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PODCAST

Endless Thread

Hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson dig into the internet"s vast and curious ecosystem of online communities to find untold histories, unsolved mysteries, and other jaw-dropping stories online and IRL.

technology

All Episodes

00:37:13

Bad Assumptions

Endless Thread ·

2024/08/23

A blurry video surfaces on the r/trashy subreddit of what appears to be a work dispute in an unspecified African country. A Chinese man slaps a clipboard out of a Black worker's hands, then leaves the frame for a moment, before coming back with a large metal pole. There's no context provided with the video, but most of the commenters seem to know what's happening — seem being the operative word. They're just making assumptions, grounded in a complicated geopolitical relationship that's changing

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00:18:17

Singing About the Rain

Endless Thread ·

2024/08/16

What is it about weather reporters that makes them so goofy? Whatever it is, today, meteorologists have appeal far beyond the airwaves. Several have gained celebrity on TikTok and YouTube.One such weatherman is WeatherAdam, a.k.a. Adam Kruger. Chief meteorologist for CW39 in Houston, Kruger has garnered millions of followers on TikTok by slipping the lyrics of pop songs into his weather reports. As Endless Thread co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson learn, that is not as easy as it

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00:36:59

The Digital Cage

Endless Thread ·

2024/08/09

When Hashim crossed the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum in 2020, he was tired—tired of running, tired of being locked in cages.Hashim was a political activist in Uganda, his home country, where he had been imprisoned and beaten. When he fled to Mexico, he was detained and, again, beaten. In the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement offered him a deal: He enrolled in a program allowing him to live with friends in Maine. But Hashim says he didn't understand what he was giving up to

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00:26:01

The context of all in which we live

Endless Thread ·

2024/08/02

When future generations learn about the launch of current Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, memes are going to be part of the story. Election season has always yielded yuks on the internet, but this year, the memes have gone mainstream. Why were Harris and coconuts inescapable for a several day span, and what does it tell us about the context of all in which we live?Kalyani Saxena, Endless Thread's colleague from WBUR and NPR's Here & Now , and Madison Malone Kircher, internet

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00:19:07

The American Lean

Endless Thread ·

2024/07/26

It's an idea that pops up on Reddit from time to time: that Americans have a unique propensity lean on things. Walls. Chairs. Anything to keep from holding up our own body weight. In fact, some posit that leaning is so uniquely American, the CIA has to train spies not to do it.Is this baloney? Where did the idea that only Americans lean come from? Credits: This episode was produced by Ben Brock Johnson. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski. It was hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory

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00:18:56

This Bonus Drop is Marked Seggsplicit

Endless Thread ·

2024/07/20

Is it just us, or has almost everything on the internet — even breaking news — become NSFW?In this bonus episode, Endless Thread host Ben Brock Johnson and producer Grace Tatter parse an eggplant emoji-filled chain text message about a breaking news event, the ubiquity of "Hawk Tuah" girl, and what it means that rated-R speak has gone mainstream. ***** Credits: This episode was produced and co-hosted by Grace Tatter and Ben Brock Johnson. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus.

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00:28:55

Jamie Loftus' 'main characters'

Endless Thread ·

2024/07/19

Comedian, best-selling author and podcaster Jamie Loftus joins Amory and Ben to talk about her latest endeavor: a podcast called Sixteenth Minute (Of Fame) from iHeartMedia’s Cool Zone Media. Jamie talks to people "who became briefly notorious on the internet about how it affected their mental health, amongst other things," she says. Loftus explores the timing and context in which these "main characters" of the Internet, as she calls them, went viral and asks what their virality says about us, the

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00:35:25

How to Fight a Shark

Endless Thread ·

2024/07/12

When Endless Thread producer Grace Tatter heard a friend confidently assert that she could ward off a shark because of TikTok, Grace was both concerned for her friend's safety, and curious. Why are there so many videos about "redirecting" sharks on TikTok, and how accurate are they?Hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson dive into the controversial world of SharkTok, where influencers are trying to show a different side of sharks by getting up close and personal with them. ***** Credits:

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00:33:02

Introducing Outside/In: 'The Papyrus and the Volcano'

Endless Thread ·

2024/07/05

Endless Thread presents an episode from the podcast Outside/In.While digging a well in 1750, a group of workers accidentally discovered an ancient Roman villa containing over a thousand papyrus scrolls. This was a stunning discovery: the only library from antiquity ever found in situ. But the scrolls were blackened and fragile, turned almost to ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Over the centuries, scholars’ many attempts to unroll the fragile scrolls have mostly been catastrophic. But now,

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00:37:40

This is Not a Pyramid Scheme

Endless Thread ·

2024/06/27

Every year, thousands of Americans lose money participating in multi-level marketing (MLM). So, last year, when a new business idea that promised to correct MLM's sins bubbled up on Instagram and TikTok, a lot of people hopped off the MLM train, and onto this new one, lured by the promise of a low-lift and lucrative side hustle.This new business idea is called "master resell rights." But what exactly is it? Where did it come from? And does it actually solve any of MLM's problems? Endless Thread

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00:34:50

Worm Wars

Endless Thread ·

2024/06/21

When Endless Thread producer Nora Saks learned that a "toxic, self-cloning worm that poops out of its mouth" was invading Maine, she started sounding the alarm about the impending eco-doom.Until, that is, state experts clued her into the "real threat" : A different creepy crawly wriggling towards The Pine Tree State's gardens and precious forests, and fast. In this rebroadcast from January 2023, Endless Thread tunnels down a wormhole, encountering a long history of xenophobic rhetoric about

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00:27:41

Looking for a Man, Finding a Record Deal

Endless Thread ·

2024/06/14

In April, a TikTok creator mused, "Did I just write the song of the summer?" Girl on Couch's "Looking for a man in finance" song spawned hundreds of remixes, and won her a record deal. While it might seem remarkable that a five-second TikTok sound can command the attention of pop music kingmakers, the industry has been capitalizing on internet memes for decades. Endless Thread takes a crash course in internet meme pop music history.Credits: This episode was produced by Grace Tatter . Mix and

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00:39:13

Scamming the Scammers

Endless Thread ·

2024/06/07

Border Patrol is calling: A drug cartel has your bank information, so you need to transfer all your money to a safe Bitcoin account—right now!Millions of people will be familiar with calls like this, in which scammers, often in other countries, use threats or promises to rob you. In 2023, individuals and businesses lost an estimated $485 billion to fraud schemes, according to Nasdaq's Global Financial Crime Report. Law enforcement will only do so much to recover losses. That is why some online

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00:21:31

SwordTube, En Garde!

Endless Thread ·

2024/05/31

Sword influencers abound on YouTube. Those who specialize in the historic European martial arts, or HEMA, have gained legions of fans showcasing the fantastic, bladed techniques of yore.But talk of parries and pommels has recently given way to bigotry. Endless Thread's Ben Brock Johnson speaks with co-host Amory Sivertson about one valiant influencer fighting back. ***** Credits: This episode was produced by Ben Brock Johnson and Dean Russell. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski. The hosts

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00:31:05

Gen Z wants you to take political action, one TikTok...

Endless Thread ·

2024/05/24

Gen Z is over it. The youngest generation of adults is inheriting a climate crisis, the ongoing fallout from a global pandemic, a polarized political landscape, and a tenuous economic reality. And many Gen Z members, a generation more likely to identify as progressive than conservative, are ready for something to give.Enter: Gen Z for Change — a youth-led non-profit that brands itself as, "the place where the creator economy and progressive politics intersect on social media." The group leverages

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00:23:15

Catfish for dinner

Endless Thread ·

2024/05/17

After Taylor Paré was stood up on a date, she turned to TikTok. In a now-viral video, she claimed to have uncovered a new scheme to scam to singles looking for love on the internet. Endless Thread investigates. ===== Credits: This episode was written and produced by Grace Tatter. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus. The hosts are Ben Brock Johnson and Grace Tatter.

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00:39:57

Hype Cycle

Endless Thread ·

2024/05/10

The Vision Pro is Apple's new $3,500 virtual reality headset. Since its debut in February, users have found new ways to use this latest iteration of a decades-old technology: scrolling TikTok at work, driving Tesla's Cybertruck, recording their kid's birth. But can VR truly integrate into our daily lives? Or will it forever remain a niche technology for geeks and gamers? Endless Thread dives into the history of VR and its potential for the future. ===== Credits: This episode was written and

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00:36:25

Episodes We Love: Doom Jelly

Endless Thread ·

2024/05/03

Imagine sitting in a hospital room for 24 consecutive hours in the most agonizing pain you can possibly imagine. You feel a sense of impending doom. You have a feeling this won’t end well. Then, the pain subsides and you walk away. Jamie Seymour has had that experience eleven different times. He’s a leading expert on one of the world’s most frightening creatures and he’s paid the price.This episode originally aired on Oct 12, 2018.

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00:25:13

The Jackie Show

Endless Thread ·

2024/04/26

Our interactions with nature are increasingly mediated by technology. We scroll through wildlife feeds on TikTok. We use Instagram to plan hikes. Even in the wilderness, we religiously bring our phones to document the experience. And then there are animal cams. Since the 1990s, people have fawned over livestreams of cute pandas and colorful fish. One could argue that animal cams another example of how we’ve jammed a screen between ourselves and the wild. But the story of Jackie the bald eagle

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00:37:44

Green Memes

Endless Thread ·

2024/04/19

In 2017, Rhett Barker and his friends needed a way to stay in touch after graduating college. They were ecology majors, and meme groups were in vogue, so they created Wild Green Memes for Ecological Fiends on Facebook.It began as a place to share silly nature-centered memes. The jokes were comically esoteric: about, say, the scientific name of a rare wild feline or the bites of Brazilian wandering spiders. You needed to know the science to laugh. In spite of this — or because of it — the group

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423 results

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