Request Pending

Drag artists have displayed their art through lip sync performances and dance numbers in night clubs and bars for decades. Now their usual venues have closed due to the pandemic, and drag artists are finding other ways to express their creativity and maintain their livelihood. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

One of the hottest meme Facebook groups right now is about...trains. Yes, trains. New Urbanist Memes for Transit Oriented Teens has over 200,000 members, and posts range from comics to pictures of high-speed trains to discourse over the importance of bike lanes. Issues around transit and urban spaces hardly make it to the national debate topic list, but on the internet, they're center stage. Why do young people care, and how is city planning changing under their influence? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

They say sex work is the oldest profession, and over generations, it has evolved and taken on new forms. Its latest iteration: Onlyfans. On Onlyfans, creators sell and users pay for access to original, independently made pornographic content. Sex workers are making big money from behind a computer or phone screen and often find a sense of empowerment in the process. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This week, the Request Pending crew explores a very big question: deep sea or deep space? Executive producer Haley Butler offers her stance and explains why her love for the deep sea goes deeper than a fascination with octopi and submarines. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

How can you help the environment, make friends and furnish your house without spending any money? Join your local Buy Nothing Facebook group. The Buy Nothing Project is a global network of hyper-local gift economies. All you have to do is find a group near you and start posting. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Look at the trending podcasts on any streaming app, and odds are there is at least one true crime series topping the charts. These tales of horrifying violence, conniving killers, and kindhearted victims who didn't see it coming inspire shock and interest across the internet, and the audience is notably female. Podcasts like Crime Junkie and My Favorite Murder use discussion and comedy to give women a safe space to confront their fears. Other podcasts like Dr. Death and Serial take a more journalistic approach to covering these stories. How can we consume and create these stories with sensitivity? Featuring Haley Butler and Tinu Thomas, hosts of The Orange Tree podcast. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Common etiquette bans three topics at the dinner table: politics, religion, and money. But women on the internet are breaking one of those rules in a big way, with Refinery29's Money Diaries. Women post weekly journals documenting their salary, monthly expenses and daily expenditures. It's a great way to empower women with finance knowledge, but it also scratches the itch everyone has to peer into people's personal lives. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

ASMR? Is that when people eat with their mouths open on YouTube? Sometimes, but not really. ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, is the euphoric sensation that arises from certain relaxing sounds or visuals, and an entire online world has risen from it. Viewers and creators use ASMR to relieve anxiety, fall asleep and feel a sense of community, while facing stigma and misunderstanding from others who don't experience the sensation. Featuring ASMR creations from Gentle Whispering ASMR, Goodnight Moon, Bluewhisper, Massage ASMR, Behind the Moons, LovelyVirus and Equal ASMR. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Young people's latest fantasies aren't about fame and fortune. They're about the tranquility and simplicity of a small cottage in the woods with a lot of books to read, bread to bake and raised garden beds to tend. But they aren't fulfilling this fantasy by moving out to the country — they're going online. Request Pending host Sara Schleede explores the internet's latest aesthetic trend, “cottagecore,” and the ethical implications of these pastoral daydreams. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Don't worry. You're not the only one who has been spending a lot of time on the internet lately. Request Pending follows our host, Sara Schleede, as she explores the wackiest and most thought-provoking online communities. Stay tuned for the first episode coming this summer.