Guest host Rebecca Jennings talks with Justin Charity, cultural critic and senior staff writer at The Ringer, about what it means to be dubbed a "hater" on the internet. Rebecca and Justin talk about the role of criticism and the evolving ways in which critics and fans clash online. They discuss how a bad review (or a review seen as bad) can spark a far-ranging backlash, how the meme-ified cry of "let people enjoy things" has been taken from its original context, and what — if anything — might change the dynamics between fans and critics.

Host: Rebecca Jennings (@rebexxxxa), senior correspondent, Vox

Guest: Justin Charity, senior staff writer, The Ringer; co-host of the Sound Only podcast

References:

"'Hater' doesn't have to be a dirty word" by Rebecca Jennings (Vox; Jan. 18)
"2022 Was the Year of the Metaverse — Until It Wasn't" by Justin Charity (The Ringer; Dec. 29, 2022)
"Why Did Everyone Claim to Enjoy Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp A Butterfly'?" by Justin Charity (Complex; Nov. 3, 2015)
"Jake Paul Exposed as $2.2M Serial Crypto Scammer" by Robert D. Knight & Levy Prata (Beincrypto; Mar. 8, 2022)
"Taylor Swift Super Fans Are Furious About a Good Review" by Gita Jackson (Vice; July 31, 2020)
"The YouTubers are not okay" by Rebecca Jennings (Vox; May 10, 2022)
"How 'let people enjoy things' became a fight against criticism" by Constance Grady (Vox; May 16, 2019)
The original "let people enjoy things" webcomic, by Adam Ellis (Feb. 3, 2016)
"Like This or Die" by Christian Lorenzen (Harpers; Apr. 2019)
@talialichtstein on TikTok
"Meet the most obsessive Bill Simmons fans online" by Luke Winkie (The Outline; Jan. 2, 2020)

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

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