If you know the name Dan Meyer, it is because he is the world’s foremost expert on sword swallowing.  He has had several appearances on America’s Got Talent, he has a famous Ted Talk, and he even has an IG Nobel Prize for his work documenting injuries sustained while swallowing swords.  What people don’t know is that for as impressive as this body of work is, it pales in comparison to his lifelong pursuit of thromes.  After surviving a bout of malaria, he vowed to make the most of life and has lived on an island, on a boat, visited the 7 wonders, and has seen Mt. Everest at dawn.  We discuss his unbelievable journey, and even learn how he got the nickname “Curly”, and no, it’s not because he loves the Three Stooges.

Fascinating Nouns Ep. on Stanford Research w/ Russel Targ

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How far back do your memories go?  Do you remember your kiss with little Susie in second grade?  Can you remember your Kindergarten teacher’s name?  What do you remember about the day you were born?  My guess is, even if you CAN remember any of these things, the details are pretty fuzzy.  Not so for today’s guest Rebecca Sharrock.  She has a rare condition called Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM).  This means, she literally remembers EVERYTHING that has ever happened to her with crystal clear accuracy.  She even claims to have memories that are prenatal!  It is quite possible she has the best memory on the planet right now.  Of course we discuss this, but also her encounters with ghosts, her myriad phobias, and what she thinks of the Huntsman spider.

Fascinating Nouns Ep. on Memory w/ Elizabeth Loftus

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Italian mobsters were not the only ones who wanted to control an entire musical genre.  Rap Mogul Suge Knight followed the formula of the Mafia by controlling the lives of up-and-coming rappers, and beating/killing the competition.  Just ask Vanilla Ice.

Today, it is a given that Rock ‘N Roll is still one of the most popular and lucrative music genres in the world, but this was not always the case.  In the 1950’s, it was an upstart musical movement that was nothing like the contemporary songs of the day.  It needed a push, and that push came from an unlikely source:  The Mafia.  The Mob realized the potential of this new music, and they made it their mission to make a monopoly out of it.  Jeffrey Sussman is back to tell us how The Mob made a star out of Rock ‘N Roll by using Jukeboxes, “into perpetuity” contracts, Payola, and a few old fashion beatdowns.

Fascinating Nouns Ep. on Howard Hughes in Hollywood

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There is nothing more ubiquitous in human existence than waste.  To live is to produce refuse.  And there are so many kinds of waste:  Human, household, digital to name a few.  But what is waste really?  Turns out, the definition is pretty fluid.  In this episode I talk to John Scanlan, author of “The Idea of Waste” to get to bottom of this garbage pile.  What I find there is shocking.  We discuss fatburgs, cardboard furniture, sealed crap pegged to the gold standard, Henry Ford, and of course Shel Silverstein.

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Initially I wanted this episode to come out during spring training this year, but now that the Cubs have clinched a playoff spot, this is a much better time to discuss Al Yellon’s new book “Chicago Cubs Firsts”.  We discuss the great players like Ernie Banks and Ryne Sandberg, as well as broadcasters Harry Caray and Vin Scully.  We also explore early baseball rules, how the Cubs got their name, and the infamous “College of Coaches”.

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Henry and I talked for an hour about how the downfall of the human race was not only inevitable, but imminent.  Or is it?  In this bonus episode, Henry breaks down his plans for saving the human race.

Way back in the bonus episode to ep. 201, Henry Gee and I discuss his article on how the human race is in decline.  A better term would be free fall.  Well, he expanded that article into an entire book, and we finally get to discuss it!  It turns out, as soon as Homo sapiens dominated their competition, and emerged from Africa as the apex predator on Earth, their fate was sealed.  With no one to challenge them, Humans have gotten fat and lazy from a genetic sense.  Birth rates are falling, and we have outgrown the Earth’s carrying capacity.  It’s not all doom and gloom, as we discuss why Henry almost called his book “Dinosaurs!!!’, how chimps have more genetic variation in one tribe than the whole of the human race, and why female empowerment is killing our species.

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In a quiet theater, you sit and stare at a scene unfolding before your eyes, the participants unaware of your presence.  This excites you, and you just can’t seem to pull your eyes away.  That is because you, like everyone else who watches movies, is a voyeur, someone who loves to watch when others can’t see them.  This is essential to cinema, and Jimmy and I will discuss how this came to be.

No matter what movie you are watching, there is a high likelihood that some form of mental illness will be presented there.  Whether it is a masked psychopath in the latest horror movie, or an OCD partner in the new buddy cop film, humans seem to be unable to look away from crazy.  But how accurate are these portrayals?  Psychiatrist and closeted cinephile Dr. James “Jimmy” Charney walks us through his analysis as taken from his book “Madness at the Movies“.  We discuss the movie Psycho, Mighty Joe Young, Repulsion, and Night of the Hunter.  Plus we get to learn about Voices from the Void, his fear of heights, and how he studied piano at Julliard.

Fascinating Nouns episodes with Noah Charney

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