It's a common axiom on the Internet: Anonymity + An Audience = Filth.

Few have dared wade into this equation and tried to alter or examine it. But this week, WBEZ Chicago's "This American Life" does exactly that. Ira Glass brings us four stories about Internet trolling, with the strongest being an intensely personal radio essay from Jezebel contributor Lindy West about a troll who starts a Twitter account using her dead father as inspiration. Click the link below to listen to the episode for free.

Click here to listen to "If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPS!"

My favorite line from the episode? Ms. West introducing the comments in response to her musings about rape being used by male comedians as, "A quick warning. These are Internet comments about rape...so it's gonna suck." The other stories are about the "vocal fry" phenomenon as it relates to sexism/ageism, a webcam of wild osprey with a vocal Internet audience and a personified Gmail account that hits you with self-doubt all throughout the day.

There was a lot of discussion when the Spokesman-Review chose to suspend online commenting during the holidays in 2013. We've also modified our commenting section recently to reflect journalism industry trends moving online comments from the body of the story, which also received a great deal of comments.

Do you like what the Spokesman has done with commenting, and do these stories resonate with you at all? Have you ever been the victim (or perpetrator) of trolling?