Introducing: Reading the Comments 👀

Reading the Comments is a podcast that digs into the comment sections of buzzy articles, essays, and posts to figure what the hell is going on. Hosted by Amanda Montei & Veronica Wong.

We're like your group chat— but we try to wrangle our rage, eyerolls, and irritation in an attempt to salvage some thoughtful conversations from a forum that can at times feel like the antithesis of… thoughtful.

This season: What stories are we telling about motherhood, feminism, gender, family, and community today? Is it possible to read a little closer 👀 in order to hear each other a bit better 👂🏼? We’re not sure, but we hope so?

Some of the subjects we’ll cover this season include:

* women’s “choices”

* male loneliness

* parental burnout

* marriage and desire

* more!

Every other week, we will also open up threads to paid subscribers on our Substack show page so you can help us further explore what’s missing from the conversations in the comments.

You can find the Reading the Comments Podcast wherever you get your podcasts — and you can also listen to the episodes on our Substack page.

Paid subscribers get access to full episodes and to our devoted community of close-readers/eye-rollers and:

* You’ll be directly supporting 1) the many hours of work we put into this podcast AND 2) the many hours of work we have yet to do on bonus episodes.

* Speaking of bonus episodes, you’ll get access to a subscribers-only Google form you can use to share any juicy comments sections you want to see us pull apart on those bonus episodes, or right here on the show page.

* You’ll also get access to those biweekly discussion threads for each episode, where you can help us unpack comments, topics, and issues featured on the pod.

* Access to our subscribers-only chat in the Substack app, where we will drop timely comments sections for you to discuss on the fly, as well as send info about the future episodes we're planning, so you can help guide the conversation.

Sound fun? Ready to support our work?

* If you just want to subscribe to the Reading the Comments Podcast, it’s just $5 a month or $15 for the whole season. Subscribe on Substack and then listen wherever you get your podcasts.

We can’t wait to wade into the comments with you— strap in!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit readingthecomments.substack.com