Never Post

Georgia and guest producer Luis wonder why there is so much audio online that seems to sound bad on purpose; Mike talks to Gabriele de Seta and Paolo Berti about how the “megadungeon” is a productive model for understanding the internet. Also: posts from the field!

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Become a member at https://www.neverpo.st/

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• ☎️ Call us at 651 615 5007 to leave a voice mail
• 🎙️ Drop us a voice memo via airtable
• 📧 Or email us at theneverpost at gmail dot com

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Intro

• The House passed a TikTok ban bill. But is the app really a national security threat? – Bobby Allyn, NPR
• Members of Congress are getting pushback on the TikTok ban from their own angry Gen Z kids – Lindsay Dodgson, Business Insider
• US sues Apple for illegal monopoly over smartphones – Lauren Feiner, Verge
• United States v. Apple is pure nerd rage – Sarah Jeong, Verge
• Catherine, Princess of Wales, Reveals She Has Cancer – NYT
• The great Kate Middleton backtracking – Embedded
• Facebook is trying to make ‘poking’ cool again – Aisha Malik, TechCrunch

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Burnt Toast Audio

• https://www.tiktok.com/@tiaraskye_
• https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4WXquxJWxG/?igsh=ZGx6eWJiODRxcDg1
• https://www.tiktok.com/@cbc/video/7285762769880714501?_r=1&_t=8ktpSHiLKYQ
• https://www.tiktok.com/@theporktornadoes/video/7179733641092746542?_r=1&_t=8ktqqvEJL2d
• https://www.tiktok.com/@inf1n1temusic/video/7195244395220749574?_r=1&_t=8ktqPN6UmMx
• https://www.tiktok.com/@cchiphop/video/7232580386759380267?_r=1&_t=8ktpfRDu1uR
• https://www.tiktok.com/@epic.cammy1933/video/7348992219698826539?_r=1&_t=8ktunEQdWZy
• https://www.tiktok.com/@notamine/video/7347043430738054406?_r=1&_t=8ktqF4oIwpD
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tiaraskye_/video/7310222966363573537?_r=1&_t=8kqgpZcBXPb
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tiaraskye_/video/7313244933232676129?_r=1&_t=8kqgkXi96g3
• https://www.tiktok.com/@tiaraskye_/video/7173471436479139078?_r=1&_t=8klktUzJ8Nr
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzzUPZs5l1Y
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-3IV11_ZgA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D-ZO2rGcSA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77sS5IuR0Gs
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2_r4q2imnQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvjQXF5ucO0

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Megadungeons

• Megadungeon: A Model for Media Complexity, Magazen<...

Georgia talks with marketing consultant Bryce Whitwam and takes us in and out and further in – maybe further in than any of us have ever wanted to go – to the TikTok shop; Mike talks with media studies professor Shannon Mattern about Drafts – writing while it is still in progress – and how it feels to POST them. Also: Audience participation!

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Become a Never Post member at https://www.neverpo.st/

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• Call us at 651 615 5007 to leave a voice mail
• Drop us a voice memo via airtable
• Or email us at theneverpost at gmail dot com
• See what interstitials we need submissions for

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Find the slides for this live performance on our website.

Intro Links

• J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk Named in Cyberbullying Lawsuit Filed by Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif After Olympic Win (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety
• “it was so nice when you were following legal advice to shut the fuck up” – death angel
• Swifties for Trump? Not so fast-Taylor Swift fires back at Donald Trump's AI-generated endorsement – Marca
• Fans Suspect Taylor Swift Just Subtly Addressed Donald Trump's AI Image Scandal in New Statement – parade.com
• Donald Trump Shares Fake Taylor Swift Endorsement Using AI-Generated Images – Stereogum
• Trump shares AI-generated images of Taylor Swift and her fans supporting him – NBC
• anyway here's the story of how i worked with a cafe (isshiki matcha) to import the olympic village muffins for a popup in nyc... – @kelin_online

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The Shop Zone

More of Bryce Whitwam:

• The TikTok effect
• Shanghai Zhan podcast
• Syracuse University

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Writing is Death

Find Shannon Mattern:

• wordsinspace.net
• shannonmattern.bsky.social

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Never Post’s producers are Audrey Evans, Georgia Hampton and The Mysterious Dr. Firstname Lastname. Our senior producer is Hans Buetow. Our executive producer is Jason Oberholtzer. The show’s host is Mike Rugnetta.

It’s slow writing

on re-admission of the abyss

so if this body is sleepy-tired

please walk around

Suddenly there’s nothing

in the laws of the alphabet

that breaks open revealing

what buoyancy am I.

Excerpt of Puberty of Puck, by Mark Hyatt

Never Post is a production of Charts & Leisure

Mike talks with Jon Greenaway, aka litcritguy, about the horror of online food videos; Georgia talks with Katie Notopoulos about why you can’t personalize your social profiles a la MySpace anymore; ALSO leaf crunches!

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Take the Never Post Audience Survey!

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Become a Never Post member at https://www.neverpo.st/ for access to extended and bonus segments, and our side shows like “Slow Post”, “Posts from the Field” and “Never Watch”

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• Call us at 651 615 5007 to leave a voice mail
• Drop us a voice memo via airtable
• Or email us at theneverpost at gmail dot com
• See what interstitials we need submissions for

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Intro Links

• Bluesky hits 20 million users and counting - ZDNet
• Here’s Why I Decided To Buy ‘InfoWars’ – theonion.com
• https://bsky.app/profile/bencollins.bsky.social/post/3law7zmt6522x
• The Onion Wins Bid to Buy Infowars, Alex Jones’s Site, Out of Bankruptcy – NYTimes
• Donald Trump names Project 2025 author to oversee the internet & media – LGBTQ Nation
• FCC commissioner calls for TikTok ban – CNN
• A Conservative Path Forward on Big Tech | Opinion – Newsweek
• America’s News Influencers – Pew

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Food Gore

Find Jon:

• Capitalism: A Horror Story, Jon’s Book (HIGHLY recommended)
• Horror Vangaurd, Jon’s horror podcast
• The Haunt, Jon’s writing

Segment Links:

• 15 Recipes For Anyone Who Loves Fries - YouTube
• Garlic Bread & Meatball Sub – Chefclub
• Spaghetti-O Pie – Tiktok
• Your Least Favorite Gross Viral Food Videos Are All Connected to This Guy – Eater
• chefclub comments on X
• Are Those Disgusting Food Hack Videos a Sex Thing? – Inside Hook
• Hocus focus: how magicians made a fortune on Facebook – Economist (Archived)

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The End of Personalization

Find Katie:

• Follow her on Threads and Bluesky
• Read her work on Business Insider

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Never Post’s producers are Audrey Evans, Georgia Hampton and The Mysterious Dr. Firstname Lastname. Our senior producer is Hans Buetow. Our executive producer is Jason Oberholtzer. The show’s host is Mike Rugnetta.

What we need is a crane & to chain chains

around this blood-soaked ________. The kitchen

workers hang from the vents with duct tape.

We need the _____ put on a slide, there were

signs of struggle. There is always some precedent:

You have heard, I think, about H.,

whoever he was, & how he met his death because his

father had too much suspicion, this you will not believe,

and I can hardly prove it, but I am that same H...

Exce...

The second and final installment of our two part collab with Slate’s ICYMI! Mike talks with mis- and disinformation researcher Joan Donovan about the line between gossip and conspiracy; then ICYMI’s Candice and Rachelle join us to talk about what it feels like swimming in the wide open sea of monocultural event discourse. Also: C-SPAN’s earliest internet memories!

Special thanks to Candice, Rachelle, Se’era, Daisy and the whole ICYMI team! Please listen to them on slate.com and wherever you get your podcasts.

Become a Never Post member at https://www.neverpo.st/

–

• Call us at 651 615 5007 to leave a voice mail
• Drop us a voice memo via airtable
• Or email us at theneverpost at gmail dot com
• See what interstitials we need submissions for

–

Everyone is a Journalish

• Find Joan at her website
• and at publicinterestinter.net

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Never Post’s producers are Audrey Evans, Georgia Hampton and The Mysterious Dr. Firstname Lastname. Our senior producer is Hans Buetow. Our executive producer is Jason Oberholtzer. The show’s host is Mike Rugnetta.

vertigo of too many nuances

don’t drown in their rapidity

choose the nuances you love

and settle down with them

Excerpt of #45 - butter colored slacks and rubber rum balls by Wayne Koestenbaum

Never Post is a production of Charts & Leisure

Senior producer Hans Buetow investigates the transit vacuum that’ll be left when Uber and Lyft leave the Twin Cities; Mike looks at how the car has become a default setting for vertical, short form video. Also: PLANES, TRAINS... BIKES

Become a member at https://www.neverpo.st/

–

• Call us at 651 615 5007 to leave a voice mail
• Drop us a voice memo via airtable
• Or email us at theneverpost at gmail dot com

–

Intro Links

• The House just voted on a potential TikTok ban (again). Now what? – CNN
• Biden signs a bill that could ban TikTok — after the 2024 election – NBC News
• Steve Mnuchin seeks AI partner to rebuild TikTok’s algorithm in takeover bid: sources – NY Post
• Google blocks California news in response to bill that would force tech giant to pay – NPR
• When Facebook bans the news – Matt Pearce
• Nvidia drops 10% as investors see risk in Big Tech shares – FT
• Super Micro And Nvidia Stock Woes Could Mean Trouble For Generative AI – Forbes
• AuthorJMac Tweet
• Mike on The Eurowhat Podcast
• If You Love Podcasts, Dump Spotify – Alex Sujong Laughlin, Defector

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Twin Cities Transit Vacuum

• Minnesota Reformer Uber Archives
• Max Nesterak is on Twitter

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The American Car

• Garlic Naan And Butter Chicken Fountain?! – Tiktok
• David After Dentist – YouTube
• Taco Reacts – Tiktok
• The American Room – Paul Ford, Medium
• It is NOT My day – Tiktok
• forget a rage room, ima just rent out my car so y’all can scream in it – Evelyn, Tiktok
• Shanin Blake – Tiktok
• Dear single parents ~ when I was 18 I got pregnant with my daughter and her dad went to prison right after she was born, so I was on my own. – Shanin Blake, Instagram
• This is our home her name is Nancy 🚐 – Shanin Blake, Instagram
• Good morning! I love living in a mom van!!! – Shanin Blake, Instagram

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Never Post’s producers are Audrey Evans, Georgia Hampton and The Mysterious Dr. Firstname Lastname. Our senior producer is Hans Buetow. Our executive producer is Jason Oberholtzer. The show’s host is Mike Rugnetta.

To understand what was going on it is perhaps necessary to have participated in the freeway experience, which is the only secular communion Los Angeles has. Mere driving on the freeway is in no way the same as participating in it. Anyone can “drive” on the freeway, and many people with no vocation for it do, hesitating here and resisting there, losing the rhythm of the lane change, thinking about where they came from and where they are going. Actual participants think only about where they are. Actual participation requires a total surrender, a concentration so intense as to seem a kind of narcosis, a rapture-of-the-freeway. The mind goes clean. The rhythm takes over. A distortion of time occurs, the same distortion that characterizes the insta...