In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike cover the tech news stories you might have missed. TRIGGER WARNING - one story discusses disturbing sexual assaults.

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Reese Witherspoon thinks women should embrace AI more. The comments were not kind. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXKphAtkbgW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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Gisèle Pelicot's story of being drugged and raped by her husband and other men for a decade captured headlines. A new CNN investigation reveals a large ecosystem of men helping each other commit similar crimes around the world with something like an "online rape academy." https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2026/03/world/expose-rape-assault-online-vis-intl/index.html

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Lauren Sanchez Besos is a cultural force, revolutionizing the way Americans live, and inspiring everyone with her embrace of joy and her perfect marriage to Jeff Bezos. Right? RIGHT?! (wrong) https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/business/lauren-sanchez-bezos-jeff-bezos.html?unlocked_article_code=1.blA.i7qg.dQZ7G1_RUIcF&smid=url-share [gift link]

Anti-Occupy Wall Street Champagne Toast Later Today? https://gothamist.com/news/anti-occupy-wall-street-champagne-toast-later-today

Rich people watching Occupy protestor: https://www.threads.com/@yungbooks/post/DEEOKfUOXkA

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Workers at surveillance company Flock inexplicably accessed cameras in a gymnasium and pool, prompting the city of Dunwoody, Georgia, to delay their contract renewal after a citizen's open records request revealed anomolies in the logs. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/apr/06/flock-cameras-privacy-concerns

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Why Are Flock Employees Watching Our Children? https://jasonhunyar.substack.com/p/why-are-flock-employees-watching-720

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Women in northern Nigeria have been writing steamy romance books for decades. They are fighting morality censorship by innovating new models of distribution and monetization on WhatsApp. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/love-is-universal-but-nigerias-romance-lit-market-is-one-of-a-kind and https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/world/africa/nigeria-erotica-writers-censors.html

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Here are more stories we were watching this week:

NAACP lawsuit accuses Elon Musk’s xAI of polluting Black neighborhoods near Memphis: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/14/naacp-lawsuit-elon-musk-xai-memphis

A Redditor Criticized ICE. Trump Is Trying to Unmask Them by Dragging the Company to a Secret Grand Jury: https://theintercept.com/2026/04/10/reddit-ice-protest-grand-jury/

What is dynamic pricing at grocery stores? Maryland now bans it: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2026/04/15/maryland-bans-dynamic-pricing-practice-popular-among-retailers/89621751007/

Meta’s new rules let it ban users or suppress comments that include the word “antifa” alongside “content-level threat signals.” https://theintercept.com/2026/04/14/facebook-instagram-antifa-censor/

Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify.

Pre-order Bridget's forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com !

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

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Fake AI-generated Black women are flooding your social media feeds, performing self-hatred, pushing porn sites and drop shipping scams, and raking in cash for anonymous creators who'll never be held accountable.

Jeremy Carrasco, the internet's go-to AI debunker, breaks down who's behind it, why platforms keep looking the other way, and why one Black student researcher's testimony made him want to do something about it.

AI Blackface: Profiting on racist depictions at scale: https://www.riddance.ai/p/ai-blackface-profiting-on-racist

AI videos of sexualised black women removed from TikTok after BBC investigation: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c070e283k8vo

Bridget explains the evolution of digital Blackface from its antebellum roots in this Youtube video: https://youtu.be/yh-2il78AEA

Digital rapper FN Meka and the new era of digital Blackface: https://omny.fm/shows/there-are-no-girls-on-the-internet/digital-rapper-fn-meka-and-the-new-era-of-digital

Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify.

Pre-order Bridget's forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com !

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social 

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In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike cover the tech news stories you might have missed.

Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In is fighting the gender gap in AI adoption, but raising questions about its own leadership. https://www.fastcompany.com/91521751/sheryl-sandbergs-lean-in-is-fighting-the-gender-gap-in-ai-adoption

Gen Z Goes to the Movies! The new Zendaya film 'The Drama' is a smash hit. Younger Audiences Are Driving Box Office Sales, Study Shows

https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/gen-z-driving-box-office-1236703551/

The FBI was able to recover deleted Signal messages from a user's phone because they were stored in his notification history. Check your Signal settings now to stay safe "Settings > Notification > Store" https://www.404media.co/fbi-extracts-suspects-deleted-signal-messages-saved-in-iphone-notification-database-2/

She Was in Labor at a Florida Hospital. Then She Was in Zoom Court for Refusing a C-Section. https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-hearing-c-section

BBC breached editorial standards over BAFTAs racial slur but no big deal, BBC investigation finds.  https://news.sky.com/story/bbc-breached-editorial-standards-over-baftas-racial-slur-investigation-finds-13529270

Ohio creep becomes first to be convicted under new Take-It-Down law for sexually explicit images:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/08/ohio-man-convicted-ai-sexually-explicit-images

Instagram reportedly deletes Bellesa sex toy shop account for using the word 'clitoris': https://mashable.com/article/instagram-deletes-bellesa-shop-account-with-700000-followers

‘This Is Not Me’: Inside the AI Scams Driving Musicians Crazy: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/ai-scams-musicians-streaming-services-spotify-1235535753/

Let us know what you think about these stories by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify.

Pre-order Bridget's forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com !

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

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You've probably heard about author Mia Ballard. Her debut novel "Shy Girl" has been at the center of a controversy about whether she used AI to help write it. After a New York Times article, her publisher dropped her book. She's since deleted most of her social accounts and gone dark. 

This story is much bigger than whether one writer did or didn't use AI. It's about the question of who gets to set the standard in AI and creative work? And more importantly who gets protected, and who gets sacrificed to it?

Subscribe to Drey's excellent substack for sharp reporting and open source investigative journalism into tech and power: https://thedreydossier.substack.com 

Read / Watch Drey’s reporting on Shy Girl: https://thedreydossier.substack.com/p/the-shy-girl-ai-scandal-is-way-worse

Follow Drey on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok: @thedreydossier

Read more about the limitations of AI-detection software, and why many of the country's most respected universities have banned it. https://timrequarth.substack.com/p/why-you-shouldnt-trust-ai-detector 

Read Thad’s blog post called Shy Girl: The Background to the New York Times Story: https://thefutureofpublishing.com/2026/03/shy-girl-the-background-to-the-new-york-times-story/

Bridget’s SMNTY ep about ShyGirl: What the Shy Girl Conversation Says About AI and Art: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-mom-never-told-you-21123631/episode/what-the-shy-girl-conversation-says-about-ai-and-art-328745937

Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify. 

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Publishing is having a trust crisis. With AI accusations swirling around authors like Mia Ballard, whose novel Shy Girl was dropped by her publisher despite her denying any AI use, questions about authenticity in publishing have never felt more urgent. But this kind of chaos isn't new. We saw it coming.

We're revisiting one of our wildest deep dives: the Cait Corrain Goodreads scandal. Corrain had a highly anticipated debut novel, Crown of Starlight, coming out in 2024 — until she admitted to using fake Goodreads accounts to review bomb other writers' forthcoming books. Most of her targets were Black or queer authors. Corrain is white.

The story has a lot of twists and turns, including a fabricated conversation with a completely made-up person that Corrain invented to take the fall.

Canadian author Xiran Jay Zhao was the first to bring it to wider attention, noticing that Crown of Starlight was getting glowing reviews from the same accounts trashing other books — some of which weren't even out yet. Zhao also compiled a 31-page Google document of screenshots and receipts: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1__mO1uqIqcmupBAPKwXDzlUbZIwtY6fKf0S1Y0SNz0E/edit?tab=t.0

Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify.

Pre-order our forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com !

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

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Investigative journalist Karen Hao was covering OpenAI years before most of us had ever heard the words "ChatGPT" or "large language model." Her best-selling book, "Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI," paints a gripping and damning portrait of the company's evolution from a sort of nonprofit to an empire-seeking tech juggernaut, drawing on her deep familiarity with the company as well as candid accounts from insiders. 

She is one of the most influential and respected tech journalists covering the AI industry today. 

In this interview, she shares the story of how she came to journalism, what she's learned from a decade of covering OpenAI and Sam Altman, and what she sees as the biggest threats of AI to intimacy, the environment, privacy, healthcare, and democracy. 

Karen has a new podcast published by the BBC called "The Interface," and it is brilliant. Make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or by following this link: https://link.mgln.ai/theinterface-TANGOTI  

Conversation with Karen is featured prominently in Bridget's forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships, "Love At First Prompt." Pre-order your copy today at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com ! 

Let us know what you think about this interview by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify. 

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In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike are covering the tech news stories you might have missed.

Chappell Roan bodyguard controversy fueled by bots online, research finds: https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/chappell-roan-bodyguard-backlash-bots-b2947029.html 

An AI-generated woman in images with President Trump has been going viral on conservative social media: https://wapo.st/3NtfbUi 

Meta and YouTube lose two landmark court cases about harm to users: 

. . California woman sues Meta and YouTube https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/technology/social-media-trial-verdict.html

.. New Mexico Attorney General sues Meta https://mashable.com/article/new-mexico-meta-court-case-meta-loses

Comedian Druski published a hilarious short video titled "How Conservative Women in America act" and MAGA is real mad: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/1s48bw5/druski_parodies_erika_kirk_in_a_new_skit_how/ 

..Druski church parody: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/58hfPPHCRIU

..Druski NASCAR parody: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/G32siPZXgx0

Barely six months after AI-video app Sora was released to much hype, OpenAI announced they are shutting it down: 

https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/openai-shutting-down-sora-video-disney-1236698277/ 

. . Listen to Bridget predict Sora's demise back when it was announced, in our episode from Oct 10, 2025: https://app.omnystudio.com/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/programs/ad016d13-045e-48f3-9aa5-ae280172b27d/clips/66368931-ff00-467b-97fe-b3730017b21b/details

. . Some of Sora's main use cases are filling the internet with racist and misogynistic slop:

https://www.threads.com/@raisingself/post/DWP08hZmCOj?xmt=AQGzqaZ-H3abT0EW2lfRTONANK8dwciIx844aGm48QTIrQ

..Disney's Sora Disaster Shows AI Will Not Revolutionize Hollywood: https://www.404media.co/disneys-openai-sora-disaster-shows-ai-will-not-save-hollywood/

Black filmmaker Nina Lee asked audiences to watch an unrelated Black rom-com in theaters to help convince studios that Black films are viable. We support Black filmmakers, but in Bridget's opinion this way of thinking is a trap. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/you-me-tuscany-black-rom-coms_n_69c57cb8e4b0a6ee60c3dfa3/amp

Judge dismisses lawsuit by Musk's X Corp accusing advertisers of illegal boycott: https://www.reuters.com/world/judge-dismisses-lawsuit-by-musks-x-corp-accusing-advertisers-illegal-boycott-2026-03-26/

Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify.

Pre-order Bridget's forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com ! 

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

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Remember the personal essay industrial complex? The 2010s era of Jezebel and xoJane where feminist writers put every raw, messy, private part of themselves on the internet? Lindy West was its brightest star.

Her new memoir, Adult Braces, reckons with what that cost her, and with a marriage that turned out to be more complicated than the happy ending she sold us in her first memoir, Shrill. 

Her book sent the internet into a spiral, enraged conservatives, disappointed some feminists, divided the polyamory community, and inspired her husband to send a very intense email to a Slate writer.

Writer and comedian Ashley Ray joins Bridget to talk about the book, the discourse, and what all of it says about feminist writing, parasocial fandom, and whether the personal essay industrial complex of the 2010s has run its course.

Ashley’s Harper’s piece - Lindy West and the Trap of Perfect Polyamory: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/a70801519/lindy-west-adult-braces/

Scaachi’s Slate piece - Lindy West’s How-Not-To Guide to Polyamory: https://slate.com/life/2026/03/lindy-west-polyamory-open-marriage-husband-roya.html

She Had a Cat Hair Ball in Her Vagina — or Did She? https://www.thecut.com/2015/09/she-had-cat-hair-in-her-vagina-or-did-she.html 

Check out Ashley’s Substack Deep Trouble: https://www.deeptrouble.net/ 

Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify. 

Pre-order Bridget's forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com ! 

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.

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In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike cover the tech news stories you might have missed.

Afroman wins lawsuit brought against him by cops who raided his house. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2026-03-19/afroman-verdict-defamation-invasion-of-privacy-lawsuit 

Afroman's video "Lemon Pound Cake" https://youtu.be/9xxK5yyecRo?si=P7JWA54zklLCWVnM 

Afroman's video "Will You Help Me Repair My Gate" https://youtu.be/oponIfu5L3Y?si=cgLpG_T6A-JPBbW- 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot cancelled in strangely cruel and surprising manner by Hulu. https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/buffy-reboot-dead-hulu-sarah-michelle-gellar-chloe-zhao-1236692284/ 

Nicole Kidman glides behind Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend at the Academy Awards, stealing all attention:  https://www.threads.com/@rachelarich/post/DV8aFlADT6Q?xmt=AQGzqaZ-H3abT0EW2lfRTONANK8dwciIx844aGm48QTIrQ

Former Rolling Stone editor Noah Schactman lands new job at NYT, despite controversial role in misleading reporting to protect a personal friend. https://www.cjr.org/laurels-and-darts/noah-shachtman-nyt-rolling-stone-baltimore-banner-tristan-king-missing-st-helens-oregon-corruption-scandal-mayor.php 

Columbia Journalism Review analysis on Rolling Stone's inaccurate story about campus rape at University of Virginia: https://www.cjr.org/investigation/rolling_stone_investigation.php

Celebrated relationship therapist Esther Perel has a guest on her podcast who is in a relationship with his AI chatbot: https://www.estherperel.com/podcast 

Mark Zuckerberg finally calling it quits on the Metaverse (mostly): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/technology/mark-zuckerbergs-metaverse-vr-horizon-worlds.html 

Playwright Jeremy O. Harris called Sam Altman a nazi at a party: https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/tracewilliamcowen/jeremy-o-harris-openai-sam-altman-nazi 

Specifically, Friedrich Flick: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Flick 

Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify. 

Pre-order our forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com ! 

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

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Not long ago, Sam Altman was bragging about how OpenAI doesn't make sex bots. Then, just two months later, announced the company would be rolling out erotic content on ChatGPT.

So how's that pivot into adult content going? In the words of Dorinda Medley: "Not well, bitch."

Soon after the announcement, there was a high-profile exit from OpenAI — over concerns the company wasn't handling the adult content pivot responsibly. And now Sam Atlman says it’s been postponed.

So what does it all mean? Bridget sat down with friends Samantha and Anney over at SMNTY to break it all down.

Pre-order our forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com ! 

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.

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In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Joey cover the tech news stories you might have missed.

Do Normies Have The Right to Read Heated Rivalry Fanfic: https://www.gq.com/story/heated-rivalry-fanfic-privacy

A writer is suing Grammarly for turning her and other authors into ‘AI editors’ without consent: https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/12/a-writer-is-suing-grammarly-for-turning-her-and-other-authors-into-ai-editors-without-consent/

He Tried to Stop Adobe From Training its AI on His Photo Library – He Lost: https://petapixel.com/2026/03/11/he-tried-to-stop-adobe-from-training-its-ai-on-his-photo-library-he-lost/

Viral 'Quittr' Porn Addiction App Exposed the Masturbation Habits of Hundreds of Thousands of Users: https://www.404media.co/viral-quittr-porn-addiction-app-exposed-the-masturbation-habits-of-hundreds-of-thousands-of-users/

Panic World’s episode on the NoFap movement: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6qXJNaFl2dIzwXC9h8no4p

Uber’s women-only option goes nationwide in the US: https://apnews.com/article/uber-women-safety-9c974f92dfd7fb25d504d173b2429d06

Listen to Alison Turkos on TANGOTI: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/she-was-sexually-assaulted-during-a-lyft-ride-now/id1520715907?i=1000555658403

Buffer Report: Declines in Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads Engagement: https://www.globaldatinginsights.com/featured/buffer-report-declines-in-instagram-linkedin-threads-engagement/

Let us know what you think about these stories by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify!

Pre-order our forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com !

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc || youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

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It's Women's History Month — and this year, honoring women's contributions feels less like a celebration and more like an act of resistance. 

That's why celebrating women's achievements is more important than ever. So in this episode, I want to introduce you to someone who shaped the way we all experience technology, even if you've never heard her name: Susan Kare. She designed the visual language of the early Mac — the icons, the fonts, the look and feel that made personal computing something people actually wanted to touch. Her visuals were emulated across the industry, and their legacy is still hugely influential today. 

Back in 2021, I joined Sam and Anney at Stuff Mom Never Told You to dig into Susan Kare's legacy — where she came from, what she built, and why it still matters.

Let me know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify. 

Pre-order our forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com ! 

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

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In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike cover the tech news stories you might have missed.

Hallow app beef update.

Meta sued over false privacy promises about it's glasses. Gee, what a shocker. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q33nvj0qpo

Google sued for wrongful death after a vulnerable user died by suicide after talking with its chatbot Gemini. https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/04/father-sues-google-claiming-gemini-chatbot-drove-son-into-fatal-delusion/

Brothel workers unite! Workers push back against a contract trying to claim rights to their image. Consider donating to them if you can!  https://unitedbrothelworkers.org/

Advocates in the UK have been fighting nonconsensual image-based abuse, and winning. A new law makes the gross category of "semen-images" illegal. It's basically what you think. https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/semen-images-illegal-investigation and for context https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/glamour-campaign-10-downing-street

A powerful piece by Kwaneta Harris & Leigh Goodmark describes the ways True Crime media exploits incarcerated women and makes them vulnerable to predation by creeps.  https://truthout.org/articles/incarcerated-women-featured-in-true-crime-media-face-flood-of-sexual-harassment/

A new global poll finds that Gen-Z men are twice as likely as their Baby Boomer grandfathers to hold misogynistic views of gender roles. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/poll-gen-zs-gender-divide-reaches-politics-views-marriage-children-suc-rcna229255

[FUNNY] Pressing 2 for Spanish in the phone system of a Washington State agency leads to unexpected results.  https://apnews.com/article/washington-dol-spanish-accent-ai-3a1b8438a5674c07242a8d48c057d5a3#

Let us know what you think about these stories by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify!

Pre-order our forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com !

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

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In last week's news roundup, we did a short segment about the Hallow App. 

It's a subscription-based app that helps you pray and learn about scripture with celebrity spokespeople. It's also partially funded by Peter Thiel and JD Vance, people actively involved in building surveillance technology. We had some concerns! 

A writer named Nancy Flanders did not appreciate the segment! She wrote an article for the anti-abortion organization  Live Action about our segment, strangely focusing on our criticism of Chris Pratt, even though he was just a minor part of the segment. 

We love connecting with new audiences! To meet this new-found demand for our content amongst the anti-abortion crowd, we're taking a deep dive into the Hallow app. 

We'll take a close look at their investors, those investors' connections to the Trump administration and creation of a surveillance state, privacy concerns with the app, and the motley crew of scumbags the app has hired as spokespeople.

We'll also talk about Chris Pratt a little more. We know what you like. 

Let us know what you think about Chris Pratt, or anything else, by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify. 

Pre-order our forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com! 

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

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Pre-order our forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Love-at-First-Prompt/Bridget-Todd/9781668179826

In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike cover the tech news stories you might have missed.

Black History Month: Every time you drop a reaction GIF, thank Lisa Gelobter. She helped engineer the animation tech that made GIFs GIF. https://legacy.anitab.org/profile/lisa-gelobter/

Google apologizes after news alert about BAFTAs included a racial slur: https://deadline.com/2026/02/google-apologizes-bafta-ai-news-alet-n-word-1236734448/

Warner Brothers requested the slur be edited out from the BAFTAs broadcast: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/feb/24/sinners-studio-reportedly-raised-n-word-use-with-bafta-immediately-during-ceremony-and-requested-removal

The man with tourettes who shouted the slur questions the wisdom of putting a microphone in front of his seat: https://people.com/john-davidson-baftas-tourettes-incident-questions-seated-near-microphone-11913879

TikTok psychic in Idaho: https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/northwest/idaho/article314779034.html

Meta’s plans for AI facial recognition in smart glasses ‘threatens safety of all women and girls’: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/meta-glasses-facial-recognition-domestic-abuse-b2923551.html

Nicki Minaj's social posts are being amplified by a bot network: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/23/the-bots-powering-nicki-minajs-maga-war-00771317

Kansas revokes drivers licenses for trans people: https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/kansas-sends-letters-to-trans-people

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth demands Anthropic allow its AI be used for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/24/pentagon-demands-ai-access/

Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify.

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Something has been in the works. Bridget shares what's next.

LoveAtFirstPrompt.AI 

Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify!

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In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike cover the tech news stories you might have missed.

The story behind Hallow, the Christian app hawked by Gwen Stefani: https://mashable.com/article/hallow-prayer-app-gewn-stefani-jd-vance-peter-thiel 

Elon Musk's Grok doxes adult performer on X: https://www.404media.co/grok-doxing-real-names-birthdates-siri-dahl/ 

Sleazy facial recognition app unmasks cam girls and sells their images: https://www.404media.co/underground-facial-recognition-tool-unmasks-camgirls/ 

New UK law requires platforms to remove deepfake nudes and revenge porn within 48 hours: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/18/tech-firms-must-remove-revenge-porn-in-48-hours-or-risk-being-blocked-says-starmer 

The two DOGE bros in charge of cutting National Endowment for the Humanities grants literally just asked ChatGPT what to do: https://www.techdirt.com/2026/02/19/doge-bros-grant-review-process-was-literally-just-asking-chatgpt-is-this-dei/ 

US civil rights agency sues Coca-Cola distributor for excluding men from casino work trip: https://apnews.com/article/dei-coca-cola-eeoc-lawsuit-andrea-lucas-867fd98ec6d05ab52e7e0a3711e9d492

White Men Learn the Hidden Cost of Suing for Discrimination: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/social-justice/white-men-learn-the-hidden-cost-of-suing-for-discrimination 

A WIN FOR DEMOCRACY: Trump admin rescinds rule banning discussion of DEI in schools after losing court ruling. https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/department-of-education-backs-down-on-unlawful-directive-targeting-educational-equity 

Let us know what you think about these stories by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify! 

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A viral video. A smeared daycare worker. A community in panic. Sound familiar?

In the 1980s, a wave of hysteria swept the country, accusing daycare workers of abusing children in Satanic rituals — accusations that ruined lives and were entirely false. Now, a dubious video out of Minnesota is sparking the same kind of moral panic all over again.

To make sense of the moment, I sat down with Sarah Marshall, host of the new CBC podcast The Devil You Know, to trace the through-line from the Satanic Panic to today's daycare scandals — and ask what it says about us that we keep falling for this.

Listen to Sarah's podcast The Devil You Know wherever you get your podcasts!

Let us know what you think about this episode by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify!

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In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike cover the tech news stories you might have missed.

Amazon’s Ring, a creepy surveillance product, ran a creepy surveillance ad during the Superbowl that triggered a massive public backlash: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/12/amazons-ring-cancels-flock-partnership-amid-super-bowl-ad-backlash.html

Electronic Frontier Foundation explanation of why Ring is a surveillance nightmare: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/02/no-one-including-our-furry-friends-will-be-safer-rings-surveillance-nightmare-0

An online community built around fitness/dance app Supernatural is purchased and destroyed by Meta [GIFT LINK]: https://www.theverge.com/tech/871250/supernatural-meta-vr-fitness-community?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6InFuZzlFUmd2VGsiLCJwIjoiL3RlY2gvODcxMjUwL3N1cGVybmF0dXJhbC1tZXRhLXZyLWZpdG5lc3MtY29tbXVuaXR5IiwiZXhwIjoxNzcwNDY2NTMzLCJpYXQiOjE3NzAwMzQ1MzN9.A67DLWY3HpNyI1PzxCMq4Mf96DELfg2belp-siH7vww&utm_medium=gift-link

Marc Benioff 'Jokes' with his employees that ICE is watching them: https://www.404media.co/marc-benioff-jokes-ice-is-watching-salesforce-employees-who-traveled-to-the-u-s/

Salesforce Workers Circulate Open Letter Urging CEO to Denounce ICE: https://www.wired.com/story/letter-salesforce-employees-sent-after-marc-benioffs-ice-comments/

Body camera footage is being used to humiliate young women on YouTube: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/body-cam-youtube-foia-abuse.html

Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify.

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When graduate instructor Mel Curth gave a student a failing grade for work that didn't answer the assignment, she couldn't have predicted what would happen next. Within days, the student, backed by Turning Point USA and right-wing media, had launched a national campaign. The university removed Mel from teaching. The grade was thrown out. And the student became a conservative media celebrity.

Mel’s attorney Brittany Stewart, has defended LGBTQ rights in Oklahoma for decades, breaks down what really happened at the University of Oklahoma, and what it reveals about the coordinated effort to push trans people out of academia and public life. 

Listen to our full episode breaking down the situation (and yes, we read Samantha’s full essay!): https://omny.fm/shows/there-are-no-girls-on-the-internet/this-univ-of-oklahoma-essay-is-so-bad-it-launched-a-culture-war-career

Listen to Brittany’s great podcast The Thunder Gals (OKC’s ONLY female-led Thunder media!!) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-thunder-gals/id1555886306

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Should you trust MAHA's wellness doctors? Dr. Peter Attia's gross emails with Jeffrey Epstein just exposed how mainstream institutions keep platforming these guys—and why they're always caught off guard. We're re-releasing our deep dive into Dr. Andrew Huberman, also a CBS contributor, and why the business model behind 'bro science' takes off online. 

CBS pulls Peter Attia segment after Epstein fallout, but Bari Weiss is sticking by him – for now: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/cbs-peter-attia-bari-weiss-epstein-60-minutes-b2913369.html

Andrew Huberman is having a rough one after New York Mag published a long read looking into his personal and professional life: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/andrew-huberman-podcast-stanford-joe-rogan.html

Andrew Huberman Has Supplements on the Brain: https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/andrew-huberman-has-bad-case-supplement-brain

So, Should You Trust Andrew Huberman? https://slate.com/technology/2024/03/andrew-huberman-huberman-lab-health-advice-podcast-debunk.html

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is WhatsApp reading your private encrypted messages? That's what was claimed in a bombshell 2025 lawsuit, which cited whistleblowers from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is using every tool they have to force tech companies to turn over people's personal communications. Just this morning, the Washington Post published an exclusive investigative report about DHS using subpoenas to quietly surveil and silence their political enemies. 

Protecting our digital privacy has never been more important. In this conversation with Anney and Samantha from Stuff Mom Never Told You, Bridget covers the many reasons you shouldn't trust WhatsApp and Zuckerberg with your personal messages, and suggests a safer alternative. 

Link to today's Washington Post piece: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/02/03/homeland-security-administrative-subpoena/  

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

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The tech conference Devternity was canceled (not fake canceled, literally canceled) after allegations that the founder has been inventing fake women and catfishing on Instagram for years.

Bridget does a deep dive to get to the bottom of it, and what it says about default, dismissive attitudes about marginalized people in tech. There were real women the whole time! Why not invite one of them?!

A Tech Conference Listed Fake Speakers for Years: I Accidentally Noticed: https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/devternity-fake-speakers/

Male Tech Conference Founder Is Behind Popular Woman Coding Influencer Account: https://www.404media.co/coding-unicorn-instagram-julia-kirsina-devternity/

Tech Conference Collapses After Organizer Admits to Making Fake ‘Auto-Generated’ Female Speaker: https://www.404media.co/devternity-fake-speakers-eduard-sizovs/

Eduards Sizovs’s full response thread: https://twitter.com/eduardsi/status/1728422017417032140

Here’s a collection of Julia through the years: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Fds4DgzU_Yem577sfGykauuNkltIq3ykZdZUd1EAUE/edit?usp=sharing

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After years in limbo, TikTok is now officially operating under American ownership for users in the United States, purchased by a group of investors backed by the Trump administration. 

And that shift is happening at a moment when a lot of people are already feeling scared, angry, and on edge — including in the wake of yet another killing involving ICE in Minnesota. 

There’s been no shortage of warnings, rumors, and worst-case scenarios about what this new era of TikTok might look like for democracy, privacy, and organizing in marginalized communities. To help us all separate fact from fear, Bridget talks with Jessica Maddox, associate professor of Media Studies at the University of Georgia.

Follow Jess on social media to keep up with what's happening: 

 - Instagram and Threads: jessmaddox21 

 - Substack: bythewaysocial.substack.com

 - Bluesky: jessmaddox.bsky.social

Let us know what you think about this episode 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

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In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike cover the tech & culture news stories you might have missed.

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Oscar nominations are out, and Bridget has opinions!

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The Internet is consumed with controversy over two straight hockey podcasters' embrace of the hot and heavy queer series Heated Rivalry after text messages shared with Alex Reimer at Queerty suggest it's all an act. This is the low stakes, high drama Internet conflict we live for. https://www.queerty.com/do-hockey-bros-actually-like-heated-rivalry-or-are-they-just-performing-for-views-20260121/ 

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The White House social media team posted an altered photo that used AI to darken a protester and civil rights icon's skin and make it look like she was crying, hours after they had posted the unaltered photo that showed her looking badass and defiant. When faced with a choice between "despicable" or "incompetent," this administration once again grabs for both. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/22/white-house-ice-protest-arrest-altered-image

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Florida man, manosphere podcaster, and Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback is running on a platform of attacking Only Fans models, but less interested in talking about dodging lawsuits from his former employer or his alleged affair with a girl who worked for him when she was 17.

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Soledad O’Brien on the now Oscar Nominated documentary Perfect Neighbor: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soledad-obrien-explores-stand-your-ground-in-netflix/id1520715907?i=1000738453445

Gloria Richardson’s iconic side eye: https://www.grunge.com/465629/the-untold-story-of-gloria-richardson/

We Watched Amazon Prime’s War of the Worlds So You Don't Have To: https://omny.fm/shows/there-are-no-girls-on-the-internet/we-watched-amazon-prime-s-war-of-the-worlds-so-you-dont-have-to

Let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment on Spotify. 

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Right-wing influencer Ashley St. Clair has a long history of transphobic behavior, including authoring a children’s book promoting those views. When she recently expressed regret for that past behavior, Elon Musk threatened to petition for sole custody of the child they share.

Parker Molloy — writer and editor of the popular newsletter The Present Age — joins me to grapple with St. Clair’s apology, what accountability can look like in the public eye, and what happens when someone attempts to step off the outrage machine that once rewarded them.

Read Parker’s piece: A Conservative Influencer Apologized for Her Anti-Trans Past. Elon Musk Is Trying to Take Her Kid
https://www.readtpa.com/p/a-conservative-influencer-apologized

Parker previously worked at Media Matters. You can listen to our deep dive into Elon Musk’s legal attacks on the organization here:
https://omny.fm/shows/there-are-no-girls-on-the-internet/elon-musk-boosts-antisemitic-tweet-and-advertisers

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In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Joey cover the tech news stories you might have missed.

Updates on X and Grok creating nonconsensual sex images. They're still doing it, but now they're at least pretending they aren't: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceqz7pyd303o

Our deep dive episode into what’s happening with Grok: https://podcasts.apple.com/xk/podcast/elons-grok-sexualized-renee-goods-dead-body-and-hes/id1520715907?i=1000744528946

A Phoenix gay bar announced a plan to use AI. Should they? https://www.lookoutnews.org/a-phoenix-gay-bar-announced-a-plan-to-use-artificial-intelligence-should-they

The Tea App is back, and they want you to know they care about security now. https://mashable.com/article/tea-app-is-back-but-not-on-apple-app-store

An investigation by the Fuller Project found that an algorithm used by the Veterans' Affairs Administration to determine which veterans get treatment prioritizes white men: https://fullerproject.org/story/artificial-intelligence-veteran-suicide-prevention-algorithm-favors-men/

GoFundMe Ignores Own Rules by Hosting a Legal-Defense Fund for the ICE Agent Who Killed Renee Good: https://www.wired.com/story/gofundme-ice-jonathan-ross-renee-good-fundraiser/

Let us know what you think about these stories 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

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It's the weekly news roundup! Rare Tuesday edition (it's still January; we'll get back to the regular schedule soon). Bridget breaks down the tech news you might have missed with Producer Mike.

Watch ASSSCAT! For free on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4HTxmqNTCY

Please look at this picture of the Fresh and Fit podcast with NINE PEOPLE ON MIC ! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36873819/mediaviewer/rm3460072962/

A fake AI images on social media falsely suggest Renee Good had an extensive criminal record. https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2026/01/11/minneapolis-ice-shooting-did-renee-nicole-good-have-a-criminal-history-fact-checking-the-rap-sheet-on-x.html 

A viral post claiming to blow the whistle on a food delivery app's shady practices turned out to be a hoax. Journalist Casey Newton breaks down the surprisingly robust forged documents. https://www.platformer.news/fake-uber-eats-whisleblower-hoax-debunked/ 

Amy Poehler's 'Good Hang' wins first Golden Globe for podcasts. Ben Shapiro wins nothing. https://goldenglobes.com/nominations/2026 

Guy posts on Reddit that his feminist chatbot girlfriend broke up with him. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/conservative-says-ai-girlfriend-dumped-190000163.html 

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

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Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok is generating roughly one nonconsensual sexual image per minute on X. It's not just celebrities - victims include images of children, dead bodies, and Holocaust survivors.

This week, users asked Grok to create a sexualized AI image of Renee Good's dead body, the woman shot and killed by ICE in Minnesota.

And Elon? He's posting jokes about it. We break down how we got here, why it's only getting worse in the US, what some countries are trying to do about it, and what happens when the richest man in the world builds AI specifically for abusers.

How Grok's sexual abuse hit a tipping point (by Kat Tenbarge): https://spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-deepfakes-abuse-elon-musk 

Grok's AI Sexual Abuse Didn't Come Out of Nowhere (by Samantha Cole): https://www.404media.co/grok-ai-sexual-abuse-imagery-twitter/

The Twitter-to-Fame Pipeline of the 2010s (w/ Celebrity Memoir Book Club): https://omny.fm/shows/there-are-no-girls-on-the-internet/the-twitter-to-fame-pipeline-of-the-2010s-w-celebrity-memoir-book-club

Coverage of research into Grok requests, (by Nana Nwachukwu at Dublin’s Trinity College AI Accountability Lab): https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/08/grok-x-nonconsensual-images

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy New Year! We're starting 2026 on a hopeful note. We all know that AI is threatening human labor across a bunch of industries, especially creative work. This episode is about an encouraging win for humans – a case where human creators are being centered, protected, and valued in an increasingly automated entertainment industry. Bridget talks with Will Pearson, head of podcasts at iHeart, about why betting on human creators is good business. (Spoiler: Because that's what listeners want)

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

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You asked and we answered! In this first installment of our first ever listener mail episode, the TANGOTI team reads your emails!

Thanks to everyone who submitted a question!! Keep them coming!

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

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There’s a gender gap when it comes to who is using AI at work. Are women being left behind? The research isn’t so cut and dry.  

Bridget takes a look at what we know and what it means with Samantha and Anney from Stuff Mom Never Told You.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. 

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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]

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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] 

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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.pdf

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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] 

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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.html

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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/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet

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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.

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/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet

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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 

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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/

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Bridget is joined by producer Joey Patt to cover the week's tech news that you might have missed. 

Meg Thee Stallion targeted by racist, sexist deepfakes: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/megan-thee-stallion-responds-sexually-explicit-deepfake-x-rcna156424

Trump Administration planning executive order preventing AI regulation by states: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/19/white-house-prepares-executive-order-to-block-state-ai-laws-00660719

Women are under-represented in the building trades, where they often face harassment or worse. A young welder's murder highlights the risks: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sarah-kotzen_tradeswomen-workplacesafety-nawic-activity-7395254105088323584-NNd4/

Youth sports are costing parents a fortune, and private equity firms are making it worse: https://www.levernews.com/wall-street-is-paywalling-your-kids-sports/

AI-powered teddy bear talks to kids about knives, bondage, and starting fires: https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/19/tech/folotoy-kumma-ai-bear-scli-intl

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

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Andrew Tate is back in the news. ProPublica reports that the White House may have been secretly trying to help him evade sex trafficking charges. Tate is also back on Meta platforms, all while he’s suing Meta for $50 million.

Bridget revisits her conversation with Media Matters researcher Justin Horowitz to understand how Tate and the broader manosphere continue to exploit social media systems and harm us all.

Read Justin’s Media Matters research: https://www.mediamatters.org/diversity-discrimination/beyond-andrew-tate-meet-misogynistic-manosphere-influencers-proliferating

The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation: https://www.propublica.org/article/andrew-tate-investigation-dhs-paul-ingrassiaMeta Aims To Get Geographically Challenged Andrew Tate’s $50M Deplatforming Case Tossed, Moved Out Of L.A.: https://deadline.com/2025/10/meta-andrew-tate-lawsuit-latest-1236589558/

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

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Christmas has come early for Bridget, because Joyce Carol Oates is beefing with Elon Musk on Twitter. Bridget explains to Producer Mike what it's about, why Joyce Carol Oates is one of her all-time problematic faves, and why Elon is now performatively demonstrating his commitment to literacy with insightful takes like "great movie" and ads declaring that he likes to read.

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

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Birth control is the latest battleground in a wave of online misinformation targeting young women — and doctors and reproductive health advocates are sounding the alarm about its impact.

But this isn’t your typical fearmongering about birth control coming from Bible-thumpers or conservative men in suits. This new wave is coming from wellness influencers — the ones in matching pastel workout sets — who are linking a “balanced, natural life” with ditching hormonal birth control.

Bridget explains to Stuff Mom Never Told You’s Samantha and Anney why this may look like a rebrand, but this kind of misinformation is just as harmful as ever. 

You can find more information about the safety and effectiveness of birth control in this article from the American Medical Association: https://www.ama-assn.org/public-health/population-health/what-doctors-wish-patients-knew-about-birth-control 

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 

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It’s just turtles and scams all the way down.

Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show: https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-is-earning-fortune-deluge-fraudulent-ads-documents-show-2025-11-06/

‘You’re not rushing. You’re just ready:’ Parents say ChatGPT encouraged son to kill himself: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/06/us/openai-chatgpt-suicide-lawsuit-invs-vis

Condé Nast abruptly fires 4 staffers after HR confrontation: https://www.semafor.com/article/11/06/2025/cond-nast-abruptly-fires-4-staffers-after-hr-confrontation

Jury acquits D.C. 'sandwich guy' charged with chucking a sub at a federal agent: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/dc-sandwich-guy-verdict-rcna242142

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  

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Black women are leaving the workforce and it’s a warning sign for the entire economy. From media to tech, more than 300,000 Black women have left their jobs in the last year. What’s driving this exodus, and what does it reveal about the state of work in America? Bridget speaks with:

Anna Gifty, economist and author of the fascinating new book The Double Tax: How Women of Color Are Overcharged, and Underpaid, and 

sociologist Marianne Cooper,  Senior Research Scholar at Stanford University's VMware Women's Leadership Innovation Lab, 

about the economic pressures, pay gaps, and burnout pushing Black women out and why their exit should concern everyone.

Anna and Marianne’s Time piece: https://time.com/7315624/rising-unemployment-black-women-economy/

Get Anna’s great book! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/734115/the-double-tax-by-anna-gifty-opoku-agyeman-foreword-by-chelsea-clinton/

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 

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Happy Halloween, boys and ghouls! In this week's news roundup Bridget is recapping all the tech news stories you might have missed, so you don't have to.

Creeps in Meta Raybans are nonconsensually filming massage women in massage parlors: https://www.404media.co/metas-ray-ban-glasses-users-film-and-harass-massage-parlor-workers/

China implements a new law cracking down on influencers who spread misinformation. https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/china-cracks-down-fake-experts-banned-from-social-media/

Surveillance company Flock used by police to charge a Colorado woman for a crime she didn't commit, forcing her to prove her innocence. https://coloradosun.com/2025/10/28/flock-camera-police-colorado-columbine-valley/

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue publishes a new study shedding light on the ecosystem of non consensual deep fake material online, highlighting the easy available of the software. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/the-ecosystem-of-nonconsensual-intimate-deepfake-tools-online/

A librarian has launched a creative protest against Good Reads, which is owned by Amazon, over the company's censorship and favorable treatment of Eric Trump's new book. https://www.404media.co/rogue-goodreads-librarian-edits-site-to-expose-censorship-in-favor-of-trump-fascism/

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 

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We all know the internet loves a viral story. But what happens when that story is about a real woman being harassed and the platforms that ostensibly should be protecting her instead punish her? That’s what happened to Livie, a DoorDash driver in New York State whose story is currently going viral on TikTok. Bridget breaks down what actually happened, why the story is drowning in misinformation and AI generated fake videos, and what the story tells us about where we’re at right now when it comes to women speaking up online. 

See Livie's video(s) for yourself: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19jTtPWjZH/?mibextid=wwXIfr 

MuURLS, a creator on TikTok was cloned by AI: https://www.tiktok.com/@muurlz/video/7563725293693783309?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

NotKristen’s TikTok on AI clones: https://www.tiktok.com/@notkhristen/video/7563433687476358430?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Liberal feminist “triggered”: https://imgflip.com/i/65wr5r

The real “triggered feminist” video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byOlBCpNKeM

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 

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