Story of the Week with Joel Stein

On the Replica app, you can create an AI-powered chatbot to talk to, befriend, sext and even virtually marry. The service has millions of users. Some of them are now discovering that having a friend or spouse that’s owned by a private company comes with downsides.  Pranshu Verma wrote "They fell in love with AI bots. A software update broke their hearts" for The Washington Post. You can read the full story here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/30/replika-ai-chatbot-update/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2012, Melania Trump tweeted a photo of a smiling beluga whale and captioned it “what is she thinking?” Eleven years later, Sabrina Imbler, a journalist at Defector Media, decided to try to answer that question.  You can read Sabrina Imbler’s full story, “What Was She Thinking? An Investigation,” here: https://defector.com/what-was-she-thinking-an-investigationSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Celebrity autographs are a billion dollar industry. And in New York City, “Radio Man” is better at collecting them than anybody else. He also regularly appears as an extra in movies and TV shows. How did a formerly homeless man come to be so beloved by celebrities? And how did he get so good at getting their autographs? Drew Schwartz wrote “Meet Radio Man: Autograph King, Friend of George Clooney, ‘Bum’” for the New York Times. You can read the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/17/nyregion/radio-man-autograph-hunters.html See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is it possible to live for even a day without plastic? Stunt journalist extraordinaire A.J. Jacobs tries his best. And fails miserably. You can read the full New York Times story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/style/plastic-free.htmlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian man nicknamed “Putin’s Chef” went from being a street criminal to a hot dog seller to owning a catering company that provides services to the Russian government. Oh yeah– and he’s also the head of a private military company that’s sending soldiers all over the world. How did Prigozhin turn global conflict into a lucrative business? And what could happen if he decides he’s had enough of Vladimir Putin’s rule?  Julia Ioffe wrote about Prigozhin for her publication, Puck. You can read the full story here: https://puck.news/putins-chef-the-man-behind-russias-shadow-army/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2013, two women started a Facebook group called “Buy Nothing” for their local community on Bainbridge Island to swap unwanted items for free. But their small group quickly grew, becoming a national movement with millions of users.  A coup within Buy Nothing raised questions about if it’s possible to create a utopian project within a broken society.  Vauhini Vara reported on the saga of Buy Nothing for Wired Magazine. You can read the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/the-battle-for-buy-nothing/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UPDATE: Since we recorded this episode on 03/09, Guo Wengui was arrested in New York City on charges of financial conspiracy.For years, rapper Pras Michél has allegedly been doing the bidding of wanted Malaysian billionaire, Jho Low. Pras’s baffling, Icarian story involves one of the greatest financial scandals in history, an international hostage negotiation, and the possibility of a decadeslong prison sentence. Matthew Campbell co-wrote this story for Business Week. You can read it here: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-us-china-tensions-scandal-fugees-1mdb/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Oscars seems to be cursed with a series of chaotic live television gaffes. But one moment in Academy Award history takes the cake. In 1974, a scrawny white man named Robert Opel ran across the stage butt naked, right as the Best Picture category was being announced. New Yorker magazine writer and Oscars aficionado Michael Schulman recounts the queer, wonderful, and historic life of the 1974 Oscars streaker.  You can read the full story here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/06/what-became-of-the-oscar-streaker You can find Michael Schulman’s new book Oscar Wars here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tipping. Dinner parties. Canceling plans. We could all use an etiquette guide that teaches us to live without pissing people off. Luckily, New York Magazine has one – and it went viral. We (politely) asked Choire Sicha, who edited that guide, to come on our show.  You can read the full list from New York Magazine here: https://www.thecut.com/article/tipping-rules-etiquette-rules.htmlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when extinct animal skeletons meet the “Joe Rogan Experience”? The answer is murky, freezing, and may contain submerged cars. This week, we bring on Michael Wilson from the New York Times, who wrote about how a fossil-excavating reality TV star came on Joe Rogan’s podcast to make a bombshell claim: that there are mammoth tusks at the bottom of the East River. What ensues is a no-holds-barred bone rush. You can read the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/nyregion/joe-rogan-mammoth-tusks-east-river.html See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.