A Love Letter to Tech Mysteries and Internet Rabbit Holes
Welcome to the definitive guide to Reply All’s greatest hits, where PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman turned the simple act of “being extremely online” into high art, and somehow convinced us that a 45-minute deep dive into why someone’s Instagram got hacked was peak entertainment.
From unraveling the mystery of why your dad keeps getting weird Facebook friend requests to exploring the dark underbelly of online scams that somehow always involve someone named “Janet” and a suspicious amount of gift cards, Reply All mastered the art of making the internet’s weirdest corners feel both terrifying and absolutely fascinating. To this day I lament that this podcast ever ended, though both PJ and Alex have gone on to create some other memorable podcasts including Search Engine and Hyperfixed.
So fire up your favourite podcast app make your way to some of these top episodes of Reply All.
#23 Exit & Return, Part I
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Shulem Deen was a 22-year-old ultra-religious Hasidic Jewish individual when he purchased a computer and registered for America Online in 1996. Until that point, he had never engaged in genuine conversation with anyone outside his community. Sruthi Pinnamaneni recounts how the internet destroyed his life and how it might potentially rescue it.
#130 The Snapchat Thief
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A new Super Tech Support: after Lizzie’s Snapchat gets hacked, things begin getting genuinely disturbing. Alex investigates.
#76 Lost in a Cab
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Liz lost her camera in a taxi, so she visited the New York City Taxi website to report it to their lost and found database. At least, that’s what she believed she did. Alex investigates and discovers a major business operation behind the success of a questionable little website.
#132 Negative Mount Pleasant
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A small Wisconsin community serves as the location for an entirely groundbreaking experiment.
#44 Shine On You Crazy Goldman
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A website for individuals who are extremely intoxicated. Additionally, could LSD reveal our superior selves? Does PJ even possess a superior self? They investigate.
#127 The Crime Machine, Part I
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New York City officers are battling their own police department. They claim it’s controlled by a malfunctioning computer system that penalizes officers who won’t participate in racist, corrupt policing. The account of their struggle, and the tale of the irritable idealist who initially constructed the machine they’re opposing.
#36 Today’s The Day
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On this week’s episode of Reply All, PJ and Alex venture outdoors.
#50 The Cathedral
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Amy and Ryan Green’s one-year-old son receives a cancer diagnosis and starts an excruciating treatment period. Then, one evening in the hospital, Ryan experiences an odd revelation: this entire horrible experience should become a video game.
#107 The Skip Tracer, Part I
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Sruthi Pinnamaneni accompanies the world’s finest bounty hunter on an unusual case.
#102 Long Distance
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In this episode, a telephone scammer committed a grave error. He contacts Alex Goldman.
#134 The Year of the Wallop
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New Year! Alex Goldman’s bold scheme to receive a punch in the face, plus special guest Jason Mantzoukas returns for a very Azkaban Yes Yes No.
#158 The Case of the Missing Hit
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A man in California is tormented by the recollection of a pop song from his youth. He can recall the lyrics and the melody. But the song itself has disappeared, entirely erased from the internet. PJ handles the Super Tech Support case.
#140 The Roman Mars Mazda Virus
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Ben enjoys podcasts, but he faces a dilemma. When he attempts to listen to one particular podcast, his car stereo completely malfunctions. This week, Super Tech Support tackles one of its most peculiar cases, Roman Mars versus a 2016 Mazda sedan.
#16 Why Is Mason Reese Crying?
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For Jonathan Goldstein, YouTube provides limitless nostalgia, but he consistently returns to the same topic – a precocious child actor from the early 70’s named Mason Reese. Then a few months ago, new clips of Reese started appearing on YouTube. Moreover, they seemed to be uploaded by Reese himself. Jonathan embarks on a quest to discover why – and why now, after 40 years.
#104 The Case of the Phantom Caller
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A woman in New Jersey receives bizarre phone calls to her office from unfamiliar numbers. Each time she answers, she discovers herself overhearing the life of a different stranger. Uncertain what else to do, she contacts Super Tech Support.
#79 Boy in Photo
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To arrive at a harbor, one must embark on a voyage.
#53 in The Desert
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Strangers continue arriving at Mike and Christina’s house seeking their stolen cell phones. Nobody understands why. They travel to Atlanta to discover what’s happening, in their most complicated Super Tech Support yet.
#165 The Mold and The Beautiful
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This week, a conspiracy theory involving Jeffrey Epstein and a harmless, wholesale furniture company, plus, the jam scandal that shocked Los Angeles. Yes Yes No returns, with special guest Jason Mantzoukas.
#28 Shipped to Timbuktu
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An email to the incorrect address sends them plunging into the world of professional cookie advisors.
#45 The Rainbow Pug
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This week, Jade Davis loses her dog on the internet, and they search for it.
#122 The QAnon Code
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This week, to celebrate Alex Goldman’s return from paternity leave, a Yes Yes No extravaganza. Alex guides PJ and Alex Blumberg through the internet’s most comprehensive conspiracy theory to date, and then Gene Demby joins them to help unpack a very different kind of conspiracy.