As someone whose companies receive billions of dollars from the government, it’s worth asking why Elon Musk is so zealous about cutting government spending. 

Guest: Max Chafkin, features editor and tech reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek and cohost of the Elon, Inc podcast.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay talk about the social media battle between Wishbone Kitchen’s Meredith Hayden and Bon Appétit. Hayden’s popularity exploded as a private chef in the Hamptons, where she’d post idyllic “day in my life” TikToks. Now, Hayden is accusing food magazine Bon Appétit of possibly stealing her “Dinner with Friends” concept, which is a video series she started back in January 2024. From copying her series title to emulating her color scheme, TikTok, Instagram, and even Reddit are standing up for Hayden and telling Bon Appétit to do better. But has the magazine ever recovered from their 2020 racial reckoning and mass exodus? Or has the rise of TikTok allowed a whole new cast of influencers to surpass the once-revered food media institution?

This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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The infinite scroll has no purpose other than keeping your attention. But that doesn’t mean it’s value-neutral.

Guest: Chris Hayes, MSNBC news anchor and author of “The Siren's Call: How Attention Became The World's Most Endangered Resource.”

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Is Elon Musk’s $97.4 billion offer to buy OpenAI genuine—or an irresistible opportunity to troll Sam Altman?

Guest: David A. Fahrenthold, investigative reporter for the New York Times

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Kate Lindsay and Candice Lim dive into two internet stories they can’t stop thinking about. First, they explain how Montoya from Temptation Island became 2025’s crash-out king and created one of the first great international memes of the year. Then, they recap the journey of Onijah Andrew Robinson, an American who spent months in Pakistan after a catfish-gone-wrong, and used local media to become TikTok’s latest obsession.

This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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Using Github, you can watch as government websites are brought into compliance with Donald Trump’s executive orders. Out goes the word “equity;” in comes “fair.” And health and science data, once publicly available, disappears.

Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media.

Jeremy Prokop, data science advisor in the Midwest

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Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are not the world’s biggest sports fans, but are now more tuned in than ever thanks to TikTok. In today’s episode, the pair talk about how everything from fancams to fashion is giving audiences new entry points to a typically masculine space. But what happens when trends start to outway tackles? When followers start coming before free throws?

This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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You can’t doubt the enthusiasm of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. You can question the legality of some of their early moves. 

Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer at WIRED. 

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Episode notes: Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by meme historian and researcher Aidan Walker, whose Substack travels into the depths of meme lore. 2025 is off to a rocky start for several reasons, but the panel wonders if memes may provide a solution for getting through the year. Memes are a coping mechanism, especially for those who like dark humor in difficult times. And some memes help us make sense of the world at its most chaotic. From Distracted Boyfriend to Math Lady to Doge, ICYMI is walking through the history, layers, and positives of meme culture in our daily lives. 

This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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In this Money Talks: Historian Quinn Slobodian’s 2023 book Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy explored the dark reality that many extremists seek a purely capitalist society free of democracy. Now, with the Silicon Valley elite playing such a large role in Trump’s second term, Quinn's work is more relevant than ever. In this episode, Quinn joins Felix Salmon to discuss the relationship between radical tech billionaires and the Trump administration, and its potential consequences for our democracy.

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Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

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