28. The Things We Do For Love

“I don’t need any more reasons to hate the human race,” a friend said, about his aversion of watching the new Netflix series “The Most Hated Man on the Internet.” Is its subject, Hunter Moore, who revels in posting revenge porn and tweeting things like, “Fuck bitches, get money, do blow,” easy to hate? That would be a resounding yes. And yet, as Nancy and Sarah discuss, the internet of the aughts was like opening a door on a cyclone, the people who stepped inside often having no appreciation for how their lives could be wrecked with one click. Oh how things have changed since 2012 …

Or have we just stepped into a different sort of storm, one that does not carry us off but keeps us walking in place? After praising the crack writing of Allison P. Davis’s essay about her ten years on Tinder, Sarah wonders if dating apps keep people on “the hedonic treadmill,” Nancy questions whether engineering one’s choice of partner axiomatically cuts out the mystery, and both agree (hope?) the pursuit of love and/or sex might be hacked in one’s favor.

The girls give their hotbox picks of the week before Nancy has to jet early to a very important hair coloring appointment.*

Not here for hook-ups, but we do promise a deep and mutually beneficial relationship if you become a free or paid subscriber.

Episode Notes:

“The Most Hated Man on the Internet” official trailer

“Hunter Moore: The Most Hated Man on the Internet,” by Alex Morris (Rolling Stone)

“Rude, Crude, and Coming to a Theater Near You,” story about new Tucker Max movie by Dave Itzkoff (New York Times)

“Paris Hilton’s sex tape was revenge porn. The world gleefully watched,” by Constance Grady (Vox)

“Tinder Hearted: How did a dating app become my longest running relationship?” by Allison P. Davis (The Cut)

“Meeting online has become the most popular way U.S. couples connect, Stanford sociologist finds,” by Alex Shaskevich (Stanford News)

“1,232-Swiper Poll,” stats on Tinder by Paula Aceves (The Cut)

That time Sarah matched with Beto on Tinder (true story, no idea why he was on that app, or if it was even him) …

Thy Neighbor’s Wife, by Gay Talese

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, by Jon Ronson

Max Mosley, Formula One racer and son of fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley and Lady Diana Mitford, “who won landmark privacy case against News of the World over masochistic orgy with five prostitutes.”

Choosing The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell as an entree into the Mitford sisters, “a close, loving family splintered by the violent ideologies of Europe between the world wars. Jessica was a Communist; Debo became the Duchess of Devonshire; Nancy was one of the best-selling novelists of her day; beautiful Diana married the Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley; and Unity, a close friend of Hitler, shot herself in the head when England and Germany declared war.” There are many others to choose from!

What’s in your hotbox?

Sarah: The Last Movie Stars about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, directed by Ethan Hawke… whose hirsute mug is the trailer’s screenshot, as opposed to Newman’s eye-melting beauty or the creamy lusciousness of Woodward, and might you change that, HBO?

Nancy: The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski

Outro song: “The Things We Do For Love” by 10cc

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