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NPR’s Wild Card producer Dave Blanchard spotted unusual comments on a Spotify episode page and initially thought they might be bots. In a This American Life report, NPR journalist Hannah Chinn said the short, playful exchanges looked like middle schoolers using the comments as a place to connect; the excerpt does not establish who every commenter was or why they chose that episode.
NPR staff investigated a burst of unusual comments on a Spotify page for an episode of the public radio show Wild Card after producer Dave Blanchard suspected bot activity. In a report for This American Life, NPR journalist Hannah Chinn said the exchanges looked instead like middle schoolers using the comments as a makeshift group chat, a reading that changed how NPR colleagues understood the posts.
Blanchard noticed the activity while monitoring comments about a Wild Card episode featuring writer Elizabeth Gilbert. The posts included short, disconnected remarks such as “Ah, OK, M-H,” “Gilgamesh quit and I’m crying,” and “Your cats are so cute.” Blanchard told Ira Glass that the comments seemed like gibberish, though their different accounts and apparent interaction made the pattern unusual.
Blanchard deleted the posts, then saw a new comment saying, “so it deleted my com.” Other users responded to the deletion. That reaction made the activity seem less like the bot behavior he expected, he said. He shared screenshots in NPR’s Slack channels, where a senior colleague suggested reporting the activity to Spotify; Blanchard did so.
Chinn, who said their own experience as a young internet user helped them interpret the thread, focused on the display names, cartoon profile pictures and brief back-and-forth messages. They suggested the commenters might be children whose access to other messaging apps was limited. Chinn told colleagues they should not report the users as bots on that basis. The supplied transcript excerpt presents this as Chinn’s informed interpretation; it does not independently verify the commenters’ ages or explain why they chose the Wild Card page.
How the Thread Was Read
The episode shows how the same online behavior can look different across generations. To Blanchard, incoherent comments from multiple accounts suggested automation. Chinn recognized patterns they associated with young people using whatever online spaces were available to communicate. That difference mattered because the initial suspicion led to deletion and a report to Spotify.
The report also highlights how comment sections can take on uses beyond what a platform or publisher expects. Chinn described the apparent goal as simple contact: children acknowledging one another and trying to connect, even without much to discuss. The excerpt does not establish whether Spotify took action or whether the comments continued after NPR reported them.
A Wild Card Comment Mystery
Wild Card is an NPR public radio show hosted by Rachel Martin. Blanchard said keeping watch over online comments was part of his work. The thread appeared under an episode featuring Elizabeth Gilbert, whose book had been controversial; Blanchard initially wondered whether that controversy had prompted the activity.
Chinn drew on their own childhood experience communicating online in spaces not designed for private messaging. They recalled using Google Docs to talk with friends, including typing and deleting text or changing its color so it could not be seen. That experience informed their reading of the Spotify comments, though it was not proof of the commenters’ identities.
““It screamed bots, just because anytime that I see just gibberish in a comment on the internet, I assume it’s a bot.””
— Dave Blanchard, Wild Card producer, as quoted in This American Life
Who Was Behind the Comments
The commenters’ identities and ages are not independently confirmed in the supplied excerpt. Chinn concluded they were likely middle schoolers based on their names, profile pictures and style of interaction, but the material provides no direct confirmation from the users or their families.
It is also unclear why they selected the Wild Card episode, whether their access to other messaging apps was blocked, how many users took part, or what happened after Blanchard reported the thread to Spotify. The report excerpt describes Chinn doing more digging, but it ends before giving the results of that further investigation.
Further Findings Remain Unreported
The supplied portion of This American Life episode 897 stops as Glass says Chinn continued investigating and became more convinced. It does not include the outcome of that digging, Spotify’s response, or any later action by NPR. Those details would be needed to establish how the apparent chat formed and whether the platform or broadcaster made changes afterward.
Key Questions
What happened on the NPR Spotify page?
A Wild Card episode page drew a burst of short, unusual comments that appeared to respond to one another. Producer Dave Blanchard initially suspected bots, then reported the activity to Spotify.
Why did Hannah Chinn think the commenters were children?
Chinn cited the display names, cartoon profile pictures and brief, friendly exchanges. Their own experience communicating online as a young person shaped that interpretation, but the commenters’ ages are not confirmed in the excerpt.
Were the posts confirmed to be from middle schoolers?
No. Chinn said they believed the commenters were middle schoolers. The supplied report material does not independently verify the users’ identities or ages.
Did Spotify respond to NPR’s report?
The excerpt says Blanchard reported the activity to Spotify, but it does not describe a response or any action the company took.
Why might children use a podcast comment section as a chat?
Chinn suggested they may have had limited access to other messaging apps and were using an available online space to connect. That explanation is a hypothesis; the excerpt does not confirm the users’ reasons.
Source: hn
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