94. Cicada 3301

An image was posted on 4Chan in 2012 stating that a mysterious group was looking for highly intelligent individuals. It then prompted people to pass a test and if people followed the clues, they would receive an invitation to join said group. This led to the internet buzzing trying to find out: what was the purpose and who was behind this?

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Episode Pictures and Videos:

Episode Sources:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xys0D9LNC8

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZQanP2WgJQ

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2O7blSSzpI

• https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/cicada-solving-the-webs-deepest-mystery-84394/

• https://connortumbleson.com/2019/09/30/the-cicada-3301-mystery/

• https://www.fastcompany.com/3038719/what-its-like-to-be-on-the-inside-of-cicada-3301-the-internets-most-enigmatic-mystery

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/09/25/absolutely-everything-you-need-to-know-to-understand-4chan-the-internets-own-bogeyman/

• https://theface.com/life/cicada-3301-the-codebreakers-still-working-on-the-internets-strangest-mystery

• https://www.npr.org/2014/01/05/259959632/the-internets-cicada-a-mystery-without-an-answer

• https://www.boxentriq.com/code-breaking/cicada-3301-first-puzzle-walkthrough#final

• https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/notetoself/articles/meet-teenage-codebreaker-who-helped-solve-cicada-3301-internet-puzzle

• https://uncovering-cicada.fandom.com/wiki/Uncovering_Cicada_Wiki

• https://www.zmescience.com/other/feature-post/cicada-3301-puzzle-brightest-minds-posted-unknown-mysterious-organizationt/

• https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/10/cicada-3301-i-tried-the-hardest-puzzle-on-the-internet-and-failed-spectacularly