When everyone online suddenly loves the same band, meme, creator, or viral moment… is that culture happening naturally, or is someone manufacturing it behind the scenes?

This week, Jenny and Greg Swan dive into the strange world of “clipping,” bot networks, manufactured virality, and the growing feeling that the internet is becoming less authentic by the day. From Justin Bieber at Coachella to TikTok trends, fake outrage, algorithmic feeds, and digital psyops, they unpack how modern “trend simulation” is shaping not just what we buy, but what we believe is popular in the first place.

If social media is increasingly driven by fake crowds and manipulated narratives, how do humans stay human online?

Plus: Noah Kahan discourse, why Jenny thinks “normals already assume the worst,” Greg’s accidental long-term digital psyop strategy for introducing new music, AI creativity competitions in New York, and the extremely wholesome cooking creators currently healing Jenny’s algorithm.

Teens are not using social media wrong. They’re just using it in ways that make adults feel ancient, confused, and mildly attacked. In this episode of The Cave Project, Jenny and Greg Swan unpack new data on teen social media habits, why parents keep side-eyeing Snapchat, TikTok, and group chats, and what adults can do besides trying to parent the algorithm. It’s a funny, honest conversation about trust, media literacy, teen communication, and staying close enough that your kids might actually come to you when the internet gets weird. Listen for a practical, not-panicked take on teens, tech, and parenting in the feed era.

We rewatched Her. Listened to Esther Perel do couples therapy with a chatbot. And had a fight about whether AI can love you back. Inside: the "flirty voice" debate, the mannequin reframe, and the question that would not leave us alone. Who is the robot?