What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future · Slate Podcasts

Rebroadcast: Dupes!

November 28, 2025·31 min·2 clips

Fitness entrepreneur Cassie Ho discovers Taylor Swift is wearing her design, triggering a flood of cheap knockoffs.

This episode explores the rise of 'dupes'—cheap knockoffs of popular products—fueled by internet algorithms and social media. Host Lizzie O'Leary interviews The Verge's Mia Sato about how dupes span from fashion to travel, the legal challenges designers face, and the consumer culture driving demand for cheaper alternatives.

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