1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:00,840
Speaker 1: Guess what will?

2
00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:01,600
Speaker 2: What's that mango?

3
00:00:01,880 --> 00:00:04,600
Speaker 1: So you know I've been obsessed with life hacks forever

4
00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,240
Speaker 1: and it all goes back to this Wired article I

5
00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:09,680
Speaker 1: read back in two thousand and six. It was about

6
00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:13,360
Speaker 1: this TV show in Japan called The Edo Family Dinner Table,

7
00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,919
Speaker 1: and the whole show was just full of ridiculous little tips,

8
00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,160
Speaker 1: like if you don't have someone to water your plants

9
00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:21,320
Speaker 1: when you're away, just set them on a water soaked

10
00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:25,880
Speaker 1: diaper and apparently apparently the plant slowly absorbs the water

11
00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,880
Speaker 1: over vacation. Or if you want to turbo charge your sled,

12
00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,080
Speaker 1: you can spray some nonstick PAM under the sled. But

13
00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,520
Speaker 1: my favorite thing from it is how to immediately become

14
00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:35,320
Speaker 1: more flexible.

15
00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:38,440
Speaker 2: I can't wait. And so what's the trick here?

16
00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:40,720
Speaker 1: Well, if you can't touch your toes, instead of just

17
00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,440
Speaker 1: leaning over, if you take both arms and point them

18
00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:45,960
Speaker 1: out at ninety degrees to one side, and then you

19
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,040
Speaker 1: slowly wind mill them around all the way to your toes,

20
00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,479
Speaker 1: you can actually get closer to touching your toes. It's incredible.

21
00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:55,280
Speaker 3: I kind of thought this one was going to involve

22
00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:56,840
Speaker 3: PAM as well, like under your feet.

23
00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:58,920
Speaker 2: He just slipped out into a split.

24
00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:01,800
Speaker 1: That'd be great. But since it's a new year, we

25
00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,000
Speaker 1: thought what better way to embrace our best selves than

26
00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,640
Speaker 1: trick and cheat our way to results. So that's what

27
00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:08,480
Speaker 1: today's show is all about. Let's dig in.

28
00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,360
Speaker 3: Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to part Time Genius. I'm

29
00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:34,160
Speaker 3: Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good

30
00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,319
Speaker 3: friend Mangesh how Ticketer and sitting behind that soundproof glass

31
00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,800
Speaker 3: running the audio equipment from a handcrafted Nordic track down.

32
00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:41,759
Speaker 2: That's impressive.

33
00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,120
Speaker 3: I guess he's getting his skiing in while he does this.

34
00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,200
Speaker 3: That's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil. Now today, we're

35
00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:49,720
Speaker 3: ringing in twenty eighteen with a look at some unusual

36
00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,560
Speaker 3: ways to better your life in the year ahead. So

37
00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,080
Speaker 3: we're gonna check out some fun life acts like you know,

38
00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,160
Speaker 3: how to beat an ice cream headache. We'll also get

39
00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,480
Speaker 3: a bit more ambitious with ideas like how to be

40
00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,840
Speaker 3: a better list or how to cram a year's worth

41
00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,960
Speaker 3: of trash into a single Mason jar, And of course,

42
00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,320
Speaker 3: to start the second year of ptg off Right, We've

43
00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,800
Speaker 3: also got a ridiculous quiz lined up as well.

44
00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:11,600
Speaker 2: So who's playing today? Mango Yeah.

45
00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:13,920
Speaker 1: Today, we're going to have a very special guest, my wife,

46
00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:16,760
Speaker 1: Lizzie Jacobs. She's been producing a fun new show for

47
00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,560
Speaker 1: American public media called Mashup Americans. But she also hates

48
00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:22,840
Speaker 1: whenever I talk about life acts, so we'll give her

49
00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:24,040
Speaker 1: a little quiz about him.

50
00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:25,760
Speaker 3: All right, So to get us started, I thought we

51
00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,080
Speaker 3: should acknowledge the inspiration for today's show, which is the

52
00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,919
Speaker 3: age old practice of making New Year's resolutions. That's something

53
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,840
Speaker 3: humans have done for thousands of years, going all the

54
00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,040
Speaker 3: way back to ancient Rome, when Julius Caesar rejiggered the

55
00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,640
Speaker 3: calendar and named January first the starting point for each

56
00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,600
Speaker 3: new year. And Caesar named the first month in honor

57
00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:48,280
Speaker 3: of the two faced god Janice, who was believed to

58
00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,560
Speaker 3: look both backwards at the previous year and boards into

59
00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,280
Speaker 3: the future. So by offering sacrifices and making promises to

60
00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,920
Speaker 3: be good, ancient Romans hope to win Janis's favor in

61
00:02:58,960 --> 00:02:59,920
Speaker 3: the year ahead.

62
00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,679
Speaker 1: Right, So fast forward a few millennia to today, and

63
00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,920
Speaker 1: every January, a little over half the population pledges to

64
00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,040
Speaker 1: lose weight, or quit smoking, or I don't know, spend

65
00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,400
Speaker 1: more time outdoors, all in the hopes of making the

66
00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,640
Speaker 1: new year better than the last one. And you know,

67
00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,160
Speaker 1: this lasts for about a month or so until our

68
00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,760
Speaker 1: old habits kicked back and we're right back to where

69
00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:19,280
Speaker 1: we started.

70
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:21,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess without the threat of you know, Janice

71
00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,240
Speaker 3: looming over us, maybe people's resolve isn't what it used to.

72
00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,200
Speaker 2: Be back then. Is blaming on janis, but everything on Janis.

73
00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,640
Speaker 1: According to the University of Scratton, more than ninety percent

74
00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:33,919
Speaker 1: of the people who make resolutions fail to keep them.

75
00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:36,280
Speaker 1: And of course I'm guilty of this every year when

76
00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,040
Speaker 1: I claim I'm going to write my friends more or

77
00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,360
Speaker 1: finish my novel which is tentatively titled How to Write

78
00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,080
Speaker 1: Your Friends More. But the main reason for that low

79
00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,480
Speaker 1: success rate is that we set ourselves up for failure

80
00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:48,760
Speaker 1: by choosing goals that were already at achieving.

81
00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:51,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's weird because we tend to go

82
00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,240
Speaker 3: for things that we've already tried and failed at, you know,

83
00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,200
Speaker 3: during the past year or so, whether that's going to

84
00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,000
Speaker 3: the gym more often or eating better whatever it might be.

85
00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:01,440
Speaker 1: Right, And so the science actually shows us that we

86
00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,280
Speaker 1: get a sense of satisfaction just from the idea of

87
00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:06,920
Speaker 1: accomplishing a difficult goal, which is why so many people

88
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,680
Speaker 1: like making resolutions. In the moment, we feel good about

89
00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:11,560
Speaker 1: saying that we're going to lose weight this year, and

90
00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,040
Speaker 1: we predict that we'll still feel that way in the future.

91
00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:16,880
Speaker 1: But then when it's actually time to follow through, that

92
00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,200
Speaker 1: initial happy feeling is faded, and suddenly the prospect of

93
00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:22,560
Speaker 1: running three miles a day or whatever doesn't sound like

94
00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:23,320
Speaker 1: fun anymore.

95
00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:25,640
Speaker 3: Well, I'm glad you say that, because this actually brings

96
00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,640
Speaker 3: us to our first life act, because there just might

97
00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,279
Speaker 3: be a way to make ourselves think more concretely about

98
00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,600
Speaker 3: the future. And this comes from the research of Hal Hirschfield,

99
00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:38,000
Speaker 3: who's a marketing professor at UCLA School of Management. So

100
00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:42,040
Speaker 3: they're using fMRI scans and they discover that people process

101
00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,240
Speaker 3: information about their future selves in a different part of

102
00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:47,200
Speaker 3: the brain than the one that deals with their thoughts

103
00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,200
Speaker 3: about their presence self. And here's the crazy thing is

104
00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,080
Speaker 3: that this part of the brain that's associated with future

105
00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,240
Speaker 3: selves is actually the same one that's connected to thoughts

106
00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:57,400
Speaker 3: about strangers.

107
00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,799
Speaker 1: Wait, so are we actually thinking or seeing our future

108
00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:02,839
Speaker 1: selves as strangers?

109
00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:05,359
Speaker 3: I mean, we kind of are, actually, But this is

110
00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,600
Speaker 3: where things get interesting because it was a different study,

111
00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,200
Speaker 3: and Hirschfield was looking at students and having them examine

112
00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,520
Speaker 3: digitally aged pictures of themselves, and amazingly, tests showed that

113
00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,960
Speaker 3: this helped the students develop more empathy for their future selves.

114
00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:21,000
Speaker 2: Isn't that kind of strange?

115
00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,479
Speaker 3: And so when this happened, they were less likely to

116
00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:26,960
Speaker 3: procrastinate on things like studying for exams. And so apparently,

117
00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,120
Speaker 3: if we can make our future selves feel less like strangers,

118
00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,480
Speaker 3: we can actually use that motivation to better accomplish goals

119
00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:34,160
Speaker 3: in the present.

120
00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:36,880
Speaker 1: That's so bizarre, And I thought you were going to

121
00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,320
Speaker 1: tell us just to make more manageable goals like this year,

122
00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:40,680
Speaker 1: I'm going to learn to make an omelet or.

123
00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:42,600
Speaker 2: Something, but you should though, you should learn to make

124
00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:43,680
Speaker 2: an omlin someday.

125
00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:45,719
Speaker 1: But you're saying, if you want to keep your New

126
00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,839
Speaker 1: Year's resolution, just get in touch with your future self, right,

127
00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:51,279
Speaker 1: which I mean, I guess is actually pretty easy now

128
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,479
Speaker 1: with asks like old define and aging booth or whatever.

129
00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, you can get super old and second it's pretty neat.

130
00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:57,960
Speaker 3: But you know, as we mentioned, one of the most

131
00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,839
Speaker 3: common resolutions people make is to exercise more often. I know,

132
00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,520
Speaker 3: when we were in college, you always would say I'm

133
00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,880
Speaker 3: gonna start lifting weights on Monday, but then you just

134
00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,159
Speaker 3: go play basketball, and then it was Tuesday and you'd

135
00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:11,680
Speaker 3: have to wait until the next Monday.

136
00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:14,599
Speaker 1: I know, if a basketball is so much more fun.

137
00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,719
Speaker 3: Well, if you want a better shot at enjoying that workout. Actually,

138
00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,880
Speaker 3: here's another hack, and it's a quick science tip that says,

139
00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,280
Speaker 3: just smile and seriously, like the whole thing comes from

140
00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,880
Speaker 3: this long standing belief among some athletes that smiling while

141
00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:32,000
Speaker 3: exercising makes the workout feel easier, and it turns out

142
00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,960
Speaker 3: they're right. So there's a study done earlier this year

143
00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,760
Speaker 3: and researchers from Ireland and Wales teamed up to see

144
00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:41,360
Speaker 3: if a group of recreational runners perform better while smiling

145
00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,840
Speaker 3: or scowling. And the whole smile factor was downplayed to

146
00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:46,640
Speaker 3: the runners, you know, just so it didn't skew the

147
00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,560
Speaker 3: outcome of the test, and so they were only told

148
00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:54,000
Speaker 3: that the experiment would test factors relating to quote running economy,

149
00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,960
Speaker 3: which is, you know how much oxygen someone uses to

150
00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:59,280
Speaker 3: run at a given speech, So you can almost think

151
00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:01,680
Speaker 3: of it like economy, like how much gas do you

152
00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,240
Speaker 3: need to get somewhere? So first the researchers measured the

153
00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:09,640
Speaker 3: runners under normal circumstances. They weren't given any special instructions

154
00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:11,680
Speaker 3: or any techniques. They just had to run on a

155
00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:15,600
Speaker 3: treadmill until they were exhausted. Then, on a different day,

156
00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,280
Speaker 3: each of the runners undertook a series of four six

157
00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:22,720
Speaker 3: minute runs, using a different approach each time, some including

158
00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,800
Speaker 3: smiling or frowning continuously through the run.

159
00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:28,880
Speaker 1: And I mean, it seems like you're telegraphing this like that,

160
00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:31,560
Speaker 1: the smiling runners outpaced the frowners.

161
00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:32,840
Speaker 2: Well, not across the board.

162
00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:35,160
Speaker 3: I mean, a few of the volunteers actually did best

163
00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:38,400
Speaker 3: while frowning, and the researchers suggested that this might have

164
00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,720
Speaker 3: been because those frowns were like their game faces, you know,

165
00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:43,640
Speaker 3: that game face you get on when every time we're

166
00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,080
Speaker 3: about to start a podcast, and that maybe helped their

167
00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,400
Speaker 3: you know, determination to perform well. But the most economical

168
00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:54,320
Speaker 3: results came when the runner smiled, and so the group's

169
00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,840
Speaker 3: running economy was as much as two point seven to

170
00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,440
Speaker 3: eight percent higher during the smiling runs than it was

171
00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:01,280
Speaker 3: during the others.

172
00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:04,360
Speaker 1: That's crazy, So do we have any idea why that is?

173
00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,880
Speaker 3: Well, according to the lead researcher, the smiling likely helped

174
00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:12,320
Speaker 3: prompt this reduction and muscular tension. Now, there's one catch

175
00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:16,120
Speaker 3: to this, Because the smiling has to be sincere, you

176
00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:18,920
Speaker 3: can't fake it, so most of the runner's smiles became

177
00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,480
Speaker 3: more unnatural the longer the session went on.

178
00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:23,040
Speaker 2: Can you imagine trying to run.

179
00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,680
Speaker 3: Six minutes with a sincere smile on your face? So

180
00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,200
Speaker 3: if you want to boost your performance while running, it's

181
00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:33,320
Speaker 3: best to smile sincerely mango. In fact, one researcher suggests

182
00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,760
Speaker 3: that you save your smile for near the end of

183
00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,240
Speaker 3: the race and then use it in thirty second burst.

184
00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,240
Speaker 3: You know, so you don't wear out that sincerity.

185
00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:43,520
Speaker 1: I love that you can just pocket you into sincerity

186
00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,080
Speaker 1: and then pull it when you need small slam.

187
00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,680
Speaker 3: There's nothing more sincere than planning out your thirty second smile.

188
00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:53,440
Speaker 1: It's all over my Google calendars. Here's one for any

189
00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:55,960
Speaker 1: listener who wants to be a better performer but doesn't

190
00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:58,680
Speaker 1: actually want to break a sweat. So the next time

191
00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:00,880
Speaker 1: you're at a karaoke bar and you need to hit

192
00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,440
Speaker 1: a high note in your soulful rendition of I don't

193
00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,120
Speaker 1: know my heart will go on, just try lifting a

194
00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,000
Speaker 1: potted plant over your head. As you sing.

195
00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,520
Speaker 3: So if people don't look ridiculous enough doing karaoke, you know,

196
00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:14,240
Speaker 3: you might want to add a fern to the mix.

197
00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,840
Speaker 1: I guess here, Well, it doesn't have to be a plant,

198
00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,680
Speaker 1: But lifting something heavy above your head actually can help

199
00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:21,880
Speaker 1: you hit high notes in the higher registers. And this

200
00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:24,000
Speaker 1: is one of those old chestnuts I learned at mental flaws.

201
00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,240
Speaker 1: But basically that weight makes your muscles tense up, which

202
00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:30,400
Speaker 1: in turn forces your larynx to stretch a little, and

203
00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:32,520
Speaker 1: that will actually help you land the high notes and

204
00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,880
Speaker 1: impress all the people who would have otherwise thought you foolish.

205
00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:38,280
Speaker 3: All right, well, I'll keep that one in mind, manga.

206
00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:41,600
Speaker 1: So, staying on the subject to sound, did you know

207
00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:44,600
Speaker 1: that our left and right ears are actually each equipped

208
00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,520
Speaker 1: to hear different kinds of sound. So our right ears

209
00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,640
Speaker 1: are better suited for deciphering speech patterns, while our left

210
00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:53,840
Speaker 1: ears are better with musical qualities like pitch or timber

211
00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:54,600
Speaker 1: or loudness.

212
00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:55,000
Speaker 2: You know what.

213
00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:57,480
Speaker 3: I've read a little bit about this, and I might

214
00:09:57,520 --> 00:09:59,400
Speaker 3: be mixing up the sides here, but isn't the idea

215
00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,439
Speaker 3: that they're right ear is paired with the left hemisphere

216
00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:04,760
Speaker 3: of the brain, which is the side that's better at

217
00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:06,440
Speaker 3: processing verbal information.

218
00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,600
Speaker 1: Sure, yeah, you're completely right. So weirdly, the same kind

219
00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:11,640
Speaker 1: of right ear preference shows up in other species. So

220
00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,079
Speaker 1: I was reading about this earlier, and it's common for

221
00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:18,680
Speaker 1: rats and dogs and also sea lions. Oh but one

222
00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,320
Speaker 1: really cool thing I found out is that even apart

223
00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:23,760
Speaker 1: from its left brain connection, our right ear is also

224
00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:25,360
Speaker 1: physically better for hearing speech.

225
00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:26,839
Speaker 2: Oh, so what do you mean by that?

226
00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,800
Speaker 1: So this comes from this joint research effort from UCLA

227
00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:33,920
Speaker 1: and the University of Arizona. But when you hear a sound,

228
00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,400
Speaker 1: the tiny cells in your ear expand and contract to

229
00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:40,680
Speaker 1: amplify the vibrations, and then inside these inner hair cells

230
00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:43,199
Speaker 1: convert the vibrations and send them to the brain. And

231
00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,440
Speaker 1: that's simplistic, but that's kind of how your ear works.

232
00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,679
Speaker 1: But the team measured the hearing of three thousand newborns

233
00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,280
Speaker 1: using two different kinds of sound, and they looked at

234
00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,439
Speaker 1: these rapid clicks like those found in speech, and then

235
00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,959
Speaker 1: sustained tones like those found in music. And the results

236
00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,320
Speaker 1: showed that the left ear actually gave extra amplification for

237
00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:03,840
Speaker 1: tones like music. Well, the right ear did the same

238
00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:05,000
Speaker 1: thing for sounds like speech.

239
00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:05,440
Speaker 2: Wow.

240
00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,160
Speaker 1: So The weird thing is that your auditory processing really

241
00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,960
Speaker 1: begins with the ear itself, and that's before your brain

242
00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:13,520
Speaker 1: gets involved. And if you want to be a better listener,

243
00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:15,200
Speaker 1: all you have to do is make sure you're using

244
00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:17,200
Speaker 1: the correct ear for whatever you're trying to hear.

245
00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:19,600
Speaker 3: That is pretty neat, and I guess helpful when you're

246
00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,439
Speaker 3: at a cocktail party to know which side of your

247
00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:23,480
Speaker 3: face you need to really lean in with. I always

248
00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:25,360
Speaker 3: think about which side of the face I gotta lean

249
00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:28,120
Speaker 3: this side of my face and really hard here. It

250
00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:30,319
Speaker 3: actually reminds me of something else that we're a little

251
00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,960
Speaker 3: too quick to attribute to our brains, and that's the

252
00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,800
Speaker 3: all too familiar pain of brain freeze.

253
00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,240
Speaker 1: So I think I know where you're going with this,

254
00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:40,520
Speaker 1: and this is an amazing trick. I not only use

255
00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:42,280
Speaker 1: this all the time, but I've taught my kids this.

256
00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:45,480
Speaker 1: But in the words of Kanye, I'm gonna let you finish.

257
00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:46,240
Speaker 2: Thanks Kanye.

258
00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:48,640
Speaker 3: All right, So, as I was saying, most people go

259
00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:51,559
Speaker 3: along with the brain freeze name and assume the pain

260
00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:53,680
Speaker 3: is in their brain, which is why you know we

261
00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,920
Speaker 3: instinctively grab our heads or start rubbing our temples when

262
00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:59,960
Speaker 3: we scarf down ice cream or drink something really cold,

263
00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:02,959
Speaker 3: but there actually aren't any pain receptors in the brain

264
00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,640
Speaker 3: at all. Instead, scientists think the pain is due to

265
00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:08,319
Speaker 3: these spasms brought on by the quick cooling of blood

266
00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:11,040
Speaker 3: vessels in the back of the throat. So the next

267
00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,000
Speaker 3: time you need to relieve that brain freeze, you can

268
00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:15,599
Speaker 3: drink something warm or just place your tongue against the

269
00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:17,839
Speaker 3: roof of your mouth and that helps warm up those

270
00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:20,040
Speaker 3: blood vessels and gets the brain freeze to go away.

271
00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:21,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's the trick, I know, Just shove your

272
00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:23,760
Speaker 1: tongue against the roof of your mouth and that headache

273
00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:27,520
Speaker 1: just melts away. But this isn't something I'm going to

274
00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:29,160
Speaker 1: tell my kids. But there's also an other way to

275
00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,840
Speaker 1: lessen that pain, and that's to use swear words.

276
00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,080
Speaker 3: I love how we're talking about resolutions for twenty eighteen,

277
00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:36,800
Speaker 3: and a good one maybe to get to your kids

278
00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:37,440
Speaker 3: to swear more.

279
00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:40,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean they're already from New York, so right.

280
00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:42,800
Speaker 1: But this is a real thing. So, according to a

281
00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,960
Speaker 1: study at Kiel University, people who curse freely can endure

282
00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,240
Speaker 1: pain almost fifty percent longer than those who watch their language.

283
00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,880
Speaker 1: WHOA yeah, and the researchers had sixty four volunteers stick

284
00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,160
Speaker 1: their hand into a tub of freezing water for as

285
00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,600
Speaker 1: long as they could while repeating their favorite swear word.

286
00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,520
Speaker 1: Then they repeated the experiment, but they got to use

287
00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:04,160
Speaker 1: a benign word instead. And shockingly, the volunteers who swore

288
00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,240
Speaker 1: endured nearly two minutes of pain, while those who use

289
00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:09,680
Speaker 1: the benign words, so something like eggplant over and over

290
00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:12,960
Speaker 1: and over, they lasted just a minute and fifteen seconds.

291
00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,080
Speaker 3: That is wild. Then that's a huge difference. So do

292
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:19,360
Speaker 3: researchers know why cursing, you know, lessens the pain?

293
00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:22,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're not exactly sure, but their best guess is

294
00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:25,240
Speaker 1: that the swearing helps us downplay the threat in order

295
00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:27,680
Speaker 1: to overcome it. But the curious part is that the

296
00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:30,000
Speaker 1: curses kind of have to mean something. So, just like

297
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:32,720
Speaker 1: your smile earlier, if you want to lessen your pain

298
00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,679
Speaker 1: by swearing, you have to limit your casual curses. And

299
00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,920
Speaker 1: as the researcher put it, swearing is emotional language, but

300
00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,880
Speaker 1: if you overuse it, it loses its emotional attachment.

301
00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,000
Speaker 3: Well all things in moderation, I guess, all right, Well,

302
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:46,920
Speaker 3: before we get into more life acts, why don't we

303
00:13:46,960 --> 00:14:02,400
Speaker 3: take a quick break. You're listening to part Time Genius

304
00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,000
Speaker 3: and we're talking about some quirky ideas to make life a.

305
00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:05,760
Speaker 2: Little bit easier.

306
00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:08,200
Speaker 3: So mego I mentioned this upfront that we would cover

307
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:10,960
Speaker 3: some life hacks that may be a bit more ambitious

308
00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,360
Speaker 3: than using dental floss to slice up a cake or

309
00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:15,360
Speaker 3: some of the other really silly things you find if

310
00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:16,959
Speaker 3: you're looking online for life hacks.

311
00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,200
Speaker 1: But I almost love the dumb and useless life hacks

312
00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,760
Speaker 1: as much as the good one. Oh yeah, Like there

313
00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,160
Speaker 1: was this one that said, uh, never forget where you

314
00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:26,480
Speaker 1: park your car in a parking lot, just tie a

315
00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:27,920
Speaker 1: helium balloon to the antenna.

316
00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:29,240
Speaker 2: I'm not as good.

317
00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:31,640
Speaker 1: I love that, like it just assumes that you always

318
00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:34,520
Speaker 1: have freshly filled helium balloons up of course, of course,

319
00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,200
Speaker 1: and there was this other one where where you turn

320
00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:39,360
Speaker 1: your hoodie around so the hoodie parts in front of

321
00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:44,240
Speaker 1: you and it's considered an accessible snack pocket. So the

322
00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,560
Speaker 1: picture I had this like fresh popcorn in the hood

323
00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:48,600
Speaker 1: in front of this coder so that he could just

324
00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,040
Speaker 1: burrow his face in the popcorn whenever he needed to bite.

325
00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:53,280
Speaker 1: And that was also he didn't have to move his hands.

326
00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:54,320
Speaker 1: It's so dumb.

327
00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,400
Speaker 3: I could totally see that being marketed toward coders. That's

328
00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,240
Speaker 3: pretty terrific. Although I will say that those kind of

329
00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,960
Speaker 3: life hacks do kind of give life hacks a bad name,

330
00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:05,680
Speaker 3: especially when you compare them to things that are really useful.

331
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,560
Speaker 3: You know, like how hand sanitizer gets tree sap off

332
00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,640
Speaker 3: your hands, which is actually pretty useful when you're bringing

333
00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,480
Speaker 3: in Christmas trees or getting rid of them, and otherwise

334
00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:16,280
Speaker 3: you kind of have to sit there for like fifteen

335
00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,760
Speaker 3: minutes just your hands and scalding water.

336
00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:21,240
Speaker 1: I hate the stickiness of tree SAPs.

337
00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:24,480
Speaker 3: Stands sticky at all and much less tree sap, so

338
00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:27,080
Speaker 3: it drives me crazy. And then there was that trash

339
00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:28,880
Speaker 3: hack that you told me about that that I think

340
00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:29,920
Speaker 3: also fits the bill here.

341
00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:31,320
Speaker 2: Do you want to talk us through that one?

342
00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:35,000
Speaker 1: Definitely? So this one is related to this zero waste

343
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,840
Speaker 1: lifestyle movement that's really big right now, and it's basically

344
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,080
Speaker 1: an effort to reduce the insane amount of trash that

345
00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:41,960
Speaker 1: we produce on an individual level. And to give you

346
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,080
Speaker 1: an idea of why this might be necessary, consider the

347
00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:46,960
Speaker 1: fact that the average American produces about four point five

348
00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:50,200
Speaker 1: pounds of trash each day. Which is over sixteen hundred

349
00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:51,200
Speaker 1: pounds per year.

350
00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:53,640
Speaker 2: Ah, that is a ton of trash.

351
00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,800
Speaker 3: Actually literally, that is almost a ton of trash that

352
00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:58,280
Speaker 3: every single person produces.

353
00:15:58,480 --> 00:15:59,440
Speaker 2: It's crazy crazy.

354
00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,320
Speaker 1: So obviously, with a population as large as ours, that

355
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,680
Speaker 1: kind of trash production adds up fast. So here's a

356
00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,000
Speaker 1: clever way to reduce your role in the problem. Stuff

357
00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,480
Speaker 1: an entire year's worth of your garbage into a single

358
00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:14,360
Speaker 1: Mason jars. Yeah. I mean it might sound crazy, but

359
00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,200
Speaker 1: that's what Lauren Singer did, and it completely changed the

360
00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:18,360
Speaker 1: way she looks at trash.

361
00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:22,320
Speaker 2: Well, if Lauren Singer did it. Who is Lauren Singer.

362
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,080
Speaker 1: She's a graduate from NYU's Environmental Science program, and she

363
00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:29,040
Speaker 1: runs this blog about sustainability called Trash Is for Tossers.

364
00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,400
Speaker 1: And a few years ago, Singer got some pressed because

365
00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,480
Speaker 1: she realized that her interest in living sustainably hadn't extended

366
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,080
Speaker 1: past the classroom. And as she put it, I've got

367
00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:39,520
Speaker 1: this quote here. One day I went home after class

368
00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:41,880
Speaker 1: and opened my fridge to make dinner, and I realized

369
00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:44,360
Speaker 1: that every single thing I had in there was packaged

370
00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,440
Speaker 1: and plastic. So she made this decision to go plastic

371
00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:49,680
Speaker 1: free and started making other changes in her life to

372
00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:51,680
Speaker 1: live a less wasteful life.

373
00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:53,920
Speaker 2: And so that's where the mason jar comes in.

374
00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was kind of her way of keeping crack

375
00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:58,560
Speaker 1: of the small amounts of waste that she just couldn't

376
00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,440
Speaker 1: shake because like, even so she's sworn off buying, I

377
00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:05,240
Speaker 1: don't know, packaged goods and plastic and whatever, there's still

378
00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:07,760
Speaker 1: some random bits of paper and plastic that can't be

379
00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,560
Speaker 1: recycled or composted. So if you think about like fruit

380
00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:12,800
Speaker 1: often comes with these little stickers, or the bits of

381
00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,680
Speaker 1: plastic used to connect the price tag to your clothing. Yeah,

382
00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:18,080
Speaker 1: all of that's unavoidable waste. Then that goes into her

383
00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:19,680
Speaker 1: trustees sixteen ounce mason jar.

384
00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:20,399
Speaker 2: Wow.

385
00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:23,480
Speaker 3: But so she crams a full year's worth of garbage

386
00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,119
Speaker 3: into just one jar. How is that possible?

387
00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,000
Speaker 1: She's actually even more efficient than that. So Singer claims

388
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,600
Speaker 1: to have used the same jar for four years straight.

389
00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:32,160
Speaker 2: No way.

390
00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:34,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, And if that's true, it means she's personally saved

391
00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,560
Speaker 1: over six thousand pounds of trash from heading to a landfill.

392
00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,159
Speaker 3: I think she's hiding our trash. But that is incredible

393
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,000
Speaker 3: if this is true. But it also sounds like one

394
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,119
Speaker 3: of those resolutions that's too hard to achieve, So on

395
00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,040
Speaker 3: the blog or anywhere else that this singer have any

396
00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,280
Speaker 3: tips for people who are just starting to consider how

397
00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:51,679
Speaker 3: to cut down their trash.

398
00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:53,840
Speaker 1: Or yeah, she's got a whole process laid out, So

399
00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,399
Speaker 1: she suggests people start by getting to know their trash,

400
00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:58,199
Speaker 1: kind of like what she did by looking at her

401
00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,920
Speaker 1: fridge and examining that she had too much plastic packaging.

402
00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:04,000
Speaker 1: But once you've identified what kind of trash you produced

403
00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,320
Speaker 1: the most of, you can start looking for solutions and

404
00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:08,920
Speaker 1: ways to reduce it. So if you think about the

405
00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,919
Speaker 1: fact that, like you're throwing out a lot of wasted food,

406
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,240
Speaker 1: you can start composting or maybe change the way you

407
00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,160
Speaker 1: grocery shop so you're doing it more often but buying

408
00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:20,399
Speaker 1: less each time, and that way you don't end up

409
00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:22,800
Speaker 1: with all this excess food you can't use. But then

410
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,760
Speaker 1: the next step is to make smarter daily choices. And

411
00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,600
Speaker 1: this is just little stuff like bringing reusable bags or

412
00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,159
Speaker 1: coffee mugs with you when you're on about, or you know,

413
00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,840
Speaker 1: refusing plastic straws when you get offered them. But Singer's

414
00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,159
Speaker 1: biggest advice is to transition to a DIY approach. And

415
00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:40,919
Speaker 1: this is the one we'll all get held up on.

416
00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:45,080
Speaker 1: But it's things like making your own cleaning products using

417
00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:48,680
Speaker 1: apple cider vinegar, or baking soda or using citrus juice.

418
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:48,879
Speaker 3: For that.

419
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:50,760
Speaker 2: Wow, I mean that is interesting.

420
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,960
Speaker 3: And for me making your own cleaning products, that does

421
00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,120
Speaker 3: feel like a big hurdle to getting one hundred percent there,

422
00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:00,320
Speaker 3: So I'm just not going to try it all. Honestly,

423
00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:02,720
Speaker 3: I do admire the commitment. One thing I do find

424
00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,880
Speaker 3: appealing about singers single jar approach is just how much

425
00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:09,520
Speaker 3: it limits her options because only allowing yourself such a

426
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,600
Speaker 3: tiny space for trash, it really restricts your choices, you know,

427
00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:14,000
Speaker 3: for what you can consume.

428
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,000
Speaker 1: Exactly Like you might look at a box of oreos

429
00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:18,560
Speaker 1: that look delicious, but you quickly realize how much less

430
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:20,159
Speaker 1: work you have to do by eating an apple.

431
00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's another tip for improving your lifestyle, and

432
00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,560
Speaker 3: that is to limit your options. It sounds counterintuitive, but

433
00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:30,040
Speaker 3: when it comes to choice, less is actually better, at

434
00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:33,280
Speaker 3: least according to Sena angar And. She's a psychologist at

435
00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:37,639
Speaker 3: Columbia University and she studies this paradox of choice. She

436
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,040
Speaker 3: says that the greater choice can be a problem because

437
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:42,320
Speaker 3: of the added strain it puts on your ability to

438
00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:45,240
Speaker 3: process information, you know, so think of all the time

439
00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:48,159
Speaker 3: you spend weighing your different options, not to mention the

440
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:50,760
Speaker 3: fact that more choices also means a higher chance of

441
00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,480
Speaker 3: making a mistake and maybe even passing up on a

442
00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:54,040
Speaker 3: better option.

443
00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,920
Speaker 1: So I mean, I like that idea, but what's alternative

444
00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:58,440
Speaker 1: just settling for good enough?

445
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:00,919
Speaker 2: Actually, yeah, that that is the solution.

446
00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:04,040
Speaker 3: And Sheena conducted a few experiments to test her theories

447
00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:07,040
Speaker 3: about choice, and she found that people got more pleasure

448
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,040
Speaker 3: from choosing a chocolate from an assortment of five than

449
00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:11,479
Speaker 3: when they choose from thirty.

450
00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:12,800
Speaker 2: And when I think about that.

451
00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,479
Speaker 3: Specific example, I actually get it because it is kind

452
00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:17,400
Speaker 3: of stressful when you're trying to choose from that thing

453
00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:19,440
Speaker 3: of thirty and you're looking through the guid and you're like, oh,

454
00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:21,640
Speaker 3: it's just the one with peanut butter or not. But

455
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:23,840
Speaker 3: the idea is that if you know, if someone didn't

456
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,000
Speaker 3: make the absolute best choice, they'll still be happier in

457
00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:29,240
Speaker 3: the long run because they didn't suck all the fun

458
00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,080
Speaker 3: out of the experience through all this endless deliberation in

459
00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:32,760
Speaker 3: the process.

460
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,760
Speaker 1: That's that's very funny because I think about things like

461
00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,720
Speaker 1: video stores and one of the reasons I loved browsing

462
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,160
Speaker 1: in them as a kid, or libraries too, is that

463
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:43,840
Speaker 1: because you have this entire world and you have to

464
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,840
Speaker 1: walk out with only one or two choices, Like, there's

465
00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:49,480
Speaker 1: so much pressure to pick well, but then there's the

466
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,320
Speaker 1: fun in choosing that and deliberating. But I mean, I

467
00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,480
Speaker 1: guess it's paralyzing if that's what every decision is like.

468
00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,320
Speaker 1: If I always had to choose from three thousand chocolates

469
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:00,600
Speaker 1: to pick from, i'd probably avoid chalk, right.

470
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:01,399
Speaker 2: Yeah.

471
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,160
Speaker 1: But speaking of choice, there's one that I didn't even

472
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,480
Speaker 1: know I had, and that's which direction your ceiling fan

473
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,480
Speaker 1: spins in. I don't know how I've gone so long

474
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,199
Speaker 1: without hearing about this, but apparently most ceiling fans have

475
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,920
Speaker 1: a two settings for your blade rotation, and that's clockwise

476
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:16,919
Speaker 1: or counterclockwise.

477
00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,600
Speaker 3: I honestly don't think I've ever heard that either. So

478
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:21,520
Speaker 3: does the direction actually make a difference?

479
00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:24,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, it does. So it turns out that we should

480
00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,199
Speaker 1: be changing our fans with the seasons, just like we

481
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,400
Speaker 1: do with our clocks, and in the summer, ceiling fans

482
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,000
Speaker 1: should spend counterclockwise to produce a breeze from the air

483
00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,400
Speaker 1: they force downwards. And then in the winter, the fans

484
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,400
Speaker 1: should be switched to its clockwise setting and that way

485
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:39,600
Speaker 1: the warm air that's risen to the ceiling gets pushed

486
00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:41,920
Speaker 1: down from the side of the room and more warm

487
00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:43,160
Speaker 1: air will be drawn upwards.

488
00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 3: That's pretty interesting here. Yeah, all right, so we've covered

489
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,800
Speaker 3: a few tips for making home life a little more enjoyable,

490
00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,320
Speaker 3: and now I think we should think about work life.

491
00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:54,080
Speaker 1: What do you say, Yeah, I'm for it. But before

492
00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:55,639
Speaker 1: we get started, let's take a quiz.

493
00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:08,800
Speaker 3: Okay, it's quiz time and we've got Lizzie Jacobs in

494
00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,560
Speaker 3: the studio today. Now, Lizzie's the producer of Mash Up Americans.

495
00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,720
Speaker 3: She also has an Emmy, a Peabody, and a couple

496
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,280
Speaker 3: of bestsellers to her name from her work at story Core.

497
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:22,040
Speaker 3: But that's not even her most impressive work. I think

498
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:25,199
Speaker 3: you could say her biggest prize is being married to Mengo.

499
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,240
Speaker 3: And she's here to play a very important life hacks quiz.

500
00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:30,159
Speaker 3: So welcome, Lizzie.

501
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:31,600
Speaker 4: Thanks, I'm so glad to be here.

502
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,600
Speaker 3: Now, before we put you to the test, why don't

503
00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:36,240
Speaker 3: you take a minute to tell us about your new show,

504
00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:37,200
Speaker 3: Mash Up Americans.

505
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:37,640
Speaker 1: Yeah.

506
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:38,320
Speaker 4: Absolutely, so.

507
00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,560
Speaker 5: The mash of Americans is a show hosted by two

508
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:45,720
Speaker 5: first generation Americans, Amy and Rebecca, and they just like

509
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,800
Speaker 5: to talk to and celebrate some of the most exciting

510
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,600
Speaker 5: mashups in America today, and those are people who are

511
00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:56,760
Speaker 5: first generation American, who are in mixed cultural couples, are

512
00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,560
Speaker 5: from mixed cultural families, and just really about being at

513
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:01,560
Speaker 5: the inner section of culture where that is a very

514
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:02,439
Speaker 5: exciting place to be.

515
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,840
Speaker 1: So, Lizzia, I'm around your work a lot, so I

516
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:07,239
Speaker 1: know a little bit about this. But do you want

517
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:08,959
Speaker 1: to talk about some of the fun interviews you've been

518
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:09,600
Speaker 1: doing recently.

519
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:11,840
Speaker 5: Yeah, No, We've gotten to talk to a lot of

520
00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:14,679
Speaker 5: exciting people. One of the really fun interviews was with

521
00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,000
Speaker 5: Randall Park from Fresh off the Boat. He's just so

522
00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,720
Speaker 5: charming and he had this kimchi recipe that came to

523
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,439
Speaker 5: him from I can't remember his name, but a Jewish

524
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,760
Speaker 5: comedian and then he was like, but he's Korean, so

525
00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:29,800
Speaker 5: then he had to make it his own and all

526
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 5: this anyway, he was just like a totally lovely person.

527
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:34,040
Speaker 4: That was really fun. And then we had.

528
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:38,040
Speaker 5: DJ Rika on talking about twenty years of Basement bannga,

529
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,000
Speaker 5: And that was super exciting to talk with the woman

530
00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,399
Speaker 5: who began it all about, you know, the whole twenty years.

531
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,879
Speaker 1: Yeah, Basement Banger was this huge event in New York

532
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:52,480
Speaker 1: City where all sorts of celebrities would come to do bangra.

533
00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,159
Speaker 5: Yeah, and it was the longest running ever night like

534
00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,920
Speaker 5: nightclub night, twenty years. The only time they didn't open

535
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,280
Speaker 5: was after a Hurricane Sandy because they literally there was

536
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,600
Speaker 5: no electricity. But other than that they were open well,

537
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,479
Speaker 5: you know, first Thursday of the month every month. And

538
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:09,400
Speaker 5: even though I lived in New York for twelve years,

539
00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:13,240
Speaker 5: I never went to it because I'm totally a night life.

540
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:14,240
Speaker 4: Low life, so I didn't.

541
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:16,359
Speaker 5: I never made it out, but I was excited to

542
00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:17,520
Speaker 5: talk about it afterwards.

543
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 2: That's pretty cool.

544
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,520
Speaker 3: What an interesting project, and no surprise, because you're always

545
00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:25,800
Speaker 3: working on interesting projects. But I have to be honest,

546
00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,439
Speaker 3: the reason that we brought you on today is because

547
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 3: Mango says you shudder every time he says the.

548
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:35,360
Speaker 2: Words life hacks. Is this true? And if so, why

549
00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:36,359
Speaker 2: do you hate them so much?

550
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:39,119
Speaker 5: I'm shuddering actively right now.

551
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,800
Speaker 4: I hate the word life hack, So I'm okay.

552
00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,800
Speaker 5: With like hacking, right, computer hacking, fine, good has you know,

553
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:46,840
Speaker 5: important to the world.

554
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 4: Iikia hacks.

555
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:50,320
Speaker 5: I like that because there's a lot of good things

556
00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:52,480
Speaker 5: you can do with those flat you know, flat pack

557
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:57,040
Speaker 5: boxes of furniture to make. But life hacks just always

558
00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:01,280
Speaker 5: to me, seemed to reduce to some thing that some

559
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,640
Speaker 5: young dude just figured out and thinks he figured out

560
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:06,800
Speaker 5: even though grandma's have been doing it forever.

561
00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:07,439
Speaker 4: You know.

562
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:09,720
Speaker 5: It's just like I actually saw there was a life

563
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:13,200
Speaker 5: act the other day about how to make tacos from tortillas.

564
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,120
Speaker 5: It's like life back, you can take tortillas and make

565
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:20,880
Speaker 5: taco It's like, yes, you can, because that's what they're

566
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:21,400
Speaker 5: made of.

567
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:23,560
Speaker 4: Like it was just one of those things, you.

568
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,560
Speaker 5: Know, or life heck, you know, try to sipper your

569
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:27,720
Speaker 5: laundry before you do it's like.

570
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:29,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, your mom did that, you just.

571
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:30,359
Speaker 4: Didn't no attention.

572
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:33,080
Speaker 5: So I find it to be kind of this like

573
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:38,000
Speaker 5: columbusy or you know, sort of like dutification of culture

574
00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 5: that bothers me.

575
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:41,640
Speaker 2: I don't know. Mango's got some pretty good ones.

576
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:43,479
Speaker 3: He had one the other day that if you feel

577
00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,400
Speaker 3: you're spending too much time sitting at your desk. If

578
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,200
Speaker 3: you've eaten a banana that day, put it in your

579
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,560
Speaker 3: chair and then you won't feel like sitting down.

580
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:53,080
Speaker 2: I thought it was pretty good.

581
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:53,880
Speaker 1: It's true.

582
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:55,680
Speaker 5: I thought you're gonna see the bana, but it smells

583
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:56,919
Speaker 5: so bad you had to get up and go to

584
00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:58,120
Speaker 5: the trash can at least once.

585
00:25:58,160 --> 00:25:59,879
Speaker 2: But I don't know. Yeah, that could be.

586
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,800
Speaker 3: That's another like, Wow, you're good.

587
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:05,119
Speaker 5: I'm probably bitter about them because they should just have

588
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:06,679
Speaker 5: a career as a life hack artist.

589
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:09,960
Speaker 3: Well it's a good thing, because I think we're about

590
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:11,480
Speaker 3: to put you to the test on these What what

591
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 3: game were we playing with Lizzie Mango.

592
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,720
Speaker 1: It's called real advice from history or nonsense life hacks.

593
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:17,600
Speaker 1: We just made up.

594
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:19,480
Speaker 2: Perfect all right.

595
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:21,800
Speaker 3: So we're going to read a statement to you, and

596
00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:23,560
Speaker 3: all you have to do is tell us whether it's

597
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 3: actual advice from history or a nonsense life hack we

598
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:27,320
Speaker 3: just made up.

599
00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:28,000
Speaker 2: You ready for these?

600
00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:29,240
Speaker 4: I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

601
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,360
Speaker 3: Okay, here is number one. If you need to take

602
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,760
Speaker 3: a pie out of the oven, but don't have an oven,

603
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,800
Speaker 3: mit handy, just use a metal dustpan to scoop up

604
00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:42,040
Speaker 3: the pie ten and keep it from over baking. It's

605
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:43,359
Speaker 3: this real or something.

606
00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:43,680
Speaker 2: We made up?

607
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:46,240
Speaker 4: I have to Can I ask a clarifying question here?

608
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:46,879
Speaker 3: No?

609
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:52,480
Speaker 4: Okay, so I'm just gonna answer. I'm gonna say that's real.

610
00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's real. This came from sixty years ago and

611
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,720
Speaker 1: it works. But as household Hacker points out, you have

612
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,120
Speaker 1: to use a metal dust pen and not a plastic one.

613
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:02,280
Speaker 4: Yeah.

614
00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:05,600
Speaker 3: Right, because everyone has a metal dust pan, handy, and

615
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,440
Speaker 3: everyone wants to be sticking their dustpan in the oven.

616
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,840
Speaker 3: That is just you're the baked pie, right right? All right, Well,

617
00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 3: she's one for one. Here we go number two. To

618
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:17,960
Speaker 3: deal with shards of broken glass that you might not

619
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:21,280
Speaker 3: see while sweeping, spread a little cracked corn on your

620
00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:23,439
Speaker 3: floor and invite a chicken or two into the house.

621
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,240
Speaker 3: Within a half hour, a hungry hen will eat both

622
00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,439
Speaker 3: the seed and the glass, leaving a polished floor you

623
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:30,520
Speaker 3: can walk barefoot on.

624
00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:32,160
Speaker 4: No, that's a nonsense.

625
00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:35,480
Speaker 5: That's nonsense.

626
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:38,440
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what, it's kind of not fair because

627
00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:42,399
Speaker 3: Lizzie's used to your bowl mango, so she was able

628
00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:43,200
Speaker 3: to read through that one.

629
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:44,920
Speaker 2: Okay, two for two. Let's see how you do on

630
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:45,600
Speaker 2: number three.

631
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,040
Speaker 3: To keep a beach umbrella standing upright in the sand,

632
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,080
Speaker 3: Stack five to ten bagels on top of one another

633
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,679
Speaker 3: on the ground, and insert the umbrella pole through the

634
00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,639
Speaker 3: bagels to give the base of the pole extra weight.

635
00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:04,440
Speaker 5: That's a tough one. I'm gonna say it's.

636
00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:06,879
Speaker 4: Nonsense.

637
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:08,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's nonsense. We made up.

638
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,280
Speaker 3: I was keeping my fingers crossed on it. Yes, it

639
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,640
Speaker 3: is nonsense. Okay to left. Number four. If you're doing

640
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,320
Speaker 3: work around the house, use an old potato as a

641
00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:21,080
Speaker 3: pin cushion to hold your nails, screws, and toe.

642
00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:22,480
Speaker 4: Oh totally, that's that's real.

643
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's real. Supposedly, an old potato is a handy

644
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,440
Speaker 1: way to carry around your nails and screws without misplacing

645
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,000
Speaker 1: them on the floor and stepping on them.

646
00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:32,720
Speaker 5: Yeah, and you always have an old potato.

647
00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:32,960
Speaker 4: So perfect.

648
00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:36,439
Speaker 3: All right, last one, let's see if you can get

649
00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:40,240
Speaker 3: a perfect score. Number five. An easy trick for slicing

650
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,520
Speaker 3: tough bread with a dull knife is to heat up

651
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,120
Speaker 3: a knife, so you just submerge it in boiling water,

652
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,480
Speaker 3: then watch how easily it cuts through the loaf. Is

653
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:50,280
Speaker 3: this real or something we made up?

654
00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:52,080
Speaker 4: I'm going to give that a real That sounds real

655
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:52,280
Speaker 4: to me.

656
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's real advice, and Gizmodo's actually recommended this trick

657
00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:57,560
Speaker 1: for slicing perfect cuts of cake as well.

658
00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:01,320
Speaker 3: Wow, so so mango. So I think Lizzie may have

659
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:01,960
Speaker 3: aced this one.

660
00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:02,440
Speaker 2: How'd she do?

661
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,200
Speaker 1: Yeah? She went far from five, which entitles her to

662
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,640
Speaker 1: a certificate of genius, which we'll put up on the.

663
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,000
Speaker 4: Fridge and I will use every day.

664
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:15,280
Speaker 3: I can't wait to share so many more life acts

665
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:17,800
Speaker 3: with you, good listeners. I hope you'll all check out

666
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,520
Speaker 3: mash Up Americans. But thanks again for joining us, Lizzie.

667
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:21,280
Speaker 4: Thanks Will.

668
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:36,960
Speaker 1: Welcome back to part time genius. Okay, so Will, what's

669
00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,400
Speaker 1: your idea for making the workplace a little more bearable?

670
00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:40,240
Speaker 2: All right?

671
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,720
Speaker 3: Two words? Coffee nap.

672
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,360
Speaker 1: Well you heard it here first, folks. Coffee and naps

673
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 1: will make work easier apparently.

674
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:51,320
Speaker 3: No, no, no, I didn't say coffee and naps. I

675
00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 3: say coffee naps. And this sounds crazy because we tend

676
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:56,240
Speaker 3: to think of caffeine as a way to stay awake,

677
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 3: But if you drink some coffee right before you take

678
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,760
Speaker 3: a quick nap, you can actually maximize your brain's alertness.

679
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,960
Speaker 1: So I hate this idea already because I love both

680
00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:09,400
Speaker 1: coffee and napping, and I wouldn't want to mix those experiences.

681
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:12,160
Speaker 1: I mean, to me, it's like when castandz on Seinfeld

682
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,080
Speaker 1: tried to add sandwiches to and TV to his love

683
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:19,360
Speaker 1: making for everything, and it's screwed everything up. But my

684
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:21,959
Speaker 1: kid cousin actually mentioned this to me, and that all

685
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,480
Speaker 1: his friends are actually doing in college. So I want

686
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:25,080
Speaker 1: to know why.

687
00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:25,560
Speaker 2: Does this work?

688
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 1: All?

689
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:26,320
Speaker 2: Right?

690
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,240
Speaker 3: So, the way caffeine works is by clogging up receptors

691
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:31,480
Speaker 3: in your brain that are typically filled by a molecule

692
00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:35,760
Speaker 3: called a dentizine. The basically, brain activity produces a dentizine,

693
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,320
Speaker 3: and when enough of it builds up, it fills the

694
00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:41,320
Speaker 3: gaps in the receptors and it creates this feeling of

695
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:42,719
Speaker 3: tiredness or fatigue.

696
00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:45,640
Speaker 1: So the caffeine takes the place of the adentizine, which

697
00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:47,880
Speaker 1: leaves you feeling wired rather than tired.

698
00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,280
Speaker 3: Right, But it doesn't muscle out the adentizine or anything

699
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,280
Speaker 3: like that. Instead, what happens is the caffeine competes for

700
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 3: the empty spots in these receptors. Caffeine claims some of

701
00:30:57,440 --> 00:30:59,880
Speaker 3: the spots and a dyentizine gets the others, and that

702
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 3: that's why no amount of caffeine can stave off sleepiness completely.

703
00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:07,040
Speaker 3: I mean, eventually, the a dentizine filled receptors, they will

704
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:08,360
Speaker 3: take their toll at some point.

705
00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:10,920
Speaker 1: Oh, that's interesting. It's almost like filling seats on a

706
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,320
Speaker 1: roller coaster or something. But why are coffee apps the

707
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:14,520
Speaker 1: way around that problem?

708
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,280
Speaker 3: Well, so sleep is the body's way of clearing out

709
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:20,240
Speaker 3: a dentizine, and generally it takes about twenty minutes for

710
00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:22,960
Speaker 3: caffeine to work its way through the bloodstream to the brain.

711
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:26,000
Speaker 3: So if you down some coffee and then immediately take

712
00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,800
Speaker 3: a twenty minute nap, by the time the caffeine hits

713
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:31,680
Speaker 3: your brain, it'll have less a dentizine to compete with.

714
00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,560
Speaker 3: Then when you wake up, you'll feel way more alert

715
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,000
Speaker 3: than if you just had some coffee or just taken

716
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:37,400
Speaker 3: a nap.

717
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,280
Speaker 1: That's pretty ingenious. So I'll have to fight off my

718
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,760
Speaker 1: knee jerk reaction and try this sometime soon. So we've

719
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,160
Speaker 1: established that coffee anaps can help you get through the day.

720
00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:47,240
Speaker 1: But what else have you got?

721
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:49,480
Speaker 3: Well, no matter what kind of job you have, there's

722
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:51,680
Speaker 3: a good chance you wish it paid a little bit

723
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:54,240
Speaker 3: more than it does, and we can't help you nab

724
00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:56,600
Speaker 3: a big raise or anything like that. But I do

725
00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:58,440
Speaker 3: have a tip for how to save some of the

726
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:01,160
Speaker 3: money you've already made, and it's a pretty simple one.

727
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,080
Speaker 3: Don't shop on your smartphone.

728
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,800
Speaker 1: But it's always with you and that's.

729
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:06,640
Speaker 2: Part of the problem.

730
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:09,080
Speaker 3: So according to some research from doctor Ying Zoo of

731
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,000
Speaker 3: the University of British Columbia, people take a different approach

732
00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:14,240
Speaker 3: to shopping on a touchscreen device than they do on

733
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:17,040
Speaker 3: a laptop or a desktop. She breaks down the distinction

734
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,560
Speaker 3: this way. She says, the touch screen has an easy

735
00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:23,080
Speaker 3: to use interface that puts you into an experiential thinking style.

736
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,680
Speaker 3: When you're in an experiential thinking mode, you crave excitement,

737
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:30,000
Speaker 3: a different kind of experience. When you're on the desktop

738
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,480
Speaker 3: with all the work emails, that interface puts you in

739
00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:35,960
Speaker 3: a rational thinking style. While you're in a rational thinking style,

740
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,160
Speaker 3: when you assess a product, you know you look for

741
00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,120
Speaker 3: something with functionality and specific uses.

742
00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,520
Speaker 1: So we're more likely to make frivolous impulse buys on

743
00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:48,160
Speaker 1: a smartphone and practical purchases on the PC pretty much.

744
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,000
Speaker 3: And Zoo conducted an experiment where students were offered the

745
00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:54,000
Speaker 3: same collection of products on an iPod touch and then

746
00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:57,360
Speaker 3: on a desktop PC, and in both cases, students went

747
00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,280
Speaker 3: for the more indulgent items on the iPod and more

748
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:01,920
Speaker 3: practical items on the PC.

749
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:02,840
Speaker 2: Is that wild?

750
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 1: That's crazy?

751
00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:06,720
Speaker 3: But apparently there's just something fun about the touchscreen interface

752
00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:10,280
Speaker 3: that encourages us to opt for more hedonistic purchases like

753
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,360
Speaker 3: movie tickets or pizza delivery. So if you're trying to

754
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,800
Speaker 3: save some cash, delete that Amazon app and step away

755
00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:17,719
Speaker 3: from your smartphone.

756
00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:19,640
Speaker 1: That's so funny, because like, we don't use things like

757
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:22,560
Speaker 1: seamless on our desktop, but we do use them on

758
00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 1: our phone and iPad at our house, and so we

759
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:27,320
Speaker 1: probably order more from it. But I would say, like,

760
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:29,760
Speaker 1: if the mere thought of, you know, separating yourself from

761
00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:33,080
Speaker 1: your iPhone gives you separation anxiety, actually have one last

762
00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:34,880
Speaker 1: money saving life act that I want to share as

763
00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:38,440
Speaker 1: an alternative, And it's really good because if you do

764
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:41,400
Speaker 1: it right, you can turn one first class airplane ticket

765
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:44,160
Speaker 1: into entire year's worth of free meals.

766
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:48,520
Speaker 3: Wait, one ticket into an entire year's worth of free meals.

767
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:50,440
Speaker 3: What is this black magic of which you speak?

768
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:50,800
Speaker 5: Mango?

769
00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:54,720
Speaker 1: It's super simple and one I admire for its ingenuity,

770
00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:57,280
Speaker 1: but also think is a little shameful and will never

771
00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,760
Speaker 1: use because I'd be way too embarrassed about it.

772
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:01,240
Speaker 2: All right, so what is it here?

773
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,720
Speaker 1: You goes so first by yourself a fully refundable first

774
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,040
Speaker 1: class ticket on your favorite airline, and the destination doesn't

775
00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:10,799
Speaker 1: matter at all because you're not actually going anywhere. Then,

776
00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:14,440
Speaker 1: once you have your ticket, proceed directly to the swankiest

777
00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:17,239
Speaker 1: VIP airport lounge you can find and stuff yourself with

778
00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:20,279
Speaker 1: free food to your heart's content. And then prior to

779
00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:22,800
Speaker 1: your departure you can probably guess what's coming. You exchange

780
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:24,520
Speaker 1: your ticket for a later day and come back and

781
00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:25,640
Speaker 1: do the whole thing over and over.

782
00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:29,439
Speaker 3: That is downright diabolical, mego, And also, there's no way

783
00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:32,760
Speaker 3: this could ever work, so it already has some genius.

784
00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:35,919
Speaker 1: In China used this exact ploy a few years ago

785
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:37,520
Speaker 1: and he was able to pull it off without a

786
00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:39,719
Speaker 1: hitch over three hundred times that year.

787
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:43,359
Speaker 3: No way three That is crazy, And the airline never

788
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:46,840
Speaker 3: got suspicious of the same dude changing his itinerary hundreds

789
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:48,319
Speaker 3: of times without ever taking a flight.

790
00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:51,680
Speaker 1: Well, obviously, like that's eventually why he stopped. But uh,

791
00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 1: you want to know the best part, Like since he

792
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,880
Speaker 1: was just exploiting a loophole and not actually breaking any rules.

793
00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:00,720
Speaker 1: They couldn't do anything but ask him pull it to stop.

794
00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:02,600
Speaker 2: Oh wow, And so did he stop?

795
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:05,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean he recognized that the jig was finally off,

796
00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:08,120
Speaker 1: but he still had one last hand to play. He

797
00:35:08,239 --> 00:35:10,360
Speaker 1: returned his ticket for a full refine.

798
00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:12,880
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, well played by this dude.

799
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:14,799
Speaker 3: And I know it's gonna be tough to top that one,

800
00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:16,840
Speaker 3: but I still have a few life hacks I'm itching

801
00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:17,239
Speaker 3: to try.

802
00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:19,880
Speaker 1: Well, now's your chance, because it's time to celebrate the

803
00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,680
Speaker 1: new year with the very first backed off of twenty eighteen.

804
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:23,479
Speaker 2: What luck.

805
00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:33,480
Speaker 1: So you know, when a light bulb goes out, you

806
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,719
Speaker 1: can shake it and hear a little rattle and you

807
00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:38,439
Speaker 1: know it's dead. I didn't realize there's a similar test

808
00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:40,759
Speaker 1: for batteries. Like if you drop a battery on the

809
00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:44,080
Speaker 1: floor and it bounces, it means it isn't fresh. Older

810
00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:46,920
Speaker 1: dead batteries bounce, while newer ones just thud.

811
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,560
Speaker 2: Oh that's weird. That's pretty cool, all right.

812
00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:52,319
Speaker 3: Well, if you're in a storm and the electricity goes out,

813
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:54,600
Speaker 3: do you know what works as a tiny candle?

814
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:56,680
Speaker 2: Crayola crayons.

815
00:35:56,719 --> 00:35:58,920
Speaker 3: Now your kids may not love this, but you can

816
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:01,839
Speaker 3: actually burn them one by one to give yourself some light,

817
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,200
Speaker 3: and according to life hacker, they'll last you fifteen to

818
00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:06,279
Speaker 3: thirty minutes each.

819
00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:10,759
Speaker 1: So this is such a stupid life hack, but I

820
00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:13,359
Speaker 1: love it because I hate getting my handsticky or like

821
00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:15,920
Speaker 1: frosting on my face. But if you have to eat

822
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:18,399
Speaker 1: a cupcake, take a knife and cut the bottom off

823
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:20,279
Speaker 1: and then press it to the top to turn it

824
00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:21,719
Speaker 1: into a little cupcake sandwich.

825
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:25,399
Speaker 3: A great nickname for somebody. We need to decide who

826
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:29,000
Speaker 3: to call little cupcake Sandwich. All right, Well, if you

827
00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:32,200
Speaker 3: hate crying while cutting onions, you can try this trick.

828
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:36,040
Speaker 3: You just freeze them for fifteen minutes before you start slicing.

829
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,239
Speaker 1: Oh that's awesome. So I've actually tried so many tricks

830
00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:42,320
Speaker 1: for cutting onions, from like wearing onion goggles to wedging

831
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:44,560
Speaker 1: some bread in front of your like top lip, and

832
00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,279
Speaker 1: none of it works. So I can't wait to try this.

833
00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:50,400
Speaker 1: But if you're drilling something into a wall, holding an

834
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:53,520
Speaker 1: open envelope under the strew actually catches all the wall particles,

835
00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:55,839
Speaker 1: so you don't have to sweep up after all.

836
00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:58,000
Speaker 3: Right, Well, if you want to boil a lot of

837
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:01,080
Speaker 3: hard boiled eggs, but you don't have a that's large enough.

838
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:04,040
Speaker 3: You just put them in the oven in a muffin tin.

839
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:06,600
Speaker 3: You bake them for thirty minutes at three hundred and

840
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:09,439
Speaker 3: fifty degrees. You can actually do twenty four of these

841
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,880
Speaker 3: at a time and not have to worry about water

842
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:12,600
Speaker 3: boiling over.

843
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:15,920
Speaker 1: Oh I like that. So I know you've got a

844
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:18,560
Speaker 1: lot of sensitive documents on hand. And if you ever

845
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,040
Speaker 1: need a shredder but don't have access to a shredder,

846
00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:24,840
Speaker 1: writer Lisa Kadaiyama suggests stuffing them into a stalking and

847
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,440
Speaker 1: then running them in a washing machine. And no one

848
00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:29,880
Speaker 1: should be able to read your embarrassing love letters after.

849
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:32,640
Speaker 3: Wow, you really got to want to get rid of

850
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:35,480
Speaker 3: some letters to be willing to do that. That's good though, Well,

851
00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:38,400
Speaker 3: you know we both love dumb life hacks, and not

852
00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:40,319
Speaker 3: that your washing machine one was that was a very

853
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:43,080
Speaker 3: reasonable one. But I've got one that may be the dumbest.

854
00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:45,560
Speaker 3: Then it comes from Gizmoto. So if you're tired of

855
00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:48,320
Speaker 3: fighting for a handrail to hold on to in the subway,

856
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:50,800
Speaker 3: or you just don't want to deal with all those germs,

857
00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:52,640
Speaker 3: as you know, I don't really like dealing with them.

858
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,759
Speaker 3: Just bring a toilet plunger on the subway with you.

859
00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:57,560
Speaker 3: All you have to do is you plunge it up

860
00:37:57,560 --> 00:37:59,839
Speaker 3: to the ceiling of the train and you hold onto

861
00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:02,840
Speaker 3: the handle. You don't have to fight anyone for space.

862
00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:05,000
Speaker 3: It's such a brilliant idea, and I have no idea

863
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:05,960
Speaker 3: why I haven't thought of this.

864
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:10,480
Speaker 1: I love the idea of people commuting with their plungers

865
00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:13,279
Speaker 1: just because they're like scared of germs instead of I

866
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:17,560
Speaker 1: don't know, like carrying hand sanitizer, no plunger. But I

867
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:19,040
Speaker 1: do think you went today's edition.

868
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:19,799
Speaker 2: I thought so.

869
00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:21,880
Speaker 3: I knew that one was gonna take the crown. Well

870
00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:24,359
Speaker 3: that's it for today's episode. Now, I know there are

871
00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,040
Speaker 3: so many life acts that we didn't mention today, so

872
00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:29,520
Speaker 3: we'd love to hear those from you guys. Feel free

873
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:32,759
Speaker 3: to email us part Time Genius at HowStuffWorks dot com.

874
00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:34,480
Speaker 3: You can always call us on our twenty four to

875
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:38,560
Speaker 3: seven fact hotline one eight four four pt Genius, or

876
00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:40,280
Speaker 3: hit us up on Facebook or Twitter.

877
00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:56,360
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening, Thanks again for listening.

878
00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:58,680
Speaker 3: Part Time Genius is a production of How Stuff Works

879
00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:01,239
Speaker 3: and wouldn't be possible Without several brilliant people who do

880
00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:03,880
Speaker 3: the important things, we couldn't even begin to understand.

881
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:05,680
Speaker 1: Tristan McNeil does the editing thing.

882
00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:07,960
Speaker 2: Noel Brown made the theme song and does the mixy

883
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:08,759
Speaker 2: mixy sound thing.

884
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:11,319
Speaker 1: Jerry Roland does the exact producer thing.

885
00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:14,040
Speaker 3: Gabe Bluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the

886
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,440
Speaker 3: research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams

887
00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:17,719
Speaker 3: and Eves.

888
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,200
Speaker 1: Jeffcote gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.

889
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:22,320
Speaker 3: If you like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe,

890
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:24,240
Speaker 3: And if you really really like what you've heard.

891
00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:25,719
Speaker 2: Maybe you could leave a good review for us.

892
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:27,120
Speaker 1: Do we forget Jason?

893
00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:28,000
Speaker 2: Jason who