Timeline
Every post and feed across this instance
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All Tied up Before the Debate
Debate day has arrived, and new polls show that the race couldn't be closer. Jon, Lovett, and Tommy offer their final thoughts before Kamala Harris and Donald Trump's first, and potentially only, face-off. Harris lays out her strategy for dealing with Trump in a new radio interview, updates her website with policy proposals, and releases an ad to troll Trump. Meanwhile, Trump plays the hits with new threats to arrest his political opponents and incite violence. Then, Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks joins Tommy in studio to talk about why people need to pay close attention to the Maryland Senate race, and about getting to know Kamala Harris over the years.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“Welcome to the Panderdome.” (LIVE from Des Moines)
Trump caves on his Mexican trade war, and the race to win Iowa brings 19 Democratic candidates to Cedar Rapids. Des Moines Register pollster Ann Selzer joins Jon, Jon, Tommy, Dan, and Connie Schultz on stage in Des Moines, Iowa.
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Trump White House Secrets Revealed
Vanity Fair publishes a candid interview with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in which she makes eye-popping admissions about Trump, Elon Musk, and many more. Trump interrupts the season finale of Survivor to deliver an angry, meandering primetime address on the economy, and the administration moves closer to war with Venezuela, announcing a blockade of oil tankers trying to enter or leave its ports. Jon and Dan discuss all the latest and then turn to Trump’s new executive orders on gender-affirming care and medical marijuana, Speaker Mike Johnson’s inability to hold his coalition together, and DNC Chair Ken Martin’s decision to bury a much-anticipated postmortem report on the 2024 election.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“There’s no ‘I’ in ‘Unity.’”
President Biden steers his Covid relief plan through bad faith whining about unity, Mitch McConnell tries to prevent Democrats from taking control of the Senate, and the MAGA extremists are winning the Republican civil war. Then White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki talks to Tommy about being back in the briefing room and the first week of the Biden Administration.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, please visit crooked.com/podsaveamerica.
For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com.
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"Trump Loses Georgia Again?"
Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Georgia hold primaries this week, including the biggest race with possibly the most predictable outcome: Georgia Governor Brian Kemp versus Senator David Perdue, and Representative Karen Bass stops by the studio to talk about how she'll tackle crime and housing as mayor of Los Angeles.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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We’re Going on Tour!
Pod Save America is vaxxed, boosted, and headed back on the road! Get tickets & learn more: crooked.com/events
Join Jon, Lovett, Tommy, Dan, and special guests this spring and summer as they travel across the country for conversations about politics, the press, and the impending threats to our democracy (but in a fun way!)Listener presales: January 25 at 10 am local time through January 27 with code CROOKED
General onsale: January 28 at 10 am local time
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“How we beat Trump.”
Six battlegrounds will likely determine whether Trump or Biden wins in November, and Crooked Media content chief Tanya Somanader joins to talk about why you should Adopt a State and start organizing from home. Then Jon, Jon, and Tommy answer listener questions about the VP selection process, what a virtual convention might look like, how we’ll celebrate if Mitch McConnell loses, and when Ronan might cut Lovett’s hair.
Adopt A State: votesaveamerica.com/adopt
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Republicans Beg Trump to Be New Person
More and more Republicans are asking Donald Trump if it might be possible for him to stop the personal attacks on Kamala Harris and focus on a persuasive message. His answer? Absolutely not. In yet another country club press conference, Trump says he's "entitled to personal attacks" because he doesn't respect Harris, calls her stupid, and rants about communists. Meanwhile, Harris and Joe Biden hold their first joint event since Biden stepped down from the race, and it's full of good policy and good vibes. Plus, Tim Walz talks tacos, and RFK Jr. might be looking for an exit strategy.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“Is Facebook killing people?” (with Sen. Brian Schatz)
The White House calls out Facebook for spreading misinformation about vaccines, Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz talks about climate change, immigration, voting rights and his tweeting habit; and later, the guys answer a few listener questions.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, please visit crooked.com/podsaveamerica.
For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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The Trump Voters Who Are Sick of Trump (Ep. 2)
Jon is joined by longtime pollster Sarah Longwell and former Republican strategist Tim Miller to get inside the minds of two-time Trump voters who are no longer sure if they’ll vote for him again. What’s changed? Well, January 6th, a few criminal trials, and some obviously bogus claims that the election was stolen. But is that enough to get them over the line for Joe Biden? Jon, Tim, and Sarah listen to a focus group tape of these voters to figure out how they’re leaning in 2024 and then Ben Wikler, Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, joins to help teach you how to persuade the Biden-curious Trump voter in your life.
Take action with Vote Save America: Visit votesaveamerica.com/2024
Pre-order Democracy or Else: How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps at crooked.com/books or wherever books are sold. Out June 25th.
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“Getting tense out there!”
Jon, Jon, Tommy, and Dan break down the results of the Nevada caucuses and the ensuing freakout that Bernie Sanders is now the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination.
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Did Trump Blow It on the Epstein Files?
After failing to pressure Republicans into voting no on releasing the Epstein files, Trump pulls an astonishing reversal and says they should vote yes—because he has nothing to hide. Jon, Lovett, and Tommy break down why Trump flipped and what might happen after the House votes. Then they discuss Marjorie Taylor Greene's reinvention as a unifier, her split with Trump, and what her makeover says about his waning power over the GOP. Plus, Trump wades into the Tucker Carlson–Nick Fuentes mess, Republicans plot potential replacements for the ACA subsidies, and Jon and Tommy attempt to explain one of the most salacious—and viral—Epstein emails to Lovett. Then, Tommy talks with Rep. Ro Khanna about the big Epstein vote and what the hell is going on with the American pressure campaign against Venezuela.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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Is Winning an Election a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card?
Donald Trump's once-daunting legal challenges continue to melt away, as Special Counsel Jack Smith plans his resignation and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg lays out options for putting the hush money case on indefinite pause. Dan and Melissa Murray, cohost of Strict Scrutiny, discuss all the latest, including the cultural significance of the United Healthcare shooting, the fading resistance to Trump's Cabinet nominees, and why Kimberly Guilfoyle getting the nod to be ambassador to Greece is a twist worthy of the finest reality TV.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“RBG and the fight to come.”
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87 years old, setting up a nomination battle to fill her seat with just 43 days to go until the presidential election. Then Kate Kendell of Take Back the Court talks to Jon Lovett about the case for expanding the Supreme Court.
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Gavin Newsom Is Finally Comfortable with Himself
California Governor Gavin Newsom sits down with Jon and Tommy before a live audience in Los Angeles to discuss Trump's war on Iran, the crowded California gubernatorial primary, and his new book Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery. The governor talks about his close childhood friendship with the Getty family, issuing the first same-sex marriage licenses nationwide as San Francisco Mayor, and his surprising childhood pet, Potter the otter.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“Does size matter?” (with Pete Buttigieg!)
Joe Biden’s Hot Vax Summer is off to a rocky start thanks to Republicans in Congress, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg talks to Jon Lovett about how the administration plans to pass their jobs and infrastructure plan. Then, Dan Pfeiffer and Jon Favreau talk about some bright spots in the Biden agenda, and answer listener questions.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, please visit crooked.com/podsaveamerica.
For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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Trump's Arctic Humiliation
Donald Trump announces that he's reached a "concept of a deal" on Greenland, agreeing to drop his tariffs for … well, the details aren't exactly clear. Jon and Dan discuss what we know, Trump's invitation to Vladimir Putin to join his Board of Peace, and the most insane coverage of Trump's trip to Davos. Then, they break down Vice President Vance's appearance in Minneapolis—where he defended ICE's detention of a 5-year-old—House passage of additional funding for the Department of Homeland Security, Jack Smith's Capitol Hill testimony, and a New York Times/Siena poll that's so bad for Trump he's threatening to sue.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“Trump Leaks and Tax Cheats.” (with Rep. Val Demings!)
Florida Congresswoman Val Demings joins to talk about the news that Donald Trump’s Justice Department targeted House Democrats and her bid to unseat Senator Marco Rubio. Then, Jon, Jon, and Tommy discuss how new reports about rich people avoiding taxes should shape the Democratic agenda, and take a look at some of the highlights and funny moments from Joe Biden’s first foreign trip.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, please visit crooked.com/podsaveamerica.
For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“Yo, collusion!”
Marcy Wheeler joins Jon and Dan to break down Individual-1’s very bad day and discuss the future of the Trump investigation, Pelosi wins her caucus vote for Speaker, Schumer kicks off shutdown negotiations, and Sherrod Brown shows Democrats how to talk about Trump and the economy.
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Trump Desperate for Strait Allies
President Trump calls on U.S. allies to send warships to the Middle East to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but no one seems interested in answering his call. Jon, Tommy, and Lovett discuss the United States' decreasing global standing, the deployment of an additional 2,500 Marines to the region, and Trump's interesting word selection at a Kennedy Center turned Iran war press conference on Monday morning. Then, the guys discuss Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's threats against the media over its Iran war coverage, the vicious fight happening on the right over the war, and check in on corruption coming out of the administration, including a shocking Trump fundraising email, Jared Kushner's investment fund, and Sen. Markwayne Mullin's suspicious stock trading. Finally: the guys jump in on the latest trend taking over the political media — cold-calling President Trump.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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Why are Fundraising Texts SO Annoying?
Are you tired of incessant, unhinged Democratic fundraising texts and emails? Well, so are we. Tommy sits down with three experts in the party's digital fundraising space to talk about how this model became the norm, why it may be hurting Democrats more than it helps, and how that campaign — you know the one — got your cell phone number. Blue State Digital founder Joe Rospars joins to diagnose the problem, our own Dan Pfeiffer weighs in on its impact, and ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones explains why Democrats rely on the tactic and lays out what we stand to lose if Trump's attacks against her organization succeed.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“Fetterman vs The Phony Sociopath.”
John Fetterman debates Dr. Oz. Democrats get more nauseous on the pollercoaster. Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto checks in to talk about her race in Nevada. Oregon Democrat Tina Kotek tells us about her race for governor. And comedian Mike Birbiglia tells us about his new Broadway show The Old Man in the Pool, and his surprise cameo in a new Taylor Swift music video.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“Mag-a-Lago."
The Republican Party’s spring donor retreat becomes a MAGA-fest at Mar-a-Lago, Joe Biden launches a commission to reform the Supreme Court, and Democrats try to undo the damage Mitch McConnell did to the judiciary. Then, an Under the Radar segment that ends with a new filibuster game: “Manchin or Sorkin?"
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, please visit crooked.com/podsaveamerica.
For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“The Great Impeachment Bake Off.”
The next phase of impeachment begins as the Judiciary Committee plans hearings, the 2020 primary is wide open with two months until Iowa, and Pete Buttigieg debates his opponents over free college.
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How a Political Party Can Rise from the Dead
Donald Trump is looking pretty invincible right now, and it's easy to lose hope that Democrats will ever be able to regain power. But back in the '90s, liberals in Britain were in a similar predicament. Alastair Campbell, right hand man to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and co-host of the podcast "The Rest Is Politics," joins Tommy to discuss how the Labour Party vanquished the iron grip of Thatcherism, the importance of party rebranding, and how Democrats can reclaim populism in the age of Trump.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“March Badness.”
The White House press corps whiffs its first presidential news conference, Republicans shape the media narrative about the border, and Georgia passes voter suppression legislation that Joe Biden called “Jim Crow in the 21st century.” Then Tommy presents Jon and Jon with the Evil Eight in Pod Save America’s first-ever March Badness tournament.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, please visit crooked.com/podsaveamerica.
For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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“Obama’s Advice For Democrats.”
Barack Obama sits down for his first major interview of the midterm season to talk about the state of democracy here and abroad, the escalating situation in Iran and the ongoing war in Ukraine, and how Democrats can appeal to the broadest coalition of voters.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, click here.
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"99 days to the election (with Mehdi Hasan)."
The Intercept’s Mehdi Hasan joins to discuss the state of the presidential campaign now that we’re less than 100 days out, how COVID reached deep into the White House and forced major changes to Trump’s campaign, the latest with COVID relief in Congress, how Trump’s message went from calling Biden soft on China to member of Antifa, and how the media can learn from the mistakes of 2016. Then Jon F. interviews Mother Jones' Ari Berman about voting during the pandemic.
Make sure you're registered, request an absentee ballot, and get involved at votesaveamerica.com/everylastvote.
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“Joe Biden, Antifa General.”
The President commemorates July 4th with a racist speech at Mt. Rushmore, the Biden and Trump campaigns focus on the pandemic response, and Senate Republicans weigh distancing themselves from Trump as they fall behind their Democratic challengers in the polls.
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Once You Slop, You Can't Stop
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- Twitter Inc. Official 'Bird Logo' Fascia Sign - An Iconic Fixture from the Company’s Market Square Headquarters in San Francisco (RR Auction)
- AI Slop Is a Brute Force Attack on the Algorithms That Control Reality (404 Media)
- Spain to impose massive fines for not labelling AI-generated content (Reuters)
- China Announces Generative AI Labeling to Cull Disinformation (Bloomberg)
- After Axing Fact-Checkers, Meta’s Community Notes Will Have Help From X (Adweek)
- UK to crack down on illegal content across social media (Financial Times)
- Lobsters and the Online Safety Act (Lobste.rs)
- We are sorry. The forum has closed down (The Hamster Forum)
- ‘Kids can bypass anything if they’re clever enough!’ How tech experts keep their children safe online (The Guardian)
- The Snapchat Move That Leaves Teen Girls Heartbroken (WSJ)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund. If you’re in London on Thursday 27th March, join Ben, Mark Scott (Digital Politics) and Georgia Iacovou (Horrific/Terrific) for an evening of tech policy, discussion and drinks. Register your interest.
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
From 'Free Speech' To 'Flag This'
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- How platforms are responding to the Charlie Kirk shooting (The Verge)
- Bluesky Issues Warning to Any Users Celebrating Charlie Kirk Assassination (Newsweek)
- Right-Wing Activists Are Targeting People for Allegedly Celebrating Charlie Kirk’s Death (Wired)
- Charlie Kirk Was Shot and Killed in a Post-Content-Moderation World (Wired)
- Has Britain Gone Too Far With Its Digital Controls? (New York Times)
- The Censorship Alarm Is Ringing in the Wrong Direction (Public Knowledge)
- We now know who the new owners of TikTok will be - if Trump gets his deal done with Xi (CNN)
- Nepal’s Social Media Ban Backfires as Politics Moves to a Chat Room (New York Times)
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
Look What The Chat Dragged In
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- The group chats that changed America (Semafor)
- Curtis Yarvin Says Democracy Is Done. Powerful Conservatives Are Listening (New York Times)
- Meta faces Ghana lawsuits over impact of extreme content on moderators (The Guardian)
- Social media moderators’ lives are getting worse. Big Tech needs to take responsibility (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)
- Meta’s ‘Digital Companions’ Will Talk Sex With Users—Even Children (Wall Street Journal)
- Kids should avoid AI companion bots—under force of law, assessment says (CalMatters)
- I'm a mom who works in tech, and AI scares me. I taught my daughter these simple guidelines to spot fake content (Business Insider)
- Playing ‘whack-a-mole’ with Meta over my fraudulent avatars (Financial Times)
- Meta slowest to remove scam content, says City watchdog (The Guardian)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund, and by our sponsor Modulate. In our Bonus Chat, we speak with Modulate CEO Mike Pappas about the evolving landscape of online fraud and how the company’s work detecting abuse in gaming environments is helping identify financial misconduct across different types of digital platforms.
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
Money for Nothing and Clicks for a Fee
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- Gamblers trying to win a bet on Polymarket are vowing to kill me if I don’t rewrite an Iran missile story (Times of Israel)
- Maybe Turning War Into a Casino Was a Bad Idea? (The Atlantic)
- French music streamer Deezer battles deluge of AI fraud (Financial Times)
- I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI - and it only took 20 minutes (BBC)
- US to Receive $10 Billion Fee for TikTok Deal, WSJ Reports (Bloomberg)
- 'AI Is African Intelligence': The Workers Who Train AI Are Fighting Back (404 Media)
- ‘Another internet is possible’: Norway rails against ‘enshittification’ (The Guardian)
Play along with Ctrl-Alt-Speech’s 2026 Bingo Card and get in touch if you win!
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
Chief Equivocation Officer
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- X takes Indian govt to court, alleges arbitrary censorship of content (Business Standard)
- India criticises X for calling compliance website a censorship tool (Reuters)
- Musk’s X suspends opposition accounts in Turkey amid civil unrest (Politico)
- Elon Musk pressured Reddit’s CEO on content moderation (The Verge)
- Snapchat CEO Talks Zuckerberg, Content Moderation, AR Glasses and More (SocialMediaToday)
- YouTube CEO on content moderation: ‘Where the world was five years ago is very different’ than today (Semafor)
- Porn on Spotify Is Infiltrating the Platform’s Top Podcast Charts (Bloomberg)
- Ofcom fines provider of OnlyFans £1.05 million (Ofcom)
- A New Social Media App Punishes Users for Rage-Baiting (Wired)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund.
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
I Bet You Think This Block is About You
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- Jim Jordan Demands Advertisers Explain Why They Don’t Advertise On MAGA Media Sites (Techdirt)
- TikTok Has a Nazi Problem (Wired)
- NazTok: An organized neo-Nazi TikTok network is getting millions of views (Institute for Strategic Dialogue)
- How TikTok bots and AI have powered a resurgence in UK far-right violence (The Guardian)
- Senate Passes Child Online Safety Bill, Sending It to an Uncertain House Fate (New York Tmes)
- The teens lobbying against the Kids Online Safety Act (The Verge)
- Social Media Mishaps Aren’t Always Billionaire Election Stealing Plots (Techdirt)
- X suspends ‘White Dudes for Harris’ account after massive fundraiser (Washington Post)
- Why Won’t Google Auto-complete ‘Trump Assassination Attempt’? (Intelligencer)
- ‘Technical glitch’ is no longer an excuse (Everything in Moderation from 2020)
- A message to our Black community (TikTok from 2020)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund, and by our sponsor Discord. In our Bonus Chat at the end of the episode, Mike speaks to Juliet Shen and Camille Francois about the Trust & Safety Tooling Consortium at Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, and the importance of open source tools for trust and safety.
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
Stuck in the Middleware with Youth
In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by Vaishnavi J, former head of youth policy at Meta and founder and principal of Vyanams Strategies, a product advisory firm that helps companies, civil society, and governments build safer age appropriate experiences. Prior to founding Vys, she led video policy at Twitter, built its safety team in APAC and was Google's child safety polciy lead in APAC. Together Ben and Vaishnavi discuss:
- House overhauls KOSA in a new kids online safety package (The Verge)
- A nationwide internet age verification plan is sweeping Congress (The Verge)
- Grindr supports app store age-verification bill despite censorship concerns (Pink News)
- A summary of the technology sector’s response to the UK’s new online safety rules (Ofcom)
- Age Assurance Implementation Handbook (Vyanams)
- Interoperable Age Assurance (Age Verification Providers Association)
- EU's non-binding resolution around revamping child safety rules (European Parliament)
- ‘We’ll be watching’: Social media companies warned about complying with ban as teens flock to alternative apps (Crikey)
- The Salesforce of safety: Software vendors as infrastructural/professional nodes in the field of online trust and safety (Sage, Platforms & Society)
- It's their job to keep AI from destroying everything (The Verge)
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
C'est la Vile Content
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- House Judiciary Releases EU X Fine Details (House Judiciary X Account)
- New Report Exposes European Commission Decade-Long Campaign to Censor American Speech (House Judiciary Committee)
- X offices raided in France as UK opens fresh investigation into Grok (BBC)
- Hey Gavin Newsom! Investigating TikTok’s Moderation Is Just As Unconstitutional As When Texas & Florida Tried It (Techdirt)
- Spain Aims to Ban Social Media for Children Under 16, Prime Minister Says (NY Times)
- TikTok Keyword Analysis (LinkedIn)
- Why newsrooms are taking comments seriously again (New_ Public)
- Whoops, Websites Realize That Killing Their Comment Sections Was A Mistake (Techdirt)
Play along with Ctrl-Alt-Speech’s 2026 Bingo Card!
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
The TAKE IT DOWN Takedown
In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- Bluesky's CEO on the Future of Social Media (YouTube)
- The Take It Down Act isn’t a law, it’s a weapon (The Verge)
- Trump Promises To Abuse Take It Down Act For Censorship, Just As We Warned (Techdirt)
- Ex-Facebook employee alleges sexual harassment and human rights failures in new memoir (NBC News)
- Meta goes to arbitrator to prevent whistleblower from promoting tell-all book (CNBC)
- Reddit's rule check feature will help users avoid breaking subreddit rules (Engadget)
- Users Make Voices Heard as Appeals Centre’s First Decisions Overturn Platforms (Appeals Centre Europe)
- 'Pretty Vile:' Spotify Removes Andrew Tate 'Pimping Hoes' Class After Employees Complain (404 Media)
- Keep kids off Roblox if you're worried, its CEO tells parents (BBC)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund, and by our sponsor Resolver, the leading provider of risk intelligence and advisory services. In our Bonus Chat, Karley Chadwick, head of platform Trust and Safety Delivery at Resolver, talks about emerging safety trends in gaming and augmented reality and reflects on her experience as a threat analyst.
If you’re in London on Thursday 27th March, join Ben, Mark Scott (Digital Politics) and Georgia Iacovou (Horrific/Terrific) for an evening of tech policy, discussion and drinks. Register your interest.
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
This Episode is Broadly Safe to Listen To
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- My year with a flip phone (Financial Times)
- Claude’s Constitution (Anthropic)
- From the CEO: What’s coming to YouTube in 2026 (Youtube)
- BBC to show programmes on YouTube in landmark deal (Financial Times)
- Rand Paul: I’ve changed my mind — Google and YouTube can’t be trusted to do the right thing and must be reined in (NY Post)
- Rand Paul Only Wants Google To Be The Arbiter Of Truth When The Videos Are About Him (Techdirt)
- Roskomnadzor Denies Reports That It’s Throttling Telegram Over Content Moderation Disputes (Moscow Times)
- Europeans set to launch an alternative to X. It’s called W (Cybernews)
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
World Wide Wedge Issue
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- Zuckerberg Tries to Enlist Trump in Fight Against Meta EU Ruling (WSJ)
- EU set to limit Apple and Meta fines to avoid ire of Donald Trump (Financial Times)
- Adolescence hard to watch as a dad, Starmer tells creators (BBC)
- ‘Adolescence’ on Netflix: A painful wake-up call about unregulated internet use for teens (The Conversation)
- Adolescence hits Netflix's Top 10 Global chart in just three weeks as it reaches over 96MILLION views (Daily Mail)
- Online ‘Pedophile Hunters’ Are Growing More Violent — and Going Viral (NY Times)
- ESPN’s Pat McAfee and others amplified a false rumor. A teenager’s life was ‘destroyed’ (NY Times)
- Myanmar’s Internet Censorship Limits Information About Quake (NY Times)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund, and by our sponsor Internet Society, a global nonprofit that advocates for an open, globally connected, secure and trustworthy Internet for everyone. In our Bonus Chat, Internet Society’s Natalie Campbell talks about issues around US leadership on digital trade and an open internet, related to a letter the Internet Society sent this week to the US Trade Representative.
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Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
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Red Pills & Blue Checks
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- 4chan is dead. It's Toxic Legacy is everywhere (Wired)
- Wide-Ranging Decisions Protect Speech and Address Harms (Oversight Board)
- Meta’s oversight board rebukes company over policy overhaul (Reuters)
- Why Techdirt Is Now A Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It Or Not) (Techdirt)
- Most young Aussie men are turning to masculinity influencers, and it's impacting their mental health (ABC News)
- Young Men’s Health in a Digital World (Movember)
- Teens, Social Media and Mental Health (Pew Research Center)
- National Science Foundation cancels research grants related to misinformation and disinformation (Nieman Lab)
- Bluesky Is Rolling Out Official Verification (Wired)
- Government censorship comes to Bluesky, but not its third-party apps … yet (TechCrunch)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund.
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Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
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Over to EU, Elon
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by guest host Domonique Rai-Varming, Senior Director, Trust & Safety at Trustpilot. Together they cover:
- Amazon, Expedia and Trustpilot unite to fight fake reviews (BBC)
- EU charges Elon Musk’s X for letting disinfo run wild (Politico)
- British female politicians targeted by fake pornography (The Guardian)
- The hidden workers behind AI tell their stories (Netzpolitik)
- How Machine Learning Can Undermine Human Rights: YouTube’s Struggle to Moderate the Syrian Crisis (Trust and Safety Foundation)
- Strengthening Our Approach to Mature Content on Etsy (Etsy)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund.
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Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
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Minisode: The Robots Take Over Ctrl-Alt-Speech
Ben and Mike are technically off this week, but we decided to run an experiment. After discussing Google’s NotebookLM and its ability to create AI-generated podcasts about any content, Mike experimented with how it would handle one of the stories Mike & Ben discussed last week: Daphne Keller’s The Rise of the Compliant Speech Platform on Lawfare. Mike explains why we’re running this, some of the work that went into it, as well as his thoughts on the experiment, followed by the AI-generated version.
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund.
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
Algorithm Shrugged
In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by guest host Zeve Sanderson, the founding Executive Director of the NYU Center for Social Media & Politics. Together, they cover:
- If algorithms radicalize a mass shooter, are companies to blame? (The Verge)
- Large Language Models Are More Persuasive Than Incentivized Human Persuaders (Arxiv)
- A dangerous plan to ‘win’ the AI race is circulating (Washington Post)
- Texas governor signs law to enforce age verification on Apple, Google app stores (Reuters)
- AB 853: California AI Transparency Act.(CalMatters)
- Regulators Are Investigating Whether Media Matters Colluded With Advertisers (NY Times)
- Anthropic’s new AI model turns to blackmail when engineers try to take it offline (TechCrunch)
- Why Anthropic’s New AI Model Sometimes Tries to ‘Snitch’ (Wired)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund, and by our sponsor Modulate. In our Bonus Chat, we speak with Modulate CTO Carter Huffman about how their voice technology can actually detect fraud.
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Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
A Lack of (Under)Standing
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- Supreme Court Sees Through The Nonsense, Rejects Lower Courts’ Rulings Regarding Social Media Moderation (Techdirt)
- How Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Failed Children on Safety, States Say (New York Times)
- New Features to Help Protect Our Community (Snap)
- Trends in Financial Sextortion (Thorn/NCMEC)
- Teens lean on AI for mental health support (Mercury News)
- I Paid $365.63 to Replace 404 Media With AI (404 Media)
- Companies see backlog in DSA transparency database (Euronews)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund.
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
For Meta or Worse
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- How London become a T&S hub (Everything in Moderation)
- Everyone Cheering The Social Media Addiction Verdicts Against Meta Should Understand What They’re Actually Cheering For (Techdirt)
- Supreme Court Sides With Internet Provider in Copyright Fight Over Pirated Music (New York Times)
- US settles social media censorship case, bars agencies from threatening penalties (Reuters)
- Meta’s latest AI improves its terrible content moderation (The Register)
- Transparency Report 2025 (User Rights)
- An automated moderation error left Tumblr users panicked (The Verge)
Don’t forget to listen along with Ctrl-Alt-Speech’s 2026 Bingo Card and drop us a line if you win or have ideas for new squares.
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Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fakery?
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by guest host Cathryn Weems, who has held T&S roles at Yahoo, Google, Dropbox, Twitter and Epic Games. They cover:
- Google outlines plans to help you sort real images from fake (The Verge)
- Fake AI “podcasters” are reviewing my book and it’s freaking me out (Ars Technica)
- We Don't Need Google to Help "Reimagine" Election Misinformation (Tech Policy Press)
- Social media owners top global survey of misinformation concerns (The Guardian)
- Expert Survey on the Global Information Environment (IPIE)
- X’s First Transparency Report Since Elon Musk’s Takeover Is Finally Here (Wired)
- Telegram will now provide some user data to authorities (BBC)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund, and by our sponsor Concentrix, the technology and services leader driving trust, safety, and content moderation globally. In our Bonus Chat at the end of the episode, clinical psychologist Dr Serra Pitts, who leads the psychological health team for Trust & Safety at Concentrix, talks to Ben about how to keep moderators healthy and safe at work and the innovative use of heart rate variability technology to monitor their physical response to harmful content.
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Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
We’ve Hit Grok Bottom
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- UK, Canadian watchdogs press on with probes into Elon Musk's Grok chatbot (Reuters)
- Musk’s xAI limits Grok’s ability to create sexualized images of real people on X after backlash (CNBC)
- X claims it has stopped Grok from undressing people, but of course it hasn’t (The Verge)
- State Department Threatens UK Over Grok Investigation, Because Only The US Is Allowed To Ban Foreign Apps (Techdirt)
- Keir Starmer tells MPs he is open to social media ban for young people (The Guardian)
- Statement from the Molly Rose Foundation (LinkedIn)
- Wes Streeting asks US expert Jonathan Haidt to address officials on social media ban for under-16s (The Guardian)
- Some social media use can benefit teen mental health (AAP)
- Arlington-focused Facebook group with 25,000 members is removed, angering moderators (ARLnow)
- Bandcamp becomes the first major music platform to ban AI content (The Verge)
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Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
This Podcast May be Hazardous to Moral Panics
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
- Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms (New York Times)
- The Surgeon General Is Wrong. Social Media Doesn’t Need Warning Labels (The Daily Beast)
- Anthropic calls for AI red teaming to be standardized (Fortune)
- How small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline (Engadget)
- Pornhub to block five more states over age verification laws (The Verge)
- New York Outlaws 'Addictive' Social Media Feeds For Teen Users (PC Mag)
- Meta Oversight Board’s Helle Thorning-Schmidt: ‘Not all AI-generated content is harmful’ (Financial Times)
This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund.
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com -
Spotlight: Five Years of the Oversight Board, from Experiment to Essential Institution
In this sponsored Spotlight episode of Ctrl-Alt-Speech, host Ben Whitelaw talks to Oversight Board co-chair Paolo Carozza (Professor of Law and Concurrent Professor at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana) and Board member Julie Owono (Executive Director of Internet Without Borders and research affiliate at Berkman Klein Centre) about the Board’s five-year journey and its plans for the future.
Together, Ben, Paolo and Julie discuss the Board’s recently published report, From Bold Experiment to Essential Institution, and what it means to call Board “essential” in today’s ever-evolving internet landscape. They also talk about how the Board has changed, the criticisms it faces around cost and influence, and what comes next in 2026 and beyond.
This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Oversight Board.
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Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).
www.buzzsprout.com