The Two Internet Villains Staging a Comeback
Slate Debates
Slate Podcasts
4.6 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 19 November 2025
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today’s episode host Kate Lindsay is joined by New York Magazine feature writer, Rebecca Jennings, to discuss the two internet villains currently trying to get back in the internet’s good graces. First, there’s former Try Guy Ned Fulmer, who was ousted from the group after having an affair with an employee, and has now relaunched his YouTube channel as well as his own podcast. Then, Colleen Ballinger, also known as MirandaSings, appeared on Tea Time with Raven Symone and Miranda Maday to discuss allegations that she had interacted inappropriately with her fans. In both cases, fans have rejected their attempts to return. So why do they keep coming back?
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, 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. |
| 0:22.1 | And the story currently dominating media Twitter, but I feel like some very online people |
| 0:26.3 | will probably be interested as well, is the return of Olivia Nuzzi. |
| 0:30.3 | And so we're going to get into that off the bat with today's episode guest, Rebecca |
| 0:34.9 | Jennings, features writer at New York Magazine. Rebecca, welcome, but most |
| 0:39.5 | importantly, have you been following this? Okay, so I was on a work trip this weekend, so I'm |
| 0:44.7 | kind of out of the loop, but I did read the excerpt, and I read her ex-Rioniza's substack about it, |
| 0:51.4 | which really ends with a great twist. |
| 1:00.2 | For those who haven't been following, Olivia Nuzzi was the journalist who had an inappropriate relationship with RFK Jr. At the time he was running in the 2024 election, now you might know |
| 1:06.3 | him as Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, and she was fired from her job at New York |
| 1:10.9 | magazine last year. |
| 1:12.4 | But now, she has returned to the spotlight ahead of her new book, American Canto, |
| 1:17.5 | and she's detailing all this and more. |
| 1:19.8 | She's gotten a New York Times profile about her. |
| 1:22.2 | The excerpt was published in Vanity Fair, like you mentioned. |
| 1:24.8 | She's also joining Vanity Fair as West Coast editor. So, yes, |
| 1:29.2 | and then there was this lore drop, literally breaking news last night from her ex, Ryan Lizza, |
| 1:34.5 | detailing even more unknown details about what went down in their like 10-year relationship. |
| 1:40.5 | But let's just talk about the excerpt. What do you think of the excerpt? Are you going to |
| 1:44.6 | read the book? Oh, I absolutely want to read the book. I, you know, I liked the way it wove in |
| 1:51.2 | details about the American West with, you know, the tumult of what she was going through at the time. |
| 1:58.5 | I've always thought she was a really great writer, and I just cannot wait to, |
... |
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.