Reflecting on Modern Forms of Protest

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Today we're speedrunning prrison Eescape simulator. It is time for our first Donkey Kong Bonanza speedrun. I'm actually a top one hundred speedrunner in the Oregon trarail game. I think we have like fifteen seconds to get it. Come on come on, come on come on come on.'re to do it.'re to Yes So we all know what a speedrun is. That's the theme of this episode. And I guess my question is Who's gonna to speedrun first? Do You want to speed runun or should I speed runun I think I should speedrun first. All right, let's go I decided to interpret this theme Lsely. All right, Speedrun through your loose interpretation of spepeedrun. I'm ready All right, so my story comes from the what is it subreddit M So my question to you, Ben is what what is it? What is that subreddit? So R slash what is it is like one of the very broad subreddits in which someone can discover something, they don't know what it is. they post a photo and a slight explanation sometimes and hopefully other Redditors will help them figure out what it is Everything from like a weird unexploded munition that somebody dug up in their backyard to likeike an ancient tool um that they found in their grandmother's u Uh hu. Those are already much cooler examples than what is probably most commonly posted, which is like someone posting an object and asking the question basically like is this sex drugs or rock and roll related Mm and a sub genre of that, which is like I found this in my kids stuff. Is my kid using this for Sex drugs are rock and roll So your The answer is yes. Yeah, Usually yes. and that is if that kid's if he's smart Then the answer is yes. Are you speaking from personal experience? Is this something? didid this happen to you as a child? Did anyone find something in your room and say God. Ben Benjamin I think my dad found a dime bag underneath the seat of our car once. And he was like, is this grass And I was like, Yes That's grass. And you're old enough that he couldn't post on what is it and say Is grass He couldnt You got an immediate answer for me, which was yes, and we don't say that anymore U yeep. Okay. So I'm going to send you a picture that I found in the What is it sububreddit And I just want you to really I don't want any guesses yet. I just want you to take in the contours of this object Okay I have seen this and I believe I know what it is, but I am so in. Okay. so refrain from saying anything. Okay because this this was a real This was a real journey that the commenters took us on. I mean, it very much is one of those things that you look at it and you immediately go, is it drugs? Is it sex? Yeah Is it rock and roll? I'm less leaning towards when I see this image. But but it's u God, how would one describe it It's a very clean white structure, but it's also kind of swoopy and bumpy And it has these two, it looks like almost like dinosaur vertebrae Or giant teeth kind of thing. like Yeah like ribs out of ribs a good way to describe it. I was gonna say the little giraffe, the boobs on top of the giraffe. Oh yeah. looks like that. I should know what those are, but what I mean? Yeah, the boobs The giraffe boops Yes, but then also it has this bump, which I would argue is almost more almost more like a giraffe poop. Yeah, notothing is completely flat on this. It's got like the whole thing is like a smooth curvy texture. Yeah That bigger bump looks like it would fit sort of like perfectly in a hand Um and also very, very suggestive in all directions. Yes, it does. It I was about to say. Yes. So the comments of this like really really delighted me. The caption is found in my son's room So That's this is important. This is a parent their name is accident with an ex, which is kind of fun. A accident. They've found this object in their son's room and they just say, what the hell is it So I found a wide variety of guesses. Some of them are more innocent. Someone said uh, that they used like a like an internet lens feature and said, um It says it's a sculpture of some sort. That's a sculpture right there It looks sculpted. No question. does look sculpted and organic. Yeah Someone else said, looks like packaging foam or plastic to keep some sort of item in a box still during transport. I thought that was a pretty genius guess because we've all opened something from a box that like is packaged with a very particular structure to hold the form. Yeah, especially these days. They're doing amazing things with cardboard these days Yep. Someone said it looks like like a soOaz tool for back pain I was going to say yeah, it looks like a massager in a way which a lot many sex toys are also A massager like or literally massagers. Yep So then there were the guesses that I feel like started. These were what I would call the gateway guesses sort of got me got me on the road to o, seeing it differently A couple of people pointed out this is three D printed Maybe it's some sort of a three D printed stand or mount for something. And getting warmer. That's getting warmer and that ultimately led to the answer, which Ben genereral U It's something something vR headset holder Yes. This is this is a holder. So the the winning comment here. someone says Does he, meaning this person's son, does he have a VR headset? Could be a mount. I three D printed one for my meta quest and it somewhat looks like that And then OP posted a picture of the headset in this mount Although OP, I'll say this That sounds relatively innocuous, but depending on the age of your kid, you might want to check on what they're watching in the VR headset. So other people commented that too, like this tool isn't a sex toy, but your kid's just watching porn on the VR headet. Could be, could be. So someone responded to this and said, okay, but you still have to confront him, meaning your son, you still have to confront him with it and scream about drugs when he gets home And oP said, Oh, absolutely. But I also saw an overwhelming wave of people saying something like this particular Redditor saying, I never would have gone snooping in my children's rooms when they were kids And I damn sure wouldn't have turned to the internet for information on what they might have been doing Novel idea, ask your son what it is. Yeah, I mean, it's look, I don't, My kids are eight years old, so I'm mercifully currently Um not having to ask these questions but I can I Don't disagree with that necessarily. You should have a relationship with your you know, members who are your family where you can have open honest discussion U alsoso I would say like as a parent, you might just be picking up or cleaning up or putting something in their room and like bump into it. It's not like the OP is like tearing their room apart, looking for looking for paraphernalia or something like that, but And then it might be a little awkward. It might feel a little awkward. You might like really want to know what it is before you talk to your kid about it. Yeah, you don't know if you should be having the sex talk or the drugs talk or the rock and roll talk. You gotta know which talk The devil's music, son. Stay away from it That is true though. likeike it's you want to be you want to have these conversations with care. And to your point, OP does say I wasn't snooping. He's at his mom's and I was putting his laundry away. It was sitting in plain view on his desk I was doing some drugs in his room and I Yeah, right And someone said, you should you should show this post to him when when your son is is older, maybe and see if he'll get a kick out of it. And the OP was like, I'm going to show him as soon as he gets home. Like I think I think he'll think this is hilarious that I thought this was some sort of you know, something a little salacious. but also a funny thing, that that picture of the VR headset in the stand. Yeah And This led to some more informative comments. What do you notice about that picture? Like what's just to the right of the VR headset Oh there's a curtain Uhuh.pleted curtain. And behind every curtain is presumably a window. and a window lets in. L And it turns out Several Reditors chimed in that light, even just a few seconds of light, apparently can damage the lenses of the VR headset. So there's no lenses are never supposed to be exposed to any kind of Oh, well, today they learned to store their headset in a better spot. And this is why I say this is all very tangentially related because I was like, you know what? This sounds like a gaming thing. I'm gonna go with a gaming thing. and hope that Ben doesn't know what this is. Well, like in a way, what is it? the subreddit is like an attempt to speedrun an answer to a question O. You know what I'm saying? Okay, so there you go. All right, well I've got another speedrun story for you And it does involve the devil's music. justust kidding. It involves Drugs religion Oh and it's it's a mixed tale A mixed tale with mixed results about speed running. U and we will R on that Init a minute Good sleep is everything That's why Ollie's science back support is made with a blend of melatonin and Lthianine for both kiddles and grownups So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help Eeracing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance Find Ollie sleep solutions for the whole family at ollie. com That's ollY. com Support for this podcast comes from Is Business Broken, a podcast from the Marotra Institute at BU Questrum School of Business. Ships move the vast majority of the world's goods, and it's cheaper and safer compared to trucks or planes So the shipping was there. centuries and it will remain there in the future. So how does an industry this essential think about sustainability follow is Business Broken wherever you get your podcasts, and stick around until the end of this podcast for a preview of a recent episode about what it will take for ocean freight shipping to reach net zero emissions Business leaders listen Over half tune into podcasts daily. Reach them with Citity Space Productions, the creative studio from WBR's Business partartnerships team City Space Productions crafts custom podcasts for businesses that showcase expertise deeepen connections and drive engagement T your vision into a podcast Visit wbr. org slash Creative stududio Emily, are you a church lady? You go going to church? I feel like I just went to my church, which is I went on a little walk in the woods right before this. You went to the Church of Mother Nature. That's right Yeah, I love that. But otherwise, no, I think I've been in an actual church I could count it on Not one hand. let's say two hands in my whole life. Yep. Okay, so those more than five but less than ten, you can count them on your hand visits to a church. Emmory, were any of those visits to the Church of Scientology You know They were not I don't think I'm breaking any news there about my own my own religious practices And are you familiar with the Church of Scientology? What's your familiarity with? U, Well, we've we've covered it a little bit on the show U I know that it was founded by a sci fi writer. I most you know what's interesting is that I mostly know, I don't know a scientologist in my life To me, scientology is a religion of celebrities. It's like Tom Cruise John Travolta Elizabeth Moss Um Leah Remini who left the church Yeah, so so as you said, you know, this is a religion created in the nineteen fifties by Elron Hubbard, a sci fi writer m It has a very big presence in Los Angeles because as you said, many famous actors are members of the church. But people who have left the church have really just kind of described an awful culture within the church, a culture of violence and abuse. cultism And we could say that it is a very controversial church in the list of churches that exist around the world And before we did anything on the show about it back in the day, what was your familiarity with it or relationship to the church. I had almost a non existent relationship to the church, except I used to go to Austin, Texas once a year to try to go to south by southwest. And when I did that, I would spend some time at KUT, shout out our local NPR station in Austin, Texas and near to KUT, there was a scientology building. It was a weird spot. It felt a lot like a. semi abandoned department store front window you know, it doesn't look like a church, definitely not church like. but Whatever the case, this was a very odd spot. and I was curious about the Church of Scientology just through looking in this window, I was like, man, this is Vy different from your average church that you might look into the window of the front door That will become relevant in a second. So I want you to do me a favor Go to Reddit. com very formal of you. Okay. readit. com Tob, Okaykay Okay, search Scientology speed runs Oh my goodness. Okaykay Now sort by new Oh What are you seeing? Tell me what you're seeing? Well, the top one is from R slash cols. Any scientology speed rununs coming up in the Boston area The onion, hundredundreds of youths descend on Vancouver's scientology buildilding as part of speedrunning trend Yes. now you're getting it Um what is a scientology speedrun Over the last month or so I have been seeing on my feeds these so called scientology speedruns. And this apparently started as a TikTok trend It may have started with a user U whose username is at S W H I L E Y Y S. Wiley Okay. posted a speed run and started this trend and it is really, really blown up over the last several weeks, as you can see with basically youths mostly mostly boys, teenage boys And what will happen They will Eesssentially run into scientology buildings and see how far they can get Wow, this is a very literal speedrun Yes, it is a literal What are teenage boys if not literal beings. Take a look at that Come on, dude, let's go Okay, so it's a guy running through a Church of Scientology. He must have a camera on his head in addition to he's filming on his phone. And there are people, he's just like scientology speed run and he's just running through hallways of what look like basically a An office building, almost a pretty generic looking building. Doesn't look like a church, right? Doesn't look like a church. There's clearly like someone behind him. He says at one point like D't push me, sir. Um, as if like someone is trying to get him out of there. And then as he's approaching the exit There's at least one police officer, maybe more than that. and He's been caught and he's just try to he's just trying to boogy his way through the church Boogy is a good description. So I've seen some other versions of this video where There's like, twenty kids. all at the same time charging into the building and running Pelmel through the building. And why? Do we know why? just because it's sort of a mysterious place and this is a This is a fun challenge I think that's basically. I mean f is relative, but you know It's chaos. It's this sort of chaos thing. Whatatever happened to a good old flash mob? I mean, that's kind of what this is, right? But it's like a little bit more aggressive in that it's like these kids are like running into this building Um The person who apparently started this trend told the Hollywood Reporter, I do not condone what I did even though I didn't break any laws. This is a person who started it via TikTok Anyway, there's now been a number of reports about this. So there was an NBC report. Hollywood Reporter did one. The Guardian has done a few pieces. It's now in the New York Times Like you said, it it's been done in Vancouver. People are trying to do one in Boston now. It really has swept the country in the past few weeks in this really interesting way I think one of the posts I saw was from if it's the same Hamburg from Hamburg, Germany. What do you What's your impression of how peopleople in these buildings might react to this kind of thing. Well I guess I have a question and a comment. My My comment is from The little bit of reporting that we've done on scientology in the past The officials that we've spoken to or people we've reached out to, there is more of a defensive approach in their responses. like they are expecting to have to defend how they run the church. And so it's not surprising to me that there would be you know, to have seen the police in the video and to see a sort of like, get this person who's running through our church because I can appreciate that no matter what the religion is or the organization is, that would just feel kind of violating if someone is you know stampeding through your your space. I think churches in general, they're meant to be places of respite, places where anyone is welcome, right? Like that's the idea. Scientology, as we've talked about is pretty complicated as a version of this. People have called it a cult It has it displays lots of cult like aspects in the way that people are asked to worship and contribute and be a part of the Church of Scientology. So it is definitely complicated and lots of other churches display problematic ways of existing as well, we should say The Church of Scientology said in a statement, quote, These are peaceful spaces designed to welcome parishioners, visitors, and members of the public Turning them into targets for viral stunts is not journalism protest or civic activity. It is trespass, harassment and disruption of religious facilities The spokesperson for the church also told the Associated press that a staff person there was injured and required medical attention. In May, Sandy Springs pololice in Georgia also arrested a man there as part of yet another scientology speedrun attempt This is, you know, it's getting it's getting it's getting complicated The Guardian article quotes Lah Remi. She says something that I think kind of speaks to my own non church of scientology, E runon Hubbard Soul Which is she says, if someone is brainwashed for years into believing the outside world is filled with dangerous lunatics who wish to impede scientology, a group of people running through a scientology building is only going to confirm that belief and lead them to dedicate themselves even more to the cause they believe in I love in many ways, I'm still an adolescent boy and you know I'm a pro being ridiculous person and doing ridiculous things person in many ways But I also think it's gotten crazy guys. Let's let's maybe back it off. I don't know. Yeah, and I think Qestion of our time. And this has sort of come up across different episodes, whether it's You know, our Jeffrey episode, the the gentleman in Hong Kong. , you know, from Hong Kong originally or or this topic. I feel like the question of our time is How do we demonstrate? is how do we show up and resist things that we want to resist and demonstrate our beliefs and Basically like how to win friends and influence people? you know? L I don't think that we're very good broadly speaking that right now Um, J like you're pointing out, it becomes clearer when you see an example of something like this that you go Oh That actually is not helping anyone. That's not making the world a better place in any way And I just We all are looking for own sort of forms of resistance or protest or whatever that actually s bring someone to whatever light we want to bring them towards and not turn them off from whatever it is that we're doing. It's tricky, though, theseese kids might be trying to turn people onto the church of Speedrun. You know what I mean? It's tricky This is how they I had not thought of that. Thank you for introducing me to that perspective. My mind is open The Church of Speedun.ur Maybe that'll be the one that rounds out all the digits on your hands. You could go to the Church of Speedrun What?