SmartDrivel

The world has gone crazy for wordle. People set their alarms just to get up early enough to solve the wordle before their friends. There is a “sharing” er “competing” culture of proving one’s intelligence by getting the word in fewer guesses than others. And, with the boom, it has spawned quordle, octurdle, worldle, hurdle, nerdle, etc. Jon and Kurt delve into this phenomenon and try to explain or dissect it in their own smart drivel way.

Following up on last week's "Underrated Inventions Part 1" comes the expected "part 2". In this classic episode, Jon and Kurt continue waxing poetic about seemingly mundane inventions that have had outsized impact on society. Some you would expect, some are interesting interpretations by our opinionated co-hosts. 

Dipping into the vast repository of Smart Drivel content, Jon and Kurt offer up a classic two part series. From toilet paper to Neil Diamond and lots in between, they discuss the advances in civilization we can’t live without. They may not get the headlines as say the wheel or penicillin, but these underrated inventions punch way above their weight.

Tune in to another classic episode as Jon and Kurt spend a full episode discussing fun phrases and how they came to be. “Mind your Bees Wax,” “One for the road”, and “Freezing the balls off a brass monkey” are just a few sayings they take on, masticate over, and share.

Enjoy a classic Smart Drivel episode as Jon and Kurt set out to find the truth behind certain “givens” that we have always been told: is it safe to swim right after eating? Is the earth round? Did Vikings have horns on their helmets? Was there an apple in the Garden of Eden? Were the pyramids of Egypt built by slaves? Is Everest the tallest mountain on earth? And what the hell does Chuck Yeager have to do with all of this?

Stretching their word retrieval abilities, Jon and Kurt have fun in this episode by coming up with words that have ‘art’ embedded within them. Art means one thing on its own (the beautiful category of expressionism–be it paintings, sculptures, poetry, novels, music, dance, etc.), but take that word and stuff it into another, and it takes on a whole new life.

Finding humor, joy, and moral intrigue in select words, Jon and Kurt play a little game. One of the co-hosts comes up with a favorite or interesting word and explains the reasoning behind his choice. The other co-host then has to come up with a compelling entry of his own – but it has to start with the last letter of the other’s word. Of course, this being Smart Drivel, they seldom stay on task or on topic. The conversation that ensues is entertaining, if nothing else.

Jonathan Ellenthal:

I like it!

You are moving to a foreign country. You don’t know where. You don’t know for how long. All you are told is that you can bring 5 things with you. Jon and Kurt share what they would take along as they go far afield from home. Not surprisingly, they have quite different answers and rationales for their choices. Which leads to some fun back and forth. What would you bring?

Jon and Kurt re-release an all-time favorite as they wax poetic about places they would love to visit for vacation. However, the twist is that they can go anywhere in any time in history. They discuss being in ancient Greece for the invention of the shower, ancient Alexandria for the books, England during King Arthur’s reign, seeing Jackie Robinson score his first MLB run, and other smart-drivelly places.

Throughout history, humankind’s competitive spirit has led to inventing and mastering a wide array of sports. Basketball, Soccer, Football, Baseball, Hockey, Tennis, etc. get all the air time and all the headlines, but what about the outrageous and bizarre sports? The ones like toe wrestling or bog snorkeling or eel peeling or….yup, Jon & Kurt in their 101st episode explore some of the more ridiculous sports that have attracted committed athletes over the years. We’ll see you in the dung spitting competition next year.