Endless Thread - Snacktime: Into The Woods

Episode Date: August 16, 2019

This Snacktime episode takes us to the woods, with revenge-filled confessions and mysterious sounds......

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Support for Endless Thread comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink Software, to design and develop engineered systems, accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at Mathworks.com. Support for WBUR comes from Is Business Broken, a podcast from the Mayrotra Institute at Boston University that explores questions like, why is innovation in healthcare so hard? Is ESG just greenwashing? And, of course, is business broken? Listen, wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the I-Lab at WBUR, Boston. Uh-oh. Amory, I went to Montreal recently.
Starting point is 00:00:47 Oh, yeah. And I brought something back with me. Okay. That I just discovered. Okay. This is technically a snack time episode where we discuss Reddit posts, but don't make a full throttle, beautiful, wonderful. crazy, amazing episode, but just kind of talk about some Reddit stories.
Starting point is 00:01:04 And we divide all of our listeners between the people who don't really mind us eating snacks into the microphone, and the people were like, no. So if you hate those sounds, please cover your ears, earmuffs, as they say. I brought you Melange, Bibique Epice, aka spicy spicy barbecue mix. That's, I understand that. Yeah. I'm seeing corn nuts. Yeah, corn nuts.
Starting point is 00:01:32 I like to look at that. I like to look at that. I like to look at that. Me too. It's a good reminder that even up in Canada, they love the same things we love. Thanks for bringing this back. No, I figured I'd bring back a snack for you. Appreciate it.
Starting point is 00:01:46 Should we tell some stories? Yeah, let's do it. So, Ben, I think I told you that I have this kind of wooded area at the end of my street. Yeah. The place where you smoke weed when you're 17. When you're 17. Right. have tons of protected sex and all the other rebellious things that you do in the woods as a
Starting point is 00:02:08 teenager. But I am not a teenager. I am a grown-ass woman. Yeah, you have a house. And I have found myself feeling quite annoyed at a group of youths who party in the woods, not because they party in the woods. I support that. I think it's great to have this kind of safe haven where you can be a stupid teenager and be rebellious. My problem is that they litter. Not only do they leave a ton of cans, but just broken beer bottles. They smash beer bottles against
Starting point is 00:02:40 trees. Not cool. The forest floor is just a layer of broken glass. I have been brainstorming for the past three months. Ever since I discovered that they do this, how to get back at them. Can I tell you how I picture this going?
Starting point is 00:02:57 Please. Over the last several months, you've just been brainstorming, but the whole time you've been singing, Walking on, walking on, broken glass. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. And then eventually what happens is you put on your best Bart Simpson t-shirt. Okay. You put on your hat backwards and you throw a skateboard over your shoulder and you go and try
Starting point is 00:03:21 to talk to the fellow kids. So that's what I would do if I were very brave. I am not very brave. So what I did was I recruited a couple friends and we had a clean-up day and I bought a recycle bin and I wheeled it out into the woods and I put up signs that said,
Starting point is 00:03:42 please recycle or whatever they said it did not work. But all of this is to say I have a strong... No, it did, they just... Okay, they did put stuff in the bin for like a couple weeks, But then I went to the woods to pick up the bin to wheel it out on trash day.
Starting point is 00:04:01 And all that was left of the bin was a lid was the lid to the bin. The bin was gone. They probably lit it on fire because they light everything else on fire there. That's just mean. That's just degrading. They'll leave the top. I know. So all of this is to say that I have a need for like some vigilante justice.
Starting point is 00:04:22 Yeah. And so I've been finding some posts on Reddit lately that have really I'm living vicariously through the people who are brave enough to take action, to take matters into their own hands. All three of these, actually, I found in the Confession Subreddit, which is a favorite of mine, because you get everything from really deep, dark stuff to just, like, funny things that people want to share with others.
Starting point is 00:04:48 So here's one. This person works in a coffee shop. And they said, Whenever a super rude customer orders a strong coffee, I give them decaf. That is, that also, that also belongs on not malicious compliance, but what's the other one? Like petty revenge or something. Yeah, petty revenge or, yeah, that's good. Yeah, so I'm trying, that's, this is why.
Starting point is 00:05:15 I'm like trying to figure out what my line is, like, what would be petty revenge and what would just be, what would send a super strong, effective message? Or a super decaffeinated weak message. Right. So here's another one. I threw a bunch of trash from my car into another guy's car because he littered. Also beautiful. Right. And this one really resonated with me because one of my ideas was if I could just figure out who these kids are, next time I do a pickup, instead of leaving the trash out for the recycle people, what if I just put it on their lawn? See, I would never do that, but part of me wants to be that person.
Starting point is 00:05:53 I completely understand that instinct, but that is not. That's like a recipe for escalation that nobody wants. And also their parents are just going to have to clean that up. Those asshole kids are not... Go there, Ben. Go there. Those asshole kids are not going to clean that mess up. The best thing you could do, I feel like, would be to learn where they live and then to tell their parents. Why don't they have any decency in their sense?
Starting point is 00:06:23 souls already for just one of them to go, hey guys, this isn't cool, man. I know. Recycle your bottle, man. Someday they will. Here's the actual post that made me look for other posts like this. Okay. I leave fake parking tickets on cars that deserve real ones. Now, as someone who used to ride their bike all around town, I recently moved to an area that is not so cycling friendly, but I used to want to do this all the time. I was like, I wish, I wish that I had the time to, like, write all these people fake parking tickets, all these people who, like, cut me off, almost ran me over. I would just, like, send them a little curse, like, just a little one in my mind. Everybody's got a bunch of little teenager dolls that she's, like, cutting their legs off. Nope, nope, I would just say, like, I hope
Starting point is 00:07:16 you spill coffee all over yourself today or something like that. A wholesome amory sends a little curse. I hope you stub your toe. No, I just want something like pretty inconvenient to happen to these people. Is that so wrong? No, I think that's right. All right. So I'm not going to throw trash on people's yards and I'm not going to give them fake parking tickets.
Starting point is 00:07:42 And I'm not going to give them decap. I probably would give them decap. That's really good. That's so good. But just little curses flying in all directions. Okay, I have one for you. Okay. It's an RBI.
Starting point is 00:08:11 Do you know that community? Runs batted in? No, I'm guessing not. Reddit Bureau of Investigation. Up my alley. Using the power of the internet to solve real-world problems. Okay. Okay, you ready?
Starting point is 00:08:25 Yep. This one actually has audio, so I'm going to play it. Okay. What is that? Great question. The title of this post is, mysterious noise last night in New Hampshire area. Ooh.
Starting point is 00:08:47 And over New Hampshire. When spending July 30th away from home with some family, we all heard this extremely loud noise while sitting around the campfire. For reference, it stopped all conversation and could be heard as it echoed throughout the nearby mountains. The noise repeated with around a five to ten minute period in between, so that's why I had my phone out recording and captured the second. time it happened. The next night, we heard the sound again coming from the east. I really want to know what this is. It's all I've been thinking about recently. The sound was also heard more than once on the
Starting point is 00:09:29 first night. This recording only capturing the second of three happenings. The noise sounded far off to the east, but still loud and rumbled. On the first night, July 29th, the noise happened two to three times spanning 1120 to 11.30 p.m. On the second night, July 31st, it was heard once at 12.16 a.m. Wow. creepy. So what do you think? I'm just going to go full stranger things and say there's a lab that is up to no good and they have a strange machine. You're saying it's like farts from the upside down? Is that what you're telling me? Way more powerful than farts, Ben. I don't know. Farts. I don't know. Farts. can be pretty powerful. I don't know. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:14 Okay, so I want to read you a couple comments. Okay. You tell me what you think. Almost sounds like a ship's horn to me. Any canals nearby or possibly a dam that is releasing water. The O.P., whose Reddit handle is Boss Chubi, says that was my first thought, but family that regularly lives in the area discounted it due to the surrounding areas not having a cause for larger shipping boats.
Starting point is 00:10:40 So this is inland in New Hampshire. Wait, can I hear it again? I mean, I've heard some like frogs and toads make some pretty strange sounds, but that sounds even more ominous than that. Yeah, this person had a pretty likely explanation, it sounds like. It sounds like a shiphorn, which it could be. It's a hobby to some people, which explains why you'd hear it in the middle of nowhere. That's the only place people could test them out without angering thousands of people.
Starting point is 00:11:11 I'm thinking it went like this. I just bought this big-ass ship horn in the surplus market, but it needs work last night after fixing the issues it had. I've got to test this thing out. Holy shit, it's goddamn loud. Oh man, so badass. I bet people can hear this 10 miles away. Ah, I should stop.
Starting point is 00:11:28 Just once more. And again, okay, one more. And this person actually links to sound of a chips horn. Do you want to hear that? Yeah, of course. That kind of sounds like it, right? Yeah. It has that kind of big, echoing, booming.
Starting point is 00:11:49 Why are they testing it out more than one night, though? I don't know. If you're sitting around in the New Hampshire woods, drinking some beers, hanging out with your buddy who's got that big-ass ship's horn he just bought online. You're like, do it again, Kenny. I mean, I guess so. Do we know the answer?
Starting point is 00:12:09 Do we get to the bottom of this? There are a couple of updates to this post. Okay. Update. While the horn is an easy explanation, it seems a little too deep in rumbling. I've recently joined the Andover New Hampshire Friends Group on Facebook to seek help from residents. Update number two. The Watts Water Webster Valve Division produces metal parts, but no hours are listed. If this was the cause, why would it be so loud and so late? So somebody thought it was that. Update, possibly final. solved by Andover residents on Facebook. Multiple people claim it is some ex-convict that mods out car engines to make them as loud as possible.
Starting point is 00:12:55 Whoa. Thanks for your ideas, everyone. I don't know. I don't know. It doesn't, you know, I like this idea that someone bought a ship's horn on eBay and was firing it off. Well, I have to see it.
Starting point is 00:13:13 I'm a believe it when I see it person. Until then, it's just upside down farts. I hear you. So, dear Redditors, dear listeners, if you have any ideas other than upside down parts, let us know. Shout out to Reddors, I'm the Wise Guy, and fresh bread for those inspiring posts
Starting point is 00:13:34 in the Confession subreddit. And if I ever think of a way to make the woodland hooligans clean up their act, I'll let you know. All right. We leave you with those stories. We're going to get back to snacking and working on our next
Starting point is 00:13:48 Endless Threat episode. And I'm very excited about it. So am I. You should be too. Yeah. Okay. Talk next week. Okay, bye. At Radio Lab, we love nothing more
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