We’re in a time of huge technological changes… but today we’re talking about an upgrade that's relatively small. Or, at least, the users of this particular new tech are small. And ratty. Plus: starting Saturday in Duluth, Minnesota, it’s the Chum Rhubarb Festival.

BYU engineering students design new wearable tech for search and rescue rats... yes, rats! (Brigham Young University)

Chum Rhubarb Fest 2026 

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Around this time in 2004, the end of a decade-long court challenge. It was about a guy who turned up at casinos and beat the house at roulette, thanks to a lot of observation and a lot of calculation. Plus: this weekend in Wisconsin, it’s the Ellsworth Cheese Curd Festival. 

Court backs gambler (The Age)

Ellsworth Cheese Curd Festival

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Today in 1959, groundbreaking for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis. The Gateway Arch has a unique design that mostly supports its own weight. Or at least that's what the math tells us. Plus: some one-star reviews of the Arch find it too archy.

How the St. Louis Arch Stands Against All Odds (HowStuffWorks)

Wild one-star Google reviews of the Gateway Arch (FOX 2 Now)

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For National Kissing Day, we look at the history of kissing, which goes back so far that it probably predates humans. Plus: starting this Saturday, it’s the Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races.

Who Kissed First? Archaeology Has an Answer. (New York Times)

Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races (Discover Hong Kong)

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This week we're replaying some of our most delicious episodes. In this one from September 2020, the story of a man in Illinois, a president of the United States, and the sandwich that’s a link between them. Plus: Calm Office offered a soundscape of clicking computer keys, fax machines, and people talking for those who missed background noise in the early days of the pandemic.

Watch now: Richard Nixon ate a sandwich in Sullivan 60 years ago. Here’s the story of the man who kept it. (Decatur Herald&Review)

Because People Miss The Office Sounds (Neatorama)

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This week we're replaying some of our most delicious episodes. In this one from March 2021, researchers find something surprising: choosing a hot sandwich instead of a cold one might help keep you from ordering extra food. Plus: an unusual performance of Guiseppi Verdi’s opera Aida at the base of the Great Pyramid in Egypt!

Consumers Buy More Food When They Order Cold Meals and Drinks, Reports Rutgers‒Camden Researcher (Rutgers-Camden)

Today in 1912 ‘Aida’ opens in open-air production beneath the Great Pyramid (Victorian Masculinity)

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This week we're replaying some of our most delicious episodes. In this one from November 2022, a sandwich in New York was maybe the worst of all time, though it wasn't ever really intended to be eaten. Plus: Billy Ocean hit it big with the song "Caribbean Queen," but in other parts of the world, that queen is from places other than the Caribbean.

To Evade Pre-Prohibition Drinking Laws, New Yorkers Created the World’s Worst Sandwich (Atlas Obscura)

Billy Ocean – European Queen (Discogs)

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This week we're replaying some of our most delicious episodes. In this one from April 2024, a look at the sandwich rivalry between Tampa and Miami, Florida. Each city claims to be home to the authentic Cuban sandwich. Plus: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania hosts the 2024 Artisan Guitar Show.

Tampa vs. Miami: The Fight for the Cuban Sandwich (Delish) 

Artisan Guitar Show

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Back in 1976, a sandwich run that topped them all, when Elvis Presley flew from Graceland to Denver for a sandwich. Of course, giant sandwiches are only one part of the world of Elvis food.

Elvis Presley’s “Fool’s Gold” sandwich was born in Denver (Denver Post)

A Dish Fit for a King (NPR)

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There were travelers before GPS and navigation apps, even in the early days of the US. And some of them turned to a set of paper maps that became the first US road atlas. Plus: tomorrow in Battle Creek, Michigan, it’s the National Cereal Fest.

An 18th Century Survey of the Roads of the United States of America (Library of Congress)

National Cereal Fest in Battle Creek, MI

We’ve mapped it out, and our backers on Patreon are the ones who make this show possible