is being able to own scale and control the talent, unlike those off-the-cuff humans, and produce shows at a minimal cost. We believe that in the near future, half the people on the planet will be AI, and we're the company that's bringing those people to life. This is from CEO, Janine Wright, who previously was the chief operating officer of podcasting at Wondery,
Starting point is 00:51:04 which has recently had to be organized under the changing podcast landscape following a series of questionable business decisions. Decisions and layoffs and, yeah. All of it. All of it. It's making a lot of sense now. I don't know who hears the statistic. Like we think 50% of the people will be AI and gets excited about that. Like what you're excited about like dead internet?
Starting point is 00:51:28 You want to be chatting with thoughts? that alone is something I just don't get. You know, I don't, apparently they already are getting like 10 million downloads a month or something. And I truly just believe it's other robots listening to it, that they are just, their spot farms that are just listening to the AI. And we're just creating a whole other ecosystem where AI is just talking and listening to AI. Because who wants that? Like you listen to your favorite comedians, you know, people who are experts who need, needs that. And I think anytime a place has tried the online influencer thing, it just hasn't
Starting point is 00:52:08 worked. Lil Michaela is an example of that just really failing because at the end of the day, people want an influencer who is a real human being. Yeah, I remember when she had a scandal where it was like, oh, I've been sexually harassed and it's like, you're not a real person. You're not real. You're not real. we talking about. Yep. And then they did a thing where they like had her get cancer. So then like she disappeared and people just kind of forgot. So yeah. It is wild the stuff that people think people want, you know. And so you were talking about some of the numbers behind this AI podcasting company. So the company says that it is able
Starting point is 00:52:47 to produce each episode for $1 or less depending on length and complexity and then attach programmatic advertising to it. According to them, this means that if 20 people listen to that episode. The company has made a profit on the episode without factoring in overhead. So they also said that they have 5,000 shows already across its Quiet, Please, podcast network, and they are able to produce 3,000 episodes a week. You were right. Collectively, the network says that they have seen 10 million downloads since September, 2023.
Starting point is 00:53:17 It takes about an hour to create an episode from coming up to the idea to getting it out to the world. And they have about 50 AI personalities that they've created, including food expert, Claire Deli. Gardner and nature expert Nigel Thistledown and Ollie Bennett, who covers offbeat sports. Obviously, none of those people are real. Claire Delish is not a real cooking expert. I don't know if I need to say that for folks. Nigel Thistle? That's a name from, that is Bridgeton.
Starting point is 00:53:43 That is the man from Bridgetton. So you might be thinking, who in the hell wants to listen to this? If you're thinking that, I am sorry to tell you, you're an idiot who was also lazy and you don't know what you want. That is from the founder who said, quote, I think that people who are still referring to AI generated content as AI Slop are probably lazy luddites because there's a lot of good stuff out there. So you don't know, if you're thinking I don't want to listen to that, you're a moron who is also lazy, according to the CEO. If you don't want to listen to a robot that's making things up from scanning Google, you're lazy. Yes. So I saw this headline everywhere.
Starting point is 00:54:21 And there were a couple of pieces that I just want to make sure to get included. So, like, one, it sounds like right now they're focused on making podcasts out of just basic information that you could find anywhere online, but you might want it in podcast form. We might make a pollen podcast that maybe 50 people listen to, but I'm already at unit profitability on that. So maybe I can make 500 pollen report podcast, she said. So it sounds like what they're saying is that right now, like you might want to get the weather report in a hyper-person. personalized podcast. So I can understand that as a completely different use case from the kind of podcast that you and I make that take research and human ingenuity and human compassion and human connection. I guess if it was like a robot that like went through my emails and messages and then it
Starting point is 00:55:11 was just a podcast where it's like telling me about things I need to know personally. But that's just like Siri, I guess. Yeah. And I guess I mean, I almost feel like if they were if they were going to do that I would want them. But that's not a podcast. You know, when I listen to my voicemails that somebody is left just for me, I wouldn't call that a, like words have meanings and podcasts mean something. And yeah, I do think a big part of podcasting is the kind of community aspect of it. You know, when I listen to the episode of your podcast with Gibson Johns, I scrolled down to the Spotify comments because I wanted to see what people were saying about it, right?
Starting point is 00:55:52 part of it is talking about what other listeners are thinking about it and what their response is to it. I don't see how a hyper personal podcast it is only listened to by a handful of people in the country is going to provide that. Yeah, you're not creating a community. And that's what people want when they really get into podcasts they love. They love the community. Like you said, the friends, the just, I think it's also seeing a podcaster grow, right? Like when you look at people who, if you look at people who love the podcast, like, come town. And now you have
Starting point is 00:56:24 Adam Friedlander and he's, you know, doing these huge YouTube interviews with like big people. Stavros is blowing up everywhere and just every movie. I love him. I love him. I love him. He's so, so funny. And he's, I like, I love seeing him blow up and it's like,
Starting point is 00:56:41 oh my gosh, I remember when he was like on this little tiny podcast, like making weird jokes with his friends. So you don't get that. Obviously with AI robot podcasts. Yeah, in the article, the people who run this company were saying, oh, we're not going to have it so that people, like,
Starting point is 00:56:58 we're intentionally don't want people to create connections with our AI host. So we're not coming up with backstories for them. And I was sort of thinking, that is sort of the fun of listening to a podcast. I'm sure there are people who don't care about what I have to say, but have been listening to me for a while. And it's like, oh, I just want to, I just want to peer her thoughts on stuff. And I didn't even watch that movie. She's like, half of the stuff that you all talked about at that episode,
Starting point is 00:57:22 episode I don't watch it. I don't watch TLC. Yeah. Not to not to say that I'm better than you because I watch Bravo. No, you are. You are. But you know, like I just enjoy your voice and I want to hear what you have to say and I don't think that that can be replicated with AI. That is that human aspect of
Starting point is 00:57:38 it is integral to the why we make anything. Yeah. And those, the background stories of who someone is, my absolute favorite podcast moment is Caleb Heron. I'm like, I feel like everyone knows this. him asking a guy in his class what cologne he's using.
Starting point is 00:57:55 And he like does the whole story of like just him constantly like, so Connor, what, what cologne is it? And it's so funny. And it's just like one of those things. That's the story from his life that just came up in conversation. He said, Cooper, what clone do you wear? And he said, oh, I don't, it's just like, I don't know my mom gets it for me. And I go, oh, yeah, but like what is?
Starting point is 00:58:14 He goes, I really don't know my mom gets it for me. And during this whole assembly, I just keep every time I get a chance being like, Cooper, do you even know, like, what the bottle is that? You know, but I'm trying to play it cool. So I'm like, yeah, I almost wonder what the shape of the bottle is. And he's like, oh yeah, I don't remember, man. Literally, I'm being so persistent. Because I finally, I go, I need to know what clone you are.
Starting point is 00:58:35 And he goes, if I tell you, will you just stop talking to me? And I go, and I go, and I go, yeah. It was like scenic the way it played out. Like, he'd be like talking to the boys and like cutting up. And then there was a moment silence, I'd be like, anyway, Coupe. Yeah. Cooper. Cooper.
Starting point is 00:58:53 Cooper, no, like I was saying. No, you guys are so funny. Cooper, what color is the box it comes in? Sorry, you're not getting that from an AI robot. They can't do what Caleb Heron does. And that's the best part of podcasting, those little moments where you could never have scripted it if you tried. You could never have planned it out if you tried. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:59:13 That's what you tune into podcasts for. You never know what's going to happen when you put on the mic. And if we give that over to AI and not just AI, but. a certain kind of like tech company suit. I don't know. I just, I felt reading this, this Hollywood reporter.
Starting point is 00:59:29 Everything she said was gross. Yes. And there was a time where you would be embarrassed to have your name attached to something like this. And so I don't like the idea that it's not just the AI. It's people who talk about creativity in this particular kind of way of like, oh, well, we're already getting 10 million downloads and da-da-da-da.
Starting point is 00:59:49 Yeah, it's hitting my KPIs and the ROI on. It's crazy. I hate the idea that the people in charge of things sometimes hate the thing that they're in charge of. You don't even love it. You don't even like it. Yeah. It's just this is a job for you. People who make TV now, it's so many industries are just people who are able to grow a profit.
Starting point is 01:00:14 And that's why they have their job. I'm sure the answer is yes, but do you watch the studio? Oh, yeah. I loved the studio. Me too. I think I watched it because of your recommendation. It was so good. I feel like that show, if you're not watching the studio on Apple TV,
Starting point is 01:00:29 I just finished it and I loved it. But I think that that show gets it right of the difference between somebody who just, I love movies. I've always wanted to work for a movie studio. And then when he's taken a pee at the Oscars next to the head of Netflix. Yeah, Ted Sarandos has said many times, like, I am not a movie person. I'm a tech person. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:00:49 And that's where the industry is now, I guess. It just makes me very sad. And I will say, like, as somebody who knows quite a bit about tech and the people who make it and how they talk about their own technology, reading that Hollywood reporter piece, to me, a couple of pieces to get so back to me. One, the fact that clearly humans are still required to make this thing exist. You know, the episodes are built by AI, but it's humans who are doing everything else. And so I think that we are being sold this idea that you can have a soup to nuts podcast with, no human interference. And the article does not suggest that.
Starting point is 01:01:25 It's like, oh, no, it's humans at every step of the way. And those humans are currently unpaid. The startup is currently bootstrapped and employees are not yet salaried, but the company will soon seek outside funding. So I feel like the big headline that I think might be being missed in this whole operation is that it's profitable because people are not being paid right now. They are not making money. No one is because there are people involved and they're not being paid.
Starting point is 01:01:49 And so it's profitable. Yeah. it's the whole AI, that's what it all feels like, like a bubble that's going to burst because it's something where, like, when ChatGPT was really just like a bunch of people in India who would like Google things really quickly for you. And then as soon as the, you know, curtain lifts, I'm hoping that every, the whole bubble just pops. We've been sort of talking about it a bit. I think it's coming.
Starting point is 01:02:12 I think people are less interested in AI and their commercial products. People are using AI less. I just think we are starting to see the writing on the wall that, yeah, maybe this technology is not all it's cracked up to be. And I think that the article about this AI podcast scheme, to me, it read the whole thing read like a please fund us advertising, like, oh, you know, we're seeking funding on this thing. And it's so lucrative and so profitable. And you want to get on the ground floor of this. And it's, I think that's just someone who knows this is disgusting and who has probably got. no traction among like actual podcasters or in the industry.
Starting point is 01:02:55 Yeah. And you know, talking to somebody who writes phenomenally well about culture and television and art and media, a robot can never replace you, Ashley. Like a robot could never have your, a robot could never have the kind of nuanced, layered opinions that you have about media. A robot, like, you approach everything as such a rich text.
Starting point is 01:03:18 It doesn't matter if it's, you know, a like an indie film, an A24 film or something, or 90-day fiance, you bring such a, like, nuance to it. And a robot couldn't do that. And I wouldn't even want to listen to it try. Yeah, exactly. You know, who wants that? We want to hear the people we love,
Starting point is 01:03:38 we want to hear their brains think of weird things. That's the fun of it. That is the fun of it. Actually, I have to put you on the spot. You ended your episode with, like, rapid fire TV homework. I got to watch the show Smoke. which I have not watched, but the way that you described it
Starting point is 01:03:52 made me want to watch it. What are you watching right now that you think people should know about? Oh, ooh, there's so many good ones right now. But I'll keep it techie for you. There's a new show that just debuted. It's called The Tech Bro Murders. Each episode looks at a murder in the Bay Area, basically,
Starting point is 01:04:16 and is usually someone who's like, oh, they worked at Facebook, and then they lost their mind. So, so far is like, I think a few episodes out right now, it's pretty good. Doctu-series? It's a docu-series that's out weekly. And it's, yeah, it's like, wow, yeah, drinking Red Bull all day and not sleeping isn't good for your mental health and will make you do wild things. Who knew? Okay, that's going on my list. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:44 Where can folks follow you, listen to your podcast? Well, it's at career. And also, I don't want to embarrass you, but I went to the career, I guess, like, I launch a man in D.C. And I chatted with your boss. And he had such glowing things to say about you. Like, he was like, it's such a brilliant podcast. And we're so lucky to get her. And I was like, you sure are.
Starting point is 01:05:04 You better say that. I was supposed to be at that. And I couldn't. I had to stay back and help my mom with some stuff. But I was like, oh, I want to be in D.C. And like, but they're amazing there. You can listen to my podcast, wherever you do a podcast. It's also on YouTube, on Currier.
Starting point is 01:05:19 channel or at YouTube.com at TV, I Say. And you can follow me at the Ashley Ray, everywhere. And you can follow me at Bridget Marie in D.C. on TikTok and Instagram and on YouTube at There Are No Girls on the Internet. Ashley, thank you so much for being here. Thanks to all of you for listening. I will see you on the Internet. Got a story about an interesting thing in tech or just want to say hi? You can reach us at hello at tangoati.com. You can also find transcripts for today's episode at Tangoti.com. There are no girls on the internet was created by me, Bridgettod. It's a production of IHeart Radio and unbossed creative. Jonathan Strickland is our executive producer.
Starting point is 01:05:58 Tari Harrison is our producer and sound engineer. Michael Amato is our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Todd. If you want to help us grow, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, check out the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy. Not quite.
Starting point is 01:06:30 Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letter help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?
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Starting point is 01:07:44 Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic
Starting point is 01:08:05 B-S. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turn, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, everyone. I'm Cheryl Stray, author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things. I'm excited to share that I have a new podcast called Mind Over Mountain. In each episode, I interview athletes, adventurers, and adrenaline seekers
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