How WhatsApp ate the world

The Chinese company Gotion's EV battery plan was the kind of big, ambitious, the U.S. economy — and the struggling small town of Big Rapids — needed. But that’s not how some locals saw it. In this narrated feature Rest of World explores how ambitious executives at Gotion wanted to join America’s EV gold rush, but were met with geopolitics in rural Michigan, USA. Written by Viola Zhou. Narrated by Jane Seidel. Original story: https://restofworld.org/2025/gotion-ev-battery-us-expansion-backlash-michigan/

Big AI companies like Google, Meta, OpenAI and Amazon, have come out hard against comprehensive regulatory efforts in the West — but are receiving a warm welcome from leaders in many other countries. This episode from Rest of World uses behind-the-scenes reporting from local journalists in India, South Africa, and Brazil, to give an in-depth look at the global struggle over how to regulate AI. Written by Katie McQue, Laís Martins, Ananya Bhattacharya, and Carien du Plessis. Narrated by Jane ODonoghue. Original story: https://restofworld.org/2025/global-ai-regulation-big-tech/

WhatsApp is already the world’s most widely used messaging app. Meta wants it to be a lot more. WhatsApp is the world’s most widely used messaging app, with 2 billion daily users, who send 100 billion messages every day in 60 languages across 180 countries. This feature takes an in-depth look at how it grew so big and Meta's plan for what comes next. Written by Issie Lapowsky. Narrated by Jane Seidel. Original story: https://restofworld.org/2024/how-whatsapp-for-business-changed-the-world/

In this episode, Rest of World explores how far-right Hindu nationalists use WhatsApp to target Christian families when they’re most vulnerable — by preventing them from burying their dead. Written by Parth MN. Additional reporting by Durga M Sengupta. Narrated by Mithila Phadke. Original story: https://restofworld.org/2024/whatsapp-intimidation-forced-conversion-targets-christians-india/

Amid economic, political, and environmental uncertainty, Pakistanis are increasingly seeking guidance from digital astrologers for a sense of reassurance. In this narrated feature, Rest of World profiles celebrity astrologers who are revitalizing the practice in one of the world’s most populous Muslim nations, using their growing platforms to advocate for astrology’s place in Islam. Written by M. Z. Adnan. Narrated by Mithila Phadke. Original story: https://restofworld.org/2024/youtube-astrology-stars-pakistan/

Amid a life of upheaval and poverty, Jeffter Wekesa tried and failed to found three churches in Kenya. Then he started preaching on TikTok, and his fortunes changed. In this episode, Rest of World takes you inside the emerging virtual-preaching economy in internet-obsessed Kenya. Livestream churches — backed by viewer donations — are increasingly popular. Is this the future of religion, or just a post-Covid fad? Written by Vincent Owino. Narrated by Jane Seidel. Original story: https://restofworld.org/2024/kenya-virtual-churches-preachers/

For years, Mauricio Bustos used his YouTube channel to try and break into the music industry. Then he discovered AI. Overnight, he could rap like Bad Bunny and sing like Justin Bieber. He went viral. Now, he’s at the forefront of a global debate: Is AI art really art? Written by Charis McGowan. Narrated by Daniela Dib. Original story: https://restofworld.org/2024/ai-song-flowgpt-bad-bunny/

Los Angeles-based Trilogy Media took “scambaiting” to a new level, but some claim they’re gaining viral fame at others’ expense. In this story from our archive, Rest of World, profiles the Trilogy Media YouTubers who travel from L.A. to India to harass call center scammers. They release dozens of cockroaches in their office and secretly film the whole prank via hacked security cameras. Did they take things too far? Written by Andrew Deck and Raksha Kumar. Narrated by Jane Seidel. Original story: https://restofworld.org/2023/youtube-scam-call-vigilantes/

The average age for delivery workers is 29 and the average age for ride-hailing drivers is 36, but many older individuals are turning to gig work, too. Rest of World spoke to 52 workers above the age of 50 who ventured into gig work to keep up with rising living costs or because they cannot find employment elsewhere. As more and more workers transition to informal gig employment and populations age, the lack of social safety nets poses significant challenges. Written by Laís Martins, Kimberly Mutandiro, Lam Le and Zuha Siddiqui. Narrated by Victoria Turk.   Original story: https://restofworld.org/2024/aging-global-gig-workers/

As millions of Indians vote, there’s one platform most of them will turn to for information: WhatsApp. And no one controls the political narrative on WhatsApp like the BJP, the ruling party helmed by Prime Minister Modi. In partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and Digital Witness Lab, Rest of World spent several months in northern India to explore how the BJP turned its WhatsApp strategy into an election-winning machine. Just in Mandi, a tiny Indian town with a population of 26,000, party volunteers run a network of more than 400 WhatsApp groups. Our analysis of thousands of messages sent in these groups shows how India’s ruling party is able to maintain a sophisticated operation on WhatsApp, and optimize its political campaign on the platform far away from public scrutiny. Written by Srishti Jaswal. Narrated by Mithila Phadke.  Original story: https://restofworld.org/2024/bjp-whatsapp-modi/