Helen Lewis Has Left the Chat.
The rise of instant messaging has made our social and professional lives faster, more casual — and more chaotic. But amid all the discussion of the effects of public social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, there has been relatively little attention paid to private social networks—the direct message and the group chat — and how they are shaping our relationships and our world.
In this series, Helen Lewis looks at the secret world of instant messaging, meeting a woman who married a chatbot, discovering how Russian dissidents are fighting a propaganda war, and hearing the inside story of how Britain ended up governed from a single WhatsApp group.
It's a strange new world where workplace rebellions are conducted through duelling emojis and military secrets are traded on chat forums about a children's cartoon. It's also a world where you can never be quite sure who you're talking to—and who's eavesdropping on you.
The encrypted messaging app Telegram is haunted by a single question - if it really is as secure as it claims to be, why does Vladimir Putin allow it to be used in Russia?
And should Russian dissidents, independent journalists and Ukrainian soldiers use this Wild West of an app, where you can find everything from porn to drugs to faked propaganda videos?
Answering those questions takes Helen on a journey that begins with a young Russian entrepreneur throwing 5,000 rouble notes off a balcony, folded like paper aeroplanes, and finishes with him in exile in Dubai, rich beyond his wildest dreams. But what does Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, really believe?
Producer: Tom Pooley
Assistant Producer: Orla O'Brien
Sound Design: Louis Blatherwick
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
Original Music: Coach Conrad
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4
10 Apr 2024
Left the Chat: No 5. Thug Shaker Central
When investigative journalist Aric Toler saw a handful of supposedly fake classified documents online, he had a hunch - what if they were real? The only way to find out was to hunt for the original source.
It was a journey that took him through the deep internet, beyond the reach of search engines. He scoured through chat forums about SpongeBob SquarePants, infiltrated servers named after edgy memes, and found a vital clue in screenshots of a video game about zombies. Eventually, Toler got his man - and his identity was not at all what you might expect.
At the heart of this story is the chat service Discord - a casual, conversational space without which, Toler thinks, his unlikely leaker would never have posted classified documents online.
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4
10 Apr 2024
Left The Chat: No 4. I Married a ChatBot
After years of bad dates and toxic relationships, Chris finally found love - with a chatbot called Emma. Is this the future of digital love, or is Chris caught in an illusion?
In this episode focusing on how instant messages have changed our love lives, Helen also uncovers the heart warming story of the first couple to marry after reconnecting on Friends Reunited, and the strange tale of a woman who was literally ghosted.
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4
3 Apr 2024
Left the Chat: No 3. Several People Are Typing
During the pandemic, a combination of fears over Covid, anger over police racism and sheer cabin fever saw company Slack channels boil with discontent. One day in February 2021, Mike Pesca, a contrarian podcaster, made the mistake of getting stuck in, voicing controversial opinions to his colleagues - in between shovelling snow from his parents’ driveway.
And then he saw the dreaded words, "several people are typing …".
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4
3 Apr 2024
Left the Chat: No 2. Fax Machines and Foxy Natashas
In 2016, amid the post-EU referendum chaos, one man had an idea. His name was Steve Baker, and he was a low-profile Tory MP. But his WhatsApp group - the home of the hard Brexiteers - soon became the most powerful force in British politics. Sam Coates of Sky News thinks that political WhatsApp groups like Baker’s helped bring down three Conservative prime ministers in a row.
The second of these, Boris Johnson, was a “WhatsApp addict”, according to his former chief of staff Dominic Cummings. And so, during Covid when Number 10 was still using fax machines to get NHS data, everyone turned to instant messaging instead. Forget “sofa government”, this was even more informal - as well as faster, more fluid and full of swearing.
But, Helen Lewis asks Cummings, is this really the best way to govern a country? What about the possibility of leaks, hacks - and conveniently lost messages when an inquiry rolls around?
Producer: Tom Pooley
Assistant Producer: Orla O'Brien
Sound Design: Louis Blatherwick
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
Original music: Coach Conrad
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4
3 Apr 2024
Left the Chat: No 1. Whatsapp Mishaps
In 1998, Helen’s family got their first home computer - and she logged on to chat with existing friends and strangers she met online. Since then, instant messaging has taken over our lives, with an estimated 2.7 billion users on WhatsApp alone.
But what is happening in the secrecy of our direct message inboxes and neighbourhood group chats? Three stories of chaos, confusion - and comedy - highlight just how strange it can feel to make sense of the fast paced, casual world of instant messaging.
Producer: Tom Pooley
Assistant Producer: Orla O'Brien
Sound Design: Louis Blatherwick
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
Original music: Coach Conrad
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4
27 Mar 2024
Welcome to Helen Lewis Has Left the Chat
Have you ever been trapped in a group chat nightmare, either grabbing the popcorn or wondering how to leave without causing a scene? Who’s the admin in your family group, and do they wield that power responsibly? Do you ever wonder if it’s appropriate to use emojis when talking to your boss?
The rise of instant messaging has made our social and professional lives faster, more casual — and more chaotic. But amid all the discussion of the effects of public social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, there has been relatively little attention paid to private social networks—the direct message and the group chat — and how they are shaping our relationships and our world.
In this series, Helen Lewis looks at the secret world of instant messaging, meeting a woman who married a chatbot, discovering how Russian dissidents are fighting a propaganda war, and hearing the inside story of how Britain ended up governed from a single WhatsApp group. It’s a strange new world where workplace rebellions are conducted through duelling emojis and military secrets are traded on chat forums about a video game . It’s also a world where you can never be quite sure who you’re talking to—and who’s eavesdropping on you.
18 Apr 2023
New Gurus: Bonus Episode - Gigachads and Sigma Wolves
After The New Gurus was released, there was one question Helen Lewis was asked far more than any other: why are so many gurus men? Stuck for an answer, she journeys into the world of the Manosphere - home to 'Gigachads' and 'Sigma Wolves'.
Joining Helen on her journey is a reporter who once got (consensually) punched by the world's most Googled man, Andrew Tate, plus the former Love Island contestant and now successful podcaster, Chris Williamson. Helen also takes to the mat to find out why three of her original subjects - Sam Harris, Joe Rogan and Russell Brand - all studied the same hardcore martial art.
What do men want? The answer, it seems, is very long podcasts.
Producer: Tom Pooley
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4
26 Dec 2022
New Gurus: 8. Prophets of Doom
Jessica Lanyadoo thinks civil war is coming — she has seen it in the stars. But it isn’t just astrologers who think we’re living through an age of upheaval. Peter Turchin, a Soviet-born professor who studies historical cycles, has already seen one political system collapse in his lifetime. He calls this decade the Turbulent Twenties.
Could our collective anxiety explain the rise of the new gurus?
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
26 Dec 2022
New Gurus: 7. Bitcoin FC
When Peter McCormack made a fortune investing in Bitcoin, he knew exactly how to spend it - buying his local football team. Helen Lewis travels to the ground of Real Bedford FC, where you can buy a half-time bacon butty in Bitcoin, to hear whether McCormack’s faith has been shaken by the "crypto winter".
How are McCormack and other crypto gurus like Layah Heilpern keeping the faith as the price of Bitcoin tumbles?
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
26 Dec 2022
New Gurus: 6. Daygamers and Daydreamers
At Oxford University, fellow students remember Tom Ralis as a quiet, nerdy biology student who played percussion in the college orchestra. But even then, he had one ambition - to become a guru.
He reinvented himself as Tom Torero, a pick-up artist who approached women in the street for dates - a practice known as “daygame”. His transformation led to tragedy.
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
26 Dec 2022
New Gurus: 5. Gazing into the Abyss
In 2018, a New York Times article anointed a group of taboo-breaking intellectual provocateurs as the 'Intellectual Dark Web'. David Fuller was one of those who found this loose grouping of dissident gurus like Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan and Sam Harris intoxicating – enough to leave the mainstream media and start his own YouTube channel.
But, four years on, he is left wondering - where did it all go wrong?
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
19 Dec 2022
New Gurus: 4. White Women's Tears
The rise of the Black Lives Matter movement brought renewed interest in corporate diversity gurus. But Regina Jackson and Saira Rao were ahead of the curve, pursuing their own unique anti-racist education programme.
Tired of talking to individual white women about their racism, they decided to invite a group of them for dinner, and confront them with their bias and bigotry. There was one rule - no crying.
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
19 Dec 2022
New Gurus: 3. Fitter, Happier, More Productive
As an author, broadcaster and journalist, Helen Lewis is drowning in deadlines. Join her race against the clock to see if productivity gurus can help her optimise her workflow, change her habits, and consume entire books in 15 minutes.
That is, if she can stop checking her phone long enough to pay attention.
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
19 Dec 2022
New Gurus: 2. Taking the Urine
Will Blunderfield grew up, he says, an unhappy, unhealthy kid. Now he feels great — as a “wild naked man” who drinks his own urine.
Across the world, wellness is a multi-billion pound industry, even though some of its practices are unproven, extreme or even harmful. So why are so many people unimpressed with what 21st century medicine can offer them, and turning to internet gurus instead?
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
19 Dec 2022
New Gurus: 1. The Birth of the New Guru
In 2011, some mourners at Steve Jobs’ memorial service were confused by his final gift to them – a book called Autobiography of A Yogi. Others understood his message perfectly - the Apple founder had spent his entire life searching for his own guru. Instead, by creating the iPhone, he became one. But did Jobs’ personal quest for enlightenment also help create the modern guru?
The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
Written and presented by Helen Lewis
Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley
Story consultant: Geoff Bird
Original music composed by Paper Tiger
Sound design and mix: Rob Speight
Editor: Craig Templeton Smith
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
12 Dec 2022
Welcome to The New Gurus
Everywhere you look on the internet, people are giving — and receiving — advice. Advice that promises to transform our lives. How to eat. How to think. How to get rich. How to manage our time.
Across 8 episodes, Helen Lewis travels through the strange, powerful and sometimes hidden digital spaces created by these new gurus. Where did they come from? How much power do these charismatic individuals wield? And why are so many of us turning away from the mainstream — mainstream medicine, mainstream politics and the mainstream media - and embracing the power of charismatic individuals instead?
Along the way, she considers the dubious benefits of ‘butthole sunning’, seeks help from some productivity gurus, meets a crypto millionaire who bought a football team, and wonders if the architecture of the internet will always drive us to extremes.
This is The New Gurus, a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.
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