Follow Friday

Patrick Willems spent six years on YouTube trying to attract an audience for his short films, before he pivoted to video essays about everything from baseball movies to Francis Ford Coppola's filmography to Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again. Those essays got wildly popular and today, he has more than 350,000 subscribers.However, he kept making shorts, embedded in his essays as narrative framing devices. In other words, he says, he "trick[ed] the audience into watching short films that I also wanna make, but that normally would not get the views on YouTube or have sponsors on them."Then, starting in early 2020, he began connecting those narrative shorts into a serialized story about an evil talking coconut named Charl. This so-called "Charl saga" culminated in June with the release of a feature-length film, Night of the Coconut, which is available on the streaming platform Nebula.Today, on the season one finale of Follow Friday, Patrick shared some of his favorite follow recommendations, while imposing some additional rules on himself: With "one asterisk," he says, he picked favorite accounts run by people he doesn't know in real life: Kobe Eats (@kobeeats on YouTube and TikTok, @kobe_yn on Instagram); Jackson Murphy (@LCJReviews on Twitter and @LightsCameraJackson on YouTube); Neil Cicierega (@neilcic on Twitter and YouTube); and the George Lucas Talk Show (@TheGeorgeLucasTalkShow on YouTube).Thank you to everyone who has tuned in to this season of Follow Friday. You can help make season two a reality by completing a 5-minute survey at followfridaypodcast.com/season2. And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Patrick shares a bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, and Elizabeth.Also:Follow Patrick @patrickhwillems on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram Watch Night of the Coconut on Nebula Follow us @FollowFridayPod on

"When you're a broadcaster, you don't have a conversation you can't use as content," jokes Roman Mars — well, mostly jokes. The host of 99% Invisible says he's trying to use the internet more thoughtfully than he used to, and that includes not needing to share everything with the world."The past year, it's been really the focus of my time, actually not having every thought be on social media and making everything into something," he says.Today on Follow Friday, Roman talks about which creators he likes to follow, including: Constitutional law professor Elizabeth Joh (@elizabeth_joh on Twitter); writer and podcaster John Green (@literallyjohngreen on TikTok); competent people who calmly do things well, such as @stellarsidewalks, @texasbeeworks, and @rightchoiceshearing on TikTok; and the subreddit /r/oddlysatisfying.And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Roman shares a bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, and Elizabeth. Also: Follow Roman @romanmars on Twitter and @theromanmars on InstagramListen to 99% Invisible and What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! hello@followfridaypodcast.com This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

When her college internship was canceled by the COVID-19 shutdown in spring 2020, Annie Rauwerda had a lot of unexpected time on her hands. And instead of learning to bake bread or speak Esperanto, she began curating weird and amusing things she found on Wikipedia.Two years later, Depths of Wikipedia has more than 1.5 million followers combined across Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. That success means walking a fine line: Annie wants to celebrate Wikipedia's oddities and encourage her followers to edit pages, but not to intentionally contribute false info or "bad writing for the sake of humor.""Sometimes I'll post something and then it'll start getting vandalized a bunch," she says. "Like when I posted the List of Mammals Displaying Homosexual Behavior — don't do this, by the way — people started editing it to add in their name. It's funny, I guess, for two seconds, but then you just feel bad."Today on Follow Friday, Annie shares some great follow recommendations: Meta-influencer Harry Hill (@veryharryhill on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok); Twitter bots such as @NYT_first_said, @ResNeXtGuesser, and @AceCourtBot; post-ironic Catholic Instagram pages such as @ineedgodineverymomentofmylife and @praying; and TikTok aggregator Leia Jospe (@favetiktoks420 on Instagram).And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Annie shares a bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. We'll be off next week for the 4th of July weekend in the US, and will be back on Friday, July 8th.Also: Follow Annie: @anniierau on Twitter, @annierau on Instagram, and @anniierau on TikTokFollow Depths of Wikipedia: @depthsofwiki on Twitter, @depthsofwikipedia on Instagram and TikTok Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramLeave a review:

When Rusty Foster started the email newsletter Today in Tabs, in 2013, "tabs" was trendy media slang for the articles open in your browser that you were hate-reading. That meaning has faded into obscurity, but Today in Tabs is going strong, dishing up must-reads, great tweets, and a song every Monday-Thursday."I do the sort of thing that you do when you have a job where you don't have enough work to do, and you spend a lot of time procrastinating on Twitter," he says. "I do that professionally. I read stuff on Twitter. I keep track of the good tweets and I keep an eye on what people are talking about."Today on Follow Friday, Rusty shares four great follow recommendations: Programmer and cryptocurrency critic Molly White (@molly0xFFF on Twitter); musician and comedian Petey (@petey_usa on Instagram, @peteyusa on TikTok); writer and technologist Paul Ford (@ftrain on Twitter); and role-playing game podcaster Taylor Moore (@taylordotbiz on Twitter). And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Rusty shares a fifth bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. Also: Follow Rusty @fka_tabs on Twitter Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! hello@followfridaypodcast.com This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Today we're playing four bonus follow recommendations that originally were exclusive to Follow Friday XL, our special podcast feed for supporters on Patreon. If you want to get five follow recommendations per week instead of the usual four, you can donate $1 or more at patreon.com/followfriday!In today's episode:The Stacks host Traci Thomas talks about someone super-talented who’s still under the radar, Whit McClure (@whit_hazen on Instagram)The Comics Curmudgeon writer Josh Fruhlinger talks about someone who makes the internet a better place: Rusty Foster (@fka_tabs on Twitter)There Are No Girls on the Internet host Bridget Todd talks about someone who has stopped posting, but needs to come back: Teju Cole (@tejucole on Twitter)Bullseye host and Maximum Fun founder Jesse Thorn talks about someone he's jealous of: Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel on Instagram and Twitter)Also: Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! hello@followfridaypodcast.com This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

There Are No Girls on The Internet is an award-winning podcast about people who have always been at the forefront of technology, but whose stories are often ignored or misrepresented. That's a big and sometimes contentious field, and TANGOTI host Bridget Todd says it's important to make space for everyone to work through difficult conversations about inclusion, rather than expecting everyone to "get it" right away."I've been in social change movements for a long time and I do think we have this expectation that we expect people to show up with the right ethos and the right language and the right perspective," Bridget says. "And I get that, but I also feel like it doesn't leave room to hear the messy conversations of how people become smarter, better, more nuanced, and more thoughtful."Today on Follow Friday, she explains how to use social media when disinformation is circulating after a tragedy, how she has evolved her thinking about politics online, why she's optimistic about a new online platform for the first time in a while, and much more. She also shares four great follow recommendations: Early podcaster and co-host of Uhh Yeah Dude Jonathan Larroquette (@jonathanlarroquette on Instagram); political pundit and former The View co-host Meaghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain on Twitter and Instagram); comedy writer and Showtime TV star Ziwe (@Ziwe on Twitter); and Somewhere Good CEO Naj Austin (@najaustin on Instagram and @najjmahal on Twitter).And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Bridget shares a fifth bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. Also: Follow Bridget @BridgetMarie on Twitter and @BridgetMarieInDC on Instagram Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and Instagram Leave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! hello@followfridaypodcast.com This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

A preview of next week's episode, featuring There Are No Girls on the Internet host Bridget ToddPlease consider donating to the Texas Elementary School Shooting Victims Fund. 100 percent of the money raised will go to the survivors and the families of the victims from the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. And here is a longer list of Uvalde fundraisers that have been vetted & verified by GoFundMe.

For more than five years, Lindsay Ellis produced video essays on YouTube, analyzing everything from the Transformers movies to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals to popular tropes in film and TV. And in 2020, after more than a decade of wanting to be an author, she published her first book — the bestselling sci-fi novel Axiom's End, which was informed by that same attentiveness to pop culture. After 9/11, she noticed, popular alien invasion stories had shifted from "goofy" stories to "dead serious" ones, like Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds."It's an alternate history that takes place in the late 2000s," she says of the first book, which is getting a sequel in October called Truth of the Divine. "Basically, it's what if first contact happened during the Bush administration? ... It's a thought experiment of how would we react if civilization has to keep on trucking the way we have, but now we have this great existential quandary that, at least in the universe of the book, is heavily politicized."On today's podcast, Lindsay talks about four people she loves to follow on YouTube: A pop music analyst who breaks down one-hit wonders, band-breaking records, and more; a prolific video essayist who wears her enthusiasm on her sleeve; an aviation expert who explains the history of air disasters; and a former Vine star who cooks up brilliant video ideas like it's nothing.You can get bonus follow recommendations every week — including an extra follow from Lindsay — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month. Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. Follow us:- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel- Follow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesj- Check out Modem Mischief to hear the true stories of the outlaws of cyberspaceThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Jesse Thorn has been podcasting since 2005, when he put his college radio show The Sound of Young America on the internet. He was a little early to the party: Six million Americans had listened to a podcast back then, versus 177 million today. But Jesse stuck with it, and then some. The Sound of Young America became the hit NPR series Bullseye, and he founded the comedy & culture podcast network Maximum Fun, which powers dozens of other podcasts, including Jesse's other shows — Judge John Hodgman and Jordan, Jesse, Go!Today on Follow Friday, he explains why he got into podcasting, his passion for dad movies, feeling like an outsider inside NPR, and much more. He also shares four great follow recommendations: An adorable "scruffy dog" named Archie (@archie.was.here on Instagram); New York Times opinion columnist and podcaster and cereal critic Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie on Twitter and Instagram); comedian and roller derby commentator Blaine Capatch (@blainecapatch on Twitter); and Pop Culture Happy Hour host & author Linda Holmes (@lindaholmes on Twitter and @lindaholmes97 on Instagram).And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Jesse shares a fifth bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. Also: Follow Jesse @JesseThorn on Twitter and @put.this.on on Instagram Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and Instagram Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter Email us! hello@followfridaypodcast.com P.S. Here's Blaine Capatch's list of the 500 Worst Albums of the 20th Century.This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé first became an internet meme before most people knew what memes were: At Nintendo's presentation at the gaming expo E3 2004, he turned heads by announcing, "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games.""I received a message from my teenage son who told me, 'Dad, you're famous,'" Reggie says. "They weren't called memes at the time — these were Photoshopped images. He sent me these images of me blowing up a competitive console; me dressed up like Sylvester Stallone from one of his movies; me looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger from TheTerminator."Today on Follow Friday, Reggie shares the backstory of another press conference that made him even more internet-famous, and talks about his new book Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo. And he explains why we should follow "Originals" and "Think Again" author Adam Grant (@Adamgrant on Instagram, @AdamMGrant on Twitter and LinkedIn); Pivot co-host and New York Times writer Kara Swisher (@karaswisher on Twitter and Instagram); The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon on Instagram and Twitter); and the founder of The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley on Twitter).Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Reggie talks about what he has learned from following author and executive advisor Roger L. Martin.Also:Follow Reggie @Reggie on Twitter and buy Disrupting the GameFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterEmail us! hello@followfridaypodcast.comThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: a...

On the internet, body shaming is alive and well, nutrition advice can be wildly inaccurate, and it's a lot easier to scroll through Instagram for hours than to get up and go for a run. But Danielle Friedman, who literally wrote the book on women's fitness, says there's one extremely good thing that social media has done for our bodies, which we shouldn't ignore."Body acceptance activist Virgie Tovar told me that social media has given a voice to the people who have always been the majority in number, but not in influence," Danielle says. "You don't have to go through all of the traditional channels to be visible. You can just start posting selfies and find an audience and build an audience that way. And I know it's easier said than done, but in spending years researching this history, that is a significant shift."Today on Follow Friday, Danielle talks about what else she learned while researching Let's Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World. And she opens up about four of her favorite people she follows online:Someone who she just started following: Katie Sturino, @katiesturino on TikTok and InstagramSomeone who makes her laugh: 70s Dinner Party, @70sdinnerparty on Instagram and @70s_party on TwitterSomeone who makes her think: Laura McLaws Helms, @laurakitty on InstagramSomeone who makes the internet a better place: Jessamyn Stanley, @mynameisjessamyn on Instagram and TikTok, @JessamynStan on Twitter, and @JessamynStanley on YouTubeThank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Danielle talks about someone who's an expert in a very specific niche she loves: Dr. Natalia Mehlman Petrzela.Also:Follow Danielle @daniellefriedmanwrites on Instagram and @DFriedmanWrites on TwitterFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterThis show is a...

When her college friend Amber invited her to the beach five years ago, T.J. Raphael had no idea that saying "yes" would change the course of her career. On the beach, Amber told T.J. about discovering — thanks to an at-home DNA kit — that her biological father was not the man who helped raised her. Instead, her "bio-dad" was a formerly anonymous sperm donor, and Amber was not his only child finding out about him.Reporting out the story of Amber's parentage opened the door to all kinds of stories about the "baby business," which T.J. explores in her acclaimed new podcast BioHacked: Family Secrets.Today on Follow Friday, T.J. talks about the reporting process for BioHacked as well as four of her favorite people she follows online:Someone who makes her laugh: Sydney Battle, @sydneybattle on Twitter and @sydbattle on InstagramSomeone she doesn't know, but wants to be friends with: Dan Savage, @dansavage on Instagram and Facebook, and @fakedansavage on TwitterSomeone she just started following: Kenzo Mizumoto, @kenzomizumoto on TikTok and InstagramSomeone who makes the internet a better place: Christi Steyn, @christi.steyn on TikTok and InstagramThank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which T.J. talks about someone super-talented who's still under the radar: Comedian Shelby Wolstein.Also:Follow T.J. on Twitter @tjraphael, and listen to BioHacked: Family SecretsFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona MarieShow art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Charlie Harding says he "procrastinates" by watching YouTube videos about sound design. But it's not an aimless hobby, because Charlie is a musician and the co-host of Switched on Pop, Vulture's podcast about the making and meaning of popular music. "Reporting on music, I'm like, 'I need to understand every little thing about how the songs are made,'" he says. "I frequently will actually recreate songs before I think about how to report on them, because I almost want to get inside the creative mind of the person making it."Today on Follow Friday, Charlie talks about four of his favorite people he follows online:Someone who makes the internet a better place: Scary Pockets, @scarypockets on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and FacebookSomeone he's jealous of: Cat Zhang, @CatZhang1 on TwitterSomeone he has a crush on: Bess Kalb, @bessbell on TwitterSomeone who's an expert in a very specific niche he loves: Dan Worrall, @DanWorrall on YouTubeThank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Charlie talks about someone he doesn't know, but wants to be friends with: Musician and comedian Reggie Watts.Also:Follow Charlie @charlieharding on Twitter and listen to Switched on PopFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona Marie Show art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Justin Myers is a writer for British GQ and the author of three novels, most recently The Fake-Up. But he's probably best known for his blog The Guyliner, where since 2014 he has added his own commentary to a long-running dating column from the British newspaper The Guardian. Today on Follow Friday, Justin talks about four of his favorite people he follows online:Someone who makes the internet a better place: Daytime Snaps, @daytimesnaps on TwitterSomeone who makes him think: Annie Lord, @annielord8 on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who makes him laugh: R Eric Thomas, @oureric on TwitterSomeone he doesn't know in real life, but wants to be friends with: Dame Joan Collins, @joancollinsDBE on Twitter and InstagramThank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Justin talks about someone he has followed forever: Comedian Mollie Goodfellow.Also:Follow Justin @theguyliner on Twitter and Instagram, and at theguyliner.comFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona Marie Show art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

Josh Fruhlinger is better known to the internet as the Comics Curmudgeon, and for something like 15 years, he's been riffing on the oddities of newspaper comics at joshreads.com. If you want to know which Mary Worth character got into a fight with a cat, Josh is your guy. Today on Follow Friday, Josh talks about four of his favorite people he follows online:Someone who's an expert in a very specific niche that he loves: Numble, @numble on TwitterSomeone he's followed forever: Katie Notopoulos, @katienotopoulos on Twitter Someone he's jealous of: Annie Rauwerda, @anniierau and @depthsofwiki on Twitter, @depthsofwiki on Instagram, and @depthsofwikipedia on TikTok (and here's the skeleton picture Josh mentions)Someone he just started following: WHH Haters Posting Their L's Online, @WHHHLsonline on TwitterThank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, Matthias, and Shima. On our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Josh talks about someone who makes the internet a better place: Today in Tabs writer Rusty Foster.Also:Follow Josh on Twitter @jfruh and read the Comics Curmudgeon at joshreads.comFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterThis show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric JohnsonMusic: Yona Marie Show art: Dodi HermawanSocial media producer: Sydney Grodin

(Full transcript)Traci Thomas is the host of The Stacks, a podcast about books and the people who read them. Today on Follow Friday, she talks about four of her favorite people she follows online:Someone she has a crush on: Jason Reynolds, @jasonreynolds83 on TwitterSomeone she doesn't know in real life, but wants to be friends with: Shea Serrano (@sheaserrano on Twitter, @shea.serrano on Instagram) and Larami Serrano (@laramiserranophoto on Instagram)Someone who makes the internet a better place: @KieseLaymon on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who has stopped posting but needs to come back: Still Processing, a podcast hosted by Jenna Wortham (@jennydeluxe on Twitter and Instagram) and Wesley Morris (@wesley_morris on Twitter, @wsslyy on Instagram)And on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Traci talks about someone super-talented who’s still under the radar: Floral designer Whit McClure.Also:Follow Traci @bitracial on Twitter and listen to The Stacks podcastFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, Matthias, and Shima.

When she's not tweeting about sumo oranges or her podcast Lecture Hall, Broti Gupta is a writer for The Simpsons. And the long gap between when a Simpsons script is written and when the animated episode makes it to the air means Gupta and her colleagues have to think carefully about what aspects of internet culture have the staying power to be referenced on the show. "It wouldn't reference Bean Dad, but we might have an episode of our own 'bean dad,'" she says.Today on Follow Friday, Broti talks about four of her favorite people she follows online:Someone she's followed forever: Dylan Gelula, @dylangelula on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who's an expert in a very specific niche she loves: The Cincinnati Zoo, @cincinnatizoo on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who makes her laugh: Helena, @freshhel on Twitter and @bugsizechihuahua on InstagramSomeone who makes her think: Sarah Hagi, @KindaHagi on TwitterAnd on our Patreon page, you can unlock Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Broti talks about someone super-talented who’s still under the radar: Amelia Elizalde, a writer for Clickhole and Reductress (plus some bonus material about Dylan Gelula).Also:Follow Broti on Twitter @brotiguptaFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, Matthias, and Shima.

(Full transcript of this podcast available here).When he's not writing about the media and running a PR agency, Ed Zitron is probably on Twitter, where he's curated a perfect experience for himself: He follows fascinating people who represent what he cares about, and aggressively mutes what he doesn't care for, including words like "doge," "stonk," and "Gamestop.""It's a melting pot of crap, just like my brain," he says.On today's show, Ed puts talks about four of his favorite accounts on Twitter: A baseball analyst who seems like a genuinely fun person to hang out with; a talented videographer who makes cool stuff look cooler; a musician/webcomic artist who might kick your ass (at the right place and right time); and a corporate account that posted the greatest tweet in the history of Twitter.And on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. We had recorded a bonus follow with Ed for the page, but it's already available to the public in this episode. Also:Follow Ed @edzitron on Twitter and subscribe to his newsletter, Where's Your Ed AtFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias

Hrishikesh Hirway is a prolific creator: A podcaster, a newsletter writer, a TED speaker, a composer, and more. And he's also a musician who has collaborated with everyone from Lakeith Stanfield to Yo-Yo Ma; his first EP since 2011, Rooms I Used to Call My Own, comes out March 30.Today on Follow Friday, Hrishikesh talks about four of his favorite people he follows online, including a collaborator who helped him get over writer's block while making that album:Someone he just started following: Sumesh Hirway, @sumeshhirway on InstagramSomeone he doesn't know in real life, but wants to be friends with: Rose Matafeo, @rose_matafeo on Twitter and @rosematafeo on InstagramSomeone super-talented who's still under the radar: John Mark Nelson, @johnmarknelson on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who's an expert in a very specific niche he loves: Erik Agard, @e_a_rly on TwitterAnd on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Hrishikesh talks about someone he has followed forever: The award-winning artist and illustrator Susie Ghahremani.Also:Follow Hrishikesh @HrishiHirway on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to his newsletter, Accept CookiesFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias

Full transcript hereAlexis Gay is one of those rare cases you hear about: For seven years, she was a tech worker who wanted to do comedy; then, she posted a video on Twitter in April 2020 that took her from under 1,000 followers to more than 15,000. Several viral hits later, she's now pursuing comedy full-time and hosting the podcast Non-Technical, where she interviews people from the tech world about everything that's not on their résumes.Today on Follow Friday, Alexis shares the love and talks about four of the coolest people she follows online:Someone she's jealous of: Evan Ross Katz, @evanrosskatz on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who makes her think: Mike Isaac, @MikeIsaac on Twitter and @mike_isaac on InstagramSomeone who makes her laugh: Kylie Brakeman, @deadeyebrakeman on Twitter and TikTokSomeone who's an expert in a very specific niche she loves: Tobin Mitnick, @jewslovetrees on Instagram and TikTokAnd on our Patreon page, you can pledge any amount of money to get access to Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Alexis talks about someone super-talented who is still under the radar, the musician and comedian Sarah Dooley.Also:Follow Alexis @YayAlexisGay on Twitter and Instagram Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on TwitterTheme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, and Matthias