Samantha Cole

Los Angeles, New York

Co-Founder and Journalist at 404 Media

journalist @404mediaco author of HOW SEX CHANGED THE INTERNET [email protected] signal: sam.404

Articles

The Egg Yolk Principle: Human Sexuality Will Always Outsmart Prudish Algorithms and Hateful Politicians

4 days ago | 404media.co | Samantha Cole

A metal fork drags its four prongs back and forth across the yolk of an over-easy egg. The lightly peppered fried whites that skin across the runny yolk give a little, straining under the weight of the prongs. The yolk bulges and puckers, and finally the fork flips to its sharp points, bears down on the yolk and rips it open, revealing the thick, bright cadmium-yellow liquid underneath.
Behind the Blog: Feeling Wowed, Getting Cozy

2 weeks ago | 404media.co | Samantha Cole

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Pocket, One of the Only Apps I Ever Liked, Is Shutting Down

2 weeks ago | 404media.co | Samantha Cole

Pocket, an app for saving and reading articles later, is shutting down on July 8, Mozilla today. The company sent an email with the subject line “Important Update: Pocket is Saying Goodbye,” around 2 p.m. EST and I immediately started wailing when I saw it. “You’ll be able to keep using the app and browser extensions until then. However, starting May 22, 2025, you won’t be able to download the apps or purchase a new Pocket Premium subscription,” the announcement says.
Sweden Expands Anti-Sex Work Law to Criminalize Paying for Custom OnlyFans Clips and Camming

2 weeks ago | 404media.co | Samantha Cole

Participating in interactive adult live-streams or ordering custom porn clips are about to be punishable by a year in prison in Sweden, where a new law expands an already-problematic model of sex work criminalization to the internet. Sex work in Sweden operates under the Nordic Model, also known as the “Equality,” “Entrapment,” or “End Demand Model,” which criminalizes buying sex but not selling sex.
Kansas Mom Sues Porn Sites Because Her Son Visited Chaturbate 30 Times

2 weeks ago | 404media.co | Samantha Cole

The 14 year old's mother left an old laptop in a closet and now alleges it's adult sites' problem that he watched porn.
Behind the Blog: The Art of the 'Catharticle'

3 weeks ago | 404media.co | Samantha Cole

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This Chatbot Promises to Help You Get Over That Ex Who Ghosted You

3 weeks ago | 404media.co | Samantha Cole

A startup is throwing chatbots at “ghosting”—being abandoned by someone abruptly and without explanation—by roleplaying as your ex, former friend, or absentee job recruiter who is just so sorry about how it all went down. Closure is currently in open beta, and launched on Product Hunt on Thursday. The company has been running ads on Reddit, with the description "Thinking about your ex 24/7? There's nothing wrong with you.
This Chatbot Promises to Help You Get Over That Ex Who Ghosted You

3 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Samantha Cole

NowApple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "‌CarPlay‌ Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles. ‌CarPlay‌ Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models …
New Bill Would Make All Pornography a Federal Crime in the U.S.

3 weeks ago | 404media.co | Samantha Cole

Republican Senator of Utah Mike Lee introduced a bill that would effectively ban porn at the federal level in the United States. The Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA), introduced by Lee and Illinois Republican Rep. Mary Miller on Thursday, aims to change the Supreme Court’s 1973 “Miller Test” for determining what qualifies as obscene.
Behind the Blog: Brainrot and Brain Power Hours

4 weeks ago | 404media.co | Samantha Cole

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss the death of Mr. Deepfakes, introducing kids to the Manosphere, and working on big, difficult, high-brain-power scoops. SAM: I’m gonna use my time to give a huge shoutout to Bellingcat, the CBC, and Danish publications Politiken and Tjekdet for this story, where they spent a ton of time and effort tracking down the guy behind Mr. Deepfakes.