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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie… Will He Want a Welfare Check?
Episode 94
Adults have a long history of trying to find morals and lessons in children’s literature. But what happens when a seemingly innocent book about a boy…
2 years, 1 month ago
Chuck E. Cheese Pizza War (Encore)
In the late 1970s, a new and unusual concept for a restaurant chain emerged in California—video games plus bad pizza plus animatronic characters. The…
2 years, 1 month ago
The Hysteria Over Mass Hysteria
Episode 93
“Hysteria” is an ancient word carrying thousands of years of baggage. Though the terminology has changed, hysteria has not gone away, and in its most…
2 years, 1 month ago
Standing Up for Sitting Down
Episode 92
If you’re lucky, it’s possible you’ve never thought much about sitting. It’s just something your body does, like breathing or sleeping. But in the la…
2 years, 2 months ago
The Secret Life of Lawn Ornaments
Lawn ornaments are everywhere—but for something so ubiquitous, they’re also mysterious. What’s the person with the flamingo or the gargoyle in their …
2 years, 2 months ago
The Secret Life of Lawn Ornaments
Episode 91
Lawn ornaments are everywhere—but for something so ubiquitous, they’re also mysterious. What’s the person with the flamingo or the gargoyle in their …
2 years, 2 months ago
Stuffed Animals Gone Wild
Episode 90
Axolotls. Narwhals. Llamas. Sloths. Every few years, it seems like American kids and parents collectively decide they cannot get enough of a creature…
2 years, 3 months ago
Sex, Lies, and Hockey Pucks
30 years ago, the Stanley Cup playoffs ignited a rumor that has been messing with Jane Macdougall’s life ever since.
In 1994, the Vancouver Canucks h…
2 years, 3 months ago
Sex, Lies, and Hockey Pucks
Episode 89
30 years ago, the Stanley Cup playoffs ignited a rumor that has been messing with Jane Macdougall’s life ever since.
In 1994, the Vancouver Canucks h…
2 years, 3 months ago
Captain Planet to the Rescue
In 1990, the cartoon superhero Captain Planet swooped onto TV screens all over the world. He was the brainchild of media mogul Ted Turner, and in the…
2 years, 4 months ago