INFLUENCE

When Sky Burkson was a kid, he had two obsessions: drawing and video games. He went on to pursue a career in set design, but his love of games never faded. And when life threw his family a curveball, he knew it was time to recombine his passions. These days, his painstaking recreations of video game architecture and environments delight thousands of fans around the world, including some of YouTube's biggest gaming influencers, who regularly commission new work. His sculptures, which are made mostly of paper, are incredibly detailed, impressionistic miniatures of our favorite moments from Super Mario 64, Bloodborne, Elden Ring, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, The Legend of Zelda, and more. They often take months to create, but Sky credits that slowness for their popularity among online fandoms. This week, Sky joins Matt to discuss how he documents virtual spaces, why 1:1 re-creation doesn't always work, the hidden details players can't see, the reason he dumped 3D modeling software for good-old-fashioned pencils, and how to take that ONE perfect shot for social media. Check out Sky's website: https://www.skyburkson.com/ Follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skyburkson/ This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🦋 https://bsky.app/profile/mattsilverman.bsky.social 🧵 https://www.threads.net/@matt_silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Nude Year, one and all! I'm still on holiday break, but wanted to check in with out about the YouTuber(s) who exposed the Honey browser extension (owned by PayPal) as a massive scam, my upcoming guests, and sharing an encore episode from my other show, Colette & Matt Have Entered the Chat, about a small but mighty video game community that did the impossible, just in the nick of time! Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam, by MegaLag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk Original Show Notes from May 3, 2024 Since 2017, a small collective of "Super Mario Maker" enthusiasts have been trying to complete every single player-created level — a quest to truly "beat" a game with hundreds of thousands of uncleared stages. But when Nintendo announced that the servers for Wii U games would be taken offline in April 2024, the urgency reached new heights. Team 0% began to grow from its humble beginnings of about 500 members, to 15,000+ players, committed to identifying and clearing the remaining levels before they were lost to time. Playing the levels was only half the battle. Finding and cataloging the unbeaten stages using Nintendo's arcane databases was no simple task. But through some clever reverse-engineering and lots of spreadsheets, they had whittled it down to a handful of levels with just days until oblivion. What remained were some of the hardest, most obtuse Mario monstrosities ever created. And one level in particular could only be beaten by a robot — until... This week, we talk with MagicMason1000, a long time member of Team 0% who now manages the community's YouTube and social media. Mason walks us through the fascinating history of this monumental undertaking, the Team's massive popularity boom amid global headlines, what happens when Nintendo patches glitches in Mario Maker, the exciting (and then somewhat anti-climactic) final victory for the team, and the mysterious fate of all those levels now that the servers are gone. If you'd like to pitch in to beat every uncleared level of "Super Mario Maker 2," you can join the Team 0% Discord here: https://discord.gg/team0percent Check out the Team's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TeamZeroPercent And watch henryst's The History of Mario Maker's Last 100 Levels video, as discussed in this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUqUUXDmk40 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🦋 https://bsky.app/profile/mattsilverman.bsky.social 🧵 https://www.threads.net/@matt_silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: https://www.tiktok.com/@karencassssss https://www.instagram.com/karendcasss This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🦋 https://bsky.app/profile/mattsilverman.bsky.social 🧵 https://www.threads.net/@matt_silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: https://www.tiktok.com/@mandapaints https://www.instagram.com/mandapaints/ This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🦋 https://bsky.app/profile/mattsilverman.bsky.social 🧵 https://www.threads.net/@matt_silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🐤https://twitter.com/Matt_Silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🐤https://twitter.com/Matt_Silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🐤https://twitter.com/Matt_Silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/ This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🐤https://twitter.com/Matt_Silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jamie Baldanza has always been an animal lover. When the ad agency art director started posting her photos of local New Jersey horses online, the world took notice. Then, on a trip out to the American West, she brought back more than just stunning pics for the 'Gram. A life-changing passion for documenting and protecting wild horses took root. Since then, she's built a large online community of horse enthusiasts and conservation advocates who work to raise awareness around the plight of wild horses, whose existence is constantly threatened by land development in the region. Her work has culminated in the documentary film @WildLandsWildHorses which beautifully articulates the biology and ancestry of wild horses, and the conflict between ranchers, the U.S. government, and wildlife. The film is available on YouTube. Jamie (known online as @ThisMustangLife) sits down with Matt to discuss the family dynamics of wild herds, the epic challenge of tracking and photographing stallions, the terrible fate of horses rounded up for removal, why well-meaning horse advocates often go overboard on the Internet, and what it's like to build trust and companionship with these sentient creatures. Watch "Wild Lands Wild Horses" in its entirety on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lftvyrj4PY Follow Jamie on Instagram and TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/thismustanglife https://www.tiktok.com/@thismustanglife?lang=en This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🐤https://twitter.com/Matt_Silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

YouTube recently announced two new features. "Veo" will allow users to create AI-generated clips and backgrounds for Shorts. And "Hype" is a new way for fans to support small and medium-sized channels. The former seems like a bad but inevitable feature that will flood YouTube with synthetic, low-effort content. But the latter could be a major leap forward in audience-first content discovery. Hype gives all users 3 votes every week. When cast for small creators, they earn points (and potentially revenue) that puts them in a global leaderboard. It's a non-algorithmic, human-powered way to surface the platform's best content, and divert some of the attention economy away from YouTube's 1% of large creators who dominate the home page and suggested videos. Plus: The FTC notices that social media business models are horrible, and the MrBeast lawsuits have begun. Links referenced in this episode: https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/19/24249073/ftc-data-retention-privacy-report-facebook-meta-youtube-reddit https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/18/youtube-shorts-to-integrate-veo-google-ai-video-model/ https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/18/24247995/youtube-hype-creators https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/mrbeast-amazon-sued-beast-games-contestants-class-action-1236148181/ https://newsletter.tubefilter.com/p/roblox-youtube-add-yours-shopify This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🐤https://twitter.com/Matt_Silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Hobbs was a working musician and the "house band" for an improv theater in Atlanta. Then the pandemic hit in 2020. With live performance on hold and life getting boring, he looked for musical inspiration at home. Luckily, his two adorable chihuahuas, Lenny and Mar-Pup, delivered. On a whim, he began writing short and ridiculous songs from the dogs' perspective and posting them on Instagram. The creative exercise got laughs from family, friends, and a small community of pet owners looking for fun at a dark time. In an effort to improve his skills, he wrote hundreds of these "Puppy Songs" while waiting to get back on stage. Then, TikTok happened. Puppy Songs exploded across the Internet, and Matt realized he was onto something. Some of his biggest hits, like "Cheese Tax," "Air Jail," and "Where the Heck Is Mom?" have been streamed nearly 100 million times across platforms. This week, Matt Hobbs joins Matt Silverman (2 Matts!) to talk about the craft of songwriting, what inspires him to make new videos, how social media is changing music, and turning Internet virality into a sustainable music career. PLUS: Ancient puppy trivia and an EXCLUSIVE announcement about Hobbs' upcoming project. Follow Puppy Songs: https://www.youtube.com/@UCp5Ytwj_TkbbfztidjFtXrw https://www.instagram.com/PuppySongs/ https://www.tiktok.com/@puppysongs This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🐤https://twitter.com/Matt_Silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Internet Archive, a non-profit repository for BILLIONS of pieces of media, has been lending digital books from its library since 2011 without a hitch. But in March 2020, they made one crucial mistake that now poses an existential threat to the online "Library of Alexandria." This week, The Internet Archive lost its appeal in a lawsuit brought by the 4 major publishing conglomerates. And while the publishers are *technically* right in their copyright infringement complaint, the consequences of the suit could be catastrophic for the Archive. Plus: Your responses to the blind gamers episode, and get ready for some Puppy Songs! Links referenced in this episode: What is Happening to the Internet Archive? (All Things Lost): https://youtu.be/bp2aowF0jUw The Internet Archive Loses Its Appeal of a Major Copyright Case: https://www.wired.com/story/internet-archive-loses-hachette-books-case-appeal/ For more on the Internet Archive, check out our 2G1P episode with Jason Scott: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-archive-wayback-machine-and-discmaster/id1285444706?i=1000589825934 This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people can agree that protecting children from harmful online content — self-harm, disordered eating, gore, disinformation, extreme social pressure — is a good idea. Much of that falls on parents. But algorithms are disturbingly good at showing us extreme content we never searched, but can't look away from. Addiction (and thus more ads) is social media's business model. And keeping up with the Web wormholes that teenagers find themselves in is an impossible task, especially when these platforms are integral to their social lives. In response to the growing mental health crisis among teens (especially girls and young women), the U.S. Senate found bi-partisan support in two bills: COPPA 2.0 — which would expand the scope of 1998's Children's Online Privacy Protection Act to block data collection on minors aged 13-17 — and KOSA (The Kids Online Safety Act), which would turn OFF algorithmic recommendations and auto-play videos, and turn ON maximum privacy settings by default for kids. This seemed like a rare bi-partisan win. But as always, the truth is much more complicated. That's why we've called on Paul Singer to return for his 3rd appearance on the show to explain WTF is going on. Paul is a partner at the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren, where he specializes in consumer protection issues. Previously, he worked in the Texas Attorney General’s office, with a particular focus on data protection. He even worked on the very first lawsuit brought through COPPA 1.0's enforcement back in 2000. He breaks down what's in these bills, why they have some good ideas, the fatal flaw that makes KOSA problematic (especially for marginalized communities), and what Congress (and courts) could do instead to protect all citizens from abusive tech platforms. Check out Paul's work here: https://www.kelleydrye.com/people/paul-l-singer And subscribe to his legal blog about these issues and much more: https://www.kelleydrye.com/viewpoints/blogs/ad-law-access This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🐤https://twitter.com/Matt_Silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The flood of allegations around the world's most famous influencer range from petty YouTube drama to serious (and possibly illegal) safety issues. MrBeast is very popular in our household, but the raft of controversy makes us question whether our kids should keep enjoying their favorite YouTube channel. This week, I break down why The Beast is under fire, and how the controversy snowballed in recent months, leading to a parenting moral quandary. Plus: Fake and AI-generated product reviews are officially BANNED in the U.S. But can it be enforced? And details about some fantastic upcoming guests. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a busy week here in my house, so while I'm lining up fresh interviews for you, please enjoy this feed drop from my other show, where we interviewed two wonderful video game speedrunners who race through one of the chillest games ever made: "Stardew Valley." - Originally published on January 13, 2023 - Where RUSHING into marriage is a good idea! Speed running Super Mario Bros. is a straightforward endeavor. Whoever saves the princess fastest gets the record. But what about open-ended sims, where you set your own goals? This week, we were so mesmerized by Stardew Valley speedrunners on GDQ that we had to invite them on the show. Lee (@atwentysomethingloser) and Lisa (@lichatton) are Stardew-obsessed Twitch streamers who have dissected the game to find the fastest ways to marry specific villagers, complete Community Center bundles, catch every fish, and other in-game milestones, often achieving these runs in mere hours. Their strategies involve animation canceling, min/maxing gifts, and a lot of sleep! Lee and Lisa share how they got into the wild world of speeding through one of the chillest games of all time, how it has increased their love for it, and share what else they play after thousands of hours of Stardew. Follow and subscribe to Lee and Lisa! https://www.twitch.tv/atwentysomethingloser https://www.twitch.tv/lichatton For more video game community conversations, subscribe to "Colette & Matt Have Entered the Chat," wherever you get podcasts: https://haveenteredthechat.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You and everyone you love will die. There's no way around it. Yet we rarely talk or think about the topic until we have to. For the first time in human history, we are "living longer and dying slower." That's good news, but it also creates a cultural disassociation with the reality of death. But there's a growing movement - online and IRL - around death literacy. It advocates for ongoing conversation and education about this universal part of life. Just like exercise, finances, or playing piano, how can we be successful at something if we don't learn, practice, and grow? That's the mission of Bevival, an online community and resource devoted to changing the cultural conversation around death. It's the brainchild of Caren Martineau, an entrepreneur who suddenly realized she has more time behind her than ahead. Jade Adgate is a death midwife, who supports people with terminal diagnoses and the families left behind. She also empowers a large community on social media by sharing her work and insights to help grievers she can't reach in person. Together, they produce the Exit Interviews podcast, a regular conversation with leading authors and philosophers about how we can make meaning from "the final frontier." This week, Caren and Jade sit down with (a reluctant) Matt to discuss their calling around death literacy, their mission to engage the Internet on difficult topics, how death has become commercialized in the 20th and 21st centuries, and why that dehumanizes mortality. Connect with Caren at http://bevival.com Follow Jade on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.farewell.library Subscribe to the Exit Interviews podcast: https://www.bevival.com/books-podcast-death-literacy This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Watch & subscribe on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@InfluencePodcast Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🐤https://twitter.com/Matt_Silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The surreal machinima "Skibidi Toilet" has been viewed 65 BILLION times across platforms, attracting the attention of Hollywood explosion enthusiast Michael Bay. The mega producer (Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean) has licensed the bizarre web series to make a feature length film or TV series. The Gen Alpha meme generator is more than just a flash in the pan - it has real narrative structure, and the Skibidiverse has been rapidly expanding over the last year. Even if your kids have never seen a Skibidi video, they are definitely talking about it on the playground. I break down whether toilet heads make any cultural or financial sense in a theater near you. Meanwhile, two extraordinary online child safety bills are making their way to the U.S. Senate with bi-partisan support. If passed, they would dramatically reduce the data collected on kids, and cut off the algorithmic content that is so damaging to their mental health. What would social media actually look like if we could make it safe for minors? And could these regulations help adults, too? Plus: Would you quit your job to be an influencer? 50% of adults would if they could. Many of those are already trying. And YouTube's biggest stars are pissed that AI is learning from the captions on their videos. Where is the philosophical line between fair use and theft when it comes to large language models? And how will we protect creators who may soon be out-matched by "synthetic" video content? This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod Listen & subscribe wherever you get podcasts: 🍎 https://apple.co/44FeACS 🟢 https://spoti.fi/3UGQjrN ⏯ https://amzn.to/3wCdueF Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548 Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE) Follow me: 🐤https://twitter.com/Matt_Silverman 📸 https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices