Never miss another internet trend again with the ‘ICYMI’ podcast
We are all internet explorers. But do you ever question Internet culture and wonder how an online trend becomes viral? Twice a week, hosts Madison Malone Kircher and Rachel Hampton unpack what’s relevant on the interwebs on Slate Podcasts’ “ICYMI.” From TikTok trends to Tumblr’s latest meltdown and the industry of reaction videos, the episodes’ variety will keep you tuning in for new content. Especially if, like us at Podsauce, you’re an avid internet culture nerd and like to learn more. We bet you can already guess what the title’s acronym, “ICYMI,” stands for: “In Case You Missed It.”
Cancel culture
A recent episode of “ICYMI” explored if some celebrities are too rich to cancel. Buzzfeed‘s Scaachi Koul spoke with Madison if this is the case in terms of cancel culture. Scaachi said there’s a fine line between harmless entertainment and content that could pose harm, such as in many Internet personalities’ online presence, which Scaachi and Madison discuss later in the episode.
First, the hosts spoke about Internet news: how the OnlyFans website is changing its business model and banning pornographic content. The hosts talked about how Jeffrey Toobin is back at CNN after he exposed himself on Zoom and was cancelled.
On “ICYMI,” the hosts play a round of “High Speed Download,” where they explain an Internet concept to one another in less than 60 seconds. In the cancel culture episode, Scaachi explained Tom Hanks’ son, Chet Hanks, an actor and rapper, signed to Soulja Boy’s record label. Chet Hanks has had a lot of behavior that could have put him in line for cancel culture.
During quarantine, he posted videos about his parents having COVID. In recent times, Chet posts content about “White Boy Summer.” He has expressed anti-vax sentiments in online videos. There have been allegations of violence from his former partners. While attending Northwestern University, Chet infamously released a parody of the song, “Black and Yellow” called “White and Purple.” Chet plagiarized a fellow student’s idea, as someone released a nearly identical version of this song a few weeks before his.
YouTubers Trisha Paytas and Gabbie Hanna
Journalist Scaachi profiled YouTuber Trisha Paytas for a story. Scaachi visited their sprawling home in a Los Angeles gated community. Trisha has posted controversial content online, yet maintains a significant following and continues to rake in cash. The hosts say, at this point, Trisha makes roughly $800,000 a month. Are they too rich to fail? A few weeks before Trisha’s story was published, Scaachi ran a story about YouTuber Gabbie Hanna. They are arch enemies. Trisha asked Scaachi not to mention their name in Gabbie’s article, which was difficult, since Gabbie’s drama with Trisha is intrinsic to her YouTube career. Gabbie frequently speaks about Trisha in her videos.
After Scaachi’s visit to Trisha’s home, they asked Scaachi to keep everything said during Scaachi’s visit off the record. Scaachi said often influencers and their online fans do not understand how journalists work. Because social media stars are shaping their own narrative and self-reporting most of the time. For example, if an influencer is getting interviewed for an article, they think it’s taken as face value, and you have to agree upon who and what to mention. And when a third party comments on them, or publishes their profile, they become uncomfortable. Scaachi has also found that if a journalist asks a YouTuber to elaborate on a question they’ve already answered in one of their videos, the influencer sees this as a violation. Scaachi has also sent fact-checking emails for stories that were deemed “harassment” by stars.
When Scaachi published her story on Gabbie, people ripped into Scaachi online. Scaachi left the Internet for a few weeks before publishing Trisha’s story. When Scaachi returned online, the Internet’s reaction wasn’t as uproarious.
The average episode length is 30 minutes long. Tune in to learn more about Internet culture, “In Case You Missed It!”
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