When she's not tweeting about sumo oranges or her podcast Lecture Hall, Broti Gupta is a writer for The Simpsons. And the long gap between when a Simpsons script is written and when the animated episode makes it to the air means Gupta and her colleagues have to think carefully about what aspects of internet culture have the staying power to be referenced on the show.

"It wouldn't reference Bean Dad, but we might have an episode of our own 'bean dad,'" she says.

Today on Follow Friday, Broti talks about four of her favorite people she follows online:

Someone she's followed forever: Dylan Gelula, @dylangelula on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who's an expert in a very specific niche she loves: The Cincinnati Zoo, @cincinnatizoo on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who makes her laugh: Helena, @freshhel on Twitter and @bugsizechihuahua on InstagramSomeone who makes her think: Sarah Hagi, @KindaHagi on Twitter

And on our Patreon page, you can unlock Follow Friday XL — our members-only podcast feed with exclusive bonus follows. That feed has an extended-length version of this interview in which Broti talks about someone super-talented who’s still under the radar: Amelia Elizalde, a writer for Clickhole and Reductress (plus some bonus material about Dylan Gelula).

Also:

Follow Broti on Twitter @brotiguptaFollow us @FollowFridayPod on Twitter and InstagramFollow Eric @heyheyesj on Twitter

Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.

Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Elizabeth, Sylnai, Matthias, and Shima.

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