Also, earlier today my boyfriend was just commenting on the Jake Shane x Kacey Musgraves interview where he flat out asked the meaning behind the line “in Tennessee the suns going down but in Beijing they’re heading out to work”…and Kacey just politely has to explain time zones to him
Thank you, Marco!!! And omg, that interview... and the one with Malcom Todd, where he asks how he and his cousin know each other "besides being cousins." Like we need to teach lessons in question-asking
Sometimes I worry this was all created to get us to divulge so much info online that now the surveillance state has everything it needs. We give it to them willingly. I say this as a former BuzzFeed employee who absolutely feels guilty about promoting this lol
Another great article! Not familiar with Jake Shane, but I was thinking something similar recently about The Odyssey press tour and all those YT videos (and many podcast interviews in general as you mention) which are frankly entertaining but I don't get anything out of as a viewer because the questions are often so cushy.
An interview I loved recently was by Modern Love with Anna Martin (NYT) with Zendaya and Robert Pattison around the time The Drama came out. The interviewer was sincere and shared some personal info without being self-indulgent and could handle the two actors when they bantered too much just between them.
Will definitely read the Vanity Fair article and the piece by Hess.
I loved the Modern Love interview with Zendaya and Rob! Yeah I think it’s disappointing because these people are artists at the end of the day and I’m sure they have thoughtful things to say about their art. Not everything has to be a Barbara Walters interview but not everything has to be so mindless too
My brain chemistry has definitely had a “re-set” since leaving TikTok. It’s much harder for me now to consume content that, as you say, exits the mind as quickly as it entered. The tone definitely signals to me right away that that’s what is on offer. It feels like AI slop, even if technically it may not be.
What makes me sad is how difficult it is to get any kind of traction with an algo when you DON’T do it. So, when you sound like an actual unique person.
such an interesting connection you’ve made here between the parasocialism dictated by podcast hosts and the changing communication styles of new generations! looking at all the evidence you’ve provided i’m definitely convinced it is all to do with the internet-ification of how we interact with each other. great read!
I very rarely tune into Jake's pod when I am curious about the celebrity he has on and I literally feel like the amount of time he spends talking about himself and the trivial happenings in his life has increased as he's gotten bigger. He is literally forcing the guests into asking him questions bc they are locked in a room with him for an hour and he isn't bringing much to the table lol And you are sooooo right about this just being a representation of how a specific breed of young people socialize!! I feel like Jake does all this without even realizing how it comes off to the people outside of his circle
Yes, to outsiders it’s truly so jarring!! I feel like as he’s grown his fan base, he probably assumes that they want to hear more about his life but to the guests that are less familiar with him it must be so strange. Hopefully they include these details in whatever brief they send the guests, like “Jake’s thing is a whole lot of self-degradation” 😭
This is such an interesting topic! I think that younger teenagers now are so much more self-conscious than they were in previous generations and sometimes very socially awkward too. And when you mix those two things, plus also being online most of the time, you get this strange type of oversharing immediately to form a relationship because they don't know how to form one any other way. You worded this so well, as usual. Thank you for such a great read!
I think about Hess' piece so often, and you've added some food for thought with the way zoomers overshare so easily-- and I remember this from when I was on livejournal! But the filters back then were more common and yes, I think most of my cohort outgrew that. But then on Tumblr your teenage posts will exist forever as they're reblogged even if you delete them or your blog. You basically can't outgrow it. Might have to ponder this on my own with the way some fan corners hail there importance of such fan "reporters."
I am convinced that this is helping people to accept surveillance, and stems from the current creator economy we live in. If celebrities do not perform this vulnerability, we have more palatable, real influencers filming their routines for a living.
I think we sometimes see the awkward clash of internet interview hosts and legacy media when it comes to red carpet interviews. That setting of celebs engaging with influencers or podcasters but without the advance prep of going into a podcast studio, it’s like they’re almost chatting with a brand/fan rather than an interviewer. Jake Shane was also the source of a load of hit pieces for “influencers aren’t journalists” after his videos at the Vanity fair Oscar party.
Love this article! So many of the top podcasters/hosts have absolutely no interviewing skills and don't even have interesting conversations with their guests. Spotify keeps trying to push Call Her Daddy on me even though I think Alex Cooper is a terrible interviewer.
Yes I wrote about call her daddy last year! A lot of these podcasts also feel like they’re simply filler for the ads that are being served intermittently in them
So this authenticity through the osmositic travail of long form interviews apparently leads the host, guest, and audience none the wiser. Perhaps written questions that require a short essay response would be best? Ersatz familiarity is yet another social display that needs to be decoded.
THIS IS INCREDIBLE WORK!
Also, earlier today my boyfriend was just commenting on the Jake Shane x Kacey Musgraves interview where he flat out asked the meaning behind the line “in Tennessee the suns going down but in Beijing they’re heading out to work”…and Kacey just politely has to explain time zones to him
Thank you, Marco!!! And omg, that interview... and the one with Malcom Todd, where he asks how he and his cousin know each other "besides being cousins." Like we need to teach lessons in question-asking
Sometimes I worry this was all created to get us to divulge so much info online that now the surveillance state has everything it needs. We give it to them willingly. I say this as a former BuzzFeed employee who absolutely feels guilty about promoting this lol
Ooooof this doesn’t feel so far fetched!
Another great article! Not familiar with Jake Shane, but I was thinking something similar recently about The Odyssey press tour and all those YT videos (and many podcast interviews in general as you mention) which are frankly entertaining but I don't get anything out of as a viewer because the questions are often so cushy.
An interview I loved recently was by Modern Love with Anna Martin (NYT) with Zendaya and Robert Pattison around the time The Drama came out. The interviewer was sincere and shared some personal info without being self-indulgent and could handle the two actors when they bantered too much just between them.
Will definitely read the Vanity Fair article and the piece by Hess.
I loved the Modern Love interview with Zendaya and Rob! Yeah I think it’s disappointing because these people are artists at the end of the day and I’m sure they have thoughtful things to say about their art. Not everything has to be a Barbara Walters interview but not everything has to be so mindless too
My brain chemistry has definitely had a “re-set” since leaving TikTok. It’s much harder for me now to consume content that, as you say, exits the mind as quickly as it entered. The tone definitely signals to me right away that that’s what is on offer. It feels like AI slop, even if technically it may not be.
What makes me sad is how difficult it is to get any kind of traction with an algo when you DON’T do it. So, when you sound like an actual unique person.
That’s such a good point about having to alter your tone for the algorithm
such an interesting connection you’ve made here between the parasocialism dictated by podcast hosts and the changing communication styles of new generations! looking at all the evidence you’ve provided i’m definitely convinced it is all to do with the internet-ification of how we interact with each other. great read!
Thank you for reading :)!
I very rarely tune into Jake's pod when I am curious about the celebrity he has on and I literally feel like the amount of time he spends talking about himself and the trivial happenings in his life has increased as he's gotten bigger. He is literally forcing the guests into asking him questions bc they are locked in a room with him for an hour and he isn't bringing much to the table lol And you are sooooo right about this just being a representation of how a specific breed of young people socialize!! I feel like Jake does all this without even realizing how it comes off to the people outside of his circle
Yes, to outsiders it’s truly so jarring!! I feel like as he’s grown his fan base, he probably assumes that they want to hear more about his life but to the guests that are less familiar with him it must be so strange. Hopefully they include these details in whatever brief they send the guests, like “Jake’s thing is a whole lot of self-degradation” 😭
This is such an interesting topic! I think that younger teenagers now are so much more self-conscious than they were in previous generations and sometimes very socially awkward too. And when you mix those two things, plus also being online most of the time, you get this strange type of oversharing immediately to form a relationship because they don't know how to form one any other way. You worded this so well, as usual. Thank you for such a great read!
Thank you! And yeah agreed, social media has definitely made us self-conscious in a new way
I think about Hess' piece so often, and you've added some food for thought with the way zoomers overshare so easily-- and I remember this from when I was on livejournal! But the filters back then were more common and yes, I think most of my cohort outgrew that. But then on Tumblr your teenage posts will exist forever as they're reblogged even if you delete them or your blog. You basically can't outgrow it. Might have to ponder this on my own with the way some fan corners hail there importance of such fan "reporters."
I am convinced that this is helping people to accept surveillance, and stems from the current creator economy we live in. If celebrities do not perform this vulnerability, we have more palatable, real influencers filming their routines for a living.
The art of asking questions, let’s bring it back. Spot-on as usual. ⚡️
This is such a great piece!
I think we sometimes see the awkward clash of internet interview hosts and legacy media when it comes to red carpet interviews. That setting of celebs engaging with influencers or podcasters but without the advance prep of going into a podcast studio, it’s like they’re almost chatting with a brand/fan rather than an interviewer. Jake Shane was also the source of a load of hit pieces for “influencers aren’t journalists” after his videos at the Vanity fair Oscar party.
Thank you! And yes, omg I actually wrote about his interaction with Julia Fox for another piece on my newsletter
Love this article! So many of the top podcasters/hosts have absolutely no interviewing skills and don't even have interesting conversations with their guests. Spotify keeps trying to push Call Her Daddy on me even though I think Alex Cooper is a terrible interviewer.
Yes I wrote about call her daddy last year! A lot of these podcasts also feel like they’re simply filler for the ads that are being served intermittently in them
this is really interesting!! i never would have thought to consider this, thank you!!
Thank you for reading!
Great writing and an interesting observation about performing authenticity
Errata: Osmositic = osmotic
So this authenticity through the osmositic travail of long form interviews apparently leads the host, guest, and audience none the wiser. Perhaps written questions that require a short essay response would be best? Ersatz familiarity is yet another social display that needs to be decoded.