Good For You Podcast with Whitney Cummings

Episode 321 — Disney, Data, and Don'ts
Published: December 15, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Whitney Cummings dives into the weirdness of modern life, technology, influencer culture, and comedy feuds with her producer/cohost, Pat. The two explore the changing landscape of comedy (and why comics fight), Disney’s foray into user-generated content and AI, and the unsettling reach of data-mining corporations. True to Whitney’s voice, this episode is packed with self-deprecating humor, social commentary, and sharp, hilarious tangents.

Main Topics & Key Insights

The Absurdity of Influencer & Podcast Culture

• Whitney kicks off by mocking the influencer ritual of exaggerated thumbnail poses and the emptiness behind social media calls-to-action.
  • Quote: “If you think that podcasters and influencers and whatever are soulless ... just know that … every time I do [the thumbnail], like, a little bit of my soul … ekes out of my mind.” — Whitney (01:03)
• She rants about the false advertising of podcast thumbnails and the awkwardness of standup theater exits.

Touring Stories and Standup Realities

• Promotions for Whitney’s upcoming tour dates, interspersed with funny personal anecdotes about the struggles and quirks of standup life, including awkward exits and formative moments with other comics.
  • Notable moment: Whitney explains her decision to always be authentic onstage.
    • “I’m just gonna be myself. And if no one likes it, that’s fine.” — Whitney (05:23)

Sports, Sabotage & Emotional Contradictions

• Reflects on the phenomenon of successful sports teams self-sabotaging and the emotional irrationality in sports fans.
  • Quote: “Imagine making that much money and having that much on the line and have destroyed every brain cell in your head in order to play this sport … and you can’t get over your own ego of being mad at the quarterback?” — Whitney (11:31)
• Draws a contrast between emotional male athletes and the more supportive nature of female gymnasts.

Comedy Feuds & Morality Policing

• Whitney observes a trend of comedians publicly feuding, especially on platforms like TikTok, and laments the shift from collective rebellion to in-fighting.
  • “Comics became the morality police to each other. It used to be us against those in power … now they’re just turning on each other.” — Whitney (21:46)
• Notes that comics rarely consume each other’s work as regular audience members.

Nostalgia & Fading Trends

• Entertaining rant on fashion and lifestyle fads that have disappeared—whispering, slap bracelets, pocket protectors, and especially the wedge sneaker.
  • Memorable story: Andrew Schulz once threw out Whitney’s wedge sneakers (25:00).
• Nostalgia for simpler trends is tinged with sarcasm about the evolution of male fashion cycles.

Fashion Cycles & "Bader Meinhof" Phenomenon

• Pat theorizes that fashion cycles (like fedoras) recur every 45-50 years (30:00).
• Discussion around the Bader–Meinhof effect: after noticing something, you start seeing it everywhere, now amplified by social media algorithms.
  • “That was kind of mystical before the Internet and apps and stuff, but now … there was a video, we all got the same video.” — Whitney (33:47)

Disney, AI, and Personalized Content

• Pat discusses Disney’s major investment in OpenAI to drive user-generated, personalized content.
  • “When you have a Disney+ subscription, it’s going to be analyzing your life and … changing the movies and shows that you’re watching on the fly for you.” — Pat (34:29)
• Whitney is both incredulous and alarmed by the prospect of hyper-tailored movies:
  • “So you’re going to go, like, oh, she has two dead parents. Maybe not every Disney movie should be about parents dying. I’m not even kidding.” — Whitney (34:56)
• They agree this phenomenon will shatter any sense of shared cultural experience—everyone’s "Frozen" will be different (36:08).

The End of Shared Reality

• Whitney highlights how personalized content is already here via the news; soon, people will argue over facts from movies, not just politics.
  • “We’re already getting totally different movies every day of reality.” — Whitney (37:11)

Body Image, Pregnancy, and Wellness

• Whitney shares raw stories about her complicated, estranged relationship with her body, particularly through pregnancy, lampooning wellness culture and the dichotomy between obsessive health behaviors and carefree smokers in New Orleans.
  • “I don’t really identify as someone who, like, lives in a body. Like, I’m dead serious.” — Whitney (42:34)
  • "You know, smoking might actually be good for you because you would take deep breaths.” — Whitney quoting a therapist (48:24)
• Hilarious aside about being accused of having a nose job and the realities of aging (49:16).

Tech Billionaires, Data Surveillance, and Public Speaking

• Explains why tech billionaires inevitably embarrass themselves at conferences & how true moguls stay hidden.
  • “You can only lose at speaking in public at this point ... If you don’t have to be on camera, stay off camera.” — Whitney (53:41)
• Roasts the CEO of Palantir and the spectacle of revenge-driven nerds inventing mass surveillance tools.
  • “This is revenge. That’s why there’s no point in being mean to them. ... If you’re gonna bully someone smart, just know you’re giving them their superhero origin story.” — Whitney (61:38)
• Sarcastically suggests that “smart devices” are part of an ongoing campaign to monitor every aspect of life—“They won’t stop ‘til they can film us peeing from inside the smart toilet” (62:47).
• Pat reveals Palantir’s name comes from a surveillance device in Lord of the Rings: “The source of evil in the Lord of the Rings is this fire eye above a mountain that can see everywhere … and that’s what they named this company after.” (65:40)

The Futility and Fluidity of Privacy

• Discusses the paradox of fearing data surveillance versus oversharing online.
  • “I share [embarrassing things] voluntarily. … I have no secrets.” — Whitney (66:40)
  • “Is there an organization that saves our life a thousand times a day and we have no idea about it? ... Is there a company like this that’s maybe already doing … good things?” — Whitney (68:06)

Future of Identity and Corporate Surveillance

• Jokes about the future of disguises, digital avatars, and face-swapping to evade surveillance:
  • “Everyone’s going to be wearing a helmet or a mask. … It’s gonna get funny. … I’m just gonna start wearing a Homer Simpson mask.” — Whitney (70:24)
  • “It’s just going to be like the ending of a Scooby Doo episode. All day long, everywhere you look.” — Pat (71:30)

Closing Thoughts: Comedy as a Rorschach Test

• Whitney reflects on her evolving public persona, how people interpret her comedy through their own biases, and teases upcoming roasting appearances.
  • “People just go, 'ah, socialist.' It always says so much more about the person accusing you than anyone else.” — Whitney (73:20)

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “If you think that podcasters and influencers … are soulless … just know that … every time I do [the thumbnail], like, a little bit of my soul … ekes out of my mind.” — Whitney (01:03)
• “I’m just gonna be myself. And if no one likes it, that’s fine.” — Whitney (05:23)
• “Imagine making that much money … and you can’t get over your own ego of being mad at the quarterback?” — Whitney (11:31)
• “Comics became the morality police to each other. … Now they’re just turning on each other.” — Whitney (21:46)
• “That was kind of mystical before the Internet … now … we all got the same video.” — Whitney, on Bader–Meinhof phenomenon (33:47)
• “When you have a Disney+ subscription, it’s going to be analyzing your life and … changing the movies and shows that you’re watching on the fly for you.” — Pat (34:29)
• “There’s no unique … work of art at that point. Everybody will have seen Frozen, but nobody saw the same Frozen.” — Pat (36:09)
• “You can only lose at speaking in public at this point ... If you don’t have to be on camera, stay off camera.” — Whitney (53:41)
• “This is revenge. … If you’re gonna bully someone smart, just know you’re giving them their superhero origin story.” — Whitney (61:38)
• “The source of evil in the Lord of the Rings is this fire eye above a mountain that can see everywhere … and that’s what they named this company after.” — Pat (65:40)
• “I don’t really identify as someone who, like, lives in a body. Like, I’m dead serious.” — Whitney (42:34)
• “It’s just going to be like the ending of a Scooby Doo episode. All day long, everywhere you look.” — Pat (71:30)
• “It always says so much more about the person accusing you than anyone else.” — Whitney (73:20)

Episode Structure & Notable Segments

• [01:03–07:00] — Influencer/Podcast culture + Standup war stories
• [07:07–14:00] — NFL, sports psychology & fanbase emotionality
• [14:23–21:30] — Comedy feuds & morality policing in entertainment
• [21:30–33:45] — Disappearing trends, fashion cycles, Bader-Meinhof
• [34:08–37:12] — Disney, AI, and the end of a shared reality
• [42:19–51:30] — Body image, pregnancy, wellness culture, and anti-health attitudes
• [51:35–62:35] — Tech billionaires, Palantir, and the perils of public speaking
• [62:35–70:00] — Modern surveillance, privacy futility, inversion of transparency
• [70:00–73:50] — Future of identity, digital disguises, and closing meta-reflections

Tone & Style

• Whitney’s signature blend of raw honesty, rapid-fire riffing, and observational humor pervades the episode.
• Conversational, with frequent comedic rants and playful banter with Pat.
• Sarcastic, self-aware, and a touch philosophical about technology, identity, and culture.

This episode intersects nostalgia, technology, and the evolving comedy scene with biting wit and candid commentary—making it a quintessential Good For You listen, especially for fans of standup, internet culture, and social critique.