PAPER TRAILS™ presents
THE LINE
One phone. One question. No follow-up.
A corded phone sits in a public place with one question posted above it and a camera you can see. Anyone walking past can pick it up and answer, for as long as they want, and then hang up. The handset is the microphone, so it sounds like a phone call instead of an interview.
The first episodes arrive after STORY 001.
How it works
Three rules, and they never move.
- 01
Nobody is waved over.
We don't pitch strangers or pull anyone aside. The phone sits there and people decide for themselves. Choosing to pick it up is the whole show.
- 02
Nobody asks a second question.
One question is posted. Whatever the answer is, that's the answer. No follow-up, no clarifying, no getting them to say it better.
- 03
Nobody is the punchline.
This is not a prank and it is not a hot-take channel. The quiet answer is often the best one, and no title or thumbnail ever makes somebody the joke.
The other way in
You don’t have to be in the room.
The phone is in one city on one evening. The number is open all the time, from anywhere. Call it and leave a message, same question, same rules. Nobody picks up and nobody calls back.
(562) 414-6279Tap to call. Take as long as you need.
Before you call
What happens to what you say.
- It’s recorded
- You’ll hear that before the tone. Your message may end up in a PAPER TRAILS™ video, and staying on the line is how you say that’s okay.
- 18 or older
- We only publish messages from adults. If you’re under 18, don’t leave one, and we won’t use it.
- First name only, and no one else’s
- Never a last name. Don’t name anybody else either, and we won’t publish a message that does.
- Most calls are never used
- Only a few make it into an episode. Anything we don’t use is deleted after 90 days.
- You can take it back
- Email line@watchpapertrails.com with roughly when you called and it comes down. No explanation needed.
- This isn’t an audition
- You’re not calling to get picked. If what you’re carrying is bigger than a phone call, that has its own door: tell us your story.
Calling means you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.