Episodes
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The early days of YouTube were for home movies, cat videos, and short vlogs. But in the summer of 2006, something emerged from Wisconsin that would change our perception of what Internet video was capable of. “Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager” tells the classic story of Darth Vader’s younger brother, who commands a middle-management job at the local grocery store, rather than a Death Star.
But “Chad” was more than just a hilarious Star Wars parody. It had the production values of a fully-fledged sitcom: Multiple actors and plot lines, costumes, sets, a musical score, sharp writing, and legit cinematography. The Internet — and YouTube corporate — took notice.
Before “Like & Subscribe” was a thing, YouTube featured Chad Vader on its homepage, which reached millions of eyeballs and generated serious heat around the series. Fans began demanding new episodes, and YouTube realized the new potential of its platform. It was starting to shift from a novelty site, to a loyalty destination.
Chad is the brainchild of Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan, improv comedians from Madison, Wisconsin, who had been making sketch comedy videos for public access TV and film festivals. After Chad Vader was canceled by Channel 101 and ignored by the Los Angeles establishment, they decided to check out this whole “YouTube thing.” The success of the series (and other emerging creators) prompted YouTube to roll out its advertising partner program. Yonda and Sloan’s channel, Blame Society Films, became one of the first ever to monetize. Chad’s popularity lead to brand partnerships, contract work, and collaborations. But despite its huge success and even an award from George Lucas himself, Hollywood never figured out how to translate a Star Wars parody sitcom to traditional TV.
This week on INFLUENCE, Aaron and Matt chat with the Other Matt about their origin story, the evolution of their audience, the “lunacy” of Internet comments, why YouTube sketch comedy is dying out, voicing the REAL Darth Vader for TV and video games, and the long-running series their fans love and support today.
Subscribe to Blame Society Films: https://www.youtube.com/@blamesocietyfilms
Beer and Board Games: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL49WgzlbhrT0kCIoZQukx-xbwFjSQhYFQ
Game Society Pimps: https://www.youtube.com/@GameSocietyPimps
Junkyard Joust: https://www.youtube.com/@JunkyardJoust
Welcome to the Basement: http://welcometothebasementshow.com/
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Chelsea Laufer went to a prestigious film school. She got a job in TV production, and then in animation. But it wasn't until she uploaded her *own* creations to the Internet that her life turned magical.
Chelsea VFX makes inspired, short-form digital magic tricks where she disappears into hula hoops, takes a dip in her own cup of coffee, and changes the color of her sweater with a snap. Her visual effects skills rival Hollywood movies, and her flair for short-form surprises racked up millions of followers and (likely) 1 billion views. Her motto is, "If you can think of it, you can make it happen" — at least in the world of digital manipulation. But when her fans tell her she should work for Marvel or Disney, she has one huge reason she prefers to create for the Internet.
This week, Chelsea shares her rules for magical short-form storytelling, why she's the worst person to watch a movie with, and the fascinating tale of her most-viewed video which went INCREDIBLY viral (500 million views!) for all the wrong reasons.
Plus: Trivia is BACK!
Follow Chelsea IMMEDIATELY:
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🎵 https://www.tiktok.com/@queenchelsea
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When I was coming up in media and learning about online video around 2010-2011, Craig Benzine (known to the Internet as @wheezywaiter ) was a big inspiration. His videos were so absurd, so fast, and so funny. I felt like he was speaking to a new kind of audience. "YouTuber" was starting to become a job, and being ridiculous on the Internet could pay the rent. Loyal subscribers and conversations from the comments section were the gold standard.
But as YouTube became more algorithmic, Craig's channel started to stagnate. His core audience was remained, but the growth had stopped. He felt completely stuck, for about 5 years. Then, in 2018, he made a radical change to his content that doubled his audience — from 500,000 to 1 million subs — in just a year.
I'm thrilled to talk to Craig about making Internet videos for 16+ years(!), and what drove him to "make a movie every day." We discuss how YouTube editing became a unique artform, why getting 30 views and 1 comment from an online stranger was the best feeling in the world, the years he toiled in obscurity before the Internet finally took notice, and the re-invention of his channel.
Plus: Your voicemail!
Subscribe to WheezyWaiter on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wheezywaiter/
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The mysterious Jack Rhysider talks to hackers, cyber criminals, bank robbers, crypto scammers, (real!) spies, CIA agents, and penetration testers. Because his job sends him to the darkest corners of the Internet, his true identity is not known. But that never stops him from sharing how his extraordinary podcast - Darknet Diaries - comes together. From the kernel of an idea, to sweeping stories full of twists and turns, his true crime episodes started with the InfoSec crowd, and quickly gained mass appeal. Jack joins Matt to discuss his obsession with security and privacy, his journey from IT to blogging to podcasting, how he learned from the world's best audio storytellers, the moment he knew people really loved his show, why he loves to make things that are not sustainable, and the possibility of a new podcast in the works.
Check out Darknet Diaries (True stories from the dark side of the Internet): https://darknetdiaries.com/
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Watch & subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InfluencePodcast
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Oh hey there! Matt here. It's been a minute, but if you're subscribed to this feed, I have a big update for you. 2G1P is now INFLUENCE, and I'm very excited (and nervous!) to be taking the reigns of a show we are so proud of. All the details you need to know are in this ep, and down below. I hope you'll join me for this next chapter!
Help me reach 1,000 subscribers (even if you don't listen on YouTube!): https://www.youtube.com/@InfluencePodcast
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Join our amazing Discord community: discord.gg/influencepod
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-Show Description-
What does it really take to make a living (and an impact) on the Internet today?
Join Matt Silverman (who has been covering online culture for 15+ years) in conversation with YouTubers, musicians, podcasters, streamers, journalists, TikTokers and more about turning creativity into a job, building community on ever-changing platforms, and their complex relationships with huge online audiences.
INFLUENCE is the relaunch of 2 GIRLS 1 PODCAST, a weekly comedy/interview show about fascinating online communities, which ran for 7 years and nearly 300 episodes.
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Happy new year! We wanted to share an update about some truly unexpected circumstances, and explain that the show (and all Patreon contributions) will be paused while we figure things out.
We hope you'll still hang with us on Discord, and please get in touch if you have any questions:
discord.gg/2g1p
[email protected]
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This week we're joined by an EXTREMELY special guest. You might even say ... it's a Christmas miracle.
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Academic researchers have typically kept to universities and book publishing. But as the Web was maturing in the mid 2000s, blogs and social media accounts devoted to history attracted significant audiences. It turns out lots of people (besides professors) wanted to learn about stuff like: The Middle Ages.
Danièle Cybulskie (known as the "5 Minute Medievalist" online) is an author and historian who began pulling medieval research out of the library and onto the Web, much to the chagrin of the academic world. But she was clearly ahead of her time. These days, her mission to make medieval studies more accessible has turned into a fulltime online career. Her show "The Medieval Podcast" is a favorite of esteemed professors and long-haul truckers alike — anyone who loves knights and castles and wants to learn more about what life was really like between 500 and 1,000 CE.
Alli and Lindsey speak with Danièle about how she got interested in Medieval studies, the online community that has formed around it, and why we are still so obsessed with chivalry, lords, and peasants across every form of media.
Follow Danièle: https://twitter.com/5minmedievalist
And check out The Medieval Podcast: https://www.medievalists.net/category/podcast/
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Alli is away being a lady businessman, so Lindsey and Matt discuss why "Deep Space 9" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" were WAY ahead of their time, a Christmas dive bar in Seattle, and which Christmas movies are the best.
We want to hear your opinions, so call the hotline, email us, or let us know in the Discord!
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"The Golden Girls" is a network sitcom anomaly. The hit NBC show about four single, senior women ran from 1985 to 1992, and was extremely progressive for its time. The power of reruns (and pandemic-era binge streaming) has kept it culturally relevant, and a devoted online fandom has blossomed around its beloved cast. Facebook Groups, YouTube channels, merch, and IRL conventions are powered by hilarious quotes, cosplay, drag shows, and critical analysis of what made the show so special.
This week, Alli and Lindsey speak with Courtney Antonioli, the creator and host of "Stay Golden," a YouTube channel at the heart of this fascinating fandom. They discuss how the show is being passed down to the "TikTok generation" (often via mothers and grandmothers), whether or not it still holds up today, and the meme-fueled controversies that spring up in online discourse.
Check out Courtney's "Stay Golden" YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@StayGoldenGirls
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We gear up for Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving, and look ahead to the chillest, most do-nothing day of all: Christmas Eve if you're Jewish.
Also, where are all the Thanksgiving songs, and could we write a hit and become instant millionaires? We also ponder whether former 2G1P co-host Jen really listens to the show every week...
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President Joe Biden recently issued an executive order that attempts to put standards and guardrails on how AI should be used, specifically when it comes to government agencies (law enforcement, housing, etc.). It comes at a time when algorithmic and generative technologies show increasing bias and harm, while congress seems ineffective at regulating ... anything.
So, what even IS an executive order? Will it be effective without legislative power behind it? And how might these new guardrails affect the private sector, especially the tech and Internet companies that determine so much of what we do online?
Alli and Lindsey speak with Jon Keegan, an investigative data journalist at the non-profit technology news site The Markup. Jon breaks down the ramifications of an executive order, why the Biden administration took this kind of action, where it might inform the direction of AI, and why it's still lacking without broader bi-partisan urgency.
Read Jon and his colleagues' breakdown of the order on The Markup: https://themarkup.org/news/2023/11/01/the-problems-bidens-ai-order-must-address
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Alli proposes a test for social media users to determine if they are qualified to post about politics online, and Lindsey explains an unhinged British reality dating show that's mostly just shots of people's genitals.
Also, a Halloween costume recap and Thanksgiving plans.
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Like many of us, Hipyo was bored and laid off during the pandemic. When he needed to find a better keyboard to play PC games, he uncovered a rabbit hole of key cap enthusiasts, mostly on Discord and Reddit. With a bit of research into what people wanted from "keyboard content," he started a YouTube channel. Three years (and more than 500 videos) later, his reviews, modifications, and DIY challenges have garnered millions of views and a thriving community of keyboard fanatics in search of the perfect "click," "thoc," or no sound at all.
Alli and Lindsey talk with Hipyo about the sudden growth of keyboard mod culture, and how he fell into a gaggle of prolific creators who push the limits of what PC keyboards can look, feel, and sound like.
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Alli shares some news about her live show format and Lindsey updates us on her dating life. Also, a big eureka! moment, the disappointment of Ryan Lochte, and gearing up for spoopy season in our Discord! Also, Elon Musk is still a dum dum!
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Large language models like ChatGPT owe their success to open knowledge platforms like Wikipedia. So, are they as "smart" as human Wikipedia editors? In many ways, they're even smarter, and orders of magnitude faster at writing clear, concise articles about straightforward facts. But as usual, the devil is in the details. Providing context around certain "facts," and arriving at a consensus about sources and notability still falls in the human domain — especially when ChatGPT is prone to "hallucinating" details it can't verify.
Alli and Lindsey welcome Bill Beutler back to 2G1P. Bill is the founder and president of Beutler Ink, a digital agency with a focus on Wikipedia. They're also joined by Danny Adler, a Wikipedia strategy manager at Beutler Ink. They've been steeped in Wiki culture (and how to resolve conflicts of interest) for years, and discuss how to create reliable and accessible knowledge in the age of AI. They share their own eye-opening ChatGPT experiment, how Wikipedia editors are (cautiously) employing AI to co-write articles, and what happens when AI starts learning from itself, rather than from human knowledge bases.
2 GIRLS 1 PODCAST is an independent production made possible through listener support. Find a tier that's right for you at https://www.patreon.com/2G1P
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Since there's definitely nothing important going on in the world this week, we talk about Halloween costumes, learning sine and cosine in high school, evolutionary psychology, how to end a bad date, and...probably other things?
If you're in NYC this week, you can get tickets to Lindsey's show here: https://www.frigid.nyc/event/6897:544/
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What makes something notable? What kind of sources are needed for a thing to have a Wikipedia article about it? These philosophical issues are discussed by volunteer Wikipedia editors constantly to ensure that the non-profit encyclopedia is accurate and relevant.
But a community of self-described "Road Geeks" has been at odds with Wikipedia's standards for some time. They're on a mission to catalog every road in North America, but other Wiki editors claim that this content is too granular, or has no secondary (journalistic) sources. But why would these sources exist when roads just...exist? And when should primary research — looking at a map, or even out your own window! — be considered for inclusion in the world's largest knowledge base?
Tired of having their road articles deleted or modified, the Road Geeks have now "seceded" from Wikipedia to create their own Wiki on a sympathetic site called AARoads. While this may seem like a bunch of semantic nerds fighting on the Internet, it actually has fascinating implications for who gets to decide what is important, and what Wikipedia is supposed to be.
Alli and Lindsey talk with Ben, a longtime Wikipedia editor and road enthusiast who is part of the movement to carve out a home for the historical and cultural value of road knowledge online. You can find the new wiki here: https://wiki.aaroads.com/
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Alli is spending time in the "real world" with her live show, so Lindsey and Matt catch up on her recent thrifting adventures in Portland (Oregon), watching weird birds go down a chimney, spoopy kids' books, unhinged NYC weather, and conclusive evidence of the best TV theme song ever written.
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At the University of Alabama, rushing for a sorority has become a cottage industry, thanks to social media. Centering on "blindingly White" college students and their influencer aspirations. "RushTok" is now a cultural phenomenon, complete with management deals, style consultants, and a massive audience of Internet onlookers who are seriously invested in whether these girls get into the house of their choice. In a way, it has become an influencer-led "reality show," distributed across the Internet, where audience perception (rather than a TV producer) decides the heroes and villains. Bama Rush fans even refer to the content as "seasons."
Alli and Lindsey talk with journalist Fortesa Latifi, who covered the phenomenon for Teen Vogue. She discusses why the trend has enraptured millions, and the problematic institutions it unwittingly perpetuates. She also explains why interviewing some of the Internet's favorite rushers lead to an unhinged backlash from the fandom.
Read Fortesa's piece here: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/bama-rush-tiktok-is-getting-more-relatable
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