October 30, 2025
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The string board has become a common trope in film and television, even become a popular meme. (Image from FX's It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia)
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Illinois English professor Shawn Gilmore was recently featured on Slate's Decoder Ring podcast. The podcast episode explores the origins of a familiar visual trope in thrillers, mysteries, and crime dramas: a board covered in photos, newspaper clippings, and other documents — all connected by string.
These boards are frequently used to map out a complex crime or conspiracy, but despite their prevalence in popular culture, they aren't commonly used in real investigations. To learn more about the fascinating evolution of this storytelling tool, listen to "The Red String Board Conspiracy" and see Gilmore's Narrative String Theory project that catalogs its appearances in film and television.