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The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Across the Gooniverse

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.610.8K Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sean’s guest today is Daniel Kolitz, author of a remarkable Harper’s story on “gooning.”  They talk about this emerging subculture and how it reflects back on the larger world, from the economics of attention to the rise of short-form everything. Kolitz explains why the Gooniverse isn’t just about porn, how hyperkinetic media rewires our sense of pleasure and patience, and why this is really a story about how society is changing in ways we might not like. Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling) Guest: Daniel Kolitz, author of The Goon Squad We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of ⁠⁠The Gray Area on YouTube⁠⁠.. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. This holiday season, your membership goes further: when you join Vox as an annual Member, we’ll gift a free membership to a reader who can’t afford it. By joining today, you’ll get 30% off for an annual membership, and we’ll match your membership. And if you can’t afford it, visit that same link to apply for a free membership through our gift program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Introducing the redesigned Dell PC with the Intel Core Ultra processor.

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0:06.0

Even when your holiday to do lists get to be a lot.

0:09.0

Like organising your holiday shopping and responding to holiday requests

0:12.0

and customer questions and customers requesting custom things

0:15.0

plus planning the perfect holiday dinner for vegans, vegetarians and Uncle Mike's carnival diet.

0:19.0

Luckily the Dell PC helps you handle a lot. And with impressive battery life, you can do it all faster to get it all done. That's the power of a Dell PC with Intel inside. Get yours at Dell.co.orgia forward slash holiday. Support for this show comes from Odu. Running a business is hard enough. So why make it harder with a dozen different apps that

0:38.1

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0:44.0

It's an all-in-one fully integrated platform that makes your work easier, CRM, accounting, inventory,

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1:01.2

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1:02.5

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1:05.6

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1:25.7

One of the great promises of the internet, one that actually came true, is that no matter how eclectic your taste, how unique your particular oddball obsession,

1:31.4

how small your subculture, you can go online and find community.

1:37.7

Which brings me to the Goonverse.

1:41.7

It's a digital subculture devoted to endless pornography and what I can only

1:47.6

describe as ritualize masturbation. Nitch? Yeah, sure. But another promise of the internet is that

1:59.2

subcultures born there will eventually bubble up into the culture itself and change it.

2:06.6

What felt weird and underground becomes normal.

...

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