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ILL EFFECTS

ILL EFFECTS

By: Ben Litherland and Richard McCulloch
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 The good podcast about bad media influences, investigating the bad faith arguments, dodgy data, and moral panics behind claims that the media influence our behaviour and manipulate our minds.Copyright 2024 All rights reserved. Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Andrew Tate and the Problem with Men

    Andrew Tate and the Problem with Men
    Jul 31 2025
    In spring 2025, Andrew Tate was linked to a shocking murder case in the UK. Just days later, Netflix released Adolescence, a drama about a young killer seemingly shaped by the online manosphere. In this episode, we explore the history of the men’s rights movement, the politics of the manosphere, and the difficulty of drawing clear lines of influence around figures like Tate, however toxic their public presence may be. Show Notes: Adams, L (2025). 'Murders show online misogyny can cause real harm' BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yr2yg58zjo Botto, M., & Gottzén, L. (2024). Swallowing and spitting out the red pill: Young men, vulnerability, and radicalization pathways in the manosphere. Journal of Gender Studies, 33(5), 596–608. Ging, D. (2019). Alphas, betas, and incels: Theorizing the masculinities of the manosphere. Men and Masculinities, 22(4), 638–657. Haslop, C., Ringrose, J., Cambazoglu, I., & Milne, B. (2024). Mainstreaming the manosphere’s misogyny through affective homosocial currencies: Exploring how teen boys navigate the Andrew Tate effect. Social Media + Society, 10(1), 20563051241228811. Ironwood, I. (2013). The manosphere: A new hope for masculinity. Londres: Red Pill. Kennedy-Kollar, D. (2024). Extremism and radicalization in the manosphere: Beta uprising. Routledge. Kimmel, M. S. (2018). The contemporary “crisis” of masculinity in historical perspective. In The making of masculinities Routledge. King, J (2025). Tate and discovering Owen Cooper GQ https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/stephen-graham-adolescence-interview-2025 Messner, M. A. (2016). Forks in the road of men's gender politics: Men's rights vs feminist allies. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 5(2), 6–20. Mudde, C The real story isn’t young men supposedly voting far right. It’s what young women are up to The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/21/young-men-women-far-right-online-politics-centre-left Payne, J (2025). No coincidence killer ‘turned to Andrew Tate’ night before murders, court told The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/andrew-tate-kyle-cambridge-crown-court-bbc-hmp-belmarsh-b2712870.html Renström, E. A., & Bäck, H. (2024). Manfluencers and young men’s misogynistic attitudes: The role of perceived threats to men’s status. Sex Roles, 90(12), 1787–1806. Rich, B Bujalka, E (2023). The draw of the manosphere: Understanding Andrew Tate’s appeal to lost men. The Conversation https://theconversation.com/the-draw-of-the-manosphere-understanding-andrew-tates-appeal-to-lost-men-199179 Roberts, S., Jones, C., Nicholas, L., Wescott, S., & Maloney, M. (2025). Beyond the clickbait: Analysing the masculinist ideology in Andrew Tate’s online written discourses. Cultural Sociology. Shorrocks, Rosalind (2018). Young women are more left-wing than men, study reveals. The Conversation https://theconversation.com/young-women-are-more-left-wing-than-men-study-reveals-95624 Siegel, A. J. (n.d.). Facing my own misogyny: A content analysis of personal essays on the subreddit r/ExRedPill. RhetTech, 6(1), 2. https://rhettech.org/issues/facing-my-own-misogyny Thomas-Parr, G., & Gilroy-Ware, M. (2025). ImPerceptible boyhood in a post-Andrew Tate world. Australian Feminist Studies, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2025.2320495 Thorburn, J. (2023). Exiting the manosphere: A gendered analysis of radicalization, diversion and deradicalization narratives from r/IncelExit and r/ExRedPill. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2023.2226593 YouTube. (n.d.). Andrew Tate Hustler's University full course part 1 [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCoeJBdK36Q&t=140sBottom of Form [Image via https://www.heute.at/i/ich-versklave-die-schlamn-die-tate-anklageschrift-100288002/doc-1h8hfqdbg0] Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email Illeffectspod@gmail.com and we will happily send you a copy  Credits:  Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland   Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman  Producer – Caroline Pringle 
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    1 hr and 48 mins
  • Blue Lies Matter: Are Police TV Shows 'Copaganda'?

    Blue Lies Matter: Are Police TV Shows 'Copaganda'?
    Jul 17 2025
    What if your favourite cop show was really a recruitment ad in disguise? This week, Rich introduces Ben to the world of on-screen ‘copaganda’. From Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Wire through to TikTok lip-syncs and even Paw Patrol, is it a problem that TV cops are always so brave, so funny, and so good at breaking the rules for the ‘right’ reasons? What do these stories quietly teach us about crime, justice and law enforcement? Is the badge a prop... or a PR strategy? Show Notes: Bayley, David H. (1994) Police for the Future. Oxford University Press. [Video] Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2018) “Jake Makes the Criminals Sing I Want It That Way | Brooklyn Nine Nine”, YouTube, 12th April. Color of Change and USC Annenberg Normal Lear Center (2020) “Normalizing Injustice: The Dangerous Misrepresentations That Define Television’s Scripted Crime Genre”, January. Davis, Elizabeth, and Anthony Whyde (2018) “Contacts Between Police and the Public, 2015”, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. October. Herman, Edward S., and Noam Chomsky (1988) Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Media. Penguin. Karakatsanis, Alec (2019) The Punishment Bureaucracy: How to Think About 'Criminal Justice Reform’. Yale Law Journal, 128, 28th March. Karakatsanis, Alec (2025) Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News. The New Press. Karakatsanis, Alec (2025) “How to Sniff Out ‘Copaganda’: When the Police and the Media Manipulate Our News”, Teen Vogue, 8th May. Kennedy, Liam (2020) “Whenever there’s trouble, just yelp for help”: Crime, conservation, and corporatization in Paw Patrol. Crime Media Culture, 17(2). Makam, Palika (2020) “Copaganda: What It Is and How to Recognize It”, Teen Vogue, 5th August. The Onion (2017) ‘Paw Patrol’ Writers Defend Episode Where German Shepherd Cop Shoots Unarmed Black Lab 17 Times In Back. 16th July. [Video] Particelli, Henry (2020) “Henry Particelli - "Your Name” (Official Music Video) Surprise Ending!!!!!” YouTube, 25th June. Reiner, Robert (2008) “Policing and the Media” in Tim Newburn (ed.) Handbook of Policing, 2nd ed. Routledge, pp.313-335. [Cold open music] Renda, David, “Sleek Panther”. Fesliyan Studios. https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/royalty-free-music/download/sleek-panther/2195 Salmon, Caspar (2021) “Puppet pups: is PAW Patrol authoritarian propaganda in disguise?” Guardian, 11th August. [Video, part of an excellent series on Copaganda] Skip Intro (2020) “The Wire, Police Reform, and Capitalism | Copaganda Episode 4”, YouTube, 12th November. [Video] Smack Mango (2021) “Cool Cops on TikTok”, YouTube, 5th April. Vitale, Alex S. (2017) The End of Policing. Verso. Tape wind Sound effect: Sound Effect by freesound_community from Pixabay Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email Illeffectspod@gmail.com and we will happily send you a copy  Credits:  Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland   Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman  producer – Caroline Pringle 
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    2 mins
  • Are you friends with Chappell Roan?

    Are you friends with Chappell Roan?
    Jul 3 2025

    In the summer of 2024, pop star Chappell Roan publicly called out her fans for being “creepy” and “weird,” asking, “if you saw a random woman on the street, would you yell at her from the car window?” Media coverage quickly seized on a familiar term to make sense of the incident: parasocial. But what does it really mean to have a parasocial relationship with a celebrity, and is it even the right term for what’s going on here? In this episode, Ben walks Rich through the surprising history of a now-mainstream academic concept. So, loyal listeners, don’t pretend like you know us (sorry, Mum).

    Show Notes:

    [Video] I Am Not Your Friend

    ‘I wouldn’t dream of telling a stranger I hated their laugh’: how does it feel when your social media followers cross a line? | Social media | The Guardian

    Bucy, A. (2024). Normalising Fan Parasociality within Pathologising Traces Fan discourses of ‘good’and ‘bad’parasocial behaviours. Persona Studies, 10(2), 40-54.

    Chen, C. P. (2016). Forming digital self and parasocial relationships on YouTube. Journal of Consumer culture, 16(1), 232-254.

    Gamson, J. (2023). Claims to fame: Celebrity in contemporary America. Univ of California Press.

    Hills, M. (2015). From para‐social to multisocial interaction: theorizing material/digital fandom and celebrity. A companion to celebrity, 463-482.

    Horton, D., & Richard Wohl, R. (1956). Mass communication and para-social interaction: Observations on intimacy at a distance. Psychiatry, 19(3), 215-229.

    Liebers, N., & Schramm, H. (2019). Parasocial interactions and relationships with media characters–an inventory of 60 years of research. Communication Research Trends, 38(2), 4-31.

    Reijnders, S., Spijkers, M., Roeland, J., & Boross, B. (2014). Close encounters: Ritualizing proximity in the age of celebrity. An ethnographic analysis of meet-and-greets with Dutch singer Marco Borsato. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 17(2), 149-169.

    Rojek, C. (2015). Presumed intimacy: Parasocial interaction in media, society and celebrity culture. John Wiley & Sons.

    Too close for comfort: the pitfalls of parasocial relationships | Social media | The Guardian

    Tukachinsky, R., Walter, N., & Saucier, C. J. (2020). Antecedents and effects of parasocial relationships A meta-analysis. Journal of Communication, 70(6), 868-894

    University study looks at YouTube and parasocial relationships - BBC News

    Why are TikTok creators so good at making people buy things? - BBC Worklife

    Why we feel so close: The science behind parasocial relationships with musicians

    You are not that singer’s best friend!: The dangers of parasocial relationships in the music industry - The Boar

    Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email Illeffectspod@gmail.com and we will happily send you a copy 

    Credits: 

    Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland  

    Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman 

    producer – Caroline Pringle 

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    1 hr and 11 mins
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