Nothing Violent

Endless Thread

WBUR

Reddit, Technology

4.2 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There's a conspiracy theory on Reddit right now suggesting that Reddit is using aggressive tools to hide posts praising or supporting Luigi Mangione's alleged execution-style killing of the CEO of United Healthcare, Brian Thompson. Endless Thread looks at what is going on with Luigi memes on this platform: the Nintendo character memes… and the other ones.

Show notes:

A Reddit moderation tool is flagging ‘Luigi’ as potentially violent content (The Verge)

Reddit will warn users who repeatedly upvote banned content (The Verge)

What's the deal with all of these Luigi themed posts saying "nothing violent going on here"? (r/OutOfTheLoop)

Credits: This episode was produced by Grace Tatter and Ben Brock Johnson. It was edited by Meg Cramer, and hosted by Amory Sivertson and Ben Brock Johnson. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus.

Transcript

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0:00.0	McDonald's has entered the Minecraft universe.
0:02.4	Get a limited edition collectible with a Minecraft movie meal,
0:05.2	crafted just for adults,
0:06.8	featuring a choice of a Big Mac or nine chicken McNuggets.
0:09.7	Plus, try the new spicy Netherflame salts.
0:12.1	Only at McDonald's.
0:14.5	And 6th of May from 11 a.m.
0:15.9	Mead or more large meal.
0:16.6	Inclusive size of a combination drink and side
0:18.3	and one pre-selected collectible while stocks last.
0:20.2	Support for this podcast comes from Is Business Broken?
0:23.4	A podcast from BU Questrum School of Business.
0:26.7	A recent episode looks at how to solve big antitrust problems like common ownership.
0:32.3	Stick around until the end of this podcast for a preview.
0:37.2	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:49.9	Amory, are you a Luigi, I don't know his last name, Luigi the Plummer?
0:56.9	Are you a Luigi the Plummer meme connoisseur?
1:01.5	I like only faintly know who Luigi really is, so no.
1:06.7	But I appreciate them.
1:08.4	And I like that guy.
1:11.6	Yeah, he's eminently likable.
1:13.7	Would you call yourself a connoisseur?
	...

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