Heated Rivalry's Podcast Drama; White House Posts AI Altered Crying Arrest Photo; Morally Dubious Florida Candidate Dislikes Only Fans - NEWS ROUNDUP!

There Are No Girls on the Internet

iHeartPodcasts

Technology, Society & Culture

4.1 • 906 Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2026

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this week's News Roundup, Bridget and Producer Mike cover the tech & culture news stories you might have missed.

Oscar nominations are out, and Bridget has opinions!

The Internet is consumed with controversy over two straight hockey podcasters' embrace of the hot and heavy queer series Heated Rivalry after text messages shared with Alex Reimer at Queerty suggest it's all an act. This is the low stakes, high drama Internet conflict we live for. https://www.queerty.com/do-hockey-bros-actually-like-heated-rivalry-or-are-they-just-performing-for-views-20260121/

The White House social media team posted an altered photo that used AI to darken a protester and civil rights icon's skin and make it look like she was crying, hours after they had posted the unaltered photo that showed her looking badass and defiant. When faced with a choice between "despicable" or "incompetent," this administration once again grabs for both. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/22/white-house-ice-protest-arrest-altered-image

Florida man, manosphere podcaster, and Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback is running on a platform of attacking Only Fans models, but less interested in talking about dodging lawsuits from his former employer or his alleged affair with a girl who worked for him when she was 17.

Soledad O’Brien on the now Oscar Nominated documentary Perfect Neighbor: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soledad-obrien-explores-stand-your-ground-in-netflix/id1520715907?i=1000738453445

Gloria Richardson’s iconic side eye: https://www.grunge.com/465629/the-untold-story-of-gloria-richardson/

We Watched Amazon Prime’s War of the Worlds So You Don't Have To: https://omny.fm/shows/there-are-no-girls-on-the-internet/we-watched-amazon-prime-s-war-of-the-worlds-so-you-dont-have-to

Let us know what you think by emailing hello@tangoti.com or leaving a comment on Spotify.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
0:08.2	There are No Girls on the Internet as a production of IHeart Radio and Unbossed Creative.
0:16.4	I'm Bridget Todd, and this is There Are No Girls on the Internet.
0:22.5	Welcome to There Are No Girls on the Internet, where we explore the intersection of technology,
0:26.2	social media, and identity. And this is another installment of our weekly news roundup,
0:30.8	where we talk through all the stories that you might have missed on the Internet this week,
0:33.9	so you don't have to.
0:41.6	I hope I'm not opening up a can of worms on this one because I think it's going to be one of those topics that people have a lot to say about.
0:44.8	Leave it in the Spotify comments.
0:46.3	I read them all.
0:46.9	I want to know.
0:48.5	Don't come for me, but let's just get into it.
0:50.9	So there are two former hockey players who are brothers, Dan and Chris
0:56.1	Powers. They have a very popular hockey podcast called Empty Netters. As far as we know,
1:03.5	they are both cis straight white dudes. They had been covering the show Heated Rivalry. We talked
1:10.3	about Heated Rivalry a little bit. It's about
1:12.3	two male hockey players who have a romance, and it's very horny. It is a very horny show.
1:21.2	So I don't listen to the podcast, but in a piece for Queerty, writer Alex Reamer describes
1:25.6	the podcast's coverage of heated rivalry like this.
1:29.6	Instead of breaking down games and chattering over penalties, dudes sporting sweats and sloppy
1:34.5	stubble started reacting to the lascivious scenes and intimate interplay between the two male leads.
1:39.6	Their efforts resulted in hundreds of thousands of views and unforeseen popularity. So it sounds like these two
	...

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