1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 2: Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. 3 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 3: My name is Robert Lamb and I am Joe McCormick, 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,799 Speaker 3: and we're back with part two of our discussion of 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 3: cotton candy. In part one, we talked about the chemistry 6 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 3: of candy making, how sugar syrup heated and reduced to 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 3: a precise, precise consistency gets turned into everything from saltwater 8 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 3: taffy to lollypops to sponge sugar. We talked about the 9 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 3: properties of crystalline sugar versus sugar glass, and we described 10 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 3: the standard process for making cotton candy in a dedicated machine. 11 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 3: And we also got into some historical predecessors of cotton candy, 12 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 3: like sponge sugar, and especially the Chinese culinary invention known 13 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 3: as Dragon's beard candy. And we're back today to talk 14 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 3: about more, rob did you end up eating any cotton 15 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 3: candy between our two parts here? 16 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 2: You know I did not. I was like it, surely 17 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 2: we can make it out to the place where I 18 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 2: know there's a Japanese cotton candy machine, because these are 19 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 2: quite quite impressive. Japanese cotton candy is known as watame 20 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 2: and there are these nice automated machines that make it 21 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,119 Speaker 2: no humans involved in the process at all, comes out 22 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 2: like super colorful. I don't know about the taste. I'm 23 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 2: assuming the taste is still very much cotton candy but sugar. Yeah, 24 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 2: but I know where one is in Atlanta, and I 25 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 2: was like, we can go out and try it out. 26 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,320 Speaker 2: But our weekend ended up just being super busy, so 27 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 2: we did not make it out to try cotton candy. 28 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 2: But as is always the case, we ask any listeners 29 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 2: out there, if you have experience with cotton candy, Japanese 30 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 2: or otherwise, right in and give us your feedback on 31 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 2: the sugary treade. 32 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 3: Now, we promised in today's episode we would go into 33 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 3: a little more depth on thevention of the cotton candy machine, 34 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 3: and I figured maybe that's the place we should start today. 35 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 3: Or you gained for that, Rob, Let's do it. Let's 36 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 3: spin it up. Okay, okay. Now, in the previous episode, 37 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 3: we talked a bit about how cotton candy is made 38 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 3: with a dedicated machine in a manner that is somewhat 39 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 3: similar to the industrial method of producing fiberglass. So your 40 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 3: standard cotton candy machine consists of a large, deep metal 41 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 3: dish with tall sides. Think halfway between like a dog's 42 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 3: water bowl and a kiddie pool, kind of a large, 43 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 3: you know, wash basin sized. This large outer dish will 44 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 3: remain stationary, but in the middle of that large outer 45 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 3: dish and there is a small secondary dish which spins 46 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 3: rapidly and contains a heating element. This inner dish is 47 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 3: known as the spinner. And to make the candy, you 48 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 3: take a sugar mixture. This is something you usually just 49 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 3: buy fully prepared. Maybe some people make artisanal cotton candy 50 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 3: sugar mixtures, but usually you just like buy a box 51 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 3: of this powdered stuff and so it's like sugar with 52 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 3: some coloring and flavoring included, and you pour that into 53 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 3: the spinner. Inside the spinner, the sugar gets melted by 54 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 3: the heating element, and then once melted sugar, glass leaks 55 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 3: out of extremely tiny holes in the walls of the 56 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 3: spinner because it's being driven outward by centrifugal force. I 57 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 3: think sometimes also there's a fourst air component that's kind 58 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 3: of blowing it out of these little holes. And as 59 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 3: the melted sugar flies out into the colder air outside 60 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 3: the spinner, it rapidly cools and it solidifies into tiny 61 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 3: hair like strands of sugar glass. And these are they 62 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 3: collect in the outer dish. And then you can watch 63 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 3: the operator kind of you know, take a stick or 64 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 3: a cone and wave it around, almost like they're dusting 65 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 3: for cobwebs. They're just collecting all of the strands onto 66 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 3: the eating utensil, and then they hand it to you. 67 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 2: I wonder if it's ever marked get it as such, 68 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:02,480 Speaker 2: you know, if you want to like really goth up 69 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 2: your cotton candy install of cobwebs. Yeah, candy cobwebs and 70 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:06,840 Speaker 2: so forth. 71 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know, we'll have to look that up afterwards. 72 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 3: But as we've said, so, when you get cotton candy, 73 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 3: it's almost always made with a specialized machine. It's not 74 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 3: really something as far as I could find, that you 75 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 3: can easily do with just you know, repurposed home equipment. 76 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 3: You kind of need a cotton candy machine to make 77 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 3: cotton candy. So where did these machines come from? Well, 78 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 3: that question takes us back to the Saint Louis World's 79 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 3: Fair of nineteen oh four. This was the first big 80 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 3: public debut of what inventors William J. Morrison and John C. Wharton, 81 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 3: both of Nashville, Tennessee, called the Electric Candy Machine, a 82 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 3: machine for making a novelty confection that they called fairy Floss, 83 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,279 Speaker 3: which at the nineteen oh four World's Fair was sold 84 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:57,479 Speaker 3: in boxes for twenty five cents of serving, and as 85 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 3: pointed out in a blog post by Morgan Earn for 86 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 3: the Tennessee State Museum, a ticket for the nineteen oh 87 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 3: four World's Fair was fifty cents, and so a box 88 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 3: of cotton candy is twenty five cents. This is this 89 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,559 Speaker 3: is a candy treat that cost half as much again 90 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 3: as the full admission price. 91 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 2: All right, all right, so depending on where you're going, 92 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:18,479 Speaker 2: like you can compare this with like paying like five 93 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:20,359 Speaker 2: to ten bucks for it these days. 94 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I don't know what canton candy usually costs. 95 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,039 Speaker 3: On one hand, I think it's amazingly cheap to Bruce, 96 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 3: it's just like, you know. 97 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, twenty five cents feels good. It feels reasonable by 98 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,160 Speaker 2: today's standards. Yeah, like that's probably the material cost. Oh, 99 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 2: I'm sure it's costing three to four bucks, right. 100 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 3: Yeah, probably it was fair prices. So that everything's jacked 101 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 3: up to so maybe it's ten bucks. Who knows. 102 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a meltdown on a stick though for a 103 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 2: kid like you know what you're getting into. 104 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, But anyway, So over the six months the fair 105 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 3: was open, they sold almost seventy thousand boxes of this stuff. 106 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:58,359 Speaker 3: And just a few funny notes about the nineteen oh 107 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 3: four World's Fair. We've talked about the weird culture of 108 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 3: triumphalist futurism at these near turn of the century World's 109 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 3: Fair events. One that we talked about extensively on the 110 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,159 Speaker 3: show in the past was the famous World's Columbian Exposition 111 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:15,720 Speaker 3: in Chicago in eighteen ninety three. We did a live 112 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 3: show in Chicago one time where we talked about various 113 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 3: aspects of that event. But you can see a lot 114 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 3: of that same spirit in the nineteen oh four fair 115 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 3: in Saint Louis as well, with its naming conventions. So 116 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 3: the fairy Floss machine was an exhibit at what was 117 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 3: called the Palace of Electricity. Now, while nineteen oh four 118 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 3: was the big the year that the cotton candy machine 119 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 3: made a big public impression, the two Inventures had actually 120 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 3: created the machine many years before the fair, way back 121 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,920 Speaker 3: in eighteen ninety seven. I found some more detail about 122 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,720 Speaker 3: the history here in an entry for the cotton candy 123 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 3: machine within a reference book called Technical Innovation in American 124 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 3: History and Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, edited by Roseanne 125 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 3: Welch and peg Lamfear. The cotton candy entry is by 126 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 3: a scholar named Stepka Zanova, and according to Zenova here, 127 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 3: the better known of the two inventors was William Morrison, 128 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 3: who lived eighteen sixty to nineteen twenty six. And just 129 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 3: from the little bit of detail we get here about 130 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 3: his life, I'm picking up on something. He sounds to 131 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 3: me like one of those real late nineteenth century Renaissance eccentrics. 132 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 3: So he was a dentist and a children's book author 133 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 3: and a prolific inventor, having drafted a novel process for 134 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 3: extracting cottonseed oil, among other patents. But then Zenova also 135 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 3: mentions that he received credit for creating his hometown's first 136 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 3: water purification plant, and he was also active in Tennessee 137 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 3: based professional associations for dentists. So I don't know if 138 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 3: this is right or not, but I'm kind of getting 139 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 3: a picture of like the town wizard that sounds like 140 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 3: his partner in the creation of the fairy floss machine 141 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 3: was a Nashville based confectioner, a candy maker named John Wharton, 142 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 3: and together they filed for a patent on December twenty third, 143 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 3: eighteen ninety seven. Their machine worked basically the same way 144 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 3: the machines do today. There's not a whole lot of difference. 145 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 3: That modern machines are pretty close to what they originally 146 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 3: came up with. You you have a central spinner with 147 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 3: a heating element inside walls perforated by tiny holes to 148 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 3: let the threads of melted sugar glass stream out. They 149 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 3: freeze in the cooler air of the surrounding dish. However, 150 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 3: one thing that Senova notes is that while Wharton and 151 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 3: Morrison are usually credited as inventors of the electric cotton 152 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 3: candy machine, their original design in the eighteen ninety seven 153 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 3: patent was not exclusively to be used with electric power, 154 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 3: and instead included a mechanism to operate on foot power. 155 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:54,959 Speaker 3: So I think that means there was like a foot 156 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 3: operated pedal or pump, though they specified that a different 157 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 3: power source could be applied without changing the core mechanics 158 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 3: of the device. So when this machine made it to 159 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 3: the Palace of Electricity at the nineteen oh four World's Fair. 160 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,199 Speaker 3: It was a huge hit. It won the fairs Novelty 161 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 3: of Invention prize and to make the final sale numbers, 162 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 3: I've read they must have sold something like three hundred 163 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,560 Speaker 3: and seventy five boxes of cotton candy a day. Though 164 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 3: it wasn't called cotton candy yet, it was still fairy floss. Actually, 165 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 3: the name cotton candy came from another dentist in cotton 166 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 3: candy business. This was a guy named Joseph Lascaux who 167 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 3: was based in Louisiana, who tried to introduce improvements on 168 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,839 Speaker 3: Morrison and Wharton's design, though apparently his modifications did not 169 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 3: catch on. T Zanova's entry here casts doubt on whether 170 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,559 Speaker 3: his improvements were actually improvements or not, but he kind 171 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 3: of tried to say, no, here's the way you should 172 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,959 Speaker 3: do these machines. His machine didn't stick, but the name 173 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 3: did so. In the US. Now basically everybody calls it 174 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 3: cotton cane, and though in some other places in the 175 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 3: world of fairy floss or candy floss is still the 176 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 3: more popular name now, Rob I'm attaching here an advertisement 177 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 3: for a version of Wharton and Morrison's machine that appeared 178 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 3: in the program for the nineteen oh seven Tennessee State Fair. 179 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 3: You can examine, but I wanted to include because this 180 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 3: has a lot of good text on it. So at 181 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 3: this point they're calling the device the Wonderful Electric Candy Machine. 182 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 3: It's being sold by the Electric Candy Machine Company of Nashville, 183 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 3: and it explains the virtues of their product as follows quote. 184 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 3: The candy made by this machine is absolutely pure. Granulated 185 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 3: sugar is poured into the spinner and is instantly changed 186 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 3: into flossy filaments of pure candy without the touch of 187 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:57,760 Speaker 3: a contaminating finger. Ah what I'm kind of wondering if 188 00:10:57,760 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 3: this is going back to what we talked about in 189 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 3: part one that old confectioners used to test the temperature 190 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 3: and consistency of their boiling sugar syrup by feel, which, 191 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 3: once again, please let us emphasize, do not try this 192 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 3: at home. You can get horribly, horribly burned. 193 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, also just the I guess the novelty 194 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 2: of it. Like here, candy is spun out of at 195 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:21,560 Speaker 2: of thin air. You know, it's not made by human 196 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 2: fingers and hands, It's not shaped by by a druggist's 197 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 2: hands or anything. Nope, it's just you just stick the 198 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 2: cone or the stick in there and you just spin 199 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 2: it up. And of course, like I was saying, modern 200 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 2: cotton candy machines have taken this to and even they 201 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 2: have got a step beyond, like it's just completely automated. 202 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:44,440 Speaker 2: No one's even sticking a stick in there. 203 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 3: Maybe that is it. There just seemed something old fashioned 204 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 3: and unsanitary about a human having to be involved in 205 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 3: the making of your candy. And you know, it's just 206 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 3: like the machine does it all, except it doesn't. You've 207 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 3: got it. You still somebody had to pump the pedal 208 00:11:57,960 --> 00:11:58,439 Speaker 3: on this thing. 209 00:11:58,480 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 2: I guess. 210 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 3: You know, maybe that by this time, in nineteen oh 211 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 3: four or nineteen oh seven, it was the fully electric model. 212 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 3: I'm not sure which way this is. 213 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 2: I mean, the poster is advertising to me the wonderful 214 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 2: electric candy machine. So yeah, and electric candy, electric candy machine. 215 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 2: Which part is the electric part? I mean, it seems 216 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 2: like the candy itself is kind of electric. 217 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:24,559 Speaker 3: Why not the electric candy machine acid test? 218 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 2: Yeah. 219 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 3: The advertisement also tells us these machines are expressly made 220 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:37,479 Speaker 3: expressly for here's the list druggists, fruit stands, confectioners, and hotels. Hotels, 221 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:40,959 Speaker 3: my god, but think of the cleaning staff. There's something 222 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 3: cotton candy at hotels. Also, I love fruit stands because 223 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:49,520 Speaker 3: cotton candy is my favorite fruit. Also, they make a 224 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 3: special appeal coming back to the druggists. I think they say, 225 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 3: make the soda fountain space pay in winter. Oh okay, 226 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 3: so that's an interesting pitch. They're probably saying, like, you're 227 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 3: going to sell a lot of cold soda in the summer, 228 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 3: but you know nobody wants to come in for a 229 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:06,079 Speaker 3: soda in the winter. So what do you do instead 230 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 3: that space? You have a cotton candy machine. 231 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, which is I guess it comes out hot. I 232 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 2: don't think it stays hot long, but yeah, at least 233 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 2: it's not cold. 234 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:20,040 Speaker 3: Also, this ad is full of ludicrously aggressive small texts. 235 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 3: Can I read you the intellectual property section? It says 236 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 3: our machines are fully protected by our patents. A number 237 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 3: of pirates have infringed on our patents. We prosecuted the 238 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 3: first who attempted it. The United States Court at Saint 239 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,440 Speaker 3: Louis has just rendered judgment sustaining our patents and perpetually 240 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 3: enjoining infringements. We own the exclusive right to the only 241 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 3: method of making floss or spun candy and will prosecute 242 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 3: every maker and user of infringing machines. Man, that's coming 243 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 3: on hard. 244 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, they like the villains in a Willy Wonkam movie here. 245 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, a number of pirates have tried. But anyway, so 246 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 3: after going into more depth about how cotton candy has 247 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 3: made you know, what its characteristics are, and the history 248 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 3: of it, I thought maybe we should come back to 249 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 3: a question I asked at the beginning of part one, 250 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 3: and that question is why is cotton candy particularly associated 251 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 3: with fairs and carnivals in a way that other candies 252 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,320 Speaker 3: and treats are not. I mean, you know some other 253 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 3: treats are I guess you think funnel cakes. That's especially 254 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 3: fairs and carnivals within the United States at least, But 255 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 3: why cotton candy more so than most other candies. I 256 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 3: now have a series of thoughts on that. First of all, 257 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 3: we just have this history that cotton candy began its 258 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 3: life as a fair grounds attraction, winning fame and publicity 259 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 3: as such. You know, most people in their very first 260 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 3: encounter with cotton candy was probably learning about it at 261 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 3: this World's Fair exhibit, or it's some subsequent fair or 262 00:14:58,960 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 3: public event. 263 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 2: And this seems to have played a role in then 264 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,160 Speaker 2: allowing it to spread out around the world. 265 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, another thing is what we talked about last time. 266 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 3: Cotton candy is very delicate and sensitive to heat, moisture, 267 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 3: even just to humidity in the air. Remember the sugar 268 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 3: here is hygroscopic, so it will attract moisture, will pull 269 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 3: humidity out of the very atmosphere around it. So if 270 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 3: it is not sealed inside a tight moisture barrier, within 271 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 3: just a few hours, cotton candy will lose its fluffiness 272 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 3: and shrivel down and transform into a sticky, disgusting blob. 273 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 3: Remember those slow death of cotton candy time lapse videos 274 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 3: we talked about in the last episode. Now, you can 275 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 3: make it last longer if you seal it up tight 276 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 3: inside plastic, But at that point your packaging costs are 277 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 3: going to increase. And I would also imagine that cotton 278 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,760 Speaker 3: candy is not super efficient to ship in its spun 279 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 3: form because of its volume relative to its weight. You know, 280 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 3: I imagine that would be kind of like shipping trucks 281 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 3: full of pre inflated balloons. 282 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,160 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, Like, just as a quick example from today's 283 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 2: candy market, there's all sorts of stuff that is labeled 284 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 2: cotton candy that you can buy prepackaged and have shipped 285 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 2: to your house. But I mean, it's it's clear that 286 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 2: it is not at all the same as fresh spun 287 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 2: cotton candy. It you could almost classify it as a 288 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 2: different sort of candy, I think. 289 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. And also, I mean, not to judge people's products, 290 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 3: but even though you can buy this cotton candy in 291 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 3: sealed tubs, however similar or dissimilar it is from the 292 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 3: cotton candy you get at the fair, it just seems 293 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 3: that generally this pre made stuff is not a very 294 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 3: appealing and probably not a super cost effective product. So 295 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 3: ideally cotton candy should be made right when and where 296 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 3: you're gonna eat it. You know, you need to get 297 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 3: it fresh. Where is ideal for that well, lot of 298 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 3: turnover exactly. Yeah. So you can't really make cotton candy 299 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 3: with regular kitchen equipment. You need a special machine. And 300 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:11,199 Speaker 3: most people do not want to eat cotton candy or 301 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 3: don't want their kids to eat cotton candy often enough 302 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:17,280 Speaker 3: that they're going to buy a machine for the home. So, 303 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 3: you know, we mainly like it for the novelty, the 304 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 3: visual and textual novelty, not because it's delicious. So it's 305 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 3: a you know, it's a lark. It's a once every 306 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 3: now and then weird, interesting little experience. So you need 307 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 3: to sort of have a system where people go where 308 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,159 Speaker 3: the machine is. So where does it make sense to 309 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 3: have the machine. It's probably where you have a lot 310 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 3: of turnover, where people can do a lot of business, 311 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 3: ideally in a space that the operator of the machine, 312 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 3: you know, will not have to clean up sticky messes 313 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 3: left by the customers later on. So an outdoor fair 314 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 3: is kind of perfect. The customer takes the mess with 315 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 3: them and it's outdoors anyway. So that's where I'm at. 316 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 3: The more I think about it, the more it absolutely 317 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 3: makes sense that cotton candy is carnival food. It's fair food. 318 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:05,639 Speaker 3: It comes from that world, and for a number of 319 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 3: practical reasons, it probably will stay in that world. 320 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, Like you can think of other fair and carnival foods, 321 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 2: and a number of those kind of transcend the limitations, 322 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 2: you know, like the corn dog. Yeah, corn Dog's totally 323 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 2: a fair and carnival type of food. But yeah, you 324 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,680 Speaker 2: can buy it frozen, you can make it at home. 325 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,600 Speaker 2: It's you know, all those things are possible, and it's 326 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 2: just as good, if not better, in those situations. But 327 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:38,960 Speaker 2: cotton candy, again, the technology limits you and it. And 328 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 2: also it's just not the kind of thing you'd want 329 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,879 Speaker 2: to eat on even a semi regular basis. Or you 330 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,639 Speaker 2: might want to if you're a child, but as an adult, 331 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,160 Speaker 2: like you said, you don't want your children having ready 332 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 2: access to this. Meltdown on a stick. 333 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 3: Contradict us. Folks, let us know, do you have a 334 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:58,879 Speaker 3: cotton candy machine in your house? I don't want to 335 00:18:58,880 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 3: hear about that. 336 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,879 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, and maybe you do if you also 337 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:04,800 Speaker 2: go out to the fair and sell it, right, I mean, 338 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,679 Speaker 2: otherwise it just seems like a lot of machinery to 339 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 2: have just sitting around. I mean, maybe there's some sort 340 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 2: of a smaller apparatus for it, I don't know. I 341 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 2: don't know. 342 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 3: Maybe if you've got a fancy home theater, arcade set 343 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 3: up something like that. But it's like people who have 344 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:22,439 Speaker 3: a fancy home theater and they've got like one of 345 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 3: those popcorn carts in it. 346 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:26,280 Speaker 2: I think it comes down to kitchen space because I'm 347 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,399 Speaker 2: just looking around now doing a little shopping for cotton 348 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:32,239 Speaker 2: candy machines. I'm sure this is going to screw up 349 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:36,720 Speaker 2: all sorts of targeted advertisements for me. But it looks 350 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:39,720 Speaker 2: like you can get one that's on a cart. I'm 351 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 2: assuming this is maybe like low end of the professional spectrum, 352 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 2: but you know, you can get like a cart based 353 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:48,880 Speaker 2: cotton candy machine for something like three hundred bucks. And 354 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 2: they do have models that are more from like the 355 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 2: seventy dollars to one hundred and thirty dollars range that 356 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 2: look like you could have room for it in your kitchen. 357 00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:59,159 Speaker 2: I don't have room for it in my kitchen, but 358 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 2: you might well have kitchen with enough space where it 359 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:04,920 Speaker 2: makes sense to fire this thing up every now and again. 360 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 3: I don't know, Okay, I'm looking for the bottom shelf stuff. 361 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,119 Speaker 3: You can get a cotton candy maker at Walmart for 362 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 3: thirty bucks. 363 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 2: See yeah, okay, well you know it's possible, but oh boy, yeah, 364 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:18,639 Speaker 2: I mean it's like you can get you can get 365 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 2: waffle makers for really cheap, but they are exciting to 366 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 2: use in a way. That you just might not want 367 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,120 Speaker 2: that level of excitement too many mornings out of your week. 368 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 3: This strikes me as something that, again, maybe I'm totally wrong, 369 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 3: but my guess is that the majority of people who 370 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 3: buy cotton you know, like domestic cotton candy machines for 371 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,960 Speaker 3: the home, are buying it essentially to use one time 372 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 3: at a party they're throwing. 373 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:45,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that would make sense. You're doing you're 374 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 2: doing kids birthday party. You're like, well, for thirty bucks, 375 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,960 Speaker 2: we can do this. So yeah, I understand that maybe 376 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 2: there's a case to be made where there's some sort 377 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,200 Speaker 2: of special treat you're making where you're going to utilize 378 00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,119 Speaker 2: that cotton candy on top I don't know, like some 379 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 2: sort of a a trolls head muffin or something, I 380 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 2: don't know. But beyond that, you know, cotton candy is 381 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 2: just one of those things. It just doesn't seem like 382 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:12,119 Speaker 2: they are that many applications, right, It's just this sugar retreat. 383 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 2: It doesn't really have any beneficial qualities beyond sugaring up kids, 384 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,840 Speaker 2: and you know, the novelty of the spectacle of watching 385 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,880 Speaker 2: it made. But you know, I was a little surprised 386 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:29,440 Speaker 2: by this there do seem to be some applications. I mean, 387 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 2: you would be forgiven if you assume that no health 388 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:37,160 Speaker 2: benefit or medical application existed or was possible for these 389 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,399 Speaker 2: miraculous clouds of pure sugar. But there's actually been some 390 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:45,679 Speaker 2: pretty interesting research into a cotton candy based artificial organ 391 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:51,960 Speaker 2: technology that, fittingly like the twentieth century cotton candy machine itself, 392 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 2: has at least partial Tennessee roots. 393 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:56,919 Speaker 3: Oh nice. 394 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:01,040 Speaker 2: Yeah. A lot of the research that I'm about to 395 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:04,679 Speaker 2: talk about here is taking place in Nashville. It is 396 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:09,199 Speaker 2: at Vanderbilt Universe. So you might have caught some science 397 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 2: headlines about this over the years, because the headlines and 398 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 2: the leads basically right themselves. You know, some sort of 399 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:20,959 Speaker 2: cotton candy based you know, organ transplant. It raises strange 400 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,119 Speaker 2: images in the mind of human organs replaced with candy. 401 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,120 Speaker 2: It makes me think of the old mister Bones candy 402 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,679 Speaker 2: from the nineties. This was, like I distinctly remember, like 403 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:34,040 Speaker 2: a little plastic casket that said mister Bones, and inside 404 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 2: there were interlocking candy bones and sometimes a heart, you know, 405 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,640 Speaker 2: shaped like a heart emoji. And you would assemble these 406 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:43,439 Speaker 2: and then you would look at it and then you 407 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 2: would eat it, and then you could keep the little 408 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 2: plastic casket and you know, sometimes you could fit a 409 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:48,520 Speaker 2: little toy in there. 410 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 3: I am paralyzed now by unexpected nostalgia. 411 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: Rob. 412 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,160 Speaker 3: You have brought my brain to a halt with this. 413 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:57,640 Speaker 2: Yeah. I think I only ever got to get this 414 00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,440 Speaker 2: like once. This is another one of those like how 415 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:01,359 Speaker 2: often are you gonna have mister Bones candy? The candy 416 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,399 Speaker 2: itself was not good. It was like, you know, Pez 417 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,320 Speaker 2: Dispenser candy, which is another example. It's like nobody loves Pez. 418 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 2: It's the mechanism. It's a spectacle. 419 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,679 Speaker 3: Look at this little plastic coffin. Though I want this 420 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:18,960 Speaker 3: right now, I oh, oh, my feelings. 421 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:20,439 Speaker 2: They may have. It's just one of those things that 422 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 2: may have come back to varying degrees. I don't know 423 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 2: with the whole you know, ups and downs of nostalgia 424 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 2: based marketing. But anyway, now, this is not about making 425 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:35,640 Speaker 2: organs or tissues directly out of candy, as grotesquely amazing 426 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 2: as that may sound. But it's also a lot closer 427 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 2: to the idea than you might assume, because you know, 428 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,440 Speaker 2: obviously headlines are going to be quick to capitalize on them. 429 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 2: You know, the candy connection. But it does have a 430 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 2: pretty strong candy connection. 431 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 3: Okay. 432 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:53,880 Speaker 2: So the research in question here was at least initially 433 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 2: the work of doctor Jason Spector, a reconstructive surgeon at 434 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:02,879 Speaker 2: New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Leon Bellin, a graduate student 435 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,200 Speaker 2: at Cornell at the time of the idea's creation and 436 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:10,640 Speaker 2: now an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt University 437 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 2: in Nashville. And so there have been multiple reports on 438 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 2: this research over the years, and some of them have 439 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:21,880 Speaker 2: been reported on in the mainstream media. Is reported on 440 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,119 Speaker 2: NPRS All Things Considered. Back in two thousand and nine, 441 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,400 Speaker 2: Bellin got the idea for the approach based on previous 442 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:33,560 Speaker 2: work with nanofibers and observations about cotton candy. As it 443 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:37,160 Speaker 2: turns out, the fine sponge sugar in cotton candy we've 444 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 2: discussed about how it's hair like, it's very thin. Well, 445 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,879 Speaker 2: the nanofibers here are about the same thickness as various 446 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 2: blood vessels in human tissue, so about one tenth the 447 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 2: diameter of a human hair. 448 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 3: Okay, so this would not be talking about your thicker 449 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 3: main veins and arteries, but sort of the little blood 450 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 3: vessels that branch out from them to feed all the 451 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:01,160 Speaker 3: tissues in the body. 452 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:05,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, we're talking about capillaries, like tiny capillary blood vessels 453 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 2: that you know, with their thin walls, deliver oxygen and 454 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 2: nutrients to cells and carry away waste and the threads. 455 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 2: According to Bellin and a Vanderbilt University Medical Center release 456 00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:19,119 Speaker 2: from twenty sixteen, Yeah, they have the size, the density, 457 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 2: and the complexity that matches up with capillary blood vessels. 458 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:28,960 Speaker 2: So the creation of artificial capillary systems like this would 459 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:34,159 Speaker 2: be absolutely necessary for the creation of living artificial organs. Specifically, 460 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 2: we're talking about hydrogel based scaffoldings upon which the organ 461 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 2: is grown. But to put it roughly, you can build 462 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:43,920 Speaker 2: a mansion, you can build an enormous home, but you've 463 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 2: got to have bathrooms in it. And for those bathrooms 464 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,680 Speaker 2: to mean anything, you've got to leave room for the plumbing. 465 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 2: And so the plumbing inside of a working human organ 466 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 2: that's complex. And so what we're talking about here is 467 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:01,840 Speaker 2: a way to to grow like not just the and 468 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,639 Speaker 2: I'm putting it like crudely and roughly here, not just 469 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 2: the meat of the organ, and not just to say 470 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,200 Speaker 2: here's a lump and this lump is liver, This lump 471 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,160 Speaker 2: is kidney. But to say, this lump of kidney also 472 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,920 Speaker 2: has all the plumbing necessary for the organ to live 473 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 2: and have the necessary blood supply that it needs. 474 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:22,920 Speaker 3: Okay, So, over. 475 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 2: The years they've devised and apparently, as of twenty sixteen, 476 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,119 Speaker 2: demonstrated the use of a cotton candy based technique to 477 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:35,159 Speaker 2: create quote micro fluidic networks that mimic the three dimensional 478 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,720 Speaker 2: capillary system in the human body in a self friendly fashion, 479 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 2: according to the the UMC release that I referenced earlier. 480 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 3: Okay, well, I'm seeing the visual analogy between the sugar 481 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,639 Speaker 3: glass strands made made by a cotton candy machine and 482 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 3: the tiny capillaries that infuse an organ, But like, how 483 00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 3: do you actually make how do you make this? How 484 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,159 Speaker 3: do you make the capillarias with a cotton candy like process? 485 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:07,399 Speaker 2: All right, so, as of twenty sixteen, the method didn't 486 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 2: involve sugar spun into this delicate network, but spinning it 487 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 2: out of something called the abbreviation is p N I 488 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:21,000 Speaker 2: P A M penny PAM I'm gonna go with and 489 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:28,320 Speaker 2: this stands for poly in isopropyla crylamide, a cell friendly 490 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:32,640 Speaker 2: polymer frequently used for biomedical applications, though it also has 491 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,359 Speaker 2: other sort of like nano applications. I've seen studies that 492 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 2: are talking about using it for you know, very small 493 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,760 Speaker 2: you know, triggers and so forth in nano constructions and 494 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 2: so forth. But the key to it is that it 495 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:52,119 Speaker 2: is insoluble at temperatures above thirty two degrees celsius or 496 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 2: eighty nine point six degrees fahrenheit, and soluble below that temperature. 497 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:00,520 Speaker 2: The machine, however, is described as essentially being a cotton 498 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,719 Speaker 2: candy machine in its core functions, so it's still spun 499 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:09,120 Speaker 2: out and created via the same process. And the interesting 500 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:13,720 Speaker 2: thing is, if you look at older writings about this research, 501 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:17,840 Speaker 2: prior experiment such as the one profile by NPR back 502 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 2: in two thousand and nine, actually involved sugar based cotton 503 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:25,000 Speaker 2: candy that then had a liquid polymer poured over it 504 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 2: and then the sugar was washed out. 505 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,120 Speaker 3: Oh okay, so you'd make cotton candy and then you'd 506 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:33,879 Speaker 3: use that as a mold and then you would melt 507 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:34,760 Speaker 3: the sugar away. 508 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 2: Yeah. So these really thin threads, again, thinner than a 509 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 2: human hair standing in for the capillaries. You gel something 510 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 2: around that and then you just melt out all the sugar, 511 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 2: but those then those tiny little tunnels will remain and 512 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 2: those can serve essentially as the capillary blood vessels for 513 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 2: the organ that you would grow there. 514 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 3: Wow, that's amazing. 515 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, And apparently they managed to make that old method 516 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,640 Speaker 2: work to some extent and not just dissolve the candy 517 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 2: capillaries before you could make use of them. But this 518 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 2: pinipam method, this makes it more viable because this stuff 519 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 2: is not going to disintegrate when a hydrogel is poured 520 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 2: directly around it. So they describe this hydrogel as a 521 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:22,360 Speaker 2: gelatine with human cells in it, so like, and this 522 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 2: is their description to jell O with bits of fruit, 523 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 2: except the fruit is human cells. And this is poured 524 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 2: around this capillary matrix that you've made this cotton candy essentially, 525 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:37,240 Speaker 2: and it's gelled in an incubator at thirty seven degrees 526 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,240 Speaker 2: celsius and then when it's brought out, it's allowed to cool, 527 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 2: and when it's allowed to cool, that pin and pam 528 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:49,080 Speaker 2: floss in there, well, it dissolves, leaving behind that intricate 529 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:56,480 Speaker 2: network of microscale channels that could serve as artificial capillaries amazing. Yeah, 530 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:00,800 Speaker 2: and so Bellin's work and the work of his colleagues, 531 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 2: this continues, and I'm to assume this technology, or something 532 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:06,960 Speaker 2: that has evolved out of it, remains part of their work. 533 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 2: They might be getting away from the cotton candy comparisons, 534 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:13,440 Speaker 2: at least in the peer reviewed papers. But I was 535 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:18,120 Speaker 2: looking at a Vanderbilt A affiliated twenty twenty four paper 536 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 2: in Biofabrication, the journal Biofabrication, on which Bellin was a 537 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,040 Speaker 2: co author, and it speaks of quote, solvent spinning to 538 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:34,920 Speaker 2: process the thermo responsive polymer solaplus into a sacrificial microfiber mesh, 539 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 2: which is then employed to pattern a hydrog gel matrix. 540 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 3: Okay, sounds like a similar principle. 541 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 2: It sounds like, yeah, the similar principle, if not the 542 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 2: same thing. So it seems like this isn't This doesn't 543 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 2: seem to be a case where we've abandoned the what 544 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 2: at least began as cotton cut candy based artificial capillaries. 545 00:30:55,600 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 2: It seems like this technological journey still ongoing, but it is. 546 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 2: It's pretty exciting. I think we've talked about the idea 547 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 2: of artificial organs on the show before and the idea 548 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 2: of growing these out over some sort of scaffolding. But yeah, 549 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:14,880 Speaker 2: it's like you can again, you can build a big 550 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 2: old house, but you've got to have working plumbing. You've 551 00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,360 Speaker 2: got to have the wiring, and this is about making 552 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 2: sure the wiring is in place. And as crazy as 553 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:27,719 Speaker 2: it may seem, cotton candy may have been the inspiration 554 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:29,920 Speaker 2: that will help make that possible down the road. 555 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:32,960 Speaker 3: Truly could not have known we would end up here. 556 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:37,520 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, like I said, biomedical applications for cotton candy, 557 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 2: I did not expect it to be a thing, but 558 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:52,959 Speaker 2: it is. So that's inner space with cotton candy. But 559 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:55,440 Speaker 2: we also can go into outer space. 560 00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 3: Take me there, Rob, I don't even know where you're 561 00:31:58,880 --> 00:31:59,440 Speaker 3: going with this. 562 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 2: Well, well, we have cotton candy planets, or we have 563 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 2: we have exoplanets that are sometimes described as cotton candy planets, 564 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,960 Speaker 2: more formally known as super puffs, which also sounds a 565 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:16,520 Speaker 2: bit silly puffy jupiters, also pretty silly cool. And then 566 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:18,800 Speaker 2: you'll find headlines that go as far as to call 567 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 2: them clown planets. 568 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:23,680 Speaker 3: Surely the origin of the of the much discussed killer 569 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 3: clowns exactly. 570 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,400 Speaker 2: I mean, we don't know what their home world looks like. 571 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 2: We have not We haven't gotten to see it in 572 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 2: any of the Killer Clowns media to my knowledge, So 573 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 2: this may be where they come from. All right. So 574 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:42,600 Speaker 2: obviously the idea of clown planets, cotton candy planets, or 575 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:44,920 Speaker 2: what have you, this brings brings to mind a lot 576 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:47,840 Speaker 2: of images. But what are we actually talking about here 577 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:52,080 Speaker 2: when we get past the headlines here. Well, essentially, these 578 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:56,800 Speaker 2: are lower mass gas giant sized exoplanets. Sometimes you'll see 579 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 2: them described as cotton candy planets. They're older and less 580 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:06,720 Speaker 2: massive than hot Jupiter's. Possible explanations include atmospheric dust making 581 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,880 Speaker 2: them appear larger than they really are. They are also 582 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 2: possible explanations that involve ring systems that serve to make 583 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:18,040 Speaker 2: them register as larger than they actually are, in either 584 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 2: case making an Earth mass world registering as large as 585 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 2: Neptune or bigger. 586 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 3: Oh interesting. So basically just the idea is lower density 587 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 3: planets than we would normally expect to see. We have 588 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,600 Speaker 3: a basic idea of how planets normally form, and we 589 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:37,760 Speaker 3: and they have a certain predictable type of density, and 590 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:40,760 Speaker 3: these are showing up as like kind of bigger and 591 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 3: less massive. 592 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 2: Right right, like, so they like their size as such, 593 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 2: they're like the radius is such that they're on the 594 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:52,520 Speaker 2: scale of Jupiter's. But when we're looking at for them 595 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 2: with say radial velocity, that's where we're looking at a 596 00:33:55,720 --> 00:34:00,480 Speaker 2: star's spectrum as its planet's orbit and then shifts pointing 597 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:04,160 Speaker 2: to massive planets, like, they don't read as massive via 598 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:05,320 Speaker 2: the radial velocity. 599 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,960 Speaker 3: So then cotton candy, because cotton candy is low density, 600 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:10,040 Speaker 3: is whis correct? 601 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:13,840 Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, they're not necessarily they're not pink or purple, 602 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:18,000 Speaker 2: though I think I saw some accompanying illustrations which showed 603 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 2: kind of like pink or purple worlds, which you know, 604 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:24,040 Speaker 2: fair enough, it helps bring in the eyeballs. But there 605 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 2: are some examples of these. The main one I'm going 606 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:30,959 Speaker 2: to talk about is WASP one ninety three B great 607 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:34,560 Speaker 2: name for a planet discovered in twenty twenty three. It 608 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:39,200 Speaker 2: is approximately one and eighty one light years from Earth, 609 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:43,080 Speaker 2: orbiting an F type star called WASP one ninety three 610 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,560 Speaker 2: in the WASP one ninety three system. It is a 611 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,440 Speaker 2: big planet. It is one point four sixty four times 612 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,360 Speaker 2: the radius of Jupiter. It is officially classified as a 613 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:57,720 Speaker 2: gas giant, but is discussed by Jennifer Chew for MIT 614 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:01,480 Speaker 2: News in twenty twenty four article Here is Astronomers spot 615 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:04,440 Speaker 2: a giant planet that is as light as cotton candy. 616 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:09,360 Speaker 2: Again the headlines will like to play up the candy. 617 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,200 Speaker 2: The two points out that it may be half again 618 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:15,840 Speaker 2: as large as Jupiter, but it is about a tenth 619 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,319 Speaker 2: as dense. Wow, and this is apparently extreme even so 620 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:23,879 Speaker 2: far as puffy jupiters are concerned. This made it more 621 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:27,280 Speaker 2: difficult to detect again coming down to the radial velocity, 622 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:30,520 Speaker 2: and the likely explanation that was at least discussed at 623 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:34,120 Speaker 2: the time was that it just had a highly inflated atmosphere, 624 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:38,719 Speaker 2: and this of course means we need to study its 625 00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:42,120 Speaker 2: atmosphere in greater detail, you know, looking at how easily 626 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:44,920 Speaker 2: light travels through it and so forth. But apparently the 627 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:48,839 Speaker 2: very existence of worlds like this challenge some of what 628 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:53,400 Speaker 2: we hypothesize about planetary formation, you know, by some estimates, 629 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:57,520 Speaker 2: like we shouldn't be running into puffy jupiters, but they're 630 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 2: out there and forces us to to look again at 631 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:06,720 Speaker 2: everything we thought we knew about planet formation. Another one 632 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:10,640 Speaker 2: is hat P one B. This one is five hundred 633 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,719 Speaker 2: and nineteen light years away from Earth. It's half the 634 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:17,120 Speaker 2: mass of Jupiter, but twenty percent larger. I don't know 635 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 2: if this would directly qualify as a science fiction example 636 00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:23,759 Speaker 2: of this, but it made me think about something I 637 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 2: saw in the recent series Star Wars Skeleton Crew, which, 638 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 2: by the way, is a lot of fun. Of you 639 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:32,879 Speaker 2: out there is at least halfway interested and you haven't 640 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:34,960 Speaker 2: watched it yet. It has kind of like a Goonies 641 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:37,960 Speaker 2: esque quality to it. Kids on an adventure in the 642 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:41,439 Speaker 2: Star Wars universe, their space pirates. It's a lot of fun. 643 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 2: We really enjoyed watching it. But at one point, only 644 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:48,760 Speaker 2: mild spoilers here, you do encounter a world that looks 645 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:51,759 Speaker 2: like it's some sort of a gas giant, but it's 646 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:55,839 Speaker 2: actually an earth like world at the center of a 647 00:36:56,719 --> 00:37:00,520 Speaker 2: essentially like an artificial ring system or some sort of 648 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:03,239 Speaker 2: a disguise system that's set in place, so sort of 649 00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:08,480 Speaker 2: an artificial puffy Jupiter to some extent stealth planet. Yeah, 650 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:12,160 Speaker 2: like it's there's something hidden there, you know, like pirates, treasure, 651 00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:16,360 Speaker 2: that sort of thing. Now that's not to imply that, yes. 652 00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:20,120 Speaker 3: Sorry, I think we both at the same time thought 653 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:22,880 Speaker 3: where people might be running with this, not to imply 654 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:25,200 Speaker 3: there's any reason to think that about these exoplants. 655 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,600 Speaker 2: Correct, Yeah, I did not see anybody even chatting about 656 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:32,600 Speaker 2: the possibility that puffy jupiters are you know, are are 657 00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:37,240 Speaker 2: some sort of artificial structure or or potentially a signal 658 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:41,000 Speaker 2: of any kind of like alien technology. No, that doesn't 659 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:42,400 Speaker 2: seem to be the case at all. But they are 660 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:47,000 Speaker 2: mysterious in their own right, and again possibly in our 661 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:49,800 Speaker 2: estimates the home worlds of the killer Clowns. 662 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:52,680 Speaker 3: Sorry, I fell silent for a second because my mind 663 00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:58,360 Speaker 3: has been spinning. And here's what it was. What happens 664 00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,600 Speaker 3: to you if you are one of those who is 665 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:05,560 Speaker 3: a maker and user of infringing machines, infringing upon the 666 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:09,600 Speaker 3: intellectual property of the Electric Candy Machine Company of Nashville. 667 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:11,960 Speaker 3: I think they send the clowns after you. 668 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:14,920 Speaker 2: Probably so, they're probably the enforcers. As we discussed in 669 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,800 Speaker 2: the last episode, they use cotton candy based weaponry. 670 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:20,520 Speaker 3: You're out there whipping up a cone and the children 671 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:25,839 Speaker 3: fall silent, you hear ten? All right? 672 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:29,200 Speaker 2: Well, I think on that note, we have we have 673 00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:33,160 Speaker 2: finished our cotton candy exploration here. But again, we'd love 674 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:36,319 Speaker 2: to hear from everyone out there. What is your relationship 675 00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:42,200 Speaker 2: with cotton candy, your nostalgic memories, your current frustrations, your 676 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:44,759 Speaker 2: your very what if your travels reveal? What kind of 677 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:47,120 Speaker 2: cotton candy do they have in your neck of the woods. 678 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:50,440 Speaker 2: Have you tried Dragon's Beard candy or any of the 679 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:57,360 Speaker 2: various international cotton candy adjacent treats, all of it's fair game. 680 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:00,160 Speaker 2: Send your thoughts, to send your pictures. We'd love to 681 00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:00,600 Speaker 2: hear from you. 682 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:04,760 Speaker 3: Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio producer JJ Posway. 683 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:06,600 Speaker 3: If you would like to get in touch with us 684 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:09,120 Speaker 3: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 685 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:11,200 Speaker 3: a topic for the future, or just to say hello, 686 00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:14,359 Speaker 3: you can email us at contact app Stuff to Blow 687 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:23,040 Speaker 3: your Mind dot com. 688 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:26,160 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 689 00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:29,040 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 690 00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:45,920 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to your favorite shows.