The Black List founder Franklin Leonard talks about some of his favorite people to follow online, including a generous soccer star and two activists working to make disabled people more visible.

(A full transcript of this episode is available at FollowFridayPodcast.com)

Washington Post humorist and avowed pun enthusiast Alexandra Petri writes columns with headlines like, "Are you a Brood X cicada, or just someone emerging from pandemic isolation?"; "We must get everyone in America a yacht to protect them from gun violence!"; and "I do not wish to learn anything more about my wealthy husband's near demise (which would have been sad)."

Her interests extend far beyond comedy and wordplay, however. Today on Follow Friday, she talks about being a diehard fan of newspaper comics, what she learned from visiting a UFO convention, why philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a "nightmare person," and more.

Alexandra also talks with Eric Johnson about four people she follows online: A self-proclaimed "comics curmudgeon" who has hot takes about Mark Trail and Mary Worth; an astrophysicist studying how the universe might suddenly end (whatever!); a mysterious YouTuber who reads creepy stories from Wikipedia and Reddit; and a literature phD who also celebrates trashy movies like 2019's "Cats."

Follow us:

- Alexandra is @petridishes on Twitter, @petrifying on Facebook, and @thisusernameisterrible on Instagram

- This show is @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok

- Eric is @heyheyesj on Twitter

Like the show? Please visit LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday and leave a review on any of the platforms listed there. Your review encourages new listeners to take a chance on Follow Friday.

Subscribe to the free BumbleCast email newsletter at bumblecast.fm/newsletter — big news coming soon!

Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Additional music by Purple Planet Music.

(A full transcript of this episode is available at FollowFridayPodcast.com).

For more than six years, Rose Eveleth has hosted one of the best science podcasts around, Flash Forward. In every episode, she takes listeners on a trip to the future to explore "possible (and not so possible)" scenarios, such as: What if we killed all the mosquitoes? What if every volcano on Earth erupted at the same time? What if we never fixed any of the Y2K bugs?

The podcast has also spawned an illustrated companion book, featuring comics based on Flash Forward episodes from artists such as Matt Lubchanksy, Sophie Goldstein, and Ben Passmore.

On today's show, Rose talks with Eric Johnson about four people she follows online: A fellow enthusiast about marine biology she wants to be friends with; a brilliant writer she's already friends with who sends her top-notch TikToks; an award-winning science journalist who has inspired her to keep podcasting; and a one-of-a-kind consultant who's fluent in the languages of both journalists and scientists.

Follow us:

- Rose is @roseveleth on Twitter

- This show is @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok

- Eric is @heyheyesj on Twitter

Please leave a rating or review by going to LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday

Want to advertise on this show? Visit FollowFridayPodcast.com/Advertise

Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Additional music by Purple Planet Music.

(Full transcript of this podcast available at FollowFridayPodcast.com)

When he's not writing about the media and running a PR agency, Ed Zitron is probably on Twitter, where he's curated a perfect experience for himself: He follows fascinating people who represent what he cares about, and aggressively mutes what he doesn't care for, including words like "doge," "stonk," and "Gamestop."

"It's a melting pot of crap, just like my brain," he says.

On today's show, Ed puts talks about four of his favorite accounts on Twitter: A baseball analyst who seems like a genuinely fun person to hang out with; a talented videographer who makes cool stuff look cooler; a musician/webcomic artist who might kick your ass (at the right place and right time); and a corporate account that posted the greatest tweet in the history of Twitter.

Follow us:

- Ed is @edzitron on Twitter

- This show is @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok

- Eric is @heyheyesj on Twitter

Please leave a rating or review by going to LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday

Want to advertise on this show? Visit FollowFridayPodcast.com/Advertise

Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Additional music by Purple Planet Music.

(Full transcript of this podcast available at FollowFridayPodcast.com).

On the podcast they co-host, Underunderstood, journalists Adrianne Jeffries and Regina Dellea answer the questions that you can't resolve with a simple Google search. For example: Why does everyone in Japan attribute this one quote to Snoopy from Peanuts? Are America's telephone area codes all part of a big conspiracy? And why did people all over the US receive "mystery seeds" in the mail from China last year?

But when they're not solving mysteries, Adrianne and Regina have been spending a lot of time on TikTok recently, so they went all-in for today's episode of Follow Friday: Four accounts they love on TikTok, including a comedian and her dorky husband; a polymath who also roasts McMansions; a trans musician and former Vine star; and a journalist/writer who makes feminism accessible to everyone.

Follow us:

- Adrianne is @adrjeffries on Twitter

- Regina is @woahitsregina on Twitter

- This show is @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok (new!)

- Eric is @heyheyesj on Twitter

Please leave a rating or review by going to LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday

Want to advertise on this show? Visit FollowFridayPodcast.com/Advertise

Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Additional music by Purple Planet Music.

(Full transcript of this podcast available at FollowFridayPodcast.com)

On his YouTube channel Lessons From the Screenplay, Michael Tucker and his colleagues have analyzed the stories of films like The Dark Knight, Get Out, Casino Royale, and the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

On today's episode, Michael explains why he likes having his assumptions challenged by the podcast Revisionist History and learning about visual effects from one of the best communicators in the industry, Todd Vaziri. He also talks about how the movie producer Sev Ohanian inspires him, and why he wants to be friends with another YouTube star, Tom Scott.

Follow us:

- Michael is @michaeltuckerla on Twitter

- This show is @followfridaypod on Twitter and Instagram

- Eric is @heyheyesj on Twitter

Please leave a rating or review by going to LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday

Want to advertise on this show? Visit FollowFridayPodcast.com/Advertise

Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Additional music by Purple Planet Music.

Slate senior editor Allegra Frank usually writes about things that have a big cultural footprint — movies like Godzilla vs. Kong, or TV shows like the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But one of her all-time favorite social media accounts has only 45 followers and hasn't posted in two years.

"I've read their entire Twitter feed many times," she says.

On today's episode, Frank also talks with Eric Johnson about her love of s**tposting, endearing comedy videos, Instagram art, and more.

(Note: The transcript of this episode will be posted later than usual, at approximately midday PT on April 30.)

Follow us:

- Allegra is @legsfrank on Twitter, and her podcast is @awylatt on Twitter and Twitch

- This show is @followfridaypod on Twitter and Instagram

- Eric is @heyheyesj on Twitter

Who Allegra follows:

- Ray Sipe: @raysipe on Twitter

-- Ray's Shrek video: https://kutt.it/shrek

- Grace Freud: @GraceGFreud on Twitter

- Julie Kwon: @kwon__julie on Instagram

-- Allegra's favorite drawing: https://kutt.it/drawing

- George Ice Cube: @georgeicecube1 on Twitter

Donate to Trans Lifeline: TransLifeline.org

Rate us: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday

Advertise: FollowFridayPodcast.com/Advertise

Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Additional music by Purple Planet Music.

Nick Quah has been chronicling the growth of the podcasting industry since 2014 in his email newsletter, Hot Pod, and he also offers up regular podcast recommendations in the Vulture newsletter 1.5x Speed. But he's not only listening to the big, prestigious shows you've heard of.

"One of my favorite things to do is to pick up a chat show about a subject that I know absolutely nothing about and just listen to people go at it," Nick says on today's episode of Follow Friday.

He also shares his complicated feelings about representation in Hollywood, what a YouTuber has taught him about the future of entertainment, why food and sports writing matter, and which chat podcast in particular he got hooked on recently.

Follow us:

- Nick is @nwquah on Twitter

- This show is @followfridaypod on Twitter and Instagram

- Eric is @heyheyesj on Twitter

Who Nick follows:

- Justin Chang: @JustinCChang on Twitter

- mxmtoon: youtube.com/mxmtoon

- Danny Chau: @dannychau on Twitter

- Into the Aether: intothecast.online

Rate us: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday

Advertise: FollowFridayPodcast.com/Advertise

Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Additional music by starfrosch.

On her podcast about language, The Allusionist, Helen Zaltzman has covered everything from cryptic crosswords to translations to public apologies. But don't worry: She's not judging your vocabulary when she's reading something for fun.

"When I'm not forced by work to do this kind of interpretation, I like to switch that part of my brain off," she says.

On today's episode of Follow Friday, Helen talks with Eric Johnson about poorly-spelled names, stand-up comedy, blind dates, the word "queer," horrifying kitchen gadgets, witch doctors, and more.

Follow us:

- Helen is @HelenZaltzman on Twitter and Instagram

- This show is @followfridaypod on Twitter and Instagram

- Eric is @heyheyesj on Twitter

Who Helen follows:

- Jo Neary: @wifeonearth on Instagram

- TheGuyliner: theguyliner.com

- Nancy: in your favorite podcast app

- Rhik Samadder: @whatsamadder on Twitter

Rate us: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday

Advertise: FollowFridayPodcast.com/Advertise

Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Additional music by Katherine Chang and Purple Planet Music.

On Slate's new internet culture podcast ICYMI, Rachelle Hampton and Madison Malone Kircher "gaze deep into the online abyss—and tell you what's gazing back." They've covered topics like Clubhouse, millennials vs. Gen Z on TikTok, and the controversial music video for Lil Nas X's song Montero (Call Me By Your Name).

On today's episode of Follow Friday, Rachelle and Madison talk with Eric Johnson about who they follow online, and why. Topics include: Joe Biden's dogs, the War of the Roses, The West Wing, the only person who's good at Twitter dunks, and the "Sapphic looks" of Cate Blanchett.

Follow us:

- Rachelle is @heyydnae on Twitter

- Madison is @4evrmalone on Twitter and Instagram

- This show is @followfridaypod on Twitter and Instagram

- Eric is @heyheyesj on Twitter

Who Rachelle and Madison follow:

- Brandon Taylor: blgtylr.substack.com

- Christina Tucker: @c_gracet on Twitter

- Jasmine Sanders: @JasMoneyRecords on Twitter

- The Queer Cate Blanchett Lookbook: @dykeblanchett on Instagram

Rate Follow Friday: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday

Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan. Additional music by Katherine Chang and Purple Planet Music.