Americans love not believing anything the government tells us, and it seems likely we’ll just keep coming up with stories to explain what is probably really boring in real life. The latest of these is the mysterious drones that descended upon New Jersey and then vanished without a trace. Dylan Thuras joins us to shed light on Americans’ love of conspiracy theories, which naturally begins with Area 51.

Our guest Dylan Thuras is the co-founder of Atlas Obscura. Follow his work at https://www.atlasobscura.com/users/dylan, and you can hear more of his stories on the Atlas Obscura Podcast wherever you listen to ‘em.

Catch the extended conversation and plenty of other great bonus content, plus ad-free episodes, by joining our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PanicWorld.

Want to sponsor Panic World? Ad sales & marketing support by Multitude, hit them up here: ⁠http://multitude.productions⁠.

Credits

- Host: Ryan Broderick

- Producer: Grant Irving

- Researcher: Adam Bumas

- Business Manager: Josh Fjelstad

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Momo and the Blue Whale Challenge are two trends that targeted young social media users, supposedly challenging them to an escalating series of dares. Were these viral “challenges” actually causing kids to kill themselves, or was it all a hoax? Alex Goldman joins us to trace the origins of these “suicide games,” as well as the fallout that resulted from them.

Our guest Alex Goldman is the host of a great new podcast called Hyperfixed. Find that anywhere you listen to podcasts, and you can find him @agoldmund on Twitter/X, or just Google the guy!

Catch the extended conversation and plenty of other great bonus content, plus ad-free episodes, by joining our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PanicWorld. Use code "PANIC" at checkout to get your first month for just $0.50!

Want to sponsor Panic World? Ad sales & marketing support by Multitude, hit them up here: ⁠http://multitude.productions⁠.

Credits

- Host: Ryan Broderick

- Producer: Grant Irving

- Researcher: Adam Bumas

- Business Manager: Josh Fjelstad

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America is in a “will they or won’t they” situation with TikTok, but it’s not cute. As of last week, the app was finally set to get banned, but over the weekend Trump stayed its execution. Because we don’t really know if/when the app will get deleted, instead, let’s look back at how we got to this dark and dumb moment in the first place. Rachel Gilmore joins us to talk about where it all began: like so many other things, with Gen Z and Osama bin Laden.

Our guest Rachel Gilmore is a journalist. You can read/watch her reporting and commentary on her newsletter Bubble Pop (https://rachelgilmore.substack.com), and follow her everywhere else at https://linktr.ee/rachel_gilmore.

Catch the extended conversation and plenty of other great bonus content, plus ad-free episodes, by joining our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PanicWorld.

Want to sponsor Panic World? Ad sales & marketing support by Multitude, hit them up here: ⁠http://multitude.productions⁠.

Credits

- Host: Ryan Broderick

- Producer: Grant Irving

- Researcher: Adam Bumas

- Business Manager: Josh Fjelstad

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Producer Grant joins Ryan to talk about how Mark Zuckerberg went from looking and acting like “Every Guy Walking Down the Street in Boston in the Mid-2000s” to his current era, “I Work in the Financial District and I’m Dating A Girl from Bushwick,” and said man’s recent announcement that Meta would no longer be employing fact checkers, instead relying on community notes to flag offensive content.

Catch the full episode and plenty of other great bonus content, plus ad-free episodes, by joining our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PanicWorld.

Want to sponsor Panic World? Ad sales & marketing support by Multitude, hit them up here: ⁠http://multitude.productions⁠.

Credits

- Host: Ryan Broderick

- Producer: Grant Irving

- Researcher: Adam Bumas

- Business Manager: Josh Fjelstad

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 7, 2021, did you think the storming of the capitol would be politically successful? Charlie Warzel joins us on the eve of Donald Trump retaking the White House to weigh that question as he and Ryan trace the origins of the insurrection and its ultimate impact on US politics.

Our guest Charlie Warzel is a writer for The Atlantic and for his Substack, Galaxy Brain (https://warzel.substack.com/). You can follow him there or @cwarzel on X and Instagram, or @cwarzel.bsky.social.

Catch the extended conversation and plenty of other great bonus content, plus ad-free episodes, by joining our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PanicWorld.

Want to sponsor Panic World? Ad sales & marketing support by Multitude, hit them up here: ⁠http://multitude.productions⁠.

Credits

- Host: Ryan Broderick

- Producer: Grant Irving

- Researcher: Adam Bumas

- Business Manager: Josh Fjelstad

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan and Grant talk about the fallout from Luigi Mangione's alleged assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and whether or not it will have ripple effects in this political climate.

Want to hear the full episode? Sign up for a membership at: https://www.patreon.com/PanicWorld

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It’s the end of the year episode, so we’re talking about some of the best — and worst — things on the internet for 2024. Joining us are friends of the pod Katie Notopoulos and Luke Bailey, plus our producer Grant Irving and the big on-air debut of our researcher, Adam Bumas. Happy holidays, panickers! Make sure to touch grass this holiday season.

Follow our guests! (And researcher!)

Luke Bailey @lukebailey.bsky.social

Katie Notopoulos @katienotopoulos / @katienotopoulos.bsky.social

Adam Bumas bumas.bsky.social

Want even more Panic World content? Like ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and access to the Garbage Day Discord? Sign up for a membership at: https://www.patreon.com/PanicWorld.

Want to sponsor Panic World? Ad sales & marketing support by Multitude, hit them up here: ⁠http://multitude.productions⁠.

Credits

- Host: Ryan Broderick

- Producer: Grant Irving

- Researcher: Adam Bumas

- Business Manager: Josh Fjelstad

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite society’s progress on gender norms, there is a historic divide on the "boy-girl internet," which recently has started to reemerge — the charge being led by Gen Z influencers. This week, writers Rebecca Jennings and Luke Winkie join us to answer the question: Are the kids all right?

Our guests are Rebecca Jennings, a senior correspondent at Vox who also runs the Rebeccacore newsletter, and Luke Winkie, a staff writer for Slate who also runs the On Posting newsletter. You can follow their engaging posts (and engagement) at @rebexxxxa and @luke_winkie.

Want even more Panic World content? Like ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and access to the Garbage Day Discord? Sign up for a membership at: https://www.patreon.com/PanicWorld.

Want to sponsor Panic World? Ad sales & marketing support by Multitude, hit them up here: ⁠http://multitude.productions⁠.

Credits

- Host: Ryan Broderick

- Producer: Grant Irving

- Researcher: Adam Bumas

- Business Manager: Josh Fjelstad

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He’s conquered YouTube, but can he conquer traditional media? And also burgers and snack bars, for some reason. Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson of Endless Thread join the show to help us figure out how we should feel about Mr. Beast, and how much is simply too much to know about the influencers we love (and love to hate).

Our guests Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson are the hosts of Endless Thread — the professional version of this podcast — where they dig into untold histories, unsolved mysteries, and other wild stories from online.

Want even more Panic World content? Like ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and access to the Garbage Day Discord? Sign up for a membership at: https://www.patreon.com/PanicWorld.

Want to sponsor Panic World? Ad sales & marketing support by Multitude, hit them up here: ⁠http://multitude.productions⁠.

Credits

- Host: Ryan Broderick

- Producer: Grant Irving

- Researcher: Adam Bumas

- Business Manager: Josh Fjelstad

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan and our producer Grant talk about the recent brush with politics sweeping across an unexpected community—or is it?—PerfumeTok.

Full episode can be found at: https://www.patreon.com/PanicWorld

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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices