On June 4, 2026, Meta officially launched "Instagram Plus," a paid subscription service priced at $3.99 per month. While parent company Meta looks to monetize its user base, podcasters are reflecting on their own deeply complicated relationships with the platform. On The Daily, legendary director Steven Spielberg admitted he has a soft spot for the app's lighter side, confessing, "I, I love watching food on, on, on Instagram." But for most hosts, Instagram is less about culinary delights and more about mindless consumption. On Modern Wisdom, host Chris Williamson bluntly named "Instagram" as his biggest evening time-waster.
The mental health toll of scrolling has several prominent hosts actively pulling back. On The Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan shared that he has been "so healthy lately" just by "staying off of fucking Instagram", arguing that the brain needs more stimulation than it gets from "simple TikTok videos and Instagram Reels." Andy Stumpf echoed this sentiment on Huberman Lab, explaining how he tricks himself into spending less time on the app by avoiding his phone: "Instagram on your laptop sucks." Meanwhile, on My Favorite Murder, Karen Kilgariff explained her total boycott of the platform, noting, "I didn't like Instagram, is 'cause I didn't know everyone's fucking cheating on there all the time."
Despite the toxicity, some still view the app as a necessary tool. Harvard professor Arthur Brooks explained on Modern Wisdom that while it is useful for his business, it can destroy real-world lives, recalling his physical therapist who became miserable after working as a fitness influencer on the platform. The platform's algorithm is even reshaping the entertainment industry; on Therapy for Black Girls, music journalist Ivie Ani pointed out that songs are now "being produced to have these fifteen-second soundbites so that they can be clipped for virality across short-form video platforms" like Instagram. On Rotten Mango, Stephanie Soo highlighted the app's role in criminal investigations, parsing through a "2,000-page Instagram file" obtained via a FOIA request in a high-profile car crash case.
As Meta rolls out its new paid tier, Instagram faces looming regulatory roadblocks. On The Breakfast Club, Tezlyn Figaro noted that the UK is proposing a ban where "children under 16 will no longer be allowed to have accounts" on platforms like Instagram. Whether users will pay $3.99 for "Plus" or simply opt out like Joe Rogan remains to be seen, but the battle for our attention spans is only getting more expensive.