MEMES, Pt. 3: Gotta Make You Understand

Endless Thread

WBUR

Reddit, Technology

4.2 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2021

⏱️ 43 minutes

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Summary

Who gets credit for starting a meme? Usually... nobody -- they're made too quickly and organically. In the case of one of the most famous bait-and-switch memes of all time, the "Rick Roll," we may be looking at something experts call convergent evolution. Did the Rick Roll originate with a piece of code on the message board 4Chan, or with a prank call to a local sports show in Michigan? And why does the Rick Roll have such staying power? Is it codified in the DNA of the song itself?

We explore the meme’s origin, the history of the song, "Never Gonna Give You Up," and its impact on both internet users during COVID-19 and on the performer himself.

Transcript

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0:00.0	WBWR's last scene is back with surprising news stories about people, places, and things
0:06.1	that have gone missing, all told by tenacious public radio storytellers who refuse to let
0:11.5	mysteries go unsolved.
0:13.7	Don't miss season 3, out now.
0:16.2	Follow last scene wherever you listen to podcasts.
0:20.7	Produced by the iLab at WBWR Boston.
0:27.5	Eric should be famous, but he's not.
0:31.2	Really.
0:32.2	I'm Eric Hellwig.
0:40.5	My internet persona is hot dad and I make what I describe as emotional comedy music.
0:49.1	Not famous should be famous, maybe.
0:52.5	His creative output on YouTube is impressive in its own special way.
0:57.2	And Eric is kind of a special guy.
1:04.0	I have these songs that are, you know, I feel like pretty heartfelt about like really stupid
1:09.6	topics, but then I just like extremes ultimately.
1:18.2	But none of this, which is great, is why Eric should maybe be famous.
1:23.8	He should maybe be famous because he may have had a role in creating something that is
1:29.0	one of the most primordial parts of the viral internet as we know it.
1:33.7	And when we say primordial, we mean like, without this thing, the idea of things going
1:39.3	viral online would be fundamentally different.
1:43.5	And Eric was there at the beginning.
1:46.4	We think it's hard to tell.
	...

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