

Endless Thread
WBUR
Hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson dig into the internet's vast and curious ecosystem of online communities to find untold histories, unsolved mysteries, and other jaw-dropping stories online and IRL.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 3, 2020 • 32min
Tight Squeeze: The Claustrophobia-Inducing World Of Caving Yields Epic Rewards
You might not think about caves in the same breath as you do the deep ocean or outer space, but you probably should. There are approximately 70,000 caves in the United States alone, but the vast majority are inaccessible to the public. That means rare, delicate ecosystems have developed for tens of thousands of years in complete isolation from human contact. That is, until cavers travel deep underground through impossibly small spaces to find them. Join the Endless Thread team as we dive into the claustrophobia-inducing world of caving.
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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!

Aug 28, 2020 • 23min
The Good, The Bad, The Pun-derful: Exploring Reddit's 'Dad Jokes' Community
The spotlight is on r/DadJokes, which -- you guessed it -- is home to the most pun-derful, cheesy-but-lovable comedic material the internet has to offer. Starring the experts: Ben & Amory's DADS!
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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!

Aug 21, 2020 • 28min
Angel's Glow: From Civil War Folklore To Winning Science Fair Project
In the aftermath of the Civil War's Battle of Shiloh in 1862, something strange happened. Some soldiers' wounds started to glow. Stranger still, those with glowing wounds seemed to have better rates of survival. In 2001, a teenage Civil War buff embarked on a science project to explain this so-called "Angel's Glow."
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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!

Aug 13, 2020 • 14min
Reddit Roundup: A Literary Misstep And A Communal Plant Experiment
Author John Boyne and Jeff the zebra plant take center stage in this edition of snacktime. Also, Ben and Amory realize they share an affinity for... melon ballers?
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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!

Aug 6, 2020 • 30min
Ghost Town: Cerro Gordo, A Once Booming Silver Mining Town, Gets Another Chance
In the summer of 2018, Brent Underwood got a text in the middle of the night from a friend saying, "Look at this ghost town for sale!" Within a month, Brent had purchased Cerro Gordo, California, an abandoned silver mining town, with the help of friends and investors. He wants to revive the town for visitors while preserving its history. He's already faced some major setbacks -- from the lack of running water, to getting snowed in there during a global pandemic. But he calls Cerro Gordo his "life's work."
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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!

Jul 30, 2020 • 15min
A Reddit Smorgasbord: Harry Potter, Billie Eilish and 'Soup Tubes'
Ben, Amory, and Josh share some of the most memorable Reddit posts of late, from a "magical" parenting decision to a very bizarre business idea.
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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!

Jul 23, 2020 • 35min
Randonauts: How Randomly Generated Coordinates Are Helping People Seek Meaning And Adventure
r/randonauts is a fast-growing community of Redditors who use random, quantum-generated coordinates to go on real-life adventures. But what happens when those random coordinates lead you straight to a grisly crime scene?
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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!

Jul 17, 2020 • 18min
Behind A Famous Reddit Post Asking For 'Dimensions Of An Adult Llama'
“What are the dimensions of an adult llama?” asked a Redditor called Mrs. Sam Handwich in the "No Stupid Questions" community. "I've been hired to make a tuxedo for a llama and I don't have its measurements," she added. We get to the bottom of this now-famous Reddit post.
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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!

Jul 9, 2020 • 28min
Giddyup: Riding Groups Tap Into Long History Of Black Cowboys
Images of Black men and women riding horses at protests around the country have been going viral. But the history of Black cowboys goes all the way back to the creation of the American West. The Endless Thread team digs into this history, and looks at how Black riding groups are carrying this legacy forward today.
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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!

Jul 2, 2020 • 1h 10min
Encore: We Want Plates + Pile Of Crockery
Endless Thread is re-releasing a crown jewel from the archives. It's the team's epic adventure to locate a mountain of dishware in the middle of the woods and, truly, it's even more ridiculous than it sounds. Originally released as a two-part story almost exactly one year ago, we've re-edited it into one jumbo "combination platter" for your listening pleasure. So sit back, relax, and dig in!
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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!


