
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Truck Nutz is a brand name for the dangling plastic testicles some people affix to the bumpers or hitches of their vehicles. Also sold as Bulls Balls, Your Nutz, and other brand names, these plastic novelties have a powerful symbolic charge and are often associated with a crass, macho, red state audience. But truck nuts are a surprisingly complicated signifier whose symbolic power is increasingly divorced from their real-world usage.
On this episode, we talk to owners and users of truck nuts, investigate the origins of the accessories, and deconstruct the meaning of these oft-joked-about symbols. We’ll also take a tour of other novelty testicle products, including Bike Balls (testicular bike lights), Gunsticles (plastic testicles for guns), and Neuticles (prosthetic testicles for neutered pets), to better understand the maligned symbolism of truck nuts.
Links and further reading on some of the things we discussed on the show:
This episode was written by Willa Paskin and edited and produced by Benjamin Frisch. Decoder Ring is produced by Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman. Evan Chung is our supervising producer.
If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected]. Or you can also call us now at our new Decoder Ring hotline at 347-460-7281. We love to hear any and all of your ideas for the show.
Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
By Slate Podcasts4.6
2379023,790 ratings
Truck Nutz is a brand name for the dangling plastic testicles some people affix to the bumpers or hitches of their vehicles. Also sold as Bulls Balls, Your Nutz, and other brand names, these plastic novelties have a powerful symbolic charge and are often associated with a crass, macho, red state audience. But truck nuts are a surprisingly complicated signifier whose symbolic power is increasingly divorced from their real-world usage.
On this episode, we talk to owners and users of truck nuts, investigate the origins of the accessories, and deconstruct the meaning of these oft-joked-about symbols. We’ll also take a tour of other novelty testicle products, including Bike Balls (testicular bike lights), Gunsticles (plastic testicles for guns), and Neuticles (prosthetic testicles for neutered pets), to better understand the maligned symbolism of truck nuts.
Links and further reading on some of the things we discussed on the show:
This episode was written by Willa Paskin and edited and produced by Benjamin Frisch. Decoder Ring is produced by Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman. Evan Chung is our supervising producer.
If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected]. Or you can also call us now at our new Decoder Ring hotline at 347-460-7281. We love to hear any and all of your ideas for the show.
Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

90,995 Listeners

6,835 Listeners

9,187 Listeners

1,377 Listeners

3,523 Listeners

11,978 Listeners

2,845 Listeners

994 Listeners

1,030 Listeners

5,636 Listeners

59,081 Listeners

1,873 Listeners

87,505 Listeners

112,593 Listeners

53 Listeners

2,068 Listeners

240 Listeners

2,120 Listeners

19,083 Listeners

1,284 Listeners

16,353 Listeners

1,196 Listeners

436 Listeners

4,557 Listeners

442 Listeners

15,987 Listeners

60 Listeners

48 Listeners

97 Listeners

7 Listeners

129 Listeners

0 Listeners

2 Listeners