Panic World
Episodes
You're one post away from becoming the internet's main character
29 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Remember Chewbacca Mom, Damn Daniel, BeanDad, or most recently, Chappell Roan? These are just some examples of people who have become the “main char...
PREVIEW BONUS: Clavicular's crash out and the death of clipping
22 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Are we watching the collapse of short-form video and on the cusp of yet another pivot to (a different kind of) video? Today we’re talking about the ...
When sex is "optimized"
15 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re talking about Aella the e-girl and “rationalist," who is probably also pretty smelly — at least if her birthday gangbang breakdown...
Why the internet's grossest influencer is more powerful than you think
08 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're joined again by journalist Kat Tenbarge to talk about one of the grossest guys on the internet. He’s also one of the most popular Twitch...
The internet sucks, and Congress might make it worse
01 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The law Section 230 is maybe the invisible force that governs everything in our lives. With a California court ruling against Meta, what are we to do?...
Cicada 3301: The internet puzzle that might’ve been a psyop
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 2012, a strange message appeared on 4chan: “We are looking for highly intelligent individuals….” What followed became one of the internet’s...
Boomer brain rot started long before Facebook
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Why did boomers “go crazy” — and was the internet actually to blame? Ryan is joined by Sam Seder to trace the long history of boomer radicaliza...
BONUS: The Oscars snubbed "The Secret Agent"
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan & Grant convene their movie club to discuss The Secret Agent, one of — or maybe the — best film(s) of 2025, and what it says about where we'r...
The people who think every celebrity is secretly trans
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re talking about the moral panic around “transvestigation,” an online “game” where people try to identify who is or isn’t trans. ...
How Epstein weaponized the internet
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Did Jeffrey Epstein destroy the internet? Ryan posits his theory, after not going totally insane (we think) reading through hundreds of Epstein files:...
Gen Z vs. Millennials
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What’s cool and what’s cringe, and which generation gets to decide? Today we’re talking about Gen Z, formerly known as “iGen,” and its relat...
How being straight became gay
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When did liking women, as a straight man, become gay? Today, we posit that the “logical” endpoint of being in the manosphere is that eventually be...
Are we all going to end up in AI relationships?
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From research to vibe coding to therapy to girlfriends and boyfriends, how are we using AI these days? Let’s do a check-in on one of those topics th...
BONUS: How Epstein broke the internet — and our lives
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan recounts everything he's learned from the Epstein files so far, and with Grant, begins connecting all the red threads. Turns out, there's basical...
lonelygirl15 and when lies could be fun
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
One of the first “internet things” that reached beyond a bunch of inevitably really cool people who hung out in chatrooms, was YouTube. Today, we’...
BONUS: Abolish ICE
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan and Grant discuss the latest in Minneapolis after ICE shot and killed Alex Pretti – the second Minnesota resident to be killed be ICE in a mat...
But, still, what about the Epstein files?
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Where are the Epstein files? Representative Ro Khanna joins us to urge listeners why we need to keep asking that question. Learn more about your ad ch...
The myth of the Antifa super soldier
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We recorded this episode prior to the killing of Renee Good, but the resulting federal crackdown on the protests in Minneapolis has made this conversa...
We were at ICE’s invasion in Minneapolis
14 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After an ICE agent killed Renee Good, Ryan & Grant flew to Minneapolis to cover the resulting protests. This special episode documents their experienc...
Why we always blame video games
07 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
There’s been a moral panic around video games basically since they first debuted. From too much sex to causing laziness and violence, just about the...
BONUS: Kitchencels solves the male loneliness crisis
31 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You may have heard Ryan and Grant mention the term “Kitchencels” a few times throughout this year. Or maybe several times. Or every other episode ...
The worst things on the internet this year
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
2026 wasn’t exactly a “good” year, but how “bad” was it? Well, that depends on what you think is good or bad. We’ve reconvened the connois...
The age of the lolcow
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we’re examining the idea that the Republican Party and its co-option of extremist online culture like 4chan and Kiwi Farms — and all of the...
Did Russiagate matter?
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Even now our beloved host Ryan doesn’t know what he thinks about Russian interference in the 2016 election. So, he is joined by Garrett Graff, a jou...
Our favorite middle school conspiracies
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re joined by No Such Thing for a crossover episode to (try to) get to the bottom of some of the most infamous conspiracies we (aka millennials) h...
Is the future of politics "influencers"?
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re talking about the relationship between “influencers” and politics. The two have perhaps never been more entwined, but what is the di...
Is cancel culture canceled?
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From Aziz Ansari to Adam22, especially since the proliferation of the internet and social media, there’s no shortage of people who have gotten cance...
How to deal with rage bait
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Politics has always been an ugly game, but with Trump’s return to the White House and the proliferation of AI, we’re a far cry from the days when ...
When the internet convinces you you're sick
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From Goop to MAHA, health/wellness movements might just look like a grift, but each features a real critique of the healthcare industry or medical sci...
Why Democrats keep losing the internet
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why is the right-wing media machine so massive and able to dominate digital media, while liberals and progressives struggle to keep up? Jon Favreau jo...
The wild world wide web of witches
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Witches, curses, magic, and the internet overlap much more than you’d think — and not just because of the Etsy witch that cursed Charlie Kirk. The...
BONUS: One or two hot takes on One Battle After Another
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
(SPOILER ALERT!) Grant hosts Ryan on his podcast to share their thoughts on One Battle After Another and what it says about the current state of the U...
The big dumb weather conspiracy
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Like many things, there used to be a bipartisan consensus that in a disaster, you help as many people get through it as quickly and safely as possible...
BONUS: How Eddington and Weapons hold a mirror up to our Panic World
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two of 2025’s biggest movie releases so far, Eddington (basically Panic World: The Movie) and Weapons, are not the same genre but they both offer in...
The no fap movement and why the boys aren't all right
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve spent any amount of time online in November, unfortunately you’ve heard of “No Fap,” a movement started over a decade ago by a subse...
Charlie Kirk was killed by a meme
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan & Grant talk about the fallout from Charlie Kirk's killing, including what we know about the suspect in custody and what this means for current p...
You might be listening to AI music
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The band The Velvet Sundown broke through the music charts with millions of streams in months after coming from nowhere — and being an entirely AI b...
BONUS: The new age of terror
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Wednesday, June 27th there was a shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school, killing two kids and injuring a dozen more people. The shooter took her...
Mobile game ads: The worst online slop
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
They’re full of slime, weird crime, and seemingly a lot of fetish stuff. Today, we’re talking about the sloppiest of slop online these days, mobil...
BONUS: The secret plan to outlaw porn in the US (is working)
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a rerun from February this year, when 17 states in the US had banned PornHub. The tally now stands at 21, and both Mike Johnson and the Suprem...
Does Mark Zuckerberg Care Anymore? (How Is This Better?)
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hi, everyone! We're out this week, but we wanted to share an episode of How Is This Better? featuring our very own, Ryan Broderick. The episode co...
Is the ghost of Epstein breaking MAGA?
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We made it nearly a year without having to cover Epstein, but with Trump and his allies consistently committing own-goals and bringing him up, the day...
Investigating a cult inspired by a cartoon mouse (w/ PJ Vogt)
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If a fandom exists long enough in isolation, does it inevitably become toxic or at least, very strange? This is the main question we’ll be exploring...
BONUS: Sydney Sweeney and rage bait
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan and Grant discuss that American Eagle ad and why everyone is arguing about Sydney Sweeney's "good jeans." Want to hear the rest of their convers...
Why eating disorder content is all over the internet
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Eating disorder content has been a problem on the internet since as early as 2001, but it accelerated with the advent of social media. Today we’re e...
The cult using Minecraft to recruit
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Often, like in the case of the Momo Challenge, when parents freak out about a thing online, it’s probably not really a thing. But, today we are talk...
Why Slenderman became a moral panic
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What is the creepiest thing you’ve ever seen on the internet? For many people, it was Slenderman. This particularly lithe fellow started off as kind...
What happened to JK Rowling?
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In April this year the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a “woman” excludes trans women. Then — apparently celebrating her yea...
The plot to ruin the new Superman movie
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When did fandom become so zealous? Today we’re looking back at the release of the “Snyder Cut” and the people who still think that Zack Snyder s...
Some big news in Panic World
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We've got a (good) announcement about the future of the show. We'll be back with your regularly scheduled panic next week. Enjoy the Fourth! L...
We are living in a casino
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
First they came for our mobile apps, then they came for our videogames, and now, it seems pretty much every aspect of our lives is being re-oriented a...
Why were cops fainting from fentanyl?
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some urban legends are just for fun, like the “Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus,” while others are not. Today we’re investigating the claim that w...
Your conspiracy families
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Grant talked to his friend whose dad had become a Holocaust denier, we got a huge response from folks who had family members with other… intere...
The man behind Trump's Salvadoran gulags
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week we’re asking an important question: Who is really inspiring the “vibe” of Trump 2.0? No, it's not Elon Musk. We’re talking about Pre...
What happened to Kanye?
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
America’s not doing so hot right now. Kanye West, on the other hand, hasn’t been well for quite some time. Akilah Hughes joins us again to discuss...
BONUS: AI therapy slop
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan wrote about using ChatGPT for therapy, and a lot of responses to that announcement involved calling him an idiot. This week, he sits down with Gr...
How long will Trump's base support him?
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last time we had Charlie Warzel on, it was to determine whether the insurrection had been a political success. Now, 100+ days into Trump 2.0, he joins...
The effects of true crime brain rot
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the past decade, true crime has gone from a niche and somewhat disparaged genre to one of entertainment’s most prolific. What is it about true cr...
That time a 4chan user got thrown in a Taliban prison
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we’re telling a story of human ingenuity. Except, in a dumb way. It’s one of the craziest things that has happened in a long time — which...
Netflix's "Adolescence" and the masculinity crisis
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On March 13, 2025, Netflix released Adolescence, and ever since, parents have been learning that Andrew Tate is bad. What are we to do? Ryan talks to ...
Has China already won the internet?
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re talking about a panic that’s been simmering for a while but has, in the past couple of years, become a full-blown panic. And that’s ...
My friend's dad is a Holocaust denier now
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we’re doing something a little different. Grant asks Ryan to step back from being host, and instead to step in as a social worker for people ...
Here's who killed the #MeToo movement (with Kat Tenbarge)
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are we in the post-MeToo era? In this episode, we’re reconciling with not only how society at large has adapted to its rise and fall, but also how H...
Who turned Gen Z fascist? (With Felix Biederman)
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every four years America suffers through a national election, with its own distinct collection of far-right freaks. Yet against the trend, in 2024 man...
Who orders hitmen online? (With Carl Miller)
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Right now, you might be thinking someone, somewhere, is on the internet doing something for money that’s really awful. That’s probably true, and h...
You’re panicking wrong about AI (with Casey Newton)
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the bad side, we have copyright infringement, exploitation, and misinformation; on the good side, we have its uses for brainstorming, editing work,...
Here's why everyone's fighting about delivery apps (with Allegra Rosenberg)
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Perhaps you’ve seen someone pop off online about a delivery order going wrong, or it being too expensive. Maybe you’ve been one of those people. S...
BONUS: One month of DOGE shit
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan and Grant discuss what we've seen one month into the second Trump Administration, and what it means. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...
Is dating worse than ever? (With Magdalene Taylor)
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to modern relationships, most reporting has three main points: Gen Z is sexless and puritan, Millennials are scared about their inevitab...
The secret plan to outlaw porn in the US (with Junlper)
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As of this recording, 17 states don’t have access to PornHub. You might assume that’s because of very normal people like Speaker of the House Mike...
What Area 51 can teach us about the drones in NJ (with Dylan Thuras)
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 probabl...
Are online "suicide games" real? (With Alex Goldman)
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Momo and the Blue Whale Challenge are two trends that targeted young social media users, supposedly challenging them to an escalating series of dares....
How bin Laden killed TikTok (with Rachel Gilmore)
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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, bu...
BONUS: Meta doesn't care anymore
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 Mi...
How Facebook caused January 6th (with Charlie Warzel)
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 reta...
BONUS: Does the left really need a Kyle Rittenhouse?
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan and Grant talk about the fallout from Luigi Mangione's alleged assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and whether or not it will h...
The Top 10 Panics of 2024 (with Katie Notopoulos, Luke Bailey, & Adam Bumas)
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 friend...
Did gender influencers doom Gen Z? (With Rebecca Jennings & Luke Winkie)
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Despite society’s progress on gender norms, there is a historic divide on the "boy-girl internet," which recently has started to reemerge — the ch...
The rise and (maybe) fall of Mr. Beast (with Ben Brock Johnson & Amory Sivertson)
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
He’s conquered YouTube, but can he conquer traditional media? And also burgers and snack bars, for some reason. Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertso...
BONUS: The right-wing pivot of Perfume TikTok
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan and our producer Grant talk about the recent brush with politics sweeping across an unexpected community—or is it?—PerfumeTok. Full episode c...
Did Tumblr turn kids trans? (With Vera Drew)
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Part of the reason Republicans ran away with the 2024 election is because they used misinformation to make millions of people think that the governmen...
BONUS: The Joe Rogan we need isn't so easy to create
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan and our producer Grant dig into the election and have some comments about whether or not we can simply create the "liberal Joe Rogan." Full episo...
Silicon Valley’s midlife crisis (with Taylor Lorenz)
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From shooting themselves up with boys’ blood to starting their own countries, “techno-optimism” has taken a decidedly dark turn. It turns out Si...
How QAnon changed American politics forever (with Travis View)
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With Donald Trump being brought back into the White House, we might only be seeing the beginning of another decade of QAnon. How did we get here? Our ...
Was the Tide Pod Challenge ever real? (With PJ Vogt)
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tide Pods were the king of the forbidden candies. The items that looked delicious despite being disgusting, or poisonous, if you actually bit into on...
The Blair Witch: The first viral hoax (with David Sims)
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Blair Witch Project stands alone in the kind of panic it caused. No film before or since has quite hit the same fevered pitch, where many people a...
The women the internet loves to hate (with Caroline Calloway)
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Caroline Calloway became internet famous for living a fantasy, at least that's how it appeared on Instagram. Then, she became infamous when the public...
Chappell Roan and the Pop Crave election (with Akilah Hughes)
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why does it feel like this election isn’t really happening? Why does Chappell Roan feel like the biggest story? Our theory? We live in a Pop Crave w...
Whatever happened to Kate Middleton? (With Ellie Hall)
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Remember earlier this year, when people thought Kate Middleton was dead and or replaced by AI? What was up with that? We’re joined by Ellie Hall, a ...
Are kids' brains being rotted by screens? (With Michael Hobbes)
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Since the advent of smartphones, a simmering and increasingly boiling panic has been about whether too much “screentime” is ruining the nation’s...
The right-wing meltdown over Haitian immigrants (with Kat Abughazaleh)
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With the second and maybe probably last 2024 presidential debate now in our rearview, we’re taking a look back at Americans’ relationship with mis...
NyQuil Chicken (with Katie Notopoulos)
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Panic World. For our premiere, we're going back a few years to explore the panic that grew around "Sleepytime Chicken" aka NyQuil Chicken. ...
Panic World, A New Podcast by Garbage Day (Trailer)
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Remember NyQuil Chicken? Or when Kate Middleton mysteriously “disappeared”? How about when teens were eating Tide Pods? These sorts of internet ph...