That's a Thing?!

Here are links to the things we mentioned:

• The Taylor Lorenz article that started it all
• The triple meme Instagram post
• You Know I Had to Do It to Em meme
• Some highlights of the backlash
• Definition of boomer (Thanks DankMemeOS)
• Generation X, as defined by Douglas Coupland
• Buzzfeed article full of Karen defamation
• YouTube video tangentially related to Italian puppet theatre
• Ok zoomer (not the Moses Znaimer kind)
• Definition of VSCO girl
• Eboys, Egirls, soft boys, soft girls
• And, of course, the frickboy (definition not censored)
• Video essay on NLOGs
• More proof that Karen is hip with the kids yo on This is Adulting

Many thanks to our sponsors: 

• Taproot Edmonton and Speaking Artistically
• Unit B Coworking

That's a Thing?! is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.  

You can subscribe to us in all the places, and most of them let you rate and review, too, which would be lovely.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or tweet at us: @thatsathingyeg.

Many thanks to Transistor for hosting our show, to Unit B Coworking for use of their studio, and to Jon Spencer for editing the podcast. Our theme music is Ragtime Dance by Scott Joplin.

Here are links to the things we mentioned:

• Usually Jon talks about memes
• Lost Media Wiki
• r/lostmedia on Reddit
• Three reasons lost media is scary
  • Existential dread — stuff can just disappear, and not even be findable on Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine
  • Haunting nostalgia — goodbye weird games on DVD extras
  • The Zeigarnik effect 
• When the screensaver hit the corner on The Office
• Two case studies:
  • The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet
    • Sleuthing on Reddit
    • Stay tuned to the end of the episode for the whole song, if you dare....
  • Geedis
    • r/UnresolvedMysteries
    • r/Geedis
    • Geedis: An Internet Mystery For The Ages... Gets Solved! on Endless Thread 
• Elizabeth’s Inktober project on Instagram and Twitter
• Two lost media jack-o’-lanterns

Many thanks to our sponsors: 

• Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes at Telus World of Science Edmonton
• Rural Routes to Climate Solutions

That's a Thing?! is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.  

You can subscribe to us in all the places, and most of them let you rate and review, too, which would be lovely.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or tweet at us: @thatsathingyeg.

Many thanks to Transistor for hosting our show, to Unit B Coworking for use of their studio, and to Jon Spencer for editing work. Our theme music is Ragtime Dance by Scott Joplin.

Here are links to the things we mentioned:

• Storm Area 51 on Know Your Meme
• Naruto runner video
• What is a Kyle?
• What is a Karen?
• The Lies Behind Area 51
• #ThingsIFoundInArea51
• What is praxis?
• Alice Isn’t Dead
• Our episode on shady recruitment to MLMs and the like
• Exposing Instagram Scams
• Greta Thunberg
• 11 Young Climate Justice Activists You Need To Pay Attention To
• Edmonton Global Strike for Climate Action
• Young Alberta activists join global climate strikes
• Should we lower the voting age?
• YouTube video about “climate grief”
• Bothsidesism, aka false balance
• Michael Liebreich
• Elizabeth’s favourite protest signs

Many thanks to our sponsors: 

• AuthorPods and LitFest — Come see Karen interview Jana Pruden and Justin Ling on Oct. 5 at Metro Cinema at the True Crime Showdown (use APNROCKS19 to get $5 off) 
• ATB — Learn more about ATB X and Taproot Edmonton’s participation

That's a Thing?! is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.  

You can subscribe to us in all the places, and most of them let you rate and review, too, which would be lovely.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or tweet at us: @thatsathingyeg.

Many thanks to Transistor for hosting our show, to Unit B Coworking for use of their studio, and to Jon Spencer for editing work. Our theme music is Ragtime Dance by Scott Joplin.

Here are links to some of the things we mentioned:

• Defining MLM — multilevel marketing
• Defining pyramid scheme
• Notwithstanding Elizabeth’s joke, Girl Guides of Canada is good! Buy cookies.
• Vector Marketing, seller of Cutco products
• The history of Vector and Cutco
• The copy-paste recruitment text message 
• Stephen Notley’s 1992 piece on Kirby vacuum sales
• Hope! The antiMLM subreddit
• Mulan gets ready to defeat the huns
• Sasha Frere-Jones called Twitter “a self-cleaning oven” — he may have been a bit too optimistic
• Those weirdly specific Facebook shirts

Special thanks to Jon Spencer for editing this episode.

Many thanks to our sponsors: 

• Edmonton Community Foundation, which makes The Well Endowed Podcast. Episode 51 features contributions from Chris Chang-Yen Phillips and Hunter Cardinal.
• Taproot Edmonton, home of the Arts Roundup curated by Fawnda Mithrush and the Business Roundup curated by Paul Cashman, among other things.

That's a Thing?! is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.

You can subscribe to us in all the places, and most of them let you rate and review, too, which would be lovely. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or tweet at us: @thatsathingyeg.

Many thanks to our podcast host, Transistor, and to Unit B Coworking for use of their studio. Our theme music is Ragtime Dance by Scott Joplin.

As Jon points out in the episode, memes are a visual medium, so here are some references in case our descriptions leave something to be desired. (Also, we had some sound difficulties, which get a bit better after the seventh minute or so.)

• Karen is not a Boomer (but she did get the intro wrong)
• Meme 1: Me and the boys
  • Avengers variation
  • Lego variation
• ‘60s Spider-Man as a source of memes
• Spider-Man theme song
• Episode 17: Can CanCon continue?
• The Can Can
• Meme 2: Skyrim Skill Tree
• Meme 3: Drake reaction
  • Luigi variation
  • SpongeBob variations
• SpongeBob Super Bowl letdown
• Meme 4: GamerGirl Bath Water
  • Squidward variation
  • Me-flavored water
  • The hoax tweet

Many thanks to our sponsors: 

• ATB, particularly the Entrepreneur Centres
• Know Your Options from Alberta Health Services 

That's a Thing?! is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.  

You can subscribe to us in all the places, and most of them let you rate and review, too, which would be lovely.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or tweet at us: @thatsathingyeg.

Many thanks to our podcast host, Transistor, and to Unit B Coworking for use of their studio. Our theme music is Ragtime Dance by Scott Joplin.

Here’s more on what we mentioned during this Canada Day nostalgia-fest (most of these are Canadian but some are American things we mentioned in passing):

• What is Canadian content?
• One-hit wonders, like Snow
• CJYR Radio in Edson (which appears to have died in 2005)
• Anne Murray 
• Shania Twain
• Loverboy
• Burton Cummings
• The Poppy Family and Terry Jacks’s Seasons in the Sun
• Taproot article about the downtown market returning to 104th Street
• Bryan Adams 
• Corey Hart 
• Glass Tiger
• Drake
• Stan Rogers
• Gordon Lightfoot
• Leonard Cohen
• Video Hits
• Good Rockin’ Tonight
• Four O’Clock Rock
• MuchMusic
• Platinum Blonde
• Honeymoon Suite
• We might do a playlist. We’ll link it here if we do.
• Eugene Lee Yang’s music video 
• Earth by Lil Dicky
• Night Vale Weather
• The Littlest Hobo
• Wayne and Shuster / Bathtubs Over Broadway
• The Beachcombers 
• SCTV
• Schitt’s Creek
• Great White North / Bob and Doug Mackenzie 
• Mr. Dressup
• Under the Influence
• The Friendly Giant
• My Brother, My Brother and Me TV show
• Your Movie Sucks
• Murdoch Mysteries
• Invader Zim
• Danny Phantom
• Anne with an E
• Cadence Weapon
• Brook Lynn Hytes

Many thanks to our sponsors: 

• The Edmonton Community Foundation and The Well Endowed Podcast
• Park Power

That's a Thing?! is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.  

You can subscribe to us in all the places, and most of them let you rate and review, too, which would be lovely.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or tweet at us: @thatsathingyeg.

Many thanks to our podcast host, Transistor, and to Unit B Coworking for use of their studio. Our theme music is Ragtime Dance by Scott Joplin.

Here are some things we mentioned or drew from:

• Please fill out the Alberta Podcast Network listener survey
• We missed last month because of The Drowsy Chaperone
• That time when Arby’s tweeted about its waifu
• Fast food Twitter accounts sassing each other over and over
• Todd in the Shadows disapproves
• Technically, a corporation is like a person under the law, but they don’t need to act like it
• The whole Gritty thing
• Did the Oilers Win?
• The Starbucks influencer campaign with drag queens and beauty YouTubers
• That Fyre Festival doc
• We always end up talking about Jake Paul (Episode 2) and Logan Paul (Episode 3)
• Linda Hoang, a good influencer who adds a lot to the conversation on Don’t Call Me A Guru
• The James Charles situation 
• Kermit sipping tea meme
• hbomberguy on woke brands
• Nike did well with Colin Kaepernick ad but also faces backlash to policy for pregnant employees
• Pride Skittles
• Not-very-old things that Elizabeth sees nostalgia for:
  • SpongeBob SquarePants
  • Plants vs Zombies
  • Minecraft
  • Shrek
  • LazyTown
• The campaign to get Avengers: Endgame to beat Avatar at the box office
• The Evil Duolingo Owl meme
• The Starbucks cup in Game of Thrones
• The Blair Witch Project’s viral marketing
• Noted memester Elon Musk
• Philosophy Tube explains how Elon Musk appropriates counter-culture
• Sorry for the McDonald’s ear worm

Many thanks to our sponsors: 

• The Edmonton Public Library, provider of the Overdue Finds podcast and Kanopy
• Unit B Coworking, home base of the Alberta Podcast Network and Taproot Edmonton (which makes Speaking Municipally)

That's a Thing?! is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB. 

Remember to fill out the listener survey before June 17, 2019.

You can subscribe to us in all the places, and most of them let you rate and review, too, which would be lovely.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or tweet at us: @thatsathingyeg.

Many thanks to our podcast host, Transistor. Our theme music is Ragtime Dance by Scott Joplin.

Here’s more information on some of the things we mention:

• N.B. The excerpt from Poly Queer Love Ballad (18:05 to 22:15) is amazing, but also quite explicit, so be forewarned. Special thanks to Sara Vickruck and Anais West for performing the song and letting us include it in this recording. 
• SkirtsAfire Festival — fill out the survey if you were there!
• GSA = gay-straight alliance. QSA = queer-straight alliance. 
  • Definition 
  • Alberta’s law supporting gay-straight alliances in schools
• The ridiculous “I identify as an attack helicopter” meme
• Gender neutral third-person pronouns
• Some better examples of healthy relationship and world-building that include queerness:
  • Monster Pop by Maya Kern 
  • The Young Protectors by Alex Woolfson
  • Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques
• Definition of cancel culture
• The current GSA discussion in Alberta’s provincial election 
  • Edmonton Journal: UCP would roll back school protections for LGBTQ students, add new provincial exams
  • Edmonton Journal: Explainer: What the School Act and the Education Act say about LGBTQ student and employee rights
• CBC: St. Paul school principal refused to let students form GSA, report says
• A picture of our panel (thanks to Kate)
• Our panelists (from left to right in this picture, on either side of Elizabeth and Karen):
  • Sara Vickruck
  • Anais West
  • Marni Panas
  • Harley Morison
• Things mentioned by our panelists:
  • Nexopia
  • Yahoo! Groups
  • Is This Bi Culture? 
  • The Fosters
• Our panelists’ projects:
  • Harley: Alberta Queer Calendar Project
  • Anais:  Diaspora from the Frank Theatre Company, Killjoy Play Series at rEvolver Festival
  • Sara: Sound design for The Candidate/The Party at the Citadel, Bard on the Beach
  • Marni:  #marniandkate2019
  • Elizabeth: The Drowsy Chaperone at Ross Sheppard from May 1 to 4
• Also, this episode is being published on International Transgender Day of Visibility. Much love to Marni for all of her work, and salute to SkirtsAfire for naming her this year's Honorary Skirt. 

Many thanks to our sponsors: 

• The Edmonton Public Library’s Overdue Finds podcast
• The Let’s Do Coffee podcast from NAIT’s Mawji Centre for New Venture and Student Entrepreneurship

That's a Thing?! is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.  

Here’s a special offer for you from SeatGIANT, the Canadian ticket resale marketplace: Use the offer code “apn” at checkout to get 5% off your purchase. You’ll be helping yourself while helping the network.

You can subscribe to us in all the places, and most of them let you rate and review, too, which would be lovely.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or tweet at us: @thatsathingyeg.

Many thanks to Unit B Coworking for the recording space and to our podcast host, Transistor. Our theme music is Ragtime Dance by Scott Joplin.

Here are some of the things we talk about:

• Ahrefs top YouTube searches
• What is a Let’s Play?
• Our indie video games episode
• Our Fortnite episode
• How Minecraft broke YouTube
• The trinity: Markiplier, Jacksepticeye and PewDiePie
• Our memes episode, which mentions Markiplier E
• SocialBlade’s YouTube stats
• Catalyst Theatre’s Vigilante
• On the Media: The Global Culture War for YouTube Supremacy
• Game Theory by Matpat
• Freaky Friday: the original and the remake
• Riley J. Dennis 

Many thanks to our sponsors: 

• ATB’s The Branch for Arts and Culture, where you can find Ben Spencer (listen to his new album, Bungalows!)
• The Edmonton Community Foundation, home of The Well Endowed Podcast, including Episode 38 with friend of the show Paula Simons.

We’re doing a live show! Join us March 17 for That’s a Thing?! Live: The Internet is My GSA at SkirtsAfire, a festival featuring women in theatre and multidisciplinary arts. We’ll start with a discussion of the internet as a place for LGTBQ+ youth to find themselves and each other, and then we’ll have a panel discussion with Sara Vickruck and Anais West of Poly Queer Love Ballad, Harley Morison of Cardiac Theatre, and the festival’s 2019 Honorary Skirt, Marni Panas. 

A special offer for you from SeatGIANT, the Canadian ticket resale marketplace: Use the offer code “apn” at checkout to get 5% off your purchase. You’ll be helping yourself while helping the network.

That's a Thing?! is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.  

You can subscribe to us in all the places, and most of them let you rate and review, too, which would be lovely.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or tweet at us: @thatsathingyeg.

Many thanks to Unit B Coworking for the recording space and to our podcast host, Transistor.

Our theme music is Ragtime Dance by Scott Joplin.

Here are some of the things we talk about:

(N.B. We recorded part of this in 2018, part of it in 2019, so there are a few references to “this year” that may be slightly confusing. What is time, anyway?)

• TikTok
• What I’m already Tracer means
• What Hit or Miss means
• History of Musical.ly
• History of Vine
• Find some funny Tik Toks on Ironic Tik Toks Twitter account
• Find some cringe-y Tik Toks on Dankius on YouTube
• The Great Furry War
• How TikTok makes money, sort of
• What Sprite Cranberry means
• Tumblr banned adult content on Dec. 17, 2018

Many thanks to our sponsors: 

• Park Power, your local-loving provider of electricity and natural gas
• The Edmonton Community Foundation, home of The Well Endowed Podcast

Elizabeth’s brother Jon, who you may remember from Episode 8, returns talk about some memes of 2018, most of which are over by now, but still...

• T-Pose
• Somebody Toucha My Spaghet
• People Who Thank the Bus Driver
• Surprised Pikachu
• Steamed Hams

We’re finalists in the Canadian Podcast Awards in the Kids and Family category. Thanks to whoever nominated us. If you are a Canadian podcaster, you can vote until Feb. 18. Congrats to all of the nominees, especially our fellow APN members who were also nominated. 

Here's a special offer for you from SeatGIANT, the Canadian ticket resale marketplace: Use the offer code “apn” at checkout to get 5% off your purchase. You’ll be helping yourself while helping the network.

That's a Thing?! is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.  

You can subscribe to us in all the places, and most of them let you rate and review, too, which would be lovely.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or tweet at us: @thatsathingyeg.

Many thanks to Unit B Coworking for the recording space and to our podcast host, Transistor.

Our theme music is Ragtime Dance by Scott Joplin.