Cool Stuff Daily

Latest Episodes:

Fri. 01/27 - Shakespeare for Gamers Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

Some wildly optimistic projects being funded by NASA––including more sustainable commercial aircrafts and self-growing bricks on Mars. Plus, a new Shakespearean theater company whose performances all take place inside one of the world’s most popular video games.

Links:

It’s Not Sci-Fi—NASA Is Funding These Mind-Blowing Projects (Wired)
NASA Selects Experimental Space Technology Concepts for Initial Study (NASA)
NASA Issues Award for Greener, More Fuel-Efficient Airliner of Future (NASA)
New aircraft design from NASA and Boeing could benefit passengers in the 2030s (CNN)
Booth by Karen Joy Fowler
All the (open) world’s a stage: how the video game Fallout became a backdrop for live Shakespeare shows (The Guardian)
Channing Tatum Is Back for ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ (Vanity Fair)
Roxane Gay Dishes On Her Secret Project With Channing Tatum (The Advocate)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 01/26 - Eggflation: Price-Gouging on Eggs and... Splash Mountain Water? Jan 26, 2023

Show notes

Is the huge increase in the price of eggs being caused by price-gouging and not avian flu? Plus, why we need to be paying attention to avian flu even beyond its relation to egg prices. And people are selling bottles of water from the recently-closed Splash Mountain on eBay.

Links:

November 2022 episode on egg and chicken prices (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
High egg prices should be investigated, U.S. farm group says (Reuters)
Egg price spike prompts demands for price-gouging probe (CBS News)
Letter to the FTC Chair (Farm Action)
WTF Is Going on With Absurd Egg Prices? Corporate Greed, Group Tells FTC (Vice)
$18 a dozen: how did America’s eggs get absurdly expensive? (The Guardian)
Britain’s broken egg industry shows the price of food inflation (Reuters)
Ioan Humphrey's perspective from farmers (ThatWelshFarmer, Twitter)
Bird flu outbreak in mink sparks concern about spread in people (Nature)
Deaths of thousands of wild birds from avian flu is ‘new Silent Spring’ (The Guardian)
I Lived Like a 1940's WARTIME HOUSEWIFE for 48 HOURS! (Sage Lilleyman, YouTube)
Disney Fans Are Selling Splash Mountain Water After Ride Closes (Kotaku)
Disney’s Splash Mountain Closed. Now Superfans Are Selling the Water. (NY Times)

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Wed. 01/25 - Wikipedia as a Model for the Rest of the Internet Jan 25, 2023

Show notes

How Wikipedia editors are bringing more nuance into their decisions and what ripple effects that can have on a website that increasingly defines our shared reality. Plus, how do you refer to historical figures who may have been trans? And a veritable laundry list of attempted Wikipedia hoaxes––including the recent discovery of what is most likely Representative George Santos’ Wikipedia user bio from over a decade ago, and its many, many creative lies.

Links:

The Culture Wars Look Different on Wikipedia (The Atlantic)
My video on talking about potentially trans people from history (Jackson Bird, YouTube)
The debate over George Jetson's birthday (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
The Mr. Pringles hoax (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
The fabricated Scots Wikipedia pages (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
George Santos appears to admit drag queen past in Wiki post (Politico)
The High Five Wikipedia page love story (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Depths of Wiki on Twitter
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 01/24 - 90 Seconds To Midnight Jan 24, 2023

Show notes

The Doomsday Clock has ticked down even closer to midnight, but how useful of a mechanism is it? Plus, some good news on climate change. And a new Wordle spin-off for the Zillow-obsessed.

Links:

We are now 90 seconds to our doom (The Verge)
Current Time - 2023 (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
Is It Time to Call Time on the Doomsday Clock? (Wired)
Climate Clock
The Climate Clock Now Ticks With a Tinge of Optimism (NY Times)
A few pieces of good news on climate change (and a reality check) (MIT Technology Review)
The Wordle of real estate is here. Can you guess a home's asking price? (Business Insider)
Housle
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Mon. 01/23 - The HustleCore of Medieval Monks (& the Spin Cycle of Earth's Core) Jan 23, 2023

Show notes

The Earth’s inner core has paused its spinning and reversed its course . Sounds alarming, but everything is fine. Plus, what medieval Christian monks, the OG hustle bros apparently, can teach us about distraction and routine.

Links:

Earth’s Inner Core Paused, Then Reversed Its Spin. This Is Fine. (NY Times)
Earth's Inner Core May Right Now Be in The Process of Changing Direction (Science Alert)
Earth’s Core Has Stopped and May Be Reversing Direction, Study Says (Vice)
Easily Distracted? You Need to Think Like a Medieval Monk (Wired)
What Monks Can Teach Us About Paying Attention (The New Yorker)
The Wandering Mind by Jamie Kreiner
It’s Not You, It’s Me and My Science-Based, Life-Optimizing Podcasts (McSweeney’s)
Tweet discussion on infrastructure for life without smartphones disappearing (Ilana Masad, Twitter)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Fri. 01/20 - Are Coffee Pods MORE Environmentally-Friendly Than Filter Coffee? Jan 20, 2023

Show notes

How did whales get so big anyways? Plus, a new study claims coffee pods are more environmentally-friendly than regular filter coffee. Is it true?

Sponsor:

ZocDoc, zocdoc.com/coolstuff

Links:

The genes that made whales gigantic (Phys.org)
Unlocking the Genes That Made Whales Into Giants (NY Times)
For whales, study shows gigantism is in the genes (Reuters)
Whales or dinosaurs: What are the biggest, heaviest, longest animals ever? (Slate, 2014)
Wed. 06/22 - Pinocchio, Fascism, & Guillermo del Toro (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Coffee pod carbon footprint better for planet than filtered brew (BBC)
Single-use coffee pods have surprising environmental benefits over other brewing methods (Washington Post)
Here's how your cup of coffee contributes to climate change (The Conversation)
Turns out coffee pods are actually pretty good for the environment (WIRED, 2019)
If I Care About the Environment but Am Also Lazy, Should I Get a Nespresso or Keurig? (Wirecutter)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 01/19 - Edgar Allan Poe Wrote In His Books & You Should Too Jan 19, 2023

Show notes

A deep dive on marginalia. What is it, why should you do it, and how does it reveal the more joyful side of history’s most famous sadboy, Edgar Allan Poe? All that and more in this extended love letter to writing in books.

Sponsor:

ZocDoc, zocdoc.com/coolstuff

Links:

Edgar Allan Poe on the Joy of Marginalia and What Handwriting Reveals about Character (The Marginalian)
Marginalia by Edgar Allan Poe
How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren
Meaning in the Margins: On the Literary Value of Annotation (Literary Hub)
Historical Figures who’d be outrageous online? (r/AskHistory)
Drool over the personal bookplates of 18 famous writers. (Literary Hub)
How Leaning into Marginalia Helped Me Accept the Loss of Control That Comes with Publication (Literary Hub)
Please Report Your Bug Here by Josh Riedel
Ryan Holiday's 3-Step System for Reading Like a Pro (Ryan Holiday, YouTube)
Edgar Allan Poe Watches Too Much Tiktok (McSweeney’s)

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Wed. 01/18 - The CIA's Spy-Pigeons Jan 18, 2023

Show notes

Earth-like exoplanet discoveries galore, including some that could be habitable. Plus, a look back at the clandestine history of the CIA’s pigeon surveillance missions.

Sponsors:

ZocDoc, zocdoc.com/coolstuff

Links:

NASA Just Discovered a Rare Earth-Sized Planet in a Habitable Zone (ScienceAlert)
NASA has discovered an Earth-sized planet orbiting in the habitable zone of its star (CBS News)
NASA’s TESS Discovers Planetary System’s Second Earth-Size World (NASA)
Another Earth-size exoplanet discovered in habitable zone of nearby star (The Verge)
When the CIA Spied on American Citizens—Using Pigeons (Atlas Obscura)
CIA unveils Cold War spy-pigeon missions (BBC)
Thu. 12/09 - Birds Aren't Real (And Neither Is This Gen Z Conspiracy Theory) (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Pigeon Camera (CIA)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 01/17 - Fake Marrying Kids To Each Other, For Adult's Amusement Jan 17, 2023

Show notes

It looks like the ozone layer is on track to be restored in just a couple of decades. Plus, an opportunity to get paid for donating your stool samples. (Yes, really) And an examination of the nineteenth and twentieth century phenomenon of Tom Thumb Weddings, AKA elaborate fake weddings for small children.

Sponsors:

ZocDoc, zocdoc.com/coolstuff

Links:

Ozone layer may be restored in decades, UN report says (BBC)
The ozone layer is on track to recover in the coming decades, the United Nations says (NPR)
Earth’s ozone layer is on the mend (The Verge)
UN says ozone layer slowly healing, hole to mend by 2066 (Phys.org)
National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) (CDC)
Looking To Make Some Extra Cash? You Could Earn Up to $1500 per Month for Donating Your Poop (Mental Floss)
GoodNature™ Program (Seres Therapeutics)
The Way We Were (Reddit)
At Tom Thumb Weddings, Children Get Faux-Married to Each Other (Atlas Obscura)
A General, a Queen, and the President (Boundary Stones)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Mon. 01/16 - Dr. King's Most Controversial Speech Jan 16, 2023

Show notes

Some projects that will help you suss out the truth in movies that claim to be “based on a true story.” Plus, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most controversial speech.

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