How Far Would You Go To Discover a Lost Song?
Announcing the premiere of Everyone Knows That: The Search For Ulterior Motives
I’m thrilled to announce the premiere of Everyone Knows That: The Search for Ulterior Motives. It’s a five-part miniseries about the global search for a song that captivated hundreds of thousands of people.
It’s a story about the lengths people will go to solve a puzzle. The theories, both legitimate and far-fetched, people created. The hoaxes people developed to try to claim credit for the mysterious clip. And the shocking discovery few saw coming.
It’s a story that means a tremendous amount to me. As someone who grew up and found community around niche hobbies in online spaces, this story felt like the perfect amalgamation of much of my personal internet experience. A 17-second clip of a song led to thousands of people coming together to discover a physical media artifact…that may or may not even exist.
Through the development of this series I was privileged to meet community moderators who dedicated their free time to shepherd the search, musicians who helped provide critical context about the song, content creators who popularized the song, and a whole bunch of people who proved that a spirit of healthy collaboration and play is still possible on the internet.
I couldn’t have done it without the help of the show’s Associate Producer Adam Bumas. A special thanks to Shane McKeon, the show’s brilliant sound engineer who brought the show’s creative vision to life. Additionally, if not for encouragement from my wife, Kayleigh Marinelli, and collaborator Reed Berkowitz, I may never have started this project.
Additional thanks to everyone who agreed to be interviewed for this series, including Grafton Tanner, Violet Sky, Kyle Gordon, Julian Gray, Jordan Rumsey, Christopher Saint Booth, Philip Adrian Booth, and Reddit/Discord moderators Twinsey_Lohan, Cotton__Underground, South_Pole_Ball.
I spent the last six months developing this project with a lot of support from my peers. It’s the first miniseries I’ve produced and hosted from scratch. It would mean a lot if you follow this podcast on your favorite podcast platform, share it with a friend you think would enjoy it, and leave a review with your thoughts.