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PODCAST

Endless Thread

Untold histories, unsolved mysteries, and other jaw-dropping stories online and IRL. Hosted by Ben Brock Johnson & Amory Sivertson.

technology

All Episodes

00:30:41

Terminally Online

Endless Thread ·

2025/03/07

"Should I be joking at a time like this?"That's the question then 33-year-old Brooke Eby asked herself when she uploaded her first piece of TikTok comedy in 2022, about being diagnosed with a terminal illness. Brooke's since built an audience of hundreds of thousands of people who are rooting for, and laughing with, her. Sometimes it gets weird. Brooke talks to Ben and Amory about how facing death changed her relationship with social media and online community. Show notes: Brooke Eby's TikTok,

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00:32:39

Welcome to the Jam

Endless Thread ·

2025/02/28

Everybody get up, it's time to slam now! Yes, this episode is about the 1996 movie "Space Jam," starring NBA legend Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes. Rather, it's about the website for "Space Jam," which is still up and functioning nearly 30 years later.Amory and Ben talk to the hilarious team behind this digital artifact and hear the unlikely story of its continued existence. Show notes: The Space Jam website 'Space Jam' Forever: The Website That Wouldn't Die (Rolling Stone) The TIL

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00:31:17

Introducing On Point: The Internet Archive is in danger

Endless Thread ·

2025/02/21

We’re coming to you with a special offering today. It’s an episode about the internet… from our friends just a few cubicles over here at WBUR: On Point.Hosted by Meghna Chakrabarti, On Point is a unique, curiosity-driven combination of original reporting, newsmaker interviews, first-person stories, and in-depth analysis, making the world more intelligible and humane. When the world is more complicated than ever, we aim to make sense of it together. We loved their recent episode about one of our

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00:34:19

Love in 60 Seconds

Endless Thread ·

2025/02/14

Wanda Brewer was grieving. After losing her brother, she found comfort in an unexpected place: a soap-opera-esque story on Instagram told in 60-second increments. The story? A mafia boss torn between power, family and love.Wanda’s not alone. Millions are bingeing these bite-sized, ultra-dramatic vertical shorts, where sexy werewolves, ruthless billionaires, and love triangles unfold one minute at a time — hooking viewers with cliffhangers and high-stakes drama. From China’s multi-billion-dollar

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00:25:55

DeepSeek's Diss Track

Endless Thread ·

2025/02/10

In 2022, people around the world freaked out at the advent of ChatGPT, OpenAI's chatbot. In under three years, artificial intelligence has been incorporated almost everywhere in our online lives. But training the large language models, or LLMs, that power these AI assistants is hugely expensive. Or is it? Last month, a Chinese startup called DeepSeek released their own AI app for much less money, potentially with huge economic and geopolitical implications. Endless Thread hosts a rap battle to help

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00:19:27

Little Big RedNote

Endless Thread ·

2025/02/07

Sometimes, after a long day speaking English, former WBUR podcast fellow Cici Yu just wants to zone out and spend time on the internet where everyone is speaking her native language, Chinese. Her app of choice? Xiaohongshu, or RedNote. So, when Cici logged on recently to find a feed filled with English-speaking Americans, she was surprised.Show notes: "The great social media migration: Sudden influx of US users to RedNote connects Chinese and Americans like never before" (CNN) "More speech and

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00:38:05

Does Steven Seagal really know karate?

Endless Thread ·

2025/01/31

There's a burning question that keeps coming up in internet communities, YouTube explainers, and interviews with stunt people from the film industry: does Steven Seagal actually know martial arts?In our current news environment, where conspiracy theories abound and the truth can feel elusive, this somewhat silly question keeps getting asked. But as we explore the answer, we find that perhaps the confusion about Steven Seagal's own personal story has relevance for how we navigate the year of 2025,

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00:22:30

Butlerian Jihad

Endless Thread ·

2025/01/24

It's 2025. HBO's "Dune: Prophecy" is one of the most popular shows streaming, and the federal government just announced massive spending on artificial intelligence. The inspiration for "Dune: Prophecy" is in part a prophecy, of sorts, from 1872: One about humans becoming subservient to "thinking machines." What can a 150-year-old text teach us about the current AI revolution?Credits: This episode was produced by Ben Brock Johnson and Grace Tatter. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski. It was

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00:35:41

Episodes we love: The Scream

Endless Thread ·

2025/01/17

If you typed “inauguration” into your web browser anytime between 2017 and 2020, you likely saw an image of a person in a neon green jacket, black winter hat and glasses screaming “Nooooooooooo!” That person was Jess, who was in Washington D.C. on January 20, 2017 to protest the inauguration of President Donald Trump.Jess told their story to Endless Thread in 2021. This week, we're revisiting that episode in advance of Donald Trump's second inauguration, just as the Internet has been resurfacing

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00:29:28

Dox Glasses

Endless Thread ·

2025/01/10

Kashif Hoda was getting onto a Southbound train at Harvard Square when a young man said he recognized him. The doors closed before he got a chance to ask the young man how, or who he was. A month later, the answer came in the form of a viral video.Harvard students AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardefyio modified Meta's smart glasses so that you can search someone's face quickly, almost without them knowing, and pull up personal internet flotsam that they might no longer remember even exists. Think:

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00:34:08

Sandwiches of History

Endless Thread ·

2025/01/03

Barry Enderwick got kicked out of college. Then, in the early aughts, he became the first graphic designer for a little start-up media company you may have heard of: Netflix. But today, the Internet knows Barry as the guy behind the beloved and wildly popular "Sandwiches of History" accounts, where he recreates historical sandwich recipes from old cookbooks and rates and reviews them.He just released his first cookbook, "Sandwiches of History the Cookbook: All the Best (and Most Surprising) Things

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00:41:30

Episodes We Love: Swedengate

Endless Thread ·

2024/12/28

When a Redditor said that he was expected to stay in his Swedish friend's bedroom while the friend ate dinner with his family, the internet exploded with hot takes. Is Sweden the most inhospitable country in the world? We talk to the individuals at the center of the Swedengate saga, including the OP himself. We also delve into how questioning cultural norms can shed light on Sweden's reckoning with nationalism, racism, and xenophobia.Credits: This episode was written and produced by Amory

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00:44:19

You'll never believe what happens in our MrBeast...

Endless Thread ·

2024/12/20

Jimmy Donaldson — AKA "MrBeast" — has taken YouTube by storm, racking up more than 330 million subscribers with his cleverly edited videos of stunts ranging from performative philanthropy to Fear Factor-esque challenges. Ryan Broderick, creator of the Garbage Day newsletter and host of the podcast Panic World, tells Ben and Amory about the awkward past, the controversial present, and the uncertain future of MrBeast.Show notes: Panic World's MrBeast episode with Ben and Amory Garbage Day, the

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00:26:49

The Internet Does Its Thing with Luigi Mangione

Endless Thread ·

2024/12/12

The shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson captured the internet's attention last week. Then, a suspect, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was arrested, and social media really went wild. Why, in a week of historic headlines from around the world, did this story captivate so many, so thoroughly?Show notes: Suspect in CEO’s Killing Had Discussed His Health Struggles on Reddit (The New York Times) r/GetNoted (Reddit) What Can We Learn From the C.E.O. Shooting Suspect’s Goodreads History? (The

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00:23:57

Stick Nation

Endless Thread ·

2024/12/06

Anyone who has been a kid before knows that there are few joys in life like finding a really cool stick.That is the basis of Official Stick Reviews, a viral account on Instagram that has amassed 2.5 million followers in just a year and a half. But what is it about sticks that inspires this universal enthusiasm? In this episode, Amory and Ben join producer Frannie Monahan for a walk in the woods to look for answers, and some sticks of their own. Show notes: Official Stick Reviews

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00:54:32

Episodes We Love: Where's the Beef?

Endless Thread ·

2024/11/29

What if vegetables are poison? What if, instead, humans evolved to consume an animal-based diet of steak, liver, brain, testicles, eggs, butter, and milk?Shirtless influencers on TikTok and Instagram have acquired millions of followers promoting the carnivore diet. They say studies linking meat consumption and heart disease are flawed — and plant foods are making people sick. Likewise, meatfluencers say the livestock industry has no significant impact on the climate crisis despite abundant

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00:30:46

The Unquenchable Thirst

Endless Thread ·

2024/11/22

For a moment last year, it seemed like there were two types of people: those desperate for a Stanley Cup Quencher, and those who did not understand the craze around these cups at all. Headlines abounded about the 40-ounce water vessel's popularity, and so did memes poking fun at the people — mostly women — who partook in the trend.As we head into another holiday shopping season, journalist Virginia Sole Smith helps Endless Thread understand WaterTok, the social media trend that pushed the Stanley

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00:39:23

Breaking Bread or Breaking Ties?

Endless Thread ·

2024/11/14

Back in the day, we didn't have access to our weird uncle's every political thought. In the age of social media, though, we all too often do, making avoiding politics at family gatherings all the more difficult.Endless Thread listeners share their stories of familial strife, and how they plan to navigate an especially politically divisive holiday season with integrity, humor, and love. Credits: This episode was written by Ben Brock Johnson and produced by Grace Tatter. Mix and sound design by

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00:18:18

Awoken by a Lamp

Endless Thread ·

2024/11/08

"Have you ever felt a deep personal connection to a person you met in a dream only to wake up feeling terrible because you realize they never existed?"More than a decade ago, someone posted this question to Reddit. It was a popular post with many responses. But one response would go beyond the realm of popularity into something else. Internet canon, perhaps? The Redditor gave a detailed account of their life. It was a good life, they said. But one day, it came to a crashing halt — because of a

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00:27:15

The Truth Social, the Whole Truth Social, and Nothing...

Endless Thread ·

2024/10/31

Truth Social is not just a Twitter knock-off. While the social media platform that Donald Trump launched after he was banned from Twitter in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol only has about 600,000 monthly active users (of what appears to be five million total accounts), it might play an important role in the presidential election. Truth Social is where journalists go to get Trump's unfiltered takes. Even Vice President Kamala Harris is on it. Perhaps more importantly, Truth Social

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