Reese Witherspoon AI Gender Gap; Lauren Sanchez Cosplays Relevance; Online Assault Academy; Flock Spying; Nigerian WhatsApp Smut – NEWS ROUNDUP

Reese Witherspoon AI Gender Gap; Lauren Sanchez Cosplays Relevance; Online Assault Academy; Flock Spying; Nigerian WhatsApp Smut – NEWS ROUNDUP

Author: iHeartPodcasts April 18, 2026 Duration: 1:04:26



In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike cover the tech news stories you might have missed. TRIGGER WARNING - one story discusses disturbing sexual assaults.

.

Reese Witherspoon thinks women should embrace AI more. The comments were not kind. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXKphAtkbgW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

.

Gisèle Pelicot's story of being drugged and raped by her husband and other men for a decade captured headlines. A new CNN investigation reveals a large ecosystem of men helping each other commit similar crimes around the world with something like an "online rape academy." https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2026/03/world/expose-rape-assault-online-vis-intl/index.html

.

Lauren Sanchez Besos is a cultural force, revolutionizing the way Americans live, and inspiring everyone with her embrace of joy and her perfect marriage to Jeff Bezos. Right? RIGHT?! (wrong) https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/business/lauren-sanchez-bezos-jeff-bezos.html?unlocked_article_code=1.blA.i7qg.dQZ7G1_RUIcF&smid=url-share [gift link]

Anti-Occupy Wall Street Champagne Toast Later Today? https://gothamist.com/news/anti-occupy-wall-street-champagne-toast-later-today

Rich people watching Occupy protestor: https://www.threads.com/@yungbooks/post/DEEOKfUOXkA

.

Workers at surveillance company Flock inexplicably accessed cameras in a gymnasium and pool, prompting the city of Dunwoody, Georgia, to delay their contract renewal after a citizen's open records request revealed anomolies in the logs. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/apr/06/flock-cameras-privacy-concerns

.

Why Are Flock Employees Watching Our Children? https://jasonhunyar.substack.com/p/why-are-flock-employees-watching-720

.

Women in northern Nigeria have been writing steamy romance books for decades. They are fighting morality censorship by innovating new models of distribution and monetization on WhatsApp. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/love-is-universal-but-nigerias-romance-lit-market-is-one-of-a-kind and https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/world/africa/nigeria-erotica-writers-censors.html

.

Here are more stories we were watching this week:

NAACP lawsuit accuses Elon Musk’s xAI of polluting Black neighborhoods near Memphis: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/14/naacp-lawsuit-elon-musk-xai-memphis

A Redditor Criticized ICE. Trump Is Trying to Unmask Them by Dragging the Company to a Secret Grand Jury: https://theintercept.com/2026/04/10/reddit-ice-protest-grand-jury/

What is dynamic pricing at grocery stores? Maryland now bans it: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2026/04/15/maryland-bans-dynamic-pricing-practice-popular-among-retailers/89621751007/

Meta’s new rules let it ban users or suppress comments that include the word “antifa” alongside “content-level threat signals.” https://theintercept.com/2026/04/14/facebook-instagram-antifa-censor/

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

Pre-order Bridget's 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.


You might have heard the old, tired joke that gives There Are No Girls on the Internet its name, but host Bridget Todd isn't laughing. Instead, she's building a vital archive, one conversation at a time. This iHeartPodcasts production digs into the real, human stories of how marginalized voices-far from being newcomers-have actually been the essential architects of our digital world from day one. Each episode moves beyond the headlines to chronicle the personal experiences, subcultures, and quiet revolutions that happen online, giving texture to the platforms and trends we often take for granted. You'll hear from the people whose creativity, labor, and community have fundamentally shaped technology, culture, and society, even when their contributions were overlooked or outright stolen. This isn't just a history lesson; it's an active reclamation. The podcast serves as an ongoing monument to the countless identities that make the internet a dynamic, messy, and profoundly human space. Tune in for narratives that are insightful, often surprising, and absolutely necessary for understanding where we've been and where we're headed next in our connected lives.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

There Are No Girls on the Internet
Podcast Episodes
WhatsApp Says Your Messages Are Private. They're Not. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:05
Is WhatsApp reading your private encrypted messages? That's what was claimed in a bombshell 2025 lawsuit, which cited whistleblowers from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa. Meanwhile, the Trump administra…
TikTok’s New Trump-Backed American Ownership Has People Fleeing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:03
After years in limbo, TikTok is now officially operating under American ownership for users in the United States, purchased by a group of investors backed by the Trump administration. And that shift is happening at a mom…
Ashley St. Clair Apologized. Elon Musk Threatened to Take Her Kid [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:54
Right-wing influencer Ashley St. Clair has a long history of transphobic behavior, including authoring a children’s book promoting those views. When she recently expressed regret for that past behavior, Elon Musk threate…