About Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Joanne McNally Investigates
Joanne McNally is back on the investigative trail…. and with the Avril / Melissa theory no longer giving her sleepless nights, she’s keen to find a new story to get her teeth into.
Top of her list, after some deliberation is a story from the late 90’s… about a soft toy, the Furby, which took over the world and became the no.1 gift for Christmas. But Joanne has found headlines that claim the toy was banned, suspected of being a spy, linked to international espionage… there couldn’t be any truth to it… could there?
It's been a long journey, but finally Joanne is ready to close the book on Furby. She's learned about their rise to fame, and the rumours of espionage. And she's done her best to de-bunk them, by intrusively opening one up for examination, speaking to experts, and tracking down the man behind the marketing. But as the sun sets on her quest, she still needs to find out why the rumour began in the first place. And she needs to speak to David Hampton - the inventor.
That journey takes her via TikTok and FaceSwap - two apps which, Joanne discovers, have been linked to data gathering. Joanne is already fearful of what data she's sharing online, and her browsing habits have radically changed. But one last browse deep into the web reveals a stunning new find - a dossier of evidence which includes the original NSA memo about the Furby... and within it, the real reason it was banned by security experts.
Convinced that she finally understands what went on, Joanne concludes by meeting David Hampton. She learns about the Furby origins, little-known facts about it's powers, and some secrets about the brains behind it. But was Furby designed to spy? David has a surprising answer in store.
A What's The Story podcast for BBC Sounds
2 Oct 2024
Did Furbys Spy on Us? 5. Welcome to the Dark Side
So far in the series, Joanne has been getting more and more concerned about the amount of listening and surveillance which is all around her. And to make matters WORSE, her producers then take her to visit the worlds biggest listening station - on a hillside in North Yorkshire. Intrigued and terrified in equal measure - Joanne starts to wonder why it even exists, and why America was so worried about Furbys when they have an entire fleet of listening devices in the UK!
Joanne then speaks to her pal Roisin Conaty and together they conduct an experiment to find out if their mobile phones really listen to conversations. Picking a random topic which they've never discussed before, they go in deep, and then wait to see if their phones start sending bespoke adverts. And the results are surprising.
With so much concern, Joanne then calls on a tech expert Jake Moore to clean up her social media... fix her privacy settings, and generally help her stay safe online. Jake spots some issues within Joanne's apps, uncovers a scam she recently fell for, and then, inexplicably, helps Joanne access the dark web...
The series is produced by What's The Story for BBC Sounds.
25 Sept 2024
Did Furbys Spy on Us? 4. You Looking at Me?
Determined to get to the bottom of the rumours once and for all, Joanne lines up a meeting with one of the marketing brains behind the toy. She learns that the scandals which rocked Furby in 1998 did wonders for it's sales... and she wonders if it's still popular today because of the mystery around it.
Joanne also journeys to a toy shop, to do some hands-on research. And she finds out that the Furby is so coveted that it's kept inside a sealed glass container.
We also hear from an expert who explains why smart toys, and other smart devices, need to be treated with caution... and she meets an ethical hacker who was able to prove that some smart toys have been able to be hacked, and manipulated.
Joanne then hears some real stories of accidental espionage from her gaggle of followers. And she meets Jamie - a woman with a terrifying story of what can happen when your smart tech is infiltrated by strangers...
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.0 / 5
161 ratings
Spotify
4.6 / 5
704 ratings
Contact Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Joanne McNally Investigates
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