Tracing Woodgrains at Substack HQ

I first knew

TracingWoodgrains

as an anonymous internet avatar.

He was a producer on the excellent

Blocked and Reported

podcast, where the hosts,

Jesse Singal

and

Katie Herzog

had a running bit where they poke fun at him for being a furry.

But Trace also helped them break some of their wildest and most hilarious internet culture stories.

Since then he’s made a name for himself as a thinker in his own right. I think you’ll see why I was fascinated to speak to him in person at the Substack office.¹

We cover a lot of ground.

• How to ask your commander in the military if you can be a pseudonymous producer on a controversial podcast

• Why Trace left mormonism, what he believes now, and why he’s still too pro-Mormon for the ex-mormons of Reddit

• Why internet drama is not as trivial as it sounds, and deserves serious reporting

• Substack’s place in the culture

• Our Sci-Fi influences

• How Trace, on “an incredibly petty bet” ran circles around the entire right wing media.

• Wading into a Twitter slapfight between

  Will Stancil
  and
  Steve Sailer

• The shocking facts behind the air traffic controller story.

Thanks

Cara Best

for the music. Be sure to subscribe to Trace’s Substack

1. Sorry for the video/audio issues. Recording in person was trickier than expected.