Who TF Are These Women?

“Curtain for Zoosha! K-smog and Batboy caught flipping a grunt.” If that’s also what every headline sounds like to you, then you’re in the right place. Alex Earle and Stella Lefty are taking over For You Page discourse, but are two pop culture figures we somehow know everything and nothing about. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Hip Replacement’s Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick to get to the bottom of exactly who these women are, and how the ambient, “nothing” nature of their digital footprint is precisely the point. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with help from Evan Campbell.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How many apps does it take to raise a child in 2026? Not only are parents navigating countless WhatsApp groups and summer camp platforms, there’s also a whole world of Reels, subreddits, and Facebook groups filled with advice. Often, however, the answers just lead to more questions. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by What Next: TBD host Lizzie O’Leary to talk about the parenting side of the internet, and how understandable anxieties play out online. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many women are hiding their boyfriends online, or losing followers if they hard-launch. Some go as far as to say having a boyfriend “feels republican.” Is this heterofatalism gone too far, or a long-overdue correction to the patriarchy? On today’s encore episode host Kate Lindsay was joined by writer and content creator Josh Lora, who also goes by TellTheBees. Josh’s Substack essay, Boyfriendland, was cited in the viral Vogue article written by Chanté Joseph, “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?” This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The rise of AI has led to a rise of distrust, but the “tools” used to identify AI and plagiarism are perpetuating preexisting biases. Jason Arday, the former Cambridge professor who was found dead in his home last month, is the latest in a string of headline-making scandals targeting writers and academics of color, while white infractors fall quickly out of the news cycle. In today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by The Drey Dossier to discuss why plagiarism and AI accusations are our weapon of the moment, and why institutions, not individuals, should bear the brunt of our frustrations. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you remember the last time you had fun online? In recent years, it’s felt like social media has become overridden with hot takes, discourse, and something called “bean soup theory,” and it’s making the internet a frustrating place to be. In today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by social strategist Carmen Vicente to talk about why TikTok is starting to feel like Twitter, and if every social media platform is doomed to the same fate. But the real question is: Is it because of us, or them? This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

True crime has always been entertainment, but social media has turned tragedies like the Lindsay Clancy trial into monocultural moments. It’s not enough to read the news, many people who are especially tuned-in are also spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories as part of participating in the larger fandom. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Leah Carroll, a true crime writer and author of the book Down City: A Daughter's Story of Love, Memory, and Murder, to discuss the impact of social media’s obsession, and how Leah’s own experience with family tragedy informs her perspective on true crime. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The WNBA has finally taken center stage, but the fandom is going through it. New eyes on the sport have brought new scrutiny, which has resulted in racist and transphobic trolling that pulls focus from the actual games. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay talks with WNBA online commentator Angela Perry about the needless controversies that have dominated sports media, and the ways players are using the internet to tell their own, much-needed stories instead. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Technology keeps trying to “fix” every small inconvenience in our lives, which has rendered us completely unable to endure basic hurdles such as sitting in silence, navigating unfamiliar social social interactions, and doing any kind of creative thinking. To reverse this, Kathryn Jezer Morton, writer of The Cut’s “Brooding” column and author of the new book The Story of Your Life, proposes we “friction-maxx.” On today’s encore episode, Kathryn joins host Kate Lindsay to figure out how to rebuild our tolerance for the very things that, it turns out, make us human.This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a small business in Nantucket put a “no influencers” sign in their store, creators accused it of being sexist. The issue divided the internet, when really, both things can be true: Influencer culture is harmful, and “influencer” has become a pejorative word for any woman who posts online. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay talks with writer Kat Tenbarge about how the word “influencer” has belittled female creators since the beginning, and how male creators have escaped the same scrutiny.This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hank Green is finally burning out. After creating for the internet for almost 20 years, the YouTuber (and one half of Vlogbrothers) confessed to having a “not healthy” relationship with AI, relying on the tool to help him create more and more content. Viewers, however, feel betrayed, and worry they can no longer trust Hank’s work to be his own. In today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay talks with Charlotte Moore-Lambert, who like Hank is a science communications creator and mutuals with him on TikTok. She made her own video about the controversy, about how we got here, and why there’s no such thing as ethical AI. Note: While preparing this episode, Hank Green dropped a new video about this controversy on the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel. You can watch it here.This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.