This week we’re replaying a few of our sweetest episodes. In this show from December 2020, we take a closer look at the amazing and frequently disturbing history of gingerbread, including how one of the most famous royals of all time helped bring gingerbread people into the world. Plus: a lesson in patience from a musical great who made herself into a cookie-baking expert. 

⁠The History of Gingerbread⁠ (PBS)

⁠5 Facts You Probably Don't Know About Christmas Cookies⁠ (Food and Wine)

⁠Neko Case: Pet Sounds⁠ (Spin)

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This week we’re replaying a few of our sweetest episodes. In this show from July 2021, we meet Agnes B. Marshall, who helped make ice cream the icon that it is today. Plus: ground control once played the song “Hello Darlin” by country star Conway Twitty to astronauts in Earth orbit. Only this version of the song was a little different.

⁠The 19th-century entrepreneur who pioneered modern ice cream⁠ (The Hustle)

⁠Do You Remember When Conway Twitty Sang 'Hello Darlin' in Russian?⁠ (Wide Open Country)

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Today in Readlyn, Iowa, it's the start of Grump Days - because Readlyn proudly bills itself as home to "857 friendly people and one old Grump!" Plus: today in 1955, Paul Bunyan died? Even though he’s a legendary person and didn’t really live? That's what a grave marker in Minnesota claims, anyway.

THE TOWN WHERE IT’S FUN TO BE A GROUCH (Now I Know)

Paul Bunyan's Gravesite (Atlas Obscura)

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Wedding season is definitely here, and today we’ll tell you about a wedding tradition that used to have one very clear meaning and then did a 180. Plus: Stand With Pride is a network of people who volunteer to serve as stand-in parents when families of origin refuse to attend LGBTQ+ weddings.

Why Do Couples Tie Cans to Wedding Cars? (New York Times)

He inspired people to be stand-in parents at gay weddings. Now it’s his turn.  

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Lou Gehrig famously ended his consecutive games streak in the spring of 1939, not long before he was diagnosed with ALS. But on this day in 1939, he played one last exhibition game in Kansas City. Plus: today in 1977, the Kansas City Royals take to the field in Milwaukee with borrowed uniforms after a thief took off with most of their road gear.

Hall of Fame opened the day of Lou Gehrig’s final game (Baseball Hall of Fame)

The Royals had to wear Brewers uniforms for a game 42 years ago Wednesday (Kansas City Star)

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Today in 1993, the release of the blockbuster movie Jurassic Park. One of the small but key roles in that movie is the work of Jophery Brown, actor and a stuntman who's performed in some of the biggest movies of the last few decades. Plus: Sal Giardino's New Jersey gravestone is hard to miss: it's a giant black lightbulb featuring the words "World's Greatest Electrician."

The pitcher who became a legendary Hollywood stuntman (MLB.com)

Weird NJ #9 

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Legend has it that today in 1529, two armies in Switzerland decided that instead of having a war, they would have some soup. Plus: Idaho's Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is holding a centennial celebration through September.

In Switzerland, the soup quarrelling politicians share (BBC)

100 Years of the Craters of the Moon (Visit Idaho)

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Today in 1520 the beginning of what may have been the biggest, most expensive party of all time, involving two kings, 18 days and $19 million. Plus: starting tomorrow in New Orleans, it’s the French Market Creole Tomato Festival.

The Field of the Cloth of Gold (Historic-UK.com) 

French Market Creole Tomato Festival 

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For the birthday of Tetris, the story of a 13 year old who played so deep into the NES version of the game that it crashed - and the gamers who found ways to keep playing even past that "end" point. Plus: starting tomorrow the town of Metropolis, Illinois is hosting its annual Superman Celebration. 

It’s Possible to Hack Tetris From Inside the Game Itself (WIRED)

Metropolis Superman Celebration 

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If you're traveling abroad this summer you'll need a passport - unless you're one of a very small number of very prominent people who don't need to use passports. Plus: this week Louisville, Kentucky is home to Ali Fest.

Does the President Have a Passport? (Slate) 

Ali Fest in Louisville, KY 

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