Overview

The Whatever Podcast or Dating Talk is a podcast produced by the former YouTube prank channel "Whatever" and hosted by Brian Atlas. Each episode of the show has Atlas discuss and debate a range of topics, often controversial, related to dating, sex, masculinity, modesty and feminism with an ever-changing panel of young, Gen Z women (often including some OnlyFans models and influencers). The podcast started in July 2022 and gained increased attention in early 2023 as numerous clips of Atlas confronting the girls on controversial topics went viral, often in the context of the girls getting "triggered." The podcast and its host have been criticized by many for spreading toxic masculinity and, in some people's opinions, degrading women. The show is inspired by the Fresh and Fit podcast, which has a nearly identical format.

History

Whatever Pranks

The Whatever YouTube channel started posting prank content in January 2013 and gained a significant following over the years, gaining over 3.8 million subscribers by 2023. Some of their most viewed videos include examples like "Drowning Baby Prank" and "Asking Guys for Sex (Social Experiment)." Many of the pranks involve picking up women and use sex as a driving force (examples shown below).

Whatever Dating Talk Podcast

On July 1st, 2022, the Whatever YouTube^[1] page hosted its first live episode of the podcast "Dating Talk," titled, "Does Height Matter?" The show, which is described as being inspired by Fresh and Fit, begins with the girls introducing themselves, then has Atlas and the girls discuss topics surrounding dating, including whether or not a guy's height matters, whether his penis size matters, if "body count" matters and if men should take initiative in the bedroom (shown below). The video gained over 49,000 views in eight months. On July 25th, the Whatever Clips YouTube^[2] channel began posting short clips from the podcast.

The podcast gained a steady following over the following months. During the 10th episode, uploaded to YouTube^[3] on August 18th, Atlas showed the girls a clip of Andrew Tate, causing backlash from several of the women, one of which with purple hair called Tate "disgusting." The clip was posted to the Whatever Clips channel that October and gained over 450,000 views in five months, becoming one of their first viral moments (shown below).

The most viewed episodes of the podcast as of March 2023 are episode 33, titled "He Made Her RAGE QUIT?! (STORMS OUT)," uploaded to YouTube^[4] on November 3rd, 2022, garnering over 449,000 views in four months and episode 50, "HEATED Debate With College Girls," uploaded to YouTube^[5] on January 29th, 2023, garnering over 469,000 views in two months (shown below, left and right).

Online Presence

Clips from Dating Talk started to go increasingly viral across social media in February 2023, particularly on TikTok. For example, on February 7th, 2023, TikToker^[6] @nowmotivation2 posted a clip of Atlas and a guest discussing who should pay on a date, Atlas arguing that if she believes in gender equality, the man and woman should split the bill on the first date, while the guest believes the man should pay, garnering over 1.8 million views in a month (shown below, left). On February 15th, TikToker^[7] @star.nate posted a clip that gained over 5.8 million views in a similar span of time (shown below, right).

On February 22nd, 2023, Twitter^[8] user and right-wing figure Elijah Schaffer posted a clip of a male guest on the show (Twitter user @sovereignbrah) explaining why he wouldn't date a trans woman, gaining over 58,000 likes in a week (shown below). On February 25th, @sovereignbrah tweeted^[9] the clips, proudly confirming he is the one on the show.

They’re TRIGGERED now when a STRAIGHT guy doesn’t want to have SEX with a transgender pic.twitter.com/wjpqOqtAsB

— E (@ElijahSchaffer) February 22, 2023

Noelanirenee Saying 'Like'

On February 27th, Twitter^[10] user @wilderpatriot posted a clip from the podcast of a guest saying "like" a lot, garnering over 18,000 views in three days. The clip gained viral spread in the following days. On March 1st, Twitter^[11] user @catturd2 retweeted it, writing "like" numerous times, garnering over 29,000 likes in a day (shown below). Twitter^[12] user @UsingCigarettes posted a screenshot of the catturd2 post on March 2nd criticizing the user and writing, "Anyone that quote tweeted this to comment on an 18 year old girl, who’s probably never been on a video podcast, saying like a lot has the same humor as Cat Turd."

like, like like, like, like, like like, like like, like, like, like like, like like, like, like, like like, like like, like, like, like like, like like, like, like, like like, literally. https://t.co/1wDFbh1stA

— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) March 1, 2023

Search Interest

External References