Violating Community Guidelines (2022-present)
Hosted by Sarah Schauer and Brittany Broski
There aren't that many podcasts that make me laugh out loud, but Violating Community Guidelines never misses. I knew Sarah from Vine and Brittany from her viral kombucha meme. She actually got fired from her bank job because of it, but became an Internet phenomenon. They discuss topics that will resonate with people who are "chronically online". I practically grew up on the internet. I used to watch viral videos on YouTube in 240p, back when going viral was much more of a rarity and could get you on the news. To be honest, I don't feel at all nostalgic for the Ray William Johnson era of YouTube. It was so uncreative, repetitive and the casual homophobia, sexism and racism could be seen in comment sections everywhere. Violating Community Guidelines looks at soooo many internet related topics like fan fics (which Brittany is very passionate about as a former fan fic author), memes, cosplay, clickbait and much more. I've tried listening to it before when I couldn't sleep but it was counterproductive because it was making me laugh. Defo recommend.
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TMG Podcast (2018-present)
Hosted by Cody Ko and Noel Miller
The first video I saw of Cody and Noel was them reacting to an awful YouTuber called BarryBeeTV in late 2016. You can watch it here. I remember thinking it was great
to see intelligent, funny people on YouTube making observations about problematic people that other creators would be too scared to criticise in case it negatively impacted their image or led to "YouTube drama". Commentary videos have become increasingly popular over the years. I love watching video essays by people like Nerdwriter. The origin of the TMG Podcast was Cody's solo podcast Insanely Chill which he started in 2017. Noel made a few guest appearances on The Weekend Edition episodes which were really popular (everyone loves Cody n Noel together) and the TMG Podcast was born. The Insanely Chill YouTube channel was pretty much neglected. I had forgotten I was still subscribed to it but noticed it randomly the other day, then by total coincidence saw that Cody was actually reviving it. The way that Cody and Noel became friends is pretty wild. They both amassed a following on Vine, and both worked as software engineers. They had been messaging on Vine about potentially doing a collab and by total coincidence, Cody ended up working at the same company Noel worked at.
This is one of my fav episodes ⬇️
GET REAL (2020-present)
Hosted by Ashley Choi, Peniel Shin, Matthew Kim, Hyungjun Kim
Get Real explores topics like unattainable beauty standards, and navigating your life as an adult. It's hosted by BM, Ashley Peniel, Junny and guest hosts like Harry (rapper, pH-1) who are all Korean-American and grew up in the States before coming to Korea to start their lives as K-pop trainees. I didn't know who any of them were before coming across the podcast, and hadn't heard their music so this was a great introduction. They're all so down to earth, funny and genuine, and it feels like you're watching a group of friends hanging out. I love hearing their takes on things and their jokes are never mean spirited. Very casual and relaxed vibes. They've had some great guests on the show too, like Eric Nam, Jackson Wang and recently Balming Tiger. It feels like a lot of idols can't be open about their experiences and real opinions about things, so it's great to hear more controversial talking points being explored on Get Real. They must have sooo much tea that they can't discuss, I would love to hear it. They've talked about the reality of living as a K-pop trainee, and the pressures that come with being an idol (which they have all experienced firsthand). They've discussed how their physical appearance would be picked apart by staff members from the entertainment companies they were signed to, and how they would be advised about the plastic surgeries they should get done (like a jaw reduction for example). You can only imagine how damaging it is to a young person's self-esteem, being told everything that is supposedly wrong with their face, and how to fix it. A sign of a really good podcast is when they say "That's all for today guys" and you feel disappointed. The time really flies when I listen to Get Real.
The H3 Podcast, Episode #249 (2022)
Hosted by Ethan Klein, guest appearance: Brittany Broski
I'm not a regular viewer of the H3 Podcast, but every now and then they have a guest on who I really like, so I give it a watch. The Brittany Broski episode was one of the best ever (in my opinion). Brittany brings so much fun and positive energy. Another interesting episode they did was the Bella Poarch interview. Post Malone used to make appearances back when he was friends with Ethan and Hila ❤️🩹 (they've both said there's no bad blood, they just haven't seen each other for a long time).
Honourable Mention: Frenemies (2020-2021)
(Was) hosted by Ethan Klein and Trisha Paytas
Shoutout to Reddit for the last image, all the times Trisha left the set
I've already written a whole post dedicated to my love hate relationship with Frenemies. For a brief time, it was honestly (in my opinion) the most interesting podcast on YouTube and I looked forward to it every week. Viewers knew it would end one day. Whether that would be after the third episode or the thirtieth, no one knew, but we held onto hope that Ethan and Trisha could overcome the obstacles in their tumultuous friendship. Sadly it came to an abrupt end in June 2021. I can't rewatch or listen to any of the Frenemies episodes because each one was so different. It was jarring because it almost felt like Trisha was a different person each week. I've seen the occasional TikTok or YouTube video about it. Even though it only ended a year ago, it feels nostalgic. RIP.
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