RIP Lil Miquela
Endless Thread12 Huhti 2024

RIP Lil Miquela

In 2016, followers flocked to an Instagram user purporting to be Miquela Sousa, a 19-year-old Brazilian-American model, singer, and sometimes activist.

For years, no one was quite sure if Miquela was made-up, or to what degree. Was she a model rendered doll-like by filters? An actress? A totally fictional character?

Her ambiguous humanity helped Miquela land lucrative brand partnerships with the likes of BMW and Calvin Klein. But in recent years, interest in her has been slipping. Writer Mercedes Gonzales-Bazan joins Endless Thread to talk about Miquela's mysterious origin story, and what her declining relevance reveals about our current relationship with AI.

You can read Mercedes Gonzales-Bazan's essay, Death of the Artificial Influencer, here.

Credits: This episode was produced by Grace Tatter. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski. The host is Ben Brock Johnson.

Jaksot(436)

Ukraine's expanding drone web

Ukraine's expanding drone web

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 cl...

12 Joulu 202538min

Ruby Tandoh, the World's Best Lasagna,and how the internet is collectively changing what we all want to eat

Ruby Tandoh, the World's Best Lasagna,and how the internet is collectively changing what we all want to eat

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...

5 Joulu 202528min

Episodes we love: Sandwiches of History

Episodes we love: Sandwiches of History

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 acc...

28 Marras 202535min

Chiveman and a mountain of margarine

Chiveman and a mountain of margarine

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 perfe...

21 Marras 202526min

Fryders and Alligator Alcatraz tours: When trolls get inventive

Fryders and Alligator Alcatraz tours: When trolls get inventive

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 Terr...

14 Marras 202531min

Episodes we love: Lofi Girl

Episodes we love: Lofi Girl

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! ...

11 Marras 202538min

So Cute!

So Cute!

While some people find Labubus terrifying, millions of others find their big eyes and furry features irresistibly adorable. Why? From Labubu dolls taking over TikTok, to emoji taking over our text mes...

7 Marras 202527min

Episodes we love: Welcome to the Jam

Episodes we love: Welcome to the Jam

Everybody get up, it's time to slam now... again! Yes, we're revisiting our episode about the website for the 1996 movie "Space Jam," which is still up and functioning nearly 30 years later. Amory an...

4 Marras 202533min