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 wearing a beige suit caused controversy. Today, we’re talking about how Trump is using the federal government’s massive communications apparatu...
2025-10-29 07:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostFrom Goop to MAHA, health/wellness movements might just look like a grift, but each features a real critique of the healthcare industry or medical science at their core. Today we’re talking about wellness and how it connects to the spread of fascism across the globe. Bridget Todd and Heather Ho...
2025-10-22 07:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostWhy is the right-wing media machine so massive and able to dominate digital media, while liberals and progressives struggle to keep up? Jon Favreau joins us to discuss the critical players and outlets in the early 2000s that led us to where US politics is today, along with looking back at what he...
2025-10-15 07:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostWhen we launched Panic World on September 11, 2024 — which we’ll never forget for a different reason now lol — Patreon was the main way we were able to make any kind of a living while producing the show, letting us see if people were actually interested in what we had to say. Not just about...
2025-10-08 17:02:38 +0000 UTC View PostWitches, 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 very online Peter Berkman and Luke Silas of the band Anamanaguchi join us to talk about the history of internet witches and witchcraft, and the sp...
2025-10-08 12:09:53 +0000 UTC View Post(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 US, dads, Gen X, and compare its political commentary to Eddington and Weapons.
2025-10-03 07:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostLike 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. In the past 20+ years, though, we’ve seen a shift in how the right responds to climate catastrophes — including building out a robust selecti...
2025-10-01 07:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post
Apparently there's some Panic World fans (sickos) over at the Signal Awards, as we're finalists in two "listener's choice" categories!
Of course, we're up in the Weird (complimentary) c...
2025-09-24 15:12:25 +0000 UTC View PostTwo 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 interesting looks into the state of our society today. Grant joins Ryan to talk about the thematic links between them and ...
2025-09-24 07:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostTwo 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 interesting looks into the state of our society today. Grant joins Ryan to talk about the thematic links between them and ...
2025-09-24 07:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostIf 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 subsection of very aggressive men who’ve created a pseudo-religion around the concept that all problems can be solved if you simply stop masturbating....
2025-09-17 07:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostRyan & 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 political climate in the US.
2025-09-12 21:30:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe band The Velvet Sundown broke through the music charts with millions of streams in months after coming from nowhere — and being an entirely AI band. Is it an existential threat to the health of the music industry and the internet when you can’t even tell if the “song of the summer” wa...
2025-09-10 15:01:27 +0000 UTC View PostThe band The Velvet Sundown broke through the music charts with millions of streams in months after coming from nowhere — and being an entirely AI band. Is it an existential threat to the health of the music industry and the internet when you can’t even tell if the “song of the summer” wa...
2025-09-10 12:22:27 +0000 UTC View PostOn Wednesday, August 27th there was a shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school, killing two kids and injuring a dozen more people. The shooter took her own life, and left behind two YouTube videos and a manifesto that were dogwhistles for both The Order of Nine Angles (O9A) and 764, the latter o...
2025-09-08 07:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThey’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, mobile game ads. An expert on the form, Chelsey Weber-Smith, joins us to talk about the history of the genre, from the earliest games like Evony to toda...
2025-09-03 07:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostThis 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 Supreme Court don't seem fussed to stop there.
Have a listen, especially if you haven't already, before we come back with new episodes next Wednesd...
2025-08-29 07:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostWe 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 has come. Today we’re talking about the Epstein files and what appears to be Trump’s most consequential weakness so far. Josie Duffy Rice join...
2025-08-20 07:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostIf 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 today, through a story that begins in 1989. That’s the year that Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers premiered. More importantly, it’s when ...
2025-08-13 07:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostIf 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 today, through a story that begins in 1989. That’s the year that Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers premiered. More importantly, it’s when ...
2025-08-13 07:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostRyan and Grant discuss that American Eagle ad and why everyone is arguing about Sydney Sweeney's "good jeans."
2025-08-08 13:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostEating 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 examining why it’s become more prevalent than perhaps at any other time. EJ Dickson, a writer who investigated the #SkinnyTok community for The Cu...
2025-08-06 07:15:00 +0000 UTC View PostEating 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 examining why it’s become more prevalent than perhaps at any other time. EJ Dickson, a writer who investigated the #SkinnyTok community for The Cu...
2025-08-06 07:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostDr. Marc-André Argentino, an expert on extremist ideologies and groups, talks with producer Grant Irving about the intersection of ideology and technology in accelerating the spread of extremism, especially in the case of 764 and other radical groups.
2025-07-30 08:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostOften, 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 talking about one panic that is real — “764,” the comm-network that is gamifying committing crimes and abuse. Joining us is Marcus Parks of T...
2025-07-29 07:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostWhat 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 of a fun, spooky thing, and then of course got out of hand and caused a panic both on- and offline. We’re joined by Kaelyn Moore of Heart St...
2025-07-23 07:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostWhat 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 of a fun, spooky thing, and then of course got out of hand and caused a panic both on- and offline. We’re joined by Kaelyn Moore of Heart St...
2025-07-23 02:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostIn April this year the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a “woman” excludes trans women. Then — apparently celebrating her years-long TERFdom — JK Rowling tweeted an image of herself on a yacht, smoking a cigar, and captioned it with “I love it when a plan comes togeth...
2025-07-16 07:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostToday we're looking at how fandom got so cultish, through the lens of the Snyder Cut.
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 should make all of the DC movies. Open Mike Eagle joins ...
2025-07-09 07:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostWe'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!
2025-07-02 07:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post