Commute | The Podcast

Of all the strange rituals we rarely question, blowing out birthday candles has got to be up there. What are the origins of this very unsanitary act?


The online dating world is challenging but, with so many different dating apps, if one doesn’t work we can try another. They are surely all unique … aren’t they …?


Why does being on the naughty list mean coal for Christmas?

Sources:
https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-we-blow-out-birthday-candles
https://www.theverge.com/23560419/match-group-dating-apps-giant-tinder-hinge-okcupid-land-of-the-giants
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31910/why-does-santa-claus-give-coal-bad-kids

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We’ve all failed. Most of us would rather not talk about it, but the Museum of Failure does more than talk about failures. It celebrates them.

U.S. airlines lose millions of pieces of luggage annually. Most of them don’t just vanish, they end up in the same place. (It’s not the landfill.)

It’s been a calling card of the dining experience at Olive Garden for decades - unlimited breadstick and salad refills. But even unlimited things have their limit.

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/24/1214841411/luggage-lost-airlines-resale-unclaimed-baggage-alabama

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Do retailers put out Christmas stuff earlier and earlier every year, not giving Thanksgiving fair respect, or is it all in our heads?


A presidential pardon forgives a crime and clears the record of the offender. So why does a turkey (yes, an actual turkey) receive this treatment every Thanksgiving?

Sources:
https://www.newsweek.com/countdown-christmas-creep-earlier-every-year-1631978
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/26/782716688/i-beg-your-pardon-the-strange-history-presidents-sparing-turkeys

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Although the Beatles put out their last record in 1970, a demo originally recorded a few years later has been cleaned up and released thanks to technological advances - and features John Lennon more than 40 years after his death.

To tip or not to tip, that is the question. And these days it’s asked more than ever. Not tipping is still an option, tho, right? Not if DoorDash has anything to say about it.

Mein Kampf, the autobiographical, anti-Semitic hate manifesto written by Adolf Hitler, is one of the most controversial books of all time - which means that it’s also sold a lot of copies. Who’s getting that cash?

Sources:
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7015861
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/business/doordash-tip-warning.html
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/11/nobody-wants-royalties-hitlers-book/

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More than three decades ago, the New Yorker Magazine printed a cartoon about the internet that is just as accurate today as it was then, setting records for reprints. It’s still setting records.

It’s after Halloween. What happens to all the pumpkins?

Porta potties - everyone uses them; no one wants to. We’ll tell you more than you ever expected to know, including how often, if ever, they’re cleaned.


Sources:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-most-reprinted-new-yorker-cartoon-breaks-record-at-auction-for-a-single-panel-comic-180983135/#:~:text=In%201993%2C%20the%20New%20Yorker,cartoon%20in%20the%20magazine's%20history
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/11/where-pumpkins-go-after-halloween/601699/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/642730/how-are-porta-potties-cleaned

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How did “cheese” become the universal smile word used by photographers? You’ll never guess what word it replaced!


It’s the official slogan of Halloween, but where and when did it begin? And what did cabbage have to do with the whole thing?


The most terrifying mask of all time has one of the most bizarre backstories.

Sources:
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/04/the-origin-of-say-cheese-and-when-people-started-smiling-in-photographs/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/630861/why-we-say-trick-or-treat-at-halloween
https://screenrant.com/halloween-michael-myers-mask-origin-story/#:~:text=Michael%20Myers%20first%20acquired%20the,the%20face%20of%20the%20franchise

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For almost 70 years a glass of Coca-Cola cost a nickel.


In Iceland, it’s easy to accidentally marry your cousin. Luckily, there’s an app for that.


Legendary anonymous street artist Banksy may have finally been unmasked. Or maybe not.

Sources:
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/11/18/456410327/episode-416-why-the-price-of-coke-didnt-change-for-70-years
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/04/18/new-app-helps-icelanders-avoid-accidental-incest/2093649/
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/who-is-banksy-mystery-street-artist-bristol-identity-graffiti-b1063267.html

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Every year new words get added to the dictionary. Who decides?


If we don’t know someone’s name or they want to stay anonymous, we typically refer to them as John or Jane Doe. How did this happen? What if your actual name is John Doe?


Will we ever add another face to Mt. Rushmore? It comes up in conversation.

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Can pizza tip us off to issues of national security? The evidence seems to be clear.


After a big sporting event - Super Bowl, World Series, or National Championship Game - it’s amazing how quickly the winning team t-shirt is available. How is this possible, and what happens to the losing team's shirts?


Asteroid Beenu is currently on a collision course with Earth. Have we got a plan for this?

Sources:
https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/07/the-pizza-meter-was-a-staple-of-1990s-pop-pseudoscience-we-should-revive-it.html
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/29884/what-happens-losing-teams-championship-shirts
https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/overview

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It's almost Halloween season. Soon kids, dressed as their favorite characters, go door to door asking for candy. But does the fun have an age limit? How old is too old?

Have you planned for your funeral? When you do, you’d better prepare for a dent in the bank account. Cemetery real estate doesn't come cheap.

Have you ever thought the teenagers on TV shows look older than any teenager you’ve ever met? There’s a reason for that…

Sources:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/what-age-too-old-trick-or-treating
https://www.npr.org/2017/10/27/560484054/the-price-of-plots-a-look-at-the-cemetery-real-estate-business
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/15/realestate/real-estate-for-the-afterlife.html
https://screenrant.com/hollywood-casting-older-actors-high-school-students-why/

http://www.commutethepodcast.com

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