This Country Runs On Slop
ICYMI
Slate Podcasts
3.9 • 800 Ratings
🗓️ 7 February 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Mia Sato, reporter at The Verge and author of the recent piece, “The rise of the slopagandist.” Creators like Nick Shirley are claiming to be journalists, making unfounded accusations against immigrants that directly result in ICE raids, including the unrest in Minneapolis that resulted in the death of two civilians. The content is lazy and designed to generate outrage, but is only becoming more influential as traditional journalism continues to decline.
This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, 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 podcast about internet culture. |
| 0:23.6 | And today on the show, I'm joined by Mia Sato. |
| 0:29.4 | Welcome Mia. Hello. I'm so happy to have you here in person. You're a reporter at The Verge. |
| 0:36.1 | You recently wrote a piece about, quote, sloppaganda. I love a fun new word. But now the new reason I'm excited for here is because when a guest is in person, I can see like I can. |
| 0:40.0 | And this is, since you have knit the vest you are wearing. |
| 0:42.2 | Yes. I'm sad that the listeners can't see it. |
| 0:44.6 | I know, I know. |
| 0:45.3 | But trust that it's good. |
| 0:46.2 | It's a good best. |
| 0:47.3 | It was like knitter recognized knitter across the table. |
| 1:02.8 | Well, so the first question we have to ask before we get into sloppaganda is the question that we ask all first-time guests on the show, which is what is your earliest internet memory? |
| 1:07.4 | I'm pretty sure it is Webkins. I have to be so real. Finally. I can't tell you how many times people say neopets and I go, I can't relate. I was a Webkins girl. I had so real. And yes, finally. I can't tell you how many times people say neopets, and I go, I can't relate. |
| 1:12.1 | I was a Webkins girl. |
| 1:13.5 | I had so many Webkins. |
| 1:15.5 | My favorite thing was to do the recipes and make nasty slop when it's failed. |
| 1:22.5 | But I had so many Webkins. |
| 1:24.1 | I was on there. |
| 1:24.9 | I was building massive sprawling homes. For a while, like when the Webkins |
| 1:30.1 | forums were still active, that was always like the first happy birthday email I would get. |
| 1:34.2 | Oh, yeah. Do they still email you? No, I think, sadly, the one that I was on shut down, |
| 1:39.8 | RIP. RIP. But yeah, I'm pretty sure it was Webkins. No, I love Webkins. And I think it's more |
| 1:45.8 | fun than Neopets. I mean, I say this, I never played Neopets. But because Webkins came with like |
... |
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.