The Not So Scientific Method

Jamie has some beef with the elections. Not any specific elections, mind, but just how the American election system works in general. She thinks that there should be more fairness as to how much each individual vote counts, and wonders why some states don't even get the chance to vote in the primaries until one candidate remains. Also, what's the deal with that electoral college, anyway? She and Noreen tackle it all, right here.

Articles Referenced:
Stuff You Should Know Podcast - Swing States

Brookings - Skewed Demographic in Democratic Primaries

Ballotpedia - Candidates Over Time 2020

NBC News - Clinton and Trump Battleground State TV Ad Spending

270ToWin.com - 2016 Election Results

Washington Post - How Fair is the Electoral College

HistoryHouse.gov - Electoral College

National Geographic - Electoral College

VoteSmart.org - Primary Elections

NPR - How Iowa Caucuses Work

270ToWin.com - 2000 Election Result

InfoPlease.com - 2000 Election Results

CBS News - 2016 Election Results

FairVote.org - Ranked Choice Voting

FairVote.org - Maine and Nebraska

There are normal people like Jamie who hate being scared. Then there are psychos like Noreen who kind of enjoy it. So, why do these psychos like Noreen exist, and what attracts them to movies and activities that occasionally cause a full scale bowel evacuation? The girls dive deep into the human psyche on this spooky episode to ultimately find out what goes on in your head when you’re afraid. We’ll even throw it back to some Disney Channel Halloween favorites (seriously, what was up with “Don’t Look Under the Bed” being way too scary for children???) to get the nostalgia -- and childhood trauma -- flowing.

Articles Referenced:

PsychologyToday.com - 5 Reasons We Enjoy Being Scared

LiveScience.com - Why Some People Love Being Scared

Steemit.com - Why Do We Enjoy Being Scared

National Center for Biotechnology Information - Sensation seeking in 3- to 6-year-old children: associations with socio-demographic parameters and behavioural difficulties

Noreen and Jamie like "Harry Potter." Kind of, like, a lot. But not as much as their first-ever real (sorry friends) guests, Alyssa and Ken, the brother-sister team behind the "Time-Turner Podcast: Harry Potter In-Depth." In this ~magical~ episode, the girls (plus Ken) dive deep into the points system at Hogwarts which, for the record, makes no sense whatsoever, fictional universe or not. Are we really giving 11-year-old kids only 10 points for taking down a whole-ass troll but taking away 50 for some casual mischief? C'mon, J.K. Regardless, crack open a butterbeer and chat with us while we use our time turner to go back and analyze the point system throughout the entire Harry Potter series.

Articles Referenced:
Harry Potter Fandom Wiki

Pottermore / AV Club Chart

MuggleNet.com Article

Time Turner: Harry Potter In Depth Podcast Apple Podcasts

Time Turner Twitter

Jamie thinks that Supreme Court justices (you know, the peeps that lay the law of the land - the law that should be impartial of political leanings and partial to the truth) should be nonpartisan. That maybe the people who are judging cases that will impact all American citizens shouldn’t be labeled as “republican” or “democrat.” But hey, she just hosts a podcast, so why would the government give a capybara's caboose, anyway? Nevertheless, as is their First Amendment right, Jamie and Noreen are going to review the processes behind electing Supreme Court justices, how the Supreme Court operates, and how justices don't seem to always vote on party lines. Don’t be afraid to judge all the facts this week and come to your own verdict.

Articles Referenced:
SupremeCourt.gov - How Justices are Appointed

The Economist - Political Leanings of Justices Over Time

NYT - Supreme Court Decisions vs Public Opinion

Five Thirty Eight - Multiple Swing Justices

Scholarly Commons, Northwestern  - Use and Limits of the Martin-Quinn Scores

*Note: this is a bonus to Episode 2 - Should you take short weekend trips? Make sure you listen to that one first before listening to this bonus!

You guys know we love traveling. Long vacations, short vacations, we're all about 'em. But how about short vacations within a longer one, kind of like a road trip? Is this sort of condensed traveling beneficial in that you cover a lot more ground -- and see a lot more for it -- in one go? Or is it just as huge pain in the caboose? In this bonus episode we weigh in on all of this with special guests, Kelly (our friend) and Frank (who has the pleasure of being Jamie's dad).

Eating is pretty great (as we’ve already discussed previously). But aside from enjoying it so much, you kind of have to do it for, you know, survival. However, like everything in this world, how you should eat -- specifically where calories are concerned -- is up for debate. Some people are all about counting calories whereas others think the dieting method is far more complicated than it's worth (especially since it's changed so much over time). Us? We're split down the middle on our feelings about dieting as a whole but we can both agree that we’re pro “liking-yourself-for-how-you-are-no-matter-how-much-Chipotle-you've-eaten-today" regardless. Join us as we try to analyze the complicated world of dieting using data with a side of some personal experience.


Articles Referenced:
Does ‘Calories in vs. Calories out’ Really Matter? - Healthline

Food Supply - Our World In Data

Calories In vs. Calories Out - Jessi Haggerty Blog

Attempts to Lose Weight Among Adults - CDC

Now we know what you’re all saying: more wedding content?? That’s right, we’re giving you a bonus! We just couldn’t contain ourselves and wanted to give you a unique perspective from someone who has already tied the knot. Special guest, Nicole (Noreen's former college roommate and fellow wedding expense expert), defies the data and discusses her thoughts on wedding costs. 

Sorry, boys get ready to join the Broken Hearts Club -- Noreen is getting married. And while there are those crying over what could have been, Noreen (as well as many others familiar with the matter) is kind of crying over how expensive weddings are. As she and Jamie discuss the bills tied to tying the knot, they mull over the question: considering it's supposed to be "the best day of your life," maybe it's worth the huge investment? Or is it...?

Articles Referenced:
Value Penguin - Average Cost of Wedding

Wedding Wire - Newlywed Report

A Diamond is Forever - Technical Paper

Everquote - Wedding Cost Regrets

We love eating and drinking out, which isn't really a secret and (to be honest) is probably the primary pastime of most people anyway. And what's not to love? It's a great way to socialize, try new things and, you know -- eat. But like anything, it's possible to love something too much. Sometimes we over-love our drinking and eating out budgets up to the point where we wonder: is it worth it?

Articles Referenced:
USDA Chart

Eating Out Makes You Happy

Benefits of Drinking Out

Millennials and Social Media - Spending More than they can Afford

Rise in Dual Income Households

Quick, what's the main choice of drink for the Irish? Beer? True. Whiskey? Definitely. How about cider? You wouldn't think so, right, but it turns out that our friends from the Green Isles drink cider far more than we do in ye ol' U.S. To explore this Gaelic gastronomy further, we have our favorite resident Irish, Margaret, talk about how cider is way better for gluten free and health-conscious folk. We’ll also go into a little bit of the history of cider within Ireland and the States. So pull up a drink yourself -- and try to stay sober enough to finish the episode, okay?

Articles Referenced:
Drinks Ireland - Alcohol Market Shares in Ireland

Statista - Alcohol Market Shares in America

The Taste - History of Irish Cider

Irish Times - Irish Cider Drinking

Cider Ireland - History of Cider

Atlas Obscura - History of Cider in America

Smithsonian Mag - History of Johnny Appleseed

What's Cooking America - History of Apples in America

Nasdaq - Quotes from American Cider Experts