In 1984, a German teenager recorded a moody new wave song from the radio. The mystery song, with crunchy guitars and English lyrics, was preserved on a cassette and forgotten. That is until 2007, when his sister discovered the tape, and began a 17-year quest to identify it.

From Usenet groups, to music identification forums, a Discord server, a popular YouTuber, and a dedicated subreddit called r/TheMysteriousSong, thousands of Internet sleuths have been decoding clues and comparing notes for nearly two decades, in the hope that someone, SOMEWHERE would recognize the song.

Finally, in November 2024, one Redditor found the final piece of the 17-year-long puzzle. "The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet" is now a passionate music fandom that has reunited the band after 40 years, and sparked media coverage around the world.

This week on INFLUENCE, Brandon, a moderator from the subreddit r/TheMysteriousSong, and Hans-Reimer Sievers, the drummer from the band FEX, join Matt to discuss this epic musical quest, how the puzzle was solved, what the members of the band were doing all this time, their reunification and newfound fandom, and the strange "discomfort" of unidentified media in a world where everything is Google-able.

Join the community: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMysteriousSong/

Listen to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPGf4liO-KQ

The FEX Official YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FEXband-official

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Wikipedia continues to be a modern miracle. Unlike social media platforms — which are rife with misinformation and grift — Wikipedia's openness and non-profit status are key to its two+ decades of value and accuracy.

But a new threat is looming. Generative AI now touches everything we read, watch, and listen to on the Web. And some Wiki editors have begun experimenting with it, with mixed results. Where do large language models fit into the pursuit of accurate, reliable knowledge, if at all? And what is the Wiki community doing about generative articles when they go horribly wrong?

This week, the president of Wikimedia New York City Richard Knipel joins Matt to discuss WikiProject AI Cleanup, a volunteer effort to identify AI-generated content on Wikipedia and assess its value as community standards rapidly evolve. The solution to this challenge, as with most things, is way more complicated than we initially thought.

Richard explains how AI tools have been used for years to make Wikipedia richer and more inclusive, why humans and bots make different kinds of mistakes, the standards for accuracy that both must aspire to, why hot-button Wikipedia articles about politicians and current events are often MORE accurate than niche topics, and how you can contribute knowledge to Wikipedia in small but powerful ways.

Learn more about WikiProject AI Cleanup: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_AI_Cleanup

Connect with Richard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardknipel/

This show is supported on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod

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Karen Cassady had finally made it. She was working full time as a comedy performer and teacher, with weekly shows at Atlanta's top improv theater. Then March 2020 happened.

She and her comedy cohorts tried to translate their shows to Twitch live streams, but the "lulz" in the chat just didn't cut it. Unemployed and painfully bored, she put on some wigs and began riffing other people's videos on TikTok. But it wasn't until she began improvising an original Rom Com (and playing every character) that her life completely changed.

Today, Karen is beloved by millions for her over-the-top characters and extremely relatable social media sketches - most of which are improvised. The "strict teacher" and "cool mom" now reach a global audience, and brands want in.

Karen joins Matt to discuss the trial and error that got her to the top of the For You Page, why online improv is finally having its moment, the fan messages that kept her going during the pandemic, why her video creation process never includes a script, and her involvement in one of the weirdest and most viral comedy videos in YouTube history.

Follow Karen:

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Salutations, one and all! I'm taking this week off, but excited to share some episodes that are on the docket for the coming weeks, and a BRILLIANT piece of media theory that might explain what the world is going through at this political moment.

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Amanda Lee was a passionate wedding photographer whose business was booming - that is, until, February 2020. Covid canceled her job and income, and to make matters worse, severe stomach pain was preventing her from eating (and pooping).

When she finally got an appointment to see a doctor at the height of the pandemic, instead of offering scans or tests, he said it was "a blessing" that she hasn't eaten solid food in weeks, since she could stand to lose a few pounds.

Distraught and in tears, she turned to TikTok to vent her frustration, then went to bed. She woke up to THOUSANDS of women in the comments, sharing similar stories dismissal and fat-shaming. They also urged her to get a colonoscopy ASAP. Turns out, a massive tumor was blocking her colon, and she immediately started treatment for Stage 3 cancer.

Amanda's extraordinary story about our broken healthcare system and the power of women supporting each other on the Internet has garnered her a huge following on TikTok and Instagram, and media appearances on The Today Show and other outlets.

She joins Matt to discuss how TikTok comments *literally* saved her life, fighting cancer with no income, her mom and friends who stood by her side, her innovative work with brands, and her new life's work as a patient advocate for women who need allies in the doctor's office.

Follow Amanda:

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Mattel's movie tie-in dolls for "Wicked" are being recalled due to the greatest typo ever made. Bluesky adds 700,000 users in one week as Americans flee Twitter, and a new contender might be on track to surpass MrBeast as the most-subscribed YouTuber of all time.

Plus: I'm now obsessed with finding the Reddit sleuths who solved one of the oldest musical mysteries on the Internet.

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There was no Internet when Yaya Han first discovered manga and anime in the early '90s. Born in China, she fell in love with this media (which was mostly imported from Japan) at a young age. But when her family unexpectedly moved to Europe, she became an outsider overnight - culturally and linguistically. That is, until she discovered a German anime magazine and started submitting her artwork. That's where she found thousands of obsessed fans just like her.

But it wasn't until she attended a U.S. anime convention in 1999 that her mind was blown by the power of cosplay - super fans who sewed elaborate costumes and dressed up as their favorite characters. Yaya's focus immediately shifted from drawing to fabrics, and she never looked back.

Today, her stunning costumes from anime and video games are adored by millions online, and she appears regularly as a speaker and contest judge at fan conventions around the world. She's partnered with global brands to release cosplay fabrics, sewing patterns, and even her own sewing machine.

Yaya joins Matt to share her inspiring immigrant story, why online fandom is so powerful, her creative process, building her business in the early days of social media, the difference between re-creation and inspiration, how anime (literally) saved her life, and how she deals with online haters. She also takes the trivia challenge about some cinematic costume history!

Follow Yaya: https://www.instagram.com/yayahan/

Check out her website: https://www.yayahan.com/

And buy her book! https://www.amazon.com/Yaya-Hans-World-Cosplay-Costume/dp/1454932651/

This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod

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Before becoming Patreon's Head of Online Community, Hayley Rosenblum was no stranger to fan funding. She had worked closely with musicians in their pivot away from record labels, and toward the Internet - where fandom reigns supreme.

These days, she helps creators large and small by listening to their needs and communicating pain points back to the Patreon mothership. Many artist conversations have changed the platform, often in subtle and unexpected ways. But even when her work seems "invisible," she takes great pride in empowering creators to do what they do best: make more amazing stuff for the people who love it.

This week, Hayley and Matt chat about her sage advice for starting a Patreon, the surprising ways educators use the platform, the "death of the follower," why she sometimes feels like an Internet "piñata," and that time Neil Young convinced her dad that she's pretty cool.

If you're a Patreon creator, join their official Discord community! https://discord.com/invite/patreon

This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod

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Two very interesting announcements from the Adobe Max conference connect directly back to last week's conversation about digital rights attribution. The company is launching their AI image and video generation model called "Firefly," which has only been trained on licensed and public domain imagery. So: If tools like this could be vetted, would artists and regulators be comfortable with them?

Links from this week's discussion:

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/10/adobe-unveils-ai-video-generator-trained-on-licensed-content/

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/16/24271338/adobe-sneaks-project-know-how-content-credentials

https://www.theverge.com/c/24238422/podcast-etymology-term-history-tech-vergecast

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Nearly every meme, YouTube video, and yes, even this very podcast, contains copyrighted work that may or may not be ... "officially" obtained. With millions of hours of audio and video uploaded to the Web every day, how can we possibly protect the intellectual property rights of creators?

In short, we can't. BUT, laws and court cases dating back to the '90s have dramatically changed our perceptions of what intellectual property can be in an age where remix culture is the lifeblood of the Internet.

This week on INFLUENCE, Duke University law professor Jennifer Jenkins joins Matt to unpack the differences between copyright, trademark, patents, fair use, and why Creative Commons and the public domain are so vital for online creativity.

We also dig in on the ContentID algorithms that "police" copyright on large social platforms, and what the hell to do about generative AI that synthesizes new content from billions of copyrighted works.

Learn more about Jennifer's work here: https://law.duke.edu/fac/jenkins

And subscribe to her Public Domain Day blog! https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2024/

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When "Thorsten A. Integrity" created a trivia challenge for his co-workers in 1997, he never dreamed it would become the Internet's most exclusive knowledge battleground. The proprietor of LearnedLeague (whose *actual* name is Shayne Bushfield) built a thoughtful trivia tournament on defense mechanics and the honor system. And when it finally got online, his core group remained small for more than a decade.

But as friends referred friends, the circle of vetted, honest players grew. And in the age where you can Google or ChatGPT nearly any answer, honor remains a cornerstone of the League's values.

Today, tens of thousands of players (including some [REDACTED] celebrities!) compete in seasonal, head-to-head challenges, where knowing your opponent's track record is a huge part of the strategy. The community is so dedicated and insular that it has broken off into smaller sub-tournaments during the off-season. But you actually can't join LearnedLeargue ... unless someone on the inside invites you.

What ran as a passion project for Shayne has turned into his full time job. He joins Matt to discuss the humble origins of the League, what makes for a great trivia question, the punishment for cheaters (spoiler: It's death), the value of knowledge in the age of the Internet, and why he has no reason to promote the League to new players.

This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod

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