Something Offbeat

New York University dismissed an organic chemistry professor before the fall 2022 semester after 82 of his 350 students signed a petition against him, saying that his class was too difficult.

Organic chemistry is what's often deemed a "weed out" class for students pursuing careers in the medical field, but the petition raised the question of who really holds the power in higher education.

The professor, Maitland Jones, taught the subject for more than five decades, first at Princeton and then NYU. He wrote an op-ed in The Boston Globe defending his position and looking for ways students, faculty, and administrators could work together to help students.

In the aftermath of Jones' dismissal, Jessica Calarco, a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin who specializes in inequalities in education, wrote an op-ed in The New York Times arguing that "weed out" classes benefit privileged students. She joined Something Offbeat to discuss the power struggle in higher education.

James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” has been smashing box office records this month. Do you remember the substance “unobtanium” at the center of the original film’s plot? According to a recent headline from Smithsonian Magazine, it is actually a real thing… sort of. Dr. Matthew Shindell, curator of Planetary Science and Exploration at the National Air and Space Museum, joined “Something Offbeat” this week to explore the history of “unobtanium” and take us on a trip to the line between science and science fiction.

When the Stanford Daily reported that 20-year-old William Curry, who was not a student, was removed from a campus dorm, it unearthed another unsettling detail. The university was aware of Curry's presence for at least 10 months but didn't send out any communication to the campus at large.

On this episode of Something Offbeat, Mike Rogers visits with Theo Baker, one of the Daily reporters who broke the story, and Robert McDonald, a security expert and criminal justice professor at the University of New Haven, who spent two decades in the U.S. Secret Service.

Host Mike Rogers and guest Michelle Napierski-Prancl, a sociologist and professor at Russell Sage College, explore how pop culture influences naming trends and dive into the more offbeat side of names – including some that have been deemed illegal, according to U.S. Birth Certificates.com – on “Something Offbeat” this week.

When the owner of Pets Gone Wild Resort in the Houston area put up a sign that said "Now Hiring Non-Stupid People," he never imagined the response he would get -- positive and negative. Walter Parsons joins Something Offbeat to tell the story of what drove him to post the sign, and HR consultant Caren Goldberg explains why it might have rubbed some people the wrong way.

Have you ever considered cleaning your blood? How about taping your mouth shut to sleep? Many health trends like these found on social media sites aren’t healthy at all. In fact, they could be dangerous. This week on “Something Offbeat” registered dietician and bestselling cookbook author Toby Amidor helps us debunk some of the weirdest examples of these viral health hacks.

The retailer Costco has famously sold its hot dog and soda combo for $1.50 for nearly 40 years. In fact, the big box store's founder, Jim Sinegal, reportedly once told the company’s current CEO Craig Jelinek, “If you raise the (price of the) effing hot dog, I will kill you.”

Now, Costco's competitor Sam's Club is offering the same deal for $1.38 in an effort to ease the burden on consumers. As inflation causes the prices of other commodities to rise, does the cheap hot dog combo really make an impact on consumers' bottom line?

Chris Thornberg, the founder of Beacon Economics, joins Mike Rogers to get to the root cause of inflation, discuss retail strategy, and yes... hot dogs.

Imagine driving down the street and suddenly seeing a giant silver ball rolling towards you like the boulder from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” – that’s what some motorists in London faced when a public art piece was dismantled by wind. Public art expert Laura S. Griffith, deputy director of the Philadelphia-based Association for Public Art, joined Mike Rogers on the “Something Offbeat” podcast this week to explore what goes into making public art safe and why this art is so important.

World records come in all shapes and sizes: the longest and the shortest, the biggest and the smallest. Some come naturally, while others take a little planning.

On this episode of Something Offbeat, we hear how Tik Tok helped Samantha Ramsdell, a comedian from Connecticut, realize she might have a record-setting mouth, and how a South African funeral trade expo organized the longest parade of hearses in the world. Both are now Guinness World Record holders.

Just about everyone has an unusual fear they can't explain, right? For example, Alyssa Boss loves animals, but when it comes to rodents she says she feels overcome with nausea and anxiety. Nothing scares her more than coming across a rodent with a hairless tail. 

A new podcast from Audacy, called Your Weirdest Fears, explores these fears, and how we would survive if they came to fruition. Hosted by Larry Mullins, this lighthearted, weekly series explores fears both rational and irrational. Subscribe here.