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Who is the KHive?: Online standom and the ever-shifting sands of election season memes

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Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at a Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority gathering in Houston, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at a Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority gathering in Houston, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

When future generations learn about the launch of current Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, memes are going to be part of the story. Election season has always yielded yuks on the internet, but this year, the memes have gone mainstream. Why were Harris and coconuts inescapable for a several day span, and what does it tell us about the context of all in which we live?

Kalyani Saxena, Endless Thread's colleague from WBUR and NPR's Here & Now, and Madison Malone Kircher, internet culture reporter for The New York Times, decode the origins of this particular political meme explosion, and the online communities behind it.

Show notes:

This content was originally created for audio. An auto-generated transcript is available on Apple Podcasts. Heads up that some elements (i.e. music, sound effects, tone) are harder to translate to text.

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Grace Tatter is a producer for WBUR Podcasts.

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Emily Jankowski is a sound designer for WBUR’s podcast department. She mixes and designs for Endless Thread, Last Seen and The Common.

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Amory Sivertson is a senior producer for podcasts and the co-host of Endless Thread.

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