That's a Thing?!

Elizabeth dives into the world of indie video games, introducing some that her mother would really rather not know about (hi, FNAF), and some that she's kind of looking forward to trying. Plus, #PaulWatch and the meaning of THOT.

Some links to things we talked about:

• Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
• Hello Neighbor
• Cuphead
• Super Meat Boy
• Slender (You thought we'd talk about Slenderman in the Creepypasta episode, but nope.)
• Undertale
• Why the Game Theory guy gave Undertale to the Pope (and yes, he actually met the Pope.)
• Five Nights at Freddy's
• What Remains of Edith Finch (suggested by our pals and fellow Alberta Podcast Network members Press Start to Join)
• Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
• Doki Doki Literature Club
• Speed Dating for Ghosts

Also, we're now a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB. 

Learn more about The Branch for Arts and Culture.

Elizabeth explains how eating Tide Pods became a thing, and analyzes media coverage of the phenomenon. This leads to a discussion of challenges past and present, and the ensuing freakouts.

Links to some of the things we referred to:

• Tide Pods official webpage
• Washington Post article on eating Tide Pods
• Onion article from 2015
• College Humor video
• Know your Meme, tide pods
• Know your Meme, drinking bleach
• Tide Pod Chan and Cosplay (Safe for work, if you’re cool with your coworkers watching you stare at anime chicks)
• Gronk Twitter video
• The Tight Ends podcast episode with Gronk's video
• Michelle Obama mannequin challenge
• Paul McCartney mannequin challenge
• ALS research related to the ice bucket challenge
• The failure of Bald for Bieber
• The fire challenge
• Jackass (which was on MTV, not network TV)

We also revisit Logan Paul (shudder), who also invaded the grownups' part of the internet this month. Here’s a timeline of the scandal.

• Dec. 31, 2017: Logan Paul uploads a video of him and his friends finding a dead body in the Aokigahara forest in Japan.
• Jan. 1, 2018: After amassing millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes, the video is taken down. The internet is outraged. Logan Paul releases his first apology via Twitter.
• Jan. 1: Mainstream media picks up the story.
• Jan. 2: Logan Paul releases an apology video. His social media then goes silent.
• Jan. 3: The internet community continues to lampoon him, releasing parody videos and demanding that YouTube takes action.
• Jan. 9: YouTube releases a string of tweets condemning Logan Paul’s actions.
• Jan. 10: YouTube announces that Logan Paul has lost the advertising privileges granted to him by the platform. The sequel to Logan’s movie, The Thinning, is put on hold indefinitely.

And that’s enough of that. We talked about the Paul brothers in Episode 2 of That’s a Thing?!, if you want to go back to simpler time.

Finally, we fielded a question from Tammy, who wanted to know what teens mean by “mood.” Elizabeth explains.

If you have a question about what the youngs are on about, you can ask them on our Twitter account, @thatsathingyeg. You can also email questions to [email protected].

Subscribe to That’s a Thing?! In Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and other places that catch pods (but not Tide Pods).

The music for That’s A Thing?! is Scott Joplin’s Ragtime Dance from the Free Music Archive. Many thanks to Castria for production assistance.

Welcome to Episode 2 of That’s A Thing?!, “a sometimes belated, already outdated guide to your teens, tweens and everything under 20.” Elizabeth, a real live teenager, explains things to her mom. And this time around, she tells the story of Team 10.

Team 10 is a collective of YouTube channels whose hosts boost each other’s follower counts by harnessing the same techniques that made oldtime Hollywood, soap operas, wrestling and reality TV capture our attention. The tropes are familiar, but Team 10 had completely escaped Karen’s attention, until now.

Here are the show notes:

• Official website of Team 10
• Team 10 YouTube channel
• Jake Paul’s YouTube channel (home of Everyday Bro, Everyday Bro Remix, and Litmas)
• Bizaardvark theme song
• Bizaardvark Wikipedia page
• Logan Paul’s Channel
• Jake Paul’s Social Blade

If you are an old who wants to understand something the youngs are talking about, or if you are a teenager who would like us to explain something to your elders so you don’t have to, email us at [email protected] or tweet your suggestion to Karen @karenunland.

The music for That’s A Thing?! is Scott Joplin’s Ragtime Dance from the Free Music Archive. Many thanks to Castria for production assistance.

Show notes:

Where to find creepypasta stories, memes and such:

• Creepypasta Wiki
• creepypasta.com
• Trollpasta Wiki
• Creepypasta on Quotev and Wattpad
• Creepypasta memes
• Creepypasta narrators MrCreepyPasta and CreepsMcPasta
• The Creepypasta Collection

Some of the characters we discuss:

• Jeff the Killer (and the picture we describe)
• Smile Dog (and the picture)
• The Rake (and the picture)
• Sonic.exe (and the picture)

Old-school stuff from the mom:

• Flowers in the Attic
• Freddy Krueger
• Jason from Friday the 13th
• Michael Myers from Halloween
• Quora: Why do so many girls like horror movies?

Have you encountered something that kids seem to know all about but is a mystery to you? Are you a teen tired of explaining something to your elders? Drop us a line at [email protected] or tweet me at @karenunland and we’ll see what we can do.

The music for That’s A Thing?! is Scott Joplin’s Ragtime Dance from the Free Music Archive.

Many thanks to Castria for editing all of this together.