Dating apps aren’t broken; they’re working exactly as designed. And for Black women, that’s a problem.

In this season premiere of IRL: Online Life is Real Life, host Bridget dives into how dating apps reinforce harmful beauty standards rooted in whiteness, automating what researcher Dr. Apryl Williams calls “sexual racism” into the user experience.

This is the first episode in a four-part series from Mozilla and PRX exploring how tech shapes our most personal decisions. Subscribe now to catch every episode: irlpodcast.org

Dating apps aren&rsquo;t broken; they&rsquo;re working exactly as designed. And for Black women, that&rsquo;s a problem.
In this season premiere of&nbsp;IRL: Online Life is Real Life, host Bridget dives into how dating apps reinforce harmful beauty standards rooted in whiteness, automating what researcher Dr. Apryl Williams calls &ldquo;sexual racism&rdquo; into the user experience.
This is the first episode in a four-part series from Mozilla and PRX exploring how tech shapes our most personal decisions. Subscribe now to catch every episode:&nbsp;<a href="https://irlpodcast.org/">irlpodcast.org</a>

Marginalized voices have always been at the forefront of the internet, yet our stories often go overlooked. Bridget Todd chronicles our experiences online, and the ways marginalized voices have shaped the internet from the very beginning. We need monuments to all of the identities that make being online what it is. So let’s build them.

There Are No Girls on the Internet

How Dating Apps Are Failing Black Women | IRL: Online Life is Real Life

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/9524f0f5-bd93-4a67-a112-b3020030d067/transcript

You've probably heard about author Mia Ballard. Her debut novel "Shy Girl" has been at the center of a controversy about whether she used AI to help write it. After a New York Times article, her publisher dropped her book. She's since deleted most of her social accounts and gone dark. 

This story is much bigger than whether one writer did or didn't use AI. It's about the question of who gets to set the standard in AI and creative work? And more importantly who gets protected, and who gets sacrificed to it?

Subscribe to Drey's excellent substack for sharp reporting and open source investigative journalism into tech and power: https://thedreydossier.substack.com 

Read / Watch Drey’s reporting on Shy Girl: https://thedreydossier.substack.com/p/the-shy-girl-ai-scandal-is-way-worse

Follow Drey on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok: @thedreydossier

Read more about the limitations of AI-detection software, and why many of the country's most respected universities have banned it. https://timrequarth.substack.com/p/why-you-shouldnt-trust-ai-detector 

Read Thad’s blog post called Shy Girl: The Background to the New York Times Story: https://thefutureofpublishing.com/2026/03/shy-girl-the-background-to-the-new-york-times-story/

Bridget’s SMNTY ep about ShyGirl: What the Shy Girl Conversation Says About AI and Art: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-mom-never-told-you-21123631/episode/what-the-shy-girl-conversation-says-about-ai-and-art-328745937

 

Let us know what you think by emailing hello@tangoti.com or leaving a comment on Spotify. 

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You've probably heard about author Mia Ballard. Her debut novel "Shy Girl" has been at the center of a controversy about whether she used AI to help write it. After a New York Times article, her publisher dropped her book. She's since deleted most of her social accounts and gone dark.&nbsp;
This story is much bigger than whether one writer did or didn't use AI. It's about the question of who gets to set the standard in AI and creative work? And more importantly who gets protected, and who gets sacrificed to it?
Subscribe to Drey's excellent substack for sharp reporting and open source investigative journalism into tech and power:&nbsp;<a href="https://thedreydossier.substack.com">https://thedreydossier.substack.com</a>&nbsp;
Read / Watch Drey&rsquo;s reporting on Shy Girl: <a href="https://thedreydossier.substack.com/p/the-shy-girl-ai-scandal-is-way-worse">https://thedreydossier.substack.com/p/the-shy-girl-ai-scandal-is-way-worse</a>
Follow Drey on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok: @thedreydossier
Read more about the limitations of AI-detection software, and why many of the country's most respected universities have banned it.&nbsp;<a href="https://timrequarth.substack.com/p/why-you-shouldnt-trust-ai-detector">https://timrequarth.substack.com/p/why-you-shouldnt-trust-ai-detector</a>&nbsp;
Read Thad&rsquo;s blog post called Shy Girl: The Background to the New York Times Story: https://thefutureofpublishing.com/2026/03/shy-girl-the-background-to-the-new-york-times-story/
Bridget&rsquo;s SMNTY ep about ShyGirl: What the Shy Girl Conversation Says About AI and Art:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-mom-never-told-you-21123631/episode/what-the-shy-girl-conversation-says-about-ai-and-art-328745937">https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-mom-never-told-you-21123631/episode/what-the-shy-girl-conversation-says-about-ai-and-art-328745937</a>
&nbsp;
Let us know what you think by emailing&nbsp;<a href="mailto:hello@tangoti.com">hello@tangoti.com</a> or leaving a comment on Spotify.&nbsp;
Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!&nbsp; ||&nbsp; instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||&nbsp; youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social
&nbsp;
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mia Ballard's novel Shy Girl was cancelled for using AI. You only know half the story

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/09ddbeb0-d7ef-4cd2-b25e-b426000ffe5e/transcript

Publishing is having a trust crisis. With AI accusations swirling around authors like Mia Ballard, whose novel Shy Girl was dropped by her publisher despite her denying any AI use, questions about authenticity in publishing have never felt more urgent. But this kind of chaos isn't new. We saw it coming.

We're revisiting one of our wildest deep dives: the Cait Corrain Goodreads scandal. Corrain had a highly anticipated debut novel, Crown of Starlight, coming out in 2024 — until she admitted to using fake Goodreads accounts to review bomb other writers' forthcoming books. Most of her targets were Black or queer authors. Corrain is white.

The story has a lot of twists and turns, including a fabricated conversation with a completely made-up person that Corrain invented to take the fall.

Canadian author Xiran Jay Zhao was the first to bring it to wider attention, noticing that Crown of Starlight was getting glowing reviews from the same accounts trashing other books — some of which weren't even out yet. Zhao also compiled a 31-page Google document of screenshots and receipts: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1__mO1uqIqcmupBAPKwXDzlUbZIwtY6fKf0S1Y0SNz0E/edit?tab=t.0

Let us know what you think by emailing hello@tangoti.com or leaving a comment on Spotify.

Pre-order our forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com !

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Publishing is having a trust crisis. With AI accusations swirling around authors like Mia Ballard, whose novel Shy Girl was dropped by her publisher despite her denying any AI use, questions about authenticity in publishing have never felt more urgent. But this kind of chaos isn't new. We saw it coming.
We're revisiting one of our wildest deep dives: the Cait Corrain Goodreads scandal. Corrain had a highly anticipated debut novel, Crown of Starlight, coming out in 2024 &mdash; until she admitted to using fake Goodreads accounts to review bomb other writers' forthcoming books. Most of her targets were Black or queer authors. Corrain is white.
The story has a lot of twists and turns, including a fabricated conversation with a completely made-up person that Corrain invented to take the fall.
Canadian author Xiran Jay Zhao was the first to bring it to wider attention, noticing that Crown of Starlight was getting glowing reviews from the same accounts trashing other books &mdash; some of which weren't even out yet. Zhao also compiled a 31-page Google document of screenshots and receipts: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1__mO1uqIqcmupBAPKwXDzlUbZIwtY6fKf0S1Y0SNz0E/edit?tab=t.0">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1__mO1uqIqcmupBAPKwXDzlUbZIwtY6fKf0S1Y0SNz0E/edit?tab=t.0</a>
Let us know what you think by emailing <a href="mailto:hello@tangoti.com">hello@tangoti.com</a> or leaving a comment on Spotify.
Pre-order our forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships at <a href="http://loveatfirstprompt.com">LoveAtFirstPrompt.com</a> !
Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!&nbsp; ||&nbsp; instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||&nbsp; youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Goodreads Scandal That Predicted Publishing's AI Crisis 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/b9dba8c2-919d-47e4-b9c3-b4220134f77b/transcript

Investigative journalist Karen Hao was covering OpenAI years before most of us had ever heard the words "ChatGPT" or "large language model." Her best-selling book, "Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI," paints a gripping and damning portrait of the company's evolution from a sort of nonprofit to an empire-seeking tech juggernaut, drawing on her deep familiarity with the company as well as candid accounts from insiders. 

 

She is one of the most influential and respected tech journalists covering the AI industry today. 

 

In this interview, she shares the story of how she came to journalism, what she's learned from a decade of covering OpenAI and Sam Altman, and what she sees as the biggest threats of AI to intimacy, the environment, privacy, healthcare, and democracy. 

 

Karen has a new podcast published by the BBC called "The Interface," and it is brilliant. Make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or by following this link: https://link.mgln.ai/theinterface-TANGOTI  

 

Conversation with Karen is featured prominently in Bridget's forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships, "Love At First Prompt." Pre-order your copy today at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com ! 

Let us know what you think about this interview by emailing hello@tangoti.com or leaving a comment on Spotify. 

 

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Investigative journalist Karen Hao was covering OpenAI years before most of us had ever heard the words "ChatGPT" or "large language model." Her best-selling book, "Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI," paints a gripping and damning portrait of the company's evolution from a sort of nonprofit to an empire-seeking tech juggernaut, drawing on her deep familiarity with the company as well as candid accounts from insiders.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
She is one of the most influential and respected tech journalists covering the AI industry today.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
In this interview, she shares the story of how she came to journalism, what she's learned from a decade of covering OpenAI and Sam Altman, and what she sees as the biggest threats of AI to intimacy, the environment, privacy, healthcare, and democracy.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Karen has a new podcast published by the BBC called "The Interface," and it is brilliant. Make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or by following this link:&nbsp;<a href="https://link.mgln.ai/theinterface-TANGOTI">https://link.mgln.ai/theinterface-TANGOTI</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Conversation with Karen is featured prominently in Bridget's forthcoming audiobook about AI and intimate relationships, "Love At First Prompt." Pre-order your copy today at <a href="http://loveatfirstprompt.com">LoveAtFirstPrompt.com</a> !&nbsp;
Let us know what you think about this interview by emailing <a href="mailto:hello@tangoti.com">hello@tangoti.com</a> or leaving a comment on Spotify.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!&nbsp; ||&nbsp; instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||&nbsp; youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social
&nbsp;
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sam Altman Isn’t Building a Company, He’s Building an Empire (with Karen Hao) 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/92ed50f5-85c6-411e-a211-b41e01553c0c/transcript

How Dating Apps Are Failing Black Women | IRL: Online Life is Real Life

In 1 playlist(s)

There Are No Girls on the Internet

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips