The Content Mines

Our Unified Theor(ies) Of 2023

Ryan Broderick — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 18:21:58 GMT

We thought we’d jump back on mic and talk through the weirdness of 2023, our first year since COVID that we didn’t put out a podcast every week. Luke thinks 2023 feels weird because millennials are no longer relevant. Ryan thinks 2023 feels weird because the internet has reverted back to what it was like in 2010. Maybe both theories are correct! Or maybe it was some other third reason. Either way, we spend a lot of time arguing about TikTok.

Another Dispatch From Outside

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 16:20:26 GMT

We’re back with another outside episode. We sat on a park bench and talked about Threads, NPC streamers on TikTok, and AI. Ryan also got chased by a wasp and a dog came by to say hi. Then we went and watched some cricket. A perfect summer afternoon. We’ll be back in a few months, probably. Bye bye!

A Dispatch From Outside

Mon, 01 May 2023 20:55:25 GMT

Ryan was in London so we did a little recording session out in a park last week. We wanted to talk about something other than Twitter and AI, but, let’s be real. That’s all we talked about. Also, perhaps most importantly, Luke finally watched all of Ted Lasso. And he’s real pissed.

We're Escaping The Content Mines

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 13:43:46 GMT

Well, all good things must come to an end. Also, this podcast. At least for a while. We’re going on indefinite hiatus! So this will be our last episode for a while. Why is this happening? A combination of reasons, which we explain in excruciating detail in this episode. But the main thing is that we just don’t want to be a show where we talk about whatever’s happening on Twitter every day and it feels like that’s what we’ve been turning into. Oh, we also talk about the new Avatar movie for a while.

BONUS: The World Cup and Netflix's "Wednesday"

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 20:41:47 GMT

This week’s bonus is all about the only content Luke cares about right now: the World Cup. Also, we finished this edit right before Brazil got knocked out. And Ryan goes on a big long rant about the futility of caring about adaptations of intellectual property.

Oh, and here’s that 90s Alan pic as promised:

An A.I. Wrote This Podcast

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 19:47:55 GMT

This week we’re talking about ChatGPT, the text-based A.I. that everyone loves sharing screenshots of right now. We also go over the new viral hero of the UK, a man named Tom Skinner. And, finally, we cover the first drop of the #TwitterFiles, which is not really as exciting as Elon Musk seems to think it is? Oh, and, remember crypto? We’ve got some updates on the FTX collapse!

SHOW NOTES:

The YouTube comment about A.I. translation

The great Embedded piece about how boring text A.I. are

Tom Skinner’s incredible Twitter account

The FTX contagion

BONUS: Season one of "Andor"

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 20:47:35 GMT

Andor is so good that it almost makes it impossible to watch other Star Wars properties. We waited until the season had wrapped to really dive in and, boy, was there a lot to cover. So many layers to unpack! Also, Andor finally answers to very important questions for the franchise: What would a droid do at a funeral and what do kitchens look like in the Star Wars universe.

Twitter Might Not Be Salvageable Anymore

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 20:45:02 GMT

This week, Luke admits that the US World Cup team is doing really well. Then we do a catch up on all the bad stuff that happened on Twitter this week. Though, we did record this before the Kanye West stuff, which means, there’s likely been even more bad stuff that’s happened since. We also took at a look at the podcasts that are performing the best on Spotify right now. And, finally, we take a tour through the weird Gen Z men’s rights world of TikTok.

Oh, also, we go over The Content Mines’ Spotify Wrapped. We learned a lot about our own metrics!

BONUS: Why doesn't Amazon tell anyone about their new shows?

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 18:03:26 GMT

Ryan consumed a lot of content over the last week and he has a lot of thoughts about Amazon Prime Video’s marketing strategy. Which appears to just… not exist? Like the whole platform is full of very well-made science fictions show that they don’t tell anyone about. And it’s really weird!

Has Facebook “Fixed” Its News Feed?

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 17:33:49 GMT

This week, we went through all the links in Facebook’s new Widely Viewed Content Report. We also do a catchup on Musk Twitter drama and run through the complexities of World Cup viral content.

And here’s the Everton fans video, here’s the Wall Street Journal article about Facebook’s “Content Quality War Room,” and here’s this quarter’s Widely Viewed Content Report.

BONUS: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 22:56:08 GMT

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a fantastic and heartfelt tribute to Chadwick Boseman. It is also a bit messy and suffers from a lot of the same problems that other Phase 4 MCU movies are having. Also, its script doesn’t make a ton of sense, but would have probably made a lot more sense if it had a real villain in it. Maybe even a certain Latverian despot?? Either way, we can all agree that Namor is absolutely cool as hell.

Turning Nostalgia Into Crypto Pyramid Schemes

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 22:55:46 GMT

We have three huge topics of equal importance to cover on this week’s show. First, we catch you up on the latest with Musk Twitter — fired employees, weird confusing product decisions, bugs and glitches, and hallucinogenics, apparently. Then we run through the bizarre story of what happened with Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX. And, then, finally, but perhaps most importantly of all, we talk about why the UK treasury has a Discord now.

Also, this episode has some extremely good new Producer Alan lore.

The Great Paid Verification Debate

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 16:20:10 GMT

This week Ryan and Luke sat down in their favorite pub in London and hashed out what is, perhaps, the greatest debate of our time: Whether or not paid verification on Twitter is good or bad. Luke thinks it’s fine. Ryan thinks it’s disgusting. All things considered, this stayed pretty civil. Also, literally right before we finished editing this episode Elon Musk seemingly ended the paid verified, at least temporarily. Which makes this whole conversation a bit more philosophical that practical, I suppose.

Also, here’s the Quora thread that Producer Alan found.

And, finally, thanks to everyone who came out to Bad Posters Club in London last night! It was a blast!!

Vague Hype Cycles With Billion Dollar Valuations

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 20:17:25 GMT

This week Ryan and Luke are in Lisbon, Portugal, for (the) Web Summit! They learned all about the metaverse and the blockchain and artificial intelligence and the highkey art of crushing deals. We also talked, of course, about the Elon Musk-ification of Twitter. Weirdly, Luke wants to pay for Twitter Blue. Ryan thinks it’s for class traitors, but also will probably end up paying for it.

No bonus episode this week, but we’ll see you at our live show in London next week and be back with a whole bunch of fun stuff next week.

BONUS: The finale of "House Of The Dragon"

Ryan Broderick — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 17:42:36 GMT

We’re here. At the end of the road for the first season of House Of The Dragon. We’re talking about the visual metaphors that have guided the show. We’re talking about the inherent corruption of power and war. And we’re talking about foot fetishes. There’s a lot happening in this episode.

The Stay-At-Home Girlfriends Of Tiktok

Ryan Broderick — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 16:31:21 GMT

This week we kick things off with a look at Google’s very bad earnings report and a bombshell Reuters report that revealed that Twitter seems to be hemorrhaging users. Then we take a dive into the exploitative and uncomfortable world of British “dangerous places” YouTubers. You know the ones. Those posh guys that go vlog in failed states and turn human misery into clickbait. And, finally, we take a long and comprehensive look at the rise of the TikTok stay-at-home girlfriend. Ryan says stay-at-home girlfriend content seems deeply isolating and lonely and sort of haunting to watch. While Luke just really wants to do nothing all day except drink juices and swim.

SHOW NOTES

“Alphabet just had its worst day since March 2020, when Covid shutdowns started in the U.S.”

“Exclusive: Twitter is losing its most active users, internal documents show”

Lord Miles Routledge Adventures

Bald and Bankrupt

Yes Theory

Kendel Kay’s TikTok

BONUS: We finally argue about "She-Hulk"

Ryan Broderick — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 23:08:07 GMT

Ryan loved it. Luke hated it. Producer Alan, perhaps sensing that he needed to find some middleground for the sake of making a coherent episode, said he didn’t like it at first and now likes it. We’re talking about She-Hulk. Was it the wonderful slice-of-life comedy that the MCU has desperately needed? Or was it dumb and bad, as Luke thought.

The Liz Truss Lettuce And Trickle-Down Twitter Brain

Ryan Broderick — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 23:07:36 GMT

Soooo this week’s big topic was about the currently-unraveling political situation in the UK. And while we were editing the episode British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned. But other than that, thanks to how weirdly slow-fast British politics moves, not much else we talked about this week has changed, so this should all still be pretty relevant! We also talked about the current trend of weird rich guys buying social networks and Ryan shares a theory he has about Netflix.

Also, come to our live show in London next month! The amazing lineup includes:

Chris Stokel-Walker, tech journalist
Saima Ferdows, comedian and producer
Hanna Ines Flint, author of Strong Female Character
Charlotte Colombo, freelance writer and editor at The Daily Dot
Sophia Smith Galer, journalist, content creator, and author of Losing It

Get tickets here!

SHOW NOTES

A rundown of the Kanye West Parler stuff

The good Netflix thread

Platformer’s Meta vs The Wire story

The Wire’s most recent statement on the whole thing

The bad right-wing Indian news site that does unfortunately make a good point about the whole Meta thing

Another good tweet about the Meta India stuff

The Liz Truss lettuce stream

@supertanskiii, @RussInCheshire, and @archer_rs

BONUS: House Of The Dragon episode 8 recap

Ryan Broderick — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 16:56:26 GMT

Ryan’s back all in on House Of The Dragon, but Luke is still very mad at how Ryan is watching it. And Alan this week has seen the light and now accepts that Game Of Thrones is just an anime. Also, somehow, Luke hates She-Hulk. Which is just unbelievable!!

TwitchCon's Cursed Foam Pit

Ryan Broderick — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 15:29:27 GMT

This week we’re checking back in on Twitch, the livestreaming platform that just can’t quite seem to figure out how to fit in with the rest of the internet. We’re going through the latest controversies from TwitchCon, including the cursed foam pit. But we’re also, more broadly, talking about why Twitch remains a somewhat niche thing. There was this assumption years ago that Twitch would eventually replace ESPN somehow, but that moment never happened, leaving the platform in a bizarre gray area where it sits just off to the side of everything else. So where does it go from here?

SHOW NOTES

“We need to talk about Facebook PR guy Andy Stone”

“Elon Musk's tweets about Ukraine, Taiwan and Kanye stoke worries about Twitter ownership”

“Meta and news outlet’s spar deepens India’s trust deficit”

Tweets from The Wire about the XCheck controversy

“‘Fat Bear Week’ Hit By Voter-Fraud Attempt”

John Fetterman makes his own memes

“TwitchCon had a foam pit exhibit. Two attendees say they got injured when they jumped in.”

Hasan responding the Sam Hyde meme