WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.519 Welcome everyone to today's deep dive. I am really 00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:07.419 thrilled you are joining us because we have a 00:00:07.419 --> 00:00:10.240 fascinating stack of notes to get through today. 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:12.839 We really do. There's so much to cover. Yeah. 00:00:13.220 --> 00:00:15.300 Usually you and I are combing through, I don't 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:18.100 know, dense historical biographies, unraveling 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:21.620 really complex scientific papers or parsing investigative 00:00:21.620 --> 00:00:23.780 journalism. But today, today our source material 00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:26.039 is something you have probably clicked on a dozen 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:27.920 times without ever giving it a second thought. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:29.980 Oh, easily a dozen times. We are looking at a 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:33.299 Wikipedia disambiguation page, specifically the 00:00:33.299 --> 00:00:36.299 disambiguation page for a single deceptively 00:00:36.619 --> 00:00:39.840 Simple word passenger. It sounds incredibly mundane 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:42.950 at first glance. I know. I mean. A disambiguation 00:00:42.950 --> 00:00:45.530 page just exists to help you find the right article 00:00:45.530 --> 00:00:47.429 when multiple things share the exact same name. 00:00:47.490 --> 00:00:50.329 But when you actually sit down and synthesize 00:00:50.329 --> 00:00:52.789 the sheer volume of information on this specific 00:00:52.789 --> 00:00:56.429 page, it stops being a mere digital navigational 00:00:56.429 --> 00:00:59.229 tool. It becomes this massive mirror for human 00:00:59.229 --> 00:01:02.189 psychology. And that is exactly our mission for 00:01:02.189 --> 00:01:04.810 this deep dive. We are going to map out how this 00:01:04.810 --> 00:01:07.590 one concept has completely saturated almost a 00:01:07.590 --> 00:01:10.790 century of global culture, art, and even technology. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:13.659 Literature, cinema, television. Music, software, 00:01:13.900 --> 00:01:17.000 all of it. But to ground ourselves, we have to 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:19.280 start with the literal definition provided right 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:21.900 at the top of the source. It defines a passenger 00:01:21.900 --> 00:01:25.159 as a passive traveler in a vehicle. And right 00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:27.620 there, we hit the central irony of our entire 00:01:27.620 --> 00:01:31.060 discussion today. By definition, a passenger 00:01:31.060 --> 00:01:33.219 is completely passive. You're just sitting there. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:35.780 Exactly. They aren't steering the car. They aren't 00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:37.700 navigating the ship. They aren't flying the plane. 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:40.980 They're just along for the ride. Yet as our sources 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:44.159 reveal, this very concept of passivity has inspired 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:47.400 intense psychological horror, nonstop action, 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:50.519 profound suspense, and deeply moving music for 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:53.500 nearly 100 years. It's a complete paradox and 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:55.840 it shows up everywhere. Let's jump into the literature 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:57.659 section of our notes because the chronological 00:01:57.659 --> 00:02:00.359 journey here is just astounding. The oldest entry 00:02:00.359 --> 00:02:02.719 on this page is a short story simply titled The 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:04.959 Passenger. Written by Vladimir Dubokov. Right. 00:02:05.060 --> 00:02:08.500 All the way back in 1927. And we can trace this 00:02:08.500 --> 00:02:11.500 exact same title through the decades all the 00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:14.199 way to Cormac McCarthy, who released a novel 00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:17.400 called The Passenger in 2022. That is a 95 year 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:19.900 span. Nine to five years between two literary 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:22.680 giants, both anchored by the exact same concept. 00:02:23.210 --> 00:02:25.810 What stands out to you when you look at the timeline 00:02:25.810 --> 00:02:29.370 between those two literary pillars? Because looking 00:02:29.370 --> 00:02:31.830 at the notes, it's filled with a remarkable global 00:02:31.830 --> 00:02:34.889 and thematic range. Oh, for sure. For instance, 00:02:34.969 --> 00:02:36.830 you have Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz releasing 00:02:36.830 --> 00:02:39.969 his novel, The Passenger, in 1938. Which was 00:02:39.969 --> 00:02:42.069 right on the brink of World War II. Exactly. 00:02:42.090 --> 00:02:44.629 Then you jump forward to Thomas Keneally's novel 00:02:44.629 --> 00:02:47.490 of the same name in 1979 and Chris Pettit's novel 00:02:47.490 --> 00:02:50.919 in 2006. Authors continually reach for this title 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:53.099 generation after generation. I think what stands 00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:55.539 out to me is how drastically the genres shift 00:02:55.539 --> 00:02:58.849 depending on the era. In 1968, Robert Silverberg 00:02:58.849 --> 00:03:01.289 wrote a sci -fi short story called Passengers. 00:03:01.449 --> 00:03:04.310 But compare that to Aaron Dembo, who released 00:03:04.310 --> 00:03:06.930 a story in 2012 called The Passenger, which the 00:03:06.930 --> 00:03:09.969 source explicitly categorizes as horror. You 00:03:09.969 --> 00:03:12.949 have historical fiction, sci -fi, drama, horror, 00:03:13.129 --> 00:03:16.349 all unified by this one word. But why is that? 00:03:16.430 --> 00:03:19.110 Why does this one word work for almost every 00:03:19.110 --> 00:03:21.710 genre under the sun? What's fascinating here 00:03:21.710 --> 00:03:23.810 is the psychological appeal this archetype holds 00:03:23.810 --> 00:03:26.180 for writers. Think about it from a structural 00:03:26.180 --> 00:03:28.919 narrative perspective. When you force your protagonist 00:03:28.919 --> 00:03:31.819 into the role of a passive traveler, you are 00:03:31.819 --> 00:03:34.000 immediately stripping them of their agency. Yeah, 00:03:34.060 --> 00:03:36.379 you take the wheel away. Taking away a character's 00:03:36.379 --> 00:03:38.780 control is the fastest, most effective way to 00:03:38.780 --> 00:03:41.819 create instant gripping tension. A character 00:03:41.819 --> 00:03:44.620 who cannot steer their own destiny is incredibly 00:03:44.620 --> 00:03:47.400 vulnerable. They are entirely at the mercy of 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:49.419 the driver, the vehicle, the elements, or just 00:03:49.419 --> 00:03:51.780 the unknown. Let me push back on that just a 00:03:51.780 --> 00:03:54.840 little bit, though. Is that dread mostly a modern 00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:57.259 fear? Like we think of modern horror and sci 00:03:57.259 --> 00:03:59.379 -fi playing on the fear of airplanes or spaceships 00:03:59.379 --> 00:04:02.500 crashing. But even back in 1927 with Nabokov 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:05.479 or 1938 with Bushwitz, wasn't there already an 00:04:05.479 --> 00:04:08.060 element of dread? Oh, absolutely. The vehicle 00:04:08.060 --> 00:04:11.490 changes, but the vulnerability doesn't. In the 00:04:11.490 --> 00:04:14.449 1920s and 30s, being a passenger might mean being 00:04:14.449 --> 00:04:16.829 trapped on a train crossing heavily militarized 00:04:16.829 --> 00:04:19.029 borders in Europe. Ah, I see. The tension comes 00:04:19.029 --> 00:04:20.850 from the environment you are passively being 00:04:20.850 --> 00:04:23.750 moved through. That vulnerability transcends 00:04:23.750 --> 00:04:26.069 both genre and time period, which is why the 00:04:26.069 --> 00:04:28.670 concept translates so effortlessly across different 00:04:28.670 --> 00:04:30.870 mediums. And we actually see a perfect example 00:04:30.870 --> 00:04:32.610 of that cross -medium translation right here 00:04:32.610 --> 00:04:36.050 in the text. In 1962, the Polish author Zofia 00:04:36.050 --> 00:04:39.519 Pazmus wrote a novel called Passenger. The core 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:41.480 narrative was so compelling that just one year 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:45.199 later, in 1963, it became the basis for a Polish 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:48.019 drama film directed by Andrzej Munk. And it didn't 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:51.750 stop there. No. By 1968, that exact same source 00:04:51.750 --> 00:04:54.089 material had been adapted into an entire opera 00:04:54.089 --> 00:04:56.889 by Messisa Weinberg, a novel, a film, and an 00:04:56.889 --> 00:04:59.670 opera, all within six years. It just goes to 00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:01.449 show that the weight of being a passenger is 00:05:01.449 --> 00:05:03.730 a concept that demands to be visualized and heard. 00:05:03.889 --> 00:05:06.050 Which naturally leads us to how visual mediums 00:05:06.050 --> 00:05:08.129 handle the concept. And looking at the sheer 00:05:08.129 --> 00:05:10.529 volume of data we have on this. Okay, let's unpack 00:05:10.529 --> 00:05:13.310 this because the film section is massive. Just 00:05:13.310 --> 00:05:15.529 like with the books, these movies span an entire 00:05:15.529 --> 00:05:18.410 century of cinema. The list kicks off with a 00:05:18.410 --> 00:05:20.990 French silent film by Jacques de Barroncelli 00:05:20.990 --> 00:05:24.529 in 1928. A silent black and white film. Exploring 00:05:24.529 --> 00:05:27.649 this exact idea. And the timeline stretches all 00:05:27.649 --> 00:05:30.089 the way into the future, listing a horror film 00:05:30.089 --> 00:05:33.930 by André Everdahl slated for 2026. And it is 00:05:33.930 --> 00:05:36.790 a genuinely global tour. France alone has produced 00:05:36.790 --> 00:05:39.420 multiple films with this title. You have Jacques 00:05:39.420 --> 00:05:42.259 Delroy's French comedy in 1949, which shows the 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:44.139 lighter side of the archetype. Then there are 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:46.300 French films directed by Serge Leroy in 1977, 00:05:46.779 --> 00:05:50.000 Jean -Claude Gouguet in 1999, and Eric Caravaca 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:52.939 in 2005. Plus a 2005 French -Canadian -Japanese 00:05:52.939 --> 00:05:55.579 collaborative film by Francois Rocher. And it 00:05:55.579 --> 00:05:58.160 goes far beyond Europe and North America. The 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.000 source notes a 1988 drama by Thomas Brash called 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:03.399 The Passenger Welcome to Germany, which touches 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:05.399 on being swept up in the currents of political 00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:07.899 history. There is an Indian documentary from 00:06:07.899 --> 00:06:10.759 2003 directed by Akanksha Damini Joshi called 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:13.740 Passengers. We also have a 2023 Ugandan drama 00:06:13.740 --> 00:06:17.360 film. Yes, directed by Hadija Nakanjako, simply 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:20.240 titled The Passenger. It does not matter what 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:22.300 language you speak or what cultural background 00:06:22.300 --> 00:06:24.959 you have. The concept of relinquishing control 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:27.980 translates universally. But if you look closely 00:06:27.980 --> 00:06:30.220 at the chronology of these films, a very specific 00:06:30.220 --> 00:06:32.899 pattern emerges. In the earlier decades, the 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:35.420 title was almost exclusively associated with 00:06:35.420 --> 00:06:37.759 dramas. Like the Michelangelo Antonioni film. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.579 Exactly. He directed a highly regarded drama 00:06:40.579 --> 00:06:43.980 called The Passenger in 1975, starring Jack Nicholson, 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.579 which was very much about a man passively drifting 00:06:46.579 --> 00:06:49.740 through an assumed identity. However, as we cross 00:06:49.740 --> 00:06:52.319 into the 21st century, the title is entirely 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:55.019 hijacked by the thriller and science fiction 00:06:55.019 --> 00:06:57.279 genres. The data definitely backs that up. In 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:00.019 2008, you get Rodrigo Garcia's American Canadian 00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:03.300 Thriller Passengers. The very next year, in 2009, 00:07:03.860 --> 00:07:06.620 Ranjit Shankar released an Indian Malalam thriller 00:07:06.620 --> 00:07:09.100 titled Passenger. And they're the big ones. Yeah. 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:11.639 Then we hit the massive American science fiction 00:07:11.639 --> 00:07:15.439 film Passengers in 2016, followed by a Spanish 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:17.500 science fiction film called The Passenger in 00:07:17.500 --> 00:07:21.040 2016. And just to cap off the modern era, Carter 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:24.160 Smith directed a movie in 2023 called The Passenger, 00:07:24.300 --> 00:07:26.579 which the source specifically categorizes as 00:07:26.579 --> 00:07:29.620 a horror thriller road trip film. It goes from 00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:32.620 existential drama to pure thrills and chills. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:35.680 Why do you think that shift happened? Think about 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:37.920 it for a second. Why does the modern interpretation 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:40.740 of being a passenger align so closely with horror 00:07:40.740 --> 00:07:43.139 and science fiction? Well, if I had to guess, 00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:45.160 I'd say it has to do with how complicated our 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:47.199 vehicles have become. Back in the day, a vehicle 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:49.800 was a horse carriage or an early train. Now, 00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:51.939 you are strapped into a metal tube hurtling through 00:07:51.939 --> 00:07:54.480 the sky at 500 miles an hour, or in the case 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:57.879 of the 2016 sci -fi film, suspended in deep space. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:00.779 Precisely. As our technology has advanced, our 00:08:00.779 --> 00:08:03.160 anxiety about trusting these impossibly complex 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:05.959 machines or the unseen strangers operating them 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:09.379 has intensified. In the modern era, being a passenger 00:08:09.379 --> 00:08:11.540 often means handing your physical safety over 00:08:11.540 --> 00:08:13.540 to a system you do not understand. And if that 00:08:13.540 --> 00:08:17.139 system fails you have zero recourse. That total 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:20.740 lack of agency is incredibly fertile ground for 00:08:20.740 --> 00:08:23.660 deeply unsettling horror. That anxiety about 00:08:23.660 --> 00:08:26.220 complex systems perfectly explains the television 00:08:26.220 --> 00:08:28.800 section of our source, too. When you look at 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:31.879 episodic TV, The Passenger is the absolute go 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:35.360 -to title for massive, high -stakes sci -fi franchises. 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:37.460 It really is. Our notes list The Mandalorian, 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:40.700 specifically Chapter 10, The Passenger. It lists 00:08:40.700 --> 00:08:43.740 an episode of Star Trek. Deep Space Nine, and 00:08:43.740 --> 00:08:45.899 an episode of the deeply philosophical sci -fi 00:08:45.899 --> 00:08:48.620 show Westworld. These are all shows entirely 00:08:48.620 --> 00:08:51.039 built around exploring the dangers of advanced 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:53.759 technology and the fragile illusion of human 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:56.860 control. And beyond just single episodes, entire 00:08:56.860 --> 00:08:58.980 television series have claimed the name to explore 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:02.080 these themes. There is a 1979 Hong Kong drama 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:04.620 series called The Passenger. There is a Russian 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:07.039 TV series called Passengers. There is also a 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.740 current British TV series titled Passenger. And 00:09:09.740 --> 00:09:12.200 we cannot skip over the mid -1990s and early 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:15.120 2000s British Channel 4 series. But that one 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:16.600 was a bit different. The source notes it was 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:18.620 specifically a show about youth culture. Which 00:09:18.620 --> 00:09:20.240 actually makes perfect sense if you think about 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:23.659 it. It does. When you are a teenager, you are 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:26.279 quite literally a passenger in your own life. 00:09:26.539 --> 00:09:28.919 You are living in your parents' house, following 00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:31.419 their rules, just waiting for the day you finally 00:09:31.419 --> 00:09:33.580 get to take the wheel. That is a great analogy. 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:36.340 Adolescence is the ultimate waiting room. Yeah. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:38.659 You are being transported toward adulthood without 00:09:38.659 --> 00:09:40.690 having much say in the route. Oh, and there is 00:09:40.690 --> 00:09:43.610 this incredibly specific detail from the animation 00:09:43.610 --> 00:09:47.029 world that I love. In the television series Infinity 00:09:47.029 --> 00:09:49.929 Train, there is a character named Tulip Olsen 00:09:49.929 --> 00:09:54.190 who is literally known by the moniker The Passenger. 00:09:54.269 --> 00:09:57.210 Her entire identity is reduced to her status 00:09:57.210 --> 00:09:59.710 as a traveler on this bizarre, endless train. 00:09:59.929 --> 00:10:01.970 It is a profound stripping away of identity. 00:10:02.230 --> 00:10:04.210 When you become a passenger, your individual 00:10:04.210 --> 00:10:06.750 traits often stop mattering to the system transporting 00:10:06.750 --> 00:10:09.049 you. You just become a fare, a ticket number, 00:10:09.230 --> 00:10:11.789 a weight on a manifest. You're just cargo. And 00:10:11.789 --> 00:10:13.909 that loss of primary identity is something we 00:10:13.909 --> 00:10:16.269 see explored deeply in the next major category 00:10:16.269 --> 00:10:18.370 of our notes music. Here's where it gets really 00:10:18.370 --> 00:10:20.509 interesting. You and I might think of one or 00:10:20.509 --> 00:10:22.289 two songs called Passenger right off the top 00:10:22.289 --> 00:10:24.690 of our heads, but the rabbit hole goes so much 00:10:24.690 --> 00:10:27.330 deeper than just song titles. This word is heavily 00:10:27.330 --> 00:10:30.009 used as a musical pseudonym and a name for side 00:10:30.009 --> 00:10:33.080 projects. Like an alter ego. Exactly. For example, 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:36.379 did you know the legendary DJ Tiesto used passenger 00:10:36.379 --> 00:10:39.860 as a pseudonym for his 1997 single Black Spin? 00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:44.080 Or that music legends Brian Eno and U2 actually 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:46.740 formed a side project together called Passengers, 00:10:46.919 --> 00:10:50.500 specifically for the 1995 album Original Soundtracks 00:10:50.500 --> 00:10:53.539 1? It is a way for artists to step away from 00:10:53.539 --> 00:10:56.659 their main driving persona and explore something 00:10:56.659 --> 00:10:59.289 else. And look at the wildly diverse performers 00:10:59.289 --> 00:11:01.750 who have adopted this name as their primary identity. 00:11:01.929 --> 00:11:03.529 It's all over the map. You have the British folk 00:11:03.529 --> 00:11:05.710 rock singer -songwriter Mike Rosenberg, born 00:11:05.710 --> 00:11:08.389 in 1984, who goes by Passenger, and previously 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:11.110 fronted a folk rock band also called Passenger. 00:11:11.490 --> 00:11:13.750 But then, on the complete opposite end of the 00:11:13.750 --> 00:11:16.730 sonic spectrum, our notes list a Swedish metal 00:11:16.730 --> 00:11:19.340 band called Passenger. Wait, you're telling me 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:21.679 there's a guy playing acoustic folk ballads and 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:24.519 a band screaming Swedish heavy metal and they 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:26.960 both look at this exact same word and said, yes, 00:11:27.059 --> 00:11:30.059 that defines our sound. The genre whiplash is 00:11:30.059 --> 00:11:33.379 amazing. It really is. And the list of bands 00:11:33.379 --> 00:11:36.460 goes on. There was a 1980s Italo disco band, 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:38.919 which. For those who might not know, it was a 00:11:38.919 --> 00:11:41.620 heavily synthesized electronic dance music genre 00:11:41.620 --> 00:11:45.139 in Europe called Passengers. There was a 1970s 00:11:45.139 --> 00:11:47.220 Belgian new wave band called the Passengers. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:49.820 Oh, and an Australian punk adjacent band from 00:11:49.820 --> 00:11:52.179 the 1980s led by Angie Pepper also called the 00:11:52.179 --> 00:11:54.039 Passengers. It seems like every single musical 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:56.080 movement over the last 50 years has embraced 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.620 this archetype. Just looking at the albums listed 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:01.519 in our notes, in 2011 alone, you have the Irish 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:04.059 singer Lisa Hannigan and the Japanese rock band 00:12:04.059 --> 00:12:05.899 Nico Touches the Walls both putting out albums 00:12:05.899 --> 00:12:08.070 titled Passenger. Or look at the metal scene. 00:12:08.230 --> 00:12:10.470 The Danish band Monemic released an album called 00:12:10.470 --> 00:12:13.289 Passenger in 2007. And going back further, the 00:12:13.289 --> 00:12:15.549 jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton released Passenger 00:12:15.549 --> 00:12:19.389 in 1977. The folk rock band Mostly Autumn released 00:12:19.389 --> 00:12:22.809 an album called Passenger in 2003. Tyra McLean 00:12:22.809 --> 00:12:26.539 had one in 2000. It is everywhere. And the individual 00:12:26.539 --> 00:12:30.299 tracks. It's wild. Take Iggy Pop's iconic 1977 00:12:30.299 --> 00:12:33.440 track, The Passenger. He literally wrote it while 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:35.500 riding the S -Bahn in Berlin, looking out the 00:12:35.500 --> 00:12:37.779 window at the city's underbelly. The song is 00:12:37.779 --> 00:12:39.960 entirely about being a detached observer in a 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:42.179 moving world, just watching the stars and the 00:12:42.179 --> 00:12:45.179 city go by from behind glass. That detached observation 00:12:45.179 --> 00:12:47.559 is exactly the core of the archetype. Right. 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:49.559 And then you have Elton John, who released Passengers 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:52.720 in 1984. The Australian rock band Powderfinger 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:55.269 released their track in 1999. The alt -metal 00:12:55.269 --> 00:12:57.809 band Deftones put out a haunting song called 00:12:57.809 --> 00:13:00.649 Passenger on their acclaimed year 2000 album 00:13:00.649 --> 00:13:02.750 White Pony. And the list just keeps going. You 00:13:02.750 --> 00:13:05.169 have Kings of Convenience in 2001, Starflyer 00:13:05.169 --> 00:13:09.090 59 in 2003, D .Y. in 2009, and One Republic also 00:13:09.090 --> 00:13:12.029 in 2009. Britney Spears even has a track called 00:13:12.029 --> 00:13:14.950 Passenger on her 2013 album Britney Jean, where 00:13:14.950 --> 00:13:16.610 she specifically sings about letting someone 00:13:16.610 --> 00:13:18.710 else take the wheel because she's tired of driving. 00:13:18.909 --> 00:13:21.549 A very literal interpretation. Yeah. Then you 00:13:21.549 --> 00:13:24.129 have the rock band Trapped in 2016, the indie 00:13:24.129 --> 00:13:28.809 band Hippocampus in 2018, Interpol in 2022, and 00:13:28.809 --> 00:13:31.529 the rapper Destroy Lonely releasing a track called 00:13:31.529 --> 00:13:35.710 Passenger in 2023. Oh, and the source notes a 00:13:35.710 --> 00:13:38.090 New York -based record label called Passenger 00:13:38.090 --> 00:13:41.610 Records. Britney Spears, Iggy Pop, and Deftones 00:13:41.610 --> 00:13:43.929 all finding common ground. If we connect this 00:13:43.929 --> 00:13:46.570 to the bigger picture, it reveals something fundamental 00:13:46.570 --> 00:13:48.590 about the relationship between music and the 00:13:48.590 --> 00:13:51.240 listener. Why does the music industry rely so 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:53.779 heavily on this specific word? Because music 00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:57.220 itself turns you, the listener, into a passenger. 00:13:57.399 --> 00:13:58.600 Oh, I see what you mean. You just put on the 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:00.120 headphones and let the music take you somewhere. 00:14:00.279 --> 00:14:03.059 Exactly. When you hit play on an Iggy Pop track 00:14:03.059 --> 00:14:05.500 or a Lisa Hannigan album, you are consciously 00:14:05.500 --> 00:14:07.539 allowing yourself to be passively transported 00:14:07.539 --> 00:14:10.100 by the artist's vehicle. The musician is the 00:14:10.100 --> 00:14:12.419 driver, the song is the car, and for three or 00:14:12.419 --> 00:14:14.279 four minutes you are giving up control of your 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:16.480 emotional state. You are trusting them to take 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:18.700 you on a journey. That makes perfect sense. You 00:14:18.700 --> 00:14:22.000 are buckling in for an emotional ride. And speaking 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.340 of entirely unexpected rides, we have to talk 00:14:24.340 --> 00:14:26.039 about the final section of our source material, 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:30.000 the catch -all other uses category. I gleefully 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.059 dive into these miscellaneous sections because 00:14:32.059 --> 00:14:33.960 they are always so strange. They really are. 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:37.799 For instance, the source notes a 2005 audio drama 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:40.759 from the Sapphire and Steel franchise titled 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:44.120 The Passenger. Which, for context, is an old 00:14:44.120 --> 00:14:46.740 British sci -fi series where the main characters 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:49.679 are literally named after elements and fix anomalies 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:52.279 in time. But the next two entries in our notes 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:55.399 are where the true surprises lie. Yes. The source 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:58.360 highlights a species of moth, the Disgonia algera, 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:00.919 which is commonly known as the passenger moth. 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:03.179 A moth, which is actually hilarious because a 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:05.059 moth really is the ultimate passenger. It just 00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:07.659 catches a thermal draft or a wind current and 00:15:07.659 --> 00:15:09.460 lets the atmosphere do all the driving until 00:15:09.460 --> 00:15:12.179 it finds a porch light. It is surprisingly poetic. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:14.519 And right beneath that insect in the realm of 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:17.299 technology, there is a piece of free web server 00:15:17.299 --> 00:15:19.399 and application server software called Fusion 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:21.870 Passenger. Now I had to look at our notes a few 00:15:21.870 --> 00:15:24.570 times to understand that one, but basically think 00:15:24.570 --> 00:15:27.750 of Fusion Passenger as the invisible traffic 00:15:27.750 --> 00:15:31.070 cop on a website. When you click a link or send 00:15:31.070 --> 00:15:33.309 a message, this software sits in the background 00:15:33.309 --> 00:15:36.070 making sure your data gets routed to exactly 00:15:36.070 --> 00:15:38.250 where it needs to go without you ever seeing 00:15:38.250 --> 00:15:40.690 it happen. The data is just along for the ride. 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:43.559 This raises an important question. What do a 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:46.179 species of moth, a piece of web server software, 00:15:46.580 --> 00:15:49.440 a Swedish metal band, and a person sitting in 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:52.340 the back of a taxi all have in common? It goes 00:15:52.340 --> 00:15:55.100 back to our very first definition. The web software 00:15:55.100 --> 00:15:57.860 quietly manages background processes, carrying 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:00.659 data from one place to another. The moth hitchhikes 00:16:00.659 --> 00:16:03.379 on currents of air, being transported by meteorological 00:16:03.379 --> 00:16:06.139 forces larger than itself. It is the exact same 00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:08.519 archetype, expressing itself perfectly in nature, 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:11.279 in computer code, and in human culture. So what 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:13.519 does this all mean? We started this deep dive 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:15.700 looking at what is essentially a digital filing 00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:18.720 cabinet. A simple Wikipedia disambiguation page 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:21.240 designed to clear up search confusion about a 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:23.899 single word. But what we found instead was a 00:16:23.899 --> 00:16:26.740 100 -year roadmap of human creativity and anxiety. 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:30.740 From a 1927 short story about early European 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:35.200 train travel by Vladimir Nabokov to a 2026 horror 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:37.960 film about modern isolation. Expanding the globe. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:41.059 From Polish operas to 80s Italo disco bands. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:43.639 From the deepest reaches of philosophical sci 00:16:43.639 --> 00:16:47.860 -fi television to the quiet... It serves as a 00:16:47.860 --> 00:16:49.940 profound mirror held up to the human experience. 00:16:50.340 --> 00:16:52.240 Whether you're listening to a Britney Spears 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:54.960 track on your morning commute, watching a 1928 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:57.220 French silent film in a cinema history class, 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:59.799 or configuring a Fusion Passenger web server 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:02.000 for your new startup, you are engaging with a 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:04.240 concept that resonates across every boundary. 00:17:04.460 --> 00:17:06.619 And it resonates so deeply because no matter 00:17:06.619 --> 00:17:08.859 who you are or how much power you think you wield 00:17:08.859 --> 00:17:10.799 in your day -to -day life, at some point, we 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:12.920 all have to relinquish control. We all eventually 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:14.740 have to let someone or something else drive. 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:17.720 It really is the great equalizer. We're all just 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:19.680 passing through, relying on the vehicles around 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:22.339 us. Which leaves us with one final thought for 00:17:22.339 --> 00:17:24.539 you to ponder long after this deep dive ends. 00:17:25.500 --> 00:17:28.380 We have spent all this time exploring this literal 00:17:28.380 --> 00:17:31.119 definition of a passive traveler in a vehicle. 00:17:31.789 --> 00:17:34.210 But if a passenger is truly defined as just that, 00:17:34.329 --> 00:17:36.450 why does almost every medium we've discussed 00:17:36.450 --> 00:17:38.869 today, from terrifying sci -fi films to heavy 00:17:38.869 --> 00:17:41.170 metal bands, suggest that being the passenger 00:17:41.170 --> 00:17:43.349 is actually the most dangerous, thrilling, and 00:17:43.349 --> 00:17:45.309 transformative place you can possibly be?