Audio #Content Report

'Predators' Director David Osit on 'To Catch A Predator' and Its Copycats

'Predators' director David Osit discusses his new documentary about To Catch A Predator and Chris Hansen The instant I heard someone was making a documentary about To Catch A Predator I knew I had to see it. While it may seem like something of a weird novelty now, it’s hard to overstate what a phenomenon To Catch A Predator was in its own time. The clips of personalities like Jimmy Kimmel and Jon Stewart praising To Catch A Predator star Chris Hansen for the “important work” he was doing attest to that. Those are just some of the reminders for us in David Osit’s new documentary [https://www.paramountplus.com/movies/video/WZJCMAbZA_gjMjy7ErurPinXC6awErEb/?searchReferral=desktop-web&source=google-organic&ftag=PPM-23-10bfh8c]Predators [https://www.paramountplus.com/movies/video/WZJCMAbZA_gjMjy7ErurPinXC6awErEb/?searchReferral=desktop-web&source=google-organic&ftag=PPM-23-10bfh8c] how instantly successful the Dateline segment was. In other clip from the early aughts, Hansen testifies before congress. The #Content Report, By Vince Mancini is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Did T-Cap (as it comes to be known in Predators) always give me the ick or did the inherent grossness of the concept only become clear in 2007, when an assistant DA in Texas killed himself with Dateline camera crews swarming outside his house, just after a SWAT team had breached the door? That guy, the “perp,” had shared lewd chats with a decoy posing as a 16-year-old boy. It escalated to a phone conversation. The decoy had pushed for a meetup. The DA had first stood up the decoy, then broken off contact. The camera crew, along with some participating police, had figured out who he was and went to his house instead, where he shot himself. The show got sued for $105 million and only ran for six more episodes. But Chris Hansen’s shtick remains as a meme, and has gone onto spawn an entire genre of copycats on YouTube and social media. Hansen, his copycats, and Osit’s own journey as an abuse survivor and one-time T-Cap obsessive are the three central storylines in Predators [https://www.paramountplus.com/movies/video/WZJCMAbZA_gjMjy7ErurPinXC6awErEb/?searchReferral=desktop-web&source=google-organic&ftag=PPM-23-10bfh8c], which breaks down so much of what I find unsettling about both the format and Hansen personally. I got to speak with Osit this past week and wrote about it for GQ [https://www.gq.com/story/predators-david-osit-interview]. It’s comforting to imagine every that perp nabbed (or driven to suicide) was a genuine child predator (and some undoubtedly were), but others seem now like the same type of people susceptible to being driven crazy [https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/202507/the-emerging-problem-of-ai-psychosis] by AI chatbots. Does it matter whether the people netted and publicly smeared in these kinds of stings are genuine pedophiles, or just guys (basically always guys) living at the same intersection of loneliness and untreated mental illness that seems to cause AI psychosis? Does it matter that the people they chat with, reveal perverse fantasies to, and sometimes try (or are baited into) meeting up with aren’t actually underage, but adults, participating, in some way, in this fantasy scenario? Does it matter that the thing they’re selling, the fantasy of a sexually available teenager trolling chat rooms for an older sexual partner, may not actually exist outside of this dual fantasy? If that sounds dark, it is, though Predators is also darkly comic, especially in its segment about copycats. In its second segment, Predators follows a Hansen copycat YouTuber who goes by “Skeet Hansen” and refers to the Dateline segment colloquially as “T-Cap.” Skeet Hansen performs a passable, if tawdrier imitation of T-Cap, using a heavily-tattooed, 37-year-old decoy named “T Coy” to capture an alleged pervert before delivering what seems to be his signature catchphrase, “you’ve just been Skeeted.” A plaque commemorating 100,000 YouTube subscribers hangs on his wall. Anyway, I don’t want to spoil the entire, thoughtful (I hope) write up I did over at GQ, which you can read over there, along with a condensed version of the interview. You can hear the full audio of my chat with David Osit above. As for the A24 To Catch A Predator movie we reference, it’s called Primetime. The project, which has a script by Ajon Singh, is said to center on a journalist who takes on the underbelly of crime in a unique way and changes television forever. At this stage, Pattinson does not have a deal to star, only produce. Sources say that the film draws inspiration from To Catch a Predator, the popular and zeitgeist-buzzing 2000s reality TV show in which host Chris Hansen partook in sting operations luring adult men to homes under the pretense of sexual encounters with minors. A24 is not confirming any connection to the show. [Hollywood Reporter [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/robert-pattinson-to-produce-primetime-for-a24-1236041419/]] That article was from 2024, though some alleged photos from the set dropped [https://www.reddit.com/r/tcap/comments/1ldpabc/set_photo_of_a24s_primetime_starring_robert/] in March [https://www.instagram.com/p/DHHtmgVyNQI/?img_index=4]. They don’t come from any sources I would recognize as legit, though the timing certainly lines up with when [https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/bluefin-primetime-movie-filming/article_70a6878e-f21f-4423-8063-ebb04ab7b78f.html]Primetime [https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/bluefin-primetime-movie-filming/article_70a6878e-f21f-4423-8063-ebb04ab7b78f.html] would’ve been shooting [https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/bluefin-primetime-movie-filming/article_70a6878e-f21f-4423-8063-ebb04ab7b78f.html]. And if they’re real, it definitely appears that Pattinson is playing someone who looks like Hansen. In an additional wrinkle, the director of Primetime is none other than Lance Oppenheim, a multiple-time #Content Report [https://vincemancini.substack.com/p/hbo-ren-faire-where-are-they-now] and Frotcast guest [https://www.patreon.com/posts/frotcast-584-as-102015994?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link], who previously directed the brilliant documentaries Some Kind of Heaven [https://authory.com/VinceMancini/a/Some-Kind-Of-Heaven-Is-A-Perfect-Documentary-a3dae3052b90d4de4bd6c197f217756fd], Spermworld [https://www.patreon.com/posts/frotcast-584-as-102015994?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link], and Ren Faire [https://www.patreon.com/posts/lance-oppenheim-106029012?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]. There’s a good chance we’ll be able to get him back when Primetime comes out. Serendipity, baby. Thanks for reading The #Content Report, By Vince Mancini! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vincemancini.substack.com/subscribe [https://vincemancini.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

'Death By Lightning' Creator Mike Makowsky

Vince Mancini interviews 'Death By Lightning' creator Mike Makowsky, about casting, Garfield/Guiteau, whether there will be a sequel, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vincemancini.substack.com/subscribe [https://vincemancini.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

'The Smashing Machine' (2002) Retrospective, with John Hyams

Before it was a presumed Oscar contender starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson, The Smashing Machine was a documentary about MMA pioneer Mark Kerr, directed by John Hyams. Arguably one of the most influential documentaries of the 21st century, I was so obsessed with it that the first time I tracked down John Hyams to pepper him with questions about it was 13 damned years ago. That’s right, before my retrospective about The Smashing Machine documentary was a GQ feature [https://www.gq.com/story/the-smashing-machine-mma-documentary-that-inspired-benny-safdies-film], it was a FilmDrunk Frotcast. I haven’t seen the upcoming scripted A24 version starring The Rock, but knowing that Benny Safdie was at least as obsessed with John Hyams’ documentary with I am, obsessed enough to recreate certain scenes right down to getting the hats and trunks right, makes me think it’s going to be pretty good. Point is, this has no spoilers for The Smashing Machine (2025), because I haven’t seen it yet. The #Content Report, By Vince Mancini is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. What this is is the most comprehensive behind-the-scenes interview about The Smashing Machine (2002) that I could conduct. Did you know it was originally supposed to be called “The Specimen?” That HBO considered calling it “The Bloody Punch?” That Hyams wrote his own scripted version of it that was once intended as a vehicle for Mark Wahlberg? That in a roundabout way, it would go on to evolve into what became Warrior? All of these things are true, and we know them because John Hyams was cool enough to sit in for an hour-plus interview. A handful of quotes made it into my GQ retrospective (definitely read that [https://www.gq.com/story/the-smashing-machine-mma-documentary-that-inspired-benny-safdies-film], it’s up there with my Freddy Got Fingered oral history in terms of things I’m most proud of having written) but I always intended to post the whole conversation. Feel like I owed it to posterity. Funny that Dana White and the UFC are now gung ho on Dwayne Johnson playing Mark Kerr--as Hyams recalls it, Zuffa used to try to scrub every mention of the documentary back when the UFC was still fighting for legitimacy (perhaps understandably so). The original came from a different time, when MMA fighters were far more concerned with convincing the public that they were legitimate athletes and not scary monsters (let alone trying to do rightwing demagoguery or whatever). That’s what makes it such an incredible time capsule, and Hyams was more than game to let yours truly Remember Some MMA Guys, specifically from the PRIDE days. Not always successfully, mind you, but that’s why editing exists. Hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did, and don’t forget to check out some of John’s other great movies like Universal Soldier: Regeneration and Sick while you’re at it. Thanks for reading The #Content Report, By Vince Mancini! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vincemancini.substack.com/subscribe [https://vincemancini.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Smearing Pedro: Kat Tenbarge on the Pedro Pascal Smear Campaign

(This is a crosspost from the Frotcast [http://www.patreon.com/frotcast], since it seems relevant to both interest groups) Did you know Pedro Pascal gropes women to deal with his anxiety? If you were online at all in the past week or two, you might have noticed this narrative going around, or people making memes about it, or sharing supposedly damning video evidence of such a thing. Maybe involving Vanessa Kirby, or possibly Willem Dafoe's wife. And yet, when did Pedro Pascal ever actually say anything about anxiety? Who was making the accusations? The narrative didn't quite pass the smell test from the start, and as it turns out, that's probably because it seems to have been some kind of strange astroturfing campaign. The #Content Report, By Vince Mancini is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Kat Tenbarge wrote all about it in Spitfire News [https://spitfirenews.com/p/pedro-pascal-smear-campaign-anxiety-allegations-alex-peter-loloverruled] this week, and in this bonus podcast, I interview her all about the Pedro Pascal campaign, where it started, why it's happening, and what it tells us about bots, the slop internet, and why it's easier to manipulate celebrity news for bespoke political ends. In Pascal's case, it all seems to trace back to his trans sister and some rabid JK Rowling fans (though possibly also Bella Ramsey and The Last of Us). Of course, the Pedro Pascal smear campaign is only the latest in a line of these odd, fake-grass-roots social media influence campaigns which seem to have no higher goal than to make you think that, say, Blake Lively is kind of a b***h or whatever. It's only when you dig a little deeper that you discover what seems to be the true motivation, like a messy legal battle between Lively and her former director. Something I actually got drawn into myself [https://vincemancini.substack.com/p/blake-lively-smear-campaign-boosted-my-post] when a post of mine appeared to get artificially boosted, possibly as part of a larger influence campaign. Are these mini-viral moments just a way for reputation management firms to justify their paychecks, or is there actually legitimate damage being done? And did this particular kind of shady reputation management begin with the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial, or does it go back even further? Even before Depp/Heard, why did writing about particular celebrities (Hugh Jackman, Tom Cruise, Kamala Harris) always seem to summon a flood of uncanny-seeming replies? All this is Kat Tenbarge's particular beat, and she hangs around for a wide-ranging discussion of celebrity culture and niche smear campaigns. Thanks for reading The #Content Report, By Vince Mancini! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vincemancini.substack.com/subscribe [https://vincemancini.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

A Brief Chat with This Season's Top Chef Finalists

This past week I was offered the opportunity to speak with this season’s Top Chef finalists — Bailey Sullivan, Shuai Wang, and Tristen Epps. This being The #Content Report, I’m always loathe to turn down an opportunity for #content, so I said yes. I don’t generally love interviewing more than one person at a time, which makes it harder to have a natural conversation, but I figured it would be nice to have some additional Top Chef material leading up to this week’s finale. The #Content Report, By Vince Mancini is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. I also had them for 10-15 minutes, which meant we weren’t going to get to delve deeply into anyone’s childhood traumas or desert island discs. With this many people it ends up being more like a company conference call that we’re trying to pretend is a natural conversation than actual natural conversation (these guys just don’t know how to constantly interrupt and talk over each other like seasoned podcasters [https://www.patreon.com/frotcast]). Still, it was one of the last chances we’ll get to hear from these competitors, and a good opportunity for them to confront the guy (me) who’s been making fun of them for the past three months face to face. Well, face-to-screen, anyway. I managed to ask what it was like going from back-of-the-house worker to reality TV character, got Shuai to weigh in on mise-en-place-gate, aka Mise-en-Trash (when he dumped all of Henry’s mise-in-place in the trash by accident during the pickle episode [https://vincemancini.substack.com/p/top-chef-power-rankings-week-6-s22]), and asked the chefs who they thought their biggest competitor was going to be when they first showed up to the competition. Oh, and of course, I got to find out what “The Massimo Experience” was like first-hand. It ain’t Frost/Nixon, but hopefully you enjoy a few more minutes of Top Cheffery before this season fades into history. I meant to sign off the competition “Justice for Big Cabbage [https://vincemancini.substack.com/p/top-chef-power-rankings-week-4-s22],” but I got flustered and forgot. Official Bios: Shuai Wang Hometown: Queens, NY Current city of residence: North Charleston, SC Occupation/profession: Chef/Owner at Jackrabbit Filly & King BBQ Born in Beijing, China, Shuai Wang was raised in Queens, N.Y., from the age of 9. Even though he was surrounded by the delicious meals his grandmother and mom prepared, his excitement for getting into the craft came only after he took a culinary class in high school and read Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential.” Shuai attended the Art Institute of New York, where he dove into his future profession head on, taking a hefty course load while still finding the time to volunteer at the James Beard House whenever his schedule allowed. Following his tenure in New York, he and his wife moved to North Charleston, S.C., where his notoriety in the industry continued to rise. Shuai was a winner of the 2016 Eater Young Guns and Best New Chef awards and his food truck Short Grain was named one of the America’s Top 50 Best New Restaurants by Bon Appetit. In 2017 he was nominated for a James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef. Shuai is the owner and chef of Jackrabbit Filly, a heritage driven New Chinese American Restaurant in Park Circle, North Charleston, and King BBQ, a Chinese BBQ restaurant with southern smoke, which won Top 10 best new BBQ restaurant of 2024 by Southern Living Magazine and 2024 Top 20 Best New Restaurants by Bon Appetit. Shuai and his wife, Corrie, won StarChef Charleston Restauranteur of the Year 2024 and most recently, Shuai was named as a 2025 South Carolina Chef Ambassador. Tristen Epps-Long Hometown: Virginia Beach, VA Current city of residence: Houston, TX Occupation/profession: Chef/Owner at Epps & Flows Culinary Tristen Epps-Long is a Caribbean-American chef who focuses on neo Afro-Caribbean cuisine in a fine-dining format. Raised in a single parent military family, Tristen discovered his love for cooking at an early age. After graduating from Johnson & Wales’, he honed his craft in Michelin-star restaurants, eventually earning his own Michelin recognition as the executive chef at Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster in Miami and receiving Star Chef’s Rising Star Chef award. Tristen also served as executive chef of Cooks & Captains in Brooklyn, NY and Ocean Social by Tristen Epps for the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami where he earned a James Beard Nomination for Best Chef of the South. Dedicated to bringing recognition to Black foodways and elevating them within fine culture, Tristen aspires to be a trailblazer and role model for the next generation of chefs. His diverse travels—from Guam, to Stockholm, to West Virginia to New York—have shaped his worldview and profoundly influenced his culinary approach. After relocating back to Houston with the goal of opening his own restaurant, Tristen founded Epps & Flows Culinary, a platform for collaborative dinners showcasing his neo Afro-Caribbean cuisine. He is currently laying the groundwork for two exciting concepts Buboy, a woodfired Afro-Caribbean tasting menu, as well as a casual hot dog bar that reimagines the beloved staple with bold flavors and unique toppings. Bailey Sullivan Hometown: Chicago, IL Current city of residence: Chicago, IL Occupation/profession: Chef Di Cucina, Monteverde Chicago native Bailey Sullivan was born into the hospitality industry. Growing up in her dad’s pub Goldyburgers, she always knew she wanted to pursue a career as a chef. While attending culinary school at Kendall College, Bailey interned and worked at a two Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago, before working under Chef Matthias Merges at Yusho Logan Square, where she developed an appreciation and passion for Asian ingredients and ramen. After graduation her path continued at “Top Chef” alum Beverly Kim’s Michelin-starred restaurant Parachute before joining Monteverde Restaurant and Pastificio to learn the art of hand-made pasta and regional Italian cuisine under James Beard Award-winning chef and “Top Chef” finalist Sarah Grueneberg. Known for embracing seasonal produce and global flavors with an Italian hand, Bailey has earned a reputation for embracing the “atipica” side of Italian cuisine—blending tradition with bold whimsical twists. When she’s not in the kitchen, Bailey enjoys singing karaoke or spending time with her two cats, Giuseppe and Arthas. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vincemancini.substack.com/subscribe [https://vincemancini.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]