One of my favorite episodes of Stuff I Learned Yesterday that Darrell has done over the past few months was Episode number 23: The Halloween Candy Toilet Paper Mystery, and not just because it was a great story, although it was. If you haven’t heard that one, definitely dig into the archives and listen to it. You can search by the episode number in your podcast app or search “toilet paper” at goldenspiralmedia.com. Thankfully, that’s the only search result that pops up - I guess toilet paper doesn’t come up in TV show discussions very much.

Anyway, to summarize that episode, it was the one where Darrell, in his childhood, snuck into his house after school to steal some Halloween candy and ended up engaging in pyromaniacal activities in the bathroom, setting toilet paper on fire for absolutely no other reason than to see what would happen. Darrell then lied to his dad about starting the fire, stubbornly refusing to concede despite repeated punishment. Having had my fire fascination phase myself, as many young boys do, I really identified with this tale, but it’s not even the story itself that matters in this case. It’s the lesson Darrell chose to glean from this life event that made number 23 a favorite of mine. Read more...