There Are No Girls on the Internet

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.