Short Stuff: Streisand Effect

This episode of Stuff You Should Know explores the Streisand Effect, the phenomenon where attempts to censor or suppress something online actually end up drawing massive attention to it instead. The hosts dive into Barbara Streisand's infamous 2003 lawsuit against a photographer over a coastal erosion photo that had been downloaded just six times—only to be downloaded nearly half a million times after the lawsuit made headlines. Beyond Streisand's story, they examine other famous backfires including McDonald's failed lawsuit against activists and a Scottish schoolgirl's food blog that exploded in popularity after her school tried to ban her from taking cafeteria photos.