Why do we say someone "passed away" instead of "died"? And why does it matter so much which words we choose?

In this episode, host Aaron Crawford explores the folklore behind death euphemisms — the unwritten rules that tell us which phrases belong at a graveside and which ones belong at a bar. From "departed" to "kicked the bucket," the language we use around death isn't random. It's a socially transmitted code that varies by community, generation, and context, enforced not by law but by a well-timed silence or a sharp look across the room.

Music Credits
Intro music: Humorous and Comic Intro
By Free Music — soundcloud.com/fm_freemusic
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Available at: chosic.com/download-audio/27133/
Music promoted by Chosic

Christmas Eve at midnight feels magical, like you could just reach out and, like Adam in the Sistine Chapel, touch the finger of God. It's magical and meaning-fraught for children and adults alike. Drawing on folklore and anthropology, this episode examines why this quiet hour feels holy and charged with meaning – even when nothing is happening. 

Why does everyone lose their collective mind when Christmas music shows up “too early”? In this episode, we dig into the folk social control behind holiday soundtracks: How communities quietly regulate behavior with nothing but side-eye, shared expectations, and a deep fear of low-effort Christmas covers. From nose-picking norms to unspoken rules of public space, we explore why boundaries like this exist and how folklore keeps them in place… even against the full power of the corporations’ fake “holiday cheer.”

Sidenote: A "fortnight" is an old-timey way of saying "two weeks." It's often used to indicate an indeterminate time in the future, as in "Call on me again in a fortnight." Incidentally, it is correctly spelled the way I spelled it. I, for one, would be super embarrassed if I started a major franchise using the term but I spelled it incorrectly.

Music Credits
Intro music: Humorous and Comic Intro
By Free Music — soundcloud.com/fm_freemusic
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Available at: chosic.com/download-audio/27133/
Music promoted by Chosic

Treat or treating isn't just a fun way to gather enough candy to make a child ill for three days. It's a ritual inversion: A deliberate role reversal, where the tiny become powerful. Join host Aaron Crawford as we learn how trick or treating allows our culture to blow off steam, challenge its hierarchies, and laugh at its own rules.

Music Credits
Intro music: Humorous and Comic Intro
By Free Music — soundcloud.com/fm_freemusic
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Available at: chosic.com/download-audio/27133/
Music promoted by Chosic

When the air still feels like July but the store shelves smell like October, you know it’s happened: the pumpkin spice has returned. But why does that scent and that flavor have such a grip on us?

In this episode, host Aaron Crawford unpacks how old-world spices met new-world pumpkins, how marketers bottled coziness, and why “pumpkin spice” has become the smell of autumn coziness.

Music Credits
Intro music: Humorous and Comic Intro
By Free Music — soundcloud.com/fm_freemusic
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Available at: chosic.com/download-audio/27133/
Music promoted by Chosic

When tragedy strikes, we don’t grieve alone. We light candles, stand in silence, leave flowers, and gather in public places: turning private sorrow into shared ritual. In this episode, host Aaron Crawford explores how communities create these acts of mourning, why they appear so instinctively, and how they become part of our living traditions.

Music Credits
Intro music: Humorous and Comic Intro
By Free Music — soundcloud.com/fm_freemusic
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Available at: chosic.com/download-audio/27133/
Music promoted by Chosic

The Pittsburgh Left: where courtesy outruns the rulebook. Discover how this neighborly traffic quirk became folklore - and why Mr. Rogers would’ve waved you through. 

Why do we put fire on cake, make a wish, and then blow lung air all over dessert? From moon goddesses to magical forcefields to Betty Crocker, birthday cake has a surprisingly weird backstory. And yes: it’s definitely a folk thing.

Music Credits
Intro music: Humorous and Comic Intro
By Free Music — soundcloud.com/fm_freemusic
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Available at: chosic.com/download-audio/27133/
Music promoted by Chosic

There you are, standing in the grocery store, surrounded by bins of green watermelons. You knock. You thump. You lift one like it’s a newborn and whisper, “Are you the chosen one?”

Someone next to you is doing the same thing. You make eye contact.

It’s a silent competition.

It’s a public act of fruit-based divination.

It’s probably a folk thing.

Music Credits
Intro music: Humorous and Comic Intro
By Free Music — soundcloud.com/fm_freemusic
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Available at: chosic.com/download-audio/27133/
Music promoted by Chosic