Wedding shaming is our new favourite internet-based hobby.On two huge Facebook groups, tens of thousands of people regularly insult, laugh at, and argue about dodgy cakes, ill-fitting dresses, and themed engagement shoots. Their content frequ

Ep 11 - Workism

Jul 28th, 2019 1h

The big work question used to be "Do you live to work, or work to live?" Now, it's "Can you ever work hard enough?"In February 2019, Atlantic staff writer Derek Thompson wrote a viral article about workism - that "work has morphed into a reli

Ep 10 - Law of Attraction

May 20th, 2019 55m 52s

Speak it into existence. Stay positive. Create the life you want.The Law of Attraction might sound straightforward, but it's anything but. We've all heard of The Secret, but the Law of Attraction remains a bit of a cosmic mystery to most.H

Ep 9 - Influencers

Mar 10th, 2019 47m 39s

The social media influencer industry has exploded so much, we can't scroll through our timelines without bumping into them. We've gone from seeing them as a relatively harmless novelty, to criticising and regulating them, in just a few years.

Ep 8 - Motivational speaking

Nov 29th, 2018 49m 55s

If there's something missing in your life, or you're struggling to achieve your goals, you could always spend a lot of money on a very loud motivational seminar. That should get you going.The motivation industry is huge, but like the diet ind

Ep 7 - Pick-up artists

Aug 30th, 2018 46m 51s

What do women want? According to pick-up, they want someone dominant and assertive who’ll come up to them in the street and ask for their number outright. Pick-up clearly has a flawed methodology. That hasn’t stopped some ‘gurus’ making a for

Ep 6 - Fandoms

Jul 7th, 2018 47m 13s

Star Wars. Sherlock. Supernatural. Their fans are many and - even if you don’t realise it - powerful.In episode 6, Helen finds out how a BBC TV show can inspire an online witch hunt, what’s really going on with all this Star Wars drama, and w

Ep 5 - Anti & Pro Vaccination

May 18th, 2018 39m 43s

Anti-vaxxers are some of the most hated people on the internet - depending on who you talk to. They don't like vaccinations, and they're pretty adamant about it. Pro-vaxxers don't like anti-vaxxers, and they're pretty adamant about it too. Ar

Ep 4 - Clean eating

Mar 23rd, 2018 38m 36s

BEFORE YOU LISTEN: Clean eating, diets, food restriction, and eating disorders are mentioned throughout. Please don’t listen to this episode if you find these topics difficult. It’s got 36 million mentions on Instagram, and it’s got us cuttin

Ep 3 - NoFap

Feb 4th, 2018 38m 31s

There's a group of (mainly) men on the internet who try and go for as long as possible without masturbating or watching porn. It's called NoFap, and for many, it's a form of profound self-improvement.Are they deluded and too quick to self-dia

Ep 2 - MLM Schemes

Dec 27th, 2017 52m 10s

Scroll through your Facebook timeline and you're sure to find them - people you vaguely know, promising an easy income from home. All you have to do is join their team and sell these "amazing products". Is MLM always a scam and the recruiters

Ep 1 - Childfree

Dec 27th, 2017 41m 40s

Some people just don't want kids, and often find they're questioned, mistrusted, or even hated for it. The childfree subreddit has become a digital home for 142,000 of them.Can the internet be a place of respite for people being pestered by