Are 62 Million Men In An Online "Rape Academy?"
ICYMI
Slate Podcasts
3.9 • 800 Ratings
🗓️ 25 April 2026
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by culture writer Kat Tenbarge to discuss CNN’s recent investigation into a global online “rape academy.” The reporters infiltrated a Telegram group of nearly 1000 men exchanging tactics to drug and sexually assault their partners, which they found through a specific pornography website. However, when CNN reported that this website received 62 million hits in a month, some readers conflated this number with the number of members in the Telegram group, resulting in viral misinformation. Those attempting to correct the record have been accused of minimizing these crimes. Why does the truth feel so controversial?
This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, I'm Kate Lindsay, and you're listening to I-CYMIMI or in case you missed it, Slate's podcast about internet culture. And today we are joined by |
| 0:23.4 | Kat Ten Barge. Welcome back, Kat. I mean, it's like you've never left. I'm so glad to be back. |
| 0:29.8 | What we're talking about today is a pretty heavy topic. So I wanted to ease into the episode by |
| 0:34.9 | talking about something a bit more fun, which is Lena Dunham's new memoir, |
| 0:39.3 | FamSick. |
| 0:40.5 | Kat, are you reading it? |
| 0:42.1 | Are you in the discourse? |
| 0:43.6 | Tell me where you stand. |
| 0:45.1 | I am waiting for my copy to arrive. |
| 0:48.7 | As is everyone in Brooklyn. |
| 0:57.8 | Exactly. |
| 0:58.7 | No, it is one of the most sought-after books in this area right now. |
| 1:02.8 | But I am reading the juicy excerpts online and enjoying all the discourse that has flowed |
| 1:08.3 | from it. |
| 1:09.4 | Yeah, we talked a bit about specifically the Lord Jack |
| 1:12.8 | Antonoff PowerPoint in a bonus episode last week. And so I had listened basically to little bits. |
| 1:19.2 | And so I was like scrubbing through. And now I've gone back and I'm about three quarters of the way |
| 1:22.9 | through just listening to the full thing. I mean, what's like the craziest thing to you that you've |
| 1:27.4 | learned? Oh, that's such a good question. I mean, what's like the craziest thing to you that you've learned? |
| 1:27.9 | Oh, that's such a good question. I mean, I've really enjoyed reading how she talks about |
| 1:32.2 | working with Adam Driver on girls. Yes, I didn't know any of that. Yeah. So interesting. I think |
| 1:38.4 | she's a very compelling writer generally, which is why obviously she's been so successful over the |
... |
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