Launched in 2013 after an early buyout by Twitter, Vine quickly grew into one of the fastest growing platforms on the internet. The app created an entirely new category of online content: short, user-generated videos. It became the home of online creativity, birthed beloved memes and viral trends, and introduced a whole new generation of celebrity: the influencer. So, how did an app that was ten steps ahead die only three years after launch?

Credits:

Benedict Townsend - Host & Creator

Mary Goodhart - Producer & Creator

Kevyah Cardoso - Narrative & Creative Producer

Patrick Lee - Sound Design & Score

Chris Janes - Mix

Lucy Chisholm Batten - Legal

Sophie Snelling - Executive Producer

Al Riddel - Head of Factual Podcasts

Vicky Etchells - Director of Podcasts

Archive acknowledgments:

CBS Sunday Morning/'From 2005: Four young internet entrepreneurs'/CBS News

Jawed Karim/‘Me at the zoo’/YouTube

Channel 4 News Theme/‘Best Endeavours’/Alan Hawkshaw

Channel 4 News/’A year of Vine: the six second videos rivalling Twitter and Instagram’

The Fox News Channel Theme/‘The Five’

FOX 5/’CEO Chris Dessi Discusses Vine on Fox 5’/Brayden Shanks/The Fox News Channel

PacificRimVideoPress/’Vine Famous Jake Paul Interview about Getting Girls, High School, Fave Shoes & More!’

Pop Trigger/’Breaking: Twitter Officially Shutting Down Vine’

FOX 4 Now/’Twitter Kills Vine App’/The Fox News Channel

Sky News/’TikTok to be banned in the US from Sunday, Supreme Court rules’

BBC News/’Donald Trump’s inauguration set to take place’

NBC News/’TikTok is back up again in the U.S. following a shutdown overnight’

Mark Zuckerberg/’Mark Zuckerberg announces the end of Meta's fact-checking program in the United States’/Facebook

Artwork acknowledgments:

Cathleen Dovolis

Brandon Moore 

B Bowen

Nicholas Fraser

James Morosky

Ava Ryan

Ali Dia - it's a name synonymous with footballing failure. How did a below average footballer find his way onto the sport's most elite stage, the Premier League?

Josh Widdicombe and Dara Ó Briain preview their new 6-part podcast series, in which they unearth the weird and wonderful truth behind the biggest mystery in football history.

The series kicks off on Tuesday 19th March.  

The trial is over, this should be the end of it. But as they gather on the steps of Blackfriars Court, Keith, Maria and Sylvia hear rumours of a new scam that’s been unfolding right under their noses.  

Filthy Ritual is a Global Original podcast, produced by Global and Novel. In partnership with Dentsu Entertainment.  

If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this podcast or think you, or someone you know, may have been scammed, you're not alone and there's support available. 

Age UK has helpful advice and information for anyone who thinks they’ve been scammed. 

Action Fraud can be contacted any time day or night, or you can call the Action Fraud team on 0300 123 2040. 

Victim Support or Think Jessica provide emotional and practical help to victims of crimes and scams 

Contact the 24-hour Samaritans helpline on 116 123 if you feel low or anxious and need someone to talk to. 

At Blackfriars Crown Court, a long-awaited trial is about to commence. It could finally bring justice to this group of Hampstead victims. 

But Juliette D’Souza’s defence team are about to develop a new theory about who is really responsible for the last two decades of ‘magic’ and manipulation.  

Filthy Ritual is a Global Original podcast, produced by Global and Novel. In partnership with Dentsu Entertainment.  

If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this podcast or think you, or someone you know, may have been scammed, you're not alone and there's support available. 

Age UK has helpful advice and information for anyone who thinks they’ve been scammed. 

Action Fraud can be contacted any time day or night, or you can call the Action Fraud team on 0300 123 2040. 

Victim Support or Think Jessica provide emotional and practical help to victims of crimes and scams. 

Sylvia Eaves, a retired Opera singer with a knack for making friends, who lost thousands of pounds to Juliette D’Souza finds herself back in the thrall of the healer of Hampstead.  

But this time, Juliette hasn’t counted on one DIY detective who will stand in her way: An intrepid nurse and amateur detective named Maria Feeney.  

Filthy Ritual is a Global Original podcast, produced by Global and Novel. In partnership with Dentsu Entertainment.  

If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this podcast or think you, or someone you know, may have been scammed, you're not alone and there's support available. 

 Age UK has helpful advice and information for anyone who thinks they’ve been scammed. 

Action Fraud can be contacted any time day or night, or you can call the Action Fraud team on 0300 123 2040. 

Victim Support or Think Jessica provide emotional and practical help to victims of crimes and scams. 

In the face of apathy and ridicule from the police, Keith Bender takes his allegations about Juliette D’Souza to the only avenue that’s left to him: the media.  

A few months later, a newly formed investigative team of plucky journalists touch down in Suriname for the reporting adventure of a lifetime.  

Filthy Ritual is a Global Original podcast, produced by Global and Novel. In partnership with Dentsu Entertainment.  

If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this podcast or think you, or someone you know, may have been scammed, you're not alone and there's support available.  

Age UK has helpful advice and information for anyone who thinks they’ve been scammed. 

Action Fraud can be contacted any time day or night, or you can call the Action Fraud team on 0300 123 2040. 

Victim Support or Think Jessica provide emotional and practical help to victims of crimes and scams. 

Keith starts spreading the word about Juliette D’Souza’s ‘powers’. Little by little, Juliette’s client base expands across Hampstead, as her promises of miracle cures captivate more and more of its residents.  

All is not well. Under Juliette’s influence, Keith has lost control of his own life. After she goes missing, Keith is left to reckon with her real identity.  

Filthy Ritual is a Global Original podcast, produced by Global and Novel. In partnership with Dentsu Entertainment.  

If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this podcast or think you, or someone you know, may have been scammed, you're not alone and there's support available.  

Age UK has helpful advice and information for anyone who thinks they’ve been scammed. 

Action Fraud can be contacted any time day or night, or you can call the Action Fraud team on 0300 123 2040. 

Victim Support or Think Jessica provide emotional and practical help to victims of crimes and scams. 

An eccentric osteopath, Keith Bender, meets a charming, mysterious woman named Juliette D’Souza. 

Keith’s life is falling apart, and Juliette seems to know just how to fix it. She wins his trust and whisks him off on a journey to meet a shamanic healer in Suriname, changing his life forever. Soon, she’s bringing her supernatural influence into the heart of the bohemian London suburb where Keith worked: Hampstead.  

Filthy Ritual is a Global Original podcast, produced by Global and Novel. In partnership with Dentsu Entertainment.  

If you’ve been affected by anything you’ve heard in this podcast or think you, or someone you know, may have been scammed, you're not alone and there's support available. 

Age UK has helpful advice and information for anyone who thinks they’ve been scammed. 

Action Fraud can be contacted any time day or night, or you can call the Action Fraud team on 0300 123 2040. 

Victim Support or Think Jessica provide emotional and practical help to victims of crimes and scams. 

This is a story about a scam. But this isn’t any old scam. There's shamanism, a 'tree of life' in the jungle of Suriname, a bathing ritual in a dark rusty red lake, voodoo dolls, black magic and envelopes jammed full of sacrificial cash. There's even a wild capuchin monkey called Joey.

At the turn of the 21st century, set in one of London's most wealthy suburbs, Hampstead, Juliette D'Souza wreaked havoc on a number of people's lives. Described by her neighbours as 'a knife in a velvet glove', D'Souza claimed to have a special connection to an ancient source of power and wisdom, deep in the Amazonian jungle. She became filthy rich, and one of the most prolific con women in British history. 

Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala, the soulmates behind the hit true crime podcast, Redhanded, are on the case. They speak to the reporters who travelled to Suriname to track Juliette down, one of Britain's leading shamans and the victims who came together in search of justice.

This is a true story so bizarre, you might not believe your ears.

All 6 episodes will be available from April 19th on Global Player. Download it now from the App Store or go to https://www.globalplayer.com