On today’s episode brought to us by WBUR’s Endless Thread, co-host Ben Brock Johnson and producer Nora Saks look at the Lofi Girl phenomenon. At least 13 million YouTube users subscribe to the channel Lofi Girl. Created by the mononymous French music producer Dimitri, Lofi Girl is a 24/7 livestream of an anime girl studying in her room and listening to lofi hip hop. For many, she’s become the perfect study buddy, and the music may actually be helping concentration.
Endless Thread producer Nora Ruth Valerie Saks and co-host Ben Brock Johnson look at how the Lofi Girl phenomenon has expanded into a record company, inspired copycats, and prompted academic research.
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Endless Thread: The expanding universe of Lofi Girl

Join Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim twice a week as we gaze deep into the online abyss—and tell you what’s gazing back.

Society & Culture

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Philosophy

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Tech News

Technology

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Entertainment News

On today’s episode, Steffi Cao explains Roblox to Rachelle. Cao, a culture writer with bylines at The Atlantic, Fast Company, Forbes, BuzzFeed and more, recently wrote about Roblox’s new attempt to venture outside of kids’ gaming.
This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.
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Is Roblox Coming for TikTok?

On today’s episode, Rachelle and Candice answer listener questions about the rapid rise of Donghua Jinlong, a Chinese company that manufactures glycine. Over the past few weeks, paradoxically deadpan and impassioned videos about the high quality of Donghua Jinlong’s products have taken over TikTok. Are teens actually consuming industrial grade chemicals? Or is something even weirder happening?
This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.
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How a Chinese Glycine Manufacturer Took Over TikTok

Candice Lim is joined by We Signed An NDA co-host Ann Maddox, who you may know as Tom Sandoval’s former personal assistant. In March 2023, Maddox was teaching improv to a middle school in Japan when she found out Sandoval and his then-girlfriend Ariana Madix had split. At first, Maddox assumed this was simply routine tabloid fodder, which often plagued her employers as long-time cast members on Vanderpump Rules. But one specific photograph made her realize the rumors were true, which escalated into one of 2023’s biggest online watercooler moments: “Scandoval.” Maddox joins the show to discuss how she got into this line of work, what she knew when Scandoval went down, and what it’s like to have your personal and professional life dissected online.
This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.
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Ann Maddox on Scandoval, Reddit and Grief

Candice Lim is joined by Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe to discuss their takeaways from Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, a documentary series that details the toxic work environment, child abuse and disturbing events that occurred on the set of creator Dan Schneider’s shows. Schneider was the mind behind some of Nickelodeon's most-watched programming including All That, The Amanda Show and iCarly. But several dark truths were unearthed following the arrest of two child predators who worked on his sets, along with accusations of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and alleged sexual behavior by Schneider himself. Following the docuseries’ release, former child actors have used social media to make statements and speak about their experiences on Nickelodeon sets. But has the internet’s reaction from both viewers and former child actors helped or hurt the purpose and aim of the docuseries itself?
This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton with production assistance by Jared Downing.
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What “Quiet on Set” Leaves Out

Why scam obituaries are edging out earnest ones, with the help of artificial intelligence and an adept Google game.
Guest: Mia Sato, reporter for The Verge.
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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Anna Phillips.
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Endless Thread: The expanding universe of Lofi Girl

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