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PODCAST

INFLUENCE

What does it really take to make a living (and an impact) on the Internet today? Join Matt Silverman (who has been covering online culture for 15+ years) in conversation with YouTubers, musicians, podcasters, streamers, journalists, TikTokers and more about turning creativity into a job, building community on ever-changing platforms, and their complex relationships with huge online audiences. INFLUENCE is the relaunch of 2 GIRLS 1 PODCAST, a weekly comedy/interview show about fascinating online

technology hobbies

All Episodes

75:02

137 Second Life Sex Workers

INFLUENCE ·

2020/06/22

Cybersex is as old as the Internet itself. But as virtual spaces become more sophisticated, so too has sex work. Second Life is more of a "technology playground" than a video game -- a place where your digital skills can be traded for real money. Many players make a healthy living by providing custom goods or services, including sex work. This week, Alli and Jen speak with Meela Vanderbuilt, the creator and owner of The Mondarchy, the most expensive brothel in Second Life. She's also joined by

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67:42

136 THE 2ND-GREATEST PRANK IN PODCAST HISTORY!!!!1!!

INFLUENCE ·

2020/06/15

Two bad people play a joke on one good and beautiful person. Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1P Talk to the hosts (and each other!) in our secret Discord: discord.gg/2g1p Email us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.com Call the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

66:49

135 Cheap Old Houses

INFLUENCE ·

2020/06/08

Alli and Jen talk with Elizabeth Finkelstein, a preservation expert and the creator of Cheap Old Houses, a wildly popular Instagram account that shows the dream of home ownership may not be as hard as we think, depending on your priorities. Finkelstein explains the inspiration for the account, her love of DIY home repair, the history carried in old houses (and why we should preserve them), the passionate community around Cheap Old Houses, and whether internet-powered jobs can save the middle class

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83:30

134 WeRateDogs (@dog_rates / Matt Nelson)

INFLUENCE ·

2020/06/01

With more than 14 million followers across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, WeRateDogs is on a mission that everyone on planet Earth can get behind: Rating cute doggos from the internet on a (dubious!) 10-point scale. This blend of adorable dog pics, comedic captions, and obsessive fan-submitted content has catapulted the novelty account (and its creator, Matt Nelson) into a massive online brand, which uses its influence to entertain millions, sell merch, and help dogs in need. Alli and Jen talk

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57:24

133 A Group Where We All Pretend to Be Ants in an Ant...

INFLUENCE ·

2020/05/25

On the Internet, nobody knows if you're a dog. Or, an ant for that matter. And there are nearly 2 million people, all working together, pretending to be ants in a giant ant colony, in one special Facebook group. "A group where we all pretend to be ants in an ant colony" has exploded in popularity thanks to its imaginative premise, and because honestly what else are you going to do in quarantine? Also: Ants are cool AF. Alli and Jen talk with Sydney Malloy, one of the group's top "Ant-mins," about

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72:23

132 Online Standup Comedy With Josh Gondelman

INFLUENCE ·

2020/05/18

There's a lot to laugh at on the Internet, but standup comedy — a distinctly in-person art form — is facing challenges in a time of self-isolation. But "virtual" comedy clubs, powered by Zoom, Twitch, and YouTube, are increasingly popping up in quarantine. But as expected, the tight 5 that kills on stage may need adjustments for an audience that can only laugh in emojis. This week, Alli and Jen talk to standup comedian and writer/producer Josh Gondelman about how the standup world is adapting to the

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59:51

131 Dating in 'Animal Crossing'

INFLUENCE ·

2020/05/11

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has taken over the world in self-isolation, and become a virtual place of normalcy, even for non-gamers. But what if you’re single and dating, but can’t leave the house due to lockdowns? Tom Nook, in his infinite wisdom, has a solution for that. Alli and Jen talk with Lady Brittany, a Twitch streamer who has converted her entire Animal Crossing domain into a Love Island, optimized for romance and photo ops around every corner. There, she hosts real dates and even

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62:06

130 Building College Campuses in Minecraft

INFLUENCE ·

2020/05/04

College classes and graduations around the world are being canceled or administered remotely, but many enterprising students have taken to the virtual spaces of Minecraft to painstakingly recreate their campuses in amazing detail. While you can't walk down the main streets of Boston University and UPenn in real life, you can visit them virtually inside the blocky servers built by their students and faculty. Alli and Jen talk with students and volunteer builders Pearse Anderson, Nick Marchuk, and

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59:18

129 Zoom Memes for Self Quaranteens

INFLUENCE ·

2020/04/27

More than 600,000 people (mostly college students) are using a Facebook group to come together and bond over how bad taking classes on Zoom is. This week, Alli and Jen talk to Zana Rashid, a moderator from Zoom Memes for Self Quaranteens, a place for humor in a time of isolation. Rashid shares how disruptive COVID-19 has been for university students, the power of funny memes during this difficult time, and the Boomer vs. Zoomer wars that constantly erupt within this growing

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56:57

128 Medical Fetishes (MedFet)

INFLUENCE ·

2020/04/20

Amid worldwide shortages of personal protective equipment (medical PPE), someone at the UK's National Health Service reached out to the medical fetish retailer MedFetUK, hoping to find a stock of masks or scrubs. MedFetUK immediately delivered, donating their entire supply (usually sold for sex play) to a hospital. While Justin, the co-founder of the company, says it was obviously "the right thing to do," thousands on Twitter quickly gathered round to cheer the small fetish company, and also

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60:56

127 The Spot: 1995's Online Reality Show

INFLUENCE ·

2020/04/13

In 1995, at the height of cultural mania around 90210, Melrose Place, and MTV's The Real World, the Internet as we know it today was just getting started. But if you had a connection and thirsted for more beautiful people trapped in a house with drama, there was The Spot. Created by producer Scott Zakarin, it was a first-of-its kind interactive webseries that imagined a cast of young, attractive characters writing journal entries about their lives inside a shared beach house in California. Diaries,

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36:37

126 Self-Isolation Checkin

INFLUENCE ·

2020/04/06

So...how's everybody holding up? Please call us: (347) 871-6548 Follow Alli on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/alligold Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1P Join us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1p Email us: 2G1Podcast@gmail.com Talk to Alli and Jen: https://twitter.com/alligold https://twitter.com/joonbugger Call the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en

78:10

125 Chris Dancy, The Mindful Cyborg

INFLUENCE ·

2020/03/30

In 2008, database engineer Chris Dancy weighed 320 pounds, smoked two packs and drank 36 cans of Diet Coke every day. He was being paid a lot of money to be — in his words — “a real pile of shit.” But as modern social media began taking shape, Dancy noticed how the things he posted online correlated with how he felt — and therefore, how he acted. He began to track everything he did: foods he ate, shows he binge-watched, and people he interacted with online. He wrote programs that automatically

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74:35

124 Biohackers

INFLUENCE ·

2020/03/23

There are two types of "biohackers" in this world: People who are optimizing their bodies for peak performance, and...cyborgs. The cyborgs are putting microchips, magnets, and even full, working computers inside their bodies. Why? Because it's the future. And these brave pioneers are willing to cut themselves open to see where humanity is headed. Alli and Jen talk to Quinn Mooney, a biohacker with NFC chips in his hands and plans to install a Raspberry Pi in his leg. Mooney moderates the forums at

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70:56

123 What If YouTube Had Failed in 2006?

INFLUENCE ·

2020/03/16

An entire generation has grown up in a world where uploading hours of 4K video to the Internet is not only common, but expected. But, what if the legal and technological barriers that killed Napster and other file-sharing sites had also crushed YouTube? In 2006, despite its growing popularity, YouTube could easily have been wiped off the map by copyright battles and the skyrocketing cost of hosting humanity's video. So, what would the Internet, its culture, and the world look like today if YouTube

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73:22

[Encore Episode] 51 The Birth of Online Dating...

INFLUENCE ·

2020/03/09

We're proud to share this encore episode of #2G1P featuring Gary Kremen, the inventor of online dating. Learn how a fateful purchase order in the '90s lead to the creation of Match.com, and ultimately all the swiping you enjoy today. We'll be back next week with a fresh one! Originally published: September 24, 2018. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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61:43

122 Civ Battle Royale

INFLUENCE ·

2020/03/02

Sid Meier’s Civilization is a storied video game franchise built on an epic premise: Build a civilization to stand the test of time. Typically, a player will control a historic civ — like China, France, India, or Rome — and manage every aspect of its culture, beginning in 4,000 BCE. Food, trade, technology, government civics, religion, population growth, colonial expansion, and of course the military, all become granular decisions with far-reaching effects on history. The game is played like a

en

65:33

121 Gone Wild Audio

INFLUENCE ·

2020/02/24

Porn on Reddit should come as no surprise. But nearly 400,000 listeners subscribe to r/GoneWildAudio, a community for high quality, audio-only erotic vignettes. Creators there use high-end microphones to create specific, explicit, and often elaborate fantasies for listeners. The visuals are left entirely to the imagination, and the intimacy level is off the charts. This week, Alli and Jen speak with Belle_in_the_woods, one of the most popular and prolific erotic audio creators on the subreddit. She

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66:52

120 Genyus Network is a safe social space for stroke...

INFLUENCE ·

2020/02/17

Caleb Rixon was a 24-year-old musical theater actor in his prime, who had just landed a major role in a production of Chicago. He hit the gym to prepare for a long tour of song and dance, when he felt something explode behind his eye during a workout class. He remembers being taken away in an ambulance and not much else. He woke up a month later, unable to walk, talk, or swallow. But he was alive. A rare brain abnormality had caused a massive stroke, and Rixon was on a slow road to recovery. He

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69:15

119 How one woman hacked online dating to find the...

INFLUENCE ·

2020/02/10

Quantitative futurist Amy Webb was fed up with online dating in 2005. The questionnaires and algorithms on sites like Match and OKcupid that were supposed to connect like-minded people and form lasting relationships yielded nothing but duds and disastrous dates. Despite advice from family and friends to cast a wider net, Webb did the opposite: she became even more picky. She created a long list of dating criteria and narrowed the pool of singles down using a complex scoring system. Then, she used

en

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