Wait, How Do I Know It's Funny? A Rollicking History of Laugh Tracks
We've all heard them. You're watching or hearing a show, a character says something, and -- boom! -- an invisible choir of audience members loses their minds in riotous laughter, awws, or applause. Bu...
29 Sep 202247min
Who, exactly, were the Luddites?
Today you'll hear people described as 'Luddites' if they don't care for -- or don't understand -- some newer piece of technology, but where did this phrase come from? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and...
27 Sep 202242min
Instant Noodles Changed The World, Part Two: Going Global
As Momofuku Ando's instant noodles take Japan by storm, he sets his sights on the global horizon. In part two of this two-part series, Ben, Noel and Max explore the expansion of instant noodles into t...
22 Sep 202233min
Instant Noodles Changed The World, Part One: An Origin Story
Today, instant noodles are ubiquitous. You can find them in almost every grocery store, in any number of flavors sold by any number of brands -- but where did they come from? In part one of this two-p...
20 Sep 202231min
The Accidental Invention of Holding Music
We've all been there -- you're calling a bank, a loan company, you name it, and boom: you're put on hold. But where does that music come from? In today's episode, Ben and Noel dive into the strange or...
15 Sep 202231min
Inventors Killed By Their Own Inventions: Flyin' or Dyin', Part Two
How far would you go to fly? It's a question many inventors have asked themselves over the ages and, tragically, for every successful breakthrough it seems there were also dozens of failures, flops an...
13 Sep 202239min
Inventors Killed By Their Own Inventions: Flyin' or Dyin', Part One
Humans can swim, though not as well as a fish. Humans can run, though not as swift as a cheetah. From ancient civilization to the modern day, no human being can fly unaided. In this first of a long-ru...
8 Sep 202231min
Wilhelm Reich and Orgone, Part 2: Willy vs. The Feds
If Reich's concept of orgone was simple pseudoscience, why did the US government ban -- and burn -- his books? In part two of this two-part episode on Wilhelm Reich and orgonomic vibes, Ben, Noel and ...
7 Sep 202250min
