At Oxford University, fellow students remember Tom Ralis as a quiet, nerdy biology student who played percussion in the college orchestra. But even then, he had one ambition - to become a guru. He reinvented himself as Tom Torero, a pick-up artist who approached women in the street for dates - a practice known as “daygame”. His transformation led to tragedy.The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.Written and presented by Helen LewisSeries Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird 
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton SmithA Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

At Oxford University, fellow students remember Tom Ralis as a quiet, nerdy biology student who played percussion in the college orchestra. But even then, he had one ambition - to become a guru. He reinvented himself as Tom Torero, a pick-up artist who approached women in the street for dates - a practice known as “daygame”. His transformation led to tragedy. The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world. Written and presented by Helen Lewis Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley Story consultant: Geoff Bird Original music composed by Paper Tiger Sound design and mix: Rob Speight Editor: Craig Templeton Smith A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

At Oxford University, fellow students remember Tom Ralis as a quiet, nerdy biology student who played percussion in the college orchestra. But even then, he had one ambition - to become a guru. He reinvented himself as Tom Torero, a pick-up artist who approached women in the street for dates - a practice known as “daygame”. His transformation led to tragedy.The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.Written and presented by Helen LewisSeries Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird 
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton SmithA Tempo &amp; Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

New Gurus: 6. Daygamers and Daydreamers

Helen Lewis Has Left the Chat. The rise of instant messaging has made our social and professional lives faster, more casual — and more chaotic. But amid all the discussion of the effects of public social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, there has been relatively little attention paid to private social networks—the direct message and the group chat — and how they are shaping our relationships and our world. In this series, Helen Lewis looks at the secret world of instant messaging, meeting a woman who married a chatbot, discovering how Russian dissidents are fighting a propaganda war, and hearing the inside story of how Britain ended up governed from a single WhatsApp group. It's a strange new world where workplace rebellions are conducted through duelling emojis and military secrets are traded on chat forums about a children's cartoon. It's also a world where you can never be quite sure who you're talking to—and who's eavesdropping on you.

Society & Culture

Technology

Helen Lewis Has Left the Chat. The rise of instant messaging has made our social and professional lives faster, more casual — and more chaotic. But amid all the discussion of the effects of public social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, there has been relatively little attention paid to private social networks—the direct message and the group chat — and how they are shaping our relationships and our world. In this series, Helen Lewis looks at the secret world of instant messaging, meeting a woman who married a chatbot, discovering how Russian dissidents are fighting a propaganda war, and hearing the inside story of how Britain ended up governed from a single WhatsApp group. It's a strange new world where workplace rebellions are conducted through duelling emojis and military secrets are traded on chat forums about a children's cartoon. It's also a world where you can never be quite sure who you're talking to—and who's eavesdropping on you.

Share New Gurus: 6. Daygamers and Daydreamers

Sign up to save your podcasts

New Gurus: 6. Daygamers and Daydreamers

New Gurus: 6. Daygamers and Daydreamers

More shows like Influenced

File on 4 Investigates

More or Less: Behind the Stats

The Media Show

The Audio Long Read

Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast

THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST

Today in Focus

Sliced Bread

The Slow Newscast

The Story

Blocked and Reported

The Rest Is Politics

The News Agents

When It Hits the Fan

The Rest Is Entertainment