There Are No Girls on the Internet

Did you see the narrative claiming Taylor Swift is a secret “trad wife Nazi” take off across social media? In this emergency episode, we break down a new report from analytics firm Gudea that examines how this discourse spread online, the role bot networks may have played, and what it reveals about misinformation, amplification, and the current internet ecosystem.

Stay tuned because we’ll hear from Gudea’s CEO and another third party expert about how this report came to be and what it means for how information travels online.

In a psychology course at University of Oklahoma, junior Samantha Fulnecky was assigned to write a short essay responding to a research paper about social enforcement of gender typicality and children's mental health. Rather than engage with the assignment, she wrote a moralistic screed about demons and God's plan for women to be helpers, citing unspecified parts of "the Bible." Her paper received a zero, but she has become a cause celebre among right-wing culture warriors thanks to the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Points USA, who view her as a righteous victim being persecuted for her faith. Bridget and Producer Mike have both graded their share of college papers, so they weigh in on the fairness of her grade, and unpack what's really going on (spoiler: it's a stunt). 

In this week's news roundup, Bridget talks with Producer Mike about all the tech news you might have missed. TRIGGER WARNING: One story is about a misogynistic podcaster who says and does some disturbing stuff.

The newly released Epstein emails offer a troubling look at the people who stayed in his orbit and the ways they interacted with him — including former Harvard president and influential public figure Larry Summers. You may not recognize his name immediately, but Summers has played a major role in shaping tech, academia, and government. We break down what the emails show, why they matter, and what they reveal about power networks at the highest levels.

Bridget tells Samantha and Anney why Larry Summers and his Epstein connection should concern us all.

If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there or email us at [email protected]!

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Many people know about the call to boycott Target, but don't understand why Target has been specifically singled out. So we're re-airing this interview to help get everyone on the same page. 

In 2020, Target loudly pledged to support Black creators and communities. Target spotlighted their products, and made headlines with its public commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. It was great PR for Target. But now, those promises look like little more than PR spin.

Black creators and vendors who once collaborated with the brand say they weren’t just abandoned — they were exploited. From one-sided partnerships to pay-to-play marketing schemes,  this episode investigates how a major corporation cashed in on the racial justice movement… and then just walked away.

We speak to Kiara Imani, a former Target vendor who is one of the Black entrepreneurs  now speaking out. She was originally thrilled when a game she designed, "LikeU Cards," was included in Target's collection, only to quickly realize she was caught up in a pay-to-play scheme that was more about Target's PR than actually selling her product. 

She's also an attorney and author of the book Therapy Isn’t Just For White People. She explains what went down, what she was promised versus what she actually got, and unpacks the backlash, the boycott, and why some former Target collaborators are now calling it what it really was all along: a scam.