Encore: Nobody Wants to Party Anymore
ICYMI
Slate Podcasts
3.9 • 800 Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2026
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today’s encore episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by sociologist and content creator Josh Lora, who goes by @tellthebeees on TikTok and Substack. In his viral piece, “The Mainstreaming of Loserdom,” Lora explores how a generation of people is becoming proudly anti-social, often in favor of staying home on their phones. While less and less people may be partying, they’re not exactly happy about it. Are we doomed to doomscroll, or can we fight for our right to party again?
This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's Kate, and I am off on vacation or on holiday, as they call it in the UK, which is where I am currently gallivanting. |
| 0:07.5 | And so we're sharing one of our favorite episodes with TikTok creator and sociologist Josh Laura, aka Tell the Bees. |
| 0:14.6 | Because as spring weather is on its way, I'm certainly ready to get out there and party. |
| 0:19.2 | But why does it seem like everyone else wants to stay home and bed rot? |
| 0:23.5 | Thanks, and we'll have a brand new episode for you this Saturday. Enjoy. |
| 0:48.0 | Hey, I'm Kate Lindsay, and you're listening to I-C-Y-M-I, or in case you missed it, Slate's podcast about internet culture. |
| 0:51.3 | And I don't know about you, but I want people to party again. |
| 0:55.6 | Like, I am the friend who is always trying to get everyone to go out, but it is getting harder and harder, and I am not the only one who is noticed. |
| 0:59.3 | Someone who has written a lot about this is Josh Laura, who goes by Tell the Bees on |
| 1:03.3 | both Substack and TikTok, where he takes a sociological approach to pop culture analysis, and |
| 1:09.3 | funnily enough, who you've probably already heard when listening |
| 1:11.8 | to our episodes because we play as TikToks all the time. Josh, welcome to the show. |
| 1:20.8 | Thank you so much for having me. That is very funny. I feel like I am constantly involving |
| 1:26.0 | myself in other people's drama and like kind of |
| 1:29.2 | eye in the sky saying, well, this is the sociological analysis, you know, but at the end of the day, |
| 1:33.9 | I think the core is that I unfortunately am nosy and messy. And so I'm able to couch it in like |
| 1:39.9 | explainers, but I do appreciate it. Thank you so much. Well, so now that we do have you here, |
| 1:45.7 | there's a question that we ask everyone when it's their first time on the pod. And that is, |
| 1:49.7 | what is your first internet memory? Oh, my goodness, that's such a good question. I feel like |
| 1:56.5 | definitely aim, because I unfortunately am a millennial. so I, you know, I put the CDs in the |
| 2:03.8 | desktop and like listen to the clanging and the clicking and the clacking. I will say that my |
| 2:09.8 | first internet memory is like Googling X-Men and like joining an X-Men forum at like 10 years old, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.