WEBVTT - Fan Favorite: Secrets from the World’s Most Unique Airports 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:04.640 Guess what, mango, what's that will? So I know you 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:06.600 and I both fly a lot, and if there's one 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:08.880 thing I definitely know about you, it's that. 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.840 You love flying, right because I just have the best 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:14.320 travel luck in the world, right. 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:16.239 You know. I don't know if this is something we've 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:19.400 mentioned on the show, but it's actually pretty baffling to me, 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:22.400 like how bad your travel luck has been over the years. 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:24.960 Like there are times you'll be flying out of Chicago 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:27.280 or something and then I'll check in with you just 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:29.360 to see if you've made it home, and you'll say 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:32.080 something like I'm in Milwaukee. It's a long story, and 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:34.760 I don't know anybody that can pull that off in 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:36.640 the way that you do. Or there was even the 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:39.960 time we were flying out of Cleveland at the same time. 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:42.240 Both of us were there, we were on different sides 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.320 of the airport. Now, somehow my flight took off and 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:47.319 on the other side of the airport they told your 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:50.560 plane that the airport was closing down because of the wind, 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:51.519 I think. 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:55.200 Which is a true story, like that really happened. In fact, 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:57.160 sometimes when you are write me to see where I am, 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:01.120 I don't even want to respond. Yes, as long as 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:02.800 it's entertaining for others. 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:05.440 Oh, it definitely is entertaining. But you know, I was 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:07.000 thinking about the fact that you and I are most 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:10.720 often traveling solo and for work purposes. And you know, 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:13.800 it's funny how when you do something so frequently, it's 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.399 pretty easy just to go through the motions not really 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:18.920 think about what's going on around you. And you know, 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:20.760 part of that maybe because half the time, I know, 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:24.000 I'm flying at such a crazy early hour, and I'm 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:26.800 kind of half asleep when I'm there. But as you know, 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:29.400 last week, Georgia and I flew up to Toronto so 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:33.039 that I could officiate a wedding because apparently that's what 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:35.959 I do now, and it's been nice to hear from 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:37.920 some listeners. I guess you made the offer that I 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:41.640 could officiate other weddings, and so I'm trying to decide 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:43.560 whether I want to sign on to do this or not. 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:45.800 But you know, we had a bit more time than 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:48.880 usual in the Atlanta airport, so we spend a little 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:51.880 time walking around, and when you're not rushing to your 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:56.040 next flight, spending time in the country's busiest airport actually 0:01:56.040 --> 0:02:00.160 makes for some pretty fantastic people watching and so you know, 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.720 we spent time looking out the window as those luggage 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:06.400 cars rushed around in between the terminals. We watched people 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:08.800 run off the trains to their next flights, and then 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:11.400 a couple of times we just sat down and watched 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:14.480 people flying by and try to make guesses on why 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.440 certain passengers were going to different locations. 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:19.680 Yeah, I mean it's a fun game to play. You know, 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:22.280 when I'm walking through airport terminals, I'll often see like 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:25.239 an airport employee come walking out of one of those 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:29.239 personnel only sections, and I always want to go behind 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:31.000 that door just to see what's back there. 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:33.600 Oh me too. I mean, it'd probably be disappointing if 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:35.680 you actually got to go there. But yeah, so many 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:37.480 times you see that happen, you're like, what is it? 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:40.080 What's happening is such a mystery. But you know, we 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:42.760 started talking about just how many people work at the 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:46.240 nation's biggest airports and how many people you interact with 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:48.960 before you even get on a plane. You've got the 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:51.720 people behind the check in desk to TSA, the people 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.919 working at the restaurants, to gate agents, customs. I mean, 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:58.240 so many people, and then all the people behind the 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:02.640 scenes controlling the schedules, handling bags and just generally keeping 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:06.080 the place running efficiently. I mean, we're talking thousands of 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:09.320 people in places like the Atlanta Airport, and that's what 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:10.920 God is thinking. You know, what are some of the 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:14.560 secrets behind how an airport operates? And what do we 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:17.120 not know? And of course what are some of the 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:20.800 strangest things TSA has pulled out of passenger bags in security. 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:44.760 So let's dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:47.400 Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:49.760 joined by my good friend mangesh Hot Ticketer and on 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:53.520 the other side of the soundproof glass doing his best impersonation. Now, 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:55.600 you guys may not know this about Tristan, but he 0:03:55.640 --> 0:04:00.280 does incredible impersonations. Oh so good. Well, today's is a 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.360 really special one. It's of the carpet from the Portland 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:07.680 International Airport. That's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil. Now 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.840 I do need to clarify here. Tristan is not lying 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.040 on the floor with a rug over him. He does 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:16.040 that sometimes, but not today. He's not just doing that 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:19.279 to pretend to be a carpet. He actually is decked 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.799 out head to toe and clothing based on that old 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:26.839 carpet design from the Portland Airport. Really creative idea. 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:29.600 Which honestly, it doesn't sound that much less weird, right. 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:31.920 No it doesn't. But this is just the kind of 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:34.800 stuff that Tristan does. He's that committed. But actually he 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:38.599 was telling me earlier what this is all about. So basically, 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:41.480 the Portland Airport, or PDX as you might call it, 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:44.400 they added this new carpet to its terminals back in 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:47.680 nineteen eighty seven. Now, because this was in the eighties, 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:51.520 the carpet had this kind of funky and geometric design 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.960 with this teal background and all these blue and purple 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:59.760 and red shapes repeating all over it. A very loud carpet. Anyway, 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:03.440 the carpet stuck around until I think two thousand and six, 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:08.440 and that's when PDX decided it was finally time to remodel. Now, 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:12.480 they started ripping up the carpet and people went ballistic, 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:15.120 and that is not an overstatement. I mean they were 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:18.600 grieving the loss of this carpet. They decided to take 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:21.120 to social media and just as a way to pay 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:23.520 tribute to the airport carpet, and they were calling for 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:26.560 it to be preserved. There was a Facebook page for 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.679 people to post pictures and stories of all the great 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:33.280 times that had standing on that carpet, and somebody made 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.560 a Twitter account and began posting from the carpet's point 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:39.520 of view. These are all things that actually happened. And 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:42.720 you know, some folks even memorialized the carpet by having 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:46.800 its design tattooed on their arms. And of course, it 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:49.760 wasn't long after that that the beloved carpet design started 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.000 appearing on all sorts of merchandise. 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:54.159 And you know, just looking at Tristan, you can see 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:58.160 that they made PDX carpet t shirts, sweatpants, socks, shoes, 0:05:58.360 --> 0:05:59.320 even a headband. 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.760 Yeah, I know. And Tristan was telling me about all this. 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:07.520 It got me curious about what other bizarre airport stories 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.440 and secrets are out there. And so that's what today's 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:12.880 show is all about. You know, we'll take a look 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:16.040 at how airports function, and along the way, we'll also 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.480 check out some of the odd ball amenities that different 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:21.480 airports offer, as well as some of the weirdest stuff 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:24.719 that people have tried to slip past security. So let's 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:26.680 get started. But where do you want to begin mango. 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:29.239 So actually, I don't want to get off the airport 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:31.359 carpet fact just yet, because one of the things I 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:34.159 didn't notice until Gabe pointed it out to me is 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:37.000 that most airports have linoleum or tile in the check 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.479 in areas and all through security, but then when you 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:42.240 get to the flight gates, the floor suddenly switches to carpet. 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:45.520 And there's actually a reason behind this, So airport designers 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:47.760 use this trick as a way to make holding areas 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:51.200 feel more relaxing. So not only does the soft carpet 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:53.480 help bring the feel of a living room into the airport, 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.240 it also helps muffle the noise from people's roller bags 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.839 and footsteps. But the biggest reason is that all this 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:01.920 works together to make past and just feel less stressed out. 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:04.720 Yeah it makes sense, but I mean, carpets aren't the 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:08.000 only thing designers are thinking about when they design these 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:11.040 airport spaces. I mean, another handy tool they use to 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:14.840 make us feel comfortable is called wayfinding, or that process 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:18.200 designers use to make the airports easier to navigate or 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.040 as easy as possible. And one big part of this, 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:24.320 of course, is the signage. And there's so much careful 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.080 planning that goes into that not just where to place 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:30.360 the signs, but how they're designed, how they're laid out, 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.200 and for instance, the font on the signs needs to 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.280 be legible from a distance and easy for non native 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:40.960 language speakers to decipher. Now, amazingly, seventy five percent of 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:44.040 all airports in the world use just one of three 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:47.720 different typefaces, all of which are sanserah, meaning they don't 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.600 have the little tails on the letters. And because I 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:54.000 know you're curious, those three in demand fonts are Frutiger, 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:57.960 which was designed specifically for airports, Clearview, which is the 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:00.800 same one used on highway signs on the US, and 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:04.040 of course Helvetica. By the way, as a side note here, 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:06.520 I learned just this week that there actually is an 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:10.640 airline called Helvetic Airlines, which is a small airline out 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:15.239 of Switzerland where Helvetica typeface originated, and in a truly 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:18.440 weird turn of events, the airline does not use Helvetica 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:19.040 for its logo. 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:20.920 That's super weird. So what do they use? 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:23.640 I don't know what it's called exactly, and it's kind 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:26.360 of this squat and italic font for some reason. 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:30.080 Huh. That almost feels scandalous to not use helvetica there. 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.480 But another way of wayfinding that I hadn't thought about 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.160 are all the works of art that are placed around 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:39.040 the airport for you. And these can be murals or 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:43.280 sculptures or sometimes even interactive exhibits. But whatever form it takes, 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:45.760 airport art is never there just to look pretty or 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:49.320 to help passengers relax. That's because designers are actually thinking 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:52.040 of them as landmarks, like a quick way to establish 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:54.080 a point of reference for passengers as they make their 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.960 way through what are otherwise these monotonous terminals. So if 0:08:57.960 --> 0:08:59.719 you're ever doing some exploring at the airport and you 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:01.240 need to find your way back to your gate, just 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.320 look for the big bronze bear or whatever to help 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:03.880 point the way. 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:08.000 Well, since you bring up airport art, I do want 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:11.640 to tell you about maybe the strangest and creepiest examples 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:13.719 I came across. And by the way, if you want 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:15.640 to see these, it's pretty convenient because you just go 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:18.360 to one airport. It's the Denver International Airport. 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.200 So that actually doesn't surprise me, because what's weird is 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:25.200 that there are all these conspiracy theories about that specific airport, 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:28.960 like the runways are all pinwheel shaped, and some people 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:32.480 claim they're meant to look like swastikas. Some people think 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:35.600 there's a secret underground city and the tunnels beneath the terminals. 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:39.080 You know, it is super weird, But I don't think 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:41.400 I've heard about the artwork. Can you run me through that? 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:44.280 Well, you're in for a treat with this, because some 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:47.040 of this stuff is just off the wall. So to 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:49.600 start on the road that leads to the terminal, there's 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:53.240 this enormous thirty two foot tall sculpture of a blue 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:56.520 mustang rearing up in anger. But it's not just the 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.280 size or the stance that makes this thing so scary. 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:02.640 And that's because at night, the horse's eyes actually glow 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:06.160 bright red. How strange is this? But if that isn't 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:08.600 enough to convince you the horse is pure evil, just 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:11.160 listen to this. Back in two thousand and six, when 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:15.040 the statue was still being sculpted, a nine thousand pounds 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:18.440 piece of stone broke free and tragically fell on the 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.800 sculpture as he was working. And you know, sadly he 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:25.000 died from this not too long after. So not only 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:28.160 is this giant blue mustang terrifying, to behold, it also 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:32.280 killed its creator, and that's why the locals call him Blucifer. 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:34.800 Wow. So I'm actually a little afraid to ask, but 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:37.200 I think you said the horse was just one example. 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:42.160 Well, the art inside the airport gets even weirder than Blucifer. So, 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:45.400 for instance, at baggage Claim, there are these two stone 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:48.840 gargles keeping watch over the luggage carousels, and together the 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:52.000 pair of forms a sculpture known as Notre Denver, which 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:55.200 is pretty cutesy, named for a couple of winged demons 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:58.239 that are pretty weird looking. But probably the most unsettling 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:01.360 piece of art in the whole place is mural. It's 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:03.840 right there inside the airport and it's called Children of 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:07.760 the World Dream of Peace. Now this title sounds haarmwarming, 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:09.760 and you think, oh, this must be a really nice thing, 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:12.320 But just listen to this description that I found from 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:16.280 Atlas Obscure. It says in the mural, a gargantuane figure 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.640 in flowing olive green military garb and a gas mask 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:23.080 wields an assault rifle in his left hand while stabbing 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:26.319 a dove with the cutlass in his right. A line 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:30.280 of shrouded despairing figures cowers in his wake. It's just 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:32.960 what you want to see before boarding an international flight. 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:35.160 What is going on at this airport? 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:38.000 I do think somebody might have missed the memo about 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.120 how airport artists supposed to be soothing, because that's definitely 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:41.640 not soothing. 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:45.360 Yeah. So here's something even scarier than demons and killer horses. 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:48.440 So you know, the plastic bins we use to unload 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:50.000 all our stuff on the way through security. 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:51.000 Definitely. 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:53.600 Yeah. So, according to a recent study out of Finland, 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:57.079 those bins actually contain a whole host of respiratory viruses, 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.400 including germs known to cause both the common cold and 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:04.079 flew and in fact, researchers found that the bins contain 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:07.040 more germ samples than any other tested part of the airport, 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:11.680 which includes elevator buttons, flight check in machines, even toilet handles. 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:15.640 And while these findings were specific to the Helsinki Airport, 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.120 other studies have turned up similar results in a lot 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.440 of different airports. And unfortunately, those bins just don't get 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:22.280 cleaned that often. 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:25.520 You know. It's one of those things that most of 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.400 the time, my wife Georgia is very clean about the 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.640 things she does, but sometimes when we travel, she takes 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:33.839 a pillow and she puts it into one of those 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:36.280 bins when we're traveling, and it is the grossest thing 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:40.080 that anyone has ever done. I just can't handle it. 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:43.000 But it's you know, I actually love these facts that 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:46.080 confirm my suspicion that everything I come into contact with 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:49.280 is filthy. And so those are just great stats. I mean, 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:51.400 it's like when we talked about how the trade tables 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:55.000 on airplanes are also super gross, I mean grosser than anything. 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:57.720 So I vaguely remember this, but can you nudge my 0:12:57.720 --> 0:12:58.360 memory a little? 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:01.200 Of course, I have the fact right here. I keep 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:03.559 them with me at all times, just in case anybody 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.199 needs to be reminded. But this was from a twenty 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:09.560 fifteen study from travel Math, and it showed that trade 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:12.720 tables on the back of cabin seats typically contain over 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:16.640 two thousand colony forming units per square inch. Now these 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:20.079 are also known as CFUs. Now, to put that in perspective, 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:24.040 the average household toilet average household toilet has only around 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:28.040 one hundred and seventy CFUs. Even the flush buttons for 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:32.079 airport toilets only have about two hundred and sixty CFUs. 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:34.840 So that's two thousand on these trade tables compared to 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:37.520 two hundred and sixty on a flush button on an 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:38.560 airport toilet. 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:41.199 It is so weird that trade tables are that filthy. 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:45.400 So I actually remember this great scene in Rolldahl's book 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.400 Going Solo, it's his biography, where he's on this boat 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:51.880 and he's watching this woman eat an orange with a 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:54.720 knife and fork, and he's just kind of amazed by 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:57.480 how nimble she is with it, and he asks her 0:13:57.520 --> 0:13:59.280 why she's using a knife and fork, and she goes 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:02.560 on this big about how dirty our hens are and 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:06.040 how she would never use her hens. And I think 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.440 that's why whenever I touched the tray table from now on, 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:10.680 it's going to be with a knife and fork. That's 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:11.600 a smart way. 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:13.800 Of approach it. All Right, Well, I feel like we 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:16.000 rushed onto the plane too quickly and need to come 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:18.200 back to the airport. So what do you say we 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:20.400 take a minute to talk about some of the deeply 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.200 weird things that people's stuff in those dirty bins you 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.760 were talking about. I mean, there are all kinds of 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:30.200 strange stories there about people smuggling everything from human remains 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:33.160 to ninja throwing stars and all of this in their 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:36.400 carry on bags. But the most interesting examples to me 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.360 are all the weird things that scientists stow. I mean, 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.760 it's so funny to read some of these. I actually 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:44.040 just listen to some of the stuff that TSA has 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:47.320 turned up in recent years. All right, A cooler full 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:51.680 of turtle embryos, sure, several bottles of monkey pee, the 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:55.840 shin bone of a giant groundsloth, fifty vials of freeze 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:59.280 dried milk from an Antarctic fur seal, and of course 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:02.240 a three D printed model of a dolphin vagina. I mean, 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:03.960 you can't make this stuff up. 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:07.400 That's so weird. But I'm guessing the scientists must have 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:10.120 like legit reasons for carrying this stuff through, right, Like 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.920 does security just give him a pass? Yeah? 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:15.120 I mean most of the time they do. And most 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.080 of these things don't really break the rules. They're just 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:21.440 odd and usually require some sort of explanation. For for instance, 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:24.520 when the antarctic researcher with all the seal milk was stopped, 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:26.920 he just had to explain what all these vials of 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:28.240 white powder really were. 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:29.840 Yeah, I mean, if you're taking a lot of white 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:32.400 powder on a plane, you're kind of asking to get stopped. 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:36.160 But well, you know, once he had clued them in there, 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:38.560 there really wasn't that much of a problem. And in fact, 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.480 as the guy later explained, quote, some of the officers 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:44.040 just wanted to wave me on, but others wanted me 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:46.760 to stay and answer their questions like how do you 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:50.200 milk a first seal? And so he pointed out, that's 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.640 a nice way to engage in a discussion about science. 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:54.760 But he also almost missed his flight. 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:57.360 So I actually love these types of interactions, Like I 0:15:57.400 --> 0:15:59.360 was reading about this one time a few years ago 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:03.000 when this asked physicists flew to Fargo, North Dakota, and 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:05.560 he had his Nobel Physics Prize with him. So his 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:07.960 name is Brian Schmidt apparently won the prize back in 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:11.320 twenty eleven for code discovering dark energy. But anyway, he 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:13.320 was going to Fargo to visit his grandmom and she 0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:15.960 asked him to bring along his Nobell and just in 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.200 case other listeners don't know, a Nobel prize kind of 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:20.320 looks like an Olympic medal, like it's made of gold, 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:21.360 weighs about half a pound. 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:22.120 It's pretty big. 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:24.840 So Schmidt has this giant medal in his bag, and 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.040 because it's made of gold, it actually absorbs all the 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:29.720 X rays and it just looked like a big black 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:33.320 mystery object to the monitors. So security asked him, like, 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.000 what's in it? And he tells him it's a gold medal. 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:38.160 And then they opened the bag and inspect it and 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.160 they're like, uh, who gave this to you? To where 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:43.800 Schmidt says, and he gives an honest answer, the King 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:46.520 of Sweden. Of course, the King. 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:49.320 Of Sweden, as you do you know, so did the 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:50.720 agent just let him through or what? 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:54.120 No, they were totally suspicious. So then the officers had 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:55.920 all these follow ups, like they asked like, why did 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:58.720 the king give this to you? And so Schmidt has 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:01.800 continued to tell the truths. He says, because I helped 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:04.960 discover that the expansion rate of the universe was accelerating. 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:07.959 And as he's saying this, you know, the officers are 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:09.960 looking more and more angry. He gets sense that they 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:12.280 were losing their patience. So he finally explained the whole 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:15.000 thing in detail, like the science, how he won this award, 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.679 that the king presented it to him, all that, and 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.439 even then they had one more question for him, which was, 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:22.480 why were you in Fargo? 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:25.480 I mean, I guess that's a pretty fair question under 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:28.160 the circumstances. But all right, well, now that we made 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:30.200 our way through security, what do you say we stretch 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:31.800 our legs a little bit and check out a few 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:34.840 of the more surprising amenities the airport seems to offer 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:37.199 these days. But before we get to that, let's take 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:53.760 a quick break. You're listening to Part Time Genius and 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:56.280 we're talking about airports, all right, Mango. So you and 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:59.040 I fly fairly often, as we said before, and I 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:01.960 know one thing we've both noticed is that airports offer 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:04.840 a much wider array of amenities than they used to. 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:07.920 You know, you see things like massage chairs, which honestly 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:10.240 is so weird to me to be walking through a 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.080 terminal and look over and see somebody just with their 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:15.679 eyes closed and a massage. I just don't feel like 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.080 that's a place I could relax. But you definitely see 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:21.720 lots of those. You see sleeping pods and day spas, 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.200 made to order sushi like This is a huge list 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:27.760 of luxuries that are involved in some of these airports, 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:30.600 and it seems to get longer every year, and so 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:33.359 I've assembled my own little list here, but I actually 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:35.679 want to hear from you first. So what are some 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:39.160 of the most unexpected services you've come across during your travels? 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:41.560 So one of the things I really like is that 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:44.280 you see more and more playgrounds for kids in airports, 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:47.800 and it's been really nice to be able to like 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:50.280 let the kids run around on these little jungle gyms 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:52.360 and let them be loud and crazy for a bit 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:54.280 before you have to, like, you know, reel it all 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:56.639 in when you get on a plane. But as a 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:59.720 solo traveler, probably my favorite trend that's been gaining steam 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:03.640 states side is airport movie theaters. And this is something 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.080 I think started back in twenty fourteen, which is when 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:09.600 the airport in Minneapolis Saint Paul opened this free around 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:11.960 the clock screening room near Gate C eighteen. 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:15.159 Huh, I've been there, but I actually haven't noticed that before, 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:17.439 So catching a movie it sounds like a fun way 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:19.639 to kill pine before a flight, but you probably have 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:21.120 to get there pretty early to be able to watch 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:22.160 the whole thing, right. 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:24.760 So it's not actually a problem in this case. The 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:28.119 Minnesota screening room only shows short films and documentaries by 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:31.439 filmmakers from the Upper Midwest, so in addition to providing 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:34.000 some free entertainment, they're really a way to showcase this 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:37.560 local talent. And this approach isn't unique to the Minneapolis 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:40.639 airport either, So last spring, the airport in Portland opened 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:44.560 its first microcinema and concourse, see it's similar. Where ticketed 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:47.240