Good For You with Whitney Cummings

Episode 316: My TV Success Was 'UNNERVING' – Why AI is Replacing Journalists
Date: November 9, 2025

Overview:

This episode centers on Whitney Cummings’ reflections about internet success, public critique, and the encroachment of AI on creative and information-based professions. Whitney weaves humor, personal anecdotes, and biting cultural commentary, particularly addressing the absurdities of criticism, shifting social norms (such as marriage), and why AI is coming for jobs like journalists, historians, and radio DJs.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Emotional Impact of Internet Success

• Whitney discusses her fraught relationship with online feedback, describing both praise and criticism as emotionally fraught.

  • (00:32) “The comment section has hammered my heart to such a pulp that when an episode does well, I’m like, these are... This is probably my own friends sending it to each other, being like, ‘cringe.’” – Whitney

• She embraces the relief found when people relate to her honesty and tenacity, especially about labeling certain toxic behaviors.

2. Social Dynamics and the ‘Unnerving’ Nature of Female Success

• Whitney explores how criticism, especially from female journalists and critics, can shape public perception of women in entertainment.

• She voices both her personal experiences and frustration at being the target of “mean girl” style critique disguised as intellectual journalism.

  • (65:32) “They’ve never made a movie. And they think I’m unnerving. I’m unnerving. ... I do think that AI is not going to trash a 28-year-old girl living her dream or find it unnerving.” – Whitney

• Notable moment of vulnerability and humor as she catalogs the shifting cultural reaction to her engagement and motherhood, musing on how marriage has moved from a mainstream expectation to a “punk rock” act, especially as monogamy becomes less common.

  • (12:24) “Now that no one wants to get married and everyone's like poly, I’m like, let's go. There’s something just, I don’t know, it’s like tradition is now sort of punk rock.” – Whitney

3. AI's Threat to Human Professions

AI as the new disruptor for:

• Translators and interpreters
• Historians
• Writers and authors
• Ticket agents and travel clerks
• Journalists and radio DJs
• Geographers and political scientists

The Absurdity and Limitations of AI Replacements

• Whitney dissects why some jobs are vulnerable but also why human messiness can’t be fully replaced.

  • (26:20) “Historians, like, they’ve always been biased and influenced by whatever university they were at or whatever access they had.”
  • (39:27) “You can’t make a smart machine for the airport because the airport’s too dumb. Robots run on efficiency, and there’s nothing efficient about the airport.”

• She satirizes both the “gatekeeper” aspect of these roles and how AI-generated results will inherit human biases, mistakes, and absurdities.

  • (24:42) “The fear that everyone has that like, AI is going to become conscious is so weird to me because, like, we’re not even conscious. ... My Roomba is more conscious than a human at this point.”

• AI will likely reflect, not transcend, human dysfunction:

  • (45:06) “We’re gonna look at AI behavior and go, oh my god, like, that seems normal to us before we saw it in the mirror.”

4. Personal Anecdotes on Criticism & "Mean Girl" Journalism

• Whitney recounts specific negative press from prominent critics (Emily Nussbaum in The New Yorker, among others).

  • She deconstructs the fallacy of "objective" critique, pointing out its basis in personal taste and groupthink rather than genuine analysis.

    • (64:25) “This journalist... wrote a piece that was so sadistic. ... A lot of journalists use this degree... which is supposed to symbolize a loyalty to veracity... So somehow the hatred is gilded in this kind of, I guess, passion for literature. So it's not just trolling, right? Cause I'm getting paid to do it.”

  • She exposes factual errors and double standards, often with disarming candor and self-deprecating wit.

    • (66:05) “In 2011. I was the most unnerving thing about 2011. That was also the year that Anthony Weiner posted his dong on Twitter by accident. ... But I was the unnerving person on TV. Got it. Cool.”

5. The Unconsciousness of Modern Human Life

• Whitney rails against society’s decreasing attention spans, kneejerk hot takes, and effortless parroting of opinions—suggesting AI will simply amplify this unconsciousness.
  • (16:08) “People are so unconscious now. They just say things other people said with no regard of whether it’s true or false ... we’re just like arrogant parrots.”

6. The Future of Creative and Intellectual Value

• She speculates that AI may only replace bad writing, inadvertently raising the value of authentic human expression.
  • (29:20) “I feel like AI honestly is only going to replace bad writing and will make good writing even more valuable.”

7. The Satirical Undermining of Other “Impressive” Jobs

• Geographers, political scientists, and even radio DJs get roasted for their supposed irreplaceability.
  • (70:04) “Geographers. Listen to me. Geographers. ... Like, the idea that anyone could actually compile how big a continent is for real is in. That’s my pyramids.”

8. Callbacks and Running Jokes

• Jokes about "intuitive eating,” chiropractors (“like astrology for the body”), and the absurdity of family holidays serve as comedic interludes amid thornier social commentary.
• Regular sidekick Pat offers friendly banter and fact-checking, grounding Whitney’s tangents (see: Mercator projection and Albania’s AI government).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• (00:32) “The comment section has hammered my heart to such a pulp that when an episode does well, I’m like... This is probably my own friends sending it to each other, being like ‘cringe.’” — Whitney

• (12:24) “Now that no one wants to get married and everyone's like poly, I’m like, let's go. There’s something just, I don’t know, it’s like tradition is now sort of punk rock.”

• (24:42) “The fear that everyone has that like, AI is going to become conscious is so weird to me because, like, we’re not even conscious. ... My Roomba is more conscious than a human at this point.”

• (29:20) “I feel like AI honestly is only going to replace bad writing and will make good writing even more valuable.”

• (45:06) “We’re gonna look at AI behavior and go, oh my god, like, that seems normal to us before we saw it in the mirror.”

• (64:25) “This journalist... wrote a piece that was so sadistic. ... A lot of journalists use this degree... it’s not just trolling, right? Cause I’m getting paid to do it.”

• (66:05) “That was also the year that Anthony Weiner posted his dong on Twitter by accident. ... But I was the unnerving person on TV.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Event | |-------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:30 | Whitney on the emotional toll of online comments | | 03:00 | Housewives as a mirror for real-life toxic personalities | | 07:10 | Making light of the holidays and the new “punk rock” of monogamy/marriage | | 12:24 | Societal shift in attitudes toward marriage | | 14:30 | Parenting, intrusive questions, and stitches/medical rant | | 15:45 | Unconsciousness and the everyday mindlessness of modern humans | | 23:00 | Discussion of jobs most likely to be replaced by AI | | 26:20 | Satirical takedown of historians and objectivity | | 29:20 | Impact of AI on writing, with sharp digressions on literary quality | | 39:30 | Why airport machines won’t replace humans any time soon | | 45:06 | AI as an unsettling mirror reflecting human foibles | | 58:00 | Detailed stories about journalist bullying and the psychology of critical “mean girls” | | 70:03 | Satirizing the value of geographers and map projection errors | | 73:01 | Sardonic wrap-up, promising more on the theme in future episodes |

Tone

• Candid, irreverent, and unapologetically personal.
• Jokes and digressions throughout; caustic and confessional, with moments of vulnerability.

Final Thoughts

Whitney delivers a high-wire blend of standup storytelling and cultural critique, unpacking why traditional jobs—especially those involved in gatekeeping, opinion, and culture—may be most at risk in an AI-driven world. Her main question: “Is it really a loss if jobs that exist to judge, gatekeep, and criticize are taken over by machines—if they only ever reflected society’s own biases and insecurities anyway?” For all her sardonic wit, the episode lands as a call for authenticity, empathy, and maybe a little less “criticism for criticism’s sake.”