Why We’re Fighting About Self Checkout – Best of TANGOTI

Bridget and Mike had conflicting and surprisingly strong feelings about self checkout machines. And it turns out, listeners do, too! We got more emails about this seemingly low stakes topic than any other. Why did this touch a nerve?! We don’t know but there’s something there, and we’re here for it. We read some listener emails, which make great points for and against. Are these machines dystopian symbols of our crumbling social connectedness? Or are they convenient devices for buying groceries, and maybe the real dystopian symbols were the capitalist overlords we met along the way? You be the judge! Self-Checkouts Often Inaccessible to Disabled Shoppers:  https://foodinstitute.com/focus/self-checkout-often-inaccessible-to-disabled-shoppers/ LA Times report on self checkouts and loneliness (paywalled): https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-08-28/some-skip-self-checkout-to-combat-loneliness-build-human-connection TikTok Lawyer explains why you should avoid using self-checkouts in stores: https://scoop.upworthy.com/lawyer-explains-why-you-should-avoid-using-self-checkouts-in-stores-576190-576190-576190-576190 Washington Post piece: Dear grocery store owners: I don’t work for you! https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/31/rick-reilly-self-checkout-rebellion/ Walmart reveals it's tracking checkout theft with AI-powered cameras in 1,000 stores: https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-tracks-theft-with-computer-vision-1000-stores-2019-6 Feeling lonely? Too many of us are. Here’s what our supermarkets can do to help: https://theconversation.com/feeling-lonely-too-many-of-us-are-heres-what-our-supermarkets-can-do-to-help-211126 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Diddy’s acquittal, social media decided it needed a villain. And who better than a random woman?! Through a case of mistaken identity, digital marketing strategist and former journalist Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh, who had nothing to do with the trial, became the target of viral accusations and lies.  In this episode, Wynter tells her story of how misinformation, speculation, and Internet outrage collided in real time to pull her into a social media storm, and she breaks down what it means for our broader digital media landscape. Follow Wynter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wynter Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify.  Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bridget and Producer Mike cover the week's tech news that you might have missed in this final News Roundup of 2025. Vanity Fair Goes to the White House, takes some unflattering photos https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/vanity-fair-goes-to-the-white-house-trump-2-edition Washington Post releases an AI-generated podcast. It's filled with errors and hallucinations. https://www.semafor.com/article/12/11/2025/washington-posts-ai-generated-podcasts-rife-with-errors-fictional-quotes Meta arbitrarily shuts down hundreds of accounts over reproductive and queer content. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/dec/11/meta-shuts-down-global-accounts-linked-to-abortion-advice-and-queer-content  Tennessee man jailed for 37 days for refusing to take down a Facebook post critical of Trump in the days after Charlie Kirk's assassination. https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2025/09/23/tennessee-larry-bushart-arrest-charlie-kirk/86313013007/ Bridget loves the new Netflix show Heated Rivalry, which bucks the trend of "casual viewing" in streaming. hfilm.com/2043077/canada-heated-rivalry-destroys-worst-trend-american-streaming-tv/ If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there to let us know what you thought about these stories, or email us at [email protected] 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.

If you’ve ever looked at your timeline and thought “there’s no way this is real,” you’re probably right.  In this episode, Bridget and Mike speak to two data professionals about two recent reports from their companies that shed light on how bot networks attempt to hijack our online discourse: the Taylor Swift Nazi narrative after the release of Swift’s album Life of a Showgirl and the Cracker Barrel logo change backlash. Through the lens of these two seemingly unrelated campaigns, we unpack how bot-driven narratives spread, why it works, how online culture wars get engineered for clicks, chaos, and control, and what it means for the rest of us humans trying to engage in actual discourse online.    If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there to let us know what you think, or email us at [email protected]    Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Taylor Swift’s Last Album Sparked Bizarre Accusations of Nazism. It Was a Coordinated Attack: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swifts-social-media-campaign-life-of-a-showgirl-1235480646/ Here’s the full report: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/69370c45ee6946ee05e9618a/6938f591279bf559ec50cd1c_GUDEA%20-%20Taylor%20Swift%20_%20Anatomy%20of%20a%20Narrative.pdfSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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).    If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there to let us know what you think, or email us at [email protected]    Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Sabrina Carpenter pushes back when the Trump admin uses one of her songs without permission in a hateful video. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/02/sabrina-carpenter-donald-trump-music-00672754 A violent misogynist got bad career advice from ChatGPT. Now he's going to prison. https://www.404media.co/chatgpt-spotify-brett-michael-dadig-indictment-harassment-stalking/ Organizers of the Black Romance Book Festival got into heated exchanges on Threads about authors using AI. https://www.threads.com/@blackromancebookfestival iHeart Radio (our production partner) doubles down on human creators, vows to avoid AI generated content. https://www.insideradio.com/free/iheartmedia-makes-guaranteed-human-a-core-branding-message-across-all-stations/article_3ad0b04f-76ba-4466-8839-5a4bdce798a1.htmlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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]! Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media! Many vids each week. instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/  tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternetSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Kiara’s TikTok about Target: https://www.tiktok.com/@kiara_imani_will/video/7481347076442606894 Buy Kiara book Therapy Isn’t Just For White People: https://www.mahoganybooks.com/9781735145884 Check out LikeU cards: https://likeucards.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqCZCnuFV-4u8l9PynC9x1nNFbC0DCrVv0_IYqoRsPTvnt-FEX5 If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there or email us at [email protected]! Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media! Many vids each week. instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/  tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternetSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s not every day Bridget gets to talk to one of her heroes!    Soledad O’Brien has built her career on stories that hit hard and stick with you, winning multiple Emmys and Peabody awards along the way. Her work has inspired Bridget since she was a young girl, watching her coverage of the emerging Internet in the 1990s.    In this wide-ranging interview, Soledad talks about her two new documentaries, both of which are the subject of considerable online discussion.    'The Perfect Neighbor,' on Netflix, tells the tragic story of AJ Owens and examines the legal and systemic failures that almost allowed her death to go unpunished due in part to Florida's stand-your-ground law.    'The Devil is Busy,' now streaming on HBO Max, follows a day in the life of Tracii, the head of security at a Georgia abortion clinic, and the relentless work she does to keep the clinic operating safely. The documentary offers a powerful, ground-level, humanizing view of the challenges faced by those working to provide reproductive healthcare in the current landscape.    In addition to talking about the films, Soledad also shares her perspectives on journalism, online culture, and the roles of filmmakers and journalists in creating change.  If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there to let us know what you thought about this episode, or email us at [email protected]  Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. If you watched The Perfect Neighbor, be sure to check out the impact campaign highlighting Stand Your Ground laws and racialized violence, Standing in the Gap: https://standinginthegapfund.org/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.