Commute | The Podcast

In the late 1980s, waterbeds were a $2 billion-a-year industry. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who owns one today.

“I’ve got shotgun!” is one of those social norms we all know. Why?

Ludwig van Beethoven is among the most famous names in music history. So famous, in fact, that almost 200 years after his death even his hair is still making news.

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Sources:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/71404/what-ever-happened-waterbeds
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/89017/why-passenger-seat-called-shotgun
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/health/beethoven-death-dna-hair.html

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In the late 1980s, the Walt Disney Corporation decided to start work on what it hoped would be the next signature ride at Disney World. The ride would be like nothing park guests had ever seen - a horror ride. 


Heinz is one of the most reliable giants in the condiment industry. But what about that time it changed the color of ketchup?


The movie ends, but people still sit there. Where did post-credit scenes come from why is Marvel so good at it?
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Sources:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/577298/extraterrorestrial-alien-encounter-scariest-walt-disney-world-ride
https://kristashein.medium.com/heinz-ez-squirt-a-reflection-on-failed-assumptions-6f5c372b7976
https://www.vox.com/22893634/marvel-post-credits-scene-history

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1) When Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on their famous western expedition, it wasn’t just to find more opportunities for commerce. Instead, Jefferson had a bizarrely personal request for the adventurers.

2) Unlike much of the world, public restrooms are free to use in America. But why, and are we better off because of it?

3) There have been 275 million copies of Monopoly sold worldwide since its creation in 1935, so many people have had to make tough choices on what game piece they’ll use. This week, a brief history of the pieces … and a comeback story for one piece that just wouldn’t die.



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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2015/4/13/8384167/thomas-jefferson-mastodons
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-11-05/why-american-cities-lost-their-public-bathrooms
https://psmag.com/economics/dont-pay-toilets-america-bathroom-restroom-free-market-90683
https://coolmaterial.com/feature/the-story-behind-monopoly-pieces/

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It’s a hot summer day, and you pull into a McDonald’s drive-thru only to learn that the ice cream machine isn’t working. Again. Why does that happen so often?


Every Easter, they return like weeds - Peeps, the marshmallowy, chick-shaped candy, and every year there seem to be even more. Is there any way to stop them??


Companies often go beyond traditional advertising campaigns to pay for their product to be placed in movies, television episodes, and awards programs. Of course, things don’t always go as planned.

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Sources:
https://www.mashed.com/135144/the-real-reason-mcdonalds-ice-cream-machines-always-seem-to-be-broken/
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/11/15209084/peeps-easter
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nike-stock-drop-zion-williamson-shoe-incident-and-injury-costs-1-1-billion-in-stock-value/

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It’s every sports fan's daydream - to suit up and play for a real professional team. In one major sports league, it really happens.


The Democratic and Republican parties are defined by many things - including colorful animal mascots. We’ll tell you why.


Online shopping is used by everyone. Resell options like Craig’s List or Facebook Marketplace are used by many of us. Bad experiences and civic duty have led to a new option - Buy Nothing groups. But free often comes with a cost.

Sources:
https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/article249424165.html
https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-backup-goalie-tales/c-284389510
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/23805/how-did-donkey-elephant-become-political-mascots
https://dcist.com/story/23/02/21/buy-nothing-capitol-hill-take-my-sht-group-drama/

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Emojis are an essential part of how we communicate with each other. But where did they come from? And what do we do if we want to create a new one?

More than  30 years ago, Nirvana released an album with a naked baby in a swimming pool on the cover. That baby is now a man, and he isn’t too happy about it. 

When an actor dies, is it unethical to create a virtual reality version of them for future movie appearances? It depends on who you ask. 


Sources:
https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/05/11/1024802/jennifer-daniel-unicode-the-woman-who-will-decide-emoji/
https://www.npr.org/2022/09/05/1121124930/a-lawsuit-over-nirvanas-nevermind-naked-baby-album-cover-is-dismissed-again
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6132738

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Since its release in the 1960s, the Easy Bake Oven has regularly appeared on many “most successful toy of all time” lists, but it occasionally is found on a few less-than-desirable lists as well.

Are we headed for a future where we gaze into the night sky and see the moon featuring a car dealership ad?

Advances in artificial intelligence dominate the headlines, but this week we aren’t exploring the new - we’re revisiting the old. Meet ELIZA - the first-ever chatbot.
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Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.mashed.com/776497/the-untold-truth-of-the-easy-bake-oven/
https://www.businessinsider.com/billboards-in-space-are-fast-approaching-a-new-study-says-2022-10
https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/eliza-chatbot-history

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If you’re a millennial or older, there’s a decent chance that you had to learn to square dance in elementary school gym class. The reason why may be darker than you think.


Last night was the Super Bowl. Many of us only tune in for the commercials, but did you notice a glaring difference from those we saw a year ago?


The Savannah Bananas are making baseball more fun than ever. What is this team doing that others aren’t?

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Over 100 years ago, Charles Ponzi launched a scheme so wildly but only temporarily successful that his name would come to represent all similar schemes that followed. And, boy, would they follow. 

The economy is currently in flux, leading to price instability on just about everything, except for AriZona Tea. It costs the same .99 cents today that it did 30 years ago.

Chuck E. Cheese has continued to be the place “where a kid can be a kid” while its competitors have died out. Due in part, surprisingly, to the floppy disc.

Sources/Go Deeper:
https://time.com/5877434/first-ponzi-scheme/
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-04-12/az-iced-tea-inflation-99-cents
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/01/chuck-e-cheese-still-uses-floppy-disks-in-2023-but-not-for-long/

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If you’re one of millions who recently failed to get Taylor Swift concert tickets, this one’s for you. Why so few options when it comes to purchasing event tickets?

The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic reckoning of the world’s proximity to man-made Armageddon. Sometimes it even goes the other way. Does the state of the clock matter? Depends on who you ask.

He was your first social media connection, but he hasn’t been great at keeping in touch.  What happened to Tom from MySpace?

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Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/arts/music/ticketmaster-taylor-swift-senate-hearing.html
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/20612/11-times-doomsday-clock-time-has-been-adjusted
https://bettermarketing.pub/whatever-happened-to-tom-from-myspace-ff61c94ba7a4

http://www.commutethepodcast.com

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