ICYMI · Slate Podcasts

I Miss The Old TikTok

January 31, 2026·36 min·3 clips

Laura opens TikTok after the ownership change and finds her algorithm completely broken, seeing ads for things she'd never want.

This episode of Slate's ICYMI podcast features host Kate Lindsay and writer Laura Wheatman-Hill discussing her article "We Should Just Let TikTok Die." They examine the platform's recent ownership change and its immediate impact on users. The new owner is TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, an entity that includes Oracle's CEO, a noted Trump ally. The conversation traces TikTok's political saga from Trump's 2020 divestment order to Biden signing a potential ban bill in 2024. Following Trump's second-term inauguration, the app briefly went dark before returning under new ownership. Users like Laura immediately noticed their finely-tuned algorithms had reset, showing irrelevant ads and Gen-Z content instead of personalized feeds. During this technical disruption, significant political unrest occurred in Minnesota, a moment when many rely on TikTok for real-time news. Creators reported their political content was suppressed, including a video by Jen Hamilton about a child's ICE detention and attempts by comedian Meg Stalter to post about the topic. Direct messages containing the word "Epstein" were reportedly blocked by a community guideline pop-up. Laura shared her own non-political video of a beach trip garnered zero views, suggesting a widespread glitch. The new ownership attributed these issues to a weather-related power outage at an Oracle data center, a statement that failed to reassure many users. A key insight is that TikTok's value resided in its predictive algorithm, which could surface cultural trends and personal health information before users sought them out. The fear is that without this "secret sauce," TikTok becomes just another slop-filled short-form video app. The episode draws parallels to Twitter's transformation under Elon Musk, where cultural relevance waned amid accusations of partisan management. Laura argues the loss of trust is paramount, whether the changes are intentional or technical, rendering the platform effectively "lost." The tone is conversational and analytical, blending personal anecdote with cultural commentary. It adopts a millennial perspective, reflecting on the lifespan of platforms from MySpace to the present. This episode would appeal to internet culture enthusiasts, media analysts, and TikTok users concerned about platform governance and free speech. Listeners seeking light entertainment or those unconcerned with the politics of tech platforms might find it less engaging.

As heard by us

A sharp, lightly exasperated look at TikTok's wobble and the uncertainty around it.

ICYMI treats TikTok's latest wobble with a clear eye and enough humor to keep it from feeling drab. Kate Lindsay and Laura Wheatman-Hill use broken sharing, zero-view posts, and the app's glitchy behavior to ask a simple question: what happens when a platform people depend on…

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Why you'd press play

You want the TikTok ownership drama with the glitchy unease attached.

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