Good For You Podcast with Whitney Cummings | EP 310

Date: October 12, 2025
Host: Whitney Cummings
Guest/Co-host: Pat

Brief Overview

In this lively solo-driven episode, Whitney Cummings dives into the evolving world of social media influencers—defending their role, challenging boomer criticisms, and exploring why so many young people are drawn to this new career path. The discussion is hilarious, sharp, and rife with classic Whitney tangents covering generational divides, personal anecdotes, gender biases, and even media moguls and Middle Eastern comedy controversies. Pat joins in as sparring partner and sounding board, adding color and side banter throughout.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why Do Adults Care What Teenagers Want to Be?

• Main Rant: Whitney questions why adults get so bothered by the aspiring influencer generation. She calls out the absurdity of shaming teenagers for not wanting traditional jobs.
  • “70% of young people would like to be influencers when they grow up. Firstly, that's not enough. It's a low number, and we need to get it up now... What could a teenager you've never met, what do you want them to do?” (01:24)
• Critique of Traditional Job Paths: Whitney lampoons the idea that jobs like doctor or teacher are better or more noble, explaining the drawbacks and debt associated with them.
  • “Doctor. You want them to pay $400,000 that nobody has to have a job that'll be replaced by pixels in like 20 minutes?” (02:38)
  • Teachers as “going to war for no money... get pink eye. Godspeed.” (03:24)
• Bigger Point: Rather than shaming, Whitney pushes for acceptance: let young people monetize whatever they can online because that’s where the future is.

2. Skill Demonstration and “Patriotic” Content Creation

• If kids have real skills, why not broadcast them? Whitney encourages all skilled youth—artisans, craftspeople, even those who do makeup tutorials—to share content and prove that younger generations aren’t “useless.”
  • “If you are a young one who puts makeup on in your bathroom. Also way harder than it looks... It’s actually a skill.” (06:12)
• Defending “Silly” TikTok Trends: The viral trend videos often mocked by adults actually require work, and Whitney recommends trying them before judging.
  • “Before you make fun of your teenage daughter who is doing that, you try to do it and then check yourself before you wreck yourself...” (06:12)

3. Generational Hypocrisy and Boomer Frustration

• Whitney calls out Boomers’ complaints about “useless” youth, pointing out their own economic advantages and the shifting landscape.
  • “The boomers just going on and on about these young people are useless. Saying it from their new condo in Miami they can only afford because they sold the house they lived in for 30 years.” (07:07)
• Influencers as Digital Warriors: There's a patriotic framing—America’s digital presence on TikTok as a kind of “storefront.”

4. Tangent: Larry Ellison and Media Power

• Media Ownership and “Nepo Babies”: There's a long, humorous detour into Larry Ellison’s biography, his daughter’s role with A24, and the power of wealthy families to control narratives.
  • “His daughter makes A24. Every now and then, the spawn wants so badly to not be lumped in with their own ancestry that they make something so amazing...” (08:50)
• Aunt-raised Kids & Superhero Origin Stories: Whitney draws parallels to her own upbringing and the creativity it breeds.
  • “I am a child raised by my aunt. . . . If you don't think an entire private school in Virginia wasn't convinced that my dad was invisible because he, like, had a invisible . . . like ghost dad.” (09:09)

5. The Realities and Talents of Influencers

• “Influencer” is framed as a blue-collar, gig-economy job not new in history—town gossip, street preachers, market barkers, QVC hosts, and even costumed characters on Hollywood Blvd.
  • “The word influencer...That job has always existed, okay? Influencer. It was used to be called the town gossip. Used to be called hobo. The person standing on a box yelling Bible verses at you.” (25:37)
• Most influencer content isn’t just “girls bouncing around”—it’s businesses, skills, trades, and a modern version of working from home.
  • “It's not all women that are influencing, by the way... It's a lot of business. It's a lot of business. Women making money in ways that don't involve a creepy male boss. It's basically Shark Tank.” (27:42)

6. Gendered Critiques and Internalized Misogyny

• The cultural backlash against influencers is, at its core, a gendered one.
  • “If you hate influencers, it means you hate women. It is like internalized women, social media. This is our thing.” (33:30)
  • Comparisons between “male” and “female” influencer equivalents (e.g., indie bands, DJs), and the latent disgust in society about women having influence.
  • “You're disgusted by the idea of women having influence over people, which I. I get that. If you're a parent, if you have a daughter and you're like, I don't want them to be influenced by... have them be influenced by other girls in their twenties. That is better.” (34:30)
• Men profit from influencer economies, whether via product creation or as podcast hosts—only women's influence gets broad criticism.
  • “The number of male podcasters making millions of dol off stuff women have just inherently known for 2000 years...” (37:23)

7. Influencer Aspirations as Sane Survival

• Whitney argues that the desire for “easy money” is rational: Hard work has been devalued or automated; being an influencer is practical and adaptable.
  • “It’s okay to want to be an influencer. I would like to take the shame off it. It’s called riding the horse in the direction it’s going.” (24:53)
• The “unnecessary” nature of most influencer content is not a bug—it’s a feature. Whitney proposes, tongue-in-cheek, that thriving in unnecessary pursuits is all humanity has left.
  • “The only business left is doing something that doesn't need to be done. Guilty pleasure. Making a guilty pleasure. ... Being unnecessary is the only thing left.” (39:08)

8. Tangent: Tech, AI, and the Future of Work

• AI “hot girl” deepfakes and digital puppets on TikTok: Whitney and Pat joke about AI’s pervasiveness and the inevitable blending (and replacement) of influencer identities.
  • Pat: “There’s a lot of incels masquerading as hot chicks on TikTok these days.” (30:30)
    Whitney: “On your TikTok, Pat. On your TikTok...” (30:36)
• Human creators’ unique appeal vs. robots/AI: Viewers will always want messy human process and personality.

9. International Comedy and “Sellout” Discourse

• Whitney addresses criticisms of her performing in the Middle East, specifically Saudi Arabia—the difference between people and governments, and the hypocrisy of allegations by comics and fans.
  • “...when I went to Dubai... I explained how I went to the Middle east and learned how toxically ignorant I was about the Middle east and how the biggest takeaway was how to separate the people that live in a country from the government.” (45:24)
• Calls for critics to “Google Live Nation” and realize everyone in entertainment touches “dirty money.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Influencer Critique:
  “Every question you ask me is rhetorical.” — Whitney (00:55)

• On Job Advice to Youth:
  “Go to war for no money. ... put on this bulletproof vest, go learn how to defend yourself and you'll make $10,000 a year to at the very least get pink eye. Godspeed.” — Whitney (03:26)

• On Gendered Criticism:
  “If you hate influencers, it means you hate women.” — Whitney (33:30)

• On Male Podcasters:
  “The number of male podcasters making millions of dol off stuff women have just inherently known for 2,000 years...” — Whitney (37:23)

• On Social Media Therapy:
  “I've learned more about narcissists from TikTok... I want you to show me someone who has the same thing as me, and then they can talk about it, overshare about it on social media...” — Whitney (17:38)

• On Algorithmic Joy:
  “I cleaned up my algorithm a little bit and I just don't think they're all bad people. What's wrong with people wanting easy money? ... My algorithm is just never been better, I think instead of saying someone, how are you? It's like, how's your algorithm?” — Whitney (39:08, 40:40)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:55 – Comedy about rhetorical questions and beginning the influencer rant
• 01:24 – Main influencer discussion launches: “70% of young people want to be influencers...”
• 02:38 – Satirical debunking of “proper” careers for youth
• 06:12 – Defending TikTok trends and social media skills
• 07:07 – Boomer hypocrisy and the economic landscape
• 08:50 – Larry Ellison, “Nepo Baby,” and Whitney’s own “aunt origin story”
• 25:37 – The “influencer” role through history and society
• 27:42 – Influencer work as legitimate business and “Shark Tank,” gender bias
• 33:30 – Internalized misogyny in influencer criticism
• 34:30 – The reality of women’s empowerment via influencing
• 37:23 – Male podcasters profiting from “influencer” economy
• 39:08 – Easy money, the “unnecessary” job market, algorithmic well-being
• 40:40 – “How’s your algorithm?” as a social barometer
• 45:24 – Performing in the Middle East, government vs. people discourse

Tone and Style

The episode is classic Whitney: rapid-fire, highly satirical, shamelessly honest, and deeply personal, mixing sociological insight with laugh-out-loud jokes and sudden segues into the bizarre (e.g., AI TikTok personalities, haunted Airbnbs, and the politics of neck cream). Pat’s dry banter and one-liners buoy the conversation, giving the rant a conversational rhythm.

Summary

Whitney Cummings pulls no punches in a sprawling, funny, and insightful defense of social media influencers. She argues that criticism of young people’s career choices is rooted in outdated thinking and latent sexism, that being an influencer is a logical (and occasionally patriotic) path in today’s world, and the work itself is often harder, more creative, and more legitimate than skeptics realize. The podcast is peppered with anecdotes about her own life, perspectives on media power and nepotism, and biting commentary on gendered double standards in entertainment. Whitney offers a rallying cry for acceptance, adaptability, and the celebration of evolving forms of achievement—delivered, as always, with a wit as sharp as ever.