"I love the smell of schadenfreude in the morning."
October 6, 2021 10:08 AM Subscribe
I LOVE reading about drama. What are some good, interesting, funny and intelligent written takes on dust-ups between people on the internet?
This FANTASTIC recent post on the Blue reminded me that it has been a while since I enjoyed some drama, ideally about people whom I don't know and don't care about. When I was younger and super into the Harry Potter fanfiction thing I really enjoyed Fandom Wank and its offshoots. Basically I love reading about fights conducted in public between people who are publicly prominent.
I have enjoyed the odd influencer drama, eg. Caroline Calloway and Natalie Beach but I don't follow any influencers so I feel like I am missing out on a rich source of drama here.
My favourite way to consume drama is through long and well-written articles ideally by a third party, I find Twitter, Threadreader etc very difficult to parse. Can anyone share any good articles with me? I am interested in literature, music, beauty, make-up, and not in sport.
I know this says terrible things about my soul, I am sorry.
This FANTASTIC recent post on the Blue reminded me that it has been a while since I enjoyed some drama, ideally about people whom I don't know and don't care about. When I was younger and super into the Harry Potter fanfiction thing I really enjoyed Fandom Wank and its offshoots. Basically I love reading about fights conducted in public between people who are publicly prominent.
I have enjoyed the odd influencer drama, eg. Caroline Calloway and Natalie Beach but I don't follow any influencers so I feel like I am missing out on a rich source of drama here.
My favourite way to consume drama is through long and well-written articles ideally by a third party, I find Twitter, Threadreader etc very difficult to parse. Can anyone share any good articles with me? I am interested in literature, music, beauty, make-up, and not in sport.
I know this says terrible things about my soul, I am sorry.
Well, there is this fascinating story about two writers suing each other from The New York Magazine yesterday -- it's drama unfolding in real time in the literary world.
There are history podcasts dedicated to feuds (either entire podcast series or episodes) -- that might be of interest as a general resource? [Edited to add: I just realized you specified "people on the internet" so that would render much of historical material inapplicable -- but still going to leave this here just in case, because the pettiness of some of the historical feuds prefigures and often surpasses internet drama of our days.]
posted by virve at 10:24 AM on October 6, 2021 [8 favorites]
There are history podcasts dedicated to feuds (either entire podcast series or episodes) -- that might be of interest as a general resource? [Edited to add: I just realized you specified "people on the internet" so that would render much of historical material inapplicable -- but still going to leave this here just in case, because the pettiness of some of the historical feuds prefigures and often surpasses internet drama of our days.]
posted by virve at 10:24 AM on October 6, 2021 [8 favorites]
This now 15 year old takedown of a Texas based chocolate shop is still one of my very favorite things on the internet.
posted by phunniemee at 10:41 AM on October 6, 2021 [22 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 10:41 AM on October 6, 2021 [22 favorites]
Ask A Manager frequently has some great drama. Most recent fun can be found over here about a coworker praying for another coworker to DIE and it just gets worse from there. Looks like some office supply drama just went up as well.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:47 AM on October 6, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:47 AM on October 6, 2021 [7 favorites]
Seconding Hobby Drama. Obviously the quirkiness level of the feuds varies, but their "Best of . . . " threads are probably a good place to start browsing.
posted by mark k at 11:16 AM on October 6, 2021
posted by mark k at 11:16 AM on October 6, 2021
You might like r/prorevenge. Not written by third parties though, but by the people who did the revenge.
posted by foxjacket at 11:18 AM on October 6, 2021
posted by foxjacket at 11:18 AM on October 6, 2021
Also from the NYT: A Feud in Wolf-Kink Erotica Raises a Deep Legal Question. I'm honestly not even sure how to summarize this, but it involves some delicious dumb infighting within the "Omegaverse" which is a weird niche literary genre born out of Supernatural fandom (I think?)
posted by O9scar at 11:27 AM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by O9scar at 11:27 AM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
I'm sure I got a link to this from the green, but I've bookmarked Best of Redditor Updates. It's drama but WITH resolution, which makes it so much better to me.
posted by hydra77 at 11:57 AM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by hydra77 at 11:57 AM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
The Truck Nuts War is entertaining, either in text or podcast audio.
posted by eotvos at 12:50 PM on October 6, 2021
posted by eotvos at 12:50 PM on October 6, 2021
Buzzfeed can occasionally be a good source for these types of drama-infused long reads. The two that I immediately thought of were the Rachel Hollis piece and the long read on Armie Hammer and the weirdness of his career.
There was another piece from The Cut (which also has the occasional good long-form drama bomb) I thought of about that couple from YouTube who, like, rehomed their adopted special needs child?
Also, if you're down for some local (to me) drama, there is great piece from Pittsburgh Magazine about a restauranteur in the Pittsburgh area who just can't seem to stop building new restaurants in early-stage-gentrification neighborhoods, talking a huge game about how his restaurant is going to do awesome things for the community, and then abandoning them without ceremony to move onto the next thing.
posted by helloimjennsco at 1:26 PM on October 6, 2021 [3 favorites]
There was another piece from The Cut (which also has the occasional good long-form drama bomb) I thought of about that couple from YouTube who, like, rehomed their adopted special needs child?
Also, if you're down for some local (to me) drama, there is great piece from Pittsburgh Magazine about a restauranteur in the Pittsburgh area who just can't seem to stop building new restaurants in early-stage-gentrification neighborhoods, talking a huge game about how his restaurant is going to do awesome things for the community, and then abandoning them without ceremony to move onto the next thing.
posted by helloimjennsco at 1:26 PM on October 6, 2021 [3 favorites]
This Buzzfeed article about Marie Calloway has the benefit of linking to additional lit drama.
posted by carrienation at 2:22 PM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by carrienation at 2:22 PM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
Back in 2016, artist Anish Kapoor bought the exclusive artistic rights to Vantablack paint, making it so no other artist could use it in their work. Stuart Semple, a multidisciplinary artist, was not impressed.
posted by burntflowers at 3:46 PM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by burntflowers at 3:46 PM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
“Because I'm a ~cool guy~ I will now livetweet a judge's decision about leaky windows, bad online reviews, a cake, and a massive quantity of stupid legal procedure around a defamation case in Ontario.”
posted by scruss at 8:13 PM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by scruss at 8:13 PM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
Not between people, but this might be the kind of thing you’re looking for: Lena Dunham and her pets. It definitely has a lot to do with drama and the Internet.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 11:47 PM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by SomethinsWrong at 11:47 PM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you so much to everyone who answered - these are great!
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:22 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:22 AM on October 7, 2021
Dammit y'all I was going to get some work done today
posted by secretseasons at 8:14 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by secretseasons at 8:14 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Fail-Fandom Anon lives on at Dreamwidth
posted by Jesse the K at 2:04 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Jesse the K at 2:04 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Maybe I missed it above, but there was a big drama a few years back about a couple whose restaurant was featured on a tv show. They were claiming to make their own food but it was being bought elsewhere. I think I remember scenes where they yelled at customers to leave, and another where a waitress was fired somewhat dramatically. I can't remember the name of the restaurant or couple, sadly.
posted by mefireader at 11:43 AM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by mefireader at 11:43 AM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
I am pretty sure you're referring to Amy's Baking Company.
posted by phunniemee at 12:37 PM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 12:37 PM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
Instead of acting like Kidney Person, be more like these 19th-century literary haters.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:04 AM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:04 AM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Scots Wikipedia debacle of 2020 is the greatest online drama I’ve observed in recent memory.
The next best thing: Boston’s Purr Cat Cafe and its overly-defensive owner. The owner may have mental health problems that should be taken seriously, but it’s hard to look away from her bizarre business practices and aggressive attitude toward online critics. (This topic involves alleged animal neglect, drug abuse, attempted suicide.)
posted by EmperorOozy at 3:48 PM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
- Wikipedia, “Scots Wikipedia § Pseudo-Scots articles”
- Victoria Song (Gizmodo), “A Teen Who Doesn't Speak Scots May Be Behind Scots Wikipedia”
The next best thing: Boston’s Purr Cat Cafe and its overly-defensive owner. The owner may have mental health problems that should be taken seriously, but it’s hard to look away from her bizarre business practices and aggressive attitude toward online critics. (This topic involves alleged animal neglect, drug abuse, attempted suicide.)
- Fredrik Knudsen (Down the Rabbit Hole), “Purr Cat Cafe”
- Alyssa Vaughn (Boston Magazine), “The Brighton Cat Cafe That Launched an All-Out Facebook War Appears to Have Closed”
posted by EmperorOozy at 3:48 PM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
This is more funny drama than schadenfreude, but the saga of the truckload of rice and the negotiations to make it go away are high drama of the best kind. When I need a laugh I re-read it. Original story was found right here on Metafilter.
https://www.metafilter.com/188502/Update-Turns-out-it-was-in-fact-not-every-day
(Apologies for no hyperlink I'm on my phone)
posted by nayantara at 6:51 AM on October 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
https://www.metafilter.com/188502/Update-Turns-out-it-was-in-fact-not-every-day
(Apologies for no hyperlink I'm on my phone)
posted by nayantara at 6:51 AM on October 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by riotnrrd at 10:12 AM on October 6, 2021 [12 favorites]