Cool Stuff Daily

Latest Episodes:

Wed. 12/28 - BEST OF: Crossing the Ocean W/O a Map; Waffle House Records; & The Dress and Misinformation Dec 28, 2022

Show notes

Today from the Cool Stuff Ride Home archives, how Polynesian voyagers navigated the oceans without compasses or maps, and how a new generation is bringing back those traditional skills. Plus, Waffle House’s earnest and hilarious record label. And, looking at “The Dress” seven years on––did that viral moment lay the groundwork for the climate of misinformation today?

Links:

Mon. 07/11/22 - Sailing Without a Map, or Compass, or Anything (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
This woman navigated a 3,000-mile Pacific voyage without maps or technology (National Geographic)
Polynesia's master voyagers who navigate by nature (BBC)
Fri. 07/08/22 - The Breakfast Episode (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
A B-Side With Your Bacon? Waffle House Has Its Own Music Label (NPR)
Waffle House Has Its Own Record Label (Great Big Story, YouTube)
Waffle House has its own record label and the songs are in the restaurant jukeboxes (Boing Boing)
Waffle House Records (Spotify)
Waffle House Music - scroll down for music videos
Wed. 06/29/22 - Did "The Dress" Foreshadow Fake News? (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
How 'The Dress' Sparked a Neuroscience Breakthrough (Wired)
How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion by David McRaney
The Nineties: A Book by Chuck Klosterman
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 12/27 - BEST OF: Gendered Food, The Brontë's Graveyard Water, & Mosquito Annihilation Dec 27, 2022

Show notes

We kick off the final week of the year with a look back at some of the show’s best segments. So for today, from the archives, we’ve got how and why food itself became gendered––y’know, men eat red meat, women eat salads. Women watch their weight and men eat huge portions of the most ridiculous Mountain Dew-laced Dorito monstrosities they can come up with. Plus, what would happen if we just… killed all the mosquitos on the planet? And, from 2021, the little-known reason that all the Brontës died so tragically young.

Links:

Wed. 10/26/22 - Men Eat Red Meat, Women Eat Salads –– But Why? (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
How steak became manly and salads became feminine (The Conversation)
Yogurt Is for Women, Fried Chicken Is for Men (The Atlantic)
The Gender Binary Is a Tool of White Supremacy (An Injustice Mag)
Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure by Samira Kawash
Sweetness and Femininity: Fashioning Gendered Appetite in the Victorian Age (CUNY Academic Works)
Social Darwinism, Scientific Racism, and the Metaphysics of Race (The Journal of Negro Education)
Mon. 08/08/22 - Do We REALLY Need Mosquitoes? (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Ecology: A world without mosquitoes (Nature, 2010)
The 24 deadliest animals on Earth, ranked (CNET, 2019)
Mosquitoes might be humanity’s greatest foe. Should we get rid of them? (Vox, 2019)
Q&A: What Would Happen If Mosquitoes Disappeared? (NY Times, 2015)
Should we kill every mosquito on Earth? (Live Science)
Kill All the Mosquitoes?! (Smithsonian Mag, 2016)
State of Florida Approves Oxitec Mosquito Technology for Continuation of Pilot Project in the Keys (Keys Mosquito Project)
Tue. 05/18/21 - The Brontë Family (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
Apparently the Brontës all died so early because they spent their lives drinking graveyard water. (Literary Hub)
Sanitary report on Haworth, home to the Brontës (British Library)
The Brontës are alive and unwell in Haworth (The Guardian)
Was Patrick Brontë the Dr. Fauci of his Time? (Illumination)

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Thu. 12/22 - Where Did "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" Come From? Dec 22, 2022

Show notes

We dive into the origins and enduring popularity of that most classic of Christmas Carols, “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells.” Plus, Stephen Spielberg has officially apologized to sharks for Jaws. And a note on our holiday programming.

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Links:

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells: The History of a Children's Classic (CBR)
I Asked 64,182 People About “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells”. Here's What I Found Out. (Tom Scott, YouTube)
The Secret True History Of 'Jingle Bells, Batman Smells' (Cracked)
Considering History: The Forgotten Meanings Behind Classic Holiday Songs (Saturday Evening Post)
I Love You, You Hate Me | Official Trailer (Peacock, YouTube)
Steven Spielberg Would Like To Apologize For Making Everyone Hate Sharks (BuzzFeed News)
Steven Spielberg would like to profusely apologize to sharks for Jaws (A/V Club)
BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Wed. 12/21 - Entire South Korean Population Will Legally Become Younger Next Year Dec 21, 2022

Show notes

What are solstices and seasons like on other planets? Plus, why everyone in South Korea is about to become a year or two younger. And Lionel Messi’s celebratory Instagram photos have become the most-liked social media post of all-time.

Sponsors:

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Links:

Give Thanks for the Winter Solstice. You Might Not Be Here Without It. (NY Times)
Winter solstice 2022 brings the longest night of the year to Northern Hemisphere (Space.com)
Mon. 11/14 - Polar Night, Midnight Sun, & Fruit Quakes (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
South Korea enacts law that will make the entire population younger in 2023 (El País)
South Koreans are getting a year younger, parliament rules (NPR)
South Korea: Age system to be standardised from 2023 (BBC)
Lionel Messi Beats the Instagram Egg (Gizmodo)
Lionel Messi's Instagram post is the most liked thing on social media – ever (Mashable)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 12/20 - Wind Power for Human Habitats on Mars? Dec 20, 2022

Show notes

Could wind be the dark horse in the hunt for power sources for human habitats on Mars? Plus, the first-ever recording of a dust devil on Mars, and a goodbye to a beloved Martian explorer. And Google unveils the most-searched word of the year. I’ll give you a hint: it’s a six-letter word about five-letter words that sold to the New York Times for a “low seven figures.”

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Links:

NASA says wind could power human missions on Mars (Washington Post)
Wind Power on Mars Can Power Human Habitats, Scientists Discover (VICE)
This overlooked resource could be the key to powering a Mars colony (Inverse)
Assessment of wind energy resource potential for future human missions to Mars (Nature Astronomy)
Listen to The Sound of a Dust Devil Churning Across Mars (ScienceAlert)
Why not install wipers on Mars landers? (Swapna Krishna, Twitter)
Wordle is the most-searched term on Google in 2022 (CNN)
This year’s roundup of the top Google searches includes super local trends (The Verge)
Year in Search 2022: See the top trending searches of the year (Google)
Local Year in Search 2022 (Google)
Josh Wardle Is on the 2022 TIME 100 List (TIME)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Mon. 12/19 - The Story Behind Those Wooden Castle Playgrounds Dec 20, 2022

Show notes

Everything you never wondered about those wooden castle-like playgrounds of Gen X and Millennials’ youths. Plus, how a nano-thin layer of gold could finally be the cure to the dreaded glasses fog of our COVID masking era.

Sponsors:

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Links:

If you remember this playground, your childhood was awesome (Hopes and Fears)
The dangerous playgrounds of 1900s through vintage photographs (Rare Historical Photos)
Playground Architect Insists On Principle Of 'User Design' (The Buffalo News)
Playground Divides Adults in Westport (The New York Times)
An Invisible Layer of Gold Could Be the Secret to Glasses That Never Fog Up (Gizmodo)
A nano-thin layer of gold could prevent fogged-up glasses (Engadget)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Fri. 12/16 - Bots Doing Business With Bots Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

An AI chatbot that can negotiate with customer service chatbots to lower your bills, cancel your subscriptions, and more. Plus, the reason why chocolate sometimes gets that white sort of chalky sheen on it. And, a segment from the archives about the science behind some reindeers’ color-changing eyes, real red-nosed reindeer, and the origins of that famous song.

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Links:

DoNotPay is launching an AI chatbot that can negotiate your bills (The Verge)
This Oddly Polite Chatbot Will Fight With Comcast Support So You Don't Have To (Gizmodo)
Why Does It Mean When Chocolate Turns White? (HowStuffWorks)
Why does chocolate turn white (and is it safe to eat)? (Live Science)
The Reason Chocolate Gets Chalky White, and Whether It’s Safe to Eat (Mental Floss)
Why Are Reindeer Eyes Golden In Summer But Blue In Winter? (National Geographic)
The Scientific Reason Why Reindeer Have Red Noses (Smithsonian Magazine)
Christmas: A Candid History by Bruce David Forbes
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Thu. 12/15 - How Sci-Fi Impacts Real-World Innovation & Policy Dec 15, 2022

Show notes

The interplay between science fiction and real-world scientific innovations––from space travel to fusion energy. Plus, a replay of a classic Cool Stuff Ride Home segment on Krampus with an update on some risqué depictions of the Yuletide rogue that have been making the rounds online this year.

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Links:

How Science Fiction Movies Prepared Us for the Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough (NY Times)
Moonrise podcast: Lillian Cunningham’s historical account of America’s journey to the moon (Washington Post)
Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee
Feminine Krampus greeting cards (WitchesVsPatriarchy, Reddit)
Krushing on Krampus (The Paris Review)
Christmas: A Candid History by Bruce David Forbes
The Battle for Christmas: A Social and Cultural History of Our Most Cherished Holiday by Stephen Nissenbaum
The Origin of Krampus, Europe's Evil Twist on Santa (Smithsonian Magazine)
What is Krampus? How the Christmas 'Devil' Became Cool (National Geographic)
Who is Krampus? Explaining Santa Claus's Scary Christmas Counterpart (National Geographic)
Krampus: the demonic Santa Claus you haven't heard about (Vox)
Weird Krampus drive-thru parade puts terrifying twist on Christmas and it's Saturday night (NOLA)
Necromanor Haunted House hosting pictures with Krampus for Christmas (Shreveport Times)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Wed. 12/14 - Why Thousands of Street Lights Are Turning Purple Dec 14, 2022

Show notes

Why some street lights across the US and Canada have been turning purple, and what it says about the larger effects of the supply chain on our cityscapes. Plus, the emus that were banned from a bar in Queensland have returned with a surprise. And New Zealand’s parliament just passed a lifetime ban on smoking for the youngest members of Gen Z and beyond.

Sponsors:

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Links:

Why Faulty Streetlights Are Turning Cities Purple — and Why It's Worrisome (Business Insider)
Why thousands of city street lights are turning purple (CBC)
The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light by Paul Bogart
A Pair Of Banned Emus Have Just Returned To An Australian Pub — With Babies (All That’s Interesting)
Get Sarah Koenig (With Jackson Bird) (No Bad Ideas)
New Zealand passes legislation banning cigarettes for future generations (BBC)
Last year's announcement from NZ about the tobacco ban (Cool Stuff Ride Home)
65 – Official Trailer (Sony Pictures Entertainment, YouTube)
Jackson Bird on Twitter

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Tue. 12/13 - The Enduring Power of "Silent Night" Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

The origins and significance of the song “Silent Night.” Plus, an update on the US’s fusion energy breakthrough. And Los Angeles County’s first-ever unicorn license has been issued.

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