Hyperfixed

This week, we answer a question we have gotten quite a few times since the show began: Why does every microwave have a "Popcorn" button, but nearly every popcorn manufacturer warns you not to use it? The answers are wilder than you ever imagined.

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LINKS:

Alec Watson's YouTube channel, Technology Connections

The Popcorn Board

A segment from our recent live show in Brooklyn! We investigate one man's obsession with an incredibly charismatic performer. 

Please consider becoming a Hyperfixed premium member - you will get bonus episodes and access to our discord and much more, in addition to supporting independent journalism. 

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LINKS: 

In Memoriam for "Minnie"

This week, we're unlocking an episode from our premium feed: an interview with Kate Downey, Host and Creator of the CRAMPED podcast.

Get tickets for the Hyperfixed live show!

If you like this episode and would like to hear more like it, as well as join our discord and get discounts on merch, you can support us by going to https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/join. 

LINKS: 

• CRAMPED podcast

Alice was browsing the stock audio in Adobe premiere, when she found dozens of audio marked "prison." Were they actually recorded in prison? By actual prisoners? And if so, was it voluntary? We investigate.

Reminder! There are only two weeks until Hyperfixed live in Brooklyn! Buy tickets HERE

Hyperfixed is completely independent and can only exist with the support of our listeners. Please consider becoming a premium Hyperfixed member. You'll get bonus episodes, discounts on merch and live shows, and much more. You can join by following THIS LINK

LINKS:

In 2022, Amber’s favorite podcast came to an abrupt and shocking end, and now, its archive of episodes has started disappearing from the internet. So she’s come to the Hyperfixed team to find out how to preserve what’s left, and answer a question that's been haunting her for years: is her favorite podcast host ok?

LINKS: 

• ReTell Pharmacy Podcast

We are doing a LIVE SHOW in Brooklyn in September, get your tickets here

http://tickets.hyperfixedpod.com/

Please consider becoming a hyperfixed premium member. Your support keeps our show alive.

https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/join

Three years ago, Becca was seeing double. Her hometown's hedge maze had an uncanny resemblance to a famous maze in England, but no one seemed to realize it except her. So Becca wants to know if the maze is, indeed, a copy. And if she's right, she wants credit where credit is due.

LINKS:

- Adrian Fisher's book: The Amazing Book of Mazes
- Henry Eliot's book: Follow This Thread
- Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow
- Photo of the Longleat Hedge Maze
- Photo of the Big Green Monster in Stow,  Massachusetts
- Photo of the sign at the Big Green Monster at Honey Pot Hill

We are doing a LIVE SHOW in Brooklyn in September, get your tickets here

http://tickets.hyperfixedpod.com/

Please consider becoming a hyperfixed premium member. Your support keeps our show alive.

https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/join

This week we're cooking up a couple stories in the lab so while you wait, please check out Panic World, a fantastic podcast hosted by friend of the show Ryan Broderick.

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Why are cats so popular on the internet? It started with cat memes like I Can Haz Cheezburger and Keyboard Cat, then we became enamored with cat celebrities like Lil Bub, Grumpy Cat, and Princess Monstertruck. And now, we’re witnessing the next evolution in cat internet content: “cute cat AI.”

Our guest and host of American Hysteria, Chelsey Weber-Smith, calls it a “Kitty Horror Picture Show.” Chelsey joins Ryan and Grant to tell us about the explosion of really weird AI-generated cat videos depicting cat families that’s all over TikTok and YouTube right now — much like Elsagate once did in 2014. Then, Ryan takes us back even further, to cover an older cat-based moral panic: Bonsai Kittens. Together, we look at how though technology has changed, we’ve pretty much always wanted to show each other freaky stuff on the internet — whether real or fake.

Our guest Chelsey Weber-Smith hosts American Hysteria, a show that explores the fantastical thinking and irrational fears of Americans. Check it out here or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

LINKS

Garbage Day Newsletter

Panic World

American Hysteria

Earlier this year, David's mouse suddenly stopped working, which wouldn't be that weird, were it not for the fact that people across the world were reporting the same issue with the same mouse. What happened, and why? The Hyperfixed Team investigates.

We are doing a LIVE SHOW in Brooklyn in September, get your tickets here

http://tickets.hyperfixedpod.com/

Please consider becoming a hyperfixed premium member. Your support keeps our show alive.

https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/join

LINKS: 

The Lever (David's investigative news website)

Consumer Reports

Growing up, Alison was a voracious reader. But there was one book series in particular that she devoured. "Samurai Girl" by Carrie Asai. Recently, Alison wanted to learn more about the author whose books she loved nearly 20 years ago. But she couldn't find anything about Carrie Asai. No other writing credits. No bio. So it left Alison wondering, who was Carrie Asai?

LINKS:

Get tickets for the Hyperfixed live show!

If you like this episode and would like to hear more like it, as well as join our discord and get discounts on merch, you can support us by going to https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/join. 

An extended (bonus!) interview from our Fauxbituaries episode, now unlocked for you! Investigative journalist, Craig Silverman, helps us track down one of the authors of a fake obituary site.

Get tickets for the Hyperfixed live show!

If you like this episode and would like to hear more like it, as well as join our discord and get discounts on merch, you can support us by going to https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/join. 

LINKS: 

Craig Silverman's website Indicator

The Hyperfixed episode "Fauxbituaries"