New podcast from journalist & Garbage Day newsletter writer

Garbage Media today announced the launch of Panic World, its flagship podcast expanding on the Garbage Day brand. Panic World is a weekly podcast that investigates how a trend that started in a dark corner of the internet eventually made its way out into the real world. Each week Ryan Broderick, journalist and writer behind the award-winning Garbage Day newsletter, is joined by another prominent guest to explore these trends, both old and new.

Panic World’s first episode, out Wednesday, September 11, covers the story behind 2017’s “Sleepytime” or “NyQuil Chicken,” tracking its origins on 4chan and explosion into the mainstream some five years later, with news outlets panicking about its impact on youth and TikTok “challenge” culture. The FDA ultimately released a warning against Sleepytime/NyQuil Chicken. But were teens really eating this cough-syrup soaked bird? And what does its spread from a small online community into the mainstream tell us about how “virality” works now? To get to the bottom of it, Ryan Broderick is joined by internet expert and Business Insider writer Katie Notopoulos.

Following weekly episodes will take on trends like:

• Are teens really more depressed now because of smartphones?
• Why is Silicon Valley so obsessed with anti-aging tech?
• Is OnlyFans ruining people’s relationships?

Episodes will be released weekly on Wednesdays on all major podcast platforms.

Check out the trailer now (Apple/Spotify), and follow/subscribe for future episode releases.

In addition, ad-free episodes, bonus content, and community chat are offered on Panic World’s Patreon.

Panic World is produced by Grant Irving, and Josh Fjelstad is its business manager, with research support from Adam Bumas.

About Garbage Media

Ryan Broderick is a freelance tech journalist, and the author of the Webby-Award winning newsletter “Garbage Day”, which also is the most fun you can have reading about internet culture these days. It has over 80,000 readers and publishes three times a week. According to himself, Ryan has spent far too much time online, and is desperate for ways to turn that obsession into something useful.