INFLUENCE

Feeling dismayed by U.S. politics in 2018, J.D. Boehninger (pen name) got advice from a friend who was writing self-published monster fiction for the Amazon Kindle. Many authors were making a good living writing paranormal stories, erotica, and things about Donald Trump. So Boehninger decided to combine all three.

The result was "Melania: Devourer of Men," an erotic tale about the first lady who was secretly a killer vampire from Filipino folklore. The book debuted. A few friends left reviews on Amazon. And then...nothing.

Eight years later, the book suddenly popped into the Internet's crosshairs after Amazon gave Melania $40 million to produce a documentary about her life - a pile of money that smells suspicious to say the least.

As a small gesture of protest, a subreddit called r/Boycott UnitedStates got wind of the book, and hatched a plan: What if all Amazon searches for "Melania" lead to the satirical monster book INSTEAD of the documentary?

J.D. Boehninger joins Matt to discuss the online machinations that sent his 8-year-old book to the top of the Amazon charts.

Disclosure: I have verified Mr. Boehninger's identity and authorship and am anonymizing his face and voice for this interview.

This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod

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By day, Amber Ivey uses big data to inform governmental policy decisions. Back in 2020, she was invited to tinker with a new tool from a young startup called OpenAI - two years before the public had ever heard the phrase "ChatGPT."

She knew right away that the LLM would have huge ramifications for the way we relate to the Internet, and that kids would be particularly enraptured by it.

She wrote a children's book about it, and her access to experts on the topic lead her to the next project: A podcast for kids and families about AI literacy - the risks, the potential, and the how we reckon with a digital world where nothing is what it seems.

This week, Amber and Matt sit down to discuss what kids really understand when interacting with generative models,
how to apply IRL critical thinking skills to the Internet, and why parents need credible and useful information now more than ever.

Listen to "AI for Kids" wherever you get podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-for-kids/id1745917083

Connect with Amber and follow her work: https://www.ambermivey.com/

This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod

Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts:

🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS

🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN

⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF

Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod

Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548

Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! [email protected] (NOICE)

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Brian Hull unlocked his super power at a young age. Mimicking the voices of the world's most recognizable cartoon characters earned him lots of social cred on the schoolyard.

In 2014, he uploaded a YouTube video of himself singing "Let It Go" from "Frozen" as a variety of Disney characters. It was never meant to be public. He woke up the next morning to millions of new fans and an exciting career as a professional voice actor.

Since then, Brian splits is work between online video creation and voice work for films, commercials, and even a new anime series.

Brian chats with Matt about his favorite characters to perform, and the ones that challenge him the most. They also cover what it means to be professional voice actor in 2026 as AI-generated voices become mainstream, and why someone with his skills might not go viral on today's Internet.

Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts:

🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS
🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN
⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF

This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod

Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod
Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548
Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! [email protected] (NOICE)

Follow me:
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Like many of us, the urban planning strategy game "SimCity" was an obsession for Diana Regan growing up. When she published YouTube videos about a modern incarnation -- "Cities: Skylines" and its sequel -- she grew a loyal audience around the games.

But she was more interested in using these sims for social commentary about urban design, capitalism, politics, and absurdist online culture. One problem: Her audience HATED it. That is until one of her TikToks about corporate cities went viral and inspired her to return to YouTube to expand the work into robust video essays.

These days, Diana works full time as a video creator, covering a wide range of topics and painting with all sorts of surrealist brushes: video games, travel videos, memes, archival footage, and AI-generated voices of historical figures saying the darndest things.

Diana sits down with Matt to discuss her singular creative style and how she overcame the limitations of social video platforms that only reward you for doing the same things over and over.

Subscribe to Cities By Diana:

https://www.youtube.com/@CitiesByDiana

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https://www.tiktok.com/@citiesbydiana
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Greetings! I am couch/bed-ridden as my entire family recovers from Covid-19 (the BEST Covid!) While I waste away, I think you'll enjoy this episode from my other podcast.

- Original Show Notes | August 15, 2025 -

https://haveenteredthechat.com/episodes/215-luke-plunkett-games-journalism-aftermath

If you've read a video game article on the Internet in the last two decades, chances are it was written by Luke Plunkett. His tenure at Kotaku spanned 17 years, and all the highs and lows of the digital media rollercoaster.

When the bottom eventually fell out, he and other games media refugees co-founded Aftermath, a worker-owned video game news and commentary site, whose business model eschews advertising, SEO, and clickbait in favor of — get this — reader subscriptions!

Luke joins us to discuss the evolution of games media, getting paid $10 to post pictures of cake on Kotaku in 2006, living on the opposite side of the world from his co-workers, and why we are entering a new and (hopefully) more sustainable era for online journalism.

Connect with Luke:

https://www.lukeplunkett.com/

https://aftermath.site/
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