PODCAST

The Computer Room

Katherine Dee

A show about our lives online. default.blog

technology

All Episodes

118:54

Call-In Show #11: Galactic Messages

The Computer Room ·

2025/07/12

I’ll eventually edit and upload a polished version of the call-in show, but for now, here’s how it went live. I still have a backlog of material from The Computer Room, some of it goes back as far as 2021! I have probably hundreds of hours of recorded interviews about how people—from capital-P personalities to randos who reach out to me—use the Internet and their first memory of logging on. P.S. These posts don’t get emailed out, just to keep inboxes clean. This is a public episode. If you'd like to

99:49

Call-In Show #7: Ghost in the Machine

The Computer Room ·

2025/05/23

I’m Katherine Dee. I read in an industry newsletter that I should re-introduce myself in every post. I’m an Internet ethnographer and reporter. This newsletter is filled with interviews, takes on current events, a sporadic advice column, Craigslist-style missed connections, Internet culture explainers, streams, a book club, predictions and forecasts… There’s a lot of stuff. I also spend maybe 20 hours a week talking to people about how they use the Internet. Consider chipping in $2 for my

6:01

Natural Instinct vs. Control

The Computer Room ·

2025/04/05

This is a story I wrote in 2021? 2022? Published in Compact Mag (not the political site). I’ve posted and re-posted it here several times. Here’s a radio drama version. As usual, I ask for your patience with audio quality.default.blog is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.“Here is natural instinct and here is control. You are to combine the two in harmony. If you have one to the extreme, you will be very unscientific;

60:30

What Is the Cultural Script For Six-Armed Babies? ft....

The Computer Room ·

2025/02/21

Today on The Computer Room, Katherine talks to Dr. Josie Zayner of the Los Angeles Project about genetic engineering and building the impossible. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit default.blog/subscribe

58:16

AI Natives

The Computer Room ·

2025/02/07

On today’s episode of The Computer Room, Katherine talks to Philip Rosedale, founder of Linden Lab, not just about Second Life, but about other synthetic lives. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit default.blog/subscribe

46:35

AI and the Return of the Unknowable

The Computer Room ·

2025/01/06

Join Katherine and producer Taylor McMahon as they discuss Meta’s plans for AI-generated users. Gio returns next week for his regular hosting duties.Read Katherine’s article on the same topic here.00:00 Introduction and Greetings00:39 Meta’s AI Generated Users02:47 Implications of AI in Social Media04:56 Human Element in Social Media08:17 AI's Impact on Culture and Taste21:39 Fictosexuality and Imaginary Relationships24:27 The Influence of Environment on Human Behavior26:01 The Future of AI and

41:54

Traumagotchi Redeemed?

The Computer Room ·

2024/11/18

Leah Prime from our fantastic Art Bell episode and of the blog We Own the Night and I talked about my initial reaction to friend.com’s chatbot launch… and why I might be wrong about it after all. This is an experimental format I’m releasing to paid subscribers only right now. Please share your feedback! It’s very likely that a more polished version will be un-paywalled later in the week… But I wanted to get a temperature check first. Do you guys like it? Should I do more? Articles referenced:Avi

35:11

Be My Escape

The Computer Room ·

2024/10/29

Katherine talks to Sam L. Barker about the enduring legacy of pop-punk and emo, and crucially, about how it all coalesced online. You can also listen to this on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.Read Katherine’s article about blink-182’s unique brand of humor here.Subscribe to Sam’s Substack here.A note from Sam:Be My Escape is an essay and podcast project where I look over some of the most enduring emo (I use the term culturally and loosely) and pop-punk albums of the 00s. I want to give this

57:26

Adam Lanza Fan Art

The Computer Room ·

2024/10/09

Paid subscribers are receiving this a little bit earlier than free subscribers.Katherine reads her Tablet article, “Adam Lanza Fan Art,” a deep dive into the elusive True Crime Community (TCC), a small fandom of mostly adolescents and young adults who treat school shooters and serial killers in the same way other fans might treat boyband members. After … This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit default.blog/subscribe

50:03

First Time Caller: An Art Bell Tribute

The Computer Room ·

2024/09/18

In this episode of The Computer Room, Katherine and friends talk about Art Bell's legacy. We meet Leah Prime, who's writing a book about Art Bell, John Steiger who on a mission to hand transcribe every single episode of Coast to Coast AM, and Joseph Matheny, the mind behind Ong's Hat. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit default.blog/subscribe

56:33

Would You Still Love Me If I Swallowed a Worm?

The Computer Room ·

2024/07/09

Katherine and Gio discuss “Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke,” a novella by Eric LaRocca about a complex BDSM relationship between two women that unfolds through emails, forum posts, and instant messages in 2000. They talk about what it meant to “log on” in 2000, lesbian media, and whether online relationships are uniquely suited to BDSM dynamics. Gio also reveals that, somehow, he didn’t know Katie Herzog of BARPod is a lesbian.Help make “number go up” by subscribing: This is a public

141:04

The Digital Is Deceitful Above All Things

The Computer Room ·

2024/06/25

“The most un-American thing you can do is reject fame.”In a recorded phone call, Katherine and Laura Albert, the writer best known for JT Leroy, explore the fuzzy boundaries of truth and fiction in our digital era. They discuss the telephone as a medium, catfishing, imagination, and lying as a form of storytelling. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit default.blog/subscribe

82:51

My Little Polemical

The Computer Room ·

2024/06/21

Katherine talks to a brony Zoomer about being online, mediated friendships, the fantastical world of My Little Pony, and the revival that the fandom is experiencing right now. Buy your Mare Fair tickets here, read the infamous MLP fan fic “The Lunar Rebellion” here, and watch the first four seasons of MLP here. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit default.blog/subscribe

70:34

The Internet Is Power

The Computer Room ·

2024/06/17

Kickstarter and Metalabel cofounder Yancey Strickler walks in on Gio and Katherine gossiping. Together, they talk about the meaning of gossip, the Internet as a source of power, and what happens when everything moves from main to the group chat.Check out Metalabel.Read Yancey's writing:The Dark Forest Theory of the Internet The Post-Individual This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit default.blog/subscribe

80:44

Grady and the Real Girl

The Computer Room ·

2024/06/10

Lauren and Grady are Chicago’s hottest couple. Katherine and Grady talk about playing a role that’s not yourself but based on yourself, their appearance on Help! I'm In a Secret Relationship, where all the weirdos have gone on the Internet, if those chamoy pickles were worth it, and his relationship with Lauren. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit default.blog/subscribe

01:20:43

Grady and the Real Girl

The Computer Room ·

2024/06/10

101:03

The Millennial Left as a Moment in Internet History

The Computer Room ·

2024/06/07

This week, Gio and I are joined by Benjamin Studebaker, a writer, political theorist, leftist, and former co-host of the infamous podcast “What’s Left?” to discuss the Millennial Left.One question I wish we had asked, and I invite our audience to leave their thoughts about, is whether there is/was a meaningful difference between the Millennial Left and the Tumblr Left. Was the latter a subset of the former, or did it have its own unique character?In the future, I’d like to explore the contours of

01:41:02

The Millennial Left as a Moment in Internet History

The Computer Room ·

2024/06/07

This week, Gio and I are joined by Benjamin Studebaker, a writer, political theorist, leftist, and former co-host of the infamous podcast “What’s Left?” to discuss the Millennial Left.One question I wish we had asked, and I invite our audience to leave their thoughts about, is whether there is/was a meaningful difference between the Millennial Left and the Tumblr Left. Was the latter a subset of the former, or did it have its own unique character?From Benjamin’s blog post, “The Millennial Left as a

126:41

What Was the Alt-Right?

The Computer Room ·

2024/04/12

What exactly was the alt-right? A digital subculture? A political movement? An umbrella term encompassing several contradictory movements? What did the press get wrong? Katherine and Gio sit down with Scott Greer and attempt to demystify What Happened eight years ago… BTW, if you’re reading this, and you know who you are, YOU WILL come on this show and talk to us about the #GamerGate/imageboard component of the history of fringe right-wing politics. This is a threat…I will stop at nothing until you

02:06:41

What Was the Alt-Right? ft. Scott Greer

The Computer Room ·

2024/04/12

What exactly was the alt-right? A digital subculture? A political movement? What did the press get wrong? Katherine and Gio sit down with Scott Greer to attempt to demystify What Happened an incredible eight years ago…

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