Podcast Summary: TED Talks Daily – “Beyond the Talk: Deja Foxx on Finding Alternative Online Spaces”

Date: October 6, 2025
Host: Elise Hu
Guest: Deja Foxx

Episode Overview

In this episode, Elise Hu sits down with activist and political strategist Deja Foxx to unpack the future of online spaces, particularly for women and girls. At just 25, Foxx boasts a decade of high-profile activism, including being one of the youngest presidential campaign strategists and, at the time of recording (April 2025), an active candidate for Congress in Arizona. The conversation spans Deja’s personal journey, the limitations and risks of current online spaces, the promise of alternative platforms, and why diverse, safe, and women-led digital ecosystems are vital for both personal empowerment and political action.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Deja’s Road to the TED Stage

• Preparation and Perspective (04:08–05:15)
  • Deja’s first exposure to TED Talks was through public school, never envisioning she’d be on stage herself.
  • In preparing, she focused on her own lived experience versus academic credentials:

    “I had to remind myself that I didn’t need a PhD, even though some of the people here definitely have those. I needed to lean into my experience.”
    — Deja Foxx [04:55]

2. The Power and Underrating of Teen Girls

• Why are Teen Girls Dismissed? (05:15–07:03)
  • Deja recounts her viral political moment as a teenager confronting a senator about birth control access:

    “My life went from private to public, and I experienced what it meant to come of age in the public eye … I’ve been counted out more times than I can count.”
    — Deja Foxx [06:13]

  • Notes the pattern of the media reducing her identity to “influencer,” despite significant activism and roles.

3. The Architecture and Culture of Online Platforms

• Who Builds Our Digital Worlds? (07:18–09:42)

  • Highlights the male-centric origins of major platforms and their implications:

    “Mark Zuckerberg did not design Facebook for me to go viral and be on even footing … when I was a teenage girl working at a gas station. That was not the design.”
    — Deja Foxx [08:18]

  • Points to platforms like Sunroom and Dm as alternative spaces, built for and by women, designed to address needs ignored or mishandled by mainstream networks.

• Diversity, Safety, and Monetization (09:42–11:32)

  • Calls out Instagram and TikTok for reinforcing sameness and censoring larger and non-normative bodies.
  • Sunroom is praised for policies like women-led content moderation and zero tolerance for harassment.

4. Governance, Community, and Ownership Models

• Who Should Run These Spaces? (11:32–13:17)
  • Deja champions models like Archive of Our Own:

    “Their structure is nonprofit, non-commercial. They are run by an elected board and they’re completely volunteer run. … They’re proving concept that there’s a different way to govern online.”
    — Deja Foxx [12:53]

  • Critiques “tech bros” for writing global community guidelines without accountability.

5. Policy, Protection, and Structural Change

• Regulation & Representation (13:17–14:53)
  • Emphasizes the need for policymakers who understand online culture, especially digital violence:

    “We need to get people in power who understand the urgency of the issue.” — Deja Foxx [14:14]

  • Critiques ham-fisted solutions like the TikTok ban for missing the mark with young people.

6. Rethinking Platform Ecosystems

• Toward a Diverse, Choice-Driven Network (15:21–17:59)
  • Advocates for a diverse and decentralized platform ecosystem, not just “one platform swapped for another”:

    “We deserve choices about where we get our information, where we build our community … we shouldn’t be forced into participating in their hate-for-profit business model.”
    — Deja Foxx [15:55]

  • Addresses concerns about digital “balkanization,” arguing that gendered digital separation already exists due to algorithmic sorting, and safe spaces are a corrective.

Personal Journey and Political Motivation

1. Connecting Online Power to Electoral Politics

• Deja's Path from Activism to Candidacy (20:01–23:07)
  • Describes how her lived experience—growing up with little family support, experiencing homelessness, advocating at local school boards—shaped her understanding of storytelling as power.
  • Digital fluency opened doors: “Nobody has a PhD in TikTok … we know how to use these platforms better than anyone else because we were basically raised on them.”
    — Deja Foxx [21:37]
  • Ran for Congress to prevent youth political disengagement:

    “They deserve something to get excited about. They deserve someone they can see themselves in. And frankly, it’s obscene that an entire generation, Gen Z, has one member in the House representing them.”
    — Deja Foxx [23:25]

2. Message to Young People

• Civic Engagement and Personal Power (24:15–25:41)
  • Encourages youth to see their experience as expertise and points out activism can take many forms, from policy advocacy to creative projects.
  • On overcoming cynicism:

    “You are an expert in your experience and that is enough to get involved … you don’t need to have tens of thousands … followers to make a difference.”
    — Deja Foxx [24:22]

Lightning Round: Rapid Insights and Reflections

• On Innovation and Big Ideas

  “If it’s actually a good idea, you’ll remember it.”
  — Deja Foxx [25:57]

• On the Value of TED Talks

  “Big ideas need to be shared … now, more than ever, people need a sense of possibility.”
  — Deja Foxx [26:23]

• On Letting Go of Perfectionism

  “Cecile Richards … once told me, ‘Deja, you don’t have to be so goddamn perfect.’ … I refuse to hold the pressure of perfect.”
  — Deja Foxx [27:26]

• On AI and Gendered Violence

  “Most of deepfakes … is porn and almost all of that is of women … this is a new kind of digital violence … it will impact who decides to lead … and who decides that it’s just not worth it.”
  — Deja Foxx [28:03–29:04]

• On Regrets

  “Even when [things are] unclear to you [they] are working out the way they're supposed to.”
  — Deja Foxx [29:16]

• On Gratitude

  “For me it’s the mountains in Tucson ... I'm reminded that the world is bigger than whatever is happening in politics or on TikTok.”
  — Deja Foxx [29:51]

Notable Quotes

• “Teen girls have some of the solutions to save us from some of our biggest problems.”
  — Deja Foxx [04:34]

• “We are all being forced to live in the boy Internet. They’re boy-built and boy-focused.”
  — Deja Foxx [17:07]

• “Things feel hard because they are. But I hope they know that I am in their corner and that I’ll be a fighter for them.”
  — Deja Foxx [25:37]

Timestamps for Significant Segments

• [04:07] – TED Talk Preparation
• [05:24] – Diminishing of Teen Girls’ Power
• [07:47] – Critique of Platform Design & Digital Architecture
• [11:50] – Alternative Governance Models
• [13:26] – Regulation & Why Deja Ran for Office
• [15:55] – Reimagining the Platform Ecosystem
• [17:07] – Gendered Online Realities
• [20:01] – Deja’s Activism Journey
• [24:15] – Hope for Young People
• [25:45] – Lightning Round

Tone & Style

Deja Foxx’s delivery is candid, passionate, and relatable, mixing processed thought with personal anecdotes. The conversation is direct, sometimes playful, but always purposeful—balancing hard truths with hope and actionable optimism.

Summary

This episode is essential for listeners interested in the intersection of tech, activism, gender, and political change. Deja Foxx brings both her personal narrative and systemic critique to bear—arguing that to build a better Internet, especially for women and marginalized voices, we need more equitable, accountable, and diversified digital platforms. She calls for new ownership models, deeper political literacy among lawmakers, and for young people to recognize the power inherent in their own experience and storytelling.

Listeners will come away with a sense of what’s at stake—and how individual agency, both online and off, matters more than ever.