INFLUENCE

108

What does it really take to make a living (and an impact) on the Internet today?Join Matt Silverman (who has been covering online culture for 15+ years) in conversation with YouTubers, musicians, podcasters, streamers, journalists, TikTokers and more about turning creativity into a job, building community on ever-changing platforms, and their complex relationships with huge online audiences.INFLUENCE is the relaunch of 2 GIRLS 1 PODCAST, a weekly comedy/interview show about fascinating online communities, which ran for 7 years and nearly 300 episodes.

Recent Episodes
  • 49 Feeding the 38 trillion creatures in your colon could transform your health | Dr. Will Bulsiewicz
    Apr 30, 2025 – 01:38:45
  • 48 What to Do When AI Ads Steal Your Face and Voice
    Apr 16, 2025 – 48:26
  • 47 Talking About Sex With Internet Strangers Is Beautiful and Terrifying | Zoë Ligon
    Apr 9, 2025 – 01:15:57
  • 46 How a Minecraft Server for Autistic Kids Became the Best Place on the Internet (Encore)
    Apr 2, 2025 – 01:58:48
  • 45 Shocker: Mental Health Information On TikTok Is Wildly Inaccurate (and Might Make You Feel Worse)
    Mar 26, 2025 – 35:27
  • 44 The Big Ideas That Changed YouTube Forever | Mike Rugnetta
    Mar 19, 2025 – 01:30:21
  • 43 This Lawyer/Comedian Might Be Our Secret Weapon Against Trump | Elizabeth Booker Houston
    Mar 12, 2025 – 01:20:27
  • 42 How "Minesweeper" Changed the Internet As We Know It (w/ Kyle Orland)
    Mar 5, 2025 – 01:05:35
  • 41 How "No Kings Day" Became a Huge Anti-Fascist Protest Across All 50 States | Glo Sahay, 50501
    Feb 26, 2025 – 54:03
  • 40 This Banned "True Crime" YouTube Channel Was 100% AI Generated
    Feb 19, 2025 – 35:45
  • 39 Billionaires Destroyed the Web, But Rebuilding Social Media Is Easier Than You Think | Mallory Knodel, Free Our Feeds
    Feb 12, 2025 – 01:07:09
  • 38 Why the Weirdest Parts of Medieval Life Are Not In Textbooks or Fairy Tales | Jason Kingsley, Modern History TV
    Feb 5, 2025 – 01:17:29
  • 37 Why DeepSeek Is Making Tech Billionaires Shit Their Pants
    Jan 29, 2025 – 48:55
  • 36 Fostering Shelter Dogs Is Easier & More Rewarding Than You Think | Isabel Klee, @‌SimonSits
    Jan 22, 2025 – 01:44:39
  • 35 This Is the Worst (and Also Best) Advice to Anyone Starting a Podcast | Ep 35 Gary Arndt, Everything Everywhere
    Jan 15, 2025 – 01:22:17
  • 34 The Internet Is Obsessed With His Tiny Video Game Sculptures | Sky Burkson, Miniaturist
    Jan 8, 2025 – 01:33:20
  • 33 How They Beat All 800,000 Remaining "Mario Maker" Levels Before Nintendo Pulled the Plug | Team 0%
    Jan 1, 2025 – 01:45:47
  • 32 The Internet Has Been Searching for the Name of This '80s Song for 17 Years | The Most Mysterious Song
    Dec 18, 2024 – 01:14:37
  • 31 WikiProject AI Cleanup: Why Humans and Bots Make Different Mistakes on Wikipedia | Richard Knipel
    Dec 11, 2024 – 01:15:09
  • 30 Skip the Script: How Karen Cassady Built an Improv Empire, One Wig at a Time
    Dec 4, 2024 – 01:30:22
  • 29 Upcoming Episodes & Happy Thanksgiving!
    Nov 27, 2024 – 48:44
  • 28 My Doctor Fat-Shamed Me, but TikTok Knew It Was Colon Cancer | Amanda Lee, Patient Advocate
    Nov 20, 2024 – 01:20:46
  • 27 Whoopsie: These "Wicked" Dolls Have a Naughty Website on the Box
    Nov 13, 2024 – 01:02:51
  • 26 From Immigrant to Icon: How Yaya Han Built a Cosplay Empire
    Nov 6, 2024 – 02:06:41
  • 25 How Patreon Fosters Creative Diversity in an Algorithmic World | Hayley Rosenblum
    Oct 30, 2024 – 01:05:54
  • 24 Is Ethical AI Even Possible? Adobe Has Entered the Chat
    Oct 23, 2024 – 44:21
  • 23 From Napster to Midjourney: Why Copyright & the Internet Have Always Been Strange Bedfellows | Jennifer Jenkins, Duke Law
    Oct 16, 2024 – 01:28:41
  • 22 Thousands of People Are Playing Trivia Online and You Can't Join (Unless...) | LearnedLeague
    Oct 9, 2024 – 01:10:00
  • 21 Her Viral Photos of Wild Horses Just Might Save Their Lives | Jamie Baldanza
    Oct 2, 2024 – 01:08:44
  • 20 Why I'm REALLY Hyped for YouTube's New "Hype" Leaderboards
    Sep 25, 2024 – 01:02:21
  • 19 Puppy Songs: How 2 Dogs, Pandemic Boredom, and LOTS of Hard Work Launched a Viral Music Career | Matt Hobbs
    Sep 18, 2024 – 01:26:23
  • 18 The Internet Archive Is in Big Trouble...and It Might Be Their Own Fault
    Sep 11, 2024 – 51:58
  • 17 Accessibility Unlocked: How Blind Players Enjoy the Video Games We Take for Granted | SightlessKombat, Aure, & Ohylli
    Sep 4, 2024 – 01:25:03
  • 16 Why New Laws to Protect Kids Online Might Backfire | Paul Singer
    Aug 28, 2024 – 01:08:46
  • 15 Is It OK for my kids to keep watching MrBeast?
    Aug 21, 2024 – 57:14
  • 14 Speedrunning "Stardew Valley" Is More Complicated Than You Can Imagine | @lichatton & @atwentysomethingloser
    Aug 14, 2024 – 01:18:34
  • 13 There's Never Been a Better Time to Talk About Death | Caren Martineau & Jade Adgate
    Aug 7, 2024 – 01:29:50
  • 12 The Skibidi Cinematic Universe: Why Michael Bay Is Cashing In on Toilet Heads
    Jul 31, 2024 – 01:38:25
  • 11 Why Professional Content Moderators Can't Afford to Lose Faith in Humanity | Alice Hunsberger
    Jul 24, 2024 – 01:30:31
  • 10 ADHD and Sex: How a Life-Changing Diagnosis Launched Her Viral TikTok Career | Catie Osborn
    Jul 17, 2024 – 01:30:14
  • 09 Stop Doom-Scrolling: His Daily Doses of Hope PROVE We Can Beat the Climate Crisis | @JacobSimonSays
    Jul 10, 2024 – 01:34:03
  • 08 The "Ken Burns of Video Games" Nailed Longform YouTube Before It Was Cool | The Gaming Historian (Norman Caruso)
    Jul 3, 2024 – 01:56:34
  • 07 Meet the Comedy Nerd Documenting the History of Late Night, One Podcast at a Time | Mark Malkoff
    Jun 26, 2024 – 01:39:19
  • 06 He Quit His World-Touring Band to Teach Drum Lessons on the Internet | Mike Johnston
    Jun 19, 2024 – 01:29:58
  • 05 Information Disorder: The Disturbing Rise of Political Misinformation Influencers | Lam Thuy Vo
    Jun 12, 2024 – 01:53:45
  • 04 How a Star Wars Parody Show Changed YouTube Forever | Blame Society (Aaron Yonda & Matt Sloan)
    Jun 5, 2024 – 01:14:46
  • 03 Why This Brilliant Visual FX Artist Would Rather Work on TikTok Than in Hollywood | Chelsea VFX
    May 29, 2024 – 01:09:22
  • 02 He Gained 500,000 YouTube Subscribers After Making One Key Change | Craig Benzine (WheezyWaiter)
    May 22, 2024 – 01:19:18
  • 01 This Wildly Popular True Crime Podcaster Has a Secret Double Life | Jack Rhysider | Darknet Diaries
    May 15, 2024 – 01:09:07
  • Introducing: INFLUENCE with Matt Silverman
    Apr 9, 2024 – 44:28
Recent Reviews
  • mmalkoff
    Matt is a Phenomenal Host
    Matt Silverman’s the perfect host. He’s entertaining, informative, and knows how to get the best from his guests. Keep it up!
  • lfmccull
    Learning is FUNdamental with Influence
    I’m loving the new show format! Interviews are interesting and easy listens - exactly what you want in a podcast. Great stuff!
  • Nagikokiyohara
    A reason for living
    Matt Silverman is one of the great joys of the internet (as is this podcast).
  • SarahPMurphy
    Hilarious and super smart
    Such fantastic, weird and weirdly thoughtful conversations and interviews. Makes you laugh and makes you think — what else do you need in life? Highly recommend. You’ll thank me!
  • HortonJay
    Will make you think!
    I love this show. It’s hilarious, thoughtful and uncomfortable (in the best way.) The topics they discuss are discussed in a fair way and educate on those topics. There are more topics than I can list that, as soon as I read the title, made me think that this topic is just ridiculous and not even worth talking about. After listening to this show I realized I actually knew nothing about a topic that at one time (shamefully) upset me, and made me learn what The topic is really about, made me look inside and find out why it upset me, and realize that it’s not nearly what I thought it was and why it shouldn’t upset me.
  • SomeoneWhoLeftAReview
    Years
    How have you done this for years and only gotten 99 ratings? Anyway here is 100.
  • Wyoming Jo
    Good but Alli yells too much
    I listened to the Something Awful episode and it was good. Alli yells a lot though and it makes it really hard to listen to the show. Obviously her excitement can’t be contained but can her audio be turned down?
  • just let me post would you?
    Hilarious!
    I always have a great time listening to their podcast. They put a lot of thought into it. The stories are always interesting.
  • bimturba
    Wow
    This is tight
  • Commas4all
    Disappointing
    I listened to episode 114 as I was interested in the discussion topic for that episde. Why is there a 25 minute introduction?? It was fine for the first few minutes and then it got old real fast. If you are going to go on and on about stuff that has nothing to do with your discussion topic than do it at the end of the podcast so people have the option to just stop the podcast instead of trying to keep skipping ahead to get to the actual program discussion.
  • Paige87💕
    A+
    This podcast is seriously the best! ABSOLUTELY BINGEWORTHY! 💕💕💕 Highly recommend. - All the Things That Keep Us Up at Night
  • spaceybones
    Super funny and informative!
    First off, I love you guys (yes even Matt) and your content! However I do feel obligated to tell y’all about the time I accidentally played this podcast out loud (thankfully not during a nsfw episode) and my sister in the next room thought Ali’s voice was a creepy doll! Okay have a great day!
  • Meghart92blue
    Funny and Informative
    My job is super stressful and this podcast just lifts my day. It makes me laugh and also teaches me about communities that I had no idea existed on the internet. I was drawn in by the North American Birds episode because I’m an avid birder. I’ve been hooked ever since.
  • frtyjko
    Love this podcast!!!
    Super fun to listen to! You guys have so much chemistry and sounds like you’re having such a great time! It feels like I’m hanging out with friends when I listen. I love it and will be sad when I’ve finished binge listening to all the episodes and have to wait until next week to hear another. 👍
  • Will HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
    Pretty Good
    You'll learn stuff from them.
  • TataBrazil1990
    Amazing
    It’s the best podcast! Love you 3! The 2 girls and the podcast haha 😘
  • AndreaLuxenberg
    Thoughtful and hilarious
    Jen and Alli's interviews are super engaging. They are able to bring you into the dark corners of the internet. Every episode is funny but also insightful. I've lol’ed and learned something every time.
  • Riles4reals
    Love love love....
    These two ladies are hilarious, opinionated, and do awesome topics that interest almost anyone! A great listen all around and a hell of a laugh!
  • TrufflesWuffles
    Meh
    I enjoy the quiz in every show, and I like learning about new weird things. However, Allie annoys me. She interrupts others frequently and thinks she’s funny. Please stop interrupting the interviewee and trying to take over all conversations.
  • NeonGuts95
    SO GOOD... but pls
    The content? So good. So informative and interesting. My only issue is Allie CONSTANTLY talks over Jen and the guests. Like she just NEEDS to scream over everyone, and it makes me cringe every time. Pls let the others talk.
  • mikejanney1
    Finding the strange
    I love this podcast. Finding the strange of the internet and learning more without judgement.
  • NYCbestie
    LOL! Hilarious, surprisingly informative
    Jen and Alli are fantastic! I was laughing out loud on my commute, all while learning about the strangest corners of our internet culture. Love this podcast!
  • Jay'Mark
    🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
    I fell asleep with episode 4 playing, so I could store the pod in my subconscious! I LOVE THESE GIRLS
  • Llllllllllll17
    The best!!!
    Best show ever. Nuff said. Listen- you won't regret it!
  • lewaabahmad
    Informative and hilarious
    Jen and Alli hilariously tackle fringe internet communities with a focus on sex and relationships. Their chemistry is off the charts and this dynamic, impressively always in sync duo, provides a constant string of laughs and knowledge. Ya get to learn a lot and laugh too! What's not to dig? Proud to be a schwompper - er, or, doo-diddler? MAKE UP YOUR MIND ABOUT WHAT I AM.
  • nemosfiredup
    Rhymes with Mest!
    So I've been a fan of the live show for years and it's really quite interesting to be able to get a glimpse into these corners of the internet without having to dive into them myself. Hilarious and informative, and honestly, I feel that this exposure is challenging a lot of assumptions I didn't even know i had. Appreciate being able to hear new perspectives from this fun angle!
  • gregorissimo
    The internet is great! So is this podcast.
    Alli and Jen offer a hilarious guided tour of the internet's more esoteric corners. Can't wait to see what future episodes cover!
  • curlygirl1014
    Finally!
    These two girls are amazing! I have been following them for years in NYC - they are great live and even better as a podcast. Honest, funny, and witty.
  • uman22
    Loved Blogologues
    Glad the twisted brains behind Blogologues have a podcast now!
  • ThePoorBastard
    Get some!
    These ladies have been killing it in NY and LA with their live shows and the podcast is a sweet addition to their growing media empire!
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork on this page are property of the podcast owner, and not endorsed by UP.audio.