Subtweeting

Subtweeting, or “the audible sigh of the internet,” if you will, was Twitter’s answer to WASPish passive aggression. Now, people had a platform in which they could not-so-covertly vent about those who had wronged them in as succinct a manner as possible. It was a practice exercised by the likes of Rihanna and Demi Lovato, and managed to garner its very own critics, who derided subtweeting for turning us all into indirect assholes. But was this really the case? In this episode, Hannah and Maia revisit subtweeting, as well as its spiritual ancestor, “vague booking,” to ask whether we were really as annoying as they say we were back on the internet of yore. Are publicly shading someone without naming them, or being cryptic and vague on a Wall post really just signs of society’s increasing inability to communicate, or are they an artistic release for those in need of catharsis? Tangents include, Justin Trudeau being a fame whore, Maia’s childhood obsession with Michael Jackson, and singing “Criminal” by Fiona Apple at karaoke when no one wants you to.Support us on Patreon and get juicy bonus content:⁠https://www.patreon.com/rehashpodcast⁠Intro and outro song by our talented friend Ian Mills:⁠https://linktr.ee/ianmillsmusicOur Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code REHASH for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/REHASHAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

“Oi Mista! You me dad?” …The evocative phrase heard around the world thanks to a beautiful little thing called memes. As per one definition by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, the meme is a unit of cultural transmission that can be perpetuated and remixed for all eternity. These nifty visual soundbites have been around forever, but really took form in the Darwinian halls of 4chan. Evolving from image macro, to utopian “open work,” to hate symbol, to ironic shitpost where no object of consumption is sacred (not even Joan Didion… or Geese), the meme has become the true darling of our internet age. In this episode, Hannah and Maia question the purpose of the meme - is it an object of benign humour, a piece of art, a tool for bespoke branding, or a malignant “selfish” gene that has the capacity for great evil? Listen to find out. Tangents include: the Timothy vogue cover, and Hannah’s one-sided beef with Goth Shakira. Support us on Patreon and get juicy bonus content:⁠https://www.patreon.com/rehashpodcast⁠Intro and outro song by our talented friend Ian Mills:⁠https://linktr.ee/ianmillsmusicSOURCES:Alexis Benveniste, “The Meaning and History of Memes,” The New York Times (2022). Susan Blackmore, The Meme Machine, Oxford University Press (1999).Roy Christopher, “The Meme is Dead, Long Live the Meme,” Post Memes: Seizing the Memes of Production, Punctum Books (2019).Travis Diehl, “The Many, Many Heads of JD Vance,” Spike Art Magazine (2025). Tom Gerken, “Is this 1921 cartoon the first ever meme?” BBC (2018). Ara H. Merjian and Mike Rugnetta, “From Dada to Memes,” Art News (2020). Scott Wark and McKenzie Wark, “Circulation and its Discontents,”  Post Memes: Seizing the Memes of Production, Punctum Books (2019).Olivia Whittick, “Feminist Meme Queen Goth Shakira,” Ssense.Our Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code REHASH for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/REHASHAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Everyone’s always saying “whatever happened to community”… yet no one passes along our chain mail. Chain mail is everyone’s least favourite thing to find in their inbox - an email thread threatening such real life events as being haunted by Michael Jackson, or your crush falling in love with you, unless you pass the email along to 50 other people. But newsflash. The industrial revolution killed culture and chain mail is here to save it. In this episode, Hannah and Maia discuss the folkloric origins of chain as pieces of information passed along by people within shared networks, and question whether it still has a place in these humourless times. After all, there’s always room for c0cktober in our hearts. Tangents include: Gossip Girl’s elliptical soap opera storytelling, and a truly baffling rendition of “Miss Mary Had a Steamboat” performed by the hosts.Support us on Patreon and get juicy bonus content:⁠https://www.patreon.com/rehashpodcast⁠Intro and outro song by our talented friend Ian Mills:⁠https://linktr.ee/ianmillsmusicOur Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code REHASH for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/REHASHAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Ever since British Vogue asked the rather incendiary question, “is having a boyfriend embarrassing?” the internet has been up in arms. With an astonishing number of people who have “yes” on their lips and a sharpened pitchfork for anyone who thinks otherwise, we thought it would be best to sit down with our dear friend Sara Harvey and take a close look at the article. Is this 800 word piece really the 4B rallying cry the internet seems to think it is, or is it just another agent of the normie gender war that has overtaken contemporary feminist discourse? Bonus episode now on Patreon. FULL EPISODE HERE: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/rehashpodcast⁠Our Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code REHASH for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/REHASHAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Isn’t it so annoying when your partner can’t be therapist, lover, parent, and nutritionist all at once? Enter…ChatGPT! After a somewhat inflammatory study released by the nonsecular, ultra-conservative Wheatley Institute found that 1 in 3 young adult men and 1 in 4 young adult women reported having chatted with an AI boyfriend or girlfriend, the think pieces started rolling. And while these numbers might be a little funky, it is true that people in at least the tens of thousands are engaging in romantic and sexual partnerships with their AI chatbots. In this episode, Hannah and Maia, joined by Carrera from Internet Anthropology, scour the r/MyBoyfriendIsAI subreddit to glimpse into the psychology of such people and ask some pressing questions. Are we dating AI because we’re tired of men? Because of covid and our increasing comfort with never being touched? Because the attention economy has made up gluttonous for constant validation? It would be cruel to demonize these people, but when a simple software update can kill your boyfriend in the blink of an eye and chatbots called Daenerys Targaryen are pushing lovesick children towards self harm, you’ve gotta wonder whether these AI companies are actually trying to solve the loneliness epidemic, or worsen it. Tangents include: Maia’s mysterious allergies and drinking culture in the UK. Support us on Patreon and get juicy bonus content:⁠https://www.patreon.com/rehashpodcast⁠Intro and outro song by our talented friend Ian Mills:⁠https://linktr.ee/ianmillsmusicSOURCES:“COUNTERFEIT CONNECTIONS: The Rise of Romantic AI Companions and AI Sexualized Media Among the Rising Generation,” Wheatley Institute (2025). Cathy Hackl, “Confessions Of A Futurist: I Dated Four AI Boyfriends To Explore The Future Of Dating, Love, And Intimacy,” Forbes (2025). Kashmir Hill, “She Is in Love With ChatGPT,” New York Times (2025).Carrera Kurnick, “Internet Artifacts on Digital Companionship,” Internet Anthropologist (2025). Kevin Roose, “Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen’s Suicide?,” The New York Times (2025).Slavoj Žižek, For They Know Not What They Do: Enjoyment as a Political Factor, 2nded. (New York: Verso, 2002).Our Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code REHASH for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/REHASHAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

When Ariana Grande apologized for licking a doughnut in a doughnut shop display ten years ago, she had no idea she would be changing the world forever. Using the familiar notes app, Ariana broadcasted to her fans both disappointment in her own behaviour, an expression of patriotism, and a PSA about healthy eating in a more intimate way than ever before. Soon to follow were a slew of other notes app apologies from naughty celebs like James Charles, Justin Bieber, and Taylor Swift. But is the notes app apology really as sincere as it appears to be, or is it a carefully curated mending of one’s own self image? Do we really care about celebrities becoming better people, or do we just enjoy throwing tomatoes? In this episode, Hannah and Maia discuss the notes app apology for what it really is: a come-to-Jesus moment performed by celebrities who have been coerced by their publics into saying they did a bad bad thing. Tangents include: loved ones getting got by AI, and Hannah delivering her own personalized, oral notes app apology to Maia.Support us on Patreon and get juicy bonus content:⁠https://www.patreon.com/rehashpodcast⁠Intro and outro song by our talented friend Ian Mills:⁠https://linktr.ee/ianmillsmusicOur Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code REHASH for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/REHASHAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

There is no greater candidate for a job with the FBI… than a woman with a crush. A recent study found that Gen Z and Millennials have “alarmingly relaxed attitudes towards online stalking.” But considering we all do it…why wouldn’t we? The term “stalking” (also know as “creeping” or “lurking”) has now take on a colloquial form, as all sorts of people use the internet to gather information about other people: ex partners, future partners, the ex of an ex, prospective employees, people they think are hotter or cooler than they are. But even if “creeping” is not stalking in the technical sense, even if it’s something we all do, why are we so ashamed to do it? In this season premiere, Hannah and Maia ask whether creeping is inherently creepy, and discuss the different affordances of social media that make it the perfect breeding ground for nosiness. As these “mass personal” channels of communication facilitate parasocial relationships of even the closest kind, have we become private celebrities to each other? Or are we all, as we always have been, just massive creeps? Tangents include: Maia’s evil ex-landlord, Hannah’s sorely misunderstood Baby Jane halloween costume, and dramatic readings of some truly diabolical “creeping” anecdotes from the lovely listeners. Support us on Patreon and get juicy bonus content:⁠https://www.patreon.com/rehashpodcast⁠Intro and outro song by our talented friend Ian Mills:⁠https://linktr.ee/ianmillsmusicSOURCES:Amelia Abraham, “12 People Admit To Their Social Media ‘Stalking’ Habits,” Refinery29 (2016). “CMV: It's not "creeping", "snooping", or "being a creeper" to browse social media content that presumably was put there for exactly that purpose.,” Reddit (2015). Frampton, J. R., & Fox, J, “Monitoring, Creeping, or Surveillance? A Synthesis of Online Social Information Seeking Concepts,” Review of Communication Research, 9, (2021). “Gen Z and Millennials Accept Online Creeping and Stalking as Part of Dating Culture,” GEN Digital (2023). Laura Pitcher, “Are You in a Parasocial Relationship With ‘the Other Woman?’” Digiverse (2023).Morgan Sullivan, “A Love Letter to All My Exes’ Exes’ Instagram Accounts,” The Cut (2022). Our Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code REHASH for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/REHASHAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Taylor Swift has entered a new era: Wifey. Rather than take a (much needed) vacation following her world tour, she’s announced not only a forthcoming album but also a forthcoming wedding to football superstar and HIMBO of the decade, Travis Kelce. But the couple, who very publicly began dating in later 2023 are not without their detractors. Along with the typical “PR relationship” accusations, speculation of a far more sinister plot is being thrown their way. Long time listeners may recall that we covered subset of Taylor Swift’s fandom who call themselves “Gaylors” in our second ever episode. Well buckle up, because we’re back at it again. But this time, we’re going to address the theory that Taylor Swift is secretly queer for what it really is: a CONSPIRACY theory. One that goes all the way to the top…. of the NFL. Put on your tinfoil hats, pop in your headphones, and take a listen. Tangent include: George Bush’s alleged role in a celebrity death, Naomi Klein’s Doppleganger, and Miley Cyrus’s 2012 fashion era. FULL EPISODE ON OUR PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/rehashpodcast Our Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code REHASH for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/REHASHAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In a time where Sydney Sweeney is spreading her legs for a popular clothing retailer in the name of eugenics, it’s not so far-fetched to imagine that Sabrina Carpenter would also upset people with her latest album cover. Hair blown out, kneeling at the feet of a suited man, and captioned “Man’s Best Friend,” this image of Carpenter sent shock waves across the internet for provoking an already fraught political moment. But was the outrage justified? In this very special bonus episode, perhaps the best one yet, Hannah and Maia ~unpack~ their complicated feelings about the controversy. Was Carpenter’s team, like Sweeney’s, engaging in a conservative grift, or was this another instance of the public’s paternalistic impulse to whip female figures into shape? Is this just another transgressive breakthrough from a popstar, or is there something more nefarious at play? In our image-addled society, why did this one cause such a stir? And did Andrea Dworkin really have a point after all? All this and more on Patreon. Tangent includes: a postmortem on And Just Like That. FULL EPISODE ON PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/c/rehashpodcastOur Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code REHASH for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/REHASHAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Why isn’t “airbrushed skin for all” written in the constitution? For years, photoshop was a professional’s game, gatekept, if you will, from the masses. But then Facetune came about and forever changed the course of history, democratizing photoshop to the dysmorphic masses. The promise of a user-friendly photoshop experience, where anybody could fabricate their appearance, was more seductive than anything because, by the year 2017, Facetune was the most popular paid app around. But as people begin to hide behind their social media avatars, and as our avatars become less realistic by the day, we can’t help but wonder whether Facetune has damaged our self-perception forever. In this finale episode, Hannah and Maia discuss the impact of Facetune - from the advent of “no face,” to Celebface turning “facetune-spotting” into a sport, to plastic surgeons using it as a conditioning tool. Has our vain, over-stimulated visual culture raised the ceiling so high that we now aspire to look like aliens? Tangents include: Lena Dunham’s new show, and Mary M. Cosby’s photoshop skills. Support us on Patreon and get juicy bonus content:⁠https://www.patreon.com/rehashpodcast⁠Intro and outro song by our talented friend Ian Mills:⁠https://linktr.ee/ianmillsmusicOur Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code REHASH for a great deal: https://mood.com* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/REHASHAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands