All The World's A Hype House: What Leigh Stein's TikTok novel reveals about the way we live now

The Unspeakeasy With Meghan Daum

Meghan Daum

Society & Culture

4.8 • 784 Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2025

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Novelist, essayist, and publishing coach Leigh Stein returns to the show to discuss her new gothic-inspired novel, If You're Seeing This, It's Meant for You. Set in a Los Angeles "hype house," the book follows a 39-year-old woman managing a mansion full of TikTok influencers—and confronting the realities of aging out of digital media. Leigh talks about the inspirations behind the novel, from a Frank Lloyd Wright house to parasocial relationships to the controversies around Joan Didion's private papers. We also explore bigger questions: the future of Substack, fandom as a cultural force, the blurred line between art and content, and how young writers can navigate the creator economy. Along the way we get into Coldplay-Gate, public shaming as a modern scarlet letter, and what it really means to make a living while making art.

About the Guest:
Leigh Stein is the author of six books, including the satirical novel Self Care and her latest gothic novel, If You're Seeing This, It's Meant for You. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker online, Airmail, Allure, ELLE, BuzzFeed, The Cut, Salon, and Slate.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I am on the internet and I am a writer for the same reason, which is to connect to other people. So it's the same instinct for me in both things. Like I want to write a poem that one person will be like, I love that poem. And I want to make a video that one person will be like, that was hilarious. So for me, it's just the same, it's human to human. And this is also why I don't live in fear of AI. Because I think if you
0:23.0	build an audience, if you get those stalkers, those parasocial connections, that's human to
0:28.2	human. AI is not going to, can never replace that. Welcome to the unspeakable podcast. I am your host, Megan Downe, before we get to this interview with Lee Stein. A quick reminder that on September 3rd, it is coming right up in New York City, I will be in conversation with best-selling novelist and columnist Lionel Shriver. We will be talking about my new book,
0:57.1	The Catastrophe Hour, and also about Lionel's books, her columns in The Spectator, all kinds of things.
1:03.8	She's been a guest on the podcast many times. We always have a lot to talk about. This is happening at the Village Underground Comedy Club at 6 p.m.
1:13.3	On Wednesday, September 3rd, the link to buy tickets is in the show notes.
1:17.3	You can also go to megan.daum.com slash events.
1:21.1	If you purchase your ticket soon, and the event is happening soon, you get a discount
1:27.2	by using promo code Catastrophe 18 at checkout.
1:31.7	The doors are going to open at 515.
1:33.8	We will be selling books and we will be out of there by 7.30 because the comedy is going to start at 8.
1:40.7	It's going to be a great night.
1:42.3	I would love to see you there.
1:44.0	About a month after that, of course, is our big unspeak-easy ideas weekend featuring many speakers, among them John McWhorter, Carol Hooveen, Mike Pesca, Peter Moskos, Andrew Hart, Lisa Sellen Davis, Alana Newhouse, Ben Appel. Am I forgetting anybody? We have so many people. I am
2:06.4	probably forgetting somebody, but you've heard me say their names enough times. This is going to be
2:11.3	an incredible thing. There are still a few spots left, not a lot, but go to the unspeakeasy.com slash NYC to find out about it.
2:20.6	It's going to be amazing. Okay, today's guest is Lee Stein. She's a listener-favorite novelist,
2:29.1	essayist, very in-demand publishing coach. She's been here several times talking about books,
2:35.2	the publishing business, the strange state of our cultural economy. But this time she's here
2:40.9	talking about her own novel. It's brand new. It's called If You're Seeing This,
2:46.2	it's meant for you. And it's a contemporary Gothic mystery set in a Los Angeles TikTok hype house.
2:54.1	We'll talk about what a hype house is, how she managed to trap her heroin inside of one,
	...

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