Blue Plate Special
It’s rare for me to return to a topic, but if it gives me an excuse to run a George Carlin clip, I’m all for it. [sfx] Plus, I’ve got new information to share. Of course, that was recorded before blue corn chips were available at every mega mart and gas station. ...
It’s My Party
Henry Hudson, like many explorers, tried and failed to discover the Northeast Passage. The principal problem being that it didn’t exist. At least he manage to map most of the Eastern seaboard. During his 1609 expedition, he found himself in the territory of the...
The Years (Plural) Without A Christmas
Americans spend some $3 trillion a year on Christmas shopping and celebration. Almost 20 percent of all industry sales in the entire country come from holiday shopping. Some 12 percent of Americans start Christmas shopping in September, and many stores this year will...
Only 80’s Kids Will Fear This
You’re walking along a wooded path. Maybe you’re on a hike, maybe you’re headed to a picnic. The sun is shining and the warm breeze ruffles your hair. Suddenly, you’re halted in your step. Your back foot is sinking into the ground. You try to plant your other...
Big Brass Banned
Alarming things can happen on live tv. A broadcast of a concert on Iranian TV a few years ago absolutely scandalized some viewers. People began taking pictures of their TVs and posting them on social media. "Am I dreaming or what?" tweeted one man, unable to believe...
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...