Kids turned NPR's comment section into a secret group chat

Kids are not going to stop talking to each other just because you blocked an app. I get into the story of how a group of teenage girls turned NPR’s podcast comment section on Spotify into a full blown underground group chat, complete with its own routing system, and why they picked the most boring, least popular corner of the internet to do it.

I walk through how this traces back way further than people think, from the Twin Cities jam line phone network in the late 60s, to AIM and away messages in my own childhood, to Google Docs chat rooms, and now Spotify comments. Same behavior, different equipment, every single time an adult decides they’ve finally found the way to control how kids communicate.

If you’ve ever thought restricting social media access actually stops kids from talking to each other, this episode is going to ruin that theory for you. It’s a good reminder that tech accountability isn’t just about what companies build, it’s about what people actually do with it once it’s out in the world.