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_mailonline

https://x.com/baaulp/status/2073588363668451332?s=46

https://x.com/kissmarrykill13/status/2073938886217134523?s=46

BookTok 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 Reade

Produced by Matt Withers

Subscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/7501457984606899502

https://www.tiktok.com/@scrunchieluxe/video/7605450123618962708

https://bsky.app/profile/sesmith.lol/post/3mp4ri524n52x

Lateness links:

https://x.com/dilrhubarb/status/2069348621208948746?s=20

https://x.com/ShayWoulahan/status/2070019497809854697?s=20

https://x.com/privatebirb/status/2070179903786655762?s=20

https://x.com/Brien_Jackson/status/2070284553046884474?s=20

https://www.tiktok.com/@chaotic_philosopher/video/7255063782970445098?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Presented by James Ball and Lucy Reade

Produced by Matt Withers

Subscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 tells us about the cult of the Starmtroopers and how they’re coping with the prime minister’s departure, while James Ball discusses why the online Looksmaxxers need some serious lessons in biology.

Links to Starmtrooper posts:

https://x.com/NondescriptRed/status/2069016131419914646?s=20

https://x.com/ChristianHeiens/status/2069204137191825571?s=20

https://x.com/fortnitebigboss/status/2068987930853380444?s=20

https://x.com/orm0nde/status/2068017037507514483

https://x.com/mikeysmith/status/2069118961149460740?s=20

Clavicular post:

https://x.com/Clavicular0/status/2069045565766185289

Presented by James Ball and Lucy Reade

Produced by Matt Withers

Subscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Reade

Produced by Matt Withers

Subscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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=20

https://x.com/inherentvibes/status/2063752210358685791?s=20

Links 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 Reade

Produced by Matt Withers

Subscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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=20

https://spectator.com/article/bonnie-blue-and-the-truth-about-the-pro-life-movement/

Presented by James Ball and Lucy Reade

Produced by Matt Withers

Subscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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=46

https://x.com/signalxsoul/status/2058171068133654862?s=46

https://x.com/groksbride/status/2017130525664956424?s=46

https://www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/s/oepRe3Zd2o

https://www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/s/0tpWm91Q4x

https://www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/s/tpajWPaRKU

Links 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=1779781665478

https://bsky.app/profile/jamesrball.com/post/3mmheaz2qhk2u

https://bsky.app/profile/youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com/post/3mm4rkh3q3k2h

https://bsky.app/profile/youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com/post/3mm4rrxgmic2h

Presented by James Ball and Lucy Reade

Produced by Matt Withers

Subscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 dives into the debate over whether video games can be fascist, while Lucy Reade unpacks the baffling teen obsession with New Labour politicians – and their love lives.

Links from the episode:

Links to full Mass Effect thread: https://bsky.app/profile/machineiv.bsky.social/post/3mksstm3vss2u

Links to Tiktoks: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRtaYvwn/

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRtaURon/

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRtaF1m2/

Presented by James Ball and Lucy Reade

Produced by Matt Withers

Subscribe to The New World for just £5 for five weeks here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.