
About this episode
The episode discusses online misogyny exacerbated by AI, featuring guest Hannah Spencer, and covers various cultural topics including a crypto hoax and a boomer backlash.
When newly-elected Green Party MP Hannah Spencer gave her maiden speech on International Women's Day, she was subject to a torrent of online abuse targeting her appearance, with one user on X prompting Grok to "smarten up" her look. The chatbot continues to be flooded with similar requests, despite a crackdown by the platform on 'undressing' content earlier this year. Marianna and Matt discuss how AI is supercharging misogyny online, and hear from Hannah Spencer about her experience. Also on this episode, apparently it's a bad week to be a boomer (unless you're Kris Jenner). We chat about Paul McCartney's Reddit ban, the leaked photos exposing the private life of Kristi Noem's husband, and a crypto hoax wrongly announcing the death of a 194-year-old tortoise. Plus, why an animatronic snowman is sending the internet into meltdown. Top Comment is hosted by Marianna Spring and Matt Shea. The series producer is Laurie Kalus. The social producer is Sophie Millward. The technical producer was Jonny Hall. The editor is Justine Lang. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. If you want to get in touch about something that's popped up on your feed, our email address is topcomment@bbc.co.uk…
People in this episode
Hosts: Marianna Spring, Matt Shea
Guest: Hannah Spencer
Topics covered
- misogyny
- AI
- online abuse
- politics
- social media
- cultural commentary
Keywords
- misogyny
- AI
- Hannah Spencer
- social media
- cultural commentary
- online abuse
- Reddit ban
- crypto hoax
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: BBC
Products: Grok
Places: China, Reddit, WhatsApp
More episodes of Top Comment
- Belfast, Henry Nowak, and how Grok is supercharging misinfo · June 11, 2026 · 35 min
- Is Hasan Piker NSFW now? And Tung Tung's generational run · June 5, 2026 · 30 min
- Sleuth wars, incels in STEM, and just want Harambe back · May 29, 2026 · 26 min
- Why you're wrong about Palantir, and TL;DR Tolkien · May 22, 2026 · 27 min
- BONUS: Taylor Lorenz says "don't blame social media" · May 19, 2026 · 42 min
- Decline porn (part II), VPN patriotism, and Charli XCX's finsta drop · May 15, 2026 · 25 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Top Comment podcast page.