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Audio versions of this episode can be found here on Substack, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
My guest today is Noelle Perdue.
Noelle Perdue is a writer, producer, and Internet porn historian with nearly ten years of experience working platform-side for multiple mainstream and independent adult companies. Having written everything from Food Network porn parodies to legally binding terms and conditions, much of her current work explores obscenity law and how pornography’s history can influence our digital and political futures. Noelle’s writing work has been published on Wired, Washington Post, Pornhub, Slate, Brazzers, Input, etc., she’s also been featured as an industry expert on multiple programs including the BBC, CBC, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and on Netflix’s 2023 documentary Money Shot.
This marks Noelle’s—count it!—fourth time on Urgent Futures, and I continue to be grateful to have her as a dialogue partner on all things Internet freedoms. This conversation most directly builds on our Aug. 2025 episode, which focused foremost on the threats to privacy and security smuggled in with ‘age verification’ laws. That conversation is as timely and relevant today, so if you want to learn more, be sure to check that episode out as well.
Noelle also runs the excellent Porn World with Noelle Perdue newsletter—so pop over there and subscribe for smart takes on spicy topics!
In today’s episode, we jump off from her recent founding of the Anti-Censorship Coalition with Taylor Lorenz. They’ve both been doing great work explaining the stakes, particularly involving a possible repeal of Section 230, part of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which protects online platforms (websites, apps, ISPs) from liability for content generated by users on said platforms.
I recognize this might feel too tech-centric or legalistic for some folks, but I feel obligated to encourage you to think otherwise; our ability to communicate freely on the Internet is a baseline need for intervening in the polycrisis, and moreover, pushing against the ongoing surveillance creep occurring in much of the “modern” world.
Another episode you might like:
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CREDITS: This podcast is edited and produced by Adam Labrie and me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also directed, shot, and edited the video version of the podcast, which is available on YouTube. The podcast is presented by Reality Studies. If you appreciate the work I’m doing, please subscribe and share it with someone you think would enjoy it.
Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures. Past conversations include Taylor Lorenz, Lisa Messeri, Legacy Russell, William E. Rees, Renée DiResta, and more. Here is another recent episode with Wim Carton on the contentious subject of geoengineering:
