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, Niall emailed us saying he felt isolated during the pandemic. He wanted to know i...
22 Dec 202336min
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 you're chronically online. And if, like us, you have no idea what that means when you first encount...
15 Dec 202326min
What Is That?!
Have you ever heard an odd sound that sounds oddly musical? A spatula that rings like a toy piano? A storage container with a satisfying pop? Endless Thread's Ben Brock Johnson brings co-host Amory S...
8 Dec 202316min
"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 Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet," where she argues th...
5 Dec 202319min
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 video game. Then, people started paying them to keep doin...
1 Dec 202333min
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 with a Russian scientist during WWII.
24 Nov 202324min
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 group chats — and then morphed into something else. What links this to othe...
17 Nov 202322min
The Grand Can-Spiracy
In 1909, the Arizona Gazette ran an article titled "Exploration in Grand Canyon." It said that an explorer by the name of G.E. Kincaid went into the National Park for the Smithsonian and found caves f...
10 Nov 202331min
