1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:04,480 Speaker 1: I guess what, mango, what's that will? So I know 2 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: you and I both fly a lot, and if there's 3 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,959 Speaker 1: one thing I definitely know about you, it's that you 4 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: love flying, right because I just have the best travel 5 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: luck in the world, right, you know. I don't know 6 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:17,279 Speaker 1: if this is something we've mentioned on the show, but 7 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: it's actually pretty baffling to me, like how bad your 8 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: travel luck has been over the years. Like there are 9 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: times you'll be flying out of Chicago or something and 10 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:27,640 Speaker 1: then I'll check in with you just to see if 11 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: you've made it home, and you'll say something like I'm 12 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: in Milwaukee. It's a long story, and I don't know 13 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: anybody that can pull that off in the way that 14 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 1: you do. Or there was even the time we were 15 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 1: flying out of Cleveland at the same time. Both of 16 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: us were there, we were on different sides of the airport. Now, 17 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: somehow my flight took off and on the other side 18 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: of the airport they told you're plane that the airport 19 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: was closing down because of the wind, I think, which 20 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: is a true story, like that really happened. In fact, 21 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: sometimes when you are righting me to see where I am, 22 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: I don't even want to respond. Yes, as long as 23 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: it's entertaining for others. Oh, it definitely is entertaining. But 24 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 1: you know, I was thinking about the fact that you 25 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: and I are most often traveling solo and for work purposes. 26 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: And you know, it's funny how when you do something 27 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: so frequently, it's pretty easy just to go through the 28 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: motions not really think about what's going on around you. 29 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 1: And you know, part of that maybe because half the time, 30 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: I know, I'm flying at such a crazy early hour, 31 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: and I'm I'm kind of half asleep when I'm there. 32 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,199 Speaker 1: But as you know, last week, Georgia and I flew 33 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,279 Speaker 1: up to Toronto so that I could officiate a wedding 34 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: because apparently that's what I do now, and it's been 35 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: nice to hear from some listeners. I guess you made 36 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: the offer that I could officiate other weddings, and so 37 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: I'm trying to decide whether I want to sign on 38 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: to do this or not. But you know, we had 39 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: a bit more time than usual in the Atlanta airport, 40 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: so we spent a little time walking around, and when 41 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: you're not rushing to your next flight, spending time in 42 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: the country's busiest airport actually makes for some pretty fantastic 43 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: people watching, and so know, we spend time looking out 44 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: the window as those luggage cars rushed around in between 45 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: the terminals. We watched people run off the trains to 46 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: their next flights, and then a couple of times we 47 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: just set down and watched people flying by and try 48 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,080 Speaker 1: to make guesses on why certain passengers were going to 49 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: different locations. Yeah, I mean it's a fun game to play. 50 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:21,839 Speaker 1: You know, when I'm walking through airport terminals, I'll often 51 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: see like an airport employee come walking out of one 52 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: of those personnel only sections, and I always want to 53 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: go behind that door just to see what's back there. 54 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: Oh me too. I mean would probably be disappointing if 55 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 1: you actually got to go there. But yes, so many 56 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: times you see that happen, You're like, what, what is it? 57 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: What's happening is such a mystery. But you know, we 58 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: started talking about just how many people work at the 59 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: nation's biggest airports and how many people you interact with 60 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:48,919 Speaker 1: before you even get on a plane. You've got the 61 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: people behind the check in desk to t s A. 62 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: The people working at the restaurants, to gate agents, customs. 63 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: I mean, so many people and then all the people 64 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: behind the scenes, controlling the schedules, handling bags and just 65 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: generally keeping the place running efficiently. And we're talking thousands 66 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: of people in places like the Atlanta Airport, and that's 67 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: what God is thinking. You know, what are some of 68 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: the secrets behind how an airport operates? And what do 69 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: we not know? And of course what are some of 70 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: the strangest things t s A has pulled out of 71 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: passenger bags in security. So let's dive in. Y Hey, 72 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: their podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will 73 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good friend 74 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: man Guesho Ticketer and on the other side of the 75 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: soundproof glass doing his best impersonation. Now, you guys may 76 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: not know this about Tristan, but he does incredible repers, 77 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: so good. Well, today's is a really special one. It's 78 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: of the carpet from the Portland International Airport. That's our 79 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: friend and producer Tristan McNeil. Now I do need to 80 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: clarify here. Tristan is not lying on the floor with 81 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: a rug over him. He does that sometimes, but not today. 82 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: He's not just doing that to pretend to be a carpet. 83 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: He actually is decked out head to toe and clothing 84 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: based on that old carpet design from the Portland's Airport. 85 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,280 Speaker 1: Really creative idea to which honestly doesn't sound that much 86 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: less weird, right, No it doesn't. But that's this is 87 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: just the kind of stuff that Tristan does. He's that committed. 88 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: But actually he was telling me earlier what this is 89 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: all about. So basically, the Portland Airport, or PDX as 90 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,160 Speaker 1: you might call it, they added this new carpet to 91 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: its terminals back in now because this was in the eighties. 92 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: The carpet had this kind of funky and geometric design 93 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: with this teel background and all these blue and purple 94 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: and red shapes repeating all over in a very loud carpet. Anyway, 95 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: the carpet stuck around until I think two thousand six, 96 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: and that's when PDX decided it was finally time to remodel. Now, 97 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: they started ripping up the carpet and people went ballistic, 98 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: and that is not an overstatement. I mean they were 99 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: grieving the loss of this carpet. They decided to take 100 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: to social media and just as a way to pay 101 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: tribute to the airport carpet, and they were calling for 102 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: it to be preserved. There was a Facebook page for 103 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: people to post pictures and stories of all the great 104 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: times that had standing on that carpet, and somebody made 105 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: a Twitter account and began posting from the carpet's point 106 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,599 Speaker 1: of view. These are all things that actually happened. And 107 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: you know, some folks even memorialized the carpet by having 108 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 1: its design tattooed on their arms. And of course, it 109 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,720 Speaker 1: wasn't long after that that the beloved carpet design started 110 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: appearing on all sorts of merchandise. And you know, just 111 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: looking at Tristan, you can see that they made pd 112 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: X carpet t shirts, sweatpants, socks, shoes, even a headband. Yeah, 113 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: I know. And Tristan was telling me about all this, 114 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 1: and it got me curious about what other bizarre airport 115 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: stories and secrets are out there. And so that's what 116 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: today's show is all about. You know, we'll we'll take 117 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: a look at how airports function, and along the way, 118 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: we'll also check out some of the odd ball amenities 119 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: that different airports offer, as well as some of the 120 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: weirdest stuff that people have tried to slip past security. 121 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,480 Speaker 1: So let's get started. But where do you want to begin, Mango, So, actually, 122 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: I don't want to get off the airport carpet facts 123 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:31,919 Speaker 1: just yet, because one of the things I didn't notice 124 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,159 Speaker 1: until Gate pointed out to me is that most airports 125 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: have linoleum or tile in the check in areas and 126 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: all through security, but then when you get to the 127 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,800 Speaker 1: flight gates, the floor suddenly switches the carpet. And there's 128 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: actually a reason behind this. So airport designers use this 129 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 1: trick as a way to make holding areas feel more relaxing. 130 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: So not only does the soft carpet help bring the 131 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: feel of a living room into the airport, it also 132 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,919 Speaker 1: helps muffled the noise from people's roller bags and footsteps. 133 00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: But the biggest reason is that all this works together 134 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:02,800 Speaker 1: to make past and just feel less stressed out. Yeah 135 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: it makes sense, but I mean, carpets aren't the only 136 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: thing designers are thinking about when they design these airports spaces. 137 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: I mean, another handy tool they used to make us 138 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: feel comfortable is called wayfinding, or that process designers used 139 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: to make the airports easier to navigate or as easy 140 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: as possible. And one big part of this, of course, 141 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: is the signage and there's so much careful planning that 142 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: goes into that, not just where to place the signs, 143 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: but how they're designed, how they're laid out, and for instance, 144 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:33,920 Speaker 1: the font on the signs needs to be legible from 145 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: a distance and easy for non native language speakers to decipher. Now, amazingly, 146 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: sev of all airports in the world use just one 147 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: of three different typefaces, all of which are sands sarah, 148 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: meaning they don't have the little tails on the letters. 149 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: And because I know you're curious, those three in demand 150 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: fonts are Fruitiger, which was designed specifically for airports, clear View, 151 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: which is the same one used on highway signs or 152 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: on the US, and of course Helvetica. By the way, 153 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: as a side note here, I learned just this week 154 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: that there actually is an airline called Helvetic Airlines, which 155 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: is a small airline out of Switzerland where Helvetica typeface originated, 156 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: and in a truly weird turn of events, the airline 157 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: does not use Helvetica for its logo. That's super weird. 158 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: So what do they use? I don't know what it's 159 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: called exactly, and it's kind of this squat and italic 160 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: font for some reason that almost feels scandalous to not 161 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: use there. But in another way of wayfinding that I 162 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: hadn't thought about are all the works of art that 163 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: are placed around the airport for you. And these can 164 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: be murals or sculptures or sometimes even interactive exhibits. But 165 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: whatever form it takes, airport art is never there just 166 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 1: to look pretty or to help passengers relax. That's because 167 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: designers are actually thinking of them as landmarks, like a 168 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: quick way to establish a point of reference for passengers 169 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: as they make their way through what are otherwise these 170 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 1: monotonous terminals. So if you're ever doing some exploring at 171 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: the airport and need to find your way back to 172 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:02,680 Speaker 1: your gate, just look for the big bronze bear or 173 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: whatever to help point the way. Well, since you bring 174 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,559 Speaker 1: up airport art, I do want to tell you about 175 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: maybe the strangest and creepiest examples I came across. And 176 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: by the way, if you want to see these, it's 177 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: pretty convenient because you just go to one airport. It's 178 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 1: the Denver International Airport. So that actually doesn't surprise me, 179 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,439 Speaker 1: because what's weird is that there are all these conspiracy 180 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:27,079 Speaker 1: theories about that specific airport, like, uh, the runways are 181 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: all pin wheel shaped, and some people claim they're meant 182 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: to look like Swastika's. Uh. Some people think there's a 183 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: secret underground city and the tunnels beneath the terminals. You know, 184 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: it is super weird, But uh, I don't think I've 185 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: heard about the artwork. Can you run me through that? Well, 186 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: you're in for a treat with this because some of 187 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 1: this stuff is just off the wall. So to start 188 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: on the road that leads to the terminal, there's this 189 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,720 Speaker 1: enormous thirty two foot tall sculpture of a blue mustang 190 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: rearing up in anger. But it's not just the size 191 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: or the stance that makes this thing so scary. And 192 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 1: that's because at night, the horse's eyes actually glow bright red. 193 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: How strange is this? But if that isn't enough to 194 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: convince you the horse is pure evil, just listen to this. 195 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: Back in two thousand six, when the statue was still 196 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:16,199 Speaker 1: being sculpted, a nine thousand pound piece of stone broke 197 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:20,439 Speaker 1: free and tragically fell on the sculpture as he was working. 198 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: And you know, sadly he died from this not too 199 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: long after. So not only is this giant blue mustang 200 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 1: terrifying to behold, it also killed its creator, and that's 201 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: why the locals call him Bluecifer. Wow. So I'm actually 202 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: a little of her to ask, But I think you 203 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: said the horse was just one example. Well, the art 204 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: inside the airport gets even weirder than Bluesifer. So, for instance, 205 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: at baggage claim, there are these two stone gargles keeping 206 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: watch over the luggage carousels, and together the pair forms 207 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: of sculpture known as Notre Denver, which is pretty CUTEI 208 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:55,679 Speaker 1: name for a couple of winged demons that are pretty 209 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: weird looking. But probably the most unsettling piece of art 210 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: in the whole place is is mural. It's right there 211 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: inside the airport, and it's called Children of the World 212 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: Dream of Peace. Now this title sounds hardwarming, and you think, oh, 213 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: this must be a really nice thing, but just listen 214 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 1: to this description that I found from Atlas Obscure. It 215 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 1: says in the mural, a gargantuan figure and flowing olive 216 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 1: green military garb and a gas mask, wields an assault 217 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: rifle in his left hand while stabbing a dove with 218 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,599 Speaker 1: the cutlass in his right. A line of shrouded, despairing 219 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,719 Speaker 1: figures cowers in his wake. It's just what you want 220 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 1: to see before boarding an international like, what is going 221 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: on at this airport? I do think somebody might have 222 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 1: missed the memo about how airport artists supposed to be soothing, 223 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 1: because that's definitely not suiting. So here's something even scarier 224 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,080 Speaker 1: than demons and killer horses. So you know, the plastic 225 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,079 Speaker 1: bins we used to unload all our stuff on the 226 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,560 Speaker 1: way through security. Definitely. Yeah. So, according to a recent 227 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: study out of Finland, those bins actually contain a whole 228 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: host of respiratory viruses, including germs known to cause both 229 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 1: the common cold and flew and in fact, researchers found 230 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: that the bins contain more germ samples than any other 231 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: tested part of the airport, which includes elevator buttons, flight 232 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:13,800 Speaker 1: checking machines, even twilet handles. And while these findings were 233 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:16,960 Speaker 1: specific to the Helsinki Airport, other studies have turned up 234 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,120 Speaker 1: similar results in a lot of different airports. And unfortunately, 235 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 1: those bins just don't get cleaned that often. You know. 236 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: It's one of those things that most of the time, 237 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,080 Speaker 1: my wife Georgia is very clean about the things she does, 238 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,600 Speaker 1: but sometimes when we travel she takes a pillow and 239 00:12:32,679 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: she puts it into one of those bins when we're traveling, 240 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: and it is the grossest thing that anyone has ever done. 241 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: I just can't handle it. But it's you know, I 242 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:44,840 Speaker 1: actually love these facts that confirm my suspicion that everything 243 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 1: I come into contact with is filthy. And so those 244 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: are just great stats. I mean, it's like when we 245 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: talked about how the trade tables on airplanes are also 246 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:56,079 Speaker 1: super gross, I mean grosser than anything. But I vaguely 247 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: remember this. Can you notdge my memory a little? Of course, 248 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: I have the fact right here. I keep them with 249 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: me at all times, just in case anybody needs to 250 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:06,679 Speaker 1: be reminded. But this was from a two thousand fifteen 251 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: study from travel Math, and it showed that trade tables 252 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: on the back of cabin ce typically contain over two 253 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: thousand colony forming units per square inch. Now these are 254 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,040 Speaker 1: also known as cf us. Now, to put that in perspective, 255 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: the average household toilet, average household toilet has only around 256 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: a hundred and seventies cf us. Even the flush buttons 257 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: for airport toilets only have about two hundred and sixty CFU. 258 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: So that's two thousand on these trade tables compared to 259 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: two hundred and sixty on a flush button on an 260 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: airport toilet. It is so weird that trade tables are 261 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,560 Speaker 1: that filthy. So I actually remember this great scene in 262 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,760 Speaker 1: Roll dolls book Going Solo. It's his biography, where he's 263 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 1: on his boat and he's watching this woman eat an 264 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: orange with a knife and fork, and he's just kind 265 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: of amazed by how nimble she is with it, and 266 00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:58,800 Speaker 1: he asked her why she's using a knife and fork, 267 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:01,439 Speaker 1: and she goes on this big about how dirty our 268 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: hands are and how she would never use her hands. 269 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: And I think that's why whenever I touched a trade 270 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:09,199 Speaker 1: table from now on, it's going to be with a 271 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: knife and fork. That's a smart way to approach it. 272 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: All right, Well, I feel like we rushed onto the 273 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: plane too quickly and need to come back to the airport. 274 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:18,840 Speaker 1: So what do you say we take a minute to 275 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: talk about some of the deeply weird things that people 276 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: stuff in those dirty bins you were talking about. I mean, 277 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 1: there are all kinds of strange stories there about people 278 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:31,920 Speaker 1: smuggling everything from human remains to ninja throwing stars and 279 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: all of this in their carry on bags. But the 280 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: most interesting examples to me are all the weird things 281 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: that scientists though. I mean, it's so funny to read 282 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: some of these. I actually just listen to some of 283 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 1: the stuff that T. S A Has turned up in 284 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: recent years. All right, a cooler full of turtle embryos, 285 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 1: several bottles of monkey pee, the shin bone of a 286 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: giant ground sloth, fifty vials of freeze dried milk from 287 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: an Antarctic fur seal, and of course a three D 288 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: printed model of a dolphin vaginant. I mean, you can't 289 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: make this stuff up. That's so weird. But I'm guessing 290 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: the scientists must have like legit reasons for carrying this 291 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: stuff through, right, Like does security just give him a pass? Yeah? 292 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:14,880 Speaker 1: I mean most of the time they do, And and 293 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: most of these things don't really break the rules. They're 294 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: just odd and usually require some sort of explanation. For 295 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: for instance, when the Antarctic researcher with all the seal 296 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: milk was stopped, he just had to explain what all 297 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:28,760 Speaker 1: these vials of white powder really were. Yeah, I mean, 298 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:30,600 Speaker 1: if you're taking a lot of white powder on a plane, 299 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: you're kind of asking to get stopped. But well, you know, 300 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:36,960 Speaker 1: once he had clued them in there, there really wasn't 301 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: that much of a problem. And in fact, as the 302 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: guy later explained, quote, some of the officers just wanted 303 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: to wave me on, but others wanted me to stay 304 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: and answer their questions like how do you milk a 305 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: first seal? And so he pointed out, that's a nice 306 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: way to engage in a discussion about science. But he 307 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: also almost missed his flight. So I actually love these 308 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: types of interactions, Like I was reading about this one 309 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: time a few years ago when this as a physicist 310 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 1: flew to Fargo, North Dakota, and he had his Nobel 311 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: Physics Prize with him. So his name is Brian Schmidt 312 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: apparently won the prize back in two thousand eleven for 313 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 1: co discovering dark energy. But anyway, he was going to 314 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: Fargo to visit his grandmom and she asked him to 315 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 1: bring along his Nobel and just in case other listeners 316 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: don't know, a Nobel prize kind of looks like an 317 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: Olympic medal, like it's made of gold, ways about half 318 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: a pound. It's pretty big. So Schmidt has this giant 319 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: metal in his bag and because it's made of golden 320 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: actually absorbs all the X rays and it just looked 321 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: like a big black mystery object to the manityrs. So 322 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 1: security asked him, like, what's in it? And he tells 323 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: them it's a gold medal. And then they opened the 324 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: bag and inspect it and they're like, who gave this 325 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 1: to you? To which Schmidt says, and he gives an 326 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: honest answer, the King of Sweden. Of course, the King 327 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: of Sweden, as you as you do, you know, so, 328 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,240 Speaker 1: so did the agent just let him through or what? No, 329 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 1: they were totally suspicious. So then the officers had all 330 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,200 Speaker 1: these follow ups, like they asked, like why the king 331 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: give this to you? And so it's continued and tell 332 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: the truths. He says, uh, because I helped discover that 333 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:06,360 Speaker 1: the expansion rate of the universe was accelerating. And as 334 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 1: he's saying this, you know, the officers are looking more 335 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: and more angry. You could sense that they were losing 336 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 1: their patients. So he finally explained the whole thing in detail, 337 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: like the science, how he won this award, that the 338 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:18,160 Speaker 1: king presented it to him, all that, and even then 339 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:21,360 Speaker 1: they had one more question for him, which was why 340 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: were you in Fargo. I mean, I guess that's a 341 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 1: pretty fair question under the circumstances. But all right, well, 342 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:29,399 Speaker 1: now that we've made our way through security, what do 343 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: you say we stretch our legs a little bit and 344 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: check out a few of the more surprising amenities the 345 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 1: airport seems to offer these days. But before we get 346 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: to that, let's take a quick break. You're listening to 347 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,880 Speaker 1: part Time Genius and we're talking about airports, all right, Mango. 348 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: So you and I fly fairly often, as we said before, 349 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: and I know one thing we've both noticed is that 350 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: airports offer a much wider array of amenities than they 351 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: used to. You know, you see things like massage chairs, 352 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: which honestly is so weird to me to be walking 353 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: through a terminal and look over and see somebody with 354 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 1: their eyes clothes and a massage. I just don't feel 355 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 1: like that's a place I could relax. But you definitely 356 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:21,120 Speaker 1: see lots of those. You see sleeping pods and day 357 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: spas made to order sushi like This is a huge 358 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 1: list of luxuries that are involved in some of these airports, 359 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,600 Speaker 1: and it seems to get longer every year. And so 360 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 1: I've assembled my own little list here, but I actually 361 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:35,639 Speaker 1: want to hear from you first. So what are some 362 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:38,920 Speaker 1: of the most unexpected services you've come across during your travels? 363 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: So one of the things I really like is that 364 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: you see more and more playgrounds for kids and airports, 365 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:47,760 Speaker 1: and it's been really nice to be able to like 366 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: let the kids run around on these little jungle gyms 367 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: and let them be loud and crazy for a bit 368 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:54,200 Speaker 1: before you have to, like, you know, reel it all 369 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: in when you get on a plane. But as a 370 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,720 Speaker 1: solo traveler, probably my favorite trend that's been gaining steam 371 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: states side is airport movie theaters. And this is something 372 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: I think started back in two thousand fourteen, which is 373 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:08,879 Speaker 1: when the airport in Minneapolis St. Paul opened this free 374 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:13,200 Speaker 1: around the clock screening room near Gate C eighteen. I've 375 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: been there, but I actually haven't noticed that before, so 376 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:17,399 Speaker 1: so catching a movie it sounds like a fun way 377 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: to kill a pine before a flight, but you probably 378 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: have to get there pretty early to be able to 379 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: watch the whole thing, right, so it's not actually a 380 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 1: problem in this case. Uh. The Minnesota screening room only 381 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,680 Speaker 1: shows short films and documentaries by filmmakers from the Upper Midwest, 382 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:32,880 Speaker 1: So in addition to providing some free entertainment, they're really 383 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 1: way to showcase this local talent. And this approach isn't 384 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,240 Speaker 1: unique to the Minneapolis airport either, So last spring, the 385 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: airport in Portland opened its first microcinema, and concourse, it's similar. 386 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 1: Where ticketed passengers have made it through security, they're free 387 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,239 Speaker 1: to grab a spot in this seventeen seat theater and 388 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:53,159 Speaker 1: catch short films by filmmakers from Portland. But maybe the 389 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: most unique airport theater is the one that opened last 390 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: August at Miami International. And unlike the others I mentioned, 391 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: this one doesn't show recent films shop by local artists. Instead, 392 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: the airport actually uses this bank of old flight monitors 393 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,840 Speaker 1: to show all kinds of vintage footage they found in 394 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: and around the airport. So you might see like a 395 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 1: Miami Families Home movies from the nine twenties on one reel, 396 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 1: or a reel of different celebrities who've arrived at the 397 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,320 Speaker 1: airport between the fifties and eighties. Plus there are all 398 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:24,679 Speaker 1: these quirky vintage promotional films for Florida sprinkled in. It 399 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 1: is pretty great and it just seems like a really 400 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: cool project and a fun way to see all the 401 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:32,360 Speaker 1: changes the airport in the surrounding community have gone through 402 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:35,320 Speaker 1: over the years. That does sound pretty neat. I feel 403 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: like I need to check that out the next time 404 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,120 Speaker 1: I'm in Miami. But all right, Well, for my turn, 405 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:41,200 Speaker 1: I want to talk about something I know you'll love, 406 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: and that's the menagerie of therapy animals that some airports 407 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: now keep on hand as you really a way to 408 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 1: help calm frazzled passengers. So let's get the boring ones 409 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 1: out of the way. I guess I know I should 410 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 1: mention that there are more than thirty airports around the 411 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: US that now have therapy dogs, as well as a 412 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:02,280 Speaker 1: few that also have cats and even rabbits. What's the 413 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:06,399 Speaker 1: therapy rabbit. Well, it's a therapeutic rabbit. Actually, I have 414 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:08,439 Speaker 1: no idea. I guess it's just calmer than your typical 415 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 1: rabbit and less skittish. But way back to the idea 416 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 1: of these other animals. So there are plenty of common 417 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 1: therapy animals scattered in airports across the country, but there's 418 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 1: only one airport here with its own pot bellied pig, 419 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: and that's in San Francisco. Now, I've flown to San 420 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:26,439 Speaker 1: Francisco many times. I know you have to. I have 421 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: never seen that, have you know? I have not seen 422 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: a populi pig there. Yeah. The pig's name is Lulu, 423 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: and back in two thousand and sixteen, she joined the 424 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 1: airport's wag Brigade, which, as you could probably guess, as 425 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: a group of specially trained therapy animals that the airport 426 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: keeps on staff. But Lulu doesn't just sit there like 427 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: a lump while you pet her, like say a therapy 428 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 1: rabbit might do. Lulu is actually a highly skilled performer. 429 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,879 Speaker 1: So get this. She has not one, not to but 430 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:57,640 Speaker 1: ten different tricks in her repertoire, and including one where 431 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 1: she plays a miniature piano. But you know, like any 432 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: pig diva, she also brings a complete wardrobe with her, 433 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,679 Speaker 1: and so her vast costume collection includes, among other outfits, 434 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 1: a sparkly pink too too, and of course a pilot 435 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,439 Speaker 1: uniform with a hat, which sounds adorable. But you know, 436 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,920 Speaker 1: if gigs aren't your thing, you might actually have better 437 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:21,200 Speaker 1: luck at the airport in hebron Kentucky. So folks that 438 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,199 Speaker 1: are originally planned to use dogs when they launched the 439 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,119 Speaker 1: therapy animal program in two thousand and sixteen, but in 440 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,119 Speaker 1: the end they went with something much more unique and 441 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:31,919 Speaker 1: also more local. So the airport got in touch with 442 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: a nearby nonprofit that happened to run a miniature horse 443 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,680 Speaker 1: therapy program, and after a few visits, the airport decided 444 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,679 Speaker 1: to ditch the dogs and just bring many horses to 445 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 1: the airport twice a month instead. And as you can imagine, 446 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:46,879 Speaker 1: you know, the prospect of hurting multiple horses through the 447 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 1: security lines was pretty daunting, so the horses are usually 448 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,080 Speaker 1: kept in the ticketing area during the visits, and even 449 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 1: if you aren't flying anywhere, you can still swing by 450 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 1: and pet some therapy horses. It's like a stable full 451 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,399 Speaker 1: of little Sebastian like a fun airport to go to. 452 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: But it's funny that stuff happens in the US, because 453 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: I typically only hear about these kinds of programs at 454 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: foreign airports, like, for instance, I read that the Shipple 455 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: Airport in Amsterdam has all kinds of jealousy inducing amenities. 456 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: They've got a fully stocked airport library, a museum showcasing 457 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:22,439 Speaker 1: art from the Dutch Masters, and probably coolest of all, 458 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: a team of concierge robots, and don't even get me 459 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,719 Speaker 1: started on the airport in Singapore. So I've actually been 460 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 1: to the Singapore airport. It was in the nineties, and 461 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,120 Speaker 1: even back then it was unreal, like if you had 462 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 1: a layover, Singapore would actually give you like honestly, it 463 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:39,680 Speaker 1: was like a forty five minute or an hour long 464 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:41,919 Speaker 1: tour of the country and then bring you back to 465 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: the airport and whisk you through security. It also had 466 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:48,080 Speaker 1: like amazing public showers and these super clean stalls, and 467 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: and there was this garden with birds in it. Yeah, 468 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: except that it's actually gardens plural, like the first one 469 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: was built in the nineteen eighties, I think. But now 470 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 1: there are whopping ten gardens that are spread across the 471 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,919 Speaker 1: airports for different terminals, and altogether they contain over half 472 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,919 Speaker 1: a million plants from nearly three hundred different species. It's 473 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: pretty absurd, Like they have this dedicated cactus garden, one 474 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:16,119 Speaker 1: with just sunflowers, another that's full of orchids. But I 475 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,440 Speaker 1: think my favorite has to be this two story, open air, 476 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,719 Speaker 1: thirty hundred square foot butterfly garden in Terminal three. And 477 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: apparently there are more than a thousand tropical butterflies that 478 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:30,040 Speaker 1: call this garden home at any given time. And if 479 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 1: you're not into butterflies, the garden is still worth a 480 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: visit because it also contains a twenty foot tall waterfall. Wow. 481 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:38,880 Speaker 1: I mean that was definitely not there when I was there. 482 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: But uh, you know, we had a significant layover when 483 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: I was at the Singapore Airport, and I have never 484 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: been to another airport where I wouldn't have minded waiting 485 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,639 Speaker 1: for like a flight delay. You know, the food was great, 486 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:52,359 Speaker 1: the place was great, it was well lit, it was 487 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: it was really gorgeous. I'd love to visit there sometime. 488 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 1: And apparently you're not the only one who feels this way. 489 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: It's actually according to the World air Port Awards, which 490 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:04,680 Speaker 1: is apparently a thing. In two thousand eighteen, the Singapore 491 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,200 Speaker 1: Airport was voted the world's best airport for the sixth 492 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,399 Speaker 1: year in a row. And there's a pretty steep competition 493 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,439 Speaker 1: out there. So at this point, I'm not sure what 494 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: it would take to beat Singapore. So I do think 495 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:19,200 Speaker 1: that they have one feature that could knock them out 496 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:23,359 Speaker 1: of the top spot, and that is rocking chairs. I 497 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:25,399 Speaker 1: think you missed the part where I said Singapore Airport 498 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 1: has a twenty foot indoor waterfall. I'm pretty sure that 499 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: tops rocking chairs. Well. I think some cities prefer their 500 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 1: manti is a little less show you, thank you very much, 501 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: or at least that was my takeaway after learning that 502 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: over fifty airports around the US now have a fleet 503 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 1: of rockers set up in their terminals. You know, not 504 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,400 Speaker 1: that you mentioned that, It's something I've noticed a lot lately, 505 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: especially when I'm passing through airports here in the South. 506 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:50,560 Speaker 1: I mean, it feels like Charlotte has had them forever, 507 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,879 Speaker 1: But maybe that's part of what's going on there. Like 508 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 1: Southern folks just like the airport to feel a little 509 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: more like their front porch. Maybe. Yeah, I mean, I 510 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 1: think you're probably half right, because it's not just Southerners 511 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:03,119 Speaker 1: who like the rockers. You can actually find them in 512 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:05,880 Speaker 1: airports as far west as Seattle and San Diego. But 513 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 1: you know, that front porch field you mentioned is definitely 514 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: a big part of the appeal. In fact, the whole 515 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,239 Speaker 1: trend seems to have started thanks to a temporary art 516 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 1: exhibit called Porch Sitting, and you're absolutely right. It was 517 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:19,439 Speaker 1: featured at the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. And this 518 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,560 Speaker 1: was way back in and so the way it worked 519 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 1: was they had all these giant photographs of different front 520 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 1: porches with rocking chairs on them, and then in front 521 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:30,399 Speaker 1: of the photos they put actual rocking chairs, kind of 522 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:32,680 Speaker 1: like props to make the exhibit a little more interactive. 523 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,639 Speaker 1: But when the exhibit finished its run and the chairs 524 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,679 Speaker 1: were taken away, people got super upset. You know. It 525 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,120 Speaker 1: was just like with that carpet in Portland, Like passengers 526 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 1: had grown so fond of these airport rockers, and once 527 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,920 Speaker 1: the public outcry started, the amenities manager not only brought 528 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: the chairs back, he also added even more of them. 529 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:54,440 Speaker 1: I mean, it's fascinating to see what kinds of things 530 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 1: people get attached to, and at airports of all places. 531 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,119 Speaker 1: But I'm curious, though, because what you just outline is 532 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 1: a pretty specific chain of events. Like I doubt all 533 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,360 Speaker 1: these other airports had their own rocking chair exhibits or whatever, 534 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,000 Speaker 1: but how did they wind up with them? Right? So, 535 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,200 Speaker 1: for the most part, it seems like people who worked 536 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,880 Speaker 1: at one airport started noticing the chairs at other airports 537 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:16,159 Speaker 1: while they were traveling, and then they just decided to 538 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: copy the idea. But here's the best part. All those 539 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,680 Speaker 1: rockers spread across fifty some airports like, they all come 540 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: from the same company. It's called Troutman Chairs and it's 541 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,320 Speaker 1: co owned by a husband and wife who have basically 542 00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: become the go to supplier for airport rocking chairs. Wait, seriously, like, 543 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,840 Speaker 1: what a bizarre market to domin also had they pull 544 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 1: this off? Well, the company is based in North Carolina, 545 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 1: which is where the trend got started, so they were 546 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 1: the ones who built the chairs for that exhibit in 547 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: ninety seven, and then over the years, whenever one airport 548 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 1: manager asked about the rockers at a different airport, they're 549 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,560 Speaker 1: always pointed right back to Troutman Chairs. But the other 550 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:53,680 Speaker 1: cool thing I read is the theory on why these 551 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:56,320 Speaker 1: chairs were a hit with passengers in the first place. 552 00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: And this is the explanation that the amenities manager in 553 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: North Carolina eve quote. Airports tend to be such a 554 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:06,199 Speaker 1: fast paced environment it could be overwhelming for people who 555 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: aren't seasoned travelers. The rocker is a yen to that yang. 556 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,520 Speaker 1: You're controlling the rocker, where a lot of the time 557 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 1: in an airport you're not controlling your environment. It's a 558 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: nice pause button in a hectic environment. It definitely isn't. 559 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,000 Speaker 1: You can see that when you travel through Charlotte and 560 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,960 Speaker 1: you see all the people sitting there. In fact, I 561 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:26,720 Speaker 1: can remember when we were traveling so much in our 562 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,879 Speaker 1: Mental Floss days, and our old designer Winslow, and I 563 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,399 Speaker 1: would travel through that airport all the time. We got 564 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: so used to knowing what was in every spot in 565 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: that airport that we could use code for the different terminals. 566 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: And there was this barbecue restaurant where we ate one time, 567 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,120 Speaker 1: and it was not the best dish of barbecue, and 568 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 1: it was very wet for some reason. So whenever I 569 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 1: would check in with Winslow when he was traveling, sometimes 570 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,600 Speaker 1: he would just text back wet barbecue, and I knew 571 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 1: that meant he was in Terminal E in the Charlotte Airport. 572 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 1: But but back to the idea of these rocking chairs. 573 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, he's asolutely right about airports being hectic, 574 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:04,480 Speaker 1: and that's actually something I do think we should talk 575 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,040 Speaker 1: about and a little bit more detail. But before we 576 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:23,080 Speaker 1: get to that, let's take one more quick break. If 577 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: you're listening to Part Time Genius, and we're talking about 578 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: the special kind of anxiety that people feel at airports, okay, Well, 579 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 1: so one thing I noticed while looking through our research 580 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: is that society actually used to have a much more 581 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:35,440 Speaker 1: romantic view of airports than we do today. Like, if 582 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 1: you look back at the mid twentieth century, when commercial 583 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,960 Speaker 1: air travel was just you know, taking off, thank you Tristan, 584 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: people had a very rosy, optimistic view of flying. A 585 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 1: trip to the airport didn't fill you with dread because 586 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:52,640 Speaker 1: airports were still seen as dynamic, forward looking places. But 587 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: that's definitely not what most of us see them as today. 588 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: So I'm curious, why do you think that happened? Well, 589 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:01,080 Speaker 1: you know, I would think a big part of this 590 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: is the massive uptick and security that we've seen since 591 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: the nineties seventies, And I think we covered this a 592 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,720 Speaker 1: bit in our Golden Age of Hijacking episode. But airports 593 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 1: first added metal detectors in the seventies, and this was 594 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 1: of course as a way to thwart hijackers. And ever 595 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 1: since then, we've watched the security process at airports gradually 596 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 1: grow more strict and more complicated. And while tighter regulations 597 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: are needed in some cases, I think part of the 598 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:27,800 Speaker 1: fallout from them is that a lot of people feel 599 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:31,239 Speaker 1: really stressed at the airport. And that's even before you 600 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:35,160 Speaker 1: factor in other changes that have negatively impacted the airport experience. 601 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: Like you know how much dingier airlines are compared to 602 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:40,720 Speaker 1: just twenty years or so ago. And there used to 603 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: be free meals on short flights for all classes, and 604 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,040 Speaker 1: then it was restricted to long flights, and now it's 605 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,560 Speaker 1: really only international if you're flying coach. You've also got 606 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:53,400 Speaker 1: the baggage fees that have gone up, and set fees 607 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:56,360 Speaker 1: keep going up, and people are getting bumped from flights 608 00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:58,600 Speaker 1: left and right, and so this kind of stuff. You know, 609 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: people are now associated eating with flying and and you 610 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 1: can tell to like last year, Americans gave airlines lower 611 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 1: marks on customer satisfaction surveys than the US Postal Service. 612 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:12,680 Speaker 1: And not only that, airlines were in the bottom six 613 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: for the least liked industries in America, and they were 614 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 1: right there with stuff like health insurance and TV and 615 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: internet providers. I mean, that's not great company, definitely not. 616 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 1: But I do think you're right that tighter security and 617 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,800 Speaker 1: hidden costs are kind of what robbed airports of their luster. 618 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,920 Speaker 1: I was reading this article in Slate about the current 619 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 1: state of the aviation industry and they said, you can 620 00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 1: basically divide the perception of airports into three phases. The 621 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:41,640 Speaker 1: first was when the airports were this icon of progress, 622 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,000 Speaker 1: which is the period I mentioned earlier, probably from like 623 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: the fifties through the sixties. And the second phase would 624 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 1: maybe be the seventies through the mid nineties, and that's 625 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: when the airports felt what Slate put like another stale 626 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,440 Speaker 1: waiting room of modern life. I mean, that's probably about 627 00:31:57,560 --> 00:31:59,600 Speaker 1: how I feel about them. So I'm guess maybe I'm 628 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: stuck in phase two right now. Yeah, and I'm guessing 629 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 1: you're not alone. But for everyone else where now in 630 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 1: the third phase, where the airport has become quote the 631 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: marble floored home of our national fear fueled psychosis. Wow, Wow, 632 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:14,680 Speaker 1: it is not pretty when you spell it out like that. 633 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: I guess that's not too far off from how a 634 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 1: lot of people feel about it. And what's interesting is 635 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: how airports have responded to the rising anxiety levels among 636 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: their passengers, Like that's got to be what's prompting all 637 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:29,040 Speaker 1: the over the top new amenities and the herds of 638 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: therapy animals to art galleries, the rocking chairs that we 639 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: talked about. I mean, it's all meant to help calm 640 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,000 Speaker 1: us down and sort of forget that we're in a 641 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,480 Speaker 1: place where most of us would rather not be. Yeah, 642 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 1: that sounds right to me, And I think the fact 643 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: that airport retail is booming right now kind of backs 644 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 1: that up. So a lot of people use shopping as 645 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:49,800 Speaker 1: a way to curb their anxiety or just brighten their 646 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 1: mood in general. You know, we call it retail therapy. 647 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:56,720 Speaker 1: And in two thousands sixteen, airport retail actually rose a 648 00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: full four percent worldwide, and for the U S. Canada, 649 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:03,960 Speaker 1: airport retailing is set to rise from aground four billion 650 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 1: dollars in two thousand fifteen to just under ten billion 651 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:10,920 Speaker 1: dollars by that's ap going to micro Market Monitor, which 652 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,680 Speaker 1: is a publication for the trade. But you know, that's 653 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:16,840 Speaker 1: some seriously impressive sales growth, and I bet a lot 654 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 1: of it will be thanks to stressed out shopping. You know. 655 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,200 Speaker 1: Those figures actually, I guess don't surprise me when you 656 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:26,240 Speaker 1: think about because no matter how bad brick and mortar 657 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,920 Speaker 1: stores start hurting, airport retailers really seem like they're going 658 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 1: to be just fine, because if you think about it, 659 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: there are more people flying now each year than at 660 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,880 Speaker 1: any time in history. So your local mall might not 661 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 1: be getting that much traffic, but airport retailers have this 662 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,000 Speaker 1: steady stream at just about any hour of the day. Yeah, 663 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: it's a good point. And I was reading about this 664 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:49,920 Speaker 1: one bit of airport managure lingo called dwell time. It's 665 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 1: basically the time between when a passenger makes it through 666 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,640 Speaker 1: security and when they board their plane, so you know, 667 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 1: all the time during which you could be spending money, 668 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 1: and apparently the first six minutes of dwell time are 669 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:04,840 Speaker 1: the most lucrative. It's actually called the golden hour because 670 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,640 Speaker 1: it's supposedly when passengers are feeling their most self indulgent. 671 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:11,440 Speaker 1: I mean that makes sense. You've just gone through security, 672 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,280 Speaker 1: suffered the indignity of the pat downs. You're just looking 673 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:16,759 Speaker 1: for any way to make yourself feel a little bit better. 674 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,520 Speaker 1: I guess. Yeah. Actually it reminds me. I was in 675 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:21,560 Speaker 1: the quick X ray thing that they do where you 676 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: walk into that space and turn and raise your arms 677 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:27,200 Speaker 1: and then walk through it, and this guy, I don't 678 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:28,680 Speaker 1: know whether he was on a power trip or what, 679 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: but he started telling me while I was in there 680 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 1: to pull up my pants and it is not like 681 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 1: I wear low riding pants, like, but I had taken 682 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:38,640 Speaker 1: off my belt as you do to go through the 683 00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:41,400 Speaker 1: security thing, and and uh, my pants were resting on 684 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:43,759 Speaker 1: my hips and he was like, I said, pull up 685 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,719 Speaker 1: your pants, and he kept getting louder and louder about it. 686 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:49,080 Speaker 1: In this situation where you're supposed to keep your hands 687 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:51,640 Speaker 1: up in the air and there's this queue forming behind me, 688 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:56,960 Speaker 1: and it was so anxiety inducing. And it's also one 689 00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:59,200 Speaker 1: of these situations where you can't talk back, right because 690 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:02,360 Speaker 1: you know if you do, it's only going to escalate 691 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,200 Speaker 1: the problem. So I hiked my pants up as high 692 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:08,239 Speaker 1: as I could bottled out of this place, And of 693 00:35:08,239 --> 00:35:11,279 Speaker 1: course what I do next. I bought some candy and magazines, 694 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:14,120 Speaker 1: you know, just to get out of that headspace. But 695 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:16,280 Speaker 1: I mean, like, I guess it's one of those things 696 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 1: where he knows that we're getting older, and he just 697 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,520 Speaker 1: thought by this point, you're almost to that age where 698 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: your pants should be up to your belly button, right, 699 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:26,759 Speaker 1: or maybe he's on the take from these stores just 700 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 1: like getting up sales. But you know, there are plenty 701 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:33,080 Speaker 1: of other reasons to buy things too. People forget to 702 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:36,439 Speaker 1: pack things for their trip, like headphones or whatever. Maybe 703 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:38,920 Speaker 1: they forget to get someone a gift and the airport 704 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:41,720 Speaker 1: becomes their last chance to save face with a mug 705 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:44,440 Speaker 1: or buy some candy. I have definitely been in that 706 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:46,960 Speaker 1: position a few times. And you know, airport retailers are 707 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,600 Speaker 1: lucky to have this captive audience. You know, their customers 708 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:53,359 Speaker 1: are psychologically primed to buy. And it's even more true 709 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:55,919 Speaker 1: when you throw incentives like the whole duty free thing 710 00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:59,239 Speaker 1: that's added into the mix here. Yeah, that that reminds me. 711 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:01,520 Speaker 1: I was reading about the airport in Dubai, and not 712 00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:03,239 Speaker 1: only is it one of the busiest in the world, 713 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:06,080 Speaker 1: it's also home to the most lucrative duty free shop 714 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: of all time. By the way, I've actually been to 715 00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 1: the Dubai airport, and speaking of luxuries, if they know 716 00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:14,840 Speaker 1: you're flying through with a kid and we were on 717 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:17,560 Speaker 1: our way to India at the time, they actually bring 718 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:20,279 Speaker 1: you a stroller to meet you at the gate, so 719 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:23,320 Speaker 1: that like you can connect to your next plane without 720 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:24,759 Speaker 1: like having to wake up your kid. You can just 721 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:27,239 Speaker 1: put them in the stroller and stroll them along. It 722 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,279 Speaker 1: is really sort of very thoughtful and and nothing I've 723 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,240 Speaker 1: experienced in the States. But uh, back to the duty 724 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:36,760 Speaker 1: free thing. So their giant shop is just called Dubai 725 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:39,440 Speaker 1: duty Free, which is a little basic, but the sheer 726 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:42,880 Speaker 1: size of the place is actually staggering. The store boasts 727 00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:47,160 Speaker 1: four hundred nine thousand square feet of retail space, and 728 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:49,480 Speaker 1: the Pacific Standard says, if you want to picture it, 729 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:51,800 Speaker 1: it's a full one and a half times the size 730 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:55,840 Speaker 1: of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Yeah, that's helps me 731 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,680 Speaker 1: get a great picture of this thing. But that is huge. 732 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:01,560 Speaker 1: But you also said it's the most lucrative though, right, Yeah, 733 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,080 Speaker 1: So the stores annual sales typically fall just shy of 734 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 1: two billion U S dollars from one store. I mean, 735 00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:11,200 Speaker 1: so what are they selling to generate this kind of money. 736 00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:13,719 Speaker 1: It is the typical duty free stables, just at this 737 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:17,560 Speaker 1: greater volume. So they sell tons of perfumean liquor. It's 738 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:20,600 Speaker 1: three million dollars in sales with that. Last year tobacco 739 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:24,240 Speaker 1: sells really well there they sold two million dollars of that. Um. 740 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:27,600 Speaker 1: They also sell other items like gold is a big seller, 741 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:30,640 Speaker 1: and not just jewelry, but a show like bars of 742 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:35,080 Speaker 1: twenty to carrot, bricks of gold. You know, it's it's crazy, um, 743 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:38,520 Speaker 1: there's another big seller that I never would have guessed. Uh, Tang. 744 00:37:39,880 --> 00:37:44,359 Speaker 1: What is like the orange powder drink mixed. So it's 745 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:47,520 Speaker 1: just like the astronauts supposedly loved. But we're in a 746 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:51,960 Speaker 1: Pacific standard. The Dubai airport can sell upwards of metric 747 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:55,080 Speaker 1: tons of tang in a single year. Isn't that insane? 748 00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:59,440 Speaker 1: Like how much tang? And I was wondering that. Apparently 749 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:02,200 Speaker 1: it's South laborers who like the stock up before going 750 00:38:02,239 --> 00:38:04,840 Speaker 1: home after working in the Persian Gulf. But you know, 751 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:07,359 Speaker 1: if you're thirsty for something a little stronger than tang, 752 00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:10,040 Speaker 1: you can actually check out the special first class only 753 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:12,680 Speaker 1: floor the store, and that's where you'll find a two 754 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:17,120 Speaker 1: d thousand dollar bottle of whiskey. It's named the Royal 755 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:22,480 Speaker 1: Salute Tribute to Honor. Oh what an? I feel like 756 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,319 Speaker 1: I might just stick with the Tang in this case, 757 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:26,359 Speaker 1: and the store can't be selling too many of those 758 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:29,160 Speaker 1: bottles of whiskey though, right, Oh you mean Royal Salute 759 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:35,960 Speaker 1: Tribute to Honor. It sounds like a dictator named but 760 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:39,640 Speaker 1: supposedly like having these high price bottles around creates what's 761 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:43,240 Speaker 1: called a halo effect, and it encourages these wealthy travelers 762 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:45,000 Speaker 1: to spend more of, which is, you know, just so 763 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,520 Speaker 1: typical of rich people, classic rich people. But I mean, 764 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:51,320 Speaker 1: you know, airports have plenty of other ways of getting 765 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:54,319 Speaker 1: your money besides retail, and one of them is that 766 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:56,279 Speaker 1: we just straight up give it to them, or at 767 00:38:56,360 --> 00:39:00,279 Speaker 1: least that's the end result. So how's that. Well, we 768 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:04,080 Speaker 1: really do this though, by leaving money behind accidentally, So 769 00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:07,919 Speaker 1: every year, millions of travelers hastily emptied their pockets into 770 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:10,400 Speaker 1: those plastic bins at the security line, and then we 771 00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:13,879 Speaker 1: forget to collect that loose change once we've made it through. 772 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:16,600 Speaker 1: And yeah, that could be just a few pennies here there, 773 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:19,840 Speaker 1: but all those coins actually do add up. I was 774 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,200 Speaker 1: looking at this breakdown that CNBC put out, and over 775 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:25,800 Speaker 1: the years, it's interesting to see how much it's been growing. 776 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 1: So back in two thousand eleven, it was just shy 777 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:31,360 Speaker 1: of half a million dollars that was left behind by people, 778 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:33,879 Speaker 1: and then it jumped to six hundred and seventy five 779 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:37,759 Speaker 1: thousand dollars in two thousand and fourteen, kept increasing every year. 780 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:40,480 Speaker 1: In two thousand and sixteen, the t s AS take 781 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:43,320 Speaker 1: was the biggest one reported yet It was a whopping 782 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:47,280 Speaker 1: eight hundred and sixties seven thousand dollars and abandoned coins 783 00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,239 Speaker 1: and other currency just left behind. So what happens to 784 00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:53,959 Speaker 1: that money? Like it just becomes t s A profit? Uh? 785 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,480 Speaker 1: Pretty much. There was actually a law passed back in 786 00:39:56,520 --> 00:39:59,759 Speaker 1: two thousand five by Congress that states that t s 787 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:02,360 Speaker 1: A is free to keep the unclaimed cash it finds 788 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:05,520 Speaker 1: and put it toward whichever security efforts it wants to. 789 00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:09,240 Speaker 1: And personally, my vote is for a dedicated ben cleaner 790 00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:11,560 Speaker 1: so that I never have to hear another study about 791 00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:14,200 Speaker 1: how dirty they are compared to a toilet. I can 792 00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:16,759 Speaker 1: get behind that, all right. Well, Tristan is over there 793 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:20,200 Speaker 1: tapping his PDX carpet wrist watch, which means it's time 794 00:40:20,239 --> 00:40:22,880 Speaker 1: for today's fact off, So you're ready to do this? 795 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:35,680 Speaker 1: Mango always h So you know how all these airports 796 00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:38,520 Speaker 1: had various codes like PDX is Portland, l A X 797 00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:42,000 Speaker 1: is l A, etcetera. Apparently the tiny sand dune where 798 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:44,319 Speaker 1: the Wright brothers made their first flight in Kitty Hawk 799 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:46,920 Speaker 1: has been given a code as well, and they were 800 00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:50,200 Speaker 1: sweetly given the name f A, which stands for First 801 00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:54,040 Speaker 1: Flight Airport. Oh I like that? Well? For years? If 802 00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:57,719 Speaker 1: you were flying through Genoa's Christopher O. Colombo Airport. You 803 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:00,839 Speaker 1: have to leave your pesto as a purity, at least 804 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:03,200 Speaker 1: if it was more than a hundred million leaders of 805 00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:07,080 Speaker 1: the stuff. And of course this made tons of tourists unhappy, 806 00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:09,560 Speaker 1: so then they decided to amend the rules and now 807 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:12,360 Speaker 1: you can fly with five hundred grams of pesto and 808 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:15,160 Speaker 1: these are bigger jars, but that's as long as you 809 00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:18,440 Speaker 1: make a donation to Flying Angels. Now, this is a 810 00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:21,440 Speaker 1: charity that helps fund air travel for six children. So 811 00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:24,520 Speaker 1: it's a sweet idea and people seem to be happy again. 812 00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:27,880 Speaker 1: But there is one catch though. The airport waiver only 813 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:32,279 Speaker 1: applies to pesto that is actually made in Genoa, so 814 00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:34,759 Speaker 1: this is an airport related exactly. But do you know 815 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:37,960 Speaker 1: that pilots on flights are served different meals and they 816 00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:41,440 Speaker 1: are not allowed to share. Apparently it's done as a 817 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:45,120 Speaker 1: rule because of a fear of food poisoning. Wow, which 818 00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:47,960 Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense actually, Well, speaking of planes, 819 00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:50,400 Speaker 1: I realized this isn't something will probably ever have to 820 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:54,160 Speaker 1: worry about. But if the oxygen mask drops down, you're 821 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:57,239 Speaker 1: only going to get about fifteen to twenty minutes of oxygen. 822 00:41:57,280 --> 00:42:00,239 Speaker 1: There's a limited amount of course on there, but the 823 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:03,239 Speaker 1: idea is that more than enough. The ideas that's more 824 00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:05,960 Speaker 1: than enough time to take you to a lower altitude, 825 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,840 Speaker 1: which is when you won't really need them. And actually, 826 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,880 Speaker 1: one other thing about those oxygen masks. What you're getting 827 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,800 Speaker 1: isn't really oxygen. It's actually kind of this cocktail of 828 00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:20,240 Speaker 1: chemicals that when they're burned together, they release oxygen because 829 00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:23,440 Speaker 1: pure oxygen tanks would just be too heavy and bulky 830 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:26,400 Speaker 1: to take up into the air. That's interesting. So if 831 00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:29,000 Speaker 1: you're wondering why certain passengers get pulled aside for a 832 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:32,400 Speaker 1: cavity check, there's actually a system for it. So t 833 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,760 Speaker 1: s A agents assign you points for specific suspicious behavior, 834 00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:37,920 Speaker 1: and if you have too much of it, you know, 835 00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:40,759 Speaker 1: too many points, that's when it happens. But here are 836 00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:44,120 Speaker 1: some of the things they're looking for. Exaggerated yawning or 837 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:48,680 Speaker 1: excessive throat clearing, covering your mouth when you're speaking, showing 838 00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:53,040 Speaker 1: up in disguise, which makes sense, carrying an almanac, which 839 00:42:53,080 --> 00:42:59,840 Speaker 1: makes less sense to me, widely open staring eyes, and whistling. Whistling, 840 00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:02,560 Speaker 1: I'm mean, whistling is like the classic thing people do 841 00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:05,600 Speaker 1: in movies when they're like, I'm not up to anything. 842 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,640 Speaker 1: But is that really whistling? Is it really on the list? Yeah, 843 00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:12,600 Speaker 1: it's when the individual approaches the screen process because they're worried. 844 00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:14,759 Speaker 1: It's a code or signal. But you know, maybe it's 845 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:20,400 Speaker 1: also to teach annoying people to whistle us. All right, Well, 846 00:43:20,480 --> 00:43:23,160 Speaker 1: here's a strange one. In New York. There's an airport 847 00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:26,600 Speaker 1: dentist and I just learned about this. He's actually at 848 00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:28,520 Speaker 1: one of the airports that I frequent but his name 849 00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:32,120 Speaker 1: is Dr Robert Traeger, and much like those airports stores, 850 00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:36,000 Speaker 1: he's taking full advantage of this location. So he's got 851 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:39,279 Speaker 1: to practice in Terminal B at LaGuardia apparently, where he 852 00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:43,239 Speaker 1: both sees airport employees and frequent flyers along with some 853 00:43:43,320 --> 00:43:47,200 Speaker 1: emergency walk ins, and at JFK his office is close 854 00:43:47,239 --> 00:43:50,600 Speaker 1: by outside of the main airport, so his wife will 855 00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:53,680 Speaker 1: actually show for you to the main terminal, but that's 856 00:43:53,960 --> 00:43:57,279 Speaker 1: only if you're part of his Smile High club. And 857 00:43:57,280 --> 00:43:59,360 Speaker 1: I'm wondering how often these people are going to the 858 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:01,600 Speaker 1: dentist and in onto the airport to be part of 859 00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:04,880 Speaker 1: whatever this club is. But it's pretty amazing. The crazy 860 00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:07,680 Speaker 1: thing is that Dr Trigger also does work for the 861 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:11,080 Speaker 1: government while he's there, so the I n S uses 862 00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:14,160 Speaker 1: him to look at wisdom, teeth and these other indicators 863 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:17,360 Speaker 1: to determine whether people they're detaining our miners or whether 864 00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:20,120 Speaker 1: they may be lying about their age because you can 865 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:23,840 Speaker 1: tell age through inspecting bones and also teeth. It's crazy 866 00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:26,480 Speaker 1: that he's got this double life. Well, yeah, here's a 867 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:28,480 Speaker 1: weird one. Do you know the f A has a 868 00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:32,200 Speaker 1: theme song, M and I was not aware of that. 869 00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:36,120 Speaker 1: And here if you're the lyrics, So we're planning and 870 00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:40,040 Speaker 1: building away to make tomorrow even safer than today while 871 00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:43,160 Speaker 1: flying grows, so do we And that's what it's all about. 872 00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:46,080 Speaker 1: We want to help you get back home in a 873 00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:49,799 Speaker 1: jumbo jet or flying alone. We make it safe up 874 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:53,120 Speaker 1: in the sky so you'll relax when you fly. So 875 00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:57,000 Speaker 1: it's super cashy. Everyone knows the lyrics, they can sing along. 876 00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:00,640 Speaker 1: But it's actually got a great story. Apparently, when morale 877 00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:03,160 Speaker 1: was down in the eighties, this guy named John Hanks, 878 00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:05,440 Speaker 1: he was the public affairs director at the time. He 879 00:45:05,480 --> 00:45:08,000 Speaker 1: decided to give the f A a little boost, and 880 00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:10,879 Speaker 1: as he put it, quote, it was designed to bring 881 00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:13,520 Speaker 1: the f A employees closer together and the common purpose 882 00:45:13,600 --> 00:45:17,920 Speaker 1: we had in our mission of aviation safety. Oddly, it 883 00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:21,279 Speaker 1: was a huge success, so employees really bought into it. 884 00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:24,040 Speaker 1: They thought it was super fun. The f A administrator 885 00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:26,319 Speaker 1: thought it was great, and the f A Corral was 886 00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:29,480 Speaker 1: performed at lots of events around the country, including and 887 00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:32,880 Speaker 1: this is from Auntlas Obscure at quote, one of Nancy 888 00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:36,440 Speaker 1: Reagan's Just Say No anti drug rallies, following the headliner 889 00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:42,239 Speaker 1: LaToya Jackson. You know, the eighties were this heady time 890 00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:46,600 Speaker 1: where LaToya could be followed by Corral. But you know, 891 00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:48,440 Speaker 1: the best part of it is that the song costs 892 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:50,960 Speaker 1: nothing to taxpayers. It was all done by Hanks and 893 00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:54,360 Speaker 1: his friends in their free time. You know, that's a 894 00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:56,440 Speaker 1: good fact But I think the fact that you slipped 895 00:45:56,480 --> 00:45:59,480 Speaker 1: the words LaToya Jackson into a fact off makes you 896 00:45:59,560 --> 00:46:02,680 Speaker 1: just automatic winner. There's nothing I can do to beat that. 897 00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:07,520 Speaker 1: So congratulation, and we wanted to say thanks to some 898 00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:09,600 Speaker 1: of our listeners out there. It's actually been a lot 899 00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:12,400 Speaker 1: of fun to hear from you guys in recent months 900 00:46:12,800 --> 00:46:16,320 Speaker 1: keeping track of who is winning the fact off battle, 901 00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:19,840 Speaker 1: because we actually haven't been keeping track, and it was 902 00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:22,600 Speaker 1: pretty funny. We stumbled across a website that somebody had 903 00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:25,480 Speaker 1: actually pointed out to us where one of our listeners 904 00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:28,840 Speaker 1: is keeping track of who is winning this fact off battle, 905 00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:32,680 Speaker 1: and unfortunately, it looks like Mango has been in the lead. 906 00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:35,879 Speaker 1: And of course just widen that lead again today. And 907 00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:38,200 Speaker 1: I think you've been in the lead all year. You 908 00:46:38,239 --> 00:46:40,520 Speaker 1: took a big lead last year, and we've been pretty 909 00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:46,200 Speaker 1: even this year. But I think his house Frounce he uh, 910 00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:48,680 Speaker 1: he created this whole graph of it. It's pretty amazing, 911 00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:51,520 Speaker 1: it's pretty terrific. But we love hearing from you on 912 00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:53,840 Speaker 1: this kind of thing and and and always love seeing 913 00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:55,759 Speaker 1: those types of things. But if there are any facts 914 00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:59,400 Speaker 1: that we forgot to include about airports, about flying, anything 915 00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:01,839 Speaker 1: related to the this episode, we always love hearing from 916 00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:03,720 Speaker 1: You can reach out to us at part Time Genius 917 00:47:03,719 --> 00:47:05,920 Speaker 1: at how stuff Works dot com or hit us up 918 00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:09,360 Speaker 1: on Facebook or Twitter, or from Gabe, Tristan, Mango and me. 919 00:47:09,960 --> 00:47:26,200 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening, Thanks again for listening. Part 920 00:47:26,200 --> 00:47:28,239 Speaker 1: Time Genius is a production of How Stuff Works and 921 00:47:28,239 --> 00:47:30,880 Speaker 1: wouldn't be possible without several brilliant people who do the 922 00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:34,320 Speaker 1: important things. We couldn't even begin to understand. Christa McNeil 923 00:47:34,400 --> 00:47:36,719 Speaker 1: does the editing thing. Noel Brown made the theme song 924 00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:39,680 Speaker 1: and does the mixy mixy sound thing. Garry Rowland does 925 00:47:39,719 --> 00:47:42,760 Speaker 1: the exact producer thing. Gabe Bluesier is our lead researcher, 926 00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:45,760 Speaker 1: with support from the research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan 927 00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:48,080 Speaker 1: Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve. Jeff Cook gets the 928 00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:50,279 Speaker 1: show to your ears. Good job, Eves. If you like 929 00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:52,160 Speaker 1: what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe, And if you 930 00:47:52,239 --> 00:47:54,200 Speaker 1: really really like what you've heard, maybe you could leave 931 00:47:54,200 --> 00:47:56,279 Speaker 1: a good review for us. Do we do? We forget 932 00:47:56,400 --> 00:48:02,160 Speaker 1: Jason Jason who did