"When you're a broadcaster, you don't have a conversation you can't use as content," jokes Roman Mars — well, mostly jokes. The host of 99% Invisible says he's trying to use the internet more thoughtfully than he used to, and that includes not needing to share everything with the world.

"The past year, it's been really the focus of my time, actually not having every thought be on social media and making everything into something," he says.

Today on Follow Friday, Roman talks about which creators he likes to follow, including: Constitutional law professor Elizabeth Joh (@elizabeth_joh on Twitter); writer and podcaster John Green (@literallyjohngreen on TikTok); competent people who calmly do things well, such as @stellarsidewalks, @texasbeeworks, and @rightchoiceshearing on TikTok; and the subreddit /r/oddlysatisfying.

And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Roman shares a bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, and Elizabeth.

Also:

• Follow Roman @romanmars on Twitter and @theromanmars on Instagram
• Listen to 99% Invisible and What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law
• Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and Instagram
• Leave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday
• Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter
• Email us! hello@followfridaypodcast.com

This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric Johnson

Music: Yona Marie

Show art: Dodi Hermawan

Social media producer: Sydney Grodin

When Rusty Foster started the email newsletter Today in Tabs, in 2013, "tabs" was trendy media slang for the articles open in your browser that you were hate-reading. That meaning has faded into obscurity, but Today in Tabs is going strong, dishing up must-reads, great tweets, and a song every Monday-Thursday.

"I do the sort of thing that you do when you have a job where you don't have enough work to do, and you spend a lot of time procrastinating on Twitter," he says. "I do that professionally. I read stuff on Twitter. I keep track of the good tweets and I keep an eye on what people are talking about."

Today on Follow Friday, Rusty shares four great follow recommendations: Programmer and cryptocurrency critic Molly White (@molly0xFFF on Twitter); musician and comedian Petey (@petey_usa on Instagram, @peteyusa on TikTok); writer and technologist Paul Ford (@ftrain on Twitter); and role-playing game podcaster Taylor Moore (@taylordotbiz on Twitter).

And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Rusty shares a fifth bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai.

Also:

• Follow Rusty @fka_tabs on Twitter
• Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and Instagram
• Leave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday
• Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter
• Email us! hello@followfridaypodcast.com

This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric Johnson

Music: Yona Marie

Show art: Dodi Hermawan

Social media producer: Sydney Grodin

Today we're playing four bonus follow recommendations that originally were exclusive to Follow Friday XL, our special podcast feed for supporters on Patreon. If you want to get five follow recommendations per week instead of the usual four, you can donate $1 or more at patreon.com/followfriday!

In today's episode:

• The Stacks host Traci Thomas talks about someone super-talented who’s still under the radar, Whit McClure (@whit_hazen on Instagram)
• The Comics Curmudgeon writer Josh Fruhlinger talks about someone who makes the internet a better place: Rusty Foster (@fka_tabs on Twitter)
• There Are No Girls on the Internet host Bridget Todd talks about someone who has stopped posting, but needs to come back: Teju Cole (@tejucole on Twitter)
• Bullseye host and Maximum Fun founder Jesse Thorn talks about someone he's jealous of: Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel on Instagram and Twitter)

Also:

• Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and Instagram
• Leave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday
• Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter
• Email us! hello@followfridaypodcast.com

This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric Johnson

Music: Yona Marie

Show art: Dodi Hermawan

Social media producer: Sydney Grodin

There Are No Girls on The Internet is an award-winning podcast about people who have always been at the forefront of technology, but whose stories are often ignored or misrepresented. That's a big and sometimes contentious field, and TANGOTI host Bridget Todd says it's important to make space for everyone to work through difficult conversations about inclusion, rather than expecting everyone to "get it" right away.

"I've been in social change movements for a long time and I do think we have this expectation that we expect people to show up with the right ethos and the right language and the right perspective," Bridget says. "And I get that, but I also feel like it doesn't leave room to hear the messy conversations of how people become smarter, better, more nuanced, and more thoughtful."

Today on Follow Friday, she explains how to use social media when disinformation is circulating after a tragedy, how she has evolved her thinking about politics online, why she's optimistic about a new online platform for the first time in a while, and much more.

She also shares four great follow recommendations: Early podcaster and co-host of Uhh Yeah Dude Jonathan Larroquette (@jonathanlarroquette on Instagram); political pundit and former The View co-host Meaghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain on Twitter and Instagram); comedy writer and Showtime TV star Ziwe (@Ziwe on Twitter); and Somewhere Good CEO Naj Austin (@najaustin on Instagram and @najjmahal on Twitter).

And on Follow Friday's Patreon page, you can unlock an extended version of this interview in which Bridget shares a fifth bonus follow recommendation! Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai.

Also:

• Follow Bridget @BridgetMarie on Twitter and @BridgetMarieInDC on Instagram
• Follow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and Instagram
• Leave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/FollowFriday
• Follow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter
• Email us! hello@followfridaypodcast.com

This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric Johnson

Music: Yona Marie

Show art: Dodi Hermawan

Social media producer: Sydney Grodin

A preview of next week's episode, featuring There Are No Girls on the Internet host Bridget Todd

Please consider donating to the Texas Elementary School Shooting Victims Fund. 100 percent of the money raised will go to the survivors and the families of the victims from the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. And here is a longer list of Uvalde fundraisers that have been vetted & verified by GoFundMe.

For more than five years, Lindsay Ellis produced video essays on YouTube, analyzing everything from the Transformers movies to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals to popular tropes in film and TV.

And in 2020, after more than a decade of wanting to be an author, she published her first book — the bestselling sci-fi novel Axiom's End, which was informed by that same attentiveness to pop culture. After 9/11, she noticed, popular alien invasion stories had shifted from "goofy" stories to "dead serious" ones, like Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds.

"It's an alternate history that takes place in the late 2000s," she says of the first book, which is getting a sequel in October called Truth of the Divine. "Basically, it's what if first contact happened during the Bush administration? ... It's a thought experiment of how would we react if civilization has to keep on trucking the way we have, but now we have this great existential quandary that, at least in the universe of the book, is heavily politicized."

On today's podcast, Lindsay talks about four people she loves to follow on YouTube: A pop music analyst who breaks down one-hit wonders, band-breaking records, and more; a prolific video essayist who wears her enthusiasm on her sleeve; an aviation expert who explains the history of air disasters; and a former Vine star who cooks up brilliant video ideas like it's nothing.

You can get bonus follow recommendations every week — including an extra follow from Lindsay — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month. Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai.

Follow us:

- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel

- Follow Eric on Twitter @heyheyesj

- Check out Modem Mischief to hear the true stories of the outlaws of cyberspace

This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric Johnson

Music: Yona Marie

Show art: Dodi Hermawan

Social media producer: Sydney Grodin