Follow Friday

Call 'Em Like Museum⁠ is a weekly podcast exploring how museums really work, and why we love them. Host Eric Johnson talks with museum directors, curators, experts, and passionate fans about what drives them, from homegrown passion projects to world-famous institutions. Each episode digs into museum curation, exhibit design, and the visitor experience — plus the essential question: What's actually worth buying in the gift shop? Season One spotlights museums in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Walt Disney Family Museum, the deYoung Museum, and the USS Hornet Museum.Follow the podcastSubscribe to the email newsletterFollow on Instagram & TikTok @museum_podcast

Patrick Willems spent six years on YouTube trying to attract an audience for his short films, before he pivoted to video essays about everything from baseball movies to Francis Ford Coppola's filmography to Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again. Those essays got wildly popular and today, he has more than 350,000 subscribers.However, he kept making shorts, embedded in his essays as narrative framing devices. In other words, he says, he "trick[ed] the audience into watching short films that I also wanna make, but that normally would not get the views on YouTube or have sponsors on them."Then, starting in early 2020, he began connecting those narrative shorts into a serialized story about an evil talking coconut named Charl. This so-called "Charl saga" culminated in June with the release of a feature-length film, Night of the Coconut, which is available on the streaming platform Nebula.Today, on the season one finale of Follow Friday, Patrick shared some of his favorite follow recommendations, while imposing some additional rules on himself: With "one asterisk," he says, he picked favorite accounts run by people he doesn't know in real life: Kobe Eats (@kobeeats on YouTube and TikTok, @kobe_yn on Instagram); Jackson Murphy (@LCJReviews on Twitter and @LightsCameraJackson on YouTube); Neil Cicierega (@neilcic on Twitter and YouTube); and the George Lucas Talk Show (@TheGeorgeLucasTalkShow on YouTube).Thank you to everyone who has tuned in to this season of Follow Friday. You can help make season two a reality by completing a 5-minute survey at followfridaypodcast.com/season2. And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Patrick shares a bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, and Elizabeth.Also:Follow Patrick @patrickhwillems on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram Watch Night of the Coconut on Nebula Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! [email protected] This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi Hermawan

"When you're a broadcaster, you don't have a conversation you can't use as content," jokes Roman Mars — well, mostly jokes. The host of 99% Invisible says he's trying to use the internet more thoughtfully than he used to, and that includes not needing to share everything with the world."The past year, it's been really the focus of my time, actually not having every thought be on social media and making everything into something," he says.Today on Follow Friday, Roman talks about which creators he likes to follow, including: Constitutional law professor Elizabeth Joh (@elizabeth_joh on Twitter); writer and podcaster John Green (@literallyjohngreen on TikTok); competent people who calmly do things well, such as @stellarsidewalks, @texasbeeworks, and @rightchoiceshearing on TikTok; and the subreddit /r/oddlysatisfying.And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Roman shares a bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, and Elizabeth. Also: Follow Roman @romanmars on Twitter and @theromanmars on InstagramListen to 99% Invisible and What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! [email protected] This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

When her college internship was canceled by the COVID-19 shutdown in spring 2020, Annie Rauwerda had a lot of unexpected time on her hands. And instead of learning to bake bread or speak Esperanto, she began curating weird and amusing things she found on Wikipedia.Two years later, Depths of Wikipedia has more than 1.5 million followers combined across Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. That success means walking a fine line: Annie wants to celebrate Wikipedia's oddities and encourage her followers to edit pages, but not to intentionally contribute false info or "bad writing for the sake of humor.""Sometimes I'll post something and then it'll start getting vandalized a bunch," she says. "Like when I posted the List of Mammals Displaying Homosexual Behavior — don't do this, by the way — people started editing it to add in their name. It's funny, I guess, for two seconds, but then you just feel bad."Today on Follow Friday, Annie shares some great follow recommendations: Meta-influencer Harry Hill (@veryharryhill on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok); Twitter bots such as @NYT_first_said, @ResNeXtGuesser, and @AceCourtBot; post-ironic Catholic Instagram pages such as @ineedgodineverymomentofmylife and @praying; and TikTok aggregator Leia Jospe (@favetiktoks420 on Instagram).And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Annie shares a bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. We'll be off next week for the 4th of July weekend in the US, and will be back on Friday, July 8th.Also: Follow Annie: @anniierau on Twitter, @annierau on Instagram, and @anniierau on TikTokFollow Depths of Wikipedia: @depthsofwiki on Twitter, @depthsofwikipedia on Instagram and TikTok Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! [email protected] This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

When Rusty Foster started the email newsletter Today in Tabs, in 2013, "tabs" was trendy media slang for the articles open in your browser that you were hate-reading. That meaning has faded into obscurity, but Today in Tabs is going strong, dishing up must-reads, great tweets, and a song every Monday-Thursday."I do the sort of thing that you do when you have a job where you don't have enough work to do, and you spend a lot of time procrastinating on Twitter," he says. "I do that professionally. I read stuff on Twitter. I keep track of the good tweets and I keep an eye on what people are talking about."Today on Follow Friday, Rusty shares four great follow recommendations: Programmer and cryptocurrency critic Molly White (@molly0xFFF on Twitter); musician and comedian Petey (@petey_usa on Instagram, @peteyusa on TikTok); writer and technologist Paul Ford (@ftrain on Twitter); and role-playing game podcaster Taylor Moore (@taylordotbiz on Twitter). And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Rusty shares a fifth bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. Also: Follow Rusty @fka_tabs on Twitter Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! [email protected] This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Today we're playing four bonus follow recommendations that originally were exclusive to Follow Friday XL, our special podcast feed for supporters on Patreon. If you want to get five follow recommendations per week instead of the usual four, you can donate $1 or more at patreon.com/followfriday!In today's episode:The Stacks host Traci Thomas talks about someone super-talented who’s still under the radar, Whit McClure (@whit_hazen on Instagram)The Comics Curmudgeon writer Josh Fruhlinger talks about someone who makes the internet a better place: Rusty Foster (@fka_tabs on Twitter)There Are No Girls on the Internet host Bridget Todd talks about someone who has stopped posting, but needs to come back: Teju Cole (@tejucole on Twitter)Bullseye host and Maximum Fun founder Jesse Thorn talks about someone he's jealous of: Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel on Instagram and Twitter)Also: Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! [email protected] This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

There Are No Girls on The Internet is an award-winning podcast about people who have always been at the forefront of technology, but whose stories are often ignored or misrepresented. That's a big and sometimes contentious field, and TANGOTI host Bridget Todd says it's important to make space for everyone to work through difficult conversations about inclusion, rather than expecting everyone to "get it" right away."I've been in social change movements for a long time and I do think we have this expectation that we expect people to show up with the right ethos and the right language and the right perspective," Bridget says. "And I get that, but I also feel like it doesn't leave room to hear the messy conversations of how people become smarter, better, more nuanced, and more thoughtful."Today on Follow Friday, she explains how to use social media when disinformation is circulating after a tragedy, how she has evolved her thinking about politics online, why she's optimistic about a new online platform for the first time in a while, and much more. She also shares four great follow recommendations: Early podcaster and co-host of Uhh Yeah Dude Jonathan Larroquette (@jonathanlarroquette on Instagram); political pundit and former The View co-host Meaghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain on Twitter and Instagram); comedy writer and Showtime TV star Ziwe (@Ziwe on Twitter); and Somewhere Good CEO Naj Austin (@najaustin on Instagram and @najjmahal on Twitter).And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Bridget shares a fifth bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. Also: Follow Bridget @BridgetMarie on Twitter and @BridgetMarieInDC on Instagram Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and Instagram Leave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! [email protected] This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

A preview of next week's episode, featuring There Are No Girls on the Internet host Bridget ToddPlease consider donating to the Texas Elementary School Shooting Victims Fund. 100 percent of the money raised will go to the survivors and the families of the victims from the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. And here is a longer list of Uvalde fundraisers that have been vetted & verified by GoFundMe.

For more than five years, Lindsay Ellis produced video essays on YouTube, analyzing everything from the Transformers movies to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals to popular tropes in film and TV. And in 2020, after more than a decade of wanting to be an author, she published her first book — the bestselling sci-fi novel Axiom's End, which was informed by that same attentiveness to pop culture. After 9/11, she noticed, popular alien invasion stories had shifted from "goofy" stories to "dead serious" ones, like Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds."It's an alternate history that takes place in the late 2000s," she says of the first book, which is getting a sequel in October called Truth of the Divine. "Basically, it's what if first contact happened during the Bush administration? ... It's a thought experiment of how would we react if civilization has to keep on trucking the way we have, but now we have this great existential quandary that, at least in the universe of the book, is heavily politicized."On today's podcast, Lindsay talks about four people she loves to follow on YouTube: A pop music analyst who breaks down one-hit wonders, band-breaking records, and more; a prolific video essayist who wears her enthusiasm on her sleeve; an aviation expert who explains the history of air disasters; and a former Vine star who cooks up brilliant video ideas like it's nothing.You can get bonus follow recommendations every week — including an extra follow from Lindsay — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month. Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. Follow us:- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesj- Check out Modem Mischief to hear the true stories of the outlaws of cyberspaceThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Jesse Thorn has been podcasting since 2005, when he put his college radio show The Sound of Young America on the internet. He was a little early to the party: Six million Americans had listened to a podcast back then, versus 177 million today. But Jesse stuck with it, and then some. The Sound of Young America became the hit NPR series Bullseye, and he founded the comedy & culture podcast network Maximum Fun, which powers dozens of other podcasts, including Jesse's other shows — Judge John Hodgman and Jordan, Jesse, Go!Today on Follow Friday, he explains why he got into podcasting, his passion for dad movies, feeling like an outsider inside NPR, and much more. He also shares four great follow recommendations: An adorable "scruffy dog" named Archie (@archie.was.here on Instagram); New York Times opinion columnist and podcaster and cereal critic Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie on Twitter and Instagram); comedian and roller derby commentator Blaine Capatch (@blainecapatch on Twitter); and Pop Culture Happy Hour host & author Linda Holmes (@lindaholmes on Twitter and @lindaholmes97 on Instagram).And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Jesse shares a fifth bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. Also: Follow Jesse @JesseThorn on Twitter and @put.this.on on Instagram Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and Instagram Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! [email protected] P.S. Here's Blaine Capatch's list of the 500 Worst Albums of the 20th Century.This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé first became an internet meme before most people knew what memes were: At Nintendo's presentation at the gaming expo E3 2004, he turned heads by announcing, "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games.""I received a message from my teenage son who told me, 'Dad, you're famous,'" Reggie says. "They weren't called memes at the time — these were Photoshopped images. He sent me these images of me blowing up a competitive console; me dressed up like Sylvester Stallone from one of his movies; me looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger from TheTerminator."Today on Follow Friday, Reggie shares the backstory of another press conference that made him even more internet-famous, and talks about his new book Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo. And he explains why we should follow "Originals" and "Think Again" author Adam Grant (@Adamgrant on Instagram, @AdamMGrant on Twitter and LinkedIn); Pivot co-host and New York Times writer Kara Swisher (@karaswisher on Twitter and Instagram); The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon on Instagram and Twitter); and the founder of The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley on Twitter).Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Reggie talks about what he has learned from following author and executive advisor Roger L. Martin.Also:Follow Reggie @Reggie on Twitter and buy Disrupting the GameFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterEmail us! [email protected] show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

On the internet, body shaming is alive and well, nutrition advice can be wildly inaccurate, and it's a lot easier to scroll through Instagram for hours than to get up and go for a run. But Danielle Friedman, who literally wrote the book on women's fitness, says there's one extremely good thing that social media has done for our bodies, which we shouldn't ignore."Body acceptance activist Virgie Tovar told me that social media has given a voice to the people who have always been the majority in number, but not in influence," Danielle says. "You don't have to go through all of the traditional channels to be visible. You can just start posting selfies and find an audience and build an audience that way. And I know it's easier said than done, but in spending years researching this history, that is a significant shift."Today on Follow Friday, Danielle talks about what else she learned while researching Let's Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World. And she opens up about four of her favorite people she follows online:Someone who she just started following: Katie Sturino, @katiesturino on TikTok and InstagramSomeone who makes her laugh: 70s Dinner Party, @70sdinnerparty on Instagram and @70s_party on TwitterSomeone who makes her think: Laura McLaws Helms, @laurakitty on InstagramSomeone who makes the internet a better place: Jessamyn Stanley, @mynameisjessamyn on Instagram and TikTok, @JessamynStan on Twitter, and @JessamynStanley on YouTubeThank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Danielle talks about someone who's an expert in a very specific niche she loves: Dr. Natalia Mehlman Petrzela.Also:Follow Danielle @daniellefriedmanwrites on Instagram and @DFriedmanWrites on TwitterFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

When her college friend Amber invited her to the beach five years ago, T.J. Raphael had no idea that saying "yes" would change the course of her career. On the beach, Amber told T.J. about discovering — thanks to an at-home DNA kit — that her biological father was not the man who helped raised her. Instead, her "bio-dad" was a formerly anonymous sperm donor, and Amber was not his only child finding out about him.Reporting out the story of Amber's parentage opened the door to all kinds of stories about the "baby business," which T.J. explores in her acclaimed new podcast BioHacked: Family Secrets.Today on Follow Friday, T.J. talks about the reporting process for BioHacked as well as four of her favorite people she follows online:Someone who makes her laugh: Sydney Battle, @sydneybattle on Twitter and @sydbattle on InstagramSomeone she doesn't know, but wants to be friends with: Dan Savage, @dansavage on Instagram and Facebook, and @fakedansavage on TwitterSomeone she just started following: Kenzo Mizumoto, @kenzomizumoto on TikTok and InstagramSomeone who makes the internet a better place: Christi Steyn, @christi.steyn on TikTok and InstagramThank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which T.J. talks about someone super-talented who's still under the radar: Comedian Shelby Wolstein.Also:Follow T.J. on Twitter @tjraphael, and listen to BioHacked: Family SecretsFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Charlie Harding says he "procrastinates" by watching YouTube videos about sound design. But it's not an aimless hobby, because Charlie is a musician and the co-host of Switched on Pop, Vulture's podcast about the making and meaning of popular music. "Reporting on music, I'm like, 'I need to understand every little thing about how the songs are made,'" he says. "I frequently will actually recreate songs before I think about how to report on them, because I almost want to get inside the creative mind of the person making it."Today on Follow Friday, Charlie talks about four of his favorite people he follows online:Someone who makes the internet a better place: Scary Pockets, @scarypockets on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and FacebookSomeone he's jealous of: Cat Zhang, @CatZhang1 on TwitterSomeone he has a crush on: Bess Kalb, @bessbell on TwitterSomeone who's an expert in a very specific niche he loves: Dan Worrall, @DanWorrall on YouTubeThank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Charlie talks about someone he doesn't know, but wants to be friends with: Musician and comedian Reggie Watts.Also:Follow Charlie @charlieharding on Twitter and listen to Switched on PopFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona Marie Show art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Justin Myers is a writer for British GQ and the author of three novels, most recently The Fake-Up. But he's probably best known for his blog The Guyliner, where since 2014 he has added his own commentary to a long-running dating column from the British newspaper The Guardian. Today on Follow Friday, Justin talks about four of his favorite people he follows online:Someone who makes the internet a better place: Daytime Snaps, @daytimesnaps on TwitterSomeone who makes him think: Annie Lord, @annielord8 on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who makes him laugh: R Eric Thomas, @oureric on TwitterSomeone he doesn't know in real life, but wants to be friends with: Dame Joan Collins, @joancollinsDBE on Twitter and InstagramThank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Justin talks about someone he has followed forever: Comedian Mollie Goodfellow.Also:Follow Justin @theguyliner on Twitter and Instagram, and at theguyliner.comFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona Marie Show art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Josh Fruhlinger is better known to the internet as the Comics Curmudgeon, and for something like 15 years, he's been riffing on the oddities of newspaper comics at joshreads.com. If you want to know which Mary Worth character got into a fight with a cat, Josh is your guy. Today on Follow Friday, Josh talks about four of his favorite people he follows online:Someone who's an expert in a very specific niche that he loves: Numble, @numble on TwitterSomeone he's followed forever: Katie Notopoulos, @katienotopoulos on Twitter Someone he's jealous of: Annie Rauwerda, @anniierau and @depthsofwiki on Twitter, @depthsofwiki on Instagram, and @depthsofwikipedia on TikTok (and here's the skeleton picture Josh mentions)Someone he just started following: WHH Haters Posting Their L's Online, @WHHHLsonline on TwitterThank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, Matthias, and Shima. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Josh talks about someone who makes the internet a better place: Today in Tabs writer Rusty Foster.Also:Follow Josh on Twitter @jfruh and read the Comics Curmudgeon at joshreads.comFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona Marie Show art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

(Full transcript)Traci Thomas is the host of The Stacks, a podcast about books and the people who read them. Today on Follow Friday, she talks about four of her favorite people she follows online:Someone she has a crush on: Jason Reynolds, @jasonreynolds83 on TwitterSomeone she doesn't know in real life, but wants to be friends with: Shea Serrano (@sheaserrano on Twitter, @shea.serrano on Instagram) and Larami Serrano (@laramiserranophoto on Instagram)Someone who makes the internet a better place: @KieseLaymon on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who has stopped posting but needs to come back: Still Processing, a podcast hosted by Jenna Wortham (@jennydeluxe on Twitter and Instagram) and Wesley Morris (@wesley_morris on Twitter, @wsslyy on Instagram)And on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Traci talks about someone super-talented who’s still under the radar: Floral designer Whit McClure.Also:Follow Traci @bitracial on Twitter and listen to The Stacks podcastFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, Matthias, and Shima.

When she's not tweeting about sumo oranges or her podcast Lecture Hall, Broti Gupta is a writer for The Simpsons. And the long gap between when a Simpsons script is written and when the animated episode makes it to the air means Gupta and her colleagues have to think carefully about what aspects of internet culture have the staying power to be referenced on the show. "It wouldn't reference Bean Dad, but we might have an episode of our own 'bean dad,'" she says.Today on Follow Friday, Broti talks about four of her favorite people she follows online:Someone she's followed forever: Dylan Gelula, @dylangelula on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who's an expert in a very specific niche she loves: The Cincinnati Zoo, @cincinnatizoo on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who makes her laugh: Helena, @freshhel on Twitter and @bugsizechihuahua on InstagramSomeone who makes her think: Sarah Hagi, @KindaHagi on TwitterAnd on our Patreon page, you can unlock Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Broti talks about someone super-talented who’s still under the radar: Amelia Elizalde, a writer for Clickhole and Reductress (plus some bonus material about Dylan Gelula).Also:Follow Broti on Twitter @brotiguptaFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, Matthias, and Shima.

(Full transcript of this podcast available here).When he's not writing about the media and running a PR agency, Ed Zitron is probably on Twitter, where he's curated a perfect experience for himself: He follows fascinating people who represent what he cares about, and aggressively mutes what he doesn't care for, including words like "doge," "stonk," and "Gamestop.""It's a melting pot of crap, just like my brain," he says.On today's show, Ed puts talks about four of his favorite accounts on Twitter: A baseball analyst who seems like a genuinely fun person to hang out with; a talented videographer who makes cool stuff look cooler; a musician/webcomic artist who might kick your ass (at the right place and right time); and a corporate account that posted the greatest tweet in the history of Twitter.And on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. We had recorded a bonus follow with Ed for the page, but it's already available to the public in this episode. Also:Follow Ed @edzitron on Twitter and subscribe to his newsletter, Where's Your Ed AtFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias

Hrishikesh Hirway is a prolific creator: A podcaster, a newsletter writer, a TED speaker, a composer, and more. And he's also a musician who has collaborated with everyone from Lakeith Stanfield to Yo-Yo Ma; his first EP since 2011, Rooms I Used to Call My Own, comes out March 30.Today on Follow Friday, Hrishikesh talks about four of his favorite people he follows online, including a collaborator who helped him get over writer's block while making that album:Someone he just started following: Sumesh Hirway, @sumeshhirway on InstagramSomeone he doesn't know in real life, but wants to be friends with: Rose Matafeo, @rose_matafeo on Twitter and @rosematafeo on InstagramSomeone super-talented who's still under the radar: John Mark Nelson, @johnmarknelson on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who's an expert in a very specific niche he loves: Erik Agard, @e_a_rly on TwitterAnd on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Hrishikesh talks about someone he has followed forever: The award-winning artist and illustrator Susie Ghahremani.Also:Follow Hrishikesh @HrishiHirway on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to his newsletter, Accept CookiesFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias

Full transcript hereAlexis Gay is one of those rare cases you hear about: For seven years, she was a tech worker who wanted to do comedy; then, she posted a video on Twitter in April 2020 that took her from under 1,000 followers to more than 15,000. Several viral hits later, she's now pursuing comedy full-time and hosting the podcast Non-Technical, where she interviews people from the tech world about everything that's not on their résumes.Today on Follow Friday, Alexis shares the love and talks about four of the coolest people she follows online:Someone she's jealous of: Evan Ross Katz, @evanrosskatz on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who makes her think: Mike Isaac, @MikeIsaac on Twitter and @mike_isaac on InstagramSomeone who makes her laugh: Kylie Brakeman, @deadeyebrakeman on Twitter and TikTokSomeone who's an expert in a very specific niche she loves: Tobin Mitnick, @jewslovetrees on Instagram and TikTokAnd on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Alexis talks about someone super-talented who is still under the radar, the musician and comedian Sarah Dooley.Also:Follow Alexis @YayAlexisGay on Twitter and Instagram Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias

Radio journalist Shima Oliaee, known for her many contributions to podcasts like Radiolab and for co-creating the award-winning series Dolly Parton's America, is also an avowed fan of poetry and taking time offline to sit and read ... but like the rest of us, she's online, and today on Follow Friday, Shima shares four of her favorite people to follow:Someone she just started following: Nina AnsarySomeone super-talented who's still under the radar: Ingrid Rojas ContrerasSomeone who makes her laugh: Kiese LaymonSomeone who makes the internet a better place: Roxane GayAnd on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Shima talks about someone she's jealous of, the writer and professor Imani Perry.Also:Follow Shima @ShimaOliaee on Twitter and InstagramFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias

(Full transcript here)Follow Friday is one year old today, so happy birthday to us! To celebrate, Garbage Day writer Ryan Broderick — one of the first-ever guests on the show — takes the reins and interviews Eric Johnson about four of his favorite people to follow online:Someone he doesn't know in real life but wants to be friends with: Video essayist Patrick H. WillemsSomeone who's an expert in a very specific niche he loves: Kevin Perjurer, founder of DefunctlandSomeone he is embarrassed to admit he follows: Korean a capella group MayTreeSomeone who makes the internet a better place: Engineer Simone GiertzAnd on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Eric and Ryan talk about why the history-comedy podcast Something True needs to come back for a third season.Also:Follow Ryan on Twitter @broderick and listen to his podcast The Content MinesFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, Elizabeth, Odette, Jay, Danny, Lauren, and Sylnai

(Full transcript here)Today on Follow Friday, YouTuber and educator Tom Scott talks about the wild places his videos take him, the challenges of science communication, and four of his favorite people to follow online:Someone super-talented who is still under the radar: Rollie Williams from Climate TownSomeone who's an expert in a very specific niche that he loves: Linguist Gretchen McCullochSomeone who makes the internet a better place: Writer and video producer Jon BoisSomeone he just started following: Science fiction author Becky ChambersAnd on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Tom talks about the profanity-fluent music of Tom Cardy.Also:Follow Tom on YouTube at TomScottGo and TomScottPlusFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, Elizabeth, Odette, and Jay

(Full transcript here)Today on Follow Friday, The New New Thing founder and Pop Culture Mondays writer Brooke Hammerling talks about the broadening definition of "pop culture," her French bulldog Potato's Instagram fame, and four of her favorite people to follow online:Someone she has a crush on: George Hahn, @georgehahnnyc on TikTokSomeone who has stopped posting but needs to come back: Josh Brown, @downtown on TwitterSomeone who makes the internet a better place: Christina Najjar, @tinx on TikTokSomeone she doesn't know but wants to be friends with: Ben Stiller, @redhourben on TwitterAnd on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Brooke talks about why you should follow PR expert/investor Ashley Mayer.Also:Follow Brooke on Twitter @Brooke and on Instagram @BrookeRead her newsletter Pop Culture Mondays and follow/subscribe to her upcoming podcast, Pop Culture Mondays on ThursdaysFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, Elizabeth, Odette, and Jay

Today on Follow Friday, Eric Johnson looks back at four of his favorite follows out of the 183 discussed on the show in 2021. They are:Alie Ward's "someone you have a crush on," Jarrett Sleeper / @jarrettsleeperAlexandra Petri's "someone who's an expert in a very specific niche you love," Josh Fruhlinger / @jfruhMark Chrisler's "someone you just started following," Froot of the Loom / @frootoftheloom1The Auralnauts' "someone who makes you laugh," Michael Cunningham / @Michael1979Also:Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth

Today on Follow Friday, Planet Money co-host Amanda Aronczyk talks about how she and her colleagues find so many entertaining stories about the economy, and recommends four of her favorite online accounts:Someone who has stopped posting but needs to come back: The Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus, @carmeldcj on TikTokSomeone she's followed forever: Stacey Vanek Smith, @svaneksmith on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who inspires her: Kathy Liu, @joeywingsorg on Facebook and @joeyswings on YouTube and InstagramSomeone who she doesn't know, but wants to be friends with: Gbenga Ajilore, @gbenga_ajilore on TwitterYou can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including a bonus follow recommendation from Amanda, coming next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Also:Follow Amanda on Twitter @Aronczyk and Planet Money @PlanetMoney on Twitter and TikTokRead or listen to Amanda's 2015 story about Kathy Liu and donate to Joey's WingsFollow us @followfridaypod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth

(Full transcript)Today on Follow Friday, journalist and podcaster Bijan Stephen talks about his new history podcast Eclipsed and recommends four of his favorite accounts to follow online: Someone he'd like to be friends with: Tim Rogers, @actionbuttonSomeone he's followed forever: Hrishikesh Hirway, @hrishihirwaySomeone super-talented who's still under the radar: Nicole He, @nicoleheSomeone who makes the internet a better place: Leon Chang, @leyawnYou can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including a bonus follow recommendation from Bijan, coming next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Follow Bijan on Instagram @bijancakes and on Twitter and Twitch at @bijanstephen- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips and full episodes on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth

(Full transcript here)After three years of reporting out stories that originated on Reddit, the WBUR podcast Endless Thread parted ways with the social app this year, and started asking, "What else can we say about the internet?""Follow Friday is a great example of how there's so much out there, and we felt like we had more work to do," says Endless Thread co-host Amory Sivertson. "So that's where we are now, telling stories that paint a broader picture of our online interactions and the communities that are formed."And most recently, Amory and her co-host Ben Brock Johnson have been tackling the history of some of the internet's greatest memes, including Rickrolling, Scumbag Steve, and "Woman Yelling At Cat.""A lot of times the image kind of speaks for itself, or at least it brings a vibe that — as long as people put a caption on it — is understandable to you, you can enjoy it and you can pass it on," Ben says. "But there are multiple layers to memes."Today on Follow Friday, Amory and Ben recommend four of their favorite accounts from across the internet: A cinematic and pastoral YouTube channel about food in western China; a curated and approachable collection of women's art on Twitter; a pragmatic meme expert who's making the internet a better place; and a Kenyan nonprofit protecting elephants, rhinos and more. Plus: What are their favorite memes?You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including two bonus follows from Amory and Ben, one of which is already out — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Follow Amory on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @AmoryMusic- Follow Ben on Twitter and Instagram @TheBrockJohnson- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips and full episodes on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth

(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)Supporters of the Follow Friday Patreon page get a shout-out on the podcast, exclusive previews of who's coming up on future episodes, and — most importantly — bonus podcasts, with follow recommendations from our amazing guests that didn't make it into the main episode.Today on Follow Friday, we're unlocking four of those bonus episodes, which were originally available only to Patreon supporters. They feature ...- Comedian Alasdair Beckett-King, recommending "aspiring philosopher" Liam Bright- NBC News reporter Morgan Sung, recommending journalist/roller dancer Liz Brazile- YouTuber and bestselling author Lindsay Ellis, recommending YouTuber Kat Blaque- Way Too Interested host Gavin Purcell, recommending Glitch CEO Anil DashIf you've been on the fence about joining the Patreon page, then today's show will give you a good idea of what to expect. You can pledge any amount you want, starting at just $1/month, at patreon.com/followfriday.Follow us:- Alasdair is on YouTube @ABeckettKing and on Twitter @MisterABK- Morgan is on Twitter @morgan_sung and on Instagram @ratsoverflowers- Lindsay is on YouTube @LindsayEllisVids- Gavin is on Twitter @gavinpurcell- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter and Instagram- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth

(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)Let's get one thing clear: Despite what some of her podcast critics might claim, Dana Schwartz is not a monarchist. "The whole point of Noble Blood is me pointing out that these royals are just normal people," she says. "I think they're interesting people because they've been given unchecked power often throughout history, but for the record, I don't think that that's the best system of government."And after telling true stories of various monarchs for years on that podcast, Dana has turned her focus to Hollywood royalty in the new show Haileywood. In it, she chronicles Bruce Willis' attempt to remake a small town in Idaho in his own image."He wants to be anonymous, but also wants to be famous and have the power of fame, but only on his terms," she explains. "As a character study, if nothing else, it's incredibly fascinating."Today on Follow Friday, Dana talks about some other incredibly fascinating people, who she follows online: Absurdist comedian Chris Fleming; author and soothing TikTokker Victoria Aveyard; writer and comedian Adam Hess; and journalist/podcaster Michael Hobbes.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including a bonus follow from Dana, coming early next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Follow Dana on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @DanaSchwartzzz, and pre-order her book Anatomy: A Love Story- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth

(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)When he set out to make a podcast, Emmy-winning writer and TV producer Gavin Purcell thought about the last time he took a chance on a new medium, in the early days of blogging and YouTube."I was really interested in Japanese TV," he says. "YouTube was like this weird wild west where like all this stuff was getting uploaded, and I started paying attention to it. And then I started a blog and the blog got really successful and it almost became like a completely separate part of my life."The blog didn't become his career, but creating it taught Gavin the value of following our passions, because "they will open up so much more in our brains and introduce things that could be something, a bigger part of our lives." His podcast, Way Too Interested, unites his friends and celebrity guests — the people who are "way too interested" in a passion or hobby — with experts who can answer all their burning questions about that obsession. Today on Follow Friday, Gavin talks about some of the fascinating people he follows online: Writer and poetry lover Zito Madu; Twitch streamer and "VTuber" Code Miko; bestselling author and podcaster Shea Serrano; and NFT artist and educator Bryan Brinkman.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including a bonus follow from Gavin, coming early next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.And, if you're in the US and you're pledging $5 or more as of October 31, you will get a handwritten thank-you note and a sheet of Follow Friday stickers, which are not available anywhere else! Visit patreon.com/followfriday to get started.Follow us:- Follow Gavin on Twitter @gavinpurcell and listen to his podcast, Way Too Interested- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric Johnson on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth

(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)Samir Mezrahi's mind is on the gutters — not in the gutter. As the creator of the Instagram account Zillow Gone Wild and the video series Celebrity Home Shopping, he's seen a lot of gaudy McMansions (and proper mansions), which typically haven't been designed with water removal in mind."They just stick out, and so many HOMEies — which is our squad in the show — will send me pictures of terrible gutters they see," he says. "I've awoken people to seeing bad gutters in their neighborhoods, around town, everywhere. So people are always sending me pictures or Insta posts or Reels. And it's always like, 'Why are you doing this to me?'"On today's episode of Follow Friday, Samir talks about the sort of content he prefers to consume online, including posts from the HGTV stars The Property Brothers; Tesla Technoking (that's his real title) Elon Musk; mansion tour guide Enes Yilmazer; and musical comedian Nick Lutsko.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.And, if you're in the US and you're pledging $5 or more as of October 31, you will get a handwritten thank-you note and a sheet of Follow Friday stickers, which are not available anywhere else! Visit patreon.com/followfriday to get started.Follow us:- Follow Samir on Instagram @samir, @celebrityhomeshopping and @zillowgonewild- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric Johnson on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth

(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)Poorly Drawn Lines creator Reza Farazmand thought he knew what to expect when adapting his popular webcomic as an animated TV show. After all, he had seen a documentary about how South Park gets made."That gave me the sense that making an animated show would be this wild process with late nights and a bunch of fast food," he says. "But it was really more of a slow, gradual process with a lot of emailing and phone calls ... It was a lot slower than I thought, but it was also an extremely gratifying and fun process."You can watch what came of that process, the Poorly Drawn Lines TV show, on FX on Hulu. And on today's episode of Follow Friday, Reza shares some of his favorite people to follow from around the internet: Salt Fat Acid Heat author and Home Cooking co-host Samin Nosrat; Tuareg guitarist and rock star Mdou Moctar; the design podcast 99% Invisible; and an Instagram account dedicated to Retro Gadgets.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including a bonus follow from Reza, coming early next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.And, if you're in the US and you're pledging $5 or more as of October 31, you will get a handwritten thank-you note and a sheet of Follow Friday stickers, which are not available anywhere else! Visit patreon.com/followfriday to get started.Follow us:- Follow Poorly Drawn Lines on Instagram @poorlydrawnlines and Twitter @PDLcomics- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric Johnson on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth

(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)"Imagine if NPR went to Comic-Con and decided that's all they ever wanted to cover." That's how Eric Molinsky describes his podcast Imaginary Worlds, which takes science fiction, fantasy, and other "genre" entertainment seriously — and explores the depths that have attracted fans for decades."When it gets couched within Marvel or Star Trek or Star Wars, people that aren't into that stuff just laugh and think, 'Oh, it's a bunch of nerds arguing,'" Molinsky says. "It's like, 'No, they're talking about gender, race, representation, capitalism in there. They're arguing over the same things you're arguing over. It's just within a fantasy world.'"On today's episode of Follow Friday, Molinsky explains why he follows Postmodern Jukebox, a group of cover musicians who filter modern songs through vintage genres; Your Pal James, a dormant art project that parodies action figure photography; Sébastien de Oliveira, who expertly colorizes historical photos; and Terrible Maps, an aggressively unhelpful geographical resource.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including a bonus follow from Eric, coming early next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.And, if you're in the US and you're pledging $5 or more as of October 31, you will get a handwritten thank-you note and a sheet of Follow Friday stickers, which are not available anywhere else! Visit patreon.com/followfriday to get started.Follow us:- Follow Eric Molinsky on Twitter @emolinsky and Imaginary Worlds on Instagram @imaginary_worlds_podcast- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric Johnson on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth

(Full transcript of this episode)~Some of New York Times writer Kara Swisher's favorite follows are people she has admired, crushed on, and befriended — and also people she has battled with, debated, and investigated. And that's no accident. "I think people are dying for that in this incredibly partisan time. It's very hard to reach out to people you disagree with," she says, explaining why she comes to the table with people whom others might consider unpalatable. Pushing them away, she says, "plays into all the malevolent people who are trying to take us apart."Olive branches aside, the Sway and Pivot host also promises to pull no punches in her forthcoming memoir about covering Silicon Valley as a tech journalist for the Wall Street Journal, AllThingsD, Recode, and now the NYT."I'm burning it all down," she says. "And then I'm like, goodbye ... I have people, the richest people in the world, the most powerful people, [saying] 'You're so mean to me.' I'm like, 'Are you 12?'"In this live episode of Follow Friday, recorded at Manny's in San Francisco, Kara explains what she likes (and, in some cases, hates) about her politically incorrect Pivot podcast co-host Scott Galloway; the actor and producer Gemma Chan; Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey; newspaper columnist and "Fire and Fury" author Michael Wolff; and "Full Frontal" host Samantha Bee.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including an extended conversation with Kara Swisher, coming early next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Follow Kara on Twitter @karaswisher- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth

(Full transcript available at FollowFridayPodcast.com)~Once upon a time, Dallas Taylor remembers, it was a compliment to call someone an "audiophile.""Traditionally, audiophiles have been people who are super into Hi-Fi and putting together great systems. But over time, it turned into, at least the way that I hear it ... It's kind of a snobbish thing."But he says his "mission," as professional sound designer and the host of a podcast that celebrates sound design, Twenty Thousand Hertz, is to remind people that we are all audiophiles, even if we wouldn't call ourselves that."You don't need extra permission to think and curate sound around you, just like you don't have to with all of your other human experiences and core senses."And on today's Follow Friday, Dallas has curated four people he follows who represent his diverse tastes: A famous design enthusiast who privately helped him realize the purpose of his show; a beloved ex-podcaster who solved mundane mysteries in beautiful fashion; a filmmaker and composer who has taken his YouTube viewers to the end of time; and a group of off-the-wall artists who are redefining the idea of an art installation.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including an extra follow recommendation from Dallas, coming early next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Follow Dallas on TikTok @twentythousandhertz and his studio on Instagram @defactosound- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, and Elizabeth

Please nominate Follow Friday in the "New/Debut Podcast" and "Interview-Style Podcast" categories in the Discover Pods Awards!~Click here to read a full transcript of this episode~For more than five years, Lindsay Ellis has been producing video essays on YouTube, analyzing everything from the Transformers movies to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals to popular tropes in film and TV. Last year, after more than a decade of wanting to be an author, she published her first book — the bestselling sci-fi novel Axiom's End, which was informed by that same attentiveness to pop culture. After 9/11, she noticed, popular alien invasion stories had shifted from "goofy" stories to "dead serious" ones, like Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds."It's an alternate history that takes place in the late 2000s," she says of the first book, which is getting a sequel in October called Truth of the Divine. "Basically, it's what if first contact happened during the Bush administration? ... It's a thought experiment of how would we react if civilization has to keep on trucking the way we have, but now we have this great existential quandary that, at least in the universe of the book, is heavily politicized."On today's podcast, Lindsay talks about four people she loves to follow on YouTube: A pop music analyst who breaks down one-hit wonders, band-breaking records, and more; a prolific video essayist who wears her enthusiasm on her sleeve; an aviation expert who explains the history of air disasters; and a former Vine star who cooks up brilliant video ideas like it's nothing.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including an extra follow recommendation from Lindsay, coming early next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Follow Lindsay on YouTube @LindsayEllisVids (and don't follow her on Twitter @thelindsayellis, she asks) - Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, and Elizabeth

Read the full transcript of this episode at FollowFridayPodcast.comPlease nominate Follow Friday in the "New/Debut Podcast" and "Interview-Style Podcast" categories in the Discover Pods Awards!~On March 11, 2020, Dave Jorgenson posted a TikTok video of himself, dancing in his apartment. That isn't unusual for TikTok, but it was the first of hundreds he would produce at home while his employer — The Washington Post — tried to protect workers from the COVID-19 pandemic.Over the ensuing months, Dave's videos have been a much-needed source of levity and absurdity, often mining the Post's straight news stories for hidden deposits of humor. The newspaper's already substantial audience on TikTok has more than doubled in that time, to over one million followers."I thought it was going to be a three-week-long thread," he says, referring to the Twitter thread where he has cross-posted all 727 TikToks (and counting). "Now, we were just told yesterday that we're not coming back to the office until January, at least ... I have two minds about it. I don't want to be locked out. I don't want there to be a pandemic, but there's a part of me that's like, '1,000 would be cool.'"On today's podcast, Dave talks about a TikTok star and astrology lover who turns celebrity gossip into exciting stories; a hilarious Post colleague who has secretly voiced one of the characters in his TikTok videos; a wholesome cartoonist who has made the leap from internet virality to bestselling books; and a former reality TV contestant who now leads a podcasting empire.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including an extra follow recommendation from Dave, coming early next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Follow Dave on TikTok @washingtonpost and @davejorgenson, on Twitter @davejorgenson, and on Instagram @davetakespictures- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter and Instagram, and on YouTube- Follow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, and Elizabeth

Full transcript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/dave-pellOur new YouTube channel: followfriday.co/youtubeDave Pell calls himself the "managing editor of the internet," and for good reason: Every weekday, he combs through 75 different news sources and plucks out the 10 most important stories for his popular email newsletter NextDraft.But it can be hard for anyone — even a voracious news reader — to put the news of the past couple years in context, which is why Pell is about to release a book about the 2020-2021 news cycle called Please Scream Inside Your Heart."As I had my friends or proofreaders go over my book, that was the number one response, like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe that happened in 2020. I thought that was another year. I don't remember that happening.'" he says.On today's podcast, Dave talks about four of his favorite accounts to follow: A 164-year-old magazine that covered Trump and COVID better than anyone; a self-proclaimed "Florida Man" who documents the state's weird news and corrupt government; an inspiring celebrity chef who has fed millions of people after natural disasters; and an old-school tech blogger who's never afraid to "shoot from the hip."You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including an extra follow recommendation from Dave, coming early next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Dave is on Twitter @davepell- This show is on Twitter and Instagram @followfridaypod and we have a brand-new YouTube channel here- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, and Elizabeth

Full transcript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/morgan-sungOver the past 18 months, internet culture has become, simply, culture. And one of the top writers documenting and explaining the latest trends is Mashable's Morgan Sung.However, as she explained in one of her most-shared pieces — "Bimbos are good, actually" — Sung also sees the appeal of not being as savvy as she is."As someone who's painfully online, I think if you're going to have any sort of online presence or even just engage with online culture at all, you're expected to be on top of the discourse," she says. "You have to know everything at once. It's a lot of reading, and sometimes I'm tired."On today's podcast, Sung talks about four of the accounts that have defined the pandemic-era internet for her: A food writer and photographer who understands how class and race intersect with our diets; a Dadaist meme account that reminds you you're not crazy; a 34-year-old punk who has become TikTok's cool aunt; and a passionate forager who wants nature to be celebrated, not avoided.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including an extra follow recommendation from Morgan, coming soon — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Morgan is on Twitter @morgan_sung and on Instagram @morgansung- This show is on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @followfridaypod- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesjPatreon: Patreon.com/followfridayLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/followfridayTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, and Elizabeth

Patreon: Patreon.com/followfridayLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/followfriday~Hello again Follow Friday listeners! Today's show is another compilation of recommendations from previous episodes. This time, they're all from the weirdest corners of the internet. You can find links to all of them below, along with the original episodes they came from. Enjoy!greengiant_es (recommended by Ed Zitron from EZPR)George Ice Cube (recommended by Allegra Frank from Slate)The Horse Mafia (recommended by Kevin Roose from the New York Times)its557am (recommended by Freddie Wong from RocketJump)Follow us:- This show is on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @followfridaypod- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, and Elizabeth

Patreon: Patreon.com/followfridayLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/followfriday~Hello Follow Friday listeners! I'm on vacation this week, so today's show is compilation of recommendations from previous episodes. All of them are comedians, and are linked below, along with the original episodes they came from. Enjoy!Amber Wallin (recommended by Adrianne Jeffries from Underunderstood)Patti Harrison (recommended by comedian Zack Bornstein)Chris Fleming (recommended by Alie Ward from Ologies)Jo Neary (recommended by Helen Zaltzman from The Allusionist)Follow us:- This show is on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @followfridaypod- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, and Elizabeth

Patreon: Patreon.com/followfridayLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/followfridayFull transcript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/max-miller~"The beginning of the research process, it's like walking into a pitch black room," says Tasting History host Max Miller. "You don't even know what's there ... Finally, you click on the light and there's something interesting. And then it's like, oh, now I can go down that rabbit holeMiller's YouTube channel, which releases new food history videos every Tuesday, has taken him down a lot of interesting rabbit holes: Medieval mead, 500-year-old pizza, Aztec chocolate, and even parmesan cheese ice cream (a must-watch for his reaction to the end-of-episode taste test).On today's Follow Friday, he lets us into what he's watching and listening to in his limited downtime away from the kitchen: A reaction video star with a knack for schadenfreude; a charismatic nerd who answers big questions with energy and science; a music scholar who explains the history of the art; and a "boring in a good way" finance expert who taught Miller how to succeed on YouTube.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including an extra follow recommendation from Max, coming soon — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Max is on YouTube, TikTok, and Patreon @TastingHistory, on Twitter @TastingHistory1, and on Instagram and Facebook @TastingHistoryWithMaxMiller- This show is on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @followfridaypod- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, and Elizabeth

Patreon: Patreon.com/followfridayLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/followfridayTranscript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/liana-finck~As a graphic novelist and cartoonist whose work regularly appears in The New Yorker, Liana Finck mostly follows other artists and illustrators. But she makes an exception when the person she wants to follow has impeccable taste — and maybe a pet tortoise."I feel very embarrassed to like stalk/follow people who aren't posting, to like peek into their lives," she says. "I do it with a few people, and then I unfollow them repeatedly because I'm embarrassed ... Instagram is kind of a little bit too close for comfort sometimes."On today's Follow Friday, however, Liana opened up about four of her favorite follows: A "weird" animator whose cartoon sketches straddle the line between relatable and absurd; the stylish editor in chief of a prominent magazine; a poet and artist who calls Liana his "Insta-foe"; and a book cover designer who can seemingly do everything.You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including an extra follow recommendation from Liana, coming soon — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Liana is on Instagram and Twitter @lianafinck- This show is on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @followfridaypod- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Special thanks to Lauren Passell from Podcast: The Newsletter.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Yoichi, and Elizabeth

Back us on Patreon: Patreon.com/followfridayReview us: LoveThePodcast.com/followfridayFull transcript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/alasdair-beckett-king~"One of my principles is that putting too much effort into things makes them funnier."So says Alasdair Beckett-King, an award-winning comedian whose videos on YouTube and Twitter have repeatedly gone viral over the past year. They include parodies of Star Trek, spooky podcasts, and "every single Scandinavian crime drama," but Beckett-King is constantly trying new things — sometimes for practical reasons."People keep saying, 'When are you doing Captain Picard again?'" he says on today's Follow Friday. "And I'm like, 'I'm not!' Because it took ages to do the bald head, and you've seen it now."On this episode, he talks about a fellow British comic who he looked up to when he was just getting started; his complicated feelings about people who reply to his tweets; an erstwhile Vine star who perfected short-form video jokes; and an Australian comedian who combines perfect timing with paper puppets.You can get a fifth follow recommendation from Alasdair — as well as our past and future guests — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Alasdair is on YouTube @ABeckettKing and on Twitter @MisterABK- This show is on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @followfridaypod- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, and Elizabeth

Full transcript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/auralnautsBack us on Patreon: Patreon.com/followfridayReview us: LoveThePodcast.com/followfriday~Craven Moorhaus and Zak Koonce owe it all to Bane. Craven, an audio designer, and Koonce, a comedy writer, teamed up as the Auralnauts in 2012 to dub over scenes from The Dark Knight Rises."Because [Bane] had a mask on, and you could make him say whatever we wanted, so we just changed the context of everything that was happening and we turned him into this weird fitness freak," Koonce says. "And then he just raps to this audience who is clearly not expecting it, and is not into it."Nine years later and 300,000 subscribers later, they've made dozens of videos dubbing over TV commercials, Boston Dynamics' robot tests, and many, many Star Wars movies. On today's Follow Friday, the Auralnauts talk about four great accounts they follow online: A YouTube essayist who unpacks the hidden layers of pop culture; "the most wholesome troll that exists in the world"; a dorky ASMR expert with a "connected universe" of characters; and an Instagram account that curates "so bad, it's so good" music.You can get a fifth follow recommendation from the Auralnauts — as well as our past and future guests — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Auralnauts on YouTube- This show is on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @followfridaypod- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, and Elizabeth

Full transcript: https://followfridaypodcast.com/freddie-wongBack us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/followfridayReview the show: https://lovethepodcast.com/followfriday~Podcaster and filmmaker Freddie Wong — the co-founder of RocketJump and co-host of Story Break and Dungeons and Daddies — knows better than anyone that the way we consume media on the internet is constantly changing. And throughout it all, he's been paying close attention.Today on Follow Friday, Freddie talks with Eric Johnson about why TikTok is funnier than any other social media app, a "terrifying" realization he had recently on Reddit, and four great accounts he follows online: A fascinating TikTokker who appears to be able to float; an anonymous travel vlogger who believes in "illegal freedom"; the most exciting animator on the internet right now; and a brilliant old-school YouTuber whose original videos are now a kind of time capsule.And you can get a fifth follow recommendation from Freddie — as well as Ann Reardon, Mark Chrisler, and our future guests — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.Follow us:- Freddie is on Twitter @fwong and he co-hosts the podcasts Story Break and Dungeons and Daddies- This show is on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @followfridaypod- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, and Elizabeth

Full transcript: https://followfridaypodcast.com/mark-chrislerBack us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/followfridayReview the show: https://lovethepodcast.com/followfriday~On The Constant, Mark Chrisler chronicles "a history of getting things wrong" — the many ways that humans have misunderstood the world, or misled others about it. Over the past 100 (!) episodes, Mark's topics have ranged from death rays to forensic science to a submarine that was discovered at the bottom of the Chicago River. Today on Follow Friday, Mark talks about his years-long podcast feud with the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, his love/hate feelings about a prominent public intellectual, the McElroy brother he wants to be friends with, a fun Twitter account documenting the "Mandela effect," and a YouTube essayist shaping the way we talk about video games.And you can get a fifth follow recommendation from Mark later today if you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month. Special thanks to our patrons of the week: Jon and Justin!Follow us:- Mark is on Twitter @constantpodcast and on Instagram and Facebook @theconstantpodcast- This show is on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @followfridaypod- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesjTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, and Elizabeth.

Full transcript: https://followfridaypodcast.com/ann-reardonBack us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/followfridayReview the show: https://lovethepodcast.com/followfridayOn her YouTube channel How to Cook That, Ann Reardon has shown viewers how to make desserts like an iPad cake, a giant Kit Kat bar, and even a chocolate book. But she's also well-known for debunking viral food videos that purport to show amazing life-hacks, and are often just disinformation. "If your end goal is simply to get the most views so that you get a bonus, then making up stuff that doesn't actually work is really not an issue," she says. "If that's your mindset, then it's quite a dangerous world, really."Today on Follow Friday, Ann talks about the debunking series, her new cookbook Crazy Sweet Creations, and four fascinating people she follows: A chocolate sculptor whose creations look completely real; a former NASA engineer who has turned squirrel mazes and glitterbombs into YouTube stardom; a food photographer who can teach you how to take better photos with just your phone; and a Silicon Valley investor whose podcast unlocks the secrets of business success.And you can get a fifth recommendation later today if you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month. Special thanks to our patron of the week: Elizabeth!Follow us:- Ann is on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @HowToCookThat- This show is on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @followfridaypod- Eric is on Twitter @heyheyesj Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.