Afleveringen
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Once upon a dimly lit hallway, Ben and Amory stumbled onto a beloved brainchild of the internet: Backrooms. It began as a "creepypasta"— a horror story or concept that originates online and often becomes a meme — based on the idea of glitching into an inescapable prison of empty rooms. Back in 2020, Endless Thread discussed how this chilling kernel of internet lore migrated from 4chan to Reddit. Now, "Backrooms" is a major motion picture from A24.
Amory and Ben take a little field trip to the theater to see the film and discuss how the concept holds up in the hands of Hollywood.
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Journalist Leon Neyfakh — known for the podcasts Slow Burn, Fiasco, and Backfired — wanted to know more about the massively popular and sprawling online ecosystem of OnlyFans. What are its nearly 400 million users really getting from it, and what can that tell all of us about relationships forged online? To find out, he teamed up with Gracie Canaan, a stand-up comedian and OnlyFans creator.
Ben and Amory sat down with them at the WBUR Festival to hear all about their new podcast for Audible, OnlyFantasy, in which they examine this bustling digital marketplace of sex and emotions, and try to understand the role it plays in the lives and relationships of the buyers and sellers.
Show notes:OnlyFantasy (Audible)
This conversation was produced by Amory Sivertson and Ben Brock Johnson. It was edited down by Grace Tatter. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Jeremy Rellosa used to watch TV shows and movies from the '90s and revel in how the characters walked around untethered to a smartphone, with no expectations of constant connectivity. So he decided to run an experiment on himself: he'd live for at least two weeks without a smartphone. No Slack. No text messages. No Instagram or WhatsApp. If his friends, family, or boss wanted to reach him, they'd have to call him on his landline.
Sure, landlines were the norm just a couple of decades ago. But in our always-online world, how feasible is the landline life, really? Ben and Amory call Jeremy up to find out.
Show notes:
"I Turned Off My Phone for a Month and Used a Landline" (New York Magazine)
This episode was written and produced by Grace Tatter and edited by Meg Cramer and Dave Shaw. It was co-hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus.
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Try reading this description as fast as you can: Ben and Amory zoom through two internet stories connected to speed running, including a look at a mysterious object on Reddit and an online trend directed at the Church of Scientology.
Show notes: Found in my son’s room (Reddit) Storming Scientology Buildings: TikTok Trend or Hate Crime? (The New York Times) What is a ‘Scientology speedrun’ and why is social media suddenly obsessed with it? (The Guardian)
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Some Internet trends are temporary, but eggs are forever. Today, host Ben Brock Johnson serves up a story about a recipe that, according to the people of r/pickled, can't be beat, and producer Kalyani Saxena egg-splores online discourse around Korean mayak eggs, and why it matters which creators get credit for their popularity.
Show notes: "Been a few years now. Figured I’d share my recipe." (r/pickling) The eggs so addictive authorities want to change their name (The Sydney Morning Herald) How a South Korean comfort food went global (BBC) "Marinade recipe" (@courtneylcook's TikTok) "we've officially lost the plot (@beefyboiii's TikTok) @princess.paulai on Courtney Cook's mayak egg content (TikTok)This episode was produced by Grace Tatter and researched and co-hosted by Kalyani Saxena and Ben Brock Johnson. It was edited by Dave Shaw and Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus.
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Of all the internet communities in all the world, you walked into ours.
Hosts Ben and Amory pay homage to the magic of chance encounters with producer Grace Tatter. Together, they explore the ways in which the internet fuels random yet delightful meetings between strangers online, from a website where you can impersonate ChatGPT to Craigslist's beloved Missed Connections page.
Show notes: YourAISlopBores.Me What Craigslist’s missed connections are still good for (The Bold Italic)Credits: This episode was produced by Kalyani Saxena. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal. It was edited by Meg Cramer and Dave Shaw, and hosted by Ben Brock Johnson, Amory Sivertson, and Grace Tatter.
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Comedian Ben Palmer set up a fake tip line for reporting immigrants in the United States suspected of not having legal status. He recorded the conversations, and things... got uncomfortable and, in some cases, disturbing. But for a lot of viewers, these calls were surprisingly funny. How does Ben Palmer withstand the awkwardness and maintain his deadpan delivery as he trolls unsuspecting Americans trying to get their neighbors deported? And how did he go from being your average stand-up comic, doing sets after his day job, to creating viral social commentary full-time?
Show notes: He made a fake ICE deportation tip line. Then a kindergarten teacher called. (Washington Post) God, Country, Family (YouTube) Ben Palmer's YouTube Channel (YouTube)This episode was written and produced by Grace Tatter. It was co-hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus.
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Introducing The Midnight Rebellion, a new climate fiction podcast from WBUR — a rollicking adventure to a flooded, robot-infested world where you choose what happens.
When Joule Watts-Green steps into her mom’s mysterious machine, she’s swept off to a polluted city of tides. Streets are rivers, “tin-skins” shoot lightning, and everyone eats gooey Algae-Os. To get home, Joule must be brave, clever, and make friends. She may even discover how to save the world — with your help.
Each chapter ends with a choice. YOU decide what’s next. This is Chapter 1.
Triumph or failure, it’s up to you.
Choose wisely.
This is Chapter 1 of The Midnight Rebellion.
And if you liked what you heard, listen to the rest and follow The Midnight Rebellion wherever you get your podcasts. -
Ben and Amory take a hike with producer Grace, following the digital trail of "Ridiculoubs" — a mysterious climber who traverses the world's peaks in striking footwear. Then, Amory celebrates the beauty of daily life with the Dull Women's Club, a Facebook group with nearly 1.6 million members.
Show notes: "Ridiculoubs" Reviews (Google Maps) Ridiculoubs (Instagram) Dull Women’s Club (Facebook) Dull Women’s Club celebrating the ordinary
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Endless Thread goes to space! First, host Ben Brock Johnson goes deep on radio signals of unknown origin, with an assist from real-life radio astronomer and Reddit MVP Yvette Cendes, aka, Andromeda321. Then, producer Kalyani Saxena takes Ben down the metaphorical black hole of Saturn's hexagonal storm, a massive vortex twice the width of the Earth that's inspired internet conspiracy theories every bit as unweildy.
Show notes: This storm never ends: Saturn’s north pole (Reddit) Cassini Images Bizarre Hexagon on Saturn (NASA) Cassini: Saturn's Perplexing Hexagon (NASA)Credits: This episode was produced by Grace Tatter. It was researched and co-hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Kalyani Saxena, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus. Episode art credit of NASA.
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What's your favorite color? If you ask the algorithm, the answer is probably beige. The internet loves neutrals. Aesthetic coffee shop videos feature white walls and minimalist decor. Influencers film from houses decked out with all the beige fixings. When you shop online, you'll be presented with products in a wide range of bland colors — from eggshell, to taupe, to... slightly darker taupe.
So where did all the color go?
Hayley DeRoche, a librarian and writer known as SadBeige on Tiktok, has been watching this unfold for a while. Hosts Ben and Amory talk with Hayley about the internet's love affair with beige and discuss her new book “Dress Your Baby In Sage and Taupe: A Handbook for the Sad Beige Parent.”
Show notes: SadBeige (TikTok) The tyranny of the algorithm: why every coffee shop looks the same (The Guardian) You read that white: Pantone's 2026 Color of the Year is 'Cloud Dancer' (NPR)Credits: This episode was produced by Kalyani Saxena, and co-hosted by Amory Sivertson and Ben Brock Johnson. It was edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.
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When you think of rapper Afroman, chances are his early 2000s hit song "Because I Got High" is already playing in your mind. More than two decades later, his music has once again broken containment. Host Ben Brock Johnson and Producer Grace Tatter dig into how Afroman turned a police raid and defamation trial into another moment of internet virality.
Show notes: Afroman surveillance footage (Instagram) "These lemon poundcake shirts are going fast !!!"(Instagram) Cop Says Afroman's False 'Pedophile' Claim Caused Him To Quit Sheriff's Office (YouTube)Credits: This episode was produced by Grace Tatter and Kalyani Saxena, and co-hosted by Grace Tatter and Ben Brock Johnson. It was edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.
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In this throwback from the Endless Thread archives, hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson revisit an episode from 2024.
In 2022, a TikTok creator who identifies herself as "Kala" began digging. What followed was an increasingly viral series of TikToks chronicling the efforts of Kala, who some on the internet dubbed "Tunnel Girl," as she excavated and constructed a tunnel system under her suburban home. Her more than half-million followers watched and weighed in with support, suggestions and, at times, concern. That is, until a stop-work order halted the project in its tracks.
Two years later, we have some updates on the story.This episode was originally published on February 02, 2024. It was produced by Katelyn Harrop and co-hosted by Katelyn Harrop, Ben Brock Johnson, and Amory Sivertson. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski.
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Warning: This episode contains multitudes! Hosts Ben and Amory explore how viral clips of DOGE staffers' video depositions found a new life online after a judge temporarily ordered them removed. They also dabble in a Reddit thought exercise with a potentially dubious origin
Show notes: DOGE staffer who flagged grants for 'DEI' struggles to define the term (The Independent) LPT: I started pretending my life is a TV show and it made me more productive (Reddit)Credits: This episode was produced by Kalyani Saxena and hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson. It was edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.
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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? (r/BookshelvesDetective) Snoop our bookshelves! (r/EndlessThread)This episode was produced by Kalyani Saxena and Grace Tatter. It was co-hosted by Kalyani Saxena, Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.
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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 Thread: creative differences, the wilderness of mobile games, and where the Lily's Garden game-world and the ad-world diverged.
Show notes: Lily's Garden on the App Store Lily's Garden on Google Play "I hate Lily's Garden and her teeth" (PewDiePie, YouTube) How Tactile Games made marketing and diversity core to Lily’s Garden’s $500 million success (Pocket Gamer)This episode was produced and written by Grace Tatter, co-hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus. Special thanks to our 2025 Bloomberg Arts Intern Cendy Charles.
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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.
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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: Let's Collaborate! (TikTok) Dr. Pepper's Viral Jingle Moment Has Everyone Pitching Songs to Brands (Atlanta Black Star) Beautiful and unique music. Hope someone an share details about her and the music (Reddit) everyday_naturalist christycoysh
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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% Audience Score Is Not ‘Bot Manipulation’: ‘Reviews Are Verified… Users Bought a Ticket to the Film’ (Variety)Credits: This episode was produced by Kalyani Saxena and Grace Tatter. It was co-hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Kalyani Saxena, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus.
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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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