The Tangled Web of Red String Boards

"There's a ubiquitous prop in just about every police procedural and conspiracy thriller: a cork board pinned with documents, newspaper clippings, and Polaroid photos, all connected by a web of red string. They go by many names, including pin boards, string boards, evidence boards, investigation walls, conspiracy walls, and walls of crazy. These boards can be vehicles of insight or manifestations of madness-and in many cases, both. But where did they come from? And can they really solve a crime?"

"In this episode, we try to unwind the red string board all the way to its center. To aide in our investigation, we enlist the help of Aki Peritz, a former CIA analyst and the author of Disruption: Inside the Largest Counterterrorism Investigation in History. You'll also hear from Shawn Gilmore, editor of The Vault of Culture and creator of the Narrative String Theory project; and Dr. Anne Ganzert, author of Serial Pinboarding in Contemporary Television. And we learn about the intricacies of building a string board from production designers Michael Scott Cobb ( It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and John D. Kretschmer ( Homeland)."

Red string boards appear across police procedurals and conspiracy thrillers as cork boards with clippings and photos connected by red string. They operate both as practical organization tools and as visual symbols of obsession or insight. Origins trace to real investigative and intelligence practices, cultural narratives, and television production choices. Analysis includes perspectives from a former CIA analyst, scholars of pinboarding and narrative string theory, and production designers who describe the practicalities of building believable boards for screen. The boards' meanings depend on context, serving investigative functions in some cases and reinforcing tropes of mania or conspiracy in others.

Read at Slate Magazine