INFLUENCE

Latest Episodes:

85 r/AskOldPeople May 27, 2019

Show notes

In an age where nearly all information is a Google or Wiki search away, it's easy to forget that real, first-hand experiences of what the world used to be like are right in our own families and communities. That's the mission of the subreddit r/AskOldPeople. It's a place for members of one generation to get perspective from those who came before. The result has been some deep conversations about politics, personal finance, technology, and the timeless personal wisdom you just can't get from the news or a textbook. Alli and Jen speak to GetOffMyLawn, a moderator who curated some of the best conversations the subreddit has to offer.

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84 Best of Nextdoor May 20, 2019

Show notes

Nextdoor is the social network that connects people based on neighborhoods, rather than friend networks or common interests. Getting to know your IRL neighbors sure seems like a good idea. But at times, it combines the two worst things about social media: relative anonymity and real-world consequences. The platform is home to countless petty squabbles and strange behavior that reveal the absurdity of modern life, and the insanity of the people who live two houses down. The most ridiculous posts are lovingly collected by @BestOfNextdoor, a Twitter and Facebook account run by Jenn Takahashi. It features hilarious neighborhood drama, bizarre phenomena ("Did any of you leave a potato in my garden?"), and misguided souls who insist on using Nextdoor to score hookups. Alli and Jen talk with Takahashi about her favorite Nextdoor posts of all time, why people are so weird, and what the company thinks of her social commentary.

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83 Searching for the Hidden Treasure of Forrest Fenn May 13, 2019

Show notes

There's a box of treasure worth millions somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, and a global online (and IRL) community is devoted to the search. The treasure was hidden by Forrest Fenn, a collector of antiquities and nature lover, who — after cancer threatened his life in the '80s — decided to have some fun with the wealth he'd accumulated. He wrote a poem full of cryptic, geographic clues that are now a worldwide obsession. And while Fenn says seekers have gotten close, no one has uncovered the real fortune ... yet. Entire families have uprooted their lives to join the hunt, and a fervent online community deciphers clues and poses new theories daily. Alli and Jen talk with Dal Neitzel, who documents the treasure hunt extensively online, and has become a key resource for all things Fenn. Neitzel shares his stories about meeting Fenn, the most plausible cartographic theories, the risks of treasure hunting (some seekers have died), and the scammers who try to trick Fenn out of his hidden fortunes.

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82 God May 06, 2019

Show notes

For thousands of years, God has communicated with humanity via dusty tomes, prophets, and the occasional miracle. But it's 2019, and the Internet is way more efficient for reaching the flock. That's why God has spent the last few years amassing followers on Facebook and Twitter, and smiting hypocrites and blasphemers (aka trolls) with his digital wrath. And if you've noticed that He's a little less about fire and brimstone, and more about calling bullshit on modern religion, you're not wrong. Alli and Jen have an intimate and exclusive conversation with The Almighty about His new social media strategy, His role in American politics, Jesus, the conservatives who keep putting words in His mouth, dick pics, and his new podcast, The God Show.

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81 How Linguist David J. Peterson Created the Dothraki and Valyrian Languages for 'Game of Thrones' Apr 29, 2019

Show notes

When fantasy TV shows need an alien or elf to speak a fictional language, most writers make up a few foreign-sounding words to pad the script and move on. But that won't cut it when it comes to Game of Thrones, a show with details as deep as its fandom. So when George R. R. Martin and the show's producers needed to build complete, functional languages for Dothraki riders and Valyrian-speaking slavers, they turned to real-life linguist and "conlanger" David J. Peterson. He transformed a handful of phrases from Martin's books into the grammatically complete languages we hear on HBO today.

Alli and Jen chat with Peterson (mostly in English!) about his love of languages, the process of building them from scratch, infusing fictional languages with fictional culture, his email correspondence with George R. R. Martin, and how the complexities of producing TV's most ambitious show affected his phonetic and linguistic choices — including a little-known error in season 8!

Alli and Jen also speak with a Game of Thrones super fan who is currently learning High Valyrian from the language app Duolingo, which has more than 800,000 users actively learning the fictional language.

Minor spoiler warning: While mostly focused on linguistics, this episode contains general discussions of characters, cultures, and events in Game of Thrones.

Special thanks to Michelle Jaworski.

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80 Feminist Memes Are a Banner of Social Change on Instagram Apr 22, 2019

Show notes

We don't always think of Internet memes as a force for serious social change. But the humor behind image macros and mashup content can be leveraged in the fight against toxic masculinity — with the right talent, of course. Julia Hava has amassed a huge following on Instagram (@binchcity) by turning sexist advertising into hilarious commentary on feminism and mental illness. Alli and Jen talk to Hava about the modern feminist conversation happening online, and how memes and humor play an increasingly important role.

Follow Binch City: https://www.instagram.com/binchcity

Here's the video from the Clayman Institute for Gender Research about unconscious bias, which Alli references in the episode: https://womensleadership.stanford.edu/level

This episode was co-produced and edited by Sophie Bridges.

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79 How Could Anyone Really Believe the Earth is Flat? Apr 15, 2019

Show notes

A growing number of people believe that world governments and other shadow organizations are hiding the truth: that the Earth is not a globe, but a flat disc with a dome of stars above it. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, this "mother of all conspiracy theories" is flourishing on the Internet, giving rise to vast networks of YouTubers, podcasters, and social media communities that spread misinformation. This phenomenon led three filmmakers to ask: Why is this happening now, and how could any rational person actually believe the Earth is flat? They found the answer by making Behind the Curve, a sympathetic and open-minded documentary which chronicles a number of influential flat Earthers as they defend their theories, conduct experiments, and gear up for the first Flat Earth convention. Alli and Jen speak with Caroline Clark (producer), Daniel J. Clark (director/producer), and Nick Andert (editor/producer), about the psychology of conspiratorial thinking, the algorithms that serve us bad information, and the social pressures that hook marginalized people with the promise of finding a like-minded community that they can never leave.

Behind the Curve is available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, iTunes, and Google Play: https://www.behindthecurvefilm.com

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78 Can Instagram save independent book stores? Apr 08, 2019

Show notes

While it may feel like books face an existential crisis in the shadow of digital media, reading communities are alive and well in an unlikely social media sphere: Instagram. Showing off what you're reading with a fancy cup of coffee is only a small part of the #bookstagram trend. Insta has become a powerful tool for author discovery (especially for female writers of color), community, accountability, and marketing the wares of independent book stores. Alli and Jen talk with Tammy Gordon, who challenged herself to read 100 books in one year, and Katie Orphan, manager of The Last Bookstore, the most Instagrammed bookstore in Los Angeles, about the future of reading in a social media world.

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77 April Fools: 3 Chrome Extensions to Prank Your Friends Apr 01, 2019

Show notes

On the list of "Things The Internet Is Useful For," lulz rank pretty highly (second only to porn, of course).

Online pranks are as old as the ARPANET itself. This April Fools' Day, 2G1P is celebrating internet jokesters by chatting with three developers who can turn your web browser (or a co-worker's, if you're sneaky enough) into a veritable fun house of chortles, guffaws, and confusion.

Alli and Jen talk with Eric Bailey, Clayburn Griffin, and Steven Frank, about their devious Chrome extensions which will transform Millennials to "Snake People," "The Cloud" into "My Butt," and plaster Nicolas Cage all over Wikipedia.

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76 Musketeers: The Global Elon Musk Super Fan Network Mar 25, 2019

Show notes

Worldwide and obsessive fandom is nothing new, but it's usually reserved for pop stars, actors, YouTubers, and video games. It's rare for tech CEOs to command such loyalty, but Elon Musk's journey from sickly, bullied child, to stumbling entrepreneur, to rocket-launching world changer is a story that's impossible to ignore. Musk has engendered a global community of superfans who hang on his every word, and who will defend him at any cost. Alli and Jen chat with Paula Mellon, the creator of a massive Musk fan club on LinkedIn, about the appeal of Musk and why his fans are so obsessed.

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