WEBVTT - Introducing: OnlyFantasy, Co-Hosted by Leon Neyfakh

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<v Speaker 1>Pushkin.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey Fiasco listeners, it's Leon Napok. I am here to

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<v Speaker 2>tell you about my new show. It might not be

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<v Speaker 2>exactly what you're used to from a guy best known

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<v Speaker 2>for making history podcasts, but it is, in its own

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<v Speaker 2>way scandalous. The series is called Only Fantasy. It's all

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<v Speaker 2>about the wide world of OnlyFans, the website that ushered

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<v Speaker 2>in a revolution in online porn and has radically lowered

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<v Speaker 2>the barrier to entry for sex work to the point

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<v Speaker 2>where there are now more than four million people on

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<v Speaker 2>the platform selling access to their private photos and videos.

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<v Speaker 2>But as I learned during my reporting, photos and videos

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<v Speaker 2>are only the beginning. It turns out the main export

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<v Speaker 2>on OnlyFans is attention. Subscribers are paying not just to look,

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<v Speaker 2>but to feel they're on there to have conversations and

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<v Speaker 2>crushes and semi imaginary relationships. This confused and surprised me,

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<v Speaker 2>and to be honest, I was skeptical and more than

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<v Speaker 2>a little judgmental, all of which led me down a

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<v Speaker 2>year long reporting journey alongside my co host, comedian and

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<v Speaker 2>OnlyFans creator Gracy Kanaan. Together, Gracie and I did some

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<v Speaker 2>of the most shocking and personal interviews I've ever been

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<v Speaker 2>a part of, and we ended up documenting what feels

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<v Speaker 2>like a genuinely new and genuinely strange phenomenon that has,

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<v Speaker 2>without a doubt changed millions of lives in all kinds

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<v Speaker 2>of unpredictable ways. Only Fantasy is a show about the

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<v Speaker 2>changing nature of sex, work, adult entertainment, and human intimacy itself.

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<v Speaker 2>You're about to hear a preview of the show, and

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<v Speaker 2>if you like what you hear, please go find Only

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<v Speaker 2>Fantasy wherever you get your podcasts, or you can binge

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<v Speaker 2>all episodes now add free on Audible Enjoy.

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<v Speaker 1>So.

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<v Speaker 2>I know we've talked about this before, but obviously not

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<v Speaker 2>in a whole lot of detail, So you should feel

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<v Speaker 2>free to disclose as much as little as you want. Obviously, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm your brother. It could be awkward, but it doesn't

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<v Speaker 2>have to be.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't think it's awkward. I've had people from only

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<v Speaker 3>fans message you, so I can't get more awkward.

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<v Speaker 1>Dude, I cannot believe that I forgot that.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>My sister Annie just turned twenty four, which makes her

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<v Speaker 2>almost twenty years younger than me. She was raised by

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<v Speaker 2>a different mom in a different household, and she has

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<v Speaker 2>led a very different life from me.

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<v Speaker 3>Mister Harvard, mister I got a diploma. I can't relate,

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<v Speaker 3>but it's okay, you're doing great.

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<v Speaker 2>Me. Over the years, I've mainly heard about Annie's adventures

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<v Speaker 2>and phone calls like this one. She lives in Chicago

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<v Speaker 2>and I live in New York, and we talk fairly regularly,

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<v Speaker 2>often on FaceTime while I'm walking my dog and she's

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<v Speaker 2>at work. She's a bartender these days, so she's often

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<v Speaker 2>telling me about her regulars and sending me photos of

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<v Speaker 2>the cash she has stacked up at the end of

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<v Speaker 2>a long night of tips. But there was a time

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<v Speaker 2>I'm starting when she was around nineteen years old, when

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<v Speaker 2>Annie was telling me about a different kind of hustle.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you remember that one girl that I lived with,

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<v Speaker 3>the blondie.

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<v Speaker 1>No, she was.

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<v Speaker 3>The Only Fans creator.

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<v Speaker 1>She was the first girl you met who was on there.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, because she was the one who before was like,

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<v Speaker 3>since you won't do escorting with me, would you do

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<v Speaker 3>Only Fans with me?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh? God, yeah, Okay, I remember how you're remembering.

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<v Speaker 2>At the time, all I knew about OnlyFans was that

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<v Speaker 2>it was a website where regular people like my little

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<v Speaker 2>sister apparently could make money selling naked pictures of themselves.

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<v Speaker 2>Knowing that Annie was on OnlyFans made me apprehensive, to

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<v Speaker 2>say the least, but Annie assured me that it was

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<v Speaker 2>a safe alternative to real life sex work, and that

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<v Speaker 2>her friend the Blondie was showing her the ropes and

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<v Speaker 2>keeping her out of trouble.

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<v Speaker 3>She would be like, oh, yeah, so you could post

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<v Speaker 3>like lingerie photos this and that, and then if people

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<v Speaker 3>like what they see, they'll message you and then you

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<v Speaker 3>can on them an album. That the only way to

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<v Speaker 3>unlock it is they have to pay a certain amount.

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<v Speaker 3>They don't know what's on it. It could be bullshit photos,

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<v Speaker 3>old photos, but they have to pay to unlock it,

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<v Speaker 3>and that money is instantly in your account once they've

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<v Speaker 3>done it.

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<v Speaker 1>And so, how much was your friend making?

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<v Speaker 3>She was making I think fifteen k a month.

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<v Speaker 1>Fifteen k a month, mm hmm, that's a lot of money.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>What I remember Annie emphasizing to me back when she

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<v Speaker 2>first started OnlyFans was that it was as much a

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<v Speaker 2>marketing job as anything. She wasn't an influencer by any means,

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<v Speaker 2>but she did have a couple hundred followers across her Twitter, Instagram,

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<v Speaker 2>and Snapchat, where she would post free pictures intended to

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<v Speaker 2>lure in new subscribers. Each account was under the same

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<v Speaker 2>pseudonym Annie used on OnlyFans, so people who found her

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<v Speaker 2>and liked what they saw could then sign up for

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<v Speaker 2>a few bucks a month to see her more exclusive content.

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<v Speaker 3>In the the early days, having to only show a

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<v Speaker 3>couple of photos and then making a thousand bucks was great.

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<v Speaker 3>As an eighteen nineteen year old, I didn't know what

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<v Speaker 3>to do with myself. I really thought I was hot shit.

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<v Speaker 2>Annie and her roommate Blondie would cross promote each other

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<v Speaker 2>on their pages in order to bring in new subscribers,

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<v Speaker 2>and within a month, Annie said she had one hundred

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<v Speaker 2>paying customers, which sometimes made it hard to keep up

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<v Speaker 2>with her dms.

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<v Speaker 3>It was very hard being like, oh my god, Jake,

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<v Speaker 3>Oh fuck, this isn't Jake.

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<v Speaker 1>Back back back, back back back, Oh my god. Fuck.

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<v Speaker 3>Got to scroll up and see whose name this is.

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<v Speaker 2>Annie told me that during her best month ever, she

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<v Speaker 2>brought in eighteen thousand dollars. By that point, it was

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<v Speaker 2>the COVID pandemic and OnlyFans had exploded in popularity thanks

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<v Speaker 2>to subscribers who are looking to escape isolation. The thing

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<v Speaker 2>we're all doing to keep ourselves safe can't have an

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<v Speaker 2>adverse health outcome, which is loneliness and love.

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<v Speaker 1>Talking so much.

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<v Speaker 3>About all the physical enlistes, but I think a lot

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<v Speaker 3>people are worried about their mental health right now.

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<v Speaker 4>Social interaction now is going to be three things challenging, creative,

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<v Speaker 4>and important more than ever before.

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<v Speaker 2>In April of twenty twenty alone, so the month after

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<v Speaker 2>lockdown started, Only Fans reported a seventy five percent jump

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<v Speaker 2>in new subscriber sign ups. But the growth wasn't just

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<v Speaker 2>on the subscriber side. There was also a slew of

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<v Speaker 2>new creators on the site. Anyone stuck at home and

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<v Speaker 2>unable to work their regular job could now make content

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<v Speaker 2>with minimal overhead and earn cash fast. This only Fans

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<v Speaker 2>incomon It scarier real and it's parier quick.

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<v Speaker 3>That first night I made about like thirteen hundred dollars,

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<v Speaker 3>Like this is insane.

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<v Speaker 2>Pretty soon OnlyFans wasn't just a dirty little secret, It

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<v Speaker 2>was a cultural phenomenon.

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<v Speaker 4>According to a piece in BuzzFeed, selling yourself online is

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<v Speaker 4>the hot new trend quote, everybody is making porn at

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<v Speaker 4>home now. Only Fans reports at seven or eight thousand

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<v Speaker 4>new women.

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<v Speaker 1>Sign up every day.

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<v Speaker 4>Our daughters are selling themselves for food and rent, and

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<v Speaker 4>BuzzFeed is telling us it's cool.

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<v Speaker 1>The thing is it kind of was cool.

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<v Speaker 2>Even Beyonce, one of the most famous people in the world,

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<v Speaker 2>felt moved to name drop OnlyFans in a song You

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<v Speaker 2>Have Sick Time Dance, she might sought out OnlyFans.

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<v Speaker 1>Michael B.

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<v Speaker 2>Jordan went on Jimmy Kimmel and joked that he was

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<v Speaker 2>making an OnlyFans page for his mustache. I got only

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<v Speaker 2>fans coming, send him only fans account if they want not.

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<v Speaker 1>All types of crazy stuff.

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<v Speaker 3>It's it's gonna get Wow, It's.

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<v Speaker 2>Gonna Part of what was amazing about OnlyFans explosive growth

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<v Speaker 2>was that, for more than twenty years, the world of

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<v Speaker 2>adult entertainment had been starved by the abundance of free

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<v Speaker 2>online porn. With free porn available on the internet, is

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<v Speaker 2>this the porn apocalypse?

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<v Speaker 1>How do you compete with free?

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<v Speaker 2>The situation was akin to that of the music industry

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<v Speaker 2>after Napster. Stolen content was everywhere, and consumer expectations had

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<v Speaker 2>shifted to the point where the idea of paying to

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<v Speaker 2>look at porn seemed utterly irrational and then came OnlyFans.

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<v Speaker 2>At the time of this recording, the platform hosts more

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<v Speaker 2>than four million creators, mostly women, and three hundred million users,

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<v Speaker 2>mostly men. The pay structure is simple. Creators keep eighty

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<v Speaker 2>percent of what they make and OnlyFans takes a twenty

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<v Speaker 2>percent cut. In twenty twenty four, the company took in

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<v Speaker 2>a one point four billion dollar profit. How did OnlyFans

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<v Speaker 2>convince people to start paying for porn again? What was

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<v Speaker 2>it offering that users couldn't get for free somewhere else?

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<v Speaker 2>When I first got curious about this and asked Annie

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<v Speaker 2>about it, she offered an explanation involving a guy who

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<v Speaker 2>once paid her eight hundred bucks to make a video

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<v Speaker 2>of herself wearing a pair of shoes that he had

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<v Speaker 2>bought her and smashing a bunch of corn dogs with

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<v Speaker 2>the high heels.

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<v Speaker 3>I promise you, your favorite porn star is not about

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<v Speaker 3>to call you your name and step on a corn

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<v Speaker 3>dog for you. So like, yes, you can watch porn,

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<v Speaker 3>but those torn stars that you watch will never know

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<v Speaker 3>your name, will never speak to you. These onlyfan girls

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<v Speaker 3>are paid to acknowledge your existence.

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<v Speaker 2>I had always pictured OnlyFans as a one way street,

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<v Speaker 2>a place to publish exclusive content that your most motivated

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<v Speaker 2>fans could pay to look at. End of story. Annie

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<v Speaker 2>told me that I'd been missing the point. Most of

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<v Speaker 2>the money people made on OnlyFans, she said, came from

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<v Speaker 2>more than just being looked at. It came from maintaining

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<v Speaker 2>quasi personal relationships with subscribers over weeks or months or

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<v Speaker 2>even longer.

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<v Speaker 3>A lot of the people were just lonely and sad,

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<v Speaker 3>so they really just genuinely wanted somebody to text them

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<v Speaker 3>every day, Text them good morning in the morning, good

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<v Speaker 3>night at night. Send them a couple photos. Didn't even

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<v Speaker 3>have to be like naked photos, just cute photos. Some

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<v Speaker 3>were literally like me in an oversized hoodie in front

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<v Speaker 3>of them.

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<v Speaker 2>But not all of them. Annie, you showed me I

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<v Speaker 2>remember it. I remember you showed me a couple free,

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<v Speaker 2>racy things you posted.

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<v Speaker 3>Not all of them, but there were a lot of

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<v Speaker 3>the times.

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<v Speaker 1>They want you in a hoodie, wanted you.

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<v Speaker 3>In a hoodie, wanted you in a messy bun. They

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<v Speaker 3>wanted you to not look like they were paying for you.

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<v Speaker 1>Basically right.

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<v Speaker 2>What I realized talking to Annie was that OnlyFans wasn't

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<v Speaker 2>a porn site. It was more like a directory of

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<v Speaker 2>people who, for a price, would participate in an extended

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<v Speaker 2>fantasy in which the two of you were in a relationship.

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<v Speaker 2>According to a study that looked at the transaction histories

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<v Speaker 2>of more than a million Only Fans subscribers, messaging drives

0:10:48.871 --> 0:10:52.910
<v Speaker 2>almost seventy percent of revenue on the platform. What Annie

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<v Speaker 2>and her fellow Only Fans creators were offering was a

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<v Speaker 2>distinctly twenty first century rendition of a staple product from

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<v Speaker 2>the Annals of sex work, the girlfriend experience.

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<v Speaker 3>Girlfriend experience. If you paid for that, it's like seventy

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<v Speaker 3>two hours of a fake girlfriend. So she'll call you,

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<v Speaker 3>she'll text you, she'll FaceTime you, she'll send you photos.

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<v Speaker 3>She'll basically talk to you as if you're a boyfriend.

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<v Speaker 1>For like two days, but not meet up in person.

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<v Speaker 3>Nope, all over the phone.

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<v Speaker 2>I know I sound skeptical here, and I was, But

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<v Speaker 2>then I remembered something I myself had once enjoyed, the

0:11:26.511 --> 0:11:30.470
<v Speaker 2>digital girlfriend experience, when I was a teenager chatting voraciously

0:11:30.550 --> 0:11:36.070
<v Speaker 2>with someone I'd never met on AOL instant messenger. Her

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<v Speaker 2>name was Jessica. A friend of mine from summer camp

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<v Speaker 2>gave me her screen name and encouraged me to send

0:11:42.111 --> 0:11:45.190
<v Speaker 2>her a message. That's it for this preview of Only Fantasy.

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<v Speaker 2>Find the show wherever you get your podcasts, or if

0:11:48.310 --> 0:11:50.751
<v Speaker 2>you want to binge the whole series now add free

0:11:50.910 --> 0:11:51.631
<v Speaker 2>go to Audible