'Little Big RedNote': A Chinese social media app's brief moment

He is known by several names, but Gordon Hurd is the one this man-turned-meme adopted when he fled Cameroon for the UK more than two decades ago. Gordon eventually found the app Fiverr and started making videos for anonymous benefactors on the internet. That’s how Gordon adopted another name, Big Man Tyrone, and became a viral video meme who gives scripted testimonials and has been named the leader of a fictional alt-right country called Kekistan. But there’s a lingering question: Is Big Man Tyrone in on the joke? What happens when an African immigrant in the UK becomes the leader of a group of Trump supporters? We explore the complexities of the Big Man Tyrone meme and our own expectations of the responsibilities of Gordon Hurd. *** 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 January. Take the survey here: wbur.org/endlessthreadsurvey Thank you!

21 Loka 202143min

Most of us hate the photos our parents take of us. But what happens when one goes viral?  Zoë Roth was 4 years old when her dad took a photo of her smiling mischievously in front of a burning house. That photo would later spread like wildfire as the internet meme "Disaster Girl."  In this bonus episode of our meme series, we hear more about how the photo came to be, how it just might help Zoë pay off her student loans, and who really started that fire.  *** 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 January. Take the survey here: wbur.org/endlessthreadsurvey Thank you!

18 Loka 202121min

Humor is a key ingredient of any unit of culture that morphs and spreads over time. But humor isn’t always there at the beginning. For “Real Housewife” Taylor Armstrong, the meme that made her even more famous on the internet has bitter roots: physical domestic abuse exposed on television. In this episode, we hear the little-known origin story of the "Woman Yelling at a Cat" meme -- straight from the Woman herself -- that might make you think twice about ever using the meme again. We also explore why a loss of context is crucial for the spread of memes, but often problematic. *** 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 January. Take the survey here: wbur.org/endlessthreadsurvey Thank you!

14 Loka 202141min

Last week, we explored the origin of the “Rick Roll,” a meme that evolved from Rick Astley’s 1987 hit song, “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Since the music video resurfaced as the meme in 2007, the internet has also never given up on Rick – so much so that the video recently hit a billion views on YouTube. This bonus episode dives deeper into Rick’s childhood, how he was discovered, and how he dealt with not only his fame in the late 80s, but with his more complicated identity as a meme.  *** 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 January. Take the survey here: wbur.org/endlessthreadsurvey Thank you!

12 Loka 202119min

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 meme’s origin, the history of the song, "Never Gonna Give You Up," and its impact on both internet users during COVID-19 and on the performer himself. *** 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 January. Take the survey here: wbur.org/endlessthreadsurvey Thank you!

8 Loka 202142min

If there is an OG meme in which a human is the star, Scumbag Steve is it. He spread across the internet like wildfire in 2011 as a universal representation of dudes who are the worst. And, like any person grappling with immediate internet fame, Blake Boston — the man behind Scumbag Steve — tried to capitalize: merch, rap songs, public appearances. But the full story of what happened to Blake — and his family — has never been told. The Scumbag Steve meme became a bargaining chip in a custody battle, a complicating factor in meeting his birth mother, the cause of fights with extended family members, a source of anxiety attacks, and an echo of trauma. In this episode, we go past the origin story of Scumbag Steve and learn about Blake’s real struggles with PTSD and abuse — and how trauma has brought him and his mother, Susan Boston, even closer.  *** 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 January. Take the survey here: wbur.org/endlessthreadsurvey Thank you!

30 Syys 202140min

We often think of memes as living solely online. But the term “meme” was coined in the 1970s -- before the birth of the internet -- by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. And, more surprisingly, the image that's often considered to "the first meme" appeared as early as the 1940s.  A figure with a bulbous head and sausage fingers, peering over a wall, mysteriously popped up all over the globe during World War II, accompanied with three simple words: “Kilroy Was Here.” The phrase’s original meaning may come from the belly of warships, but what it came to represent bears many characteristics of a true-blue internet meme. In the first episode of our meme series, we tell the story of where "Kilroy Was Here" came from, how it spread, and what it tells us about the essence of memes.  *** 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 January. Take the survey here: wbur.org/endlessthreadsurvey Thank you!

30 Syys 202136min

On October 1st, Endless Thread is back. We're kicking things off with a deep exploration into something that has changed lives, politics, and the way we interact online and IRL... memes! *** 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 January. Take the survey here: wbur.org/endlessthreadsurvey Thank you!

23 Syys 20212min