Top Comment

Top Comment investigates the stories blowing up on your feed, and sheds light on the darkest corners of the internet. Every week, this brand-new BBC podcast unpacks a range of viral topics from controversial influencers and the clipping economy to murky crypto operations, prediction markets, and state-backed information warfare. Follow us inside the algorithm as we expose the inner workings of the most popular platforms and explain how tech giants are shaping the way we see the world. Whether its conspiratorial super-sleuths trying to solve a cold case or AI influencers flocking to the event of the year, we navigate the wild west of TikTok, Reddit, Twitch and beyond.

For this special episode, BBC correspondent and host Marianna Spring is joined by the author and journalist Rachel Connolly. Rachel has written for the FT, Guardian and New York Times on topics including influencer culture, doomscrolling, and online gender tropes. Her award-winning debut novel Lazy City was published in 2023, and her loyal following on Substack where she has discussed everything from Clavicular to social media therapy, makes her the ideal guest to interrogate the internet landscape.

Tickets for the BBC Fringe are completely free. You can reserve seats for individual shows. Do note that entry on the day will be first-come, first-served, even with a ticket, so we recommend arriving early to secure your place.

As tickets are free, people often request more than they need, so we have to issue more tickets than there are seats available to allow for this. Entry into the show is on a first come, first served basis, and is not guaranteed.