Commute | The Podcast

**Episode 7 Rebroadcast**


On this episode:

Over the last 20 years, you’ve probably owned a computer with the Windows XP operating system. Remember the legendary default wallpaper photo of the green rolling hill? Yea, that’s a real place.

Can you buy an unused superhero from Marvel Comics and make it your own? Ya know, one of the weird ones that no one has heard of? The team at NPR’s Planet Money decided to try.  Free The Doorman!

At some point in the past, your parents thought they’d get rich off that Beanie Baby collection. The rise and fall of one of the strangest investment strategies ever.

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Windows-XP-Bliss-Hill-Sonoma-Charles-O-Rear-15976588.php
https://www.npr.org/series/967404527/planet-money-buys-a-superhero
https://thehustle.co/the-great-beanie-baby-bubble-of-99/

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Before we paid constant attention to our cell phones, many of us did the same to something else in our pocket - a digital pet called a Tamagotchi. A virtual animal that ate, pooped, and, sigh, could even die.

Prep school Bishop Sycamore recently lost a high school football game to the national powerhouse IMG academy. But here’s the thing - Bishop Sycamore might not exist.

All the movies you can watch for $10 a month?! Movie Pass seemed too good to be ….


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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/642373/tamagotchi-history

https://theathletic.com/2798560/2021/08/30/how-the-washington-generals-of-high-school-football-conned-espn/?redirected=1

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/highschool/2021/08/31/bishop-sycamore-football-director-andre-peterson-espn-controversy/5652257001/

https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/19/20872984/moviepass-shutdown-subscription-movies-helios-matheson-ted-farnsworth-explainer

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Real cash prizes in real-time - the quiz show game “HQ Trivia” exploded in popularity in 2018 and was one of the most downloaded apps in the world - and then fell into obscurity in 2019. What happened? Well, a lot.

Real players with actual stats on fake teams. The fantasy sports industry has taken over our attention and our bank accounts. But as the interest in fantasy sports continues to climb, will the actual games suffer?

What if you could vacation… forever? Mario Salcedo has lived on a cruise ship for the past 20+ years. But is the self-proclaimed “happiest guy in the world” really that happy?




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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://bettermarketing.pub/the-spectacular-rise-and-fall-of-hq-trivia-6b29748ed485

https://www.gq.com/story/the-crazy-ass-dystopian-future-of-fantasy-football

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/82645/life-aquatic-meet-mario-salcedo-full-time-cruise-ship-passenger

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For years we’ve heard about the rise of virtual reality and its inevitable march into our culture. But If this is virtual reality’s time to shine, why is it still so niche?

Go look in your coffee mug cabinet. Go ahead - we’ll wait. Happen to find a mug with a single word or simple phrase on it, like “Blessed” or “Family” among your collection? If so, you’re probably among the millions of people who own a product from Rae Dunn. These have developed a cult-like following and often bring in a haul on resell, but did Rae herself ever crave that level of success?

For some of us it’s not enough to tell people we don’t like something. We have to buy a decal of the comic strip character Calvin urinating on it. Are all those decals legal? What does the creator of Calvin & Hobbes think about all this?

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***

Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/technology/virtual-reality.html

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/03/10346458/rae-dunn-tj-maxx-popular-pottery-trend

https://triviahappy.com/articles/the-tasteless-history-of-the-peeing-calvin-decal

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A lot of us pop or crack our knuckles. But are we giving ourselves a higher chance of arthritis? Let’s see if Harvard can help us figure this out.

Regardless of whether you think his chicken is Finger Lickin’ Good or not, the white suit-wearing face of Kentucky Fried Chicken was a complicated man. Oh, and wait until you hear what he thought about the gravy.

Usain Bolt is the fastest human alive. His 2009 world record of 9.58 seconds in the 100-meter dash has remained unbeaten. Will anyone ever run faster than him? Is it even humanly possible? And house cats can run HOW fast?!


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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/knuckle-cracking-annoying-and-harmful-or-just-annoying-2018051413797

https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-tragic-life-and-struggles-of-colonel-sanders-2e1f685c34b5

https://www.wired.com/story/why-even-the-fastest-human-cant-outrun-your-house-cat/#intcid=_wired-most-popular-right-rail_b1cc4607-4cee-495a-8c1f-495ed23a9971_popular4-1

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When someone wins a lifetime supply of something, what does it mean? Do you get it delivered to you for the rest of your life?

You’ve reached the mountain top of the game-show world: you just won the best prize! You can’t be stopped! Or can you?

In 1974, a violent clash broke out in West Virginia over a proposal about school textbooks. What can we learn, and are the ramifications still playing out today?


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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.allaboutadvertisinglaw.com/2012/11/what-does-win-a-lifetime-supply-really-mean-and-other-existential-quandaries.html

https://www.thelist.com/287896/the-truth-about-winning-a-new-car-on-the-price-is-right/

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/pay-taxes-game-show-winnings

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-man-won-30000-on-wheel-of-fortune-heres-how-much-he-got-to-keep-2016-09-19

https://timeline.com/this-violent-1974-clash-over-textbooks-in-west-virginia-prepped-the-nation-for-a-new-right-movement-a94a2245743f

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It’s a special Olympic-themed episode this week on Commute!


Gold. Silver. Bronze. To win an Olympic medal is a lifetime achievement, an invitation into an exclusive club of enteral glory. But what’s the award itself worth, and not just in dollars and cents?

It sure seems cool to host the Olympics, but is it worth it? Global exposure carries a unique set of challenges.

How do you become an Olympian? Aside from talent and passion, what’s the day-to-day training schedule actually look like? And you have (get) to eat HOW much food?!


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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://360badminton.com/news/zhang-beiwen-turns-to-crowdfunding-for-her-journey-to-tokyo-2020/

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/29/tokyo-olympics-how-much-athletes-earn.html

 https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/economics-hosting-olympic-games

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-does-it-take-to-beco_1_b_11232308

https://www.muscleprodigy.com/michael-phelps-workout-and-diet/

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It’s Monday morning, and you want a bowl of cereal.  But you have a problem - your milk expired Saturday. Or did it? Who decides the lifespan of food?

In 2014 Richard Simmons disappeared. He stopped returning calls, emails, and texts. He stopped showing up for his fitness classes. Did he get kidnapped? Was he hiding from someone?  Or was it something else?

Long before Spotify and Apple Music we downloaded music to our computers in a very different way... Illegally. With a bit of help from a company named Napster.

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.vox.com/22559293/food-waste-expiration-label-best-before

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/12/arts/missing-richard-simmons-podcast.html

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/93492/12-facts-you-may-be-missing-about-richard-simmons

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190531-napster-turns-20-how-it-changed-the-music-industry

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In the 1970s, a boyband was dubbed the next Beatles because of the fan fervor they generated. You’ve probably never heard of them today.  Did the heightened public reaction actually hurt their career?

The table game Dungeons & Dragons has been popular among a small subculture of people for decades.  In recent years gameplay has soared, even increasing 30% during the pandemic. What is so attractive about this game? We bring in an expert to help us make sense of it all.

On a hillside in England is a 180 ft. chalk drawing of a giant. A naked giant. Where did it come from? After centuries of mystery, researchers recently made shocking discoveries.

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-56847111
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/13/dungeons-dragons-had-its-biggest-year-despite-the-coronavirus.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/how-old-cerne-abbas-giant/619406/

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In 2007, as reality TV was becoming a thing, MTV had a big idea - what if we took an up and coming rock band, forced them to live together for 30 days while they write a new album, and streamed the entire thing on the Internet? That's a great idea, right?! Right…?

The classic movie Space Jam is getting a reboot, with Lebron James teaming up with the Looney Tunes Gang instead of Michael Jordan. Can the new version have the same impact as the first? How has the original Space Jam held up? And what about that rumored NASCAR version - Race Jam, starring Jeff Gordon?

We just waved goodbye to yet another Fourth of July holiday season and the countless fireworks tents that now retreat into hibernation until next year. Where do they come from?  Where do they go? We call an expert to get the inside  (and gross) details on working at a seasonal fireworks tent.

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Episode Sources/Go Deeper:
https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/band-in-a-bubble-mtv-reality-show-2007

https://ew.com/article/2016/11/15/space-jam-20th-anniversary-joe-pytka/

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