Never News: The Webby-ning
Hellooooooooo angels! It's me, Producer Georgia, here to give you the news you crave on a sunny April day here in wonderful Chicago, Illinois.
Normally I save music recs for the end, but a few days ago was Trans Day of Visibility and I'll take that as an excuse to put you on to Eli, truly THE forthcoming pop legend (if you don't know her already). I listen to her and I am instantly transported to my dream bedroom when I was 11 – plastic bead curtain, inflatable pink chair, shag rug, talking to my crush on a fuzzy landline phone. I love pure pop like this, and I hope she wins a million Grammy's.
And now, onto the news. Much has happened in the world of the show and the world of, well, the world, so let's get into it!
FIRST OF ALL...
VOTE FOR US AT THE WEBBY'S!!!!!!!!!!!!
This year, we're up for a Webby Award in the category of News and Politics: Individual Episode for Mike's episode AI and New American Fascism. You can vote for us here!!!
THE NEW YORKER: ON AI-WRITTEN BOOKS
I'll be honest with you. Most of this piece pissed me the hell off. I initially clicked into this article because I knew that it would discuss the recent news that I covered in our most recent news episode; namely, that the book Shy Girl by Mia Ballard had been pulled from shelves by its publisher out of suspicion that it was written by AI. This piece takes a look at that through several vantage points, starting first with sampling certain types of beats in music. For my taste, this piece spends far too much time scratching its chin going "hmm...but IS it bad that AI is being used in writing? IS there a difference between AI and real, human collaboration?" before landing on a predictably unsatisfying "...who can say." But there is interesting writing in here about writing, and why writing feels different than, say, the inherently collage-like work of a DJ such as Girl Talk. Personally, I still draw the line at AI when it comes to true collaboration. There is a difference between a book being written among several people, and a book being written by a prompt-guided robot. There is a difference between Girl Talk sampling Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O'Connor, and AI generated music. But maybe you feel differently.
CROSS-PROMO SHOUTOUT: WELCOME TO THE MOTHERSHIP
For this month's cross-promo, may I introduce you to Mothership. Mothership is a queer and women-owned independent publication co-founded by Polygon veterans Maddy Myers and Zoë Hannah. The site covers games and the culture in which games are made, produced, and played, covering all of this through an intersectional lens. Here, all games are welcome – anything from table top to console to mobile. You want coverage of the girlypop-iest cozy game? It's on Mothership. You want sci-fi and fantasy games? Mothership is writing about it. One of their most recent articles is actually something I am desperate to try to figure out – how to stop getting motion sickness from certain kinds of games. Who belongs on Mothership? Everyone! The only expectation is that you like games, and want to hear more about them. So, if you'd like to support a wonderful corner of the internet, you can do so by becoming a member here.
MORE SHOW NEWS: LISTEN TO HANS TALK ABOUT MARVEL!
That's right! Senior Producer Hans Buetow guested on Make Mine Multiversity, a podcast in which host Elias Rosner talks with folks about a Marvel comic that's memorable to them. Here, Hans and his brother Jesse talk about "Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars" #1-12 from 1984. Give it a listen, why dontcha?
THE INDEPENDENT: Gambling's coming for the girls
Just when I thought there would be a lull in "everything is gambling now" news...I am proven wrong yet again. And this time, the folks over at Kalshi and Polymarket are coming for MY gig; in other words, they're trying to target women. Overwhelming men – and young men, specifically – make up the brunt of the people who participate most in online betting. But now, Kalshi is trying to garner favor with women by allowing them to bet on things like who will be a bridesmaid at Taylor Swift's wedding and who will be the next guest on the podcast Call Her Daddy. These two examples alone tell me that these two brands are looking to capture the attention of a certain demographic of women: specifically young white women. And it seems to be working: Kalshi's female users doubled in less than a year, from 13% to 26% of total users of the betting platform. Both Kalshi and Polymarket are trying to speak to the ladies by creating additional accounts with names like (I am so sorry) Polybaddies and Kalshigirls, which are both full of influencers who are promoting these sites and their services. And to you, dear reader, I will swear my blade to the task of making sure that none of you become either a Polybaddie or a Kalshigirl.
Alright kids, that's it for me. April is here, and the existential turmoil of spring has yet to cease. But we're closer and closer to reliably warm days, whatever the weekly forecast may say. I'll meet you at the end of all these barometric pressure changes, in the sunshine.
This song came on yesterday while I was at the grocery store and it was so perfect, I highly recommend listening while aimlessly walking around somewhere