There Are No Girls on the Internet

Anil Dash, a pioneering voice in tech, discusses the stark contrast between the early, vibrant internet and today’s corporate-dominated landscape. He reflects on the communal spirit of the late 90s and early 2000s, lamenting how it has been overshadowed by billionaire interests. Dash emphasizes the need for a return to a more inclusive and human-centered online space. He encourages the empowerment of individuals through creative projects and open technologies, advocating for a future filled with fun, compassion, and genuine connection.

Bridget is joined in this week's news roundup by tech journalist Dexter Thomas, prolific writer, videographer, and host of the excellent podcast "Kill Switch". Dex recently wrote a piece in Wired about anime girl VTubers selling out concerts, and how the question of whether they're "real" depends on kayfabe and who you ask: https://www.wired.com/story/anime-girl-vtubers-are-selling-out-concerts-but-are-they-real-depends-on-who-you-ask/  In addition to listening to Kill Sitch, you can follow him on YouTube and social media at "D E X D I G I". DC Disinfo.  Real Footage Combined With AI Slop About DC Is Creating a Disinformation Mess on TikTok: https://www.404media.co/real-footage-combined-with-a-ai-slop-about-dc-is-creating-a-disinformation-mess-on-tiktok/ The Tea App story gets worse. Turns out that weren't just sloppy, they were actively undermining other efforts to keep women safe.  https://www.404media.co/how-teas-founder-convinced-millions-of-women-to-spill-their-secrets-then-exposed-them-to-the-world/ Meta’s flirty AI chatbot invited a vulnerable retiree to New York. He never came back. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meta-ai-chatbot-death/ 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! Many vids each week ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bridget and Producer Mike are taking a break from the dystopian surveillance nightmare unfolding in their city of Washington, DC, to review Amazon's new War of the Worlds movie. It stars Ice Cube and is about a dystopian surveillance nightmare that unfolds in Washington, DC. Art imitates life!  This movie is terrible, but it does raise questions like, "Is this even a movie?" It's also 90 minutes of nonstop propaganda for Amazon and surveillance technology.   We had fun doing this! Let us know in Spotify's comments what you think, and what other movies you think we should review on the show. Or send us an email at hello@tangoti.com .    Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc || youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informationSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're excited to share the first episode of Peabody Award-nominated podcast Long Shadow’s new season, Breaking the Internet.  Hosted by Pulitzer Prize finalist and historian Garrett Graff, Long Shadow: Breaking the Internet charts the evolution of the internet – from the optimistic days of the dot-com boom to our present moment. Produced by Long Lead and distributed by PRX, this seven-part series aims to tell the story of humanity's greatest invention, and how it's led us to the biggest crisis facing society today.   In this specific episode, you’ll travel back to 1993. Gas is just over a dollar a gallon. Minimum wage is $4.25 an hour. Mass media is hitting its apex, and American culture is about as homogenous as it’s ever been. And somewhere in the background of all that, this new thing called the World Wide Web just became available to the general public…. then a computer bug threatened to shut it all down forever. To listen to more episodes, follow Long Shadow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app.   If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there or email us at hello@tangoti.com!    Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media! Many vids each week.   instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/    tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc    youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, President Trump seized control of Washington DC's police. It's national news, but it's also deeply personal for Bridget, who was born in DC and has lived here most of her life. The situation is still unfolding, but Bridget breaks down what's happening, what decades of DC history say about how we got here, and why people on both the right and the left are talking about it wrong. If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there or email us at hello@tangoti.com! Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media! Many vids each week instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternetSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A woman named Kendra went viral on TikTok with a series of videos about her relationship with her human psychiatrist, but the videos took a surprising turn when she introduced her ChatGPT “therapist” she calls Henry.    More people than you might think are forming social relationships with chatbots, some of them romantic and even sexual. When OpenAI released their new ChatGPT-5 model last week, replacing the older ChatGPT-4o model, many users felt like a loved one had been taken away from them. Bridget and Producer Mike recap how the botched ChatGPT release brought this issue into the spotlight, try to understand the vulnerable humans caught in the middle, and explore what it means when tech products replace human connection.    Unpacking the TikToker Who Fell in Love With Her Psychiatrist: https://www.thecut.com/article/kendra-hilty-fell-in-love-with-psychiatrist-tiktok.html?_gl=1*1in5yhw*FPAU*MjEzOTUwMzQzNS4xNzUyNzk5OTYy*_ga*NDMxMDgwMzk2LjE3NDcyMzgyMDE.*_ga_DNE38RK1HX*czE3NTQ4NTAzOTIkbzIxJGcxJHQxNzU0ODUwNDI1JGoyNyRsMCRoMjA4ODkzMjIzNw..*_fplc*RzZTb1U4b0VuS2RjeEpxVm9OWXlzWFlXTkYlMkJPaW9IZkNKZnVDMzhTUiUyRldra3FVckdRRTlZUGpMaXR6WVpFUHoxc2xYUk9wOWNPU2lCTHNhTXBSY3ZHd3dvbHJoMWNxbVIyUXZhOEtweFRxZ1NwejliZWdBcWZvRXJMcTVvQSUzRCUzRA..   ChatGPT users hate GPT-5’s “overworked secretary” energy, miss their GPT-4o buddy: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/08/chatgpt-users-outraged-as-gpt-5-replaces-the-models-they-love/   We'd love to hear what you thought about this episode. If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there or email us at hello@tangoti.com   Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media! Many vids each week ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet .  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Bridget is joined by Producer Mike to break down the tech stories you might have missed. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve had some eloquent, powerful things to say about the sexist crypto bros who threw dildos at WNBA players as a publicity stunt for their new meme coin. It's less than a minute and worth a listen:  https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/1mkdusa/lynx_coach_cheryl_reeve_livid_over_sex_toy/ Britt Bischoff's Substack "Encyclopedia Brit(annaica)" is a great resource for tech news in general, and has an informative article about the Tea App. https://brittannica.substack.com/p/the-manosphere-is-the-motherboard Disgraced journalist Chris Cuomo fell for an obvious AOC deepfake video about Sydney Sweeney, then demanded she answer for it even after he knew it was fake: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/chris-cuomo-aoc-sydney-sweeney-jeans-b2803523.html A jury has ruled that Meta illegally collected Flo users’ menstrual data: https://www.theverge.com/news/753469/meta-flo-period-tracker-lawsuit-verdict TeaOnHer, a rival Tea app for men, sprang up overnight and is already leaking users’ personal data and driver’s licenses: https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/06/a-rival-tea-app-for-men-is-leaking-its-users-personal-data-and-drivers-licenses/ Grok generates fake Taylor Swift nudes without being asked. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/grok-generates-fake-taylor-swift-nudes-without-being-asked/ ICYMI: Taylor Swift Twitter deep fakes are everyone’s problem: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/taylor-swift-twitter-deep-fakes-are-everyones-problem/id1520715907?i=1000643579343 Grok Imagine's 'Spicy' mode lacks basic guardrails for sexual deepfakes: https://mashable.com/article/xai-grok-imagine-sexual-deepfakes?test_uuid=003aGE6xTMbhuvdzpnH5X4Q&test_variant=b Meta illegally collected data from Flo period and pregnancy app, jury finds. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/jury-finds-meta-broke-wiretap-law-by-collecting-data-from-period-tracker-app/ Hackers Clown Trump Education Secretary With ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Music and ‘Corrupt Billionaire’ Heckles. ttps://www.thedailybeast.com/hackers-clown-trump-education-secretary-with-circus-music-and-corrupt-billionaire-heckles/ If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there or email us at hello@tangoti.com! Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media! Many vids each week. instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/   tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc   youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternetSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone is asking questions about Trump’s connections to Jefferey Epstein, but the president isn’t the only powerful person or institution linked to him. You might know that connections to convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein led to the resignation of the director of the MIT Media Lab, Joi Ito, after a Ronan Farrow exposé.  But fewer people know that Arwa Mboya, an MIT student and Kenyan virtual reality programmer, bravely called for Ito to step down before Farrow’s piece. She was isolated and attacked for her bravery, before history proved her right. Mboya talks about how the bravery and community of women and girls gave her the courage to take a stand.  Here’s our recent episode looking at Trump’s connections to Epstein: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/epstein-files-firestorm-shows-the-power-of/id1520715907?i=1000718024227See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Bridget recaps the tech stories you might have missed with longtime friend of the show indispensable Internet advocate Abbie Richards. She is the Steve Martin of TANGOTI. If you're not following Abbie on TikTok you're missing out! www.tiktok.com/@tofology US labor hero and friend of the show Chris Smalls, co-founder of the Amazon Labor Union, was beaten and choked by IDF soldiers while trying to deliver aid to Gaza. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/29/chris-smalls-amazon-labor-union-gaza Substack sent a push notification for an openly nazi blog, continuing their streak of promoting nazis. https://www.usermag.co/p/substack-sent-a-push-alert-promoting-nazi-white-supremacist-blog The Discourse Is Broken- How did a jeans commercial with Sydney Sweeney come to this? https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/07/sydney-sweeney-american-eagle-ads/683704/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo First YouTube, and now LinkedIn, have changed their policies to allow discrimination against trans people: https://www.advocate.com/business/youtube-scraps-gender-identity-protection and https://www.advocate.com/news/linkedin-transgender-deadnaming-misgendering-policy TikTok adds footnotes in an attempt to add context to misinformation and fake content. We hope it helps! https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/rolling-out-tiktok-footnotes-in-the-us Community Notes and its Narrow Understanding of Disinformation: https://www.techpolicy.press/community-notes-and-its-narrow-understanding-of-disinformation/ Trump Admin uses songs without permission to create cruelty porn. These people have no shame. https://newrepublic.com/post/198600/white-house-jet2-holiday-meme-deportation There's Already a Class Action Lawsuit Against the Viral 'Tea' App: https://lifehacker.com/tech/tea-app-class-action-lawsuit Spotify threatens to delete accounts that fail age-verification: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/07/30/spotify-threatens-to-delete-accounts-unless-users-prove-the/ Not just YouTube: Google is using AI to guess your age based on your activity - everywhere: https://www.zdnet.com/article/not-just-youtube-google-is-using-ai-to-guess-your-age-based-on-your-activity-everywhere/ If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there or email us at hello@tangoti.com! Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media! Many vids each week. instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Tea App promised a safe, anonymous space for women to share personal experiences with men they dated. Instead, it leaked their private data.    There’s tons of inaccurate, fear mongering information about the leak out there. So in this episode, we’ll break down what happened with the Tea App leak, why it matters, and what it reveals about tech’s ongoing failure to take women’s privacy seriously.    A Second Tea Breach Reveals Users’ DMs About Abortions and Cheating: https://www.404media.co/a-second-tea-breach-reveals-users-dms-about-abortions-and-cheating/   Women Dating Safety App 'Tea' Breached, Users' IDs Posted to 4chan: https://www.404media.co/women-dating-safety-app-tea-breached-users-ids-posted-to-4chan/   Miami New Times’ longread on Girl Don’t Date Him: https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/blind-date-6335973   Tea: Inside the new app where women anonymously review men: https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/68302/1/tea-the-new-app-where-women-anonymously-review-men   'It's fun watching you burn': Man suing women for defamation actually harassed them on dating apps, defendants say: https://lawandcrime.com/lawsuit/its-fun-watching-you-burn-man-suing-women-for-defamation-actually-harassed-them-on-dating-apps-defendants-say/ If you’re listening on Spotify, you can leave a comment there or email us at hello@tangoti.com!    Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media! Many vids each week. instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/  tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.