Wow If True

125: The Moflin

Amanda went viral on Tiktok for having an AI pet. Really, this is the apex of our journey on this podcast. The Moflin is an AI-enabled pet that retails for $430 dollars, and Amanda has just spent a month living with it in her home. Also, we talk about Grimes' new music video. (Behind the scenes supplementary moflin content on Patreon!) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

124: Enshittification (ft. This Guy Sucked)

We're teaming up with Dr. Claire Aubin of our sibling show, This Guy Sucked, to talk about something that is not a guy, but does suck: the internet! It's easy to say that the internet sucks, but what makes it suck, how did it get this way, and how can we fix it? Using Cory Doctrow's new book "Enshittification" as a guide, we talk it out. Find Us Online  Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wowiftrue.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/wowiftrue.bsky.social] Twitter: https://twitter.com/wowiftruepod [https://twitter.com/wowiftruepod] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wowiftrue [https://www.instagram.com/wowiftrue] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wowiftrue [https://www.patreon.com/wowiftrue] Website: https://wowiftrue.com/ [https://wowiftrue.com/] Email: wowiftruepod@gmail.com About Us  Wow If True was created by Isabel J. Kim [http://isabel.kim/] and Amanda Silberling [http://amandasilberling.com/]. Our editors are Allison Mills and David Newtown. Wow If True is a member of Multitude [https://multitude.productions/], a podcast collective, production studio and ad sales provider. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

123: We're just talking about video games

The news cycle of 2025 has somehow once again broken us so severely that we have simply just opted out and decided to talk about Silksong, a game that people waited so long for that they created a whole new genre of shitposting. Also, Undertale and Pokopia, the forthcoming game that makes us confront everything we've ever known about Ditto. If you were hoping that we were going to talk about The News, check out the new episode of Close All Tabs [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/groypers-doxxing-and-charlie-kirks-death-as-a-s-post/id214663465?i=1000727181075]! This is #notsponsored! But we are #sponsored by Isabel's book [https://bookshop.org/p/books/sublimation-isabel-j-kim/75bdbf4afed5475f?ean=9781250376794&next=t] which you can pre-order now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

122: Age Verification on the Internet

Did you have to verify your government ID to listen to this podcast? We hope not, but in some parts of the world, this is becoming a reality. We're talking about why age verification laws are becoming more popular in the U.S. and U.K., and how the pursuit of children's online safety -- when legislated irresponsibly -- can just create new problems of surveillance and censorship. Also, Isabel went to the Hugos. She lost. She gave George R.R. Martin his own high school yearbook to sign. It was weird. We talk about that here, too. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

121: The Asian Fetish ft. Kaila Yu

We're chatting with Kaila Yu, author of "Fetishized," about her experience growing up online in the 90s and 00s and reckoning with her relationship to Asian fetishization. Yu started as an "import model" and pin-up girl who appeared in "Playboy" and the "Fast and Furious" franchise, then became a MySpace star and lead of the all Asian-American punk band Nylon Pink, and now, she's a writer and content creator studying the portrayal of Asian women in the media. Links "Fetishized" by Kaila Yu [https://bookshop.org/p/books/fetishized-a-reckoning-with-yellow-fever-feminism-and-beauty-kaila-yu/22044722] Kaila's Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kailayu/] & TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@kaila.yu?lang=en] Find Us Online  Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wowiftrue.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/wowiftrue.bsky.social] Twitter: https://twitter.com/wowiftruepod [https://twitter.com/wowiftruepod] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wowiftrue [https://www.instagram.com/wowiftrue] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wowiftrue [https://www.patreon.com/wowiftrue] Website: https://wowiftrue.com/ [https://wowiftrue.com/] Email: wowiftruepod@gmail.com About Us  Wow If True was created by Isabel J. Kim [http://isabel.kim/] and Amanda Silberling [http://amandasilberling.com/]. Our editors are Allison Mills and David Newtown. Wow If True is a member of Multitude [https://multitude.productions/], a podcast collective, production studio and ad sales provider. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].