Reflections on Online Empathy and Speculation After Kate Middleton's Disappearance

This week, ICYMI and the Never Post podcast are collaborating on two episodes surrounding 2024’s biggest internet monocultural moment: Kate Middleton’s disappearance. It’s been more than a month since Kate announced she’d started preventative chemotherapy treatments following a cancer diagnosis. Which means it’s also been just over a month since conspiracy theories about the princess ran rampant across the internet. As an increasingly algorithmic internet silos us further into our own little content niches, all-consuming events like Kate Middleton’s disappearance are fewer and far between. So what does it take, in 2024, to capture the internet’s attention and create these rare monocultural moments?

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.

This episode was made in collaboration with the Never Post team, which includes Hans Buetow, Mike Rugnetta, Jason Oberholtzer and Wil Williams.

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