Wow If True

Sorry for talking about Elon Musk again, but in our defense, he should stop doing things like "having a secret baby with Grimes" and "spending $44B on Twitter." That's right, Elon "Tesla stock at $420" Musk is likely buying Twitter, and meanwhile, you could briefly 420blazeit on Tumblr. On the bright side, at least the Destiel/political event nexus is still active?   Links A timeline of the Elon s...

Elon Musk is buying Twitter (or not?). Club Penguin is relevant again (or not?). Most importantly, audio editor extraordinaire/author/archivist Allison Mills joins us to talk about Birkin bags, appropriated blockchain-based Birkin bags, and appropriated-appropriated Birkin bags. Also, Isabel gets cancelled.  Libro.fm:  https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=25361&awinaffid=1001477&ued=htt...

In this episode, half the hosts have contracted the [REDACTED], but we won't tell you which half unless you listen. But more importantly, half the hosts have never consumed canned soup, and we also won't tell you which half unless you listen. Also, Tumblr's actually good prank, Khloe Kardashian's pantry vs. Ashley Tisdale's bookcase, and Young Sheldon? It's content. Affiliate Links  Libro.fm: http...

In this episode, we talk about dating, good names for wizards, and bad names for babies. AKA, Grimes is dating Chelsea Manning and had a second secret baby with Elon Musk, so sorry if you found out this way. Can we offer you a podcast episode in this trying time? Or maybe five Brandon Sanderson books?     Affiliate Links  Libro.fm: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=25361&awinaffid=100147...

We are a shining beacon of 2009 fandom in these trying times. Chill vibes only on the pod as very online playwright Alexa Derman stops by to tell us about "Big Fanfic Piece," a digital play in which her friends performed her 2009 fanfiction.net profile, which she deleted after being featured in a list of "worst Twilight fanfics." Also, we have to talk about HPMOR. And then we tell you Iz's twelve...

In this episode: there’s nothing wrong with web3 and it is going just great, because we’ve entered a parallel dimension where crypto doesn’t exist but women do. That’s a lie: we’re here to talk about the biggest financial seizure in history, cryptoland, and also, Razzlekhan. And we’re joined by special guest Molly White, creator of “web3 is going just great,” a site that chronicles the many stumbl...

[TW: mention of sexual assault 5:05-5:20] In this episode: Is this a poetry workshop? No! It’s the gamer girl spectacular, featuring gamer girl Eric Silver. Just kidding, Eric isn’t a gamer girl, Eric’s the Head of Creative at Multitude Productions and Dungeon Master of Join the Party. We’re here talking about real gamer girl things, like mergers and acquisitions — specifically Microsoft and Activ...

In this episode: Iz breaks Amanda with the identity of blorbo, we discuss the circular nature of social media fame and going viral for nothing (hello Hype House yes this is a drag), and the current Tower of Babel situation Tumblr is undergoing. Also, we talk about rebranding, both conceptually and as a very real thing we’re doing. Show Notes Blorbo links? https://twitter.com/tumblr/status/14809817...

​​Wow If True is your one-stop internet culture shop, hosted by meme sommeliers and real-life besties: tech journalist Amanda Silberling and terminally-online law guy Isabel J. Kim. We dig into what, where, and how something's going viral, and why what’s happening online matters in real life. New episodes every other Wednesday. Find Us Online  Twitter:  https://twitter.com/wowiftruepod Instagram: ...

This week, we’re rolling back the calendar to talk about the viral highlights (and lowlights) of 2021. Just kidding, we’re talking about Timothée Chalamet being Amanda’s real life nemesis, the magnetic, unexplainable appeal of Pete Davidson, and also the upsetting juxtaposition between tragedy and comedy that defined viral events in 2021. Also, Isabel threatens to murder three different people.  ...

Mysticism meets data science in this week’s episode, where we unwrap Spotify Wrapped and talk way more about auras than we needed to. Also, if the algorithm suggested this episode to you — great news for recursion fans, we talk about the algorithm. And last, weird news for money fans, Mr. Beast is throwing lots of it away, cause that’s what the content machine craves — not you though, YOU want to...

32: Corporate Cringe Facebook rebranded, which is extremely cringe and not based. Also, venture capitalists are subsidizing the lives of creators now, and we can’t decide whether that’s cringe or if we’re jealous that no one is giving us millions of dollars for this S-tier podcast. Also also, Isabel makes Amanda go into the Wendy’s Discord, the definition of corporate cringe. Somehow, Amanda’s chi...

31: Cult Survivor TikTok (ft. Elizabeth Hunter) Sometimes, the algorithm is… good? For people with very specific experiences — like surviving a cult — social media can be a place of connection and healing. Elizabeth Hunter went viral on TikTok for talking about her experiences growing up in a fundamentalist cult, and now, she’s the named plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Department of Education —...

Another episode, another deep dive into pointless internet drama. This time, we’re talking about Realms of Ruin, the ill-fated NFT-based publishing project created by six bestselling young adult authors that people hated so much, it got shut down in hours. Plus, Isabel somehow finds a way to mention Supernatural and Homestuck, and Amanda shares her most controversial opinions.  Show Notes If you a...

The internet broke this week — literally, like Facebook went down for six hours. But also figuratively, because Writer Twitter blew up with takes about a New York Times article about a lawsuit between two writers that none of us had previously heard of. Isabel indulges us by using her J.D. to dive into the legal proceedings in the landmark case Dawn v. Sonya (that’s not the actual name), and we le...

Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss is the non-cheugy evil twin of the very cheugy Live, Laugh, Love, so of course, here you go: here’s a full episode unpacking the trifecta of white feminism. We talk about Isabel being a corporate lawyer who says fuck at work, the origin of the term girlboss, and debate whether or not Elizabeth Holmes is a Girlboss. Also, we have a discord now! So if you’re not a Patreo...

We happen to have a good ol’ buddy who /competed in the Olympics/, so of course, we had to have her on the show so that we could ask her about the supposed “anti-sex” Olympic beds. Meet Regina Salmons, a real life Olympic Rower who competed for Team USA in the Women’s 8 race! She’s 6’1”, not 6’0”, and she’s here to talk with us about the best Olympics memes from Olympics TikTok (where, of course,...

Isabel is on vacation, so we invited Eric Silver (Multitude, Join the Party) back on the show to fill in! We talk about matzo ball soup, updates in our internet fame quests, Tony Hawk’s blood skateboards, the Mets, internet Yom Kippur, and Mamoswine.    Show Notes Amanda talked about OnlyFans on a podcast about… finance!? https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/25/onlyfans-policy-change-is-a-tale-as-old-as...

We regret to inform you that you have reached the dreaded Homestuck episode. We talk about what it was like to be a Homestuck back in the day, why Isabel thinks Homestuck will be taught in English classes in 50 years, the apparent fraud (?), and buckets (???).  Shout out to Sophie, Bryan, and Brae for sending us testimonials about how Homestuck ruined (or improved?) your lives.    Find Us Online ...

Tumblr announced a monetization feature and all hell broke loose. Isabel witnessed it on the scene, wading through the Wild West of the internet. Amanda wrote about it and snuck the word “Destiel” into an article, prompting Tumblr to get mad. Just another day in the internet’s wasteland, but what does the backlash against Tumblr Post+ mean for the future of the platform? How can social platforms m...

We take listener questions about our first internet dramas, how we met, forgotten YouTube videos, fanfiction, how to tell if you’re in a social or parasocial relationship, and other things — but somehow, Isabel still teaches us something new about Supernatural, because our show is absolutely cursed.    Show Notes Golden Loves Guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBluUZ4NnZg Goofy Sings Bring Me...

Amanda finally breaks and starts making TikToks. Isabel does her Valley Girl voice. It’s full chaotic evil here at Wow If True. We talk about the nuances of Cheugy vs. Camp, the best title for a thesis you’ve ever heard, and somehow, Isabel makes us learn more about Supernatural. We’re fine. We promise. Everything is fine.    Show Notes What is Cheugy?: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/style/che...

TikTok is simple. You crochet chicken nuggets with pride hats, and the people go wild. That’s what happened to our pal Hannah, who’s now known to her 20k followers as “nugget lady” because she’s crocheting so many chicken nuggets. We talk to Hannah about her viral nugget journey, breaking bones, seltzer, bad puns, and more.    Show Notes Hannah’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@franklyhannah?is_co...

It’s ye ole race episode – we talk to two BIPOC fandom creators about how to navigate race on the internet! What do you do when people assume you’re white online? What happens when the thing you’re a fan of constantly pulls racist shit? What responsibility do fans have to correct creators' mistakes? We talk about all of that and more, but also, Isabel somehow manages to inject the BTS McDonald’s m...

It’s the Shrektacular, the Shrek spectacular in which we speculate about Shrek! We’re back from our break and ready to rumble with some ogre-due content about Shrek, which turns 20 this week. Did Shrek animators really take mud showers while working on the film? We have the answers. What is cheugy? That, we do not have the answer to. We also talk about Zoom Graduation, TAZ Graduation, Zoom Bris, G...