There Are No Girls on the Internet - The Drama with Zendaya; BAFTAs Slur Fallout; Sheryl Sandberg Leans AI; Sex Pest Take-It-Down Conviction; Sex Toys Meta Ban; ANTIFA Terrorism Trial – NEWS ROUNDUP!

Episode Date: April 11, 2026

In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike cover the tech news stories you might have missed. Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In is fighting the gender gap in AI adoption, but raising questio...ns about its own leadership. https://www.fastcompany.com/91521751/sheryl-sandbergs-lean-in-is-fighting-the-gender-gap-in-ai-adoption Gen Z Goes to the Movies! The new Zendaya film 'The Drama' is a smash hit. Younger Audiences Are Driving Box Office Sales, Study Shows https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/gen-z-driving-box-office-1236703551/ The FBI was able to recover deleted Signal messages from a user's phone because they were stored in his notification history. Check your Signal settings now to stay safe "Settings > Notification > Store" https://www.404media.co/fbi-extracts-suspects-deleted-signal-messages-saved-in-iphone-notification-database-2/ She Was in Labor at a Florida Hospital. Then She Was in Zoom Court for Refusing a C-Section. https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-hearing-c-section BBC breached editorial standards over BAFTAs racial slur but no big deal, BBC investigation finds.  https://news.sky.com/story/bbc-breached-editorial-standards-over-baftas-racial-slur-investigation-finds-13529270 Ohio creep becomes first to be convicted under new Take-It-Down law for sexually explicit images: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/08/ohio-man-convicted-ai-sexually-explicit-images Instagram reportedly deletes Bellesa sex toy shop account for using the word 'clitoris': https://mashable.com/article/instagram-deletes-bellesa-shop-account-with-700000-followers‘This Is Not Me’: Inside the AI Scams Driving Musicians Crazy: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/ai-scams-musicians-streaming-services-spotify-1235535753/ Let us know what you think about these stories by emailing hello@tangoti.com or leaving a comment on Spotify. Pre-order Bridget's forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com ! Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.socialSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:01:57 radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There are no girls on the internet. a production of IHeart Radio and Unbossed Creative. I'm Bridget Todd, and this is There Are No Girls on the Internet. Can we dip into the drama around the drama a little bit? The drama, of course, being Zendaya's new A-24 movie that is in theaters now, which you and I both saw over the weekend on opening night, mind you, which is always a little bit exciting for me. Yeah, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:02:34 The drama, drama is worth talking about. And the movie was pretty fun. I really enjoyed it. The reviews are very polarizing. so like it's not the kind of movie that's going to be for everybody. The theater was full of what I kind of clocked as young Gen Z types, which was very exciting. I actually saw a new poll that said that young people are going to the movies more. This makes me happy as somebody who loves going to the movies. The idea of people not going to the movies concerns me. And it's all that I do,
Starting point is 00:03:06 frankly, it's like my one big pastime. So I feel kind of cool that I'm like, oh yeah, me and Gen Z have the same pastime here. So youthful, so in touch with the kids. According to Fandango's annual movie going trends and insight study, they surveyed 7,000 adults and they found that 87% of Gen Ziers and 82% of millennials saw at least one movie in theaters in the past 12 months compared with 70% of Gen Xers and only 58% of baby boomers. So the Gen Zers are going to movies more than everybody else. Although, it's like everybody's going to movies.
Starting point is 00:03:43 That's like the majority of American adults went to at least one movie, which is surprising. I thought the movies were dying. What are they talking about? Well, that brings me to a little bit of my own personal drama regarding the drama, which was that, I don't know. I just want to have a little bit of a reset conversation about theater etiquette. Because we were at the movies together. And if, like, stop me if I'm lying. This was my, this was what I remember of that experience.
Starting point is 00:04:13 We saw it at a small art house theater. Everybody talked at full volume through the trailers, not the commercials that come on before the movies. I'm talking about the coming attraction, the trailers for new movies coming out. Everyone in that theater was talking at full volume, not just one or two groups of people. You and I were the only people who were not speaking. and they were speaking at full volume. Is that a correct assessment of what the situation was? I think you might be overblowing it a little bit.
Starting point is 00:04:47 There were a lot of people talking. There was one group in particular that was sort of down front that clearly were there on some kind of like large group, triple date, quadruple date thing. And I think there were a couple of them that were really talking at full volume and then just sort of giving license to many other. in the theater to just, yeah, be talking through the commercials, which like, you know, who cares? But then through the trailers, it was pretty distracting.
Starting point is 00:05:20 I mean, you were taking it pretty hard. I was a guest. I truly was like, am I missing something? I guess that's, I guess that's a question that I will pose. Has theater etiquette shifted where there is no longer an expectation that you will be quiet through the coming a track? I come early because I want to see the trailers. I was so surprised. Also, I have to push back on your characterization a little bit because it was a very small theater.
Starting point is 00:05:48 So there were only but like a few big groups in the theater. I remember that all of them were speaking loudly. And I don't mean, again, I won't begrudge somebody speaking in hushed tones. Sure, do what you got to do. I don't love it, but do what you got to do. This was full volume conversation. And because it's a theater, you can sort of hear what people are saying. And it's not like they're saying things like, oh, that looks good or oh, I'm going to see that movie.
Starting point is 00:06:11 It's they're talking about Sheila from work or something. Yeah, they're talking about dumb stuff. So anyway, back to the part about you being in touch with the young people, but also super mad about them talking during the trailers. Well, I guess that's my question. Young people, do y'all talk through trailers? Is that, is that the vibe? Like, this is like the Simpsons meme. no, it's the children who are out of touch.
Starting point is 00:06:38 Is it me? Is my, I mean, I don't know if I've told this story on the podcast, but going to see a screening of the menu, girl sitting next to me, blasting through full volume TikToks. And when I asked her to stop, it, like, I have not had a lot of experiences in my life where things almost got physical, but I was like, we might get into a physical fight. Like, I was, I was like, ready. I was thinking, if that's what happens, that's what happens. at the screening of the drama
Starting point is 00:07:05 I remember when the movie started it did take a they did quiet down but it wasn't an instant quieting so like the movie was like playing for a little bit until they stopped talking I mean you shushed them about like half a second
Starting point is 00:07:21 into the film you had that shush on the tip of your tongue ready to go and you let it rip I had it in the chamber at that point we have paid to see the program. You know, I was, I'm not somebody who was too afraid to, you know, how people will be like, they'll take a picture and they'll put it on social media and be like, this woman did X, Y, Z, rude behavior. I'm the one in the comments is like, did you tell her that?
Starting point is 00:07:47 You tell her to stop. Put her feet down. You tell her to stop kicking your chair, whatever it is. I have no problem shushing youth in a theater. Maybe I am out of touch. Maybe I'm not as cool as I thought I was. I mean, the funny thing is that you only bring this energy to the theater. Like, I really can't think of any other aspect of your life that you are so gung-ho to police the actions of strangers. Oh, is there any, oh, now you, I think that's, well, it's movie theater etiquette and it's how people get off of a plane. Oh, yeah. We've traveled together and you've seen how I get. We don't need to get into it now, but you've seen how I get when somebody is like,
Starting point is 00:08:31 not following the rules of being in a society, being in a polite society when we're de-planning. You know, Bridget, you really keep me guessing about like where are the areas where you're just cool, go with the flow and other areas where there are rules and they must be followed and enforced. Mike says this. Nobody is a bigger enforcer of society's rules than Mike. Well, yeah, right. I know. I'm coming off sounding like I'm the one that's like, like, rule. Little Miss Rules, nobody is more of an enforcer of rules in public than Mike.
Starting point is 00:09:05 I mean, that's not entirely fair, but I do generally get annoyed when people do dumb things. Like the other day I was driving and some guy who was just standing in the middle of the street not doing anything decided he was going to let me go. So he like wave and he was like, oh, okay, you can come through. And I said, like, gee, thanks. because I was pretty annoyed that he was just standing in the street. And you were like aghast. But to me that is so much more egregious. The guy's like blocking the street.
Starting point is 00:09:38 We could go tit for tat of who is more insane between the two of us. I think I mask it better. I think that's probably true. So the point is I wanted to pose that question. Has the etiquette changed? Are we talking through trailers? What is the latest? Let me know.
Starting point is 00:09:54 Okay, so let's get into it. Mike, what do you remember about Cheryl? Sandberg. Oh, man. I remember Lean In. I remember she was sort of unceremoniously pushed out. And then I remember I think there was like a little bit of a delay
Starting point is 00:10:13 but then it came out that there was a lot of younger staffers were like cuddling in bed with her in like a story that just didn't make a lot of of sense, like kind of made a lot of sense, but also, I don't really recall exactly how that
Starting point is 00:10:34 particular thread ended. How did I do? Oh, I'm so impressed by how much you remember about Sheryl Sandberg, because she's not a figure that people talk about a ton. You're exactly right that, you know, she was Facebook's first ever COO. She left Facebook in 2022 for how much fanfare there was of her time at Facebook and when she got hired, she left with like very little fanfare in 2022. She wrote the book Lean In that I think represented a certain kind of empowerment for a certain kind of woman when we were having conversations about working women and girl bosses and all of that. So after Cheryl Sandberg left to Facebook in 2022, there was a kind of little micro PR kerfuffle a few years after that that I thought was pretty telling.
Starting point is 00:11:26 last summer, Stephen Miller was meeting with Mark Zuckerberg at Marlago. And according to the times, Zuckerberg blamed Cheryl Sandberg for an inclusivity initiative that Facebook had been encouraging employees self-expression in the workplace. And this he, so basically he just threw her under the bus, was like, oh, all that self-expression and diversity stuff. That was all Cheryl Sandberg. I didn't want anything to do with that. This was, of course, right before Zuckerberg announced that Meta was going to, stop fact-checking and they were going to get rid of their corporate diversity programs.
Starting point is 00:12:00 When a reporter, Carissa Bell, wrote about this and wrote kind of like, oh, it seems like Mark Zuckerberg is throwing Cheryl Sandberg under the bus. Zuckerberg commented on that journalist's post, quote, Cheryl did amazing work at Meta and will forever be a legend in the industry. She built one of the greatest businesses of all time and taught me much of what I know. And then, very quickly, Cheryl Sandberg replies to his comment and says, Thank you, Zuck. I will always be grateful for the many years we spent building a great business together and for your friendship that got me through some of the hardest times in my life
Starting point is 00:12:35 and continues to this day. And then Zuckerberg hearted that comment. The whole thing read like a PR cleanup that like her PR talked to his PR and they agreed, we are going to publicly affirm that we are friends and that you didn't throw me under the bus, right? That whole thing read like that to me. Those comments are like the most touchy-feely, heartfelt sentiments that are just like hilarious to imagine them coming from Zuckerberg or Cheryl Sandberg. Like regardless of what you think of those two, neither one of them is known for being like touchy-feely really into. Well, we'll get to that.
Starting point is 00:13:22 That's fair. you know, emotionally touchy-feely, sensitive into friendship. These aren't things that they're into. No, and notably Mark Zuckerberg did not walk back his comment. It wasn't as if he said, oh, I didn't mean that. He stood by what he said to Stephen Miller, that these things were her idea and that he didn't want to do them.
Starting point is 00:13:45 And that after she left, he continued to go on and on about how the problem with tech companies is they don't have enough masculine energy, you know. So he, to me, it seems like he's standing by those comments. Mark Zuckerberg and Stephen Miller, two of the most masculine guys you could imagine. Can you imagine what the conversation must have been like between those two? I don't want to imagine it. I could only imagine it was forced.
Starting point is 00:14:12 So what is Cheryl Sandberg up to now? Well, Cheryl Sandberg is trying to get women to lean out from wanting to be tradwives and lean in to using AI. Lean In, her organization just put out some new research that digs into how women use AI in the workplace relative to their male counterparts, which basically says that women are adopting AI less in workplaces. Leanin found that 78% of men had used AI in the workplace when compared to 73% of women. Men also reported using AI more regularly, about a third of men use AI daily, while only 27% of women did the same. We actually discussed a lot of similar findings in an episode of the podcast that we'll put in the show notes. In reading about Lean In's position on this, I think Sandberg is clearly adopting a kind of framing that says that, oh, women aren't using AI. And that means that women are going to be left behind professionally and economically.
Starting point is 00:15:07 This framing is very, very common. But it's not framing that I personally subscribe to, which we get into in that episode that I'll put in the show notes. But that's like her framing, that we got to get more women using AI. so that women don't get left behind economically and in workplaces. She also hired a brand new CEO for Leanin, named Bridget, spelled correctly, by the way, as it should be spelled, Bridget Griswold, who is a former meta product manager who just entered the workforce three years ago.
Starting point is 00:15:39 So she's newly hired from her last position as AI and product director to the chief executive, from that position to now being, the CEO of this massive women's and empowerment nonprofit lean in, despite having zero traditional nonprofit leadership experience, according to the Wall Street Journal. When I read that in your notes for this episode, I was like, oh, Bridget must have made a typo here or something.
Starting point is 00:16:08 Let me look this woman up. And so I looked at her LinkedIn, which is just right there. And it's not a typo. Like, in 2022, her position was intern. then from that, she catapulted to a product manager position at Meta and is now CEO of Cheryl Sandberg's organization, which is just a meteoric rise for anybody. That is definitely one way to put it. This is kind of interesting for a lot of reasons.
Starting point is 00:16:40 A bunch of longtime staffers at Leanin quit after this Bridget was promoted. More than a dozen employees, roughly a quarter of the foundation staff. departed over the last year through layoffs and resignations, with Griswold's rapid promotion and lack of nonprofit experience being cited by insiders as a key factor driving the Exodus according to the journal. And I do have to just mention this. You kind of obliquely alluded to it earlier, but if you have read the memoir Careless People, which you should read because it's really a phenomenal piece of writing, that book makes allegations. about how Cheryl Sandberg always wanted to have young, attractive female staffers around her.
Starting point is 00:17:27 There's an allegation made that Cheryl Sandberg expected or invited these young, attractive female staffers to cuddle with her in bed during overnight trips on private planes and such. Cheryl Sandberg would reportedly buy them lingerie. According to careless people, if these were not things that you were down with, if you were invited to do these things and you didn't want to do them, it could harm your career. So I feel like I need to say that just because if I had read allegations of this kind of workplace behavior about a man,
Starting point is 00:18:01 I would definitely have something to say about it. I would have some raised eyebrows. And then seeing a very young woman be, you know, I guess I don't want to say the wrong thing. I just think it's, I think it's worth noting that this was a allegation made by someone who was working under Cheryl Sandberg. I think that's important context for people to understand this leadership change. It feels like potentially very relevant context.
Starting point is 00:18:32 Yeah. I mean, promoting somebody to be CEO who has no nonprofit experience, who only entered the workforce as an intern a handful of years ago, it's a curious move, you know? Curious. And I'll say people, I've worked at a lot of nonprofits. People might think, oh, a nonprofit, it's not really a big, serious organization. But nonprofit world is cutthroat. And people have a lot of experience. And yeah, this is not really the kind of meteoric rise that I've heard of a lot. someone going from, you know, intern to CEO of a big nonprofit in this a couple of years.
Starting point is 00:19:20 That's not something that I have heard of a lot. So Cheryl Sandberg wants lean in to focus more on combating Tradwife sensibilities. In a LinkedIn post, Sandberg criticized the Tradwife online movement, calling it a recycled idea that could push women to give up their careers and revert back to old-fashioned gender roles, which I absolutely agree with and think that she's right on the money there. She also raised alarm about the timing, citing data suggesting that younger men are growing more supportive of super traditional gender dynamics and marriage dynamics, and encouraged women to push back against what she sees as these outdated assumptions about where women belong, both at home and in the workplace. So I don't disagree with any of that.
Starting point is 00:20:05 I think that she's right on the money there. But I don't really see how. telling women to embrace AI is going to be the thing that makes women want to turn away from trad, white lifestyles. And I guess I just don't actually trust that someone like Cheryl Sandberg is going to know what will actually support women in this moment. Leaning in and girl bossing did not save women. I don't think that meaningfully got women a lot. I would actually argue that a mindset that tells women to just lean in and kick butt through things like, systemic failures and systemic lack of support systems that you did not create caused a lot of us to burn out. And frankly, is probably one of the reasons why people are able to repackage trad wipery into something that looks kind of appealing online when it just actually isn't. So I would argue that leaning in Cheryl Sandberg's big answer to all of these problems didn't actually work for women. So now it's AI. We are already
Starting point is 00:21:10 know that emerging evidence suggests that women's labor may be disproportionately vulnerable to AI labor displacement. So I don't know. I'm not sure how telling people to embrace like full-throatedly embrace AI is going to be the thing that then combats women wanting to check out of the workforce. You know what I'm saying? I do. It does feel like these are two pretty different things. like confronting tradwifery, which is a phrase that I had not heard before, but I do kind of like the phrase tread wifery. Not the concept, just the phrase itself. But pushing back against that certainly seems like a good thing to do. But like you said, and therefore we need to encourage all women to embrace all women to embrace.
Starting point is 00:22:08 race AI feels like not, it doesn't feel like a solution to the problem of women being exposed to trad wife messaging. Like these, these seem like two different things that don't really have a whole lot to do with each other. So if anything, I would argue that telling more people to just full-throatedly embrace AI, because we know there is such a risk for human labor displacement, I would actually argue that if your whole thing is you want women robustly showing up in a workforce and being paid what they're actually worth
Starting point is 00:22:48 and being able to make economic and professional and educational moves for themselves, I actually don't know that full-throated embrace of AI will lead to that. If anything, I think it will lead to the opposite. Like, we'll all be able to be trad wives and stay home, making bread, because we're not having a fucking job. I feel like she's not like thinking it through. Yeah, that's the big gamble that we're all making right now. And I guess my larger point is maybe we should stop listening to Cheryl Sandberg.
Starting point is 00:23:18 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 a cappella band with their between songs banter. There's that worst singer in the group?
Starting point is 00:23:47 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 group. The yard birds, right? That's the name.
Starting point is 00:24:02 The Harvard yard, but they're open. Do you have a name suggestion? We're open. Since you guys are middle aged. One erection. Listen to here. Humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Humor me.
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Starting point is 00:24:47 Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Let us show you at iHeartadvertising.com. That's iHeartadvertising.com. What's up, fam? It's 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.
Starting point is 00:25:06 He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we're. 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.
Starting point is 00:25:19 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, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.
Starting point is 00:25:38 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, I said, you figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah. 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, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, everyone.
Starting point is 00:25:59 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
Starting point is 00:26:24 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. We're there to support and celebrate each other. And that's not like a your story.
Starting point is 00:26:40 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. At our back.
Starting point is 00:27:07 Okay, so we talked about what happened at the BAFTAs earlier this year. The BAFTAs are kind of like the British Oscars. So just to give you a bit of a recap, John Davidson, who has the next. neurological condition Tourette's was at the Baptist ceremony back in February to celebrate this film about his life. He has a particular kind of Tourette's that involves ticks where he sometimes uncontrollably shouts out things. And it's when that happens, it's like the worst thing that you could imagine saying. So the most contextually awful, offensive thing that one can say. And so at the Bafas, he yelled out the N word at the first.
Starting point is 00:27:49 first award of the night being presented by the sinners team, Michael D. Jordan, and Delroy Lindo, who were black. There were other things that he yelled out, like yelling out pedophile while the Baptist award ceremony host, Alan Cumming, was speaking. But those did not make it into the broadcast. They were edited out. Also edited out was a speech where Aconola Dadees Jr. said, Free Palestine during his winning speech. That was also edited out. However, the N-word was kept in the broadcast, even as Sony executives asked the Baptist not to include it in the broadcast. But they did. After this happened, Davidson gave an interview where it sounded like to me, he had been kind of set up by the Baptist. He said that the Baptist told him that he would be seated
Starting point is 00:28:37 very far from the stage and that no one would hear anything if you were to experience a tick. But then somehow there was a live microphone in front of him for something. some reason. And like when he was experiencing tics, he did not realize initially that people could even hear them because he was told you'll be sitting in a place where people won't hear them. I remember talking about this story and looking into it. And that was my conclusion, too. Like it did sound like he had been set up. Like there was just to believe that it was an unintentional accident, what would need to believe a whole series of really weird. almost unexplainable events transpired.
Starting point is 00:29:22 That is exactly how I would describe the results of the investigation, which we now have. So the Baptists said they were going to look into this. This week, we have the results of the investigation from the BBC's executive complaints unit or ECU about what went wrong. What you just said that you would have to believe so many, so many random things all happened at once, just happened to happen. That's essentially what they're saying happened. So this is from Sky News. In its report, the ECU said members of the production team monitoring the ceremony in an outside broadcast vehicle said they did not hear or recognize the N-word. Investigators accepted their account agreeing the word, quote, was extremely indistinct to the point where it might well have not been recognized.
Starting point is 00:30:09 So they didn't realize it was the N-word. Okay, sure. So they also say about 10 minutes later, there was another recurrent. of the N-word, which was recognized and, quote, immediately ended out in accordance with the protocols of offensive language. There is no reason to conclude that they would have applied the protocols in one case while deliberately ignoring them in the other, the ECU report said. I mean, that's a pretty generous assumption that they're making.
Starting point is 00:30:41 I'm so curious how they came to this conclusion. But, okay. Okay, but remember, one of the big issues was that the word was not edited out of the recorded version of the broadcast later, because certainly by then all parties knew it contained the slur. There was no confusion about what the word was by that point. So what happened there? Well, investigators said there was a, quote, lack of clarity among the team as to whether the word was audible, which resulted in a delay of several hours. This was a, quote, quote, serious mistake because there could be no certainty that the word would be inaudible to all viewers, they said, adding that the unedited recording remained available, quote, for so long, aggravated the offense caused by the inadvertent inclusion of the word during the initial broadcast. So this part makes no sense to me, right?
Starting point is 00:31:37 Like this part, if I'm understanding it correctly, they were saying that for several hours, which we know that almost immediately after it occurred, Warner Brothers. went to the BBC who was producing the show and explicitly asked them to edit it out and make sure that it was edited out. So that happened right away. So according to this investigation, we're meant to believe that for several hours,
Starting point is 00:32:04 the BBC production team was, like, debating with itself whether or not the word was actually audible. And so, like, my question is, like, why not edit it out? just to be safe. Like, even if it's, like, so quiet that nobody can hear it,
Starting point is 00:32:21 just edit it out. And if it truly is so quiet, nobody will hear it. Nobody will ever know the difference. Why not do that? That part makes no sense. Also, if you're doing, if you've got a tape delayed broadcast
Starting point is 00:32:37 and you can make, and they clearly, as we'll get to it to a minute, they clearly had a lot of editorial decisions to make about what to cut and what to leave in. So you've got a broadcast. let's say let's let's say i believe them which i fucking don't but let's say that i do why is it okay to have it be like well something was screamed out but don't worry it's not audible people people aren't going to be it's not it's not clearly recognizable as a slur
Starting point is 00:33:04 it'll just be like an unrecognizable thing that is yelled out why is that better just like just you know what i mean like as you said just cut it out what like why Why include that? Why include it? I mean, yeah, it's a great question. I struggle to think of any answer why they wouldn't just cut it out. And I just don't believe it. I guess that's what it comes down to.
Starting point is 00:33:34 The whole thing of them saying, we didn't know that was going to be audible or not. What do you mean? I feel like I need more information about what they mean about that. Because like they could hear it. Yeah, but was it audible? Sure you can hear it, but is it audible? But is it audible? Not even a good lie.
Starting point is 00:33:56 Okay, so what about the fact that free Palestine was cut out of a speech for the broadcast while the N-word was left in? Well, per Sky News, the investigation found that the production team's decision, quote, did not hinge on considerations of impartiality, but rather the main consideration was cutting out an hour of the three-hour show to fifth the two-hour broadcast. Quote, as is usual in coverage of events of this kind, cuts were made in some of the longer acceptance speeches, including that of Mr. Davies. The report said, the ECU found the editing of the speech did not raise an issue of editorial standards.
Starting point is 00:34:35 So just totally random that they cut free Palestine. Yeah, just random, just random that they cut free Palestine. It could have been anything, you know, it could have been anything that they cut. I'm glad that they threw that part in there as well, just to make it clear that their conclusions are bullshit. Yes, yes. I will say this was nice to hear that the ECU report noted that the complaints about the broadcast all showed a high level of awareness that Mr. Davidson's interjection was an involuntary result of his condition and that no blame was attached to him because he has a condition. So he is not to blame for this. The BAS and the BBC are to blame.
Starting point is 00:35:16 for this. So, I mean, I guess I'm happy that most people are keeping the smoke on the BBC and the BFTAs where it belongs, but I am disheartened to see that they're like, and also it kind of wasn't our fault either. You know? No, we were doing our best. We were just locked in an internal debate for several hours about whether or not this thing that we all heard was actually audible and should be cut from the broadcast. And that we were told to cut from the broadcast and we said that we would cut from the broadcast, and that we just didn't cut it from the broadcast. The report didn't say anything that I saw about why Davidson was sat next to a mic
Starting point is 00:35:54 or why it took so long for the Baptist or the BBC to meaningfully reach out to the sinners cast about what happened or what was being done to make any kind of amends for this catastrophic failure. I think honestly, they could have written anything in this investigation report and I would still be mad. I think I personally will probably die mad about it. and that this has to be it. There's a lot of stuff like that these days.
Starting point is 00:36:19 So quick trigger warning on this next story because it's a little bit rough. We have talked a lot about non-consensual AI-generated images of women and girls this year. And now an Ohio man who pled guilty to cybercrimes involving both real and AI-generated sexually explicit images has become what the Department of Justice says is the first person to be convicted under the Take It Down
Starting point is 00:36:45 Act, that new federal AI statute. So according to prosecutors, James Straller II, targeted at least six adult women between December 2024 and June of 2025, sending them harassing messages, along with both real and AI generated explicit images of these women. So he would obtain or make these images of the women and then send them to the women he was harassing. He used AI to create pornographic videos depicting at least one of the victims in sex acts with her father and then shared those videos with her co-workers as part of a larger harassment campaign. Sounds like a real cool guy. Yeah, a real winner. He also reportedly contacted the mom of his victims, threatening to distribute the explicit material that he had
Starting point is 00:37:32 created of their daughters unless the mothers sent him nude photos of themselves. So he was basically like trying to extort the mothers of the victims that he was harassing into sending in nude images. Prosecutors further allege that he repeatedly called the victims leaving voicemails of himself either masturbating or threatening sexual violence. So the Guardian reports that he admitted to cyber-stalking, producing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse, and publication of digital forgeries. So that last charge, the digital forgeries charge, relates to the Take It Down Act, which prohibits non-consensual online publication of intimate visual depictions and AI forgeries. So this legislation prohibits anyone from
Starting point is 00:38:17 knowingly publishing or threatened to publish intimate images, including AI-generated deep fake images without consent. Social media companies and websites must remove the violating content within 48 hours following a victim's request. The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio said, we believe Stroller is the first person in the U.S. to be convicted under the Take It Down Act. We will not tolerate the abhorrent practice of posting and publicizing AI-generated intimate images of real individuals without consent. And boy, oh boy, do I wish that were true? Because GROC is still being used to generate non-consensual images of women and girls, even while high school girls are taking Elon Musk to court over it. A group of high school girls just sued
Starting point is 00:39:08 Elon Musk over GROC being used to create AI-generated images of them and they are minors. Yet, Musk is still doing business. Payment processors are still supporting payment transactions for people to purchase GROC and X subscriptions, even as the EU says that GROC is being used to create a legal content of minors. So, yeah, I wish it were true that we won't tolerate this happening, but I don't think that actually is the truth. That's so disappointing because it's so true, you know, it's like you, it almost feels like a little bit of a win. Like a creep is prosecuted and women who have been targeted by what seemed like pretty disturbing crimes, get some justice, and you almost feel good about that.
Starting point is 00:40:03 But then you just look at the uneven. inconsistent way that the administration and the Justice Department apply things like this. And it clearly is like two sets of rules, right? Like one for people that they want to target, which in this case, it seems like they targeted a legitimate creep, but then a totally different set of rules for their allies like Musk, who like you said, is just continuing. to sell subscriptions to software that does exactly the same thing
Starting point is 00:40:43 that this guy was just convicted for? Exactly. It's so clearly two set of rules and unequal enforcement. So yeah, I wish that we did live in a world where this stuff was taken seriously and that we wouldn't tolerate it. But we don't because of exactly what you just said that the powers that be are invested
Starting point is 00:41:00 in letting people that they like and their allies get away with it, profit from it, laugh about it, diminish it, continue to do it, find new ways to do it, build an empire on it, and I hate it. And so, yeah, I think until that institutional wrong is righted, I just, I wish I could agree that we take it seriously, as this district attorney said, but I don't. All the evidence is pointing to the fact that we don't. The Take It Down Act only works if somebody complains. And so somebody has to know, like, if I'm on on X, I have no idea that this image of me is on there. And so like, nobody has to, no platform
Starting point is 00:41:38 I don't, I'm not a big fan of this legislation because I think it puts a big burden on the survivor to, first of all, be on the platform where this is happening, make the request, and then follow through with it to make sure that that 48 hours window is abides by. There's lots of different ways to do legislation. I think this legislation puts way too much of the burden on the victim. More after a quick break. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumor me with Robert Myel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Jim Gaffigan to Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman
Starting point is 00:42:23 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. The worst singer in the group? The worst? Yeah. Me. Is there anything to the idea that because you're from Harvard, you only got in because
Starting point is 00:42:41 your parents made a huge donation. The group. The yard bird. right that's the name the Harvard yard but they're open do you have a name suggestion we're open since you guys are middle aged uh one erection listen to humor me with robert smigle 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 ad supported streaming music from spotify and
Starting point is 00:43:19 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. Think podcasting can help your business. Think IHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Call 844-Ehart to get started. That's 844-844-I-Hart. What's up, fam? Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast's point game is about define the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.
Starting point is 00:43:53 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 because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.
Starting point is 00:44:14 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. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball.
Starting point is 00:44:40 So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. everyone, I'm Cheryl Strayd, 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 our own seemingly insurmountable challenges. Do you know what I'm going to do?
Starting point is 00:45:15 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. You're not just going to put your mind over it. Yep, yep, exactly.
Starting point is 00:45:34 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. Let's get right back into it. So this is a quick story that I'm glad we're talking about because I think it has some very practical implications. 404 media published an article today about what they said is the first trial in which people were charged as terrorists for Antifa activities. Antifa stands for anti-fascist. Being opposed to fascists has been criminalized by the Trump administration.
Starting point is 00:46:21 So despite the fact that Antifa is really just more of. like a general idea in any sort of organization. Trump declared it a terrorist organization in September. And so in this particular trial, a group of people who allegedly set off fireworks and
Starting point is 00:46:41 vandalized an ice facility in Texas were arrested. And because of that declaration, they are being charged as terrorists. So one detail that's emerged from the trial is that a big part of the evidence that was presented against them is from the defendant's signal messages,
Starting point is 00:47:01 which the FBI was able to recover from the phone of one of the defendants, who was charged with setting off the fireworks. As listeners know, we are huge fans of Signal here at Tangote. It's the primary messaging app that we use for talking about show production stuff, as well as just personal conversations. It's free, it's secure, and in my opinion, everyone should be using it all the time as like our default messaging app. Both Bridget and I give monthly donations, but not because we want to unlock some special features or anything, because everybody gets all the special features for free.
Starting point is 00:47:41 It's just because we really like it and want to support it. It's run by a nonprofit. I think it's a great model for what valuable software can be. They don't sponsor the show in any way. I'm just talking like this because I genuinely really like what they have built and put into the world. As you said, I'm a big fan of Signal, but I have to ask if Signal is so secure, how did the FBI gain access to these defendants messages? That is a great question, Bridget. And that is a big part of why I wanted to cover this segment here, almost as like a public service announcement for listeners.
Starting point is 00:48:17 So like pretty much all messaging apps, when you receive an incoming text on your phone via signal, you get a notification on your phone that tells you that you have a new message. By default, that notification includes a preview of the actual message contents, the first 100 characters or so of what it says. And this is the problem, and this is how the FBI was able to access the defendant's messages, even though they had been deleted from Signal. They were no longer accessible from the Signal app itself, but they were still able to be found in the phone's notification history. So even though the message had been deleted within the app, a copy still existed within that notification history in the phone's operating system. And so that's what the prosecutors presented in court.
Starting point is 00:49:10 And it's a good reminder that despite all of the apps, like sophisticated encryption and very careful design features in so many ways, that one user setting and the way it was configured undermined all of that and left those messages exposed. Wow. So if anybody listening wants to fix this, what should they be doing? Yes, they should change that setting. And I would urge everybody to do this like right now while you're listening.
Starting point is 00:49:40 Why not? What else have you got to do? Dry your hands from doing the dishes. or whatever you're doing while you listen to this. Go to the Signal app, go to settings, notifications, and then click on show. And that will give you some options about what information gets shown in notifications. You have three options.
Starting point is 00:49:57 You can choose name and message, which is the least secure. That's what these people who are now being charged as terrorists had, so you probably don't want that. You could also choose name only, so it just shows you the name of the person who messaged you, but none of the content of the message itself. Or you could choose no name or message, which would be the most secure.
Starting point is 00:50:19 You should, in my opinion, you should choose one of those latter two options, depending on how secure you want to be. And that will keep the contents of your messages out of your phone's notification history. I actually think it's really unfortunate that one of those more secure options, even the name-only option,
Starting point is 00:50:41 isn't the default on signal. We know that defaults really matter a lot for how people engage with apps, like the realities that most people install a app and probably never change the defaults. And so for an app that markets itself so strongly on security, it feels a little bit like a miss to leave something so important
Starting point is 00:51:04 to the responsibility of the end user. And I hope they change. that, honestly. But in the meantime, until they do, I would really urge everybody who values their privacy to make that change. And I know some of you were thinking, I don't go to protests, I'm not an activist, I'm not a journalist. This is not the kind of thing that I need to think about. That is actually not true because good personal digital security is important for everyone. I always tell my friends who say that to me. I'm like, well, I am a journalist and an activist, and you know me and I'm in your phone. So have good digital security to protect your friend B, who is these things, even if you're not. Yes, that is such a great point, right?
Starting point is 00:51:48 Like, it's not just about everybody protecting themselves. It's about all of us protecting everybody in our networks, our families, our friends, our acquaintances, right? Like, good digital security, I think, is just a good practice for all of them, especially like just look at the world, right? Like look outside, look at any headlines in any newspaper, listen to the stories that we cover on this show. Like, how many people have we covered
Starting point is 00:52:25 where it's just a normal non-celebrity, everyday person going about their life who all of a sudden, for reasons outside their control, is thrust into an internet maelstrom where they have to contend with being doxed and harassed and coordinated attacks from people who just want to harm them. It's unfortunate, but it happens.
Starting point is 00:52:49 And I don't think we need to live our lives in fear or like unreasonable paranoia. But I think just in case it is important to take steps to protect our privacy and the privacy of the people that we care about. because once it's a sort of thing that like once you need it, it's too late. Well put. More after a quick break. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guide, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.
Starting point is 00:53:34 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? The worst? Yeah. Me.
Starting point is 00:53:52 Is there anything to the idea that because you're from Harvard, 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.
Starting point is 00:54:07 Since you guys are middle aged. One erection. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Human 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.
Starting point is 00:54:35 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. Think podcasting can help your business. Think IHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Let us show you at IHeartadvertising.com. That's iHeartadvertising.com.
Starting point is 00:54:57 What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast's 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. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves.
Starting point is 00:55:16 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 Nasree. 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.
Starting point is 00:55:35 And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run 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.
Starting point is 00:55:52 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, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. This is my best friend, Janet. And we have been joined at the hips since high school.
Starting point is 00:56:10 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 with all the snacks and drink.
Starting point is 00:56:24 Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? I would. How could you believe? I would buy it.
Starting point is 00:56:38 Cut through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're 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. Let's get right back into it. Okay, so the courts have found time and time again that the state cannot force somebody to undergo medical treatment, even if that medical
Starting point is 00:57:23 treatment might save someone else's life. But there is a pretty big glaring exception, and that is people who are giving birth. ProPublica has this horrifying investigation that will put in the show notes about black women who are being forced by the courts to undergo C-sections when they don't want to have C-sections. In the one Propublica piece, she talks about a black woman named Cherise, who herself is a dula, so she has some experience around childbirth and birthing. Her water breaks, she goes to the hospital in Florida. This is how ProPublica reports on what happened next. Doctors told her they were concerned about the risk of uterine rupture, a potentially deadly complication for her and her baby.
Starting point is 00:58:08 Cherise understood the risk to be less than 2% and repeatedly told doctors she would not consent to a cesarean without trying to have a vaginal delivery first. The doctors appeared to relent, leaving her to labor for several more hours. that a nursing supervisor wheeled a tablet up to her bed and informed her that she was in court. The reason? Failing to agree to a C-section. So, ProPublica has the video of her Zoom court hearing, and it is exactly what you're thinking. She is very much in a hospital bed. She is undressed.
Starting point is 00:58:45 She's got that, like, hair cap thingy on that they make you wear when you're in the hospital. She's hooked up to IVs. She is very much somebody who was in the middle of attempting labor, while also being forced to do a Zoom court hearing with seven strangers, judges, and court administrators. I looked at that video, and it is horrifying. It's like something out of a parody because there's so many people on that Zoom call. And not only is she the only black person on that Zoom call, but she's like in. a hospital bed, hooked up to IVs, in labor, in active labor, it seems like a parody if it weren't so horrifying and upsetting.
Starting point is 00:59:35 Yes, ProPublica obtained that video of her Zoom court hearing and got her consent to share the story. In that Zoom call, you can basically hear her arguing her case for wanting to do this vaginal birth and not wanting a C-section. And exactly as you said, it's it's just horrifying. Like, it's like the image of a black woman who was like this hooked up to all the machines
Starting point is 01:00:00 and very much in a hospital, while having to kind of plead her case about what she wants to do with her own body to a bunch of white guys is it's just horrifying. I don't want to be a statistic. And I came here
Starting point is 01:00:17 out of precaution however I still have rights as an American citizen and as a patient that I am allowed to decide what goes on with me in my body and my baby well let me ask you about that what about the risks to the child that the doctors testified about some risks and help me understand that in regards to what because she's saying that the uterine rupture can cause the placenta to abrupt and it's a lot of what ifs and maybe. Anytime you go into childbirth, whether you do a vaginal or a C-section,
Starting point is 01:00:57 there is inherent risk to the mother and the baby. So if it's between them choosing whether I have to live or the baby has to live, I did tell them that I want to live. I have other children out here in the world that need me. And that is my right, because at the end of the day, if I die from a C-section, nobody on this call is going to take care of my children.
Starting point is 01:01:21 And that's just being frank. Okay, so I am concerned about the well-being of my child. But at the end of the day, with my background, I can read a trace just like they can. And there's nothing that is saying that this is an emergency situation that I have to be rushed into a C-section within an hour. At one point, on the Zoom hearing, she asked for an attorney, or at least to have a emergency. patient advocate present for the conversation. But Florida courts do not require lawyers for pregnant women in hearings about their medical decisions.
Starting point is 01:01:55 And the hospital, I guess, just didn't provide her a patient advocate. So she has to advocate for herself. I will say, though, I can tell that she's doing that thing where you're absolutely fucking furious, but you know you've got to hold it together because if you give them ammo for them to be like, oh, you're like a crazy angry black woman right now. even though she is legitimately going through a situation that is genuinely enraging, I can tell that she is really trying to keep her composure and speak in a certain kind of way and advocate for herself. And she's a doula, so she knows what she's talking about. And she's really
Starting point is 01:02:31 drawing on her experience as a doula to advocate for herself. So I guess I say that to say, like, kudos to her for advocating for herself so well under such duress, but she absolutely should not have to. So she explains her reasons for not wanting a C-section, and they're very reasonable. They're things like, you know, infection and not wanting to have a long recovery, along with the risk of death. She talks about how she is very worried that she will not be able to care for her other children if she is struggling with recovery from a C-section, which is pretty major surgery, and whatever potential complications might come from it. She also says to the Zoom court judges and administrators, if something happens to her and she were to die in that C-section, her children
Starting point is 01:03:23 would go into foster care. And she says, nobody on this Zoom court hearing is going to take care of my kids if something happens to me while I'm getting at this major surgery. So I I don't feel like any of you all can tell me what I should do with my body in childbirth. So that hearing lasted for two hours. At one point, she asked if she could transfer to a different hospital. And they were like, oh, that's probably not likely because that new hospital would have to admit you as a patient. She also then asks if she can have a black doctor or at least a black nurse work with her. The judge, again, who was a white man, he almost sort of laughs at her and says, well, I don't see how race has any.
Starting point is 01:04:03 to do with this. And he wouldn't be saying that if he knew the statistics around black maternal mortality in this country. And she actually checks him on this. She says, well, as a doula, I can tell you the medical outcomes are better when black people have doctors that look like them. Their health outcomes are better, which is just like a fact. Like, again, I can, I can, my heart breaks for her because I can see her having to draw from like very specific expertise and very specific experiences to communicate this in a way that might have a chance of getting through. So she doesn't just sound like some, you know, difficult black woman. She makes another good point where she says,
Starting point is 01:04:43 I don't want anybody who is involved in me having to do this, this like Zoom court hearing while I'm trying to give birth. I don't want any of these people involved in operating me on this, when I'm under for a C-section, which I completely understand, because these people already clearly see her as difficult and like argumentative and problematic. I can understand why she's like, now I don't trust any of these people to be operating on me while I'm under for a C-section. Yeah, they really talked down to her a lot in that hearing too in ways that are just like pretty surprising. Maybe shouldn't be surprising.
Starting point is 01:05:20 Yeah, it just is a really bad and horrifying situation. So the judge did not order an immediate C-section, but he did say the hospital could perform one in an emergency without her consent. in the end her baby was born via C-section. And after the baby was born, immediately after they made her do another session of Zoom court, even before she was taken to the neonatal unit to see her baby. At that point, she was like, you all can do this meeting on your own. I want to see my baby. Like, I don't give a fuck what you all have to say.
Starting point is 01:05:51 I'm done. So the Republican journalist who wrote this piece, Amy Yerkerian, covers reproductive health and is based in Alabama. And she writes, throughout my career, I focused on women facing the consequences of the state's fetal personhood policy. That's the idea that fetuses should have the same legal status as children. My investigation shows how a similar theory played into the cases of two women, Cherie Stoiley and Brianna Bennett, who was another black woman, who was also forced to have a court-ordered C-section. These women experienced eerily similar situations in Florida. In both cases, they found themselves fighting for their rights to make
Starting point is 01:06:27 medical decisions because they were pregnant. And so her piece also goes on to sort of contend with the fact that OBGYNs do have a unique challenge in that they're simultaneously caring for two patients, the mother and the baby. And the needs of those two patients do not always align. And so when conflicts arise, which can happen, the American College of obstetricians and gynecologists, their own ethical guidelines say that doctors should put the mother's well-being first. But in practice, that does not always happen. And so they talked to this professor of law at Drexel University, Elizabeth Kukura, who says that basically these cases reveal this pattern of doctors prioritizing the fetus over the mother, which is a dynamic that is sort of rooted in this tendency to view women primarily through the lens of our reproductive function, that were not kind of humans with agency and responsibility, let alone, the need to like care for other children that we may have or live life or whatever, like not want to be dead. We are meant to just be vessels for carrying children rather than patients with agency
Starting point is 01:07:40 in our own right. And we also see Cherise talking to the doctors and arguing with them saying, you know, I've made it clear that if it came down to my life or the baby's life, that I would rather live because I've got other kids I need to care for and I don't want those kids going into the system, I think there is a little bit of a thing that if you are not willing to sacrifice your life for your child in childbirth, then you're like a bad mom. And it's just frustrating to hear her have to argue this case of like, no, I actually, it's very important for me to be alive and healthy because I've got children to care for at home. It's just, yeah, it's just very heartbreaking. Yeah, the judge explicitly called her a bad mom and said that a good mom would let
Starting point is 01:08:24 herself be cut open. Yeah. So just really horrifying. Okay, so I have a less enraging story, also about sexual and reproductive health, though less horrifying. The popular sexual health and wellness company Bellessa Boutique said that Instagram permanently deleted their account for using the word clitoris. Belsa makes sex toys for all genders, and they also have a a sister site that is like a porn site for women. On Instagram, they had over 700,000 followers and a decade's worth of content. I was actually looking into them, and it sounds like they, like, started on Instagram in earnest. It's like where the company started. The company confirmed to Mashable that Meta said that their account was disabled for violating Meta's community
Starting point is 01:09:14 standards due to sexually explicit language in organic content. There is no opportunity to appeal, and they also say they got no warning about this specific outcome. However, a met a spokesperson told Mashable, quote, this account repeatedly posted explicit descriptions of sexual acts, and over the last few months was alerted each time it violated our sexually explicit language policy. The CEO of the company told Mashable, for over a decade, hundreds of thousands of people came to the Belesco community to learn about and celebrate their own bodies, a safe, shame-free space to discuss sexual wellness and pleasure.
Starting point is 01:09:49 Instagram deleted it for sexually explicit language, meaning discussing women's bodies in a health context, treated as inherently unacceptable. So they showed Mashable the email that Meta had sent them about this. The email said that examples of content that would not be allowed include sexually explicit language that uses explicit or graphic detail about the genitals, states of sexual arousal or sexual encounters. But we actually know the truth about this.
Starting point is 01:10:15 That truth is that that standard really only applies to the genitals of people who are not cisgender men. because meta totally allows ads for things like erectile dysfunction medication or other kinds of content or products that are geared toward men's sexual health and wellness. Back in 2023, a sex toy company called Unbound, which actually used to sponsor our show, but I don't think does anymore, tested whether or not meta would approve its product ads if those ads were targeted at men instead of women. And it did.
Starting point is 01:10:50 They built a whole fake brand called Thunderstores. thrusts geared toward men to see if it would stop their ads about sex products from being taken down if those ads were geared toward men and not women. And guess what? It worked. And that is because meta absolutely does not equally enforce this standard. And by doing so, they basically decide whose sexual wellness and health is acceptable and whose isn't. A 2025 study by the Center for intimacy justice, examining how platforms like Meta handle sexual and reproductive health content found widespread suppression. It is like not, it is like very, very documented. Among the groups surveyed, nearly two-thirds had organic content taken down from Meta's platforms, while the vast
Starting point is 01:11:35 majority of both businesses and nonprofits, 84% and 76% respectively, had their advertisements rejected. This sex toy company, Belsa, is not taking this lying. down. They say that they want to pursue legal action against meta over this. And so now they are asking folks to help them build the case that Instagram is using a sexist double standard by sending them evidence of content that you see on Instagram that violates the same standard that was used to ban them. They put a post on threads that said, we need your help. If you come across content on Instagram that violates the same standards they used to ban us, screenshot it and send it to evidence at Bell SELSA.co. Help us prove the double standard.
Starting point is 01:12:23 Okay, Bridget, thanks for taking me through all of those news stories. Before we wrap up here, do you have any updates to share about the audiobook, Levit First Prompt, that's coming out in July? A little behind the scenes update on the audio book front, which is that we finally finished recording the audiobook audio. I thought that because I am a professional talker as a podcaster for a living, this would be no sweat. Y'all, it actually is quite a lot of work to record an audiobook. And I wanted to give a quick shout out to Sarah Ginsburg, who listens to the show.
Starting point is 01:13:01 Hey, Sarah, if you're listening. Who is our audiobook director? Who knew that audiobooks have directors? They do. But Sarah is ours, and she is fantastic. and I don't know if I would have gotten through without her help. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:13:18 Yeah, Sarah was fantastic. Really just like kind, but also clearly very dedicated to her craft of producing high quality audio. And it was really exciting to get it all recorded and to have that step in the process wrapped up. And I believe that this, The audio engineers at Simon and Schuster are editing it, putting it together now.
Starting point is 01:13:47 And so we should have a draft to listen to pretty shortly. And then it's not going to be that long before it's available for the listeners to listen to, which I'm so excited to hear what people think about it. Yes. Sarah knows that while we were recording in my home audio booth, at different times, I lost my voice, burst into tears, and watched my cat get sick in the booth. And Sarah was a pro through all of it. If you want to hear an audiobook that was recorded through tears, lost voice, and cat sick,
Starting point is 01:14:25 please pre-order our audiobook, Love at First Prompt. You can do that at love at first prompt.ai. If you send us a screenshot of your pre-order, you can email us or tag us on social, whatever you want to do. We will send you a headwritten thank you card. sticker. Thank you so much to everybody who's done it so far. Thank you again, Sarah. No thank you to my cat who shows the least opportune moment to get sick in an audio booth, but we still love you, Sammy. Yeah. And listeners will be happy to know that we did edit that part out. So you would
Starting point is 01:14:59 never know if you didn't listen to this behind the scenes segment. You're getting this special BTS content. This is like the author's cut. Yeah. All the cat sick details. All right. Well, thanks for having me here at Bridget. Listeners can let us know what they thought about these stories by emailing us hello at tangoity.com, leaving a comment on Spotify. And they can follow Bridget on Instagram and TikTok at Bridget Marie in D.C. Follow the show on YouTube.
Starting point is 01:15:32 The handle is there are no girls on the internet. We're also on Blue Sky with the same handle. And I think that is everything. So thanks for having me here, Bridget. It's great talking with you. Great talking to you, too. Thanks for being here, and I will see you on the internet. Got a story about an interesting thing in tech or just want to say hi?
Starting point is 01:15:56 You can reach us at hello at tangoody.com. You can also find transcripts for today's episode at tangoody.com. There are no girls on the internet was created by me, Bridget Todd. It's a production of IHeart Radio and unbossed creative. Jonathan Strickland is our executive producer. Tari Harrison is our producer and sound engineer. Michael Amato is our contributing producer. user. I'm your host, Bridget Dodd. If you want to help us grow, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
Starting point is 01:16:20 For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, check out the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smyl and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman 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? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Konki, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 podcast. I'm taking you behind
Starting point is 01:17:20 the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season.
Starting point is 01:17:53 And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny. You just understood. That's how personal it got. 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.
Starting point is 01:18:07 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 BS. Unfiltered Conversations from Nicarious. 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
Starting point is 01:18:42 How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

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