Joanne McNally is weer op onderzoek uitgegaan… en nu de Avril/Melissa-theorie haar geen slapeloze nachten meer bezorgt, wil ze graag een nieuw verhaal vinden om haar tanden in te zetten.
Bovenaan haar lijst staat, na enig overleg, een verhaal uit de late jaren 90… over een zacht stuk speelgoed, de Furby, dat de wereld overnam en het nummer 1-cadeau voor Kerstmis werd. Maar Joanne heeft krantenkoppen gevonden die beweren dat het speelgoed verboden was, verdacht werd van spionage, gelinkt aan internationale spionage… er kan toch geen waarheid in zitten… toch?
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
