Sixteenth Minute (of Fame)

In our final episode about the manosphere, Jamie talks to people who have been directly involved with and continue to navigate being targeted by the ever-evolving space over more than two decades. Three people across three generations explain how they got in and out of red pill and MRA spaces, a teacher in Texas explains their struggle to get through to teenagers taken in by Andrew Tate, and a researcher on incels expands on her struggle to manage her mental health while exploring a world that doesn't respect her autonomy. Names have been changed and interviews have been edited for clarity. Next week, for our final episode of 2024... something light! Get tickets to the Bechdel Cast tour here in LA, SF, and Portland OR -- livestream tickets available, too! https://linktr.ee/bechdelcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You win, I'll talk to men -- and for part three of our manosphere series, it's two brilliant men who are experts in this space. After taking a wide look at the manosphere, Jamie speaks with FD Signifier and Robert Evans about their experience studying the manosphere, and what to expect in the near future. Our final part airs next week! Follow FD Signifier's work: https://www.youtube.com/@FDSignifire Follow Robert Evans' work: https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.social See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In part 2 of our manosphere series, Jamie takes a look at what the manosphere has become since it became a mainstream topic a decade ago. She traces its media and in-community responses from Gamergate and the Isla Vista killings, through the first Trump administration, into the #MeToo era, around the Kavanaugh hearings, and all the way to manosphere podcasts being name-checked at the second Trump acceptance speech. How has this space mutated to enter our governing -- or was it always that way? Part 3 releases this Thursday. Listen to Boys Like Me (on the Toronto van attack): https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/boys-like-me/id1596370720?at=1l3vpUI&ct=LFV_4ba3316d6e3d7eb6707b80c71864cc16&itsct=catchall_podcast_show&itscg=30440&ls=1 Feels Good Man: https://www.feelsgoodmanfilm.com/ More on the Black manosphere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y0nR0E8pk4&list=PLCloiJ2glw55nFdhlvB0ojBYIWKzROjbv&index=4 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The manosphere isn't just one of the election's biggest trending topics, it's also one of the biggest outputters of internet main characters -- so why have most of the conversations around it been so unproductive? In our first part of our series on the manosphere, Jamie interrogates the flawed ways in which media is talking about this space, and traces its origins from the 1970s all the way to Gamergate and the Isla Vista shootings. Then, she speaks with researcher Becca Lewis about where we go from here. Follow Becca Lewis's work here: https://bsky.app/profile/beccalew.bsky.social Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates: https://bookshop.org/p/books/men-who-hate-women-from-incels-to-pickup-artists-the-truth-about-extreme-misogyny-and-how-it-affects-us-all-laura-bates/19662669 Backlash by Susan Faludi: https://bookshop.org/p/books/backlash-the-undeclared-war-against-american-women-susan-faludi/8728966?ean=9780307345424 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A video of two Canadian men screaming at each other about whether Glinda the Good Witch was a witch or a princess has been going viral every six months since 2018... but no one knows who they are. UNTIL NOW. Jamie sits down with living legend Matt Passero to talk about his moment of infinite virality, why he's the rare character of the day who wants nothing to do with the spotlight, and why Glinda is a princess, actually. WE GOT THE EXCLUSIVE, BABY! Follow Day Bond and see Matt's tattoo here!: https://www.tiktok.com/@illustday?_t=8rtk7rNUdzT&_r=1 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello Sixteenth Minute heads! We'll be back next week with a brand new interview with the guy from the ~*sHe cAmE dOwN iN a bUbBlE bRo*~ video, but this week we are re-airing our episode on the 2015 phenomenon of The Dress. Tickets to Jamie's show 11/29 in LA: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-tiny-man-is-trying-to-kill-me-tickets-1089424250259?aff=oddtdtcreator Donate to the Native Women's Collective: https://www.nativewomenscollective.org/ --- In 2015, the world was gripped by one question: is this dress black and blue, or white and gold? No, no, I refuse to argue with you about it — but the story of The Dress is the dying breath of a pre-algorithm driven social media, the peak of Buzzfeed, and contains some dark truths about the internet. Featuring interviews with Taylor Lorenz (@taylorlorenz), author of Extremely Online and Max Fisher (@maxfisher22), author of The Chaos Machine. Original Air Date: 5.21.24 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For one day in 2021, all of social media was obsessing over... Gorilla Glue? Tessica Brown ran out of göt2b hair product and used Gorilla Glue instead and one month later, her hair hadn't moved at all. She turned to TikTok for help and immediately became a main character, prompting a complicated months-long saga that included custom surgery, Hollywood managers, a botched rap career, and some of the most startling and scary days of her life. Jamie talks to Tessica about the ordeal four years later and gets the real story. Follow Tessica here: https://www.instagram.com/im_d_ollady Tickets to Jamie's LA show here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-tiny-man-is-trying-to-kill-me-special-tapings-tickets-1077914925559?aff=oddtdtcreator See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In part two of our William Hung series, Jamie takes a look at two of the biggest conversations that William sparked upon his debut: the representation of Asian Americans in the U.S., and how reality shows remove authorship from their subjects. Twenty years later, what can we take away from this moment? We speak with sociologist Nancy Wang Yeun about her experience first encountering William’s narrative and the legacy of Asian representation up until that time, and reality show editing vet Steve Flack about how reality television can Frankenbite its subjects into completely different people. Follow Nancy Wang Yeun here: https://www.nancywyuen.com/ Read Serve the People: Making Asian America in the Long Sixties by Karen Ishizuka: https://bookshop.org/p/books/serve-the-people-making-asian-america-in-the-long-sixties-karen-l-ishizuka/9337769?ean=9781781689981 Read The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-making-of-asian-america-a-history-erika-lee/16653245?ean=9781476739410 Tickets to Jamie’s show The Tiny Man is Trying to Kill Me: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-tiny-man-is-trying-to-kill-me-special-tapings-tickets-1077914925559 Listen to We the Unhoused: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-the-unhoused/id1490017575 And reach out to Jamie for manosphere sources at smalliceresurfacer@gmail.com ! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Twenty years ago, William Hung of "She Bangs" American Idol fame became one of the earliest people to straddle traditional media and the internet to become an overnight sensation. A notorious "bad audition" on one of the world's most famous shows, William built a whole career on a mix of positivity and negative attention, remaining firmly himself every step of the way. Warning: this episode contains severe 2004, from Angelfire fan sites to successful prime time TV to early-aughts xenophobia. Buckle in, we're going deep, from William's college days to his TED talks and everywhere in between. This week, Jamie recounts William's story and speaks to the man himself. In part two, we take a closer look at what William's fame meant to Asian Americans, and what it said about the state of reality TV. Follow William here: https://williamhung.net/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Of course the graverobbing episode couldn’t be one part! In part two of the Tmblr bone witch story, Jamie speaks with the leading voice in American human remains law, a New Orleans cemetery preservationist and of course, a real-life witch. Follow Tanya Marsh here: https://x.com/tmar22 Follow JV Hampton-Van Sant’s work and socials here: https://linktr.ee/RedBlaqueGolden Learn more about Save Our Cemeteries here: https://www.saveourcemeteries.org/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, MOTHERFUCKERS! This week, we’re diving deep into the Tumblr bone witch saga, the epic 2015 tale of internet-age graverobbing that all but exploded the internet. In late 2015, a witch named Ender Darling posted that they’d found some human bones in a New Orleans graveyard, and offered to mail them to other witches in a Facebook group called the Queer Witch Collective. What followed was bedlam – a debate on the ethics of private safe spaces, on bone thievery in New Orleans, and a story that led all the way to court. Spoiler alert: grave robbing isn’t as illegal as you think! Tune in, dear listeners, to the scariest episode of Sixteenth Minute of all time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She's, with apologies to the Hawk Tuah lobby, the queen of the internet in 2024 -- baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng. Her fifteenth minute is far from over, but this week Jamie dives into the world of the viral zoo animal. She's far from the first, joining a legacy of viral animals whose life is flattened to a static image, without wondering why we're looking at them in the first place. We go into the ordeal that is becoming famous while captive, and Jamie speaks with zoologist Oliver, aka Dr. Wildlife, about the ethics of zoos and how we can better protect the animals that become a part of our digital language. Follow Dr. Wildlife here: https://linktr.ee/drwildlife See Jamie in LA on November 1st & 20th: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-tiny-man-is-trying-to-kill-me-tickets-1039733048537 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FIELD TRIP! Jamie heads to Las Vegas to see the closing moments of the Kobi-Chestnut sixteenth minute -- and watches them face off live on Netflix after fifteen years without competing in a broadcast called Unfinished Beef. We talk more with documentarian Nicole Lucas-Haimes, and take a look at what the greatest hot dog and sports rivalry of all time looks like at the highest level. Watch 30 for 30: The Good, The Bad, The Hungry on Netflix here: https://www.netflix.com/title/81752194 Watch Unfinished Beef: https://www.netflix.com/title/81743617 Read Jodi Walker's terrific coverage of the event on The Ringer: https://www.theringer.com/tv/2024/9/19/24248057/joey-chestnut-takeru-kobayashi-netflix-unfinished-beef-hot-dog-eating Buy Jamie's book Raw Dog here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250847768/rawdog See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once a year, Joey Chestnut becomes the main character of the internet -- but it wasn't always that way. This week, we're talking about the greatest hot dog rivalry of all time, and the media ringmaster that made it possible. Before Joey's annual stint as a main character, the hot dog eating champion of the world was one Takeru Kobayashi, a Japanese eater who turned a novelty event in the U.S. into a full-blown sensation in the early 2000s. Then, contractual issues and a huge wave of xenophobia pushed Kobi out of the professional scene in America, until Labor Day 2024 when he faced off with Chestnut for the first time in 15 years. A lot has changed since their last meeting... more than anything, the way stories are told using the internet. Jamie speaks with documentarian Nicole Lucas-Haimes, director of the 30 for 30 about the Kobi and Chestnut rivalry: The Good, The Bad, The Hungry. She's also the executive producer of the Netflix rematch, Unfinished Beef. This Thursday, Jamie ventures to Las Vegas to see the Kobi-Chestnut Netflix rematch in person. Watch The Good, The Bad, The Hungry: https://www.netflix.com/title/81752194 Watch Unfinished Beef: https://www.netflix.com/title/81743617 Buy Raw Dog (now in paperback): https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250847768/rawdog Now See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ken Bone reflects on the eight-year anniversary of his overnight viral success, how becoming a main character changed his life, and how his moment moved his politics forward. Donate to St. Patrick's Center here: https://www.stpatrickcenter.org/donate Los Angeles area heads, see Jamie live this November at the Lyric Hyperion! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-tiny-man-is-trying-to-kill-me-tickets-1039733048537?aff=oddtdtcreator See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2016, one man in a red sweater became the nation's sweetheart... until he didn't. Ken Bone became a celebrity overnight after a star turn at the height of an October 2016 political nightmare. Just two days after the infamous Access Hollywood tape made many think Trump's first run for president was a lost cause, after a year of "her emails" and what felt like an infinity war of an election cycle, the world took comfort in a normal midwestern man who worked at a power plant and loved anime. What made Ken so appealing, and -- apologies for taking us back to such a cursed period -- what shitstorm was he caught in the middle of? In part one, Jamie examines the media environment that made Ken a star, and the milkshake duck cycle and a Reddit scandal that made him one of the seminal internet main characters to this day. Next week... we talk to Ken. Donate to Ken's nonprofit of choice, the St. Patrick Center of St. Louis here: https://www.stpatrickcenter.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In part two of our Overly Attached Girlfriend series, we talked to the OAG herself -- Laina Morris. She revisits the viral moment she didn't see coming in 2012, the weirdness of being in a Delta Airlines safety video, and navigating what a career online and at the mercy of the algorithm looks like while struggling with depression. Laina's been away from regular posting for the last five years as she navigated it all, and she and Jamie get into how to maintain your self-worth and share yourself safely. Slap on your scary eyes, baby, we're going in. Follow Laina on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@laina Follow Laina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laina Follow Laina on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@laina622 Sixteenth Minute Reddit! : https://www.reddit.com/r/SixteenthMinute/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the summer of 2012, Laina Morris became an overnight viral star as the Overly Attached Girlfriend, a parody of the rampant Justin Bieber "Beliebers" of the era. The week after, she had to decide if she'd drop out of college or pursue the life of a job that didn't quite exist yet -- a full-time YouTuber. In part 1, Jamie takes a look at Laina's ascent, and how the image of the YouTube star was first conjured from thin air by a bunch of Silicon Valley weirdos, and perfected by YouTubers themselves. Net week, Jamie speaks exclusively with Laina Morris in part two! For more on the history of the social media algorithm, check out "The Chaos Machine" by Max Fisher: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-chaos-machine-the-inside-story-of-how-social-media-rewired-our-minds-and-our-world-max-fisher/18203720 For more on YouTube celebrity, check out "Extremely Online" by Taylor Lorenz: https://bookshop.org/p/books/extremely-online-the-untold-story-of-fame-influence-and-power-on-the-internet-taylor-lorenz/19718842?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrp-3BhDgARIsAEWJ6SwYyF8sigAMNiXmi3fokHCkE2bzkcSOCaQ7nB0cdh3vmpjNcJS4rVAaAhV6EALw_wcB Follow Laina on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@laina See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In part two of this definitely minisode series, Jamie talks with ex-Mormon YouTuber and author of How to Leave the Mormon Church: An Ex-Mormons Guide to Rebuilding After Religion Alyssa Grenfell about how the LDS may have found a back channel to bankroll its most powerful influencers, without leaving a paper trail. Alyssa walks Jamie through how she thinks it's done, and how the LDS has succeeded and fumbled its relationships with influencers in the past. Buy Alyssa's book!: https://www.howtoleavethemormonchurch.com/about Watch Alyssa's full theory here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGXggLIafrc Subscribe to Alyssa's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@alyssadgrenfell See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Jamie takes a treacherous voyage into a complicated question -- why on Earth are there so many successful Mormon influencers? In this two-part series, she looks at how the origins and the values of the Mormon church deceptively align with the conservative "tradwife" influencing space of today... and yes, she will get into the tradwives. Contained herein: Joseph Smith shoving his face into a hat, a new Hulu reality series that is deceptively boring, Ballerina Farm, and the Mormons' early success in the conservative mommy blogging space. Tune in for part 2, where ex-Mormon Alyssa Grenfell poses a theory at how the Church of Latter Day Saints stays two steps ahead of it all. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.