Understanding Political Memes and Their Impact

When future generations learn about the launch of current Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, memes are going to be part of the story. Election season has always yielded yuks on the internet, but this year, the memes have gone mainstream. Why were Harris and coconuts inescapable for a several day span, and what does it tell us about the context of all in which we live?

Kalyani Saxena, Endless Thread's colleague from WBUR and NPR's Here & Now , and Madison Malone Kircher, internet culture reporter for The New York Times, decode the origins of this particular political meme explosion, and the online communities behind it.

Show notes:

• What is the KHive? (The New York Times)
• Kamala Harris edit to 360 by charli xcx. brat president. (TikTok via @flextillerson)
• 'why did I stay up till 3am making a von dutch brat coconut tree edit featuring kamala harris and why can’t I stop watching it on repeat?' (X via @ryanlong03)

Credits: This episode was produced by Grace Tatter. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski. It was hosted by Amory Sivertson. Our managing producer is Samata Joshi.