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  • This Is Not a Game with Marc Fennell

  • By: Marc Fennell
  • Narrated by: Marc Fennell
  • Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (110 ratings)

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This Is Not a Game with Marc Fennell

By: Marc Fennell
Narrated by: Marc Fennell
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Publisher's summary

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.

About the Creator and Performer

Marc Fennell is a Walkley Award-winning journalist, presenter, and documentary maker. A seven-time medalist at the New York Festivals TV and Radio Awards, Marc has been nominated twice for Europe’s prestigious Rose d’Or. He is a recipient of America’s coveted James Beard Foundation Award, an Asian Creative Academy National Award, and Webby Award Honors. The Times (UK) has called Marc the "cheerful Aussie version of Louis Theroux."
Marc is the creator of the popular, award-winning television series and podcast  Stuff the British Stole  for ABC Australia and CBC Canada. He is also seen each weeknight as the quizmaster of SBS TV’s (Australia) iconic game show Mastermind.
Marc has fronted groundbreaking docs like the Logie & AACTA nominated School That Tried to End Racism (ABC 2021), The Kingdom (SBS 2023), The Mission (SBS 2023), Rose d’Or shortlisted art-heist docuseries Framed (SBS 2021), as well as the hit Audible Original Podcasts It Burns (2019), Nut Jobs (2020), and House of Skulls (2023).
Marc is the dad of two kids and lives in Sydney, Australia.

What listeners say about This Is Not a Game with Marc Fennell

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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.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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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.

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3 people found this helpful

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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...

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1 person found this helpful

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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.

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Holy sh*t!

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

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Another fantastic and surreal journey into a strange slice of the world

If you've heard his other works you know what to expect and this one doesn't disappoint. If you haven't: Strap in! (And when you're done go listen to Nut Jobs)

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Modern Journalism

The care and gentle nature with which this was done was amazing. During the credits I just heard “Jad Abuhmrad” as a producer, I believe, and it all kinda made sense. So well done.

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Marc Fennel Strikes Again

He''s the best at making any topic interesting. A truly talented journalist who investigates every corner of a topic and brings in the best commenters and interviewees.

this isn't a topic that would interest me otherwise. I am not into games of this sort but the way that he goes into the depths of early internet and all the players that were involved and this Utopia and communal sense of being is really special and eye-opening and completely contrasted to what we now know the internet to be.

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very well put together.

I love the way this is put together and flows. Good job. Thank you! I hope to see more like this.

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Enlightening history of www and first internet conspiracy theory

Like the history. Differ with conclusion in the analysis that I think biggest lesson should be that the problems derived directly from initial deception that "This is not a game" that their story line was true. Also disagree with how Q Anon is similar. The fault for people fall for Q Anon and similar conspiracy theories lies with purposeful deception by politicians and media's inclination to conspire WITH politicians. Then when truth comes out ie Hunter Laptop that CIA and FBI swore was Russian disinfo info bc they do NOT believe in democracy and majority rule so are justified to do deceive....this is the basis for distrust and confusion

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