Best of Summer: MEMES: Scumbag Steve

Endless Thread

WBUR

Reddit, Technology

4.2 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2023

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If there is an OG meme in which a human is the star, Scumbag Steve is it. He spread across the internet like wildfire in 2011 as a universal representation of dudes who are the worst. And, like any person grappling with immediate internet fame, Blake Boston — the man behind Scumbag Steve — tried to capitalize: merch, rap songs, public appearances.

But the full story of what happened to Blake — and his family — has never been told. The Scumbag Steve meme became a bargaining chip in a custody battle, a complicating factor in meeting his birth mother, the cause of fights with extended family members, a source of anxiety attacks, and an echo of trauma. In this episode, we go past the origin story of Scumbag Steve and learn about Blake’s real struggles with PTSD and abuse — and how trauma has brought him and his mother, Susan Boston, even closer.

Transcript

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0:00.0	W-B-U-R podcast, Boston.
0:07.0	Emory, you know what is not a fresh-to-death summer jam, 2023?
0:15.0	Fresh-to-death, this phrase that I just learned moments ago and now will be applying right and
0:22.0	less of people know I'm hip.
0:25.0	No, Ben, what is not fresh-to-death?
0:30.0	The outfit of the guy who we're about to tell you about.
0:36.0	Oh, I don't know about that, I think.
0:39.0	You think it's coming back?
0:40.0	At least he thought it was fresh-to-death.
0:46.0	I gotta keep trying on that expression.
0:49.0	Yeah, it's not quite settling into my vernacular quite yet.
0:54.0	You know what was also unsettling?
0:56.0	What?
0:58.0	The guy who we're about to tell you about.
1:03.0	Or at least the meme that was made about him.
1:06.0	The meme that was made about him for sure, but you know who was a ton of fun to talk to.
1:12.0	Him and his mom.
1:14.0	Yes.
1:15.0	So, without further ado, please enjoy it.
1:18.0	Summer jam.
1:20.0	This is Summer Jam Part Five.
1:23.0	The final installment of our Summer Jams.
	...

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