This Is Not a Game with Marc Fennell

De: Marc Fennell

Narrado por: Marc Fennell

This Is Not a Game is the extraordinary untold story of the internet’s first conspiracy theory, the legend of Ong’s Hat.

Marc Fennell will dive deep into a previously unexplored world of tech hippies, eccentric web subcultures and simmering paranoia, uncovering how this tongue-in-cheek artistic experiment backfired on its creator and went on to influence much of what’s wrong with the internet today.

Hosted and co-produced by Marc Fennell

A BBC Studios production for Audible

©2024 Marc Fennell (P)2024 BBC Studios Productions Ltd.

Aha!

An enlightening look at how utopias are created and destroyed, and how creativity and alternative realities seduce us.

this is not a game.

I enjoyed this program. it had several mythical stories that were quite intriguing. it is a mystery of all the stories that were in this program.

Brilliant

I could not wait till the end. This is one of the most entertaining pods out right now. As an internet user since 1994 it's absolutely fascinating to find out what was lurking inside the prehistoric web.

Holy sh*t!

What a wild ride!! This was very well produced!! I can’t believe how crazy this was!

A Fascinating Look at the Early Internet

This book positions itself as an account of how the conspiracy theory called Ong’s Hat got started. I suppose it did that but I learned more about Ong’s Hat reading Wikipedia than I did from this book. (Ong’s Hat was a 1990s conspiracy theory about a bunch of scientists who it was said had created a device called “the egg” and used it to visit a parallel earth.) What this book is really about, in my opinion, is how the early internet became a place where people could meet and talk about topics that no one else they knew was interested in. This actually became a breeding ground for conspiracy theories (although many such theories obviously existed before the internet). It’s an interesting book reminding us that the internet used to be a lot more primitive. I had forgotten what it was like in the early days and this brought back some memories. I would read it more for the early internet than for Ong’s Hat.

loved this docu

can you call it a documentary?
maybe so, but it was captivating from the start, and really interesting to listen, if you believe...

Super

Highly engaging and entertaining. Enjoyed every minute of it. I promise you will not regret this.

WOW!

At first I thought this is kind of boring for me, maybe it's geared to a different personality and I almost shut it off. then the last half hour of the story hit, and the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. I realized this is not a boring story, but a pathway that leads you the incredible place we as a species find ourselves in. previously when I would see blatant anarchy, that has very little basis in reality (presently college student protests) I used to ask my wife how did this situation get this crazy, Now I know it's Ong's Hat all over again. Feel free to click on my name, I'm a seasoned reviewer, and it is difficult to get 5 stars across the board from me.

eye opening story of where we were and what we became

very well produced and told. reaching back to the beginning of online for those who explored the world thru a screen

What a ride!!!

Marc Fennell is an amazing storyteller. Really worthwhile listen and love the 90s nostalgia. Highly recommended!!