There Are No Girls on the Internet

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 hello@tangoti.com 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.socialSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 hello@tangoti.com 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.

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-imagesSee 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 hello@tangoti.com 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.

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 hello@tangoti.com 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.socialSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 hello@tangoti.com 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 hello@tangoti.com 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 hello@tangoti.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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.