When you think of rapper Afroman, chances are his early 2000s hit song "Because I Got High" is already playing in your mind. More than two decades later, his music has once again broken containment. Host Ben Brock Johnson and Producer Grace Tatter dig into how Afroman turned a police raid and defamation trial into another moment of internet virality.

Show notes:
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Chsg3JDjw_m/">Afroman surveillance footage</a> (Instagram)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckg2RKDO1bm/">"These lemon poundcake shirts are going fast !!!"</a>(Instagram)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POc4RSevoVQ&t=951s">Cop Says Afroman's False 'Pedophile' Claim Caused Him To Quit Sheriff's Office</a> (YouTube)</li>
</ul>
Credits: This episode was produced by Grace Tatter and Kalyani Saxena, and co-hosted by Grace Tatter and Ben Brock Johnson. It was edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.


<hr />

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<description>&lt;p&gt;When you think of rapper Afroman, chances are his early 2000s hit song "Because I Got High" is already playing in your mind. More than two decades later, his music has once again broken containment. Host Ben Brock Johnson and Producer Grace Tatter dig into how Afroman turned a police raid and defamation trial into another moment of internet virality.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Show notes:&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Chsg3JDjw_m/"&gt;Afroman surveillance footage&lt;/a&gt; (Instagram)&lt;/li&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckg2RKDO1bm/"&gt;"These lemon poundcake shirts are going fast !!!"&lt;/a&gt;(Instagram)&lt;/li&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POc4RSevoVQ&amp;t=951s"&gt;Cop Says Afroman's False 'Pedophile' Claim Caused Him To Quit Sheriff's Office&lt;/a&gt; (YouTube)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Credits: This episode was produced by Grace Tatter and Kalyani Saxena, and co-hosted by Grace Tatter and Ben Brock Johnson. It was edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Sponsor message:
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Afroman made his name in the early 2000s with the hit song  "Because I Got High." More than two decades later, he's having another break out moment. Host Ben Brock Johnson and Producer Grace Tatter dig into how Afroman turned a police raid and defamation trial into internet virality.

When you think of rapper Afroman, chances are his early 2000s hit song "Because I Got High" is already playing in your mind. More than two decades later, his music has once again broken containment. Host Ben Brock Johnson and Producer Grace Tatter dig into how Afroman turned a police raid and defamation trial into another moment of internet virality.

Show notes:
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Chsg3JDjw_m/">Afroman surveillance footage</a> (Instagram)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckg2RKDO1bm/">"These lemon poundcake shirts are going fast !!!"</a>(Instagram)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POc4RSevoVQ&t=951s">Cop Says Afroman's False 'Pedophile' Claim Caused Him To Quit Sheriff's Office</a> (YouTube)</li>
</ul>
Credits: This episode was produced by Grace Tatter and Kalyani Saxena, and co-hosted by Grace Tatter and Ben Brock Johnson. It was edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.


<hr />

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How Afroman turned lemons into lemon pound cake

In this throwback from the Endless Thread archives, hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson revisit an episode from 2024.
In 2022, a <a class="elr" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@engineer.everything?lang=en">TikTok creator</a> who identifies herself as "Kala" began digging. What followed was an increasingly viral series of TikToks chronicling the efforts of Kala, who some on the internet dubbed "Tunnel Girl," as she excavated and constructed a tunnel system under her suburban home. Her more than half-million followers watched and weighed in with support, suggestions and, at times, concern. That is, until a stop-work order halted the project in its tracks.
Two years later, we have some updates on the story.

This episode was originally published on February 02, 2024. It was produced by Katelyn Harrop and co-hosted by Katelyn Harrop, Ben Brock Johnson, and Amory Sivertson. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski.


<hr />

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<description>&lt;p&gt;In this throwback from the &lt;em&gt;Endless Thread&lt;/em&gt; archives, hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson revisit an episode from 2024.
&lt;p class=""&gt;In 2022, a &lt;a class="elr" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@engineer.everything?lang=en"&gt;TikTok creator&lt;/a&gt; who identifies herself as "Kala" began digging. What followed was an increasingly viral series of TikToks chronicling the efforts of Kala, who some on the internet dubbed "Tunnel Girl," as she excavated and constructed a tunnel system under her suburban home. Her more than half-million followers watched and weighed in with support, suggestions and, at times, concern. That is, until a stop-work order halted the project in its tracks.&lt;/p&gt;
Two years later, we have some updates on the story.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This episode was originally published on February 02, 2024. It was produced by Katelyn Harrop and co-hosted by Katelyn Harrop, Ben Brock Johnson, and Amory Sivertson. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski.
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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A TikTok creator known as "tunnel girl" online excavated and constructed a tunnel system under her suburban home in 2024.
Two years later, we have some updates on the story.

In this throwback from the Endless Thread archives, hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson revisit an episode from 2024.
In 2022, a <a class="elr" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@engineer.everything?lang=en">TikTok creator</a> who identifies herself as "Kala" began digging. What followed was an increasingly viral series of TikToks chronicling the efforts of Kala, who some on the internet dubbed "Tunnel Girl," as she excavated and constructed a tunnel system under her suburban home. Her more than half-million followers watched and weighed in with support, suggestions and, at times, concern. That is, until a stop-work order halted the project in its tracks.
Two years later, we have some updates on the story.

This episode was originally published on February 02, 2024. It was produced by Katelyn Harrop and co-hosted by Katelyn Harrop, Ben Brock Johnson, and Amory Sivertson. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski.


<hr />

Sponsor message:
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Rewind: Digging Deep with TikTok's "tunnel girl"

Warning: This episode contains multitudes! Hosts Ben and Amory explore how viral clips of DOGE staffers' video depositions found a new life online after a judge temporarily ordered them removed. They also dabble in a Reddit thought exercise with a potentially dubious origin

Show notes:
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpbGF7l-t2w">DOGE staffer who flagged grants for 'DEI' struggles to define the term</a> (The Independent)</li>
 	<li><a href="http://LPT: I started pretending my life is a TV show and it made me more productive">LPT: I started pretending my life is a TV show and it made me more productive</a> (Reddit)</li>
</ul>
Credits: This episode was produced by Kalyani Saxena and hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson. It was edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.


<hr />


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<description>&lt;p&gt;Warning: This episode contains multitudes! Hosts Ben and Amory explore how viral clips of DOGE staffers' video depositions found a new life online after a judge temporarily ordered them removed. They also dabble in a Reddit thought exercise with a potentially dubious origin&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Show notes:&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpbGF7l-t2w"&gt;DOGE staffer who flagged grants for 'DEI' struggles to define the term&lt;/a&gt; (The Independent)&lt;/li&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://LPT: I started pretending my life is a TV show and it made me more productive"&gt;LPT: I started pretending my life is a TV show and it made me more productive&lt;/a&gt; (Reddit)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Credits: This episode was produced by Kalyani Saxena and hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson. It was edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;Sponsor message:
&lt;div role="presentation"&gt;&lt;b&gt;INCOGNI: &lt;/b&gt;Take back your personal data with Incogni! Use code ENDLESS at the link below and get 60% off annual plans: &lt;a id="OWAffcb9045-7700-659d-2d09-9c21366bf712" title="https://incogni.com/ENDLESS" href="https://incogni.com/ENDLESS" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-linkindex="0" data-auth="NotApplicable"&gt;https://incogni.com/ENDLESS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Hosts Ben and Amory explore how viral clips of DOGE staffers' video depositions found a new life online after a judge temporarily ordered them removed. They also dabble in a Reddit thought exercise with a potentially dubious origin.

Warning: This episode contains multitudes! Hosts Ben and Amory explore how viral clips of DOGE staffers' video depositions found a new life online after a judge temporarily ordered them removed. They also dabble in a Reddit thought exercise with a potentially dubious origin

Show notes:
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpbGF7l-t2w">DOGE staffer who flagged grants for 'DEI' struggles to define the term</a> (The Independent)</li>
 	<li><a href="http://LPT: I started pretending my life is a TV show and it made me more productive">LPT: I started pretending my life is a TV show and it made me more productive</a> (Reddit)</li>
</ul>
Credits: This episode was produced by Kalyani Saxena and hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson. It was edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.


<hr />


Sponsor message:
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Beautiful, Terrible Internet

Maybe you can't judge books by their covers. But can you judge people by their books? Reddit's bookshelf detectives say yes. Producer Kalyani Saxena guides hosts Ben and Amory through the stacks and offers a picture of her own bookshelf to the Reddit detectives as tribute.
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/">r/BookshelvesDetective</a> (Reddit)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/comments/1r6dzki/started_seeing_this_guy_what_does_it_say_about_him/">Started seeing this guy. What does it say about him??</a></li>
 	<li>(r/BookshelvesDetective)<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/comments/1rburkv/what_do_my_wifes_bookshelves_say_about_her/">What do my wife's bookshelves say about her?</a> (r/BookshelvesDetective)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/comments/1r7bb4r/whats_his_bookshelf_say_about_him/">What’s his bookshelf say about him?</a> (r/BookshelvesDetective)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/EndlessThread/comments/1ry23w0/snoop_our_bookshelves/">Snoop our bookshelves!</a> (r/EndlessThread)</li>
</ul>
This episode was produced by Kalyani Saxena and Grace Tatter. It was co-hosted by Kalyani Saxena, Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.

***

Sponsor message:
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<description>&lt;p&gt;Maybe you can't judge books by their covers. But can you judge people by their books? Reddit's bookshelf detectives say yes. Producer Kalyani Saxena guides hosts Ben and Amory through the stacks and offers a picture of her own bookshelf to the Reddit detectives as tribute.
&lt;ul&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/"&gt;r/BookshelvesDetective&lt;/a&gt; (Reddit)&lt;/li&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/comments/1r6dzki/started_seeing_this_guy_what_does_it_say_about_him/"&gt;Started seeing this guy. What does it say about him??&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;(r/BookshelvesDetective)&lt;a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/comments/1rburkv/what_do_my_wifes_bookshelves_say_about_her/"&gt;What do my wife's bookshelves say about her?&lt;/a&gt; (r/BookshelvesDetective)&lt;/li&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/comments/1r7bb4r/whats_his_bookshelf_say_about_him/"&gt;What’s his bookshelf say about him?&lt;/a&gt; (r/BookshelvesDetective)&lt;/li&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/EndlessThread/comments/1ry23w0/snoop_our_bookshelves/"&gt;Snoop our bookshelves!&lt;/a&gt; (r/EndlessThread)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;em&gt;This episode was produced by Kalyani Saxena and Grace Tatter. It was co-hosted by Kalyani Saxena, Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;***&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Sponsor message:
&lt;div role="presentation"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i data-olk-copy-source="MessageBody"&gt;INCOGNI: &lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Take back your personal data with Incogni! Use code ENDLESS at the link below and get 60% off annual plans: &lt;a id="OWAffcb9045-7700-659d-2d09-9c21366bf712" title="https://incogni.com/ENDLESS" href="https://incogni.com/ENDLESS" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-linkindex="0" data-auth="NotApplicable"&gt;https://incogni.com/ENDLESS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Maybe you can't judge books by their covers. But can you judge people by their books? Reddit's bookshelf detectives say yes. Producer Kalyani Saxena guides hosts Ben and Amory through the stacks and offers a picture of her own bookshelf to the Reddit detectives as tribute.

Maybe you can't judge books by their covers. But can you judge people by their books? Reddit's bookshelf detectives say yes. Producer Kalyani Saxena guides hosts Ben and Amory through the stacks and offers a picture of her own bookshelf to the Reddit detectives as tribute.
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/">r/BookshelvesDetective</a> (Reddit)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/comments/1r6dzki/started_seeing_this_guy_what_does_it_say_about_him/">Started seeing this guy. What does it say about him??</a></li>
 	<li>(r/BookshelvesDetective)<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/comments/1rburkv/what_do_my_wifes_bookshelves_say_about_her/">What do my wife's bookshelves say about her?</a> (r/BookshelvesDetective)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BookshelvesDetective/comments/1r7bb4r/whats_his_bookshelf_say_about_him/">What’s his bookshelf say about him?</a> (r/BookshelvesDetective)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/EndlessThread/comments/1ry23w0/snoop_our_bookshelves/">Snoop our bookshelves!</a> (r/EndlessThread)</li>
</ul>
This episode was produced by Kalyani Saxena and Grace Tatter. It was co-hosted by Kalyani Saxena, Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Marquis Neal.

***

Sponsor message:
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Sexy spines or literary red flags?

A woman sitting blissfully on a vibrating laundromat dryer. A faked pregnancy test to dump a bad boyfriend. In 2019, the internet was abuzz about bizarre ads for a mobile game called Lily's Garden. The ads were only about 15 seconds each, but they evoked a whole universe of drama amongst a cast of zany characters that inspired countless YouTube videos and copious internet chatter.

The thing is... the story in the ads had almost nothing to do with the story in the game. In this episode of Endless Thread: creative differences, the wilderness of mobile games, and where the Lily's Garden game-world and the ad-world diverged.

Show notes:
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lilys-garden-design-relax/id1363727973">Lily's Garden on the App Store</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tactile.lilysgarden">Lily's Garden on Google Play</a></li>
 	<li>"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS3A6FQzEuQ">I hate Lily's Garden and her teeth</a>" (PewDiePie, YouTube)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.pocketgamer.biz/how-tactile-games-made-marketing-and-diversity-core-to-lilys-gardens-500-million-success/">How Tactile Games made marketing and diversity core to Lily’s Garden’s $500 million success</a> (Pocket Gamer)</li>
</ul>
This episode was produced and written by Grace Tatter, co-hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus. Special thanks to our 2025 Bloomberg Arts Intern Cendy Charles. 

***

Sponsor message:
<div role="presentation">INCOGNI: Take back your personal data with Incogni! Use code ENDLESS at the link below and get 60% off annual plans: <a id="OWAffcb9045-7700-659d-2d09-9c21366bf712" title="https://incogni.com/ENDLESS" href="https://incogni.com/ENDLESS" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-linkindex="0" data-auth="NotApplicable">https://incogni.com/ENDLESS</a></div>

<description>&lt;p&gt;A woman sitting blissfully on a vibrating laundromat dryer. A faked pregnancy test to dump a bad boyfriend. In 2019, the internet was abuzz about bizarre ads for a mobile game called Lily's Garden. The ads were only about 15 seconds each, but they evoked a whole universe of drama amongst a cast of zany characters that inspired countless YouTube videos and copious internet chatter.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The thing is... the story in the ads had almost nothing to do with the story in the game. In this episode of &lt;em&gt;Endless Thread&lt;/em&gt;: creative differences, the wilderness of mobile games, and where the Lily's Garden game-world and the ad-world diverged.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Show notes:&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lilys-garden-design-relax/id1363727973"&gt;Lily's Garden on the App Store&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tactile.lilysgarden"&gt;Lily's Garden on Google Play&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;"&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS3A6FQzEuQ"&gt;I hate Lily's Garden and her teeth&lt;/a&gt;" (PewDiePie, YouTube)&lt;/li&gt;
 	&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.pocketgamer.biz/how-tactile-games-made-marketing-and-diversity-core-to-lilys-gardens-500-million-success/"&gt;How Tactile Games made marketing and diversity core to Lily’s Garden’s $500 million success&lt;/a&gt; (Pocket Gamer)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;em&gt;This episode was produced and written by Grace Tatter, co-hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus. Special thanks to our 2025 Bloomberg Arts Intern Cendy Charles. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;***&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sponsor message:&lt;/strong&gt;
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In 2019, the internet was abuzz about bizarre ads for a mobile game called Lily's Garden. The ads were only about 15 seconds each, but they evoked a whole universe of drama amongst a cast of zany characters that inspired countless YouTube videos and copious internet chatter.

A woman sitting blissfully on a vibrating laundromat dryer. A faked pregnancy test to dump a bad boyfriend. In 2019, the internet was abuzz about bizarre ads for a mobile game called Lily's Garden. The ads were only about 15 seconds each, but they evoked a whole universe of drama amongst a cast of zany characters that inspired countless YouTube videos and copious internet chatter.

The thing is... the story in the ads had almost nothing to do with the story in the game. In this episode of Endless Thread: creative differences, the wilderness of mobile games, and where the Lily's Garden game-world and the ad-world diverged.

Show notes:
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lilys-garden-design-relax/id1363727973">Lily's Garden on the App Store</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tactile.lilysgarden">Lily's Garden on Google Play</a></li>
 	<li>"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS3A6FQzEuQ">I hate Lily's Garden and her teeth</a>" (PewDiePie, YouTube)</li>
 	<li><a href="https://www.pocketgamer.biz/how-tactile-games-made-marketing-and-diversity-core-to-lilys-gardens-500-million-success/">How Tactile Games made marketing and diversity core to Lily’s Garden’s $500 million success</a> (Pocket Gamer)</li>
</ul>
This episode was produced and written by Grace Tatter, co-hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus. Special thanks to our 2025 Bloomberg Arts Intern Cendy Charles. 

***

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Digging Up Lily's Garden

Untold histories, unsolved mysteries, and other jaw-dropping stories online and IRL. Hosted by Ben Brock Johnson & Amory Sivertson.

Endless Thread

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