There Are No Girls on the Internet - INTRODUCING： INTERNET HATE MACHINE

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00:00:50.080 I survived nine months in captivity,

00:00:53.240 and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them.

00:00:58.760 I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are The Survivor Files.

00:01:02.380 Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced.

00:01:09.920 These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive.

00:01:13.740 Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:01:21.360 If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.

00:01:27.100 Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse.

00:01:35.740 Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions.

00:01:44.000 Yeah, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed.

00:01:45.760 Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:01:51.160 There Are No Girls on the Internet is a production of iHeartRadio and Unbossed Creative.

00:02:03.880 I'm Bridget Todd, and this is There Are No Girls on the Internet.

00:02:09.080 So as y'all probably know, on this podcast, we cover a lot of issues related to harassment

00:02:14.260 of marginalized people online. And I think I've alluded to this, but I feel very strongly that

00:02:19.960 The harassment of marginalized people, and particularly Black women and women of color, is basically baked into our current social media platforms.

00:02:28.860 You know, it's not a bug, it's a feature.

00:02:31.000 And I also think it has a lot to do with our current social and political landscape.

00:02:35.640 I think a lot of the awful stuff that we're seeing right now that we've talked about on the podcast, you know, stuff like school teachers being attacked and smeared as groomers,

00:02:44.300 or election workers and poll workers being attacked and threatened and accused of vote

00:02:48.480 tampering or women who want to run for a public office being physically threatened and doxed.

00:02:52.920 I think a lot of this stuff really originated with attacks on Black women online. And because

00:02:59.360 nobody with the power to do anything actually listened or took any kind of meaningful action 0.95

00:03:04.640 when it was happening to those women, now those kinds of things are happening to all of us.

00:03:09.420 And it is not great. You know, it's not great for the ability to have meaningful discourse about some of the issues that we actually do need to have meaningful conversations about to move forward on.

00:03:20.740 It's not great for women and people of color and queer folks and trans folks who just want to be involved in civic life or public life by being a teacher, running for office, becoming a journalist, working as an election worker, or even just expressing themselves politically online. 0.61

00:03:35.680 And it's not great for our democracy. When everybody is not able to meaningfully and safely participate in civic life on our biggest social media platforms and communication platforms, I would argue that we do not have a healthy, functional democracy.

00:03:52.520 Like, people's ability to do that is a tenet of having a healthy democracy.

00:03:58.400 So I am fully aware that I sound like I am ranting, but I really do firmly believe that the harassment of women online is deeply connected to the downfall of our democracy.

00:04:09.720 So I have partnered with Cool Zone Media, the team who brought you great podcasts like

00:04:15.040 Behind the Bastards with Robert Evans and Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff with Margaret

00:04:18.720 Killjoy and many, many others, like too many to name, to make a new podcast exploring this 0.60

00:04:24.260 very connection, the connection between online violence and harassment of Black women and

00:04:29.760 our crumbling democracy.

00:04:31.780 The podcast is called Internet Hate Machine.

00:04:34.940 You know, cue the nine-inch nails here. 1.00

00:04:36.660 internet hate machine is a podcast that will chronicle the stories of women who have been

00:04:41.180 targeted harassed and attacked online why and what it means for the rest of us because i think that

00:04:47.520 there is this misconception that when someone is harassed online it's individual and it absolutely

00:04:53.180 is individual like there's individual and personal consequences for these women who are attacked

00:04:58.260 but it's also systemic it's also institutional and it also creates really big consequences for

00:05:04.440 all of us. So you might be wondering, you know, if you talk about some of these issues on There

00:05:09.780 Are No Girls on the Internet, why are you doing a brand new podcast specifically to explore online

00:05:14.940 harassment? And the answer to that question is kind of tricky, but it really comes down to

00:05:20.460 something that I discussed with internet historian Claire Evans on the very first ever episode of

00:05:26.340 There Are No Girls on the Internet, which is that women and queer folks and black folks and trans

00:05:30.780 folks, and all of us, we deserve monuments to all the amazing stuff that we have done online.

00:05:36.640 Claire Evans basically wrote the book on the internet and women and technology called Broadband,

00:05:43.040 where she chronicles women's contributions to the internet from the very beginning. And this

00:05:48.340 fascinating history actually stops when Gamergate begins. And I asked her why. Here's what she said.

00:05:54.560 yeah it's interesting that you bring that up in researching for this podcast and sort of putting

00:06:01.380 together what this podcast will look like I've been sort of really bummed out by the fact that

00:06:06.500 so many of the episodes or topics ideas that I come up with are about women being harassed and

00:06:12.620 like how women are fighting online and you know it is a an aspect to what it means to show up as

00:06:18.680 a marginalized person online it's just a reality but it's difficult because I feel like I want to

00:06:23.980 build a monument to the way that women and other marginalized communities are using the internet

00:06:29.500 and it sucks that it has to be so reactionary and I guess my question is was there a tension

00:06:34.700 in the book about that like do you feel a tension between wanting to tell that the the full scope of

00:06:42.620 the story of women online and having to include I mean I know that you include Gamergate but

00:06:47.180 things like me too you know things about like women being harassed and fighting back or do you

00:06:53.000 want to build a monument to just that celebrates and affirms how women have built online and it's

00:06:59.560 is there a tension there because i've certainly felt the tension yeah i can totally relate to

00:07:03.080 that i mean i kind of made a choice that i didn't want my book to be about about fighting back

00:07:08.040 against the trolls i wanted my book to be you know a showcase for all the amazing things that

00:07:12.280 people accomplished in despite the fact uh you know that they had to fight against the trolls

00:07:16.560 or whatever their their circumstances were um you know i think i'm kind of was able to cop out from

00:07:22.520 that a little bit because my book ends basically the collapse of the dot-com bubble and i'm not

00:07:26.180 saying that harassment didn't exist before then it certainly did but you know things like gamergate

00:07:30.940 the me too movement the sort of larger conversations that are happening as like a consequence of

00:07:35.360 systemic sexism in the tech industry and in the world um you know sort of became much much uglier

00:07:41.800 more recently and um yeah but i i don't know i have this mantra that is like don't don't fight

00:07:47.400 the darkness bring the light and the darkness will disappear and i think that i don't know i

00:07:52.560 think people need to see how much light there really has been and and how much how many fascinating

00:07:58.140 beautiful interesting you know dynamic contributions had been made um in by women and you know

00:08:04.960 throughout history and that it's it's not always about having to it's not always about being a

00:08:08.780 victim. I don't want to always have that. I don't want that to be like a core part of the identity

00:08:12.900 of the characters that I profile in the book, because they're all, they're not, you know,

00:08:16.320 like they all, they're all tough as nails and super interesting and hardworking and

00:08:20.120 have done great things in this world. And maybe people didn't believe in them at the right time.

00:08:24.440 And maybe people have forgotten some of their contributions, but that doesn't make them any

00:08:28.100 less incredible. So like Claire, I hate the idea of only defining and talking about what we have

00:08:35.580 done in opposition to the people who hate us. You know, we deserve spaces that center our

00:08:41.780 accomplishments, our conversations and our work, not just the fights and the struggles and the

00:08:46.760 traumas. Even though, yes, I am fully aware that there are no girls on the internet sometimes gets

00:08:52.560 into that territory too. It's inevitable. Like our last episode was definitely about child abuse and

00:08:58.780 dark stuff regarding children on the internet? Yes, it is inevitable. But I'm not going to lie,

00:09:05.860 you know, it is something that I have really struggled with in putting this podcast together.

00:09:10.320 You know, I don't want to be the person that bums everybody out every week just by talking about

00:09:15.760 dark stuff lurking on the internet. But I also don't want to completely ignore it because that

00:09:21.300 is also part of the story. It's part of the way that marginalized people have to show up online.

00:09:27.100 you know, the good and the bad of the internet. And I want to tell the full, honest story. And

00:09:33.560 trust me, there are times when I am craving escapism just as much as I'm sure that you are.

00:09:39.840 You can probably hear it in some of the episodes that we've done. So it is something that I struggle

00:09:44.940 with. And honestly, I would welcome any feedback about the balance that I'm striving for. You know,

00:09:50.280 I have people tell me, one day you're talking about something really dark on the internet,

00:09:54.040 someone who's been harassed or attacked. And the next week you're talking about how much you love

00:09:58.100 the X-Files. So yes, I get it. And anyway, all of that is to say that I am starting Internet Hate

00:10:04.500 Machine, a totally new podcast, to really have a place to dig into all of that. Because as I said

00:10:10.720 at the top, I do believe the consequences are really important for all of us. I think the health

00:10:16.280 and safety of our internet and our democracy depends on having honest conversations about

00:10:20.720 what's already happened, who was harmed and how, and most importantly, what needs to be done about

00:10:26.140 it. So I will be digging into all of that on the new podcast, internet hate machine. And I hope

00:10:31.260 that you'll check it out. Internet hate machine drops on October 26th. You can find it on all of

00:10:36.740 the normal podcast platforms. Like if you're listening to this, you probably know where to

00:10:40.120 find it. I think I'm supposed to say Spotify, Apple podcasts. Um, you know, although you know

00:10:46.020 where to find a podcast or this is the podcast, you found this, you know where to go. And I hope

00:10:49.000 that you'll listen and subscribe. And here is the trailer for my new podcast with CoolZone Media,

00:10:54.720 Internet Hate Machine. So if you were online in 2014, you're probably familiar with Gamergate,

00:11:01.720 where a lot of men who were supposedly big mad about, quote, ethics in video game journalism,

00:11:07.800 harassed women on the internet. It was awful, and it rightly got a lot of coverage from the tech

00:11:12.560 press. But a lot of people, even people who were very online, might not know that it was Black 0.99

00:11:18.360 women who were attacked by the very same people using the very same tactic as Gamergate years

00:11:24.000 earlier. Only when those women spoke up about it, the people with the power to do something

00:11:28.760 pretty much ignored them. And I'd also be willing to bet that even less people know that the kinds 1.00

00:11:35.140 of online harassment and deceptive accounts that those women were reporting would go on to be the 0.99

00:11:39.780 very same tactics that a 2019 Senate inquiry confirmed were used by Russian assets to disrupt 0.83

00:11:45.240 the 2016 election. So there's a pretty clear through line from ignoring black women when 0.99

00:11:50.400 they speak up about the harassment they face on the Internet and pretty important stuff 0.94

00:11:54.880 like, I don't know, the security of our elections. So what if someone with the power to do something

00:12:00.640 had just listened to black women when they reported what was going on years earlier? 1.00

00:12:04.920 I'm Bridget Todd, and I make podcasts about the Internet, specifically the way that women,

00:12:09.280 people of color, LGBTQ folks and other marginalized identities show up to do cool stuff on the

00:12:14.140 internet but i am sad to say that as true as it is that traditionally marginalized people do a lot

00:12:19.800 of the coolest stuff online it's also true that those same people are targeted online in really

00:12:24.600 scary ways and when it happens it can feel like it just goes overlooked we don't really get the

00:12:29.700 opportunity to learn from it or take anything away from it and as the internet often does

00:12:34.060 everyone just moves on and i don't like that so on my new podcast internet hate machine i'm trying

00:12:40.960 to right that wrong.

00:12:42.460 We'll be telling the stories

00:12:43.520 of women who were harassed online,

00:12:45.300 how it happened,

00:12:46.200 why it happened,

00:12:47.080 and what it all means

00:12:47.780 for the rest of us.

00:12:48.960 Because these kinds of attacks

00:12:50.320 threaten our democracy. 0.99

00:12:51.720 They keep marginalized people 1.00

00:12:52.820 from doing things 1.00

00:12:53.500 like running for office

00:12:54.280 or just participating

00:12:55.600 in civic and public life.

00:12:57.120 And they threaten our ability

00:12:58.080 to have meaningful discourse

00:12:59.260 and make any progress

00:13:00.440 on some of the big issues

00:13:01.580 facing us today.

00:13:03.040 And what's worse,

00:13:03.980 this kind of thing

00:13:04.600 has been steadily creeping

00:13:05.560 from the computer screen

00:13:06.540 into our wider political

00:13:07.680 and social landscape.

00:13:09.260 On the new podcast,

00:13:10.220 Internet Hate Machine,

00:13:10.960 I'll be charting how the harassment and abuse of women

00:13:13.520 and other traditionally marginalized people online

00:13:15.740 has led us to our current political hellscape

00:13:18.000 and what we can do about it.

00:13:19.980 Listen to Internet Hate Machine on the iHeartRadio app,

00:13:22.520 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:13:26.900 If your bookshelf and your For You page

00:13:29.200 are equally important to your personality,

00:13:31.420 welcome home.

00:13:33.000 Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club,

00:13:36.140 part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice

00:13:38.480 and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse.

00:13:40.960 Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture

00:13:44.780 with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions.

00:13:49.540 Yeah, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed.

00:13:51.320 Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:13:57.380 I survived nine months in captivity,

00:14:00.580 and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them.

00:14:06.020 I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files.

00:14:09.280 Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced.

00:14:17.240 These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive.

00:14:21.080 Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:14:29.140 I'm Hoda Kotb, host of the podcast Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb.

00:14:33.540 You know, I'm always searching for inspiration and useful tools to maximize joy.

00:14:38.720 Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring actors and really anybody hoping to stand out.

00:14:45.900 You're not hired just to fill time and space.

00:14:48.720 You're hired to fill the space with you.

00:14:51.900 Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:14:59.420 I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 3 podcast.

00:15:03.860 This is a story about a horrendous situation that destroyed two families.

00:15:08.900 It's a scorched earth war that shows just how far someone will go to get what they want.

00:15:14.620 Cindy said, I had to choose between the truth and my family, and I had to choose the truth.

00:15:20.100 Listen to Season 3 of Burden of Guilt on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:15:29.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:15:31.860 Guaranteed human.

00:15:33.220 You

There Are No Girls on the Internet - October 21, 2022

INTRODUCING： INTERNET HATE MACHINE

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