Commute | The Podcast

You find them in big cities and small towns, rural areas and urban subdivisions and, while cute to some, they’re a nuisance to many.  Where do all the deer come from?!

Being tall has its advantages, but its disadvantages can be daunting. The touching life of Robert Wadlow.

For almost 15 years, Flo has been getting people to switch to Progressive Insurance at an amazing rate. But if not for five unscripted words, this iconic mascot might not even exist.

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-solve-americas-wild-deer-problem-eat-them-11625842696
https://allthatsinteresting.com/robert-wadlow
https://www.fastcompany.com/90254247/10-years-of-flo-the-story-behind-progressives-accidental-ad-icon

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Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars last week. If you were watching live, you saw it but didn’t hear it. Let’s learn about the censoring work of our friends at the FCC.

William Stewart Halsted is credited as much as anyone with developing modern medicine, including the medical residency program. And he was typically high on cocaine.

During the Cold War and in the early days of the space race, the U.S. considered doing something amazing to showcase its technological dominance to the rest of the world. The plan? It involved shooting a nuclear missile at the moon.

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/03/28/oscars-slap-editing/
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123570287
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553176/
https://www.history.com/news/nuclear-bomb-moon-cold-war-plan

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Saint Peter’s University Peacocks became the 2022 March Madness Cinderella team by beating squads they had no chance against on paper, gathering fans and viewers with each win. Does NCAA tournament success do anything for the school, itself?

When you call a customer service number it almost always happens: you get put on hold. The music that greets you, though, is more complicated than you’d think.

Samoas. Tagalongs. Thin Mints. We all have our favorite Girl Scout Cookie. Where did this national obsession come from? And do they really outsell Oreos?!

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/hold-music-behavior
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/1/24/18195824/girl-scout-cookies-explained-thin-mints-buy
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/the-march-madness-application-bump/519846/
https://facsen.wsu.edu/documents/2020/12/the-cinderella-effect-12-10-2020.pdf/

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This week on the show:

Metal detectors didn’t have a resurgence during the pandemic - they had a rebirth. A new generation of treasure hunters has emerged. Is this a good thing?

Action Park was one of the most popular theme parks in America during the 1980s. Then the first person died.

Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was accused of using performance-enhancing drugs in 2012. The fallout had an impact on Armstrong’s charity, Livestrong (remember the yellow wristbands??) Livestrong is still around - how has it survived the damage done to its image by Armstrong?


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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/style/metal-detectorists-ring-finders.html
https://www.fastcompany.com/90538696/class-action-park-captures-the-wildest-wettest-and-most-dangerous-amusement-park-ever
https://es.pn/2Hg3Gtu

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What would you do for your favorite drink? What would you give? In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union wanted Pepsi so badly that it paid with the only thing it had - military equipment. 

It’s been over 100 years since we’ve had a nice presidential beard like Abe’s or mustache like Teddy’s. Why don’t U.S. Presidents grow facial hair anymore? And should Joe Biden consider a goatee? 

Becoming a professional clown is no laughing matter. Don’t buy it? The legendary Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Clown College has been referred to as Navy Boot Camp. Let that sink in.


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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-pepsi-briefly-became-the-6th-largest-military-in-the-world-2018-7
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2015/05/27/the-politics-of-facial-hair/
https://www.csmonitor.com/1982/1231/123100.html

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Have a weird talent? Always had dreams of securing eternal glory with a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records? Figuring out your talent is the easy part.

Author Stephen King is renown for creepy classics like The Shining & IT. But what about the time he found himself in a real-life suspense story? 

G, PG, PG-13, R, and even NC-17. We know the movie rating system, but who decides?

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://betterhumans.pub/the-complete-guide-to-getting-your-own-guinness-world-record-a02447cbd016
https://www.ranker.com/list/stephen-king-car-accident/erin-mccann
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/57664/how-do-movies-get-their-ratings

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User reviews are the first resource to help consumers discover how good a product or service is; what other buyers liked and disliked.  What if most of those reviews were fake…?

It’s a horror movie staple and it always works - the jump scare!!

Can a film lead to an actual, measurable shift in culture and society?

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-amazon-fake-reviews-unreliable-20201020-lfbjdq25azfdpa3iz6hn6zvtwq-story.html 
https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-fake-reviews
https://www.slashfilm.com/552769/a-brief-history-of-the-horror-movie-jump-scare/
https://www.looper.com/149503/movies-that-actually-changed-the-world/

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One of the most prolific serial killers of his time, Diego Alves was executed 170 years ago, but that wasn’t the last time anyone saw Alves. In fact, you can still meet the killer face-to-face today, his head perfectly preserved in a jar!

In many ways, Whittier, Alaska, is just like any town in America. It has schools, grocery stores, and a city government. When it differs, though, it really differs. For starters, almost everyone lives in the same building.

As comedian John Mulaney put it, “I always thought that quicksand was gonna be a much bigger problem than it turned out to be.” Why don’t people get caught in quicksand anymore?

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/why-portugals-first-serial-killer-s-head-end-up-in-a-jar-19a2dae57a58

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2010/08/terra_infirma.html

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2015/07/us/whittier-alaska-american-story/

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When a baby is born, it needs more than love and affection - it needs a name! Can you name your new baby whatever you want? Eh, it’s complicated and, no, you can’t name it Santa Claus.

Yes, you just watched the Super Bowl, but here’s what they didn’t tell you. 

Ten years ago, Jeremy Lin took the NBA by storm. Linsanity captured the attention of the world - and nearly ruined Jeremy’s life.

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.today.com/parents/babies/banned-baby-names-see-baby-names-banned-rcna15211
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/68768/22-outlawed-baby-names-around-world
https://wallethub.com/blog/super-bowl-facts/1589
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/2/4/22916972/jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks-asian-american-representation-10th-anniversary

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Every kid's favorite way to waste their parent's quarters - the claw machine! So, what are your chances of actually winning?

50 million people start their day with a cup of coffee and a crossword puzzle. Can these daily word games teach us about how we form new memories? And why do crossword puzzles end up entangled in culture wars?

Peloton, the in-home exercise equipment company, was the hottest ticket in town with soaring stock prices and commercials on major outlets. Then the company announced it would cease production on new machines - supply suddenly vastly outnumbered demand. What happened?

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.vox.com/2015/4/3/8339999/claw-machines-rigged

https://kotaku.com/new-york-times-crossword-puzzle-making-history-will-sho-1848440135
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/this-is-your-brain-on-crosswords/

https://fortune.com/2022/01/20/peloton-stock-just-hit-its-lowest-point-since-march-2020-heres-why-the-company-is-in-such-big-trouble/

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