Vaguebooking

The time has come to finally discuss SomethingAwful, the notorious forum that changed the internet forever. WARNING: This episode includes an extreme story about mental illness, listen with caution. Dale Beran's "It Came From Something Awful": https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250189745/it-came-from-something-awful Music from this episode by Ruth Dancing: https://ruthdancing.bandcamp.com/album/let-the-cold-light-of-love-back-into-your-heart

We interview Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil, creators of the wonderful documentary series "Preserving Worlds" about their efforts documenting online gaming communities that have found ways to thrive beyond their creator's intentions. Watch Preserving Worlds here: https://means.tv/programs/preservingworlds Our website: vaguebooking.net Our email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

We sat down with Tom Sexton of the Trillbily Worker's Party to talk about how bizarre it was for the internet to rapidly integrate into our lives. Check out Trillbillies here: https://soundcloud.com/user-972848621-463073718 Our website: vaguebooking.net Our email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

In this double-stuffed episode, we talked to Financial Guru Gregg Gethard about the Dotcom Bubble, the various ways early internet companies were always doomed to fail, and how their impact echoes through the too big to fail tech giants of today. Links to our sources can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pets.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberian_Outpost https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooz.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixelon https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/rx-for-trouble/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfodESl2Dww https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sICSyC9u5iI Our website: vaguebooking.net Our email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

We were so pleased to get the chance to talk to John Cullen from the excellent podcast Blocked Party! A very lively discussion of what makes people post the way they post, how the internet economy works, and some of the worst things John has been subjected to for the entertainment of his audience. Check out Blocked Party here: https://blockedparty.libsyn.com/ Follow John: @cullenthecomic Our website: vaguebooking.net Our email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

This week we take on you on a journey into the wild west of .txt files. We want to thank our friends Pat, Rob, Austin, Z Kelly, Heaven, Shawn, Caleb, and Three Raccoons in a trench coat for lending their voices to make this episode happen! Our website: vaguebooking.net Our email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

This week we talk all things warez, the evolving system of game piracy that impacted a lot of hacking culture as a whole. We also talk a good bit about the graffiti-adjacent art style that developed within the warez community. You can find more from Brenden Becker AKA InversePhase in his 2018 presentation at Hackers on Planet Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpu5IxLIPR8 The Lost Art of Warez by Kevin Bouton-Scott: https://vimeo.com/341663153 Our website: vaguebooking.net Our email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

We talk to author Ander Monson about his previous life as a teenage boarding school hacker, and the perspective he has now a couple decades later. Ander's website: http://otherelectricities.com/ Music by Pattern: https://patterns.bandcamp.com/album/windows Our website: vaguebooking.net Email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

We are joined by Dildog, of the legendary hacker collective Cult of the Dead Cow, to talk about his remarkable strike against Microsoft known as Back Oriface 2000. Relevant Websites: https://cultdeadcow.com BEHIND THE SCENES WITH THE HACKTIVISTS WHO TOOK ON MICROSOFT AND THE FBI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHxNEvklKqE

This week we make the crossover from phreaking to hacking, talking to Rob T. Firefly, one of the longtime hosts of 2600 Magazine's Off the Hook podcast. Rob's work: https://robvincent.net (Personal Website) https://modern.technology (Podcast Network) 2600 Collections: Dear Hacker and The Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey 1984-2008 Our website: http://vaguebooking.net/ Our email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

We talked to a trio of phone phreaks, Lucky225, Royal, and greyarea, about their exploits from the peak of phreaking and the impact it had on their lives. The additional music from this episode was provide by our friend Kevin Hoover. Our website: vaguebooking.net Email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

This week we explore the life of one of the most remarkable phone phreaks of all time, Joybubbles. Thank you to our friend Eva for her wonderful reading of Joybubble's obituary, and to Rachel Morrison for her insights. Rachel's Film: https://www.joybubblesthemovie.com Joybubble's Hotline: 206 333 5464 Our website: vaguebooking.net Email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

As a bonus episode, we're very pleased to share with you Evan Doorbell's excellent radio series about his experiences with Phone Phreaking. If you enjoy this episode, check out Evan's series to learn even more. Thank you so much, Evan, for allowing us to republish this in our feed. https://www.evan-doorbell.com/ www.vaguebooking.net vageubookingpod@gmail.com

We talk to the reporter and author Phil Lapsley about his remarkable book Exploding the Phone, all about the practice of phone phreaking and its remarkable impact on the development of hacker culture. Phil's Site: Explodingthephone.com Phil's Talk: The Next HOPE (2010): Cats and Mice: The Phone Company, the FBI, and the Phone Phreaks Esquire Magazine article "The Secrets of the Little Blue Box": https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1u0Xl18uoBYd9rbe1ZSDkT7Q-bI_lWGMA Our Website: vaguebooking.net Our email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

We introduce the thesis of a People's History of the Internet. If you want to read more about the Colonial Pipeline hack: https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/colonial-pipeline-hack-russians-fbis-ransom-grab-what-really-happened Our website: http://vaguebooking.net/ Email: vaguebookingpod@gmail.com

We're back! A People's History of the Internet, debuting soon.

We're joined by LA activist and candidate for LA City Council District 13 Albert Corado. We talk about Albert's extremely personal stakes in defunding the police and making a better Los Angeles, and how his activism intersects with using social media to troll and anger the people in power in Los Angeles. Follow Albert: @digitalurn @ALforLA2022 Follow People's City Council: @PplsCityCouncil

This week we talk to two dedicated Portland based activists about the relentless protests. We talk about what it's been like to attempt to cover these protests accurately, the myriad of difficulties that come from keeping the radical spirit of these protests alive, and what the successes of the protests have been so far. Daddy M/Alissa can be found on Twitter: @R3volutionDaddy Antifa Hotdog can be found on Twitter: @666hotdogs666 Some other journalists and activists in Portland to follow: @MacSmiff @MrOlmos @IWriteOK

We're back! After a hiatus to reel and recover from Coronavirus and to figure out how to respond to the massive uprising for Black Lives that has taken place in the last couple of months, we're happy to release this interview with Chip Gibbons, policy director of Defending Rights and Dissent and host of the Still Spying Podcast. You can find chip on Twitter @chipgibbons89

Mitch Wells of the seminal Louisiana sludge metal band Thou joins us to talk about his very funny, off-the-wall talk show he's started in the midst of quarantine, Big Garden. The top of the episode is a clip from Big Garden, you can check out more of the show on Mitch's Instagram @mitchwhales You can find the reviews of Thou, both positive and negative here: http://noladiy.org/thoupast.html?fbclid=IwAR3YsauNevn9LgvcG-EYw5XvfhRdsyJYj9YmWxaivv1V8Zu6hAzD4-KZlCo Check out Thou covering "Sabotage": https://vimeo.com/30275075 The song at the end is "Don't Vote" by Thou, be sure to support them on their Bandcamp.

Brett Payne of Street Fight Radio, the #1 Anarcho-Comedy show on any station across the nation, was nice enough to sit down with us to discuss his long career of making genuine, authentic comedy and building an incredibly loyal audience online. Brett and his co-host Bryan Quinby have mastered the art of being online without turning into an asshole, and Brett shares some of his insights into keeping it together while posting. You can follow Brett on Twitter @BrettPain, find Street Fight @StreetFightWCRS, and get the podcast wherever you hear your podcasts.

Tony from Minion Death Cult joins us as Mr.X returns to take us on a strange and terrible journey through the worst memes he saw as a Facebook content moderator. Then, Jacob shows us some of the weirdest targeted ads he's gotten on Facebook. NOTE: Mr. X masked his voice to protect his identity and avoid being sued, that's why he sounds Like That.

We talk to Ross Hurt of the Instagram and Facebook accounts Rigs of Dad. Ross crafts elaborate tributes to fictional dads living out their dreams and shredding fat riffs in their later years, and the results are very, very funny. Ross tells us how he developed the idea for the page and how it's grown into an entire expanded universe of Pudgemont County over time. You can follow Rigs of Dad on Instagram @rigsofdad, be sure to check out the new Rigs of Dad podcast here: https://podtail.com/en/podcast/rigs-of-dad-prodcast/

We attempt to arrange our thoughts about Coronavirus and how it's completely warped and heightened our relationship with the internet overnight. The Jerry Saltz article we mentioned is by Dan Ozzi and can be found here: https://danozzi.substack.com/p/the-worlds-most-insane-coffee-drinker

Matt Farley has taken the new frontier of Spotify streaming to its absolute limits, with over 20,000 songs and counting released online. You can find Matt's massive web of musical projects at: https://moternmedia.com/ Some good examples of Matt's musical genius can be found at the following links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaiqrn7vxMo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JNf3w4kzvw&list=PLRHYePb9iS0PsBN5YKePZF4eE6-HThSRP An excellent short interview about his spotify quest from Pandodaily: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-Nuz5rBWD4

A former Facebook content moderator shares the secrets of the depraved content constantly pummeling the Zucc's big big website. During the conversation of this episode, you may hear us mention a handful of Verge articles, here they are: https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona This was the first major article to launch investigations into the working conditions of moderators. https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/19/18681845/facebook-moderator-interviews-video-trauma-ptsd-cognizant-tampa This was a follow up months later that detailed further psychological abuse by emploers. https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/30/20940956/cognizant-facebook-content-moderation-exit-business-conditions-investigation This goes into even further detail about the working conditions. https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/20/21188356/facebook-content-moderator-lawsuit-class-action-settlement This is the latest update to the whole saga for mods.

We sat down with author/comedian/professional infiltrator Harmon Leon to discuss some of the highlights thus far of his career, including hanging out with canadian Cult leaders, protecting american's privacy in a digital police state, and filming a reality show with OJ Simpson, post-trial. You can find his work online at Harmonleon.com Some suggested readings for this piece: https://www.harmonleon.com/applebees/ Harmon's piece about infiltrating a white supremacist meeting at a local Applebee's http://www.harmonleon.com/repoman/ Harmon's tale of hanging out with a repo man for a day. https://youtu.be/6m7_UvKaayQ Harmon's Infiltration of Penn and Teller's Bullshit https://youtu.be/eYL_LJG5qgE Harmon's infiltration of christian stand up

We were very fortunate to be joined by internet folk hero Jason Scott, we discussed his decades spent on the internet and his monumental efforts to preserve data before it disappears entirely. We also get a chance to ask him about the time he broke Myspace with a very specific image. Here's Jason's very own excellent writeup on the whole situation: http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1011 You can find Jason on Twitter @textfiles

We interview comedian, actor, and filmmaker Andre Hyland about his storied career of making YouTube videos for over ten years. Some great examples of Andre's character include his Jesse Miller character, who represents a kind of unrestrained masculinity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdrJwa2b5Gk Tim Hutchins who represents a specific kind of middle aged male type: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCCOnXT0g6w Phil Gower which again represents a completely different facet of masculine tropes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-EbA7OInDc

We interview comedian Gregg Gethard about his character Karl G, a man who wrote in-depth Yelp reviews to get through a messy divorce. We learn a lot about how Gregg developed the character and the surprising real life responses he received as his reviews got massively popular. You can read all the Karl G reviews here: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=r8GpBm9dbvBpciwnafPqmw See Gregg performing as Karl here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYB5InIQNtk&fbclid=IwAR3KtjWXKDD3Sf8WAgzXfWjYOtxZP7EOUMy6-ejFi-HJwgu8iC0KxPaZ6dM If you want to connect with Gregg, you can add him on Facebook. Follow Vaguebooking on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

We're a week late, but we're happy to present our Valentine's special! We've compiled a collection of short and sweet stories of people finding love in all forms online, the pitfalls and rewards of connecting with people through the internet.

Jimmy and Ian discuss their relationships to posting. Since recording this episode, Jimmy has gotten back on Twitter, you can follow him: @jehmbo. Ian is @soupsthename Carter is @CarterDMoon, he's still on Twitter, for some reason.

Haley walks us through her battles on Twitter with Nazis, Autism Speaks, and William fucking Shatner. You can find Haley on Twitter @OpinionKhaver

Maren Moreno guides us through the ups and downs of her years on Tumblr, from her time as Beck blogger, to her experiences with the online resurgence of Riot Grrrl, to her ultimate loss of the community she once found on the site.

Jacob Anderson officially joins Vaguebooking as a co-host, and brings us stories of relentlessly trolling racist Confederate Facebook groups.

The stunning conclusion of the Ms.Scribe saga. Chickens come home to roost and IP addresses are finally traced. You can read the full Ms. Scribe saga here: https://bit.ly/2NeqFbT Follow Jesse on Twitter: @sinister_taint Follow Carter on Twitter: @CarterDMoon Follow Vaguebooking: @VaguebookingP

Jesse continues to unravel the unbelievable saga of Ms.Scribe in part II of our series. We've got a heaping helping of gluttony for social capital in this episode. You can read the full Ms. Scribe saga here: https://bit.ly/2NeqFbT Follow Jesse on Twitter: @sinister_taint Follow Carter on Twitter: @CarterDMoon Follow Vaguebooking: @VaguebookingP

In the first of our three part series, we bring you the epic tale of Ms.Scribe, a story of treachery, betrayal, manipulation, and unabashed horniness for Draco Malfoy. You can read the full Ms. Scribe saga here: https://bit.ly/2NeqFbT Follow Jesse on Twitter: @sinister_taint Follow Carter on Twitter: @CarterDMoon Follow Vaguebooking: @VaguebookingP

Noah Marger presents a tale of a friend's whole life laid bare in just a few short Facebook posts. He also talks about being just a wittle siwwy Online :-)

Jacob tells us two stories from deep in the dankest and strangest corners of the internet. A hoarder cooks horrific meals on YouTube, a Soundcloud rapper meltsdown into becoming a mediocre Facebook poster. If you want to subject yourself to Masaokis on YouTube, you can find his videos here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYBsPv_BtOE If you want to read Masaokis' political incestuous erotica, you can find that here: http://masaohf.atspace.com/?fbclid=IwAR1w_uKpYDYQU6EyF4bMOYSg_7YClhexBwEA5Vwoa5_mCgVdPWQoLXF199w

Carter interviews Sergio and Oli Zaciu, two filmmakers from Los Angeles. Sergio traces the life of a Facebook dog and Oli tries to make sense of a long lost friend who seems to have had some severe ups and downs.

The very funny and very insightful hosts of Minion Death Cult come on to talk causally racist Facebook aunts and skateboarding landlords. They also go deep into their theories as to why so many people post in the angry, incoherent ways that they do online. You can check out Minion Death Cult here: https://miniondeathcult.libsyn.com/ Follow Alex on Twitter: @flieldy Follow Tony on Twitter: @wordisbond Follow Carter on Twitter: @CarterDMoon Follow Vaguebooking on Twitter: @VaguebookingP

Carter is joined by Noah from the antifascist black metal band Neckbeard Deathcamp. Noah shares their experiences of being extremely online and instigating confrontations with Nazis both on and offline. You can follow Neckbeard Deathcamp as they wage online war against basement dwelling fascists on Twitter @NDeathcamp If you want to read more about the antifascist black metal movement, check out this article: https://proteanmag.com/2019/07/21/black-metal-for-the-oppressed/

Carter is joined by his good friend Thomas to discuss two of the more fascinating characters from Thomas' hometown of Torrance, CA. They discuss what living the dream as a retired chemistry teacher looks like in 2019, as well as the latest innovations in the pizza industry. Thomas is the editor-in-chief of Merry-Go-Round Magazine, which you can find on Facebook or on Twitter @mgrmagazine. Our episode art is by the Twitter account @youtubeartifact

In our debut episode, Carter talks to his friend Lauren Chouinard, who tells him about the weird, semi-internet-famous white supremacist from her hometown, as well as what it feels like to attempt to be radically authentic online. Our artwork for each episode is generated by the Twitter account @youtubeartifact You can follow the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @vaguebookingpod

Vaguebooking is a podcast about social media in the age social isolation. It is a storytelling show about the strange characters who exist primarily in our social media feeds. In this teaser for the series, our host Carter Moon talks with his friend Lauren about the notorious white supremacist who she has 8 mutual friends with on Facebook.