Latest / Mini Scroll / Tenor GIFs axed, Cheesy Michael meme analysis + Dua Lipa's library for censored books

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Tenor GIFs axed, Cheesy Michael meme analysis + Dua Lipa's library for censored books · Mini Scroll

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  Coming up today on Mini Scroll, the Internet says goodbye to
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  tenor GIF Search the meaning of Cheesy Michael and Dua Lipa's
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  library for banned books. Hi everyone, welcome to Mini
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  Scroll, the daily Internet culture podcast bringing you the
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  biggest stories from social media, the creator economy and
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  the digital space. Every Monday through Thursday
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  and sometimes Fridays. I'm your host, Lauren Meisner,
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  the founder of the Australian youth digital media brand
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  Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini Scroll,
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  everyone. OK, I've got to say, today's
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  mini scroll is kind of giving a Friday mini scroll.
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  The stories are so incredibly random.
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  So let's all manifest that overnight some crazy ass shit
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  happens and I can have like a big good mini scroll for you
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  guys tomorrow on Friday because I feel like Fridays, I'm always
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  scraping the bottom of the barrel for like, interesting
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  stories because so much has already happened that I've
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  covered. And today, I mean, these stories
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  are what they are, OK, they're decent, but it is kind of
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  random. Anyways, before I get into it,
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  Please remember to rate, review and subscribe.
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  Please Spotify star rate US. It helps us so much, helps us
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  grow. It helps us get sponsors.
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  You guys have been going in on the Spotify comments and I'm
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  loving it. I'm loving how many Spotify
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  comments we're getting recently. It's so iconic.
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  I'm just so proud of the community that we have built
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  here on Mini Scroll. It literally keeps me going in
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  our darkest hours here at Centennial World.
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  All right, let's get into the stories for today.
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  The first story that I have for you guys today is we are losing
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  access to one of the internet's favorite GIF galleries.
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  And I'm sorry, I am actually a GIF truther, OK?
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  I have always, my entire life called it GIF, but I was
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  researching for this story, obviously, like I wanted to make
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  sure I was saying it correctly because everybody's always like
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  GIF. GIF.
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  Apparently the founder of the GIF said that it is GIF.
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  So I'm going to be using GIF. That is why if you guys are GIF
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  truthers too, just know I wish I could be saying GIF this entire
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  story. OK, this is definitely mini tech
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  coded. And when Annabelle and I were
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  talking about this day, she was like, I literally just like
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  forgot to cover it yesterday. So that's the power of mini
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  scroll. If you forget to cover a story,
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  there's always next episode, there's always tomorrow.
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  So we're covering it on mini scrolls.
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  So while GIFs, GIFs, no GIFs. Well, GIFs were once considered
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  very chewy. They never really fell out of
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  the zeitgeist, especially on places like Stand Twitter and
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  even the TikTok comment section. Now there's actually a whole GIF
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  subculture on Stan Twitter where like some of the GIFs that are
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  famous, like they wouldn't be significant anywhere else.
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  It's a very interesting place to be.
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  And do you guys remember the eraofthe.com when we would all
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  have GIFs in our articles? Like that was when I started
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  writing online, like when I started publishing online and we
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  would be putting GIFs, GIFs in there all the time.
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  Like honestly, it was such an iconic time in Internet culture.
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  I miss it actually, but it definitely got to a point where
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  it was like a little bit chooky. Anyways, Tenor is essentially a
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  gallery that has historically supplied GIFs to many different
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  platforms, including Twitter and Discord.
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  And there are of course alternatives like Jiffy, but
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  Tenor was one of the most popular and one of the Ogs.
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  Now Tenor started as an independent company in the early
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  twenty 10's and was acquired by Google in March 2018.
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  Google set up an API for Tenor which allowed other platforms to
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  access the Jif library. That is until this year.
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  So in January it was announced that Tenor would be winding down
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  its API access on Google for developers.
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  A pop up read quote. As of Jan 2026 we are no longer
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  accepting new API clients. And then 2 days ago, on June
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  30th, Google shut down the API. So as the statement reads,
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  quote, as part of an ongoing effort to focus resources on
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  enhancing our core products, we've made the decision to
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  sunset the Tenor API on June 30, 2026.
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  So the Tenor GIFs will be available on Google owned apps
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  but not on any other apps essentially.
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  So in a piece for ours Technica, Ryan Whitman argues that quote.
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  The real problem was probably that Tenor was free and Google
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  didn't see a way it could make money from a GIF API.
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  Not everything needs to be monetized.
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  They're owned by Google. Like we are losing the ancient
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  texts. Let us keep the fucking GIFs.
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  Like are you joking? OK so social media users, they
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  are not happy. They are feeling the same
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  sentiment as me. Nikita Byer, head of product,
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  edx, responded to a tweet from a user complaining.
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  Writing not in our control. Tenor went out of business last
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  week and we were forced to migrate.
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  So yeah, the content available in Jif libraries varies
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  depending on the service. So users are like, OK, I'm going
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  to lose access to my library. Like my favorite reactions
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  basically. And Holden Smith, who's like a
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  TikTok pop culture commentator, he made a whole video about this
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  and he described the situation as the modern day burning of the
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  Library of Alexandria. And honestly, that is so
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  dramatic, but I understand what he's saying.
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  Like we are losing the ancient texts.
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  Like this is another nail in the proverbial coffin of the kind of
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  like oldworld.com era of the 20 tens.
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  And we have already lost so much from that era.
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  Like we have lost all of the Myspace archives.
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  So many ofthe.com publications that existed during that time
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  that were documenting like culture and history and what was
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  happening online have all folded and all of their content is
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  basically just gone. We almost lost the way back
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  machine. What was that earlier this year
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  or last year? Like we're in an unwell place.
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  If someone has an idea on how to preserve any of this Internet
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  culture stuff, let me know. I'll get behind it.
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  I have like $2.00 to invest in it, but I'll invest that $2.00.
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  OK the next story that I have for you guys today is we need to
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  talk about the cheesy Michael meme.
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  This meme has been circulating for a long time.
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  It only recently came across my desk, but I feel like the actual
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  discourse around this meme has come to a head.
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  OK so this meme originated with a TikTok by user at niche Tony.
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  In these videos, Tony is attempting to prank his roommate
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  who he calls cheesy Michael. If you guys know why he calls
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  him cheesy Michael please let me know.
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  Comments down below because I I was trying to figure this out
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  and I couldn't figure out why exactly he calls him Cheesy
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  Michael. OK so the prank is like low
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  stakes. Tony places random items on the
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  door handle of Cheesy Michael's alleged door so that when he
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  opens the door, the item falls on the floor.
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  The catch is that Cheesy Michael never opens it, so viewers never
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  actually get to see this prank unfold.
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  Tony has made so many versions of this prank because people
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  keep waiting. Who is Cheesy Michael?
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  What is going to happen when he opens the door?
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  And there's, like, this random item on his door handle?
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  Like, what's going on with this prank?
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  Why is this going so viral? So people are, like, waiting
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  with bated breath to see this prank unfold, and it never
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  unfolds. And he has made, like I said, so
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  many versions of it. The most popular one was with an
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  egg, and it has over 8 million views.
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  So according to Know Your Meme, the first time Tony posted a
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  video like this was back in November 2025.
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  He placed a packet of cookies on the door handle.
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  But the meme only really went viral after someone behind the
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  camera started singing a little song with the lyrics.
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  Cheesy Michael, Open up the door.
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  And it's important to note that this person sounds like a
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  different person to Tony. It doesn't sound like it's Tony
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  singing this. Today I'm going to be pranking
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  Cheesy Michael with this egg so that when he opens his door it
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  smashes on the floor and ruins his life.
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  Cheesy Michael. Cheesy Michael.
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  Cheesy Michael. Cheesy Michael.
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  So now with this song, the Cheesy Michael meme gained
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  traction because user started remixing and covering Cheesy
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  Michael Open up the door and people are singing it in
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  different styles like opera and with whole bands.
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  It's become this entire almost like a universe in and of
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  itself. So this meme is just like
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  textbook meaningless content, like brain rock content that
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  TikTok loves. It kind of reminds me of the
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  Zendaya hat theory where it's just like super nonsensical but
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  everyone feels invested in the lore because they're in on the
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  joke. And when it comes to Cheesy
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  Michael, there are a few big questions on everyone's mind
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  that I think keep people coming back and that have kept this
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  meme going for so long. The 1st is whether Cheesy
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  Michael is even real. So on a Reddit post for the R
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  slash Michael subreddit someone wrote quote does Cheesy Michael
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  ever open the door? We all know Cheesy Michael, but
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  do we ever see him? And I am very interested in his
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  lore if anyone knows anything. If Cheesy Michael ever opens the
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  door on camera, can someone please tell me what video it is?
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  I'm consumed with curiosity. So the fact that nobody knows
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  anything about Cheesy Michael kind of allows viewers to
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  project onto him, which is a major part of lore building in
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  meme culture. And this is really how memes
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  become characters and like, universes in and of themselves.
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  And on top of this, the fact that viewers never get to see
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  what happens when Cheesy Michael opens that door obviously keeps
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  us coming back, right? Even though he actually may not
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  be real. But being aware that he also may
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  not be real is, like, part of the joke because meme culture is
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  so steeped in irony. So another question that viewers
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  can't stop asking is who's actually singing the Cheesy
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  Michael song? Because like I said, it sounds
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  like there's two people. It doesn't sound like it's Tony
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  singing it. I think I found out the guy who
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  was singing Cheesy Michael, the guy who was trying to prank
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  Cheesy Michael, he, he sounds like he's in a like a hallway.
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  He doesn't sound like he's behind the door.
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  He sounds like he's like right next to the guy recording and
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  they're in a hallway and his voice is bouncing off both.
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  Walls OK, so aside from essentially like my analysis on
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  like why memes go viral and you know why people get so invested
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  in these like meme universes, meme expert Aiden Walker, who we
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  have had on this podcast before, shouted Aiden.
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  He has chimed in with his analysis of the cheesy Michael
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  meme. So he says that everyone has a
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  cheesy Michael and that is what has made this so popular.
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  So what Aiden describes is like an event or person that you are
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  waiting for, but it never comes. And within this frame of
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  analysis, he claims that the cheesy Michael meme represents
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  the mystery of faith and how we grapple with the unknown because
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  Internet culture really is that serious, you guys.
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  OK, and then to leave you all with something to think about if
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  I haven't left you with enough to think about regarding the
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  cheesy Michael meme. When we were researching this,
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  we found a YouTube video that Tony, the one who started the
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  meme, actually published about a month ago where he claims to be
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  explaining. He calls it the Michael verse
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  explained. OK, let me play a clip from this
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  video for you. Today I'm going to be explaining
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  Easy Michael's Law and the Michael verse as a whole.
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  Golden Michael, one of the first Michael's alongside Dark
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  Michael. These two are rumoured to be
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  brothers. The Founding Michael's Golden
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  Michael represents peace, bravery and kindness, and he
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  might be considered one of the strongest Michaels in the
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  Michael verse. Golden Michael has appeared in a
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  few Tony videos. Overall a well respected
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  character in the community. Dark Michael is also one of the
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  founding Michaels. He's full of darkness and
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  overall evil intent. He used to be close to Golden
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  Michael until the darkness consumed them.
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  So I'm going to say this leaves us with more questions and
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  answers. However, I'm really loving how
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  the creator of this meme isn't just allowing the meme to take
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  on a life of its own. Like he is also creating the
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  narration behind it, right? Like he is participating in
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  this, which I really like. And I really shows that the
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  person who created this, Tony, if that's even his name, is
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  truly tapped in to what goes viral, what's happening online,
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  meme culture, all of that. OK, the last story that I have
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  for you guys today is Dua Lipa opens a library for censored
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  books. I'm sorry, but Dua Lipa stays
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  winning. Like I saw somebody, I think
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  maybe it was a tweet somebody wrote whatever I ask God for, he
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  triples it and gives it to Dua Lipa.
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  And that is like a so true. OK, so this library is called
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  the Manifesto Library and it is found inside the famous Lavaria.
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  I'm sorry if I said that wrong. Lilo Bookshop in Porto,
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  Portugal. So if you know anything about
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  Dua Lipas, I guess recent arc in her career, this is not totally
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  random. She has become known for Service
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  95, which is a quote, global style arts and society venture,
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  the ultimate cultural concierge at the service of a reader and a
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  book club is part of Service 95. And she also used to interview
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  authors on her podcast. Does she even have a podcast
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  anymore? I'm sorry, I should have looked
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  that up before this. But yeah, she has definitely
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  done a lot with like reading and books and book clubs and
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  culture. I will say I saw on the Good
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  Noticings podcast host Clare and Ashley who have been on the
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  podcast as well when they were celebrity memoir book club.
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  And I saw them say that they, I think they met Dua Lipa at an
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  event and they're like, Oh, yeah, we were in your
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  recommended, like in your newsletter recommendation.
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  And then apparently Julie was like, oh, I don't write those.
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  OK. So the Manifesto Library is
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  considered the first physical manifestation of Service 95.
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  The library is a permanent collection of 100 books.
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  Some of these books may have been banned, while others are
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  restricted. So, for example, they may have
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  been taken out of the school curriculum or removed from
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  libraries because of their message service. 95 also
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  explains that some of these books quote haven't been
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  directly challenged, but instead do the challenging, whether of
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  existing power structures or the suppression of individual and
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  collective voices. The 100 books are split across
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  four key themes, power, control, voice, and memory.
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  Some of the titles that are listed on the website include
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  The Color Purple, The Second Sex, and The Handmaid's Tale.
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  So yes, a lot of people are really excited about this and
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  think that this is a great example of an A Lister, like
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  using their money and power and influence for something good.
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  Especially her fans in the US are excited to see this
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  considering book bans have become increasingly widespread.
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  So pulling from data from the American Library Association,
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  the Guardian reported that quote in 2020, five 5668 books were
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  banned, representing 66% of the total number challenged, with an
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  additional 920 censored through access restriction such as
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  relocation on the library shelves.
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  And books with LGBTQIA plus themes were over represented
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  amongst those that have been banned and or challenged.
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  Anyways, guys, that's it for mini scroll today.
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  Thank you so much for listening. I love you guys.
• 15:18
  Please remember to rate, review and subscribe.
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  Please Spotify star rate US. It helps us so much.
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  It helps us grow. And I will talk to you guys
• 15:25
  tomorrow for a Friday mini scroll bye.
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