Touching Grass

Welcome to Touching Grass, where two extremely online people attempt to explain internet discourse to people sensible enough to spend their time offline. This week Lucy Reade unpacks the very worst online reactions to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, and James Ball introduces us to the Washington Post’s very bad YouTube channel.Odyssey posts:https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/2079385765402833029?s=20https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/2018281925488631853?s=20https://x.com/OliLondonTV/status/2077320379748790543?s=20Make it Make Sense:https://www.youtube.com/@mimsshow https://bsky.app/profile/bencollins.bsky.social/post/3mqx6j3d2gc2r https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuxVLumbP5U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk9U88GJuSE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slYGWyliHJ4 https://x.com/JeffBezos/status/1894757287052362088 https://x.com/davejorgenson/status/1478840095499247621?s=21 Presented by James Ball and Lucy ReadeProduced by Matt WithersSubscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Welcome to Touching Grass, where two extremely online people attempt to explain internet discourse to people sensible enough to spend their time offline. This week James Ball manages to link the new Minions movie to questioning the meaning of God, and Lucy Reade discusses how climate anxiety around AI might be more of a moral panic than we think.Minions links:https://x.com/raissaverso/status/2052464875356532743 https://www.polygon.com/minions-questions-do-minions-reproduce-can-they-die-did-they-work-for-hitler/ https://x.com/EndymionYT/status/2072809128918213119 https://www.instagram.com/p/DalTgM2mPAK/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D AI links:https://x.com/rayxkilli/status/2074958811874418989?s=20https://x.com/metajiini_klen/status/1983676664354669054?s=20https://www.tiktok.com/@zahra.earthh/video/7640892713721679117?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7629351219308676630Presented by James Ball and Lucy ReadeProduced by Matt WithersSubscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Welcome to Touching Grass, where two extremely online people attempt to explain internet discourse to people sensible enough to spend their time offline. This week Lucy Reade and James Ball talk about the highly controversial wedding of global megastar Taylor Swift, as well as the latest BookTok drama.Taylor Swift links:https://www.dailymail.com/tvshowbiz/article-15956673/Taylor-Swift-tacky-wedding-Travis-Kelce-insiders-buffet-Alison-Boshoff.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=social-twitter_mailonlinehttps://x.com/baaulp/status/2073588363668451332?s=46https://x.com/kissmarrykill13/status/2073938886217134523?s=46BookTok links:https://youtu.be/R0TMtY_xdgU?si=XsALiawu9A_rfFFZ&t=173 https://youtu.be/R0TMtY_xdgU?si=FyLQfxaXCsktWEbd&t=313 https://youtu.be/R0TMtY_xdgU?si=kFod1gnFkc4IagZ3&t=631 Presented by James Ball and Lucy ReadeProduced by Matt WithersSubscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Welcome to Touching Grass, where two extremely online people attempt to explain internet discourse to people sensible enough to spend their time offline. In this week’s episode, James Ball delves into the terrible TikTok advice on how to commit credit card fraud via chargeback, and Lucy Reade unpacks the internet discourse surrounding whether perpetual lateness is a moral failing or a disability.Chargeback links:https://www.tiktok.com/@carrington.fisk/video/7501457984606899502https://www.tiktok.com/@scrunchieluxe/video/7605450123618962708 https://bsky.app/profile/sesmith.lol/post/3mp4ri524n52x Lateness links:https://x.com/dilrhubarb/status/2069348621208948746?s=20https://x.com/ShayWoulahan/status/2070019497809854697?s=20https://x.com/privatebirb/status/2070179903786655762?s=20https://x.com/Brien_Jackson/status/2070284553046884474?s=20https://www.tiktok.com/@chaotic_philosopher/video/7255063782970445098?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pcPresented by James Ball and Lucy ReadeProduced by Matt WithersSubscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Welcome to Touching Grass, where two extremely online people attempt to explain internet discourse to people sensible enough to spend their time offline. This week is A Very Special Episode ™️, as Lucy Reade and James Ball discuss the recent UK government announcement that social media will be banned for under-16s.Presented by James Ball and Lucy ReadeProduced by Matt WithersSubscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Welcome to Touching Grass, where two extremely online people attempt to explain internet discourse to people sensible enough to spend their time offline. This week, Lucy Reade and James Ball argue over phone-free concerts, as well as discuss the age-old story of the evil multinational corporation taking on the plucky independent creator… or is there more to the story than meets the eye?Links to Tiktok and X: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRvpx1Qu/ https://x.com/alexasversionn/status/2062924867108753783?s=20https://x.com/inherentvibes/status/2063752210358685791?s=20Links to Pattie Gonia v Patagonia: https://business.cch.com/ipld/PatagoniaEntrepreneurEnterprisesComplaint20260121.pdf https://bsky.app/profile/kathryntewson.bsky.social/post/3mnbattd6x22e Presented by James Ball and Lucy ReadeProduced by Matt WithersSubscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

CONTENT WARNING: The second half of this podcast contains content of an adult nature - you may want to switch to headphones if listening in a room with children.Welcome to Touching Grass, where two extremely online people attempt to explain internet discourse to people sensible enough to spend their time offline. This week, James Ball explores the latest LinkedIn phenomenon: people publicly sharing videos of them crying about their jobs. Meanwhile, Lucy Reade unpacks the newest Bonnie Blue controversy, which has sparked fresh debate around the pro-life movement.Links to LinkedIn and TikTok: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/anthony-parkinson_laid-off-you-are-not-alone-25-years-in-ugcPost-7448445900340846592-DCPW/ https://www.tiktok.com/@aimeesmalex/video/7563361266299948310 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/makenna-schumacher_leadership-marketing-corporateculture-share-7384716788393074688-QKS3/ https://bsky.app/profile/yougov.co.uk/post/3mnag6xppjk2h Links to Bonnie Blue interview and Spectator piece: https://x.com/LBC/status/2060378646993383918?s=20https://spectator.com/article/bonnie-blue-and-the-truth-about-the-pro-life-movement/Presented by James Ball and Lucy ReadeProduced by Matt WithersSubscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Welcome to Touching Grass, where two extremely online people attempt to explain internet discourse to those sensible enough to spend their time offline. This week, Lucy Reade unpacks what happens to people in love with AI when their chatbots’ coding is changed, and the rise of AI relationships among younger generations, while James Ball has accidentally waded into the great UK vs US debate on food and the weird politics which accompany it.Links to X and Reddit posts and Telegraph article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/25/schoolboys-ai-girlfriends/https://x.com/boundandwoven/status/2058238387472216304?s=46https://x.com/signalxsoul/status/2058171068133654862?s=46https://x.com/groksbride/status/2017130525664956424?s=46https://www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/s/oepRe3Zd2ohttps://www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/s/0tpWm91Q4xhttps://www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/s/tpajWPaRKULinks to Tiktoks and Bluesky food discourse: https://www.tiktok.com/@kjordyyy/video/7548881266955947287?q=british%20seasoning&t=1779781821401 https://www.tiktok.com/@emhdder/video/7137731683268267265?q=british%20seasoning&t=1779781821401 https://www.tiktok.com/@harrisonpawluk/video/7548059143551356178?q=british%20food&t=1779781665478https://bsky.app/profile/jamesrball.com/post/3mmheaz2qhk2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com/post/3mm4rkh3q3k2h https://bsky.app/profile/youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com/post/3mm4rrxgmic2hPresented by James Ball and Lucy ReadeProduced by Matt WithersSubscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here