The Internet Was Built to Objectify Women

Galaxy Brain

The Atlantic

Technology

4.5 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2026

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Galaxy Brain, Charlie Warzel confronts the growing crisis around AI-generated sexual abuse and the culture of impunity enabling it. He examines how Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok is being used to create and circulate nonconsensual sexualized images, often targeting women. Warzel lays out why this moment represents a red line for the internet: It is a test of whether society will tolerate tools that silence women through humiliation and intimidation under the guise of free speech. Warzel is then joined by The Atlantic’s Sophie Gilbert, the author of Girl on Girl, for a conversation about how misogyny has been a constant throughline in the history of internet innovation, from Facebook to YouTube. Warzel and Gilbert discuss today’s AI-powered exploitation and explore how new technologies repeatedly repackage old abuses at greater scale and speed. They discuss why this wave of hostility feels so intense right now, how backlash politics and platform design reinforce one another, and what is at stake if lawmakers, companies, and the public fail to draw a red line with Elon Musk’s Grok. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:59.4	and conditions apply it is about power it's about asserting that in certain spaces at least online
1:07.4	women are not equal human beings they will always be seen as non-human objects
1:11.7	anytime they you know have ways of speaking or voicing things they will be
1:17.3	essentially silence they'll be driven out of certain platforms they'll be made to
1:21.8	feel unwelcome they'll be shamed in lots of ways and humiliated.
1:33.3	Welcome back to Galaxy Brain.
1:35.2	I am your host, Charlie Warzel.
1:45.8	Last week, I offered up a little bit of a rant at the top about Elon Musk and Grock and the chatbot's undressing spree.
1:49.4	And it turns out I'm not done talking about that one.
1:54.4	Today's episode is going to be about the ways in which technology has shaped a culture that's been increasingly hostile to women online.
	...

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