Decline porn explained, and why Clavicular is misunderstood
Top Comment
BBC
4.0 • 545 Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2026
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If your feed has been flooded with content about the 'dangers' of western cities like London or San Francisco, you're not alone - it's part of a growing phenomenon known as decline porn, and it's driving narratives of political neglect and uncontrolled immigration.
On this episode, Marianna examines a niche take on this trend - AI videos which falsely portray zoos and waterparks in Croydon. She tracks down the original creator of these posts, and explains why they might not be as innocent as they seem.
Also, Matt has been investigating Clavicular - the internet's man of the moment. After signing up to his 'looksmaxxing' course, we discuss the controversial relationships propping up his virality, and what the mainstream media is getting wrong about the streaming sensation.
Top Comment is hosted by Marianna Spring and Matt Shea. The series producer is Laurie Kalus. The social producer is Sophie Millward. The technical producer was Gareth Jones. The editor is Justine Lang. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. The commissioning producer is Nathan Jones. The commissioning editor is Rhian Roberts.
If you want to get in touch about something that's popped up on your feed, our email address is topcomment@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | An early start here. It's time to kick off. |
| 0:10.0 | Your day. Morning! |
| 0:11.9 | What a line-up. |
| 0:13.3 | Oh, thanks very much. We do get some great guests on the show. |
| 0:16.1 | The crowd is loving this. |
| 0:18.3 | Thanks, guys. Thank you. Too kind. |
| 0:20.2 | From morning chaos to match day commentary. |
| 0:23.6 | And everything in between. |
| 0:25.0 | BBC sounds packed with personality. |
| 0:28.9 | Okay, Matt, we have been chatting for ages about doing a podcast because I guess we investigate |
| 0:33.6 | and analyze different bits of the social media world that kind of complement each other. |
| 0:39.0 | Yeah, exactly. I mean, I've followed your work for a long time. You're the official, |
| 0:43.1 | what's your job title? I'm the social media investigations correspondent, which basically means |
| 0:46.8 | I look into the real world consequences of stuff like conspiracy theories and trolling and |
| 0:51.5 | algorithms and all that kind of thing. So you really are the expert on this. |
| 0:54.8 | No, and as are you, as are you. Well, I'm a freelance investigative reporter. I do cover a lot of the |
| 0:59.5 | same stuff as you. I also cover the Manosphere, crypto, internet culture, all the kind of dark |
| 1:04.5 | corners of the internet. And the purpose of this podcast, top comment is essentially for us to |
| 1:09.7 | talk about, analyze, investigate what is |
| 1:12.8 | popping up on your social media feed, which is basically how we're all experiencing the world |
| 1:15.9 | right now. |
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