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Endless Thread
Endless Thread
WBUR

Hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson dig into the internet's vast and curious ecosystem of online communities to find untold histories,... more

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Episodes

Shaq Time: Is Shaq OK?

Shaquille O'Neal has some advice: "If you are going to retire, accept it. Enjoy your family," he recently said on... more

29 Mar 2024 · 27 minutes
The Music Man, Part 2

In the second part of Endless Thread's investigation into a ubiquitous online piano academy, we dig into why some people... more

22 Mar 2024 · 40 minutes
The Music Man, Part 1

You may have seen this ad: A frenetic, wild-haired concert pianist says he can make any newbie a virtuoso in... more

15 Mar 2024 · 28 minutes
Endless Thread introduces "Beyond All Repair", Amory Sivertson's new podcast

Last week, you heard Endless Thread co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson re-introduce you to how Amory's new podcast, Beyond... more

08 Mar 2024 · 25 minutes
Encore: Getting home

Endless Thread co-host Amory Sivertson spent three years unraveling a cold-case murder. Her reporting eventually became the forthcoming podcast series... more

01 Mar 2024 · 37 minutes
Endless Thread: The Musical

As Shakespeare once said...all the internet is a stage, and all keyboard warriors merely players. In this episode of Endless... more

23 Feb 2024 · 24 minutes
Dinner and a (Slide) Show

Instead of a typical first date — dinner and light conversation, maybe — he presented 29 slides about one of... more

16 Feb 2024 · 27 minutes
Recess Therapy's Julian Shapiro-Barnum is skeptical of kids becoming social media stars

The point of Julian Shapiro-Barnum's Recess Therapy, a video series where he interviews kids about life's bigger questions, was never... more

09 Feb 2024 · 23 minutes
Half a million eyes are on TikTok's "tunnel girl"

In 2022, a TikTok creator who identifies herself as "Kala" began digging. What followed was an increasingly viral series of... more

02 Feb 2024 · 27 minutes
The schism at the end of the tunnel

The discovery of a secret tunnel attached to a Brooklyn synagogue earlier this month quickly went viral, fueling antisemitic conspiracy... more

26 Jan 2024 · 22 minutes
Encore: The Faker

Earlier this week, the New Hampshire Attorney General's office announced that it was investigating some suspicious robocalls urging residents not... more

24 Jan 2024 · 39 minutes
Where's the Beef?

What if vegetables are poison? What if, instead, humans evolved to consume an animal-based diet of steak, liver, brain, testicles,... more

19 Jan 2024 · 53 minutes
The Minnesota Timberwolves score NBA fandom in Brazil, but there's a kink

Rodrigo Barbosa runs social media for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves Brazilian fan club. He's fluent in Brazil's particularly zany brand... more

12 Jan 2024 · 31 minutes
This episode is a sign from the universe

Manifestation, astrology, tarot — during tumultuous times, people are more likely to look for answers from the universe, and social... more

05 Jan 2024 · 23 minutes
Encore: Today You, Tomorrow Me

As we approach the new year, we revisit a story with a timeless message. Ten years ago, a man was stuck... more

29 Dec 2023 · 22 minutes
Introducing Click Here: "Israel, Gaza and all the light you cannot see"

An episode from the Click Here podcast from Recorded Future News. The story of two ordinary people who decided to tackle... more

27 Dec 2023 · 28 minutes
Encore: Niall Needs a Friend

As many people gather with family and friends for the holidays, we revisit a story about our listener Niall. In 2020,... more

22 Dec 2023 · 36 minutes
This song wants you to stick out your what!?

If you know what "Sticking out your Gyat for the Rizzler" means you're likely a part of Gen Alpha or... more

15 Dec 2023 · 26 minutes
What Is That?!

Have you ever heard an odd sound that sounds oddly musical? A spatula that rings like a toy piano? A... more

08 Dec 2023 · 16 minutes
"Extremely Online" with Taylor Lorenz

Washington Post tech columnist Taylor Lorenz talks to host Ben Brock Johnson about her new book, "Extremely Online: The Untold... more

05 Dec 2023 · 19 minutes
NPC Streams! So Good! Mmm, So Good!

Earlier this year, TikTok livestreamers began mimicking lifeless "nonplayable characters," or NPCs, by repeating motions and phrases like in a... more

01 Dec 2023 · 33 minutes
The Vault (from the vault)

We're going underground into what might be the most important vault in the world. What's inside? A treasure that originates... more

24 Nov 2023 · 24 minutes
Women are from Venus, men are from... the Roman Empire?

Within a few months, the question "how often do men think about the Roman Empire?" conquered Instagram, TikTok and countless... more

17 Nov 2023 · 22 minutes
The Grand Can-Spiracy

In 1909, the Arizona Gazette ran an article titled "Exploration in Grand Canyon." It said that an explorer by the... more

10 Nov 2023 · 31 minutes
Introducing ICYMI: "How a Substack Revived the Dracula Fandom"

This episode is brought to you by Slate's ICYMI podcast. Co-hosts Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim talk to writer Cyrena... more

03 Nov 2023 · 33 minutes
Endless Dread: Campfire Chills

Gather round the fire with us for three hair-raising tales from the internet. For the finale of our series "Endless... more

27 Oct 2023 · 30 minutes
Episodes We Love: Listener beware… it’s ‘Goosebumps The Musical’

“Goosebumps” book fans and musical theater fans, unite! In this episode, Amory and producer Quincy introduce you to “Goosebumps The... more

25 Oct 2023 · 39 minutes
Freaky Furby Friday

Alert: Furbys have invaded "Endless Dread!" They're having a bit of a moment. In this episode, producers Jacob Garcia and... more

20 Oct 2023 · 30 minutes
The Spider Web

With new and exotic species available at the click of a button, the digital age forever changed the multimillion-dollar arachnid... more

13 Oct 2023 · 33 minutes
Introducing 'The Gun Machine' Ep. 1: The U.S. gun industry's surprising origin story

Hey, threadheads. It's a different day than we'd normally be in your feed, and we HAVE... something different for you! It's... more

09 Oct 2023 · 40 minutes
Find A Grave: Social Media Icon

Host Ben Brock Johnson and producer Quincy Walters go to an historic Boston cemetery to try out findagrave.com — a... more

06 Oct 2023 · 33 minutes
Dune Boy

Back in 2013, the sand dunes of Michigan City, Indiana swallowed a six-year-old boy. It took rescuers nearly 4 hours... more

29 Sep 2023 · 28 minutes
The online legacy of 'To Catch a Predator'

Back in 2004, NBC’s 'To Catch a Predator' captivated millions of viewers as it followed a vigilante group called Perverted... more

22 Sep 2023 · 25 minutes
Lofi Girl

The popular YouTube channel Lofi Girl provides a 24/7 livestream of chill beats to relax and study. Endless Thread producer Nora... more

15 Sep 2023 · 37 minutes
Meet the Gen Zs archiving the Muzak of the Twin Towers

On Discord and YouTube, hundreds of Gen-Zers are teaming up for the purposes finding and archiving the Muzak (aka elevator... more

08 Sep 2023 · 35 minutes
Artist: Known

The cover art for the 1976 paperback edition of Madeleine L'Engle's classic sci-fi/fantasy novel "A Wrinkle in Time" — featuring... more

01 Sep 2023 · 44 minutes
PARKS! Pt. 4: Death Sea

A Redditor proposed a quick fix to one of humanity’s greatest threats. But the real threat may be our fixation... more

25 Aug 2023 · 29 minutes
PARKS! Pt. 3: Close Encounters with Mato Tipila

As of late, Endless Thread co-host Ben Brock Johnson has been obsessed with a rock in Wyoming, a lot like the protagonist... more

18 Aug 2023 · 35 minutes
PARKS! Pt. 2: Slime Mind

Two years ago, he didn’t even know slime molds existed. Now, he may be the internet’s most famous slime savant. Co-hosts... more

11 Aug 2023 · 27 minutes
PARKS! Pt. 1: Social media gone 'wild'

"To avoid crowds, visit areas that are less crowded." These comically obvious, wise words come from the Twitter account —... more

04 Aug 2023 · 31 minutes
Best of Summer: MEMES: Scumbag Steve

If there is an OG meme in which a human is the star, Scumbag Steve is it. He spread across... more

28 Jul 2023 · 42 minutes
Best of Summer: Goblins, Toenails, and Beach Rap

In times like these, you've got to take joy wherever and however you can get it. Amory and Ben swap... more

26 Jul 2023 · 25 minutes
Best of Summer: The Loudest Sound

Imagine if an explosion in California was so loud that it could be heard in New York City. This is... more

24 Jul 2023 · 39 minutes
Best of Summer: The 100-million-year origin story of laughter and humor

The first documented bar joke was copied onto a clay tablet 4,000 years ago in the ancient language of Sumerian.... more

17 Jul 2023 · 38 minutes
Best of Summer: What makes the world’s first bar joke funny? No one knows.

What makes the world’s first documented bar joke funny? No one knows. In a tweet that garnered thousands of responses... more

14 Jul 2023 · 34 minutes
Best of Summer: Swimming Hole - The man, the myth, the leap

In this summer-y episode of Endless Thread, Ben and Amory take a leap of faith (or do they?) to the depths... more

07 Jul 2023 · 44 minutes
Pup Play

“Which one of you freaks hijacked the south Boston green space google maps for your furry photo shoot?” Earlier this year,... more

30 Jun 2023 · 23 minutes
'Going Dark': Reddit's API Changes

Reddit is restricting the use of third-party apps. More than 8,000 subreddit communities shut down in protest — including r/Blind,... more

28 Jun 2023 · 30 minutes
Deepfake Law 101

Since the creation of deepfakes in 2017, the AI-powered technology that swaps faces into videos has become commonplace, particularly in... more

23 Jun 2023 · 33 minutes
Treasure in the Woods

Since the pandemic, foraging has exploded in popularity. Younger generations are embracing (or romanticizing) the great outdoors with trends like... more

16 Jun 2023 · 25 minutes
Encore: Randonauts

r/randonauts is a fast-growing community of Redditors who use random, quantum-generated coordinates to go on real-life adventures. But what happens... more

09 Jun 2023 · 35 minutes
OK, Lamp!

This week on Endless Thread, host Ben Brock Johnson and producer Grace Tatter look at a meme inspired by supermodel... more

01 Jun 2023 · 17 minutes
Encore: Angel's Glow

In the aftermath of the Civil War's Battle of Shiloh in 1862, something strange happened. Some soldiers' wounds started to... more

26 May 2023 · 28 minutes
Come to the Orchestra

Can you have an orgasm from listening to music? Can you legally own more than six dildos in Texas? Endless... more

19 May 2023 · 24 minutes
#BlackFaeDay

Once upon a time, in a magical land of Oklahoma, fairy Jasmine LaFleur wanted to create a hashtag to unite... more

12 May 2023 · 30 minutes
Oranges and Bucket Lists

This week, we have two stories about etymology. What can words teach us about culture, trade, memory, and the world... more

05 May 2023 · 27 minutes
The Birds and the Bugs

Do you ever listen to birds singing catchy little melodies and wonder - wait a second, do they know music... more

28 Apr 2023 · 24 minutes
Endless Thread presents Outside/In: How to build a solar-powered website

What if the internet was only available most of the time? This week, Endless Thread presents an episode of Outside/In — a podcast... more

21 Apr 2023 · 34 minutes
Help Us Remember Sunil Tripathi

In the days after the 2013 Boston bombing, an online hunt for the perpetrators falsely accused Brown University student Sunil... more

14 Apr 2023 · 31 minutes
The Lullaby

Our intrepid sound designer, Matt Reed — musician/composer extraordinaire —recently became a dad. He picked up a Glo Worm for... more

07 Apr 2023 · 29 minutes
'Stuff Your 15-Minute Cities!'

What do livable and walkable urban environments have to do with "the real life Hunger Games"? And why are people... more

31 Mar 2023 · 24 minutes
Asking Science About Giraffe

On a sunny day in March 2020, researchers in South Africa discovered the bodies of two giraffes. From what they... more

24 Mar 2023 · 19 minutes
'Violation,' Part 1: Two sons, lost

Why did Jacob Wideman murder Eric Kane? In 1986, the two 16-year-olds were rooming together on a summer camp trip... more

23 Mar 2023 · 34 minutes
Pawn Man

Evan Kail is a wise-cracking antique dealer and TikToker. Last September, his world turned upside down when one of his... more

17 Mar 2023 · 39 minutes
Endless Thread introduces Violation, a new podcast about who pulls the levers of power in the justice system

We thought Endless Thread fans would want to hear this trailer for a new podcast from WBUR. Violation tells the story of... more

15 Mar 2023 · 3 minutes
Owl pursuits

Last fall, freshmen at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill got a new neighbor: an owl. What wasn't... more

10 Mar 2023 · 24 minutes
Return of the Aunties

It's been eight months since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and more people are relying on Reddit for... more

03 Mar 2023 · 32 minutes
Aftershocks Online

The people of Turkey, Syria and Lebanon are still recovering from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people... more

24 Feb 2023 · 23 minutes
The Journeys of Two Russian Anti-War YouTubers

This week, Endless Thread spends time talking with two young Russian YouTubers who've had to contend with Russia's crackdown on wartime... more

17 Feb 2023 · 28 minutes
My Canadian Girlfriend

Did you have a friend who claimed they were in a long distance relationship with someone really awesome and super... more

10 Feb 2023 · 26 minutes
Him: An AI Love Story

What happens when you date a chatbot? The app Replika lets users design artificially intelligent bots to be their romantic... more

03 Feb 2023 · 26 minutes
Worm Wars

When Endless Thread producer Nora Saks learns that a "toxic, self-cloning worm that poops out of its mouth is invading... more

27 Jan 2023 · 34 minutes
'Sinbad Smith' and the troll pole

Amory shares a 10-year-old Reddit post with Ben showing a photo of a college student with an epic-looking wooden staff... more

20 Jan 2023 · 25 minutes
'You are powerful': Remembering Aaron Swartz

Amory and Ben honor the legacy of internet activist Aaron Swartz with two people familiar with his life and work:... more

13 Jan 2023 · 30 minutes
Encore: Llama at a Wedding

“What are the dimensions of an adult llama?” asked a Redditor called Mrs. Sam Handwich in the "No Stupid Questions"... more

06 Jan 2023 · 18 minutes
Encore: Unsent Letters

The unsent letter. We all have one, half-composed in our heads or fully-formed as an email draft. Whatever form these letters... more

30 Dec 2022 · 28 minutes
Bonus: The ‘Stinetingler’ himself

Team Endless Thread is here with your holiday bonus — a bonus episode, that is! If you heard our most... more

24 Dec 2022 · 15 minutes
Listener beware...

When producer Quincy Walters came to an Endless Thread episode ideas meeting talking about 'Goosebumps The Musical,' Amory had two... more

23 Dec 2022 · 38 minutes
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part VI: Something Like Us

Can a machine think like a human? Can it be conscious? For decades the answer was clear: nope. But artificial... more

16 Dec 2022 · 40 minutes
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part V: Dating Bots

If you've ever used a dating app, chances are you've encountered a bot, most likely a fake account or a... more

09 Dec 2022 · 36 minutes
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part IV: Tay

Next up in our bots series, we bring you a cautionary tale about Tay, a Microsoft chatbot that has lived... more

02 Dec 2022 · 28 minutes
Encore: Shrinkflation

From the supermarket to the housing market, products are getting smaller but prices are not. Why is this happening? And... more

25 Nov 2022 · 29 minutes
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part III: Life, death and AI

Next up in our bots series, we explore a growing field of AI: immortalizing the dead through predictive AI text.... more

18 Nov 2022 · 34 minutes
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part II: Political Bots

Next in our series Good Bot, Bad Bot: the possibilities of bots being used in governments around the world. How... more

11 Nov 2022 · 29 minutes
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part I: Bot Therapy

For the next few weeks, the Endless Thread team will be sharing stories all about the rise of bots. How... more

04 Nov 2022 · 32 minutes
Encore: Haunted House, Holy Water

When Alex was in high school, he and his best friend used to break into abandoned houses. Alex was a... more

31 Oct 2022 · 26 minutes
Encore: Olga of Kiev

Olga of Kiev executed one of the most bone-chilling revenge tours in history after her husband, Igor, was murdered. Then,... more

28 Oct 2022 · 30 minutes
Encore: Imaginary Friend

When Kellie's 3 year-old daughter told her about her new imaginary friend, Kellum, she didn't think too much of it.... more

27 Oct 2022 · 27 minutes
Anti-fans, online hate, and Caroline Calloway

This week, we investigate the rise and fall of online influencer Caroline Calloway and the bigger question: Why do some... more

21 Oct 2022 · 45 minutes
Lazy Geoff

A Twitter thread about a fox named “Lazy Geoff” drew the attention of thousands online. But can a fox really... more

14 Oct 2022 · 33 minutes
Tales from the Crypto | Listener Response: Crypto in the Gaming World

An Endless Thread listener sends their response to our Tales from the Crypto series. They make the case that crypto... more

07 Oct 2022 · 16 minutes
Tales from the Crypto | Part III: Crypto for Kids

In the final installment of our Tales from the Crypto series, Endless Thread producer Nora Saks and co-host Ben Brock... more

30 Sep 2022 · 36 minutes
Tales from the Crypto | Part II: Bitcoin Beach

One year ago, El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender — the first nation in the world to do so. But how... more

23 Sep 2022 · 38 minutes
Tales from the Crypto | Part I: The Hype

In this first installment of our cryptocurrency mini-series, co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson dive into a viral tweet... more

16 Sep 2022 · 32 minutes
Enigma in Sweatpants

Endless Thread producer Quincy Walters profiles IG Bum, a mischeivous online content creator who has achieved viral stardom. But who... more

09 Sep 2022 · 41 minutes
Swimming Hole: The man, the myth, the leap

In this end-of-summer episode of Endless Thread, Ben and Amory take a leap of faith (or do they?) to the depths... more

02 Sep 2022 · 42 minutes
Encore: Ghost Town

In the summer of 2018, Brent Underwood got a text in the middle of the night from a friend saying,... more

26 Aug 2022 · 30 minutes
Don't Do That

You shouldn't do it. But then you do, and it turns out great. Two stories of rule-breaking's good side: A... more

19 Aug 2022 · 30 minutes
Jokes, Part II: Stand Up

The first documented bar joke was copied onto a clay tablet 4,000 years ago in the ancient language of Sumerian.... more

12 Aug 2022 · 37 minutes
Jokes, Part I: Sumer Funny, Sumer Not

What makes the world’s first documented bar joke funny? No one knows. In a tweet that garnered thousands of responses... more

05 Aug 2022 · 33 minutes
Endless Thread
Jokes, Part I: Sumer Funny, Sumer Not
Endless Thread
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Description

What makes the world’s first documented bar joke funny? No one knows. In a tweet that garnered thousands of responses in March,... more