The Basement: Joseph Matheny | The Man Who Hacked Reality Before the Internet Existed

The Why Files: Operation Podcast

The Why Files

Society & Culture, Documentary, Science Fiction, Science, Life Sciences, Fiction

4.8 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2026

⏱️ 165 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For a limited time, our listeners get 50% off FOR LIFE, Free Shipping, AND 3 Free Gifts at Mars Men at https://Mengotomars.com. Get 25% off Cowboy Colostrum with code WHYFILES at https://cowboycolostrum.com/WHYFILES. Joseph Matheny invented something in 1989 that nobody had a name for yet. He called it a story. The internet called it the first alternate reality game. The Navy called him to ask how he did it. He turned them down. Tonight he's in the basement explaining how he built an early AI, game-mastered Robert Anton Wilson at Esalen, and why QAnon looks so familiar to him. Some things are better understood when you know how the trick works. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Changes in sexual performance are more common than most people realize, and support doesn't
0:04.0	need to feel awkward.
0:06.0	With MedExpress, everything happens privately online.
0:09.4	Start by completing a short consultation reviewed by UK registered clinicians.
0:13.4	If eligible, treatment is delivered discreetly to your home with ongoing support whenever
0:17.8	you need it.
0:18.9	You're not alone in this.
0:20.5	Visit Medexpress.co.uk slash podcast to learn more.
0:24.3	Today I'm talking with Joseph Methini, a writer and storyteller who built the internet's
0:28.2	first alternate reality game.
0:30.6	He built a story so convincing it made people believe a portal to another dimension
0:34.8	was hidden in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
0:38.0	But... a portal to another dimension was hidden in the New Jersey Pine Barons. That whole state is another dimension.
0:41.5	Be nice, I've got family in Jersey.
0:44.0	Once you cross the GW and hit Fort Lee, it's like an alternate universe.
0:48.7	Wherever you left turn is a jug handle and you're not allowed to pump your own gas.
0:52.9	That story was Aung's hat, not published as a novel, but scattered across bulletin boards,
0:58.0	websites, phone lines, pamphlets.
1:00.8	The story felt real.
1:02.5	Today we'll talk about where that ARG came from and how it got weaponized.
1:06.5	Apple get into his chat bot from the 90s.
1:09.5	You see, he built Google before Google.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 21 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Why Files, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Why Files and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.