Online comments sections have become synonymous with cruelty, hatred, bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, and the jerks who spew that kind of thing out. Most of us roll our eyes at that or, if at all possible, avoid even looking at that dispiriting part of the internet altogether. But Dylan Marron is not most of us. When his viral comedy videos led to strongly vitriolic comments aimed directly at Dylan, he started collecting those comments in what he called his Hate Folder. He wondered who these people were who were making them and what they were like in real life. This interest led to the podcast and book, Conversations With People Who Hate Me.

Dylan was able to trace the haters, often through publicly available Facebook accounts, and get many of them to agree to talk on the record. In conversation, his subjects were often revealed to be, if not always apologetic, at least complicated people.

In this episode, Dylan talks about what the comments and conversations have meant to his mental health and his view of the world.

Get your copy of Dylan's book, Conversations With People Who Hate Me wherever books are sold. Listen to Conversations With People Who Hate Me wherever pods are casted. Follow Dylan Marron on Twitter @dylanmarron, Instagram @dylanmarron, and on his Youtube channel.

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Help is available right away.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK

Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.

International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines

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John's acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is available here. https://read.macmillan.com/lp/the-hilarious-world-of-depression/

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John is on Twitter @johnmoe.