Welcome to the Waves, Slate's podcast about gender, feminism, and the list of boys' names

written on the girls' bathroom wall.

Every episode you get a new pair of women to talk about the things we can't get off

our minds.

Today, you've got me, Heather Schwedell, a staff writer at Slate.

And me, Rebecca Aignin, a senior editor for Slate.

This week, we're discussing a controversial long-form article that appears on the cover

of the latest issue of New York magazine under the headline, Canceled at 17.

Written by Elizabeth Wheel, it's about a high school student named Diego who gets, quote,

unquote, canceled for showing a nude photo of his then-girlfriend to some other kids,

and everything that comes after that.

And the thing that really fascinated me about this story initially is the dynamics of

it are just the exact opposite of what I would have expected them to be during my own

high school years in the 2000s.

Then it was unimaginable that the whole school would stand up for Fiona, Diego's ex and

ostracized Diego, but that's what happens in this story, and that's progress.

And is it, though, Rebecca, why did you want to talk about this?

I thought the way that this was written was extremely fascinating.

It's designed to make the reader feel sympathy for this guy who did something that, you know,

is very wrong, uncomfortable and upsetting.

But it's also kind of tapped into a lot of people's pet topics in discourse right now.

You know, obviously, cancel culture, revenge porn, what the pandemic did to kids, and all

...