INFLUENCE

Dumb comments at the bottom of news articles and Facebook posts are a dime a dozen. But for the last 10 years, Ken M has turned misinformed Internet commentary into a masterful comedic art. His brand of earnest, oblivious comment trolling (and the angry reactions of people who think it's real) earned him hundreds of thousands of fans, who screenshot his comment threads across the Web and laugh hysterically on Reddit and Tumblr.

While Ken M has become the stuff of Internet legend, the real man behind the troll accounts — Ken McCarthy — is a friendly guy whose day job is writing for Comedy Central. Alli and Jen chat with McCarthy about his creative process, why his brand of humor is still so relatable after a decade, Ken M imposters, and what happens when troll comments go too far.

Follow Ken M on Twitter: https://twitter.com/horseysurprise

Enjoy the Ken M subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/KenM/

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Our show is about Internet communities, but it's also a community of its own! Our listeners help us make the show, and we're expanding the discussion to an official 2G1P Facebook Group, where you can hang out with us, suggest episode topics, ask questions for our guests, or just share some spicy hot memes.

We hope you'll join us!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2girls1podcast

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In 2007, Britney Spears was placed under a conservatorship, relinquishing control of her finances to her father. This legal arrangement is typically constructed for elderly people with significant assets and declining faculties. In Spears' case, the pop star continues to perform and generate income regularly, yet cannot prove to the probate court that she has overcome whatever mental health challenges might have lead to the conservatorship in the first place.

The result has been increased public scrutiny and a large online community of activists, crystalized in the recent New York Times / Hulu documentary "Framing Britney Spears." The #FreeBritney movement, once dismissed as a vocal pocket of obsessive fandom, is now fighting to reform the abusive laws that bound Britney, and likely thousands more.

Alli and Jen speak with Leanne Simmons and Kevin Wu, two activists who moderate the @FreeBritneyLA communities, and were featured in the New York Times documentary.

Free Britney LA: https://www.instagram.com/freebritneyla/

https://twitter.com/freebritneyla

Additional editing by Phoenix Williams

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https://twitter.com/alligold

https://twitter.com/joonbugger

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We're taking this week off, but we wanted to check in and share an episode of another great podcast on our network called Table Flipping.

Table Flipping shamelessly celebrates “guilty pleasure” TV and praises the women of reality who boldly bare it all. Previous episodes of Table Flipping features guests such as Dayna Kathan of Vanderpump rules, Sean Clements host of Hollywood Handbook, comedian Ryan O’Flanagan, the writer of 500 Days of Summer Michael H. Weber and more. 

Table Flipping is brought to you by The Podglomerate. New episodes run every Friday, and you can listen by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or wherever you’re listening to this show. 

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In 2011, Chris Torres drew a pixelated cat with a Pop Tart body and a rainbow shooting out of its butt. It raised $100 for a charity in Texas.

10 years later, it's not only one of the Internet's most iconic images (representing the silliness of the social media age), but has sold at auction as a non-fungible token (NFT) for 300 Ether -- currently, the equivalent of $590,000.

So how can you own an Internet meme, which is by definition a digital file that has been shared and remixed millions of times across the Web?

Alli and Jen talk with Torres about the cultural impact of Nyan Cat, his strange online journey over the last 10 years, how he could have made millions from licensing deals and toys (but didn't), and the pros and cons of NFTs and blockchain art.

Follow Chris: https://twitter.com/prguitarman

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https://twitter.com/alligold

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Since 2013, The Doge meme has made us laugh, cry, and stare longingly into the beautiful eyes of a Shiba Inu. Like most memes, it’s an image put into new contexts again and again.

And in late 2013, it was turned into a cryptocurrency. Dogecoin began as a joke — a way to poke fun at the rise of blockchain and crypto trends. But today, it's incredibly popular as a commodity and digital currency, with an estimated market cap of $5 billion (as of this writing).

Gary Lachance, an open source and decentralization advocate, has embraced The Way of the Doge. He explains that if a philosophy of fun and openness underpinned our monetary system, perhaps the world would be a better place. And Lachance feels we're at the start of a global transformation, if we use the internet right.

This week, Alli and Jen speak with Lachance about his creation of Decentralized Dance Parties which unify thousands across the internet through music. Lachance also takes us into the Dogecoin community, and illustrates how the internet can be used as a weapon of peace, rather than control.

Find Gary: http://garylachance.com/

The Decentralized Dance Party: http://www.theddp.com/

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The cult steampunk adventure book series "Ships of the Northern Fleet" has inspired a TV show, graphic novels, and even a breakfast cereal. But the influential show has fallen off the pop culture radar in recent years. That is until a TikToker named Mister Nickel brought a flood of nostalgia back to the Internet to reunite the rabid fan community.

Alli and Jen talk with Mister Nickel and the one and only Catie Osborn, the actor best known for playing Annie on "Ships" for multiple seasons (before the character's controversial death!). Nickel and Osborn share why "Ships" fandom is so special, and everything that's gone down since its viral resurgence on TikTok.

Follow Mister Nickel: https://www.tiktok.com/@misternickel

Follow Catie Osborn: https://www.tiktok.com/@catieosaurus

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Bored during the pandemic? Maybe you should try betting fake money on a league of simulated baseball teams where imaginary players like Jessica Telephone and Jaylen Hotdogfingers are regularly incinerated, undergo life-altering surgeries, and become ... encased in giant peanut shells?

Welcome to "Blaseball," the absurdist browser-based game that has captured thousands of imaginations and spawned an obsessive fandom that creates art, backstories, podcasts, multi-verse wikis, and even music about the events that transpire on the simulated field — which is then incorporated into the game itself.

Alli and Jen talk with Felix Kramer, a member of the "Blaseball" development team, as well as Elliot Trinidad and Bria Davis, two volunteer "groundskeepers" who manage the game's rocketing community. They discuss what makes "Blaseball" so special, why the fandom is radically different than those around scripted entertainment, and their plans for the new season in 2021.

Additional music in this episode courtesy of The Garages: "mike townsend (is a disappointment):" https://thegarages.bandcamp.com/album/the-garages-101

Follow Felix: https://twitter.com/legobutts

Follow Elliot: https://twitter.com/nameoftheyear

Follow Bria: https://twitter.com/thevoidencore

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When people talk about Bitcoin and blockchain tech, the conversation typically moves to the price of commodities and the hype around trading them. But the actual blockchain movement is about so much more.

Alli and Jen talk with Adam B. Levine, the podcast editor at CoinDesk, who breaks down how our trust in banks, governments, and monetary policy has failed us in the 20th century, and why cryptocurrencies re-assign that trust to math and a "consensus-based reality" — that is, a majority of people agreeing what is true, and making better policy decisions based on accountability. Levine also discusses why some cryptocurrencies are poised to radically change the world, while others are just about the memes...until they're not.

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While we love Internet communities, it's clear that some can seed and spread weaponized information at breakneck speeds. Platforms facilitate this, but social dynamics are also at work here. And if there's any hope of squashing disinformation, it's time to take a hard look at the communities that are incentivized to manufacture it.

Alli and Jen talk with Bridget Todd, an activist and host of the podcast "There Are No Girls on the Internet," whose recent series "Disinformed" is about making sense of how dangerous online information culminated in an insurrection at the Capitol. Bridget explains why social media algorithms are biased toward disinformation, what you can do to stop the spread (even if you're not an "influencer"), why "Pinterest Moms" aren't helping, and why you don't need to have a take on EVERYTHING that happens in the news.

Follow Bridget: https://twitter.com/BridgetMarie

There Are No Girls on the Internet: https://www.tangoti.com/

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