Endless Thread

Since the dawn of the internet, cyberwitches have traded in their broomsticks and cauldrons for floppy disks and smartphones. This week on Endless Thread, we go into the history of cyberwitches, attend a Zoom ritual, and talk to members of a cyber coven.

After 15 years on the job, a former police officer wrote about his reasons for resigning in the r/OffMyChest community on Reddit. In this episode, he discusses the ethical dilemmas that led him to leave law enforcement for good.

When a colleague sent us a viral Reddit post from WallStreetBets, we set out to investigate.

Politicians and celebrities have been the focus of deepfakes for years. But as the manipulated media get easier to make, reality is becoming harder to establish — and more people are vulnerable.

After its first successful iteration in 2017, r/place returned on April 1, 2022 for four days of battling fandoms vying for space inside a pixelated canvas. We talk to two Redditors who recount the challenges of claiming their stake in r/place—despite being vastly outnumbered.

A deep dive into The Herman Cain Award subreddit, which ironically awards those who die from COVID after publicly expressing anti-vaxx sentiments or pandemic-denying memes online. We meet a moderator and a Herman Cain Award nominee, who may have more in common than they realize.

Endless Thread digs into a simple Reddit post about Indigenous tool-making, American explorers, and finds a forgotten history spanning the age of the solar system.

This week, Endless Thread presents an episode of Shared State — a podcast from the Montana Free Press, Montana Public Radio and Yellowstone Public Radio — telling the story of a couple who came back from a vacation off the grid to discover that they were entangled in a viral political feud with one of Fox News' most controversial commentators.

In times like these, you've got to take joy wherever and however you can get it. Amory and Ben swap unexpected sources of joy they've bumped into recently — from a goblin-themed Reddit post, to the scariest toe talons on the internet, to a funky 1980's little-known bop about going to the beach on Massachusetts' North Shore.

This is the story of a tragic accident that sent Endless Thread producer Quincy Walters, and countless others, down a disturbing and fascinating rabbit hole about a small, daring group of people called wing walkers and a woman who wanted to live her life "to its optimum."