The Drag: Stories

This week, the Request Pending crew explores a very big question: deep sea or deep space? Executive producer Haley Butler offers her stance and explains why her love for the deep sea goes deeper than a fascination with octopi and submarines.

How can you help the environment, make friends and furnish your house without spending any money? Join your local Buy Nothing Facebook group. The Buy Nothing Project is a global network of hyper-local gift economies. All you have to do is find a group near you and start posting.

Look at the trending podcasts on any streaming app, and odds are there is at least one true crime series topping the charts. These tales of horrifying violence, conniving killers, and kindhearted victims who didn't see it coming inspire shock and interest across the internet, and the audience is notably female. Podcasts like Crime Junkie and My Favorite Murder use discussion and comedy to give wom...

Common etiquette bans three topics at the dinner table: politics, religion, and money. But women on the internet are breaking one of those rules in a big way, with Refinery29's Money Diaries. Women post weekly journals documenting their salary, monthly expenses and daily expenditures. It's a great way to empower women with finance knowledge, but it also scratches the itch everyone has to peer into...

ASMR? Is that when people eat with their mouths open on YouTube? Sometimes, but not really. ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, is the euphoric sensation that arises from certain relaxing sounds or visuals, and an entire online world has risen from it. Viewers and creators use ASMR to relieve anxiety, fall asleep and feel a sense of community, while facing stigma and misunderstanding fr...

Young people's latest fantasies aren't about fame and fortune. They're about the tranquility and simplicity of a small cottage in the woods with a lot of books to read, bread to bake and raised garden beds to tend. But they aren't fulfilling this fantasy by moving out to the country — they're going online. Request Pending host Sara Schleede explores the internet's latest aesthetic trend, "cottagec...

Don't worry. You're not the only one who has been spending a lot of time on the internet lately. Request Pending follows our host, Sara Schleede, as she explores the wackiest and most thought-provoking online communities. Stay tuned for the first episode coming this summer.