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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

00:24:53

Sexy spines or literary red flags?

Endless Thread ·

2026/03/20

Maybe you can't judge books by their covers. But can you judge people by their books? Reddit's bookshelf detectives say yes. Producer Kalyani Saxena guides hosts Ben and Amory through the stacks and offers a picture of her own bookshelf to the Reddit detectives as tribute.r/BookshelvesDetective (Reddit) Started seeing this guy. What does it say about him?? (r/BookshelvesDetective)What do my wife's bookshelves say about her? (r/BookshelvesDetective) What’s his bookshelf say about him

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00:31:21

Digging Up Lily's Garden

Endless Thread ·

2026/03/13

A woman sitting blissfully on a vibrating laundromat dryer. A faked pregnancy test to dump a bad boyfriend. In 2019, the internet was abuzz about bizarre ads for a mobile game called Lily's Garden. The ads were only about 15 seconds each, but they evoked a whole universe of drama amongst a cast of zany characters that inspired countless YouTube videos and copious internet chatter.The thing is... the story in the ads had almost nothing to do with the story in the game. In this episode of Endless

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00:30:33

What it's like to be undressed by Grok without your...

Endless Thread ·

2026/03/06

Note: This episode describes sexual situations that are non-consensual.Sharing a photo of yourself online has always carried some risk. But things got a lot scarier this year when users began using Grok, X's generative AI chatbot to create sexualized deepfakes of women and children. Iona Fyfe, Scottish folk singer and activist, was one of the people who had an image altered and manipulated by Grok. Hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson talk to her about her experience. **** Sponsor

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00:24:59

Obscure music is good and nice!

Endless Thread ·

2026/02/27

Some rare folks are born with the perfect music taste. But most of us have to look elsewhere for a tune that sparks a shoulder shimmy or two. Hosts Ben and Amory spend some time jamming to obscure music from Reddit. They also explore how a TikTok original became Dr. Pepper's catchy new jingle. And "baby, it's good and nice." Show notes: I wasn't sure on this one at first, but you can't beat the messaging. (Reddit) Boko Yout [9-2-5] (Reddit) Molly by Ecca Vandal Theme Song for Dr. Pepper:

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00:24:41

Fresh, stale, or politics? The Melania doc's Rotten...

Endless Thread ·

2026/02/20

Melania, a documentary about the first lady, has a 10 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, but a 90 percent score from audience members, an unusual discrepancy that raises the question, how did Rotten Tomatoes get those scores anyway?Show notes: The 'Melania' movie audience: Older white women (NPR) Melania’s Movie Shows Signs of Bulk Buying to Boost Box Office: Guru (The Daily Beast) You Can Thank 'Rush Hour' for Rotten Tomatoes (Vice) Rotten Tomatoes Owner Says ‘Melania’ 99%

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00:33:28

Rewind: Love In Transition

Endless Thread ·

2026/02/13

In this OG throwback from the Endless Thread archives, hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson revisit a classic episode from their first year of production in 2018.Originally produced during the show's early partnership with Reddit, "Love in Transition" explores the most powerful emotion in the universe in all its forms, shapes, and sizes. This might just be your perfect weekend listen, celebrating a timeless story about affection and the many ways we experience love today.

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00:23:41

You're Wrong About the Satanic Panic

Endless Thread ·

2026/02/06

In the 1980s, a moral panic swept across America. Parents, prosecutors, and talk show hosts became convinced that devil worshippers were hiding in plain sight, abusing children at daycares, performing ritualistic sacrifices, and corrupting the innocent.Sarah Marshall of You're Wrong About has a new podcast about this period of Satanic Panic called The Devil You Know. She talks to Ben and Amory about the cultural forces that turned unfounded fears into a nationwide hysteria, and how would the

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00:20:45

Hot (and not) fruit takes

Endless Thread ·

2026/01/30

What temperature do you like your fruit? What is the correct way to peel a banana? This week on Endless Thread, Ben and Amory cherry pick a couple of the hottest fruit debates taking place on Reddit.Show notes: My husband is mildly infuriated that I open a banana from the antenna side! (Reddit) CMV: The only correct way to peel and eat a banana is from the bottom. (Reddit) Microwaving fruit is the way to go (Reddit) I believe that fruit is better microwaved. (Reddit) This content was

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00:26:09

The Alpha Male Myth

Endless Thread ·

2026/01/23

In 1970, a young biologist named David Mech published what could be the most consequential book on wolves ever written. At the time, The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species, was the most complete collection of scientific knowledge on wolves money could buy, and it became best seller for Dave's publishers. But outside of the world of wolf biology, the book is also credited with unleashing a certain idea into our popular lexicon: The Alpha.The thing is, Dave made a mistake – and

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00:28:18

The Anvillain: Has this man really been buying and...

Endless Thread ·

2026/01/16

Fast-and-cheap shipping is now foundational to the American way of life, thanks in large part to Amazon Prime. Still, when producer Grace Tatter sees a video of a man claiming that he's continuously ordering and returning an 110-pound anvil from Amazon with no repercussions from the tech giant, she has questions. Is this legit, or is it a Wile E. Coyote-level scheme? Unlike an anvil, the answer can't be found online.Show notes: "this guy has been buying and returning 110lb anvils on Amazon for

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00:25:37

How algorithms are changing the way we talk: The rise...

Endless Thread ·

2026/01/09

Adam Aleksic's Roman Empire is language, particularly how algorithms are changing the way we all use words. This week, Endless Thread gets algospeak-pilled and learns how "unalive" spread from a kids' Spider-Man cartoon to TikTok mental health communities trying to avoid censorship; what we're really saying when we say we're "goblin-core," and whether this all means we're "cooked."Show notes: Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language This episode was produced by Grace

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00:23:48

Rewind: Today You, Tomorrow Me: Why A Decade-Old...

Endless Thread ·

2026/01/02

10 years ago, Justin found himself on the side of the road with a blown out tire. Hours went by and no one stopped to help. But just as he was about to give up, something happened that changed Justin forever.This episode was originally published on Nov. 13, 2020. *** Survey alert: Tell us what you love about the show, what you want more of; what you could stand a little less of. And if you complete the survey, we'll send you an extra episode (what Ben's calling a "dashboard confessional") in

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00:43:55

Encore: Never Gonna Give You Up

Endless Thread ·

2025/12/26

Who gets credit for starting a meme? Usually... nobody — they're made too quickly and organically. In the case of one of the most famous bait-and-switch memes of all time, the "Rick Roll," we may be looking at something experts call convergent evolution. Did the Rick Roll originate with a piece of code on the message board 4Chan, or with a prank call to a local sports show in Michigan? And why does the Rick Roll have such staying power? Is it codified in the DNA of the song itself?We explore the

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00:33:15

Lost without you: 20 years of finding (losing?) our...

Endless Thread ·

2025/12/19

2025 marks 20 years of Google Maps — a tool that many of us would be, quite literally, lost without.We hear from New Orleanians who used Google Maps/Google Earth in its inaugural year to survey the damage to their homes following Hurricane Katrina. We also talk to the internet's Map Men, who ask whether "the best maps humanity has ever produced are simultaneously the worst maps for humanity?" in their new book, "This Way Up: When Maps Go Wrong (And Why It Matters)." *** Survey alert: Tell us

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00:38:47

The drone web: how consumer drones have covered...

Endless Thread ·

2025/12/12

There's a lot of drone warfare footage on the internet from Ukraine and Russia. But over the last year, a surprising change has emerged, via photos from the battlefront posted online. It has become clear that a huge part of the drone war, from dropping grenades on soldiers in bunkers, to dropping explosives on infrastructure or airfields, is wired. Those wires are fiber optic cable, stretching from drone operators to the drones, which spool out cable across the ground and over trees along the

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00:28:38

What's on the menu: Ruby Tandoh on how the internet...

Endless Thread ·

2025/12/05

The internet decides what's for dinner.Ruby Tandoh is the author of the new book, All Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now. A stint on the Great British Bake Off when she was in college launched her into the world of cookbooks — increasingly irrelevant in a world where we're more likely to turn to Google for a recipe than turn to our bookshelves — and provided her an education in how pop culture stokes our cravings. She takes Ben and Amory on a journey from the surprising history of AllRecipes

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00:35:42

Episodes we love: Sandwiches of History

Endless Thread ·

2025/11/28

In honor of the day-after-Thanksgiving leftover sandwich, we're revisiting our conversation with Barry Enderwick, the man behind the beloved and wildly popular "Sandwiches of History" social media accounts.Barry joined Ben and Amory to make a triple-decker sandwich from 1958, and to talk about his first cookbook, "Sandwiches of History the Cookbook: All the Best (and Most Surprising) Things People Have Put Between Slices of Bread." To quote Barry's signature phrase, we think you should give this

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00:26:37

Chiveman and a mountain of margarine

Endless Thread ·

2025/11/21

Endless Thread serves up two of Reddit's most absurd food sagas. First course: Chivegate, in which a Redditor vows to chop a cup of chives daily until the kitchen confidential subreddit declares perfection, only to be accused of fraud. Second course: A Reddit user desperately seeking advice on how to quietly move 13 two-thousand-pound pallets of margarine.Show Notes: u/occasionallyvertical's post on r/UnethicalLifeProTips r/kitchenconfidential This episode was produced and co-hosted by

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00:31:27

Fryders and Alligator Alcatraz tours: When trolls get...

Endless Thread ·

2025/11/14

Ben and Amory share two stories about some out-of-the-box internet trolling. First, Amory tries to untangle a web of rumors surrounding an unusual dish from New Zealand. Then, Ben takes us aboard Terri's Tourz, an alleged Everglade tourist attraction claiming to offer the nation's first ever tours of the South Florida Detention Center known as Alligator Alcatraz.Show notes: 3 Facts About New Zealand I Didn’t Know Until I Moved Here (Medium) Was this post a joke? (r/newzealand) Terri's

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00:38:06

Episodes we love: Lofi Girl

Endless Thread ·

2025/11/11

This November, we're playing some of our favorite episodes from the past alongside new stuff, so that newer listeners can experience our back catalogue. And LoFi Girl is one that holds up, big time!If you've ever searched for "chill beats for studying" or some other form of lean back, endless playlists without vocals and with a consistent vibe, you've probably come across "Lofi Girl." A livestreamed Youtube channel featuring a looped animation of a girl in a cosy apartment on her desk at night,

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