#135 Robocall: Bang Bang

This week, the return of YYN: from a deranged mascot to the top of the FBI

New York City cops are in a fight against their own police department. They say it’s under the control of a broken computer system that punishes cops …

New York City cops are in a fight against their own police department. They say it’s under the control of a broken computer system that punishes cops …

Who was Wayne?

How a shy, queer Canadian woman accidentally invented one of the internet’s most toxic male communities.

After Andrea is attacked by a stranger in Mexico City, she just wants to figure out who the guy was. Investigating this question drops her right into the middle of one of Mexico’s biggest conspiracies.

A woman in New Jersey is getting strange phone calls to her office from unknown numbers. Every time she picks up, she finds herself eavesdropping on the life of a different stranger. Unsure what else to do, she calls in …

An online diary used by American teenagers confronts a strange and terrifying enemy.

A mysterious thief has been using the internet to steal a bizarre array of items - watches, scooter parts, clown costumes. This week, Alex heads straight towards his hideout.

The last person on earth who has not heard about covfefe walks into a studio, and a strange journey begins.

Alex agreed to let PJ hack his phone, giving him 24/7 uninterrupted surveillance over his life. This week, everything you can learn about someone who completely surrenders their privacy.

A group of elite scientists prepare for the last conversation humans might ever have. Plus, we meet a corporate attorney who mediates family Thanksgivings.

This week, we debut a new segment designed to help you calibrate your anger in a changing world. Plus, how to cloak yourself from all the people who are now allowed to see your internet browsing history.

Everybody has that one Facebook friend who just won’t stop posting their political opinions. This week, we talk to one of those Facebook friends, …

One man tries to unite America. One Frog threatens to tear it apart.

To reach a port, we must set sail.

One twin decides to plug her internal organs directly into the internet so the other twin can monitor her. Plus, PJ and Alex talk to a listener whose heart was broken by last week's episode.

PJ dives into the world of military impostors and the vigilantes who hunt them. Plus, a dispatch from Dallas.

This week a man decides to sabotage the entire internet. Plus, PJ discovers the secret code he’s accidentally been speaking, and learns about the people who created it.

It’s an old story. Two people date, they break up, they both go on Tinder. And on Tinder, one of them stumbles across an incredibly creepy photo, …

Paul Modrowski is in prison for a murder he claims he didn't commit, and he says he’s been misunderstood because of his autism.  This week, we bring …

For years, Paul Modrowski has been writing a blog from inside a maximum security prison. Only thing is, he was arrested when he was 18 and has never …

Reporter Rukmini Callimachi is always looking for new ways to eavesdrop on ISIS operatives online. Recently, she got a new look into how ISIS members might be using the internet to coordinate their attacks. Plus, a new …

This week we have a story about a big group of people with the same questions. Difficult, complicated, heartbreaking ones. These people all have one …

This week, we fix an embarrassing oversight.

Leslie Miley went from being a college dropout to Twitter's only black engineer in a leadership position. So why did he quit? Also a brand new Yes …

This week, updates on some of the stories we've done over the past year, some bonuses and surprises, and the most beautiful song ever written about …

Yik Yak is an app that allows users to communicate anonymously with anyone within a 10-mile radius. In the first part of this week's show, we revisit a story we did in January,  about how the app brought out a …

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is a law. It's been on the books for almost 30 years. And it makes totally mundane online behavior illegal.

Hope is a photographer. One day her body begins to betray her. It starts with her eyes.

Ripoff Report is one of the original complaint websites. It’s basically the work of one person, a man whom the internet describes as a kind of mythical villain, a Keyser Söze who wields power from behind his janky …

In 2012, a woman named Lindsey Stone posted a picture she took as a joke to her Facebook page. A month later, she was under attack from all corners of the internet, out of a job, hounded by the press. The internet had …

In 1997, John Silveira wrote a joke classified ad in a tiny publication called Backwoods Home Magazine asking if anyone wanted to travel back in time with him. A lot of people took him seriously. What do you do when …

For Jonathan Goldstein, YouTube offers endless nostalgia, but he always finds himself returning to the same subject - a precocious child actor from …

Blair Myhand is a police officer in the sleepy, 42,000 person town of Apex, NC. One night, he received an unusually disturbing phone call where a …

A social media mistake for the record books, and a quiet saint of Wikipedia. 

A woman starts dating again at 60 after her marriage falls apart. We follow her into a world of millionaire import/export moguls and fifteen-year old …

What happens when a woman sends a stocky blond stranger to tell her ex she loves him. (Updated with a new interview!)

The entire internet decides to look at one famous butt at the same time. One man has to ensure that the website hosting Kardashian butt pictures …

There was a lot that Errol Morris never knew about his brilliant, distant older brother Noel. Decades after Noel's death, Errol read an internet …

In the early 80's, way before the world wide web existed, the French government shipped a $200 terminal to every home with a phone line, and created a service that for decades ran alongside the internet. It was called …

Yik Yak is a an app that allows users to communicate anonymously with anyone within a 10-mile radius. At Colgate University in upstate New York, the …

Sometimes, on his way to work, a feeling of pressure begins thumping in Paul Ford’s chest. His breaths shorten. They speed up. And sometimes, in …

This week we enter the mysterious, Byzantine underworld of domain sales, where people make money speculating on the website naming market. A few …

Depending on who you ask, Keith Calder is either a 35-year old film producer, or one of the players in a vast international conspiracy designed to …

In 1996 Jennifer Ringley started Jennicam.org, where she recorded and broadcast her entire life, 24/7. It made her famous. And then, one day, she disappeared from the internet entirely. What'd she figure out about the …

Writer Chiara Atik has a hobby -- spying on the financial transactions of friends and strangers. She thinks that Venmo, more than any other social media site, is the place you can find actual, accidental truth online. …

Twenty years ago, Ethan Zuckerman did something terrible on the internet. And he's still living with the consequences.

What happens when a woman sends a stocky blond stranger to tell her ex she loves him. 

An app called Figure One wants to be Instagram, but for doctors. Why would doctors need their own Instagram? We spy on the secret & disgusting …

A podcast about the internet, hosted by PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman. From Gimlet Media. Coming soon.