

Jul 17, 2013
Originally published on July 18, 2013 4:23 pm

This weekend, one of our listeners spent their "cognitive surplus" producing a video (the one you're probably already watching). It remixes audio of Carl Kasell reading LOLcats captions on TED Radio Hour with the corresponding feline images.

Here's the back story: In a new episode, TED Radio Hour explored the idea of collaboration. The kind of collaboration that has led to game-changing advancements like Wikipedia and CAPTCHAs, which capitalize on internet-security puzzles to digitize books and teach foreign languages for free.

In his TED Talk, Clay Shirky, a leader in studying the effects of new technologies, explains how small moments of free time for individuals around the world - "cognitive surplus" he calls it - have made way for these mass collaborations that are changing the world. He told TED Radio Hour Host Guy Raz that people in the United States have an average 30-35 hours of free time a week, and people, especially the younger generation, are not just watching television.

Prime example: LOLcats. Raz called in Kasell, Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me's official judge and scorekeeper, to explain the viral memes on the show. And, well, you are watching the results. Meow.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit