Thanks-myth-ing
Roast without equal: For this recipe, you will need one each sky-lark, thrush, quail, ortolan, lapwing, golden plover, partridge, woodcock, teal, guinea-hen, guinea *fowl*, wild duck, fowl, red pheasant, wild goose, bustard, and fig pecker. Pluck and gut the birds,...
The Hills Are Alive
It was an ambitious project that, though it failed, would become part of the iconography of the decade. In September of 1991, the first long-term residents moved into Biosphere 2, a 3 acre vivarium, built to be an artificial, materially closed ecological system. ...
High Spirits
There’s a drink they make in Chicago that boasts about how few people actually enjoy its bitter wormwood flavor. If bars even have a bottle of it, they’ve probably never opened it. When the manufacturer ran a contest to come up with a new slogan, albeit an...
Distraction Day Data Dump
I declare today to be Distraction Day! Enjoy the data dump of topics previously only for the ears of the Patreon - everything from an amazing nursing program for Untouchable women to how the three seashells from Demolition Man worked.
This is Halloween – listener special
Brandi B. asked that we sort fact from fiction on Vlad Dracula. Personally, I can remember a time when I didn’t know that Vlad the Impaler was thought to be the inspiration from Bram Stoker’s genre-launching vampire Dracula. Hop in your magic school bus, police box,...
You Can Ring Nobel
A video is making the rounds on the internet this week, caught on one of those smart doorbell cameras. It’s 2am and a man is anxiously trying to wake his neighbor. Does he need help? Is there an emergency? Is the man’s house on fire or is there some kind of threat...
Never Surrender, with Garbled Twistory
Born into slavery, Gabriel Prosser grew to be a strapping man, trained as a blacksmith and learned to read. He, his brothers, and his wife hatched a plan to not only free themselves, but all enslaved people in Virginia. His plan was to gather more men, take over the...
Earth, Wind & Stupidity
More than 3,000 people were forced to flee their homes in San Bernadino county, CA as a wildfire grew so massive that the sky turned red for miles. At least a dozen people have been injured and one died. The cause of the blaze? A pyrotechnic machine that was supposed...
Having the Last Word
“I am about to -- or I am going to -- die; either expression is correct.” These were the last words of 17th century French Jesuit priest, grammarian, and man after my own heart, Dominique Bonhours. That’s right up there with 18th century aristocrat the Marquis de a...
It’s the Little Things
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe, the horse was lost. For want of a horse, the rider was lost. For want of a rider, the message was lost. For want of a message, the battle was lost. For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost. Small things can...
Been Caught Stealing
Making a podcast means having a long list of script ideas that you swear you’ll get around to, a list that you add to faster than you could ever hope to write and record. My topic queue is ...aw crap...11 pages long. On April 15, 2018, real life retired Marine and...
Revenge, Best Served Loud
Popular music is littered with songs getting back at an ex lover, from Waylon Jennings to Taylor Swift. The best well-known revenge song is probably Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” which has led to decades of speculation as to who the song was about and why. Could it...