Aug 18, 2026 · 1 hr 3 min · 11 segments
Dakota Warren joins The Internet Is Dead Podcast for Episode 122 to talk about her book deal, growing up offline, the evolution of BookTok and Book YouTube, and the Rupi Kaur poetry boom.
Dakota WarrenGuest
Brittany DeitchHost
Sameera RachakondaHostyeah yeah um I did also kind of want to ask about um because I know you also like kind of on TikTok blew up for like posting kind of just like excerpts and like little poems online on TikTok which is also a funny thing how that's grown because I remember like I had like a poetry instagram when i was in middle school and would be like on poetry tumblr and like that was like it was a community but it was like awful because it was like just a bunch of depressed like 12 year olds being like just super depressed and like i'm gonna kill myself and like everyone just like listening to like lana del rey and posting like you know what i like the very like grimy like aesthetic pictures on tumblr But it's funny how that then...
But then it's funny how that, like, evolved to, like, Instagram poetry and, like, Tumblr poetry kind of becoming this genre just, like, in general, like, with... like milk and honey like when that book came out like rupee core car yeah yeah yeah but like that was such like a moment i feel like that like changed everything because
that is like it's like the the literary industrial revolution rupee core if you google um poet or like poets The first person to come up is Rupi Kaur.
But personally, I think it speaks volumes about people wanting accessibility into poetry.
And I mean, regardless of what you think about Rupi Kaur, she's done, she's the Injust Revolution.
yeah yeah it's yeah I think the way that she like also then like created an entire aesthetic around it because it was like I remember going and like getting like uh what is what is the book called it's like milk and honey and another one is sun in her flowers and I remember like
yeah and I like I remember just like getting it because I like wanted to like take a picture of it.
And it's like that was such a normal experience like when we were like teenagers to like do that.
And I'm interested in like how you think that maybe like also maybe paved the way for like what you would eventually write or make or how that influenced you.
Like even just the sheer fact, like I grew up in a small town, the rest of my life, my art's going to be centered around these kind of small towns.
And so if the books that you read, it depends on what you're reading when you're young.
And if you're a young teen and very impressionable and wanting to kind of make poetry and what you're presented with is Rupi Kaur, Of course, that's going to be the blueprint.
yeah yeah um I did also kind of want to ask about um because I know you also like kind of on TikTok blew up for like posting kind of just like excerpts and like little poems online on TikTok which is also a funny thing how that's grown because I remember like I had like a poetry instagram when i was in middle school and would be like on poetry tumblr and like that was like it was a community but it was like awful because it was like just a bunch of depressed like 12 year olds being like just super depressed and like i'm gonna kill myself and like everyone just like listening to like lana del rey and posting like you know what i like the very like grimy like aesthetic pictures on tumblr But it's funny how that then...
But then it's funny how that, like, evolved to, like, Instagram poetry and, like, Tumblr poetry kind of becoming this genre just, like, in general, like, with... like milk and honey like when that book came out like rupee core car yeah yeah yeah but like that was such like a moment i feel like that like changed everything because
that is like it's like the the literary industrial revolution rupee core if you google um poet or like poets The first person to come up is Rupi Kaur.
But personally, I think it speaks volumes about people wanting accessibility into poetry.
And I mean, regardless of what you think about Rupi Kaur, she's done, she's the Injust Revolution.
yeah yeah it's yeah I think the way that she like also then like created an entire aesthetic around it because it was like I remember going and like getting like uh what is what is the book called it's like milk and honey and another one is sun in her flowers and I remember like
yeah and I like I remember just like getting it because I like wanted to like take a picture of it.
And it's like that was such a normal experience like when we were like teenagers to like do that.
And I'm interested in like how you think that maybe like also maybe paved the way for like what you would eventually write or make or how that influenced you.
Like even just the sheer fact, like I grew up in a small town, the rest of my life, my art's going to be centered around these kind of small towns.
And so if the books that you read, it depends on what you're reading when you're young.
And if you're a young teen and very impressionable and wanting to kind of make poetry and what you're presented with is Rupi Kaur, Of course, that's going to be the blueprint.
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