In 2009, a 10-year-old from Arizona flew to Los Angeles to compete on a new game show offering child prodigies the chance to win $500,000. But almost immediately, he could tell something was off. The experience had a profound impact on his life — and confounds legal scholars to this day.

Plus Dana takes us behind the scenes of her appearance on Jeopardy!, and Jason explains how his two-year-old daughter wound up answering trivia questions on The Rachael Ray Show.

On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Follow Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday. Subscribe to VSE wherever you get your podcasts.

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Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Jake Rossen
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Jonathan Washington
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Additional Editing by Mary Dooe
Research and Fact-Checking by Jake Rossen and Austin Thompson
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Got a question or comment, or want to invite Zaron to compete on your game show? You can reach us at veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com.

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In April 2023, Joanne did something she hadn't tried in well over a decade — she logged into her MySpace account. For our season finale, she set out to find the people who still use MySpace to this day. She reviews the factors that contributed to MySpace’s demise, and looks at what we lost when the MySpace era ended.

Thanks for your support of Main Accounts! What tech company should Joanne dig into in the future? Let us know on Twitter @jomc.

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"If you open a hole on the internet," UCLA professor Sarah T. Roberts tells us, "it gets filled with sh*t."

The tragic death of Megan Meier was a turning point for MySpace. As the first social media company to operate on a massive scale, MySpace and its users were forced to grapple with the consequences of that scale.

In this episode, Joanne is joined by Thomas Kadri of the University of Georgia School of Law to discuss how our legal system was ill-equipped to deal with the social media era. UCLA professor and author Sarah T. Roberts chronicles the early days of content moderation. And Bridget Todd and Scott Zakarin are back to talk about bullying in the MySpace era.

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Our last episode featured the tragic death of Megan Meier, which became the biggest scandal MySpace would ever face. In this bonus episode, Joanne wanted to share our full interview with Megan's mother, Tina. Tina told us more about Megan's life, the trial, and the work of the Megan Meier Foundation. Since 2007, the MMF has worked to end bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide.

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The moral panic over online predators on MySpace was largely overblown, but there was some truth to these concerns. These stories ended up on the nightly news and further stoked people’s fears about who was actually behind MySpace profiles. And one story — the biggest scandal MySpace had faced yet — showed how the use of a fake account could result in circumstances confusing and surreal, and tragic beyond belief.

And it set in motion events that would lead to MySpace’s eventual collapse.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We first reached out to digital archivist Jason Scott in episode five about the MySpace data loss. It turns out Jason had a lot more to say about his place in MySpace history that didn't make it into that episode.

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MySpace forever changed the way we listen to music. The social network shifted artists' relationships with their fans, and the site helped launch the careers of many huge stars, from Panic! At The Disco to Adele.

What made MySpace such an influential platform for musicians? And why did all the music disappear?

In this episode, Joanne sits down with Roslynn Alba Cobarrubias (former Head of Artist Relations at MySpace) and Josh Brooks (former VP of Programming and Music at MySpace). She also speaks to American musician Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Magic Hour, Damon and Naomi), creator Scott Zakarin, and Jason Scott of the Internet Archive. You'll hear more from Jason next week.

See Also...
The MySpace Music Dragon Hoard
https://archive.org/details/myspace_dragon_hoard_2010

Damon Krukowski's Newsletter
https://dadadrummer.substack.com/

Roslynn Alba Cobarrubias
https://www.instagram.com/roslynnc

Scott Zakarin
https://www.instagram.com/scottzakarin/

Jason Scott
http://ascii.textfiles.com/

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MySpace amplified the ongoing moral panic around teenagers on the internet. For young MySpace users, many of the trials of teenhood were transposed from the locker rooms, lunchrooms, and high school corridors to the realm of testimonials and Top 8. But was it really worse than any reality that teenagers throughout history have known?

Joanne is joined by Alexis Nedd (author of Don't Hate the Player) and Noor Al-Sibai (author of the forthcoming MySpace Scene Queens) to talk about growing up on MySpace.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.