WEBVTT - The Fascinating History of Dandelions

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff you should know, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's

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<v Speaker 2>Puffball Chuck, and there's Blowball Jerry, and I like to

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<v Speaker 2>call me Monk's Head and this is stuff you should do.

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<v Speaker 2>Did you get those references?

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<v Speaker 3>Uh? Sure?

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, Well we should probably explain them to everybody else

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<v Speaker 2>because they probably think it's an in joke, but it's

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<v Speaker 2>not at all. Number one, because we're about to share

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<v Speaker 2>it with you. Number two, it's not really a joke.

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<v Speaker 2>And number three, those are alternate names for dandelions.

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<v Speaker 1>That's right, and we're going to be exalting the dandelion

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<v Speaker 1>probably say a lot of times how great we think

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<v Speaker 1>it is.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, sorry if you hate dandelions.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, how it's unfairly maligned. And we want to thank

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<v Speaker 1>Sarah Andrews from Idaho because Sarah is a listener who's

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<v Speaker 1>sent this in.

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<v Speaker 2>Nice, very nice. Thanks a lot, Sarah. Every time I

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<v Speaker 2>hear Idaho, I'm reminded of that silly T shirt that

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<v Speaker 2>said Idaho Daho. Do you remember that one?

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<v Speaker 3>I never saw that one?

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<v Speaker 2>What was that one? There was a company called like

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<v Speaker 2>Dangerous t Shirts or something like that. And they had like, man,

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<v Speaker 2>they were killing it with the crazy T shirts for

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<v Speaker 2>a while in like the early two thousands.

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<v Speaker 1>Was that like instead of saying coch it would say

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<v Speaker 1>you know, poke or cocaine.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that kind of thing.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, kind of sometimes more original than that, but yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>they were coveted for a little bit among people who

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<v Speaker 2>liked incubus and stuff like that.

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<v Speaker 3>Uh. I couldn't name an Incuba's song, so that's not me.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, So let's get back to dandelions. I don't know

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<v Speaker 2>how we ever get off track. It's kind of strange,

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<v Speaker 2>but it happens from time to time, and it just happened, chuck.

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<v Speaker 2>So let's stop it from happening right now.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, because dandelions, as you will see, have had a long,

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<v Speaker 1>rich history that we're going to talk about in depth

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<v Speaker 1>as a medicinal plant, as an edible plant, as a

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<v Speaker 1>wonderful pollinator, and it was recast as a villain as

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<v Speaker 1>a weed to get rid of. But you need only

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<v Speaker 1>look at the history of the dandelion, the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>it was brought to North America by colonists to kind

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<v Speaker 1>of underscore the fact that we wanted the dandelion here.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, and it's important to say that they brought it

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<v Speaker 2>here on purpose. I saw somebody point out like this,

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<v Speaker 2>it wasn't it didn't hit your ride. It was like

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<v Speaker 2>purposely brought here. And the idea that dandelions suck is

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<v Speaker 2>a really recent development, especially compared to how long people

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<v Speaker 2>valued and prized dandelions. I just find that fascinating for sure.

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<v Speaker 3>This thing is about thirty million years old.

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<v Speaker 1>Native in sort of Atlantic Europe all the way to

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<v Speaker 1>Siberia and in the northern Hemisphere. You're gonna know a

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<v Speaker 1>dandelion because between March and October, you're gonna see these

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<v Speaker 1>beautiful yellow flowers. You'll see some what's called a rosette,

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<v Speaker 1>which are these very short level ground stems that grow

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<v Speaker 1>in a circular pattern, and then these little slender, green

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<v Speaker 1>hollow stalks, you know, two to twenty inches, but usually

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<v Speaker 1>at least around here the dandelions are i don't know,

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<v Speaker 1>like eight inches.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that seems about right. That's my experience as well.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>So one of the other really impressive things about the

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<v Speaker 2>dandelion is if you look really closely at the flower,

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<v Speaker 2>each individual pedal has a little what becomes the part

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<v Speaker 2>of the puffball. When the flower seeds. It already is attached,

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<v Speaker 2>and that thing is called the papas and at the

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<v Speaker 2>bottom of the PAPIs is the seed, and the papos

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<v Speaker 2>itself is like this like parachute essentially that keeps the

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<v Speaker 2>seed aloft. And research into I saw pepeye, but I

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<v Speaker 2>like papusas as the plural.

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<v Speaker 3>Oh I love peppy.

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<v Speaker 2>So it's found that they're actually phenomenal at keeping the

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<v Speaker 2>seeds aloft. Like they create a kind of vortex that,

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<v Speaker 2>until it was seen when they started testing pappy was

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<v Speaker 2>thought to be impossible.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And that vortex not only makes it, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>travel up and out and away in such a way

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<v Speaker 1>that if it was shaped any differently it wouldn't do that.

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<v Speaker 1>But if that little thing lands on water, that same

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<v Speaker 1>vortex is going to form a little air bubble around

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<v Speaker 1>it and protect it.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. One of my prize possessions is this dandelion puffball

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<v Speaker 2>in cased in resin, and it's like the real deal.

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<v Speaker 2>And I've never understood how it worked, but it turns

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<v Speaker 2>out that if you actually take a dandelion puffball and

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<v Speaker 2>actually not just put water in a but submerge it

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<v Speaker 2>in water, the puffball does not. It doesn't collapse. Isn't

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<v Speaker 2>that nuts?

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<v Speaker 3>It's amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>I think so too. So that's just one of the

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<v Speaker 2>many amazing things we're going to reveal today on stuff

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<v Speaker 2>you should know.

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<v Speaker 3>Did I wander into the wrong show?

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<v Speaker 1>Know?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, we should tell everybody it's ten am, and we

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<v Speaker 2>usually refer to this one. So I'm a much different

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<v Speaker 2>person at ten am.

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<v Speaker 1>You're a news anchor. Apparently, So I mentioned yellow. They're

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<v Speaker 1>not always yellow. They can be orange, they can be white,

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<v Speaker 1>they can be kind of purply peach. They open in

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<v Speaker 1>the morning and close in the evening, which is given

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<v Speaker 1>them the name the shepherd's clock, and they do that

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<v Speaker 1>to preserve pollen and keep that pollen safe for the

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<v Speaker 1>next day, which also makes it and this is one

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<v Speaker 1>of my favorite words at photo nasty.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh that's a great word.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, plants open and close with the setting and rising

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<v Speaker 1>of the sun.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, felt photo nasty.

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<v Speaker 2>Huh. I saw like a time lapse. I actually it

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<v Speaker 2>was in a video. It's just a series of photos

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<v Speaker 2>of the dandelion flower opening and closing over the course

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<v Speaker 2>of the day. I found I ran across a word

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<v Speaker 2>from researching this that I'd never heard before that I

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<v Speaker 2>absolutely love. Dandelions, like you said, are edible. They're used

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<v Speaker 2>in cooking their culinary plant, which makes them a pot herb.

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<v Speaker 2>One word, a potterb. Is that awesome? What a great

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<v Speaker 2>homey little like. I just imagine you know, hobbits using

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<v Speaker 2>that word.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, hobbits. And my wife, Oh.

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<v Speaker 2>Does she call it potterbs? You've heard that before?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, yeah, she's I mean, that's a weird talking

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<v Speaker 1>about dandelions today. And she was just like, oh, are

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<v Speaker 1>you gonna talk about this?

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<v Speaker 3>This, this, this, this, this.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, She's like, oh, the famous potter.

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<v Speaker 3>It's also another kind of clock.

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<v Speaker 2>You know.

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<v Speaker 1>I already mentioned the shepherd's clock because of opening and

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<v Speaker 1>closing it at the sunrise and sunset. But those little

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<v Speaker 1>seed heads they're called dandelion clocks, and that is from

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<v Speaker 1>the old you know, you make a wish when you

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<v Speaker 1>blow the dandelion and you scatter those seeds as sort

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<v Speaker 1>of a long rich childhood tradition. But apparently the number

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<v Speaker 1>of puffs it takes to empty that thing is what

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<v Speaker 1>time it is, so it can I haven't tested this out.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know this is rock solid science, but that's

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<v Speaker 1>a sort of a thing.

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<v Speaker 2>It's pretty neat.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>And one other thing about those papass and the seeds

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<v Speaker 2>that are attached to them, there's a longstanding, i guess,

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<v Speaker 2>kind of urban legend or maybe rural legend that they

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<v Speaker 2>can travel up to one hundred kilometers sixty two miles,

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<v Speaker 2>and that does not seem to be the case, even

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<v Speaker 2>though you'll see that stat absolutely everywhere, including some legitimate places.

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<v Speaker 2>But Kyle helped us with this, our British buddy, and

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<v Speaker 2>he found that a two thousand and three study, which

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<v Speaker 2>is the most recent you can find on this, is

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<v Speaker 2>that just one in seven thousand papises travels more than

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<v Speaker 2>one kilometer. So just leave one hundred kilometers out of

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<v Speaker 2>the whole equation.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And Kyle told us that because he's from England.

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<v Speaker 1>But for our North American listeners, we're talking three hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and twenty something feet if it's one hundred kilometers in

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<v Speaker 1>about three and a half feet for a meter.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And apparently ninety nine and a half percent of

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<v Speaker 2>all papists land just within thirty feet of the parent plant,

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<v Speaker 2>which is also ten meters. So yes, if you ever

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<v Speaker 2>hear that a papist contain travel one hundred kilometers, you

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<v Speaker 2>can be like, that's wrong. What you just said is wrong.

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<v Speaker 1>I think like one did, and they framed that maybe

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<v Speaker 1>that's the one you have in amber.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's like that first dollar bill you make as

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<v Speaker 2>a business, you put it into amber.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>There's also a cool adaptation where after they flower, that

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<v Speaker 1>little hollow stalk that the flower sits upon goes limp

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<v Speaker 1>on the ground and is just sort of hiding there

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<v Speaker 1>away from birds and stuff, And when they ripen up,

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<v Speaker 1>they jump back up again and they're like, here we are.

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<v Speaker 2>That's pretty cool. I think so too. Do you want

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<v Speaker 2>to take a break and come back and talk about

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<v Speaker 2>where they got their name? Let's do it, so chuck

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<v Speaker 2>a dandelion. I've never stopped and considered why it was

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<v Speaker 2>called that, but it turns out that whole that lion

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<v Speaker 2>at the end is actually a giveaway for where the

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<v Speaker 2>name came from. Uh. It's French for lion's tooth dent

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<v Speaker 2>de leon pretty neat.

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<v Speaker 3>I love that.

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<v Speaker 2>The reason they call it that is it's a reference

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<v Speaker 2>to the deeply serrated jagged leaves. I guess somebody was like,

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<v Speaker 2>that looks like a lion's tooth, and they lived in France,

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<v Speaker 2>and that's where they got the name dandelion.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and it's also if you look at the botanical name,

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<v Speaker 1>it really gives a good indication of what it was

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<v Speaker 1>being used for back then. The genus name is Taraxicum.

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<v Speaker 1>And there are a couple of explanations here. I kind

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<v Speaker 1>of like the second one. The first one is a

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<v Speaker 1>Greek word for disorder, which is a taxia.

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<v Speaker 3>But it's also could.

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<v Speaker 1>Have come from Arabic for bitter herb, which is tarak chagogue.

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<v Speaker 1>And then when you combine bitter herb with the species name,

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<v Speaker 1>which is how would you say that aficion alle, that

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<v Speaker 1>is a word for monastery store room. So a bitter

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<v Speaker 1>herb in a monastery storeroom basically is telling you, hey,

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<v Speaker 1>we use this plant in a very productive way.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, the whole disorder thing is totally insensible if you

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<v Speaker 2>ask me.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I agree.

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<v Speaker 2>So one of the other great things. Humans use dandelions,

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<v Speaker 2>as we'll see, in a lot of different ways and

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<v Speaker 2>have for a very long time. But our animal friends

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<v Speaker 2>love dandelions too. Those flowers, even though they look kind

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<v Speaker 2>of flimsy if you think about it, they're rich in

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<v Speaker 2>nectar packed with it. So bees, butterflies, basically any kind

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<v Speaker 2>of pollinators love dandelions, Like you said, the reason the

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<v Speaker 2>stalk falls to the ground after flowering and as the

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<v Speaker 2>seedheads are developing, that's because birds love the little dandelion seeds.

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<v Speaker 2>And one of the other things that's important about them

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<v Speaker 2>too is they they basically flower and seed almost around

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<v Speaker 2>the like the whole year, depending on where you live.

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<v Speaker 2>So at times where there's not a lot of food

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<v Speaker 2>sources for birds and pollinators, the dandelions there to kind

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<v Speaker 2>of keep them going through the same you know, late fall.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, and I think it's one of the first

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<v Speaker 1>guys to get going in the spring.

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<v Speaker 3>Too, right, I believe so. Yeah, So we're going to get.

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<v Speaker 1>More in detail about you know, how it's been eaten, but.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, actually let's save all that.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's just tease it then and say it has long

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<v Speaker 1>been eaten as now being eaten again due to the

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<v Speaker 1>sort of foraging movement happening in the culinary world.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a great time.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that kind of kicked off in COVID when

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<v Speaker 1>people are like, well, I can't go to the store.

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<v Speaker 3>What can I eat that's in my backyard.

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<v Speaker 2>I'll try dandelions. I've always wondered what it tastes like better.

0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:39.120
<v Speaker 2>So yeah, nice. So I think we said probably a

0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.719
<v Speaker 2>couple of times that people have been using dandelions for

0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:44.720
<v Speaker 2>all sorts of reasons, not just as potterbs, for a

0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:49.160
<v Speaker 2>long time. One of the earlier mentions we can find

0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:52.679
<v Speaker 2>was in the Arabic world. A couple of physicians named

0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.720
<v Speaker 2>Rozi's and Avicenna both wrote about some of the properties

0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:01.920
<v Speaker 2>of dandelions and dandelion roots in the tenth and eleventh centuries,

0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:06.800
<v Speaker 2>and most of what they were talking about was its

0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:11.360
<v Speaker 2>use as a diuretic and medicinally speaking, that's probably the

0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:15.840
<v Speaker 2>most famous property that dandelions have is they make you pee.

0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:18.439
<v Speaker 2>And in fact, there's a couple of names that refer

0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.640
<v Speaker 2>to that, depending on where you are for dandelions that

0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:23.720
<v Speaker 2>refer to the fact that they make you pee, right.

0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:24.679
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's right.

0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:27.640
<v Speaker 1>In France, they're called the apparently more than they're called

0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:31.280
<v Speaker 1>the dentte leone, they're called the pison lit, which means

0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.280
<v Speaker 1>you know, pp in the night, and a folk name

0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.920
<v Speaker 1>in England is a pissipad for the same reason.

0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:39.679
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and you.

0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:42.680
<v Speaker 1>Know, apparently it's all the potassium in there that's going

0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.880
<v Speaker 1>to stimulate your nation and you know. Because of that,

0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.720
<v Speaker 1>diuretics are used for a lot of things, and you know,

0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.840
<v Speaker 1>medicinally now and historically, if you want to work something

0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:56.640
<v Speaker 1>through your system and pee it out, dandelions is a

0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:57.680
<v Speaker 1>good way to make that happen.

0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:01.520
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and very famously in the American Midwest they're called

0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:07.160
<v Speaker 2>peepee weeds. Oh, that's totally made up, I.

0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.280
<v Speaker 3>Should say, Oh, that's not true either.

0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:10.400
<v Speaker 2>No, I just made it up.

0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:12.000
<v Speaker 3>Okay, I got you.

0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:15.079
<v Speaker 2>I got you back for the what was the lateral

0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:18.560
<v Speaker 2>gene transfer gospel group that you got me with?

0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:21.440
<v Speaker 3>Oh, geez, I don't even remember now it was that.

0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:24.720
<v Speaker 3>But I've only gotten you once. The score is Josh

0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:25.360
<v Speaker 3>three thousand.

0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:27.920
<v Speaker 2>Oh man.

0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:30.720
<v Speaker 3>There was a sixteenth century book too. What was the

0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:31.520
<v Speaker 3>name of that one?

0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.120
<v Speaker 2>People call it Garden of Health, because the full title

0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:40.080
<v Speaker 2>of it is containing the sundry, rare and hidden virtues

0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.720
<v Speaker 2>of all kinds of simples and plants, together with the

0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.440
<v Speaker 2>manner of how they are used and applied in medicine

0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:50.560
<v Speaker 2>for the health of man's body against diverse diseases and

0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:54.880
<v Speaker 2>infirmities most common against men. Gathered by the long experience

0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:58.880
<v Speaker 2>and industry of William Langham, practitioner of physic that's the

0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.640
<v Speaker 2>actual title of that book, which is why there's like, yeah,

0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:03.160
<v Speaker 2>we're just going to call it Garden of Health.

0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:05.640
<v Speaker 3>I mean, Garden of Health really says what that says.

0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:07.760
<v Speaker 2>I know, he didn't need all that extra stuff. That's

0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:10.440
<v Speaker 2>like the introduction. I think he put the introduction in

0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:10.960
<v Speaker 2>the title.

0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:13.280
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, this was a little did it say the end

0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:15.280
<v Speaker 3>at the end pretty much.

0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:18.640
<v Speaker 1>This is from, like I said, the sixteenth century, and

0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:22.320
<v Speaker 1>it talked a lot about, you know, all kinds of

0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:26.360
<v Speaker 1>things they thought it could help back then, toothache, fever's depression,

0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:29.720
<v Speaker 1>even baldness. But they also talked about growing it alongside

0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:33.280
<v Speaker 1>other vegetables and herbs in the garden. And you duck

0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:36.360
<v Speaker 1>up this kind of cool fact. It's ethylene gas that

0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:38.800
<v Speaker 1>they release, So if you actually grow dandelions or have

0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:42.240
<v Speaker 1>dandelions growing near fruiting plants like tomatoes, they're going to

0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:42.960
<v Speaker 1>ripen faster.

0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:46.160
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, isn't that neat super cool? Yeah, we're going to

0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:50.520
<v Speaker 2>cover a lot of actually pretty cool little benefits I

0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.040
<v Speaker 2>guess that they provide. But let's keep going with the

0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:58.080
<v Speaker 2>tradition of using them medicinally, shall we. Sure there's a

0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:00.160
<v Speaker 2>guy named John Girard, who wrote a book in the

0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:02.840
<v Speaker 2>sixteen thirties, and he's like, hey, I want to contribute

0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:07.360
<v Speaker 2>to this too. I've found that dandelion strengthens the weak stomach,

0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:11.360
<v Speaker 2>and which is important because actually, if you use the

0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:15.520
<v Speaker 2>roots of a dandelion, it's a It contains a lot

0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:18.840
<v Speaker 2>of inulin, which is an important prebiotic for gut health.

0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:22.040
<v Speaker 2>So John Gerard wasn't just whistling dixie.

0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:23.440
<v Speaker 3>No, not at all.

0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.000
<v Speaker 1>It turns out they have more vitamin A than spinach,

0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:30.200
<v Speaker 1>more vitamin C than tomatoes. They've got a ton we

0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:33.040
<v Speaker 1>already mentioned potassium, but also a lot of calcium, a

0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.800
<v Speaker 1>lot of iron, and then a lot of words that

0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:40.440
<v Speaker 1>I can barely pronounce that you found that it's packed with,

0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:43.640
<v Speaker 1>starting with flavonoids, that's the only one I had heard of.

0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:51.040
<v Speaker 2>It has triterpenes, sesquiterpenes, phenolic acids, sterols, and cumerants, and

0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:57.040
<v Speaker 2>they bestow things like antibacterial, antioxidant, anti inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and

0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:00.560
<v Speaker 2>anti tumor properties. And you dug up all ways that

0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:02.239
<v Speaker 2>they actually help health.

0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:04.520
<v Speaker 1>Right, Yeah, So I mean we can talk all day

0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:06.840
<v Speaker 1>about like the ways that people thought it would help

0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:10.480
<v Speaker 1>you back in the sixteenth century, but people might poo

0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.480
<v Speaker 1>poo something like that. But there have been modern studies.

0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:16.639
<v Speaker 1>I'll just give you a few examples. There was a

0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:20.639
<v Speaker 1>study from twenty fifteen in Canada that reported that dandelion

0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:25.560
<v Speaker 1>extract can block ultraviolet UVB radiations. Crazy when applied to

0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:29.280
<v Speaker 1>the skin, it can also irritate the skin. So don't

0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.280
<v Speaker 1>necessarily just like take dandelions and like start rubbing them

0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:35.080
<v Speaker 1>all over yourself at the pool. There was a tw

0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:38.960
<v Speaker 1>twenty sixteen review of studies from a university in Denmark

0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:43.600
<v Speaker 1>that suggests that dandelion extracts actually stimulates pancreatic cells to

0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.960
<v Speaker 1>produce insulin, so it could potentially help control blood sugar. Right,

0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:51.960
<v Speaker 1>and what about there was one on the liver too, Right.

0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.199
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I said it was hypato protective, which means it

0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:57.919
<v Speaker 2>helps deliver And actually it goes in and like just

0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:03.240
<v Speaker 2>kicks butt in your liver. It slows the progression of fibrosis,

0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:06.960
<v Speaker 2>which is scarring of the liver, and the extract actually

0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:11.920
<v Speaker 2>inactivates the cells that cause fibrosis in the liver and

0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.840
<v Speaker 2>essentially your liver. As everybody knows, it can regenerate itself

0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:19.600
<v Speaker 2>once the dandelion extract has gone in and stopped the fibrosis,

0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:24.240
<v Speaker 2>the liver can heal, So it's incredibly helpful with protecting

0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:27.320
<v Speaker 2>the liver from damage. I mean, that's nuts. It's almost

0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:28.840
<v Speaker 2>like it was designed to do that.

0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:29.520
<v Speaker 3>For the liver.

0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:31.040
<v Speaker 2>It's that effective.

0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:33.800
<v Speaker 1>I do want to mention the cancer one because Emily

0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:37.159
<v Speaker 1>had a very funny, very Emily line. There was a

0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:41.440
<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty man, why do I do that lately? Twenty twelve,

0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:42.200
<v Speaker 1>I did that.

0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:45.480
<v Speaker 3>I did do that a lot. Yeah, what is happening?

0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:45.919
<v Speaker 2>I don't know.

0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:49.280
<v Speaker 1>It's a study from the University of Windsor in Canada

0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:55.880
<v Speaker 1>about dandelion root extract can induce apoptosis, which is cell

0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.720
<v Speaker 1>death in pancreatic and prostate cancer and test tube in

0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:03.800
<v Speaker 1>their cells in the test tubes, potentially preventing their spread.

0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:06.480
<v Speaker 1>So this is something Emily new and this morning she

0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:12.080
<v Speaker 1>was like, yeah, it's so like modern American at the

0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.040
<v Speaker 1>very least, to take something that could actually help fight

0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:17.960
<v Speaker 1>cancer and spray chemicals on it to kill it. It

0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:20.600
<v Speaker 1>caused cancer, right, yeah, and she stormed out of the room.

0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:22.480
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes we have to learn the hard way, but it

0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:25.200
<v Speaker 2>is it is reassuring that things seem to be coming

0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:26.440
<v Speaker 2>full circle, you know what I mean.

0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:29.280
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I feel like people are getting a little more

0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:31.120
<v Speaker 1>eyes open to stuff like that.

0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:35.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they're getting on board the dandelion train. So one

0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:39.240
<v Speaker 2>thing about those studies that you said, like, they're essentially

0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:44.640
<v Speaker 2>confirming to our modern tastes what the Chinese knew all

0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:48.720
<v Speaker 2>the way back in six point fifty nine CE, people

0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:51.680
<v Speaker 2>like Nicholas Culpepper knew in the eighteenth century. All these

0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:56.000
<v Speaker 2>people wrote about this stuff and just how effective it was.

0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:58.240
<v Speaker 2>And then now science is going in and saying these

0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:01.919
<v Speaker 2>people were right, and here's how it is effective. I

0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:04.960
<v Speaker 2>think that's pretty cool, and in part because of that,

0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:08.879
<v Speaker 2>the dandelion is being rehabilitated. But first I think we

0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:12.400
<v Speaker 2>need to mention you said that it came by North America.

0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:15.440
<v Speaker 2>I piped up on purpose. I think more than once

0:20:15.520 --> 0:20:18.320
<v Speaker 2>even I was so excited about that. And it's possible

0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:21.199
<v Speaker 2>it was actually on the Mayflower. It arrived that early.

0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:24.240
<v Speaker 2>And they think that because of plant migration, as we

0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:28.359
<v Speaker 2>talked about before, the dandelion may have spread ahead of

0:20:28.520 --> 0:20:33.120
<v Speaker 2>Europeans as they entered further and further into the North

0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:37.200
<v Speaker 2>American continent, and so Native Americans that they encountered may

0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:40.400
<v Speaker 2>have already been using dandelions in some of their medicines.

0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:45.040
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, absolutely. They were drinking it in tonics. They

0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:49.760
<v Speaker 1>were boiling it with fatty meats, which sounds disgusting.

0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:53.480
<v Speaker 2>It does it, really, unless you're talking about something like

0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:57.439
<v Speaker 2>collards with like hamhocks or something that sounds okay. But

0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:01.440
<v Speaker 2>in this case, I imagine a pot of boiling water

0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:04.040
<v Speaker 2>with a skin of fat just bubbling at the top

0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:06.479
<v Speaker 2>and some dandelion leaves floating around in it.

0:21:08.480 --> 0:21:10.080
<v Speaker 1>And we'll talk about, you know, more ways you can

0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:12.400
<v Speaker 1>eat it, but it's long been used in like cordials

0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:16.000
<v Speaker 1>and beers like the dandelion root. You can you know,

0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:18.320
<v Speaker 1>grind it up and use it as like a coffee substitute,

0:21:18.400 --> 0:21:21.400
<v Speaker 1>kind of like chickory. So you know, people were using

0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:23.600
<v Speaker 1>it for medicine. They were using it for old kinds

0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:28.280
<v Speaker 1>of folk remedies and foods and things, largely because again

0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:31.199
<v Speaker 1>it was everywhere it grows in not very good soil.

0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.400
<v Speaker 1>They can it's considered a perennial because they can live

0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:37.040
<v Speaker 1>well because like you said, they're kind of growing year round,

0:21:37.040 --> 0:21:39.560
<v Speaker 1>but they can live for more than ten years, and

0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:42.000
<v Speaker 1>you don't mess with them and kill them.

0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:44.320
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, I think that's pretty cool too. One of

0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:46.760
<v Speaker 2>the other things I saw, there's a book called The

0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:50.679
<v Speaker 2>Economical Housewife from the eighteen fifties that it might be

0:21:50.760 --> 0:21:54.120
<v Speaker 2>the first recipe for dandelion wine, and people still make

0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:56.840
<v Speaker 2>that today, and it's actually super easy. You just take

0:21:56.880 --> 0:22:00.359
<v Speaker 2>some dandelion flowers, some water. Eventually you had some sugar

0:22:00.400 --> 0:22:02.560
<v Speaker 2>and some lemon, let it sit for a couple of weeks,

0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:05.320
<v Speaker 2>strain it out, and then let it sit for another

0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:08.040
<v Speaker 2>week in age, and you've got yourself some dandelion wine.

0:22:08.600 --> 0:22:14.400
<v Speaker 2>And it sounds deliciously easy or maybe easily delicious, one

0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:16.399
<v Speaker 2>of the two. But I'd love to try. Have you

0:22:16.440 --> 0:22:19.400
<v Speaker 2>ever had dandelion wine or dandelion beer or anything like that?

0:22:20.240 --> 0:22:23.440
<v Speaker 1>No, not at all. I mean, it's definitely a thing.

0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:26.439
<v Speaker 1>Ray Bradbury had a novel called Dandelion Wine from nineteen

0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:28.439
<v Speaker 1>fifty seven, so it's something that's.

0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:31.480
<v Speaker 3>Been enjoyed all over the world. In France they.

0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:35.200
<v Speaker 1>Use it sometimes they'll take the leaves and blanch them

0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:39.359
<v Speaker 1>and spread them with bread and butter like it sounds

0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:42.840
<v Speaker 1>like if there's not a Brooklyn restaurant serving dandelion toast

0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:45.600
<v Speaker 1>at this point, yeah, then what is happening in.

0:22:45.600 --> 0:22:48.560
<v Speaker 2>Our I don't know. It sounds like fairy toast like

0:22:48.600 --> 0:22:51.640
<v Speaker 2>the Australians love, but with dandelion leaves instead.

0:22:52.440 --> 0:22:56.600
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's also, you know, just a salad, a salad

0:22:56.640 --> 0:22:59.920
<v Speaker 1>green component, and like we said, it is very bitter.

0:23:00.400 --> 0:23:02.800
<v Speaker 1>But it's using all kinds of salads. Sometimes it's the

0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:04.800
<v Speaker 1>only kind of leaf using a salad. Sometimes it can

0:23:04.840 --> 0:23:07.880
<v Speaker 1>be mixed in with other things. But in France they

0:23:07.880 --> 0:23:12.240
<v Speaker 1>have one called the salad de pisson lits from that

0:23:12.359 --> 0:23:16.240
<v Speaker 1>original name, that's got bacon in it and dandelion leaves.

0:23:16.400 --> 0:23:18.119
<v Speaker 3>It just you know, sounds pretty good to me.

0:23:18.240 --> 0:23:22.200
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Apparently that was a common dish during the depression

0:23:22.200 --> 0:23:26.440
<v Speaker 2>in America too, because it was just cheap, you know. Yeah,

0:23:26.520 --> 0:23:29.719
<v Speaker 2>and it sounds delicious too. I say, we take a

0:23:29.720 --> 0:23:32.520
<v Speaker 2>break and we come back and talk about another surprising

0:23:32.640 --> 0:23:35.679
<v Speaker 2>use of dandelion that I hadn't heard of until this,

0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:37.760
<v Speaker 2>but you probably did because of Emily.

0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:41.280
<v Speaker 1>No. I delighted her with that fact as well, So

0:23:41.960 --> 0:24:08.560
<v Speaker 1>we'll be right back, all right. So Josh said that

0:24:08.640 --> 0:24:11.760
<v Speaker 1>he hadn't heard of this cool fact. I hadn't heard

0:24:11.760 --> 0:24:14.800
<v Speaker 1>of it. Emily hadn't heard of it. And I think

0:24:14.800 --> 0:24:18.600
<v Speaker 1>it may be the fact of the podcast, but dandelions

0:24:18.680 --> 0:24:21.760
<v Speaker 1>are a source of natural rubber.

0:24:22.200 --> 0:24:25.200
<v Speaker 2>Pretty cool, I would I would take issue with that.

0:24:25.359 --> 0:24:28.000
<v Speaker 2>I think it has to do with the vortices over

0:24:28.119 --> 0:24:33.320
<v Speaker 2>the pappy or the fact that they're potterbs. All right,

0:24:33.440 --> 0:24:35.800
<v Speaker 2>this one's good. It's up there. Maybe they're all tied

0:24:35.840 --> 0:24:38.040
<v Speaker 2>for first I don't know, but hey.

0:24:37.920 --> 0:24:39.840
<v Speaker 1>That means we've got a good topic if there are several,

0:24:40.000 --> 0:24:41.520
<v Speaker 1>right competitors.

0:24:41.600 --> 0:24:46.040
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and so not just any dandelion produces rubber or

0:24:46.119 --> 0:24:50.240
<v Speaker 2>latex that can be turned into rubber. A specific type

0:24:50.240 --> 0:24:53.159
<v Speaker 2>of dandelion they figured out the Kazakh dandelion, which is

0:24:53.520 --> 0:25:00.520
<v Speaker 2>native to the Eurasian steps. How'd you like that? It's

0:25:00.560 --> 0:25:03.200
<v Speaker 2>also called the Russian dandelion here in the United States.

0:25:03.840 --> 0:25:08.920
<v Speaker 2>That specific one puts out enough latex that it gave

0:25:09.359 --> 0:25:12.320
<v Speaker 2>rubber trees a run for their money. During World War Two,

0:25:13.240 --> 0:25:16.800
<v Speaker 2>which we've talked about many times, America and Britain were like,

0:25:16.960 --> 0:25:19.399
<v Speaker 2>we need more rubber for the war effort, and the

0:25:19.520 --> 0:25:22.840
<v Speaker 2>Japanese control essentially all of the rubber supply were at

0:25:22.840 --> 0:25:24.760
<v Speaker 2>war with the Japanese, so we better come up with

0:25:24.760 --> 0:25:25.680
<v Speaker 2>something else quick.

0:25:26.640 --> 0:25:31.160
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, So they literally started screening like thousands and thousands

0:25:31.200 --> 0:25:33.200
<v Speaker 1>of plants, and then I guess they're like, hey, if

0:25:33.320 --> 0:25:36.800
<v Speaker 1>the rubber tree can grow rubber, there's got to be

0:25:36.840 --> 0:25:40.879
<v Speaker 1>something else out there. The Soviets are the ones who said,

0:25:41.040 --> 0:25:45.520
<v Speaker 1>try this Kazakh dandelion, and because of shortages during the wars,

0:25:46.440 --> 0:25:50.320
<v Speaker 1>they said, here, here's a bunch of seeds, and they

0:25:50.520 --> 0:25:53.760
<v Speaker 1>sent a bunch of those Kazakh seeds the Soviet allies

0:25:53.800 --> 0:25:56.679
<v Speaker 1>at the time in the nineteen forties, and ultimately we

0:25:56.760 --> 0:25:59.720
<v Speaker 1>use some of it. Russians, Americans and Germans did produce

0:25:59.760 --> 0:26:05.560
<v Speaker 1>rub from dandelions. It's very hearty. It can be susceptible

0:26:05.560 --> 0:26:08.560
<v Speaker 1>to disease, though, depending what kind of disease, but also

0:26:08.600 --> 0:26:12.320
<v Speaker 1>grows everywhere and serves as a pollinator and it doesn't

0:26:12.359 --> 0:26:16.720
<v Speaker 1>deforce things. So the big problem though, and I nowhereone's like,

0:26:16.720 --> 0:26:18.720
<v Speaker 1>oh my god, it's just the miracle we've all been

0:26:18.800 --> 0:26:22.160
<v Speaker 1>hoping for with rubber. It just doesn't yield as much

0:26:22.240 --> 0:26:24.359
<v Speaker 1>as the Russian said it did, and so it's not

0:26:24.720 --> 0:26:28.679
<v Speaker 1>economically viable as long as the real rubber tree is around.

0:26:29.320 --> 0:26:33.320
<v Speaker 2>They released some paper that overstated how much rubber can

0:26:33.359 --> 0:26:35.720
<v Speaker 2>be gotten from the dandelion because they wanted to sound

0:26:35.760 --> 0:26:37.040
<v Speaker 2>like big shots.

0:26:37.400 --> 0:26:37.840
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:26:37.920 --> 0:26:41.480
<v Speaker 2>So the reason why we didn't just keep going with

0:26:42.000 --> 0:26:45.639
<v Speaker 2>dandelion rubber research in trying to figure out how to

0:26:45.640 --> 0:26:49.040
<v Speaker 2>increase yields is because in the meantime, people figured out

0:26:49.040 --> 0:26:52.560
<v Speaker 2>we could make synthetic rubber from petroleum. It was almost

0:26:52.640 --> 0:26:54.679
<v Speaker 2>as good as natural rubber, and it certainly was a

0:26:54.720 --> 0:26:57.840
<v Speaker 2>good enough substitute, and we could just make batch after

0:26:57.920 --> 0:27:01.080
<v Speaker 2>batch after batch rather than have to try to yield

0:27:01.119 --> 0:27:04.600
<v Speaker 2>it from dandelion. So that fell to the wayside. And

0:27:04.640 --> 0:27:07.600
<v Speaker 2>then by the time World War two ended, we had

0:27:07.760 --> 0:27:11.240
<v Speaker 2>access to natural rubber supplies from the from the southeast

0:27:11.359 --> 0:27:15.120
<v Speaker 2>Southeast Asia, i should say, and so all that kind

0:27:15.119 --> 0:27:17.960
<v Speaker 2>of put dandelion rubber on the back shelf. But in

0:27:18.000 --> 0:27:23.480
<v Speaker 2>the what eighty almost one hundred years geez, since World

0:27:23.560 --> 0:27:27.639
<v Speaker 2>War Two, I remember when that was like just like

0:27:27.680 --> 0:27:31.320
<v Speaker 2>that was firmly like forty to fifty years in the past,

0:27:31.840 --> 0:27:34.200
<v Speaker 2>and it just keeps getting further and further away. It's

0:27:34.240 --> 0:27:38.639
<v Speaker 2>really awful. But we've kind of figured out in the

0:27:38.680 --> 0:27:42.159
<v Speaker 2>interim that synthetic rubber it's useful, but there's nothing that

0:27:42.200 --> 0:27:46.360
<v Speaker 2>can match natural rubber for like grip, heat, dissipation, all

0:27:46.359 --> 0:27:48.800
<v Speaker 2>sorts of other properties. So we're starting to go back

0:27:48.840 --> 0:27:51.760
<v Speaker 2>to look at sources for natural rubber, including ones that

0:27:51.800 --> 0:27:55.560
<v Speaker 2>are more sustainable than the rubber trees, which require you

0:27:55.680 --> 0:27:59.000
<v Speaker 2>basically DeForest and then plant the rubber trees to create

0:27:59.040 --> 0:28:02.760
<v Speaker 2>a plantation with dandelions. You don't have to do that stuff.

0:28:03.800 --> 0:28:06.280
<v Speaker 1>Now you got a big field, you can have dandelions,

0:28:06.320 --> 0:28:09.439
<v Speaker 1>and like I said, it grows and it doesn't have

0:28:09.480 --> 0:28:13.280
<v Speaker 1>to be great soil. You can grow it hydroponically, without

0:28:13.520 --> 0:28:15.760
<v Speaker 1>soil at all. You can grow it in the air,

0:28:15.800 --> 0:28:19.680
<v Speaker 1>which is aeroponically. It's pretty amazing. And I think it's

0:28:19.680 --> 0:28:21.879
<v Speaker 1>one of those things where like anytime you have a

0:28:21.920 --> 0:28:25.480
<v Speaker 1>monoculture plant like that, like the rubber tree, it makes

0:28:25.480 --> 0:28:28.520
<v Speaker 1>people a little bit nervous besides a deporestation, like if

0:28:28.560 --> 0:28:31.560
<v Speaker 1>anything ever happened, like some kind of weird blight, and

0:28:31.600 --> 0:28:34.080
<v Speaker 1>the rubber trees were just, you know, not a candidate anymore.

0:28:34.359 --> 0:28:36.520
<v Speaker 1>You got dandelions kind of waiting on deck with their

0:28:36.600 --> 0:28:37.240
<v Speaker 1>bat right.

0:28:38.040 --> 0:28:41.080
<v Speaker 2>So it's kind of surprising that it went from this

0:28:41.240 --> 0:28:46.280
<v Speaker 2>really prized plant in so many ways to a hated weed,

0:28:46.800 --> 0:28:49.640
<v Speaker 2>especially in Europe and the United States. And you hit

0:28:49.720 --> 0:28:51.920
<v Speaker 2>upon why it became a hitted weed. You use the

0:28:51.920 --> 0:28:56.520
<v Speaker 2>word monoculture, and the largest monoculture here in the United

0:28:56.560 --> 0:29:00.360
<v Speaker 2>States are people's lawns. And for part of the etacho

0:29:00.360 --> 0:29:03.080
<v Speaker 2>of the lawn, you cannot have dandelions breaking up that

0:29:03.320 --> 0:29:09.680
<v Speaker 2>perfect unbroken sea of green grass. You got a dandelion

0:29:09.680 --> 0:29:12.400
<v Speaker 2>popping up, the whole thing's ruined. Basically, that's the way

0:29:12.440 --> 0:29:15.280
<v Speaker 2>people think of dandelions and lawns these days, or have

0:29:15.440 --> 0:29:16.920
<v Speaker 2>since about the fifties.

0:29:17.000 --> 0:29:22.440
<v Speaker 1>Essentially, that beautiful yellow flower, stop it right, dig it up.

0:29:23.760 --> 0:29:24.680
<v Speaker 3>But yeah, that's what happened.

0:29:24.720 --> 0:29:26.680
<v Speaker 1>And we've gone over this before, but just sort of

0:29:26.720 --> 0:29:30.040
<v Speaker 1>as a quick overview, this is the kind of thing

0:29:30.080 --> 0:29:33.520
<v Speaker 1>that came over from England. Starting in the seventeenth century

0:29:33.680 --> 0:29:36.960
<v Speaker 1>is when British aristocracy really started to get into these

0:29:36.960 --> 0:29:41.440
<v Speaker 1>perfect sort of croquet croquet playing.

0:29:41.280 --> 0:29:42.960
<v Speaker 3>Lawns, I guess is what you would call them.

0:29:44.080 --> 0:29:47.480
<v Speaker 1>And then in America it was post World War Two

0:29:47.680 --> 0:29:54.080
<v Speaker 1>when suburbanization really took hold, lawnmowers really came into their own.

0:29:55.400 --> 0:29:58.440
<v Speaker 1>Everyone was like, hey, we've got these great new chemicals

0:29:58.480 --> 0:30:01.240
<v Speaker 1>that'll kill everything except and make.

0:30:01.120 --> 0:30:02.680
<v Speaker 3>The grass grow really really well.

0:30:03.160 --> 0:30:07.120
<v Speaker 1>And it's it's just modern and tidy and good looking,

0:30:07.200 --> 0:30:11.480
<v Speaker 1>and that really kind of transformed the United States, you know, like,

0:30:11.560 --> 0:30:13.920
<v Speaker 1>keep up that lawn, make a perfect green lawn if

0:30:13.960 --> 0:30:15.360
<v Speaker 1>you want to keep your property value up.

0:30:15.480 --> 0:30:18.560
<v Speaker 2>Anybody a big one. And Kyle also dug up another

0:30:18.600 --> 0:30:23.040
<v Speaker 2>reason too that once the Cold War rolled around, conformity

0:30:23.520 --> 0:30:26.680
<v Speaker 2>was equated with safety. So if you weren't keeping your

0:30:26.760 --> 0:30:29.760
<v Speaker 2>lawn trimmed like everybody else, what's going on with you?

0:30:29.800 --> 0:30:31.960
<v Speaker 2>You're making me feel a little bit nervous because you're

0:30:31.960 --> 0:30:35.360
<v Speaker 2>not conforming. You must be a red spy hiding out

0:30:35.360 --> 0:30:37.800
<v Speaker 2>in suburbia basically, right. And I think that's a really

0:30:38.160 --> 0:30:43.400
<v Speaker 2>important kind of overlooked driver for things like perfectly manicured

0:30:43.440 --> 0:30:45.640
<v Speaker 2>lawns and everybody having the same kind of thing.

0:30:46.680 --> 0:30:49.760
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And speaking of driver, the other I don't think

0:30:49.760 --> 0:30:53.480
<v Speaker 1>we've ever mentioned contributor to this nice was in the

0:30:53.600 --> 0:30:54.680
<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifties.

0:30:55.680 --> 0:30:56.960
<v Speaker 3>Golf started being televised.

0:30:56.960 --> 0:31:00.320
<v Speaker 1>In nineteen fifty seven, you got golf on television for

0:31:00.360 --> 0:31:03.480
<v Speaker 1>the first time, and people look at Augusta National and

0:31:03.520 --> 0:31:08.040
<v Speaker 1>these golf courses that were beautifully manicured and esthetically pleasing

0:31:08.120 --> 0:31:10.720
<v Speaker 1>to the eye, and they're like, hey, I need to

0:31:10.760 --> 0:31:12.120
<v Speaker 1>get some of that in my front yard. Maybe I

0:31:12.120 --> 0:31:14.520
<v Speaker 1>can practice chipping some balls around in my front yard.

0:31:14.600 --> 0:31:18.800
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Also, if you're sitting there thinking like, wow, I

0:31:18.840 --> 0:31:21.440
<v Speaker 2>really love hearing these guys talk about grass, but I'd

0:31:21.440 --> 0:31:23.400
<v Speaker 2>love to hear them have a dispute over it, you

0:31:23.440 --> 0:31:26.800
<v Speaker 2>should go listen to How Our Grass Works episode. It's

0:31:26.800 --> 0:31:29.040
<v Speaker 2>actually a pretty good one. It's a classic stuff you

0:31:29.080 --> 0:31:30.040
<v Speaker 2>should know episode.

0:31:30.840 --> 0:31:31.560
<v Speaker 3>It totally is.

0:31:32.200 --> 0:31:35.320
<v Speaker 1>But anyway, all that preamble about you know us poopa

0:31:35.400 --> 0:31:38.600
<v Speaker 1>and lawns and why America did that brought us to this,

0:31:38.720 --> 0:31:44.040
<v Speaker 1>which is weeds became enemy number one and dandelions were

0:31:44.360 --> 0:31:45.560
<v Speaker 1>maybe even near the.

0:31:45.440 --> 0:31:46.280
<v Speaker 3>Top of that list.

0:31:46.840 --> 0:31:48.680
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, there's a lot of reasons why. For all the

0:31:48.680 --> 0:31:53.040
<v Speaker 2>reasons that they're valuable the pollinators and other kinds of plants,

0:31:53.400 --> 0:31:56.480
<v Speaker 2>and that they can grow in marginal lands and basically everywhere,

0:31:56.960 --> 0:31:59.520
<v Speaker 2>is it makes them an enemy as a weed if

0:31:59.560 --> 0:32:03.520
<v Speaker 2>you're trying to create a monoculture lawn, right, so, they

0:32:03.520 --> 0:32:06.480
<v Speaker 2>can regenerate from like a one inch section of root,

0:32:07.160 --> 0:32:10.960
<v Speaker 2>which means that if you cut a dandelion off at

0:32:11.000 --> 0:32:15.480
<v Speaker 2>the even below ground level, it's like good, you know, good,

0:32:15.480 --> 0:32:17.880
<v Speaker 2>try pal, but it just sprouts right back up. You

0:32:17.880 --> 0:32:20.120
<v Speaker 2>have to dig them up, and even after you dig

0:32:20.160 --> 0:32:22.600
<v Speaker 2>them up, you might not get them because one of

0:32:22.640 --> 0:32:24.680
<v Speaker 2>the things that I didn't know about dandelions is I

0:32:24.760 --> 0:32:26.520
<v Speaker 2>knew they grew from a tap root. You have to

0:32:26.560 --> 0:32:30.480
<v Speaker 2>get that tap root up or else it's just feudile. Yeah,

0:32:30.520 --> 0:32:33.000
<v Speaker 2>but that tap root can grow, depending on the age

0:32:33.000 --> 0:32:37.120
<v Speaker 2>of the dandelion, over a dozen feet meters four meters

0:32:37.360 --> 0:32:42.280
<v Speaker 2>into the ground meters. Yeah, and that makes it really

0:32:42.320 --> 0:32:44.840
<v Speaker 2>hard to get rid of. And so if you're like

0:32:44.880 --> 0:32:47.400
<v Speaker 2>a grounds keeper for a golf course or something like that,

0:32:47.680 --> 0:32:50.000
<v Speaker 2>you have to really keep up with the dandelions because

0:32:50.040 --> 0:32:52.880
<v Speaker 2>they'll spread really fast and they're really hard to get

0:32:52.960 --> 0:32:55.280
<v Speaker 2>rid of once you do start trying to get rid

0:32:55.280 --> 0:32:56.000
<v Speaker 2>of them.

0:32:56.440 --> 0:32:57.200
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, for sure.

0:32:57.920 --> 0:33:01.160
<v Speaker 1>And I got to say this last fact from Kyle

0:33:01.200 --> 0:33:03.920
<v Speaker 1>because it goes back to the lawns, but this really

0:33:04.000 --> 0:33:07.640
<v Speaker 1>kind of drives at home of about how not great

0:33:07.880 --> 0:33:11.280
<v Speaker 1>a perfect green lawn is for our society. There's a

0:33:11.320 --> 0:33:13.440
<v Speaker 1>study in two thousand and five residential lawns in the

0:33:13.560 --> 0:33:16.320
<v Speaker 1>United States make up two percent of the land but

0:33:16.440 --> 0:33:20.080
<v Speaker 1>require more irrigation than any domestic agricultural crop.

0:33:20.600 --> 0:33:23.680
<v Speaker 2>I've got one to piggyback on that. Let's see The

0:33:23.880 --> 0:33:26.640
<v Speaker 2>US Fish and Wildlife Service says that homeowners use up

0:33:26.680 --> 0:33:31.040
<v Speaker 2>to ten times more pesticides per acre then farmers use

0:33:31.120 --> 0:33:35.800
<v Speaker 2>on their crops. So we're using this stuff over using it,

0:33:35.840 --> 0:33:38.680
<v Speaker 2>and we're using it on stuff that's not productive land,

0:33:38.760 --> 0:33:40.680
<v Speaker 2>just to keep up with the Joneses. So they don't

0:33:40.720 --> 0:33:42.360
<v Speaker 2>think we're communist spies.

0:33:43.360 --> 0:33:47.520
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you know, I walk Gibson in the mornings and

0:33:47.640 --> 0:33:51.840
<v Speaker 1>there are the only lawns that he ever like rubs

0:33:51.880 --> 0:33:55.080
<v Speaker 1>his face in are the most perfect green ones. And

0:33:55.120 --> 0:33:58.320
<v Speaker 1>I know that it's because they have recently been sprayed

0:33:59.080 --> 0:34:01.040
<v Speaker 1>and he's smell it and it is trying to rub

0:34:01.080 --> 0:34:03.640
<v Speaker 1>all in that stuff, and it drives me bonkers.

0:34:03.920 --> 0:34:08.040
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's it's a like I would love to just

0:34:08.120 --> 0:34:11.360
<v Speaker 2>let my lawn and you me too, just go to

0:34:11.400 --> 0:34:14.279
<v Speaker 2>like wildflowers, go to weeds, you know, just mow it,

0:34:14.320 --> 0:34:17.080
<v Speaker 2>you keep it mode, but at a higher height. But yeah,

0:34:17.120 --> 0:34:19.840
<v Speaker 2>you just let this stuff grow, and we would be

0:34:19.960 --> 0:34:23.359
<v Speaker 2>completely We would stick out like a sore throam from

0:34:23.400 --> 0:34:25.440
<v Speaker 2>the rest of the neighborhood, so much of their neighbors

0:34:25.480 --> 0:34:29.200
<v Speaker 2>would be mad at us. That's how entrenched the idea

0:34:29.280 --> 0:34:32.600
<v Speaker 2>of having a perfect lawn is still in the United states,

0:34:32.600 --> 0:34:33.799
<v Speaker 2>depending on where you live.

0:34:34.200 --> 0:34:36.879
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, for sure, and like no one around there even

0:34:36.960 --> 0:34:41.640
<v Speaker 1>does like permaculture and you know other options besides just

0:34:41.719 --> 0:34:43.080
<v Speaker 1>letting it grow wild and crazy.

0:34:43.160 --> 0:34:45.840
<v Speaker 2>No, it's it's nuts. So we definitely draw a line.

0:34:45.880 --> 0:34:47.759
<v Speaker 2>So we're like, Okay, we'll keep up with the lawn,

0:34:47.840 --> 0:34:51.520
<v Speaker 2>but don't touch the you know, the shrubbery, the perennials,

0:34:51.560 --> 0:34:55.000
<v Speaker 2>the garden essentially, right, But people will hire the same

0:34:55.120 --> 0:34:58.400
<v Speaker 2>company to like treat their lawn with chemicals, to spray

0:34:58.400 --> 0:35:02.560
<v Speaker 2>their bushes and spray their gardens with chemicals to kill

0:35:02.560 --> 0:35:05.040
<v Speaker 2>off the bugs, and then they have to go in

0:35:05.200 --> 0:35:08.640
<v Speaker 2>and try to recreate the stuff that the bugs are

0:35:08.800 --> 0:35:12.680
<v Speaker 2>doing for free, the services they're providing because you've killed

0:35:12.719 --> 0:35:15.960
<v Speaker 2>off the bugs. It's it's insane to me. So we

0:35:16.080 --> 0:35:19.080
<v Speaker 2>definitely don't don't. We don't cot into that.

0:35:20.080 --> 0:35:22.600
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, there was speaking of bugs.

0:35:22.600 --> 0:35:25.680
<v Speaker 1>It was a scientific review in twenty nineteen that found

0:35:25.719 --> 0:35:28.680
<v Speaker 1>that the global massive insects is falling at a rate

0:35:28.719 --> 0:35:32.120
<v Speaker 1>of about two and a half percent per year, and

0:35:32.640 --> 0:35:36.480
<v Speaker 1>dandelions is a high high on the list of pollinators.

0:35:37.000 --> 0:35:40.839
<v Speaker 1>Caterpillars love munching on them, moths loves munching on them,

0:35:41.120 --> 0:35:42.920
<v Speaker 1>and all those bees and butterflies love.

0:35:42.840 --> 0:35:43.879
<v Speaker 3>Doing their thing on them.

0:35:44.680 --> 0:35:48.080
<v Speaker 1>So even you know, I'm not trying to shame people,

0:35:48.080 --> 0:35:50.400
<v Speaker 1>but let's say you do like your lawn and everything,

0:35:50.920 --> 0:35:53.560
<v Speaker 1>even waiting in the spring like longer to cut it,

0:35:53.680 --> 0:35:56.880
<v Speaker 1>even cutting it higher, letting the dandelions grow up a

0:35:56.880 --> 0:36:00.480
<v Speaker 1>little bit before you start whacking them down. Then that

0:36:00.640 --> 0:36:02.839
<v Speaker 1>minimal amount will help out a little bit.

0:36:02.960 --> 0:36:05.600
<v Speaker 2>What's interesting is a non chemical way I saw to

0:36:05.640 --> 0:36:08.799
<v Speaker 2>treat your turf grass for dandelions is to let your

0:36:08.840 --> 0:36:12.040
<v Speaker 2>grass grow longer than you have been like cutting it

0:36:12.080 --> 0:36:15.279
<v Speaker 2>at a high or mower height. Yeah, because as we

0:36:15.320 --> 0:36:18.640
<v Speaker 2>talked about, dandelion leaves are so low growing that the

0:36:18.719 --> 0:36:21.920
<v Speaker 2>grass will shade out and out compete the dandelions. So

0:36:22.239 --> 0:36:24.200
<v Speaker 2>if you really do want to get rid of dandelions

0:36:24.200 --> 0:36:26.480
<v Speaker 2>but you don't want to use chemicals, that's a pretty

0:36:26.480 --> 0:36:28.000
<v Speaker 2>good way to do it from what I've seen.

0:36:29.000 --> 0:36:29.760
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, totally.

0:36:30.160 --> 0:36:32.560
<v Speaker 1>Some states have actual programs or just one in Minnesota

0:36:33.160 --> 0:36:37.319
<v Speaker 1>called Lawns Two Legumes, which is a great title. They

0:36:37.400 --> 0:36:40.040
<v Speaker 1>launched that in twenty nineteen where they just basically incentive

0:36:40.520 --> 0:36:43.480
<v Speaker 1>incentivized people to say, get rid of that lawn. Put

0:36:43.480 --> 0:36:46.799
<v Speaker 1>in flowering plants, put in beds. You can have a

0:36:46.840 --> 0:36:51.800
<v Speaker 1>rebate if you have a pollinator friendly native wildflower scene

0:36:52.480 --> 0:36:53.080
<v Speaker 1>at your house.

0:36:53.200 --> 0:36:55.880
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I didn't look up the amount, but I would

0:36:55.920 --> 0:37:01.880
<v Speaker 2>guess at a minimum, the rebate is worth a million dollars, right,

0:37:02.080 --> 0:37:05.520
<v Speaker 2>that'd be my guess, you think. So, there's a couple

0:37:05.560 --> 0:37:09.400
<v Speaker 2>other things that I found that dandelions, I don't know

0:37:09.400 --> 0:37:11.919
<v Speaker 2>if you looked at it or not, that they kind

0:37:11.920 --> 0:37:18.319
<v Speaker 2>of provide surfaces to the plants growing around them, including grass. Yeah,

0:37:18.360 --> 0:37:21.600
<v Speaker 2>because as we mentioned, those tap roots, they grow really deep,

0:37:22.160 --> 0:37:25.799
<v Speaker 2>and as they're growing deep, they're actually accessing nutrients that

0:37:25.880 --> 0:37:29.279
<v Speaker 2>other plants around them, again, including grass, the roots of

0:37:29.320 --> 0:37:32.279
<v Speaker 2>those plants can't reach because it's too deep, and it

0:37:32.360 --> 0:37:35.560
<v Speaker 2>brings those nutrients up towards the surface, and as the

0:37:35.640 --> 0:37:40.840
<v Speaker 2>dandelion dies off, the other plants get to get to

0:37:40.880 --> 0:37:44.360
<v Speaker 2>eat those nutrients that they otherwise wouldn't have had access to.

0:37:44.880 --> 0:37:47.719
<v Speaker 2>And those same roots also airrate in loose and compacted

0:37:47.760 --> 0:37:50.480
<v Speaker 2>dirt too, which makes it easier for the plants around

0:37:50.520 --> 0:37:51.759
<v Speaker 2>the dandelions to grow.

0:37:53.160 --> 0:37:53.680
<v Speaker 3>Amazing.

0:37:53.760 --> 0:37:55.640
<v Speaker 2>Is there anything dandelions can't do?

0:37:58.840 --> 0:38:01.800
<v Speaker 3>I don't know. I mean, they're not super fragrant.

0:38:03.360 --> 0:38:06.560
<v Speaker 2>No, that's true. They're pretty much useless in that.

0:38:06.760 --> 0:38:08.600
<v Speaker 3>But they can grant a child to wish.

0:38:08.719 --> 0:38:11.839
<v Speaker 2>They sure can, Man, they sure can. I remember doing

0:38:11.880 --> 0:38:13.799
<v Speaker 2>that so many times. I keep trying to do that

0:38:13.840 --> 0:38:16.840
<v Speaker 2>with my dandelion puffhead in Resin and it's not working.

0:38:19.120 --> 0:38:20.719
<v Speaker 3>I don't have anything else, so I'm kind of looking

0:38:20.760 --> 0:38:21.399
<v Speaker 3>over the list here.

0:38:21.400 --> 0:38:22.800
<v Speaker 1>I know we were kind of all over the place,

0:38:22.840 --> 0:38:24.960
<v Speaker 1>but it's just sort of one of those episodes where

0:38:25.600 --> 0:38:28.480
<v Speaker 1>it's like, well, here's a list of one hundred amazing things,

0:38:28.520 --> 0:38:31.520
<v Speaker 1>and so sometimes those are a little tougher to organize.

0:38:31.200 --> 0:38:33.359
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but they can be pretty fun too. I had

0:38:33.360 --> 0:38:36.160
<v Speaker 2>fun at least. How about you and that rubber thing?

0:38:36.200 --> 0:38:40.000
<v Speaker 2>Are you kidding? Since neither one of us has anything

0:38:40.000 --> 0:38:42.600
<v Speaker 2>else about dandelions, and we're gonna call it quits on

0:38:42.640 --> 0:38:46.000
<v Speaker 2>this episode, which means we've just activated listener mail.

0:38:48.520 --> 0:38:51.040
<v Speaker 1>You know, no listener mail today, because what we're gonna

0:38:51.040 --> 0:38:53.120
<v Speaker 1>do is something we haven't done in a while, is

0:38:53.160 --> 0:38:56.440
<v Speaker 1>help support and bring some attention to a great cause,

0:38:56.920 --> 0:39:00.440
<v Speaker 1>our friends from the Cooperative for Education aka co ED,

0:39:00.600 --> 0:39:02.840
<v Speaker 1>whose mission it is to break the cycle of poverty

0:39:03.040 --> 0:39:06.239
<v Speaker 1>and Guatemala through education, and we've been working with them

0:39:06.280 --> 0:39:08.359
<v Speaker 1>for fifteen years and we got a new thing coming

0:39:08.400 --> 0:39:09.160
<v Speaker 1>up with them, right.

0:39:09.440 --> 0:39:12.359
<v Speaker 2>Yes, we do. So first, let me just explain over

0:39:12.560 --> 0:39:16.200
<v Speaker 2>one point three million dollars and contributions have been made

0:39:16.239 --> 0:39:19.120
<v Speaker 2>to co ED thanks to our partnership with them, that

0:39:19.280 --> 0:39:22.759
<v Speaker 2>stuff you should know for fifteen years. That's that's really

0:39:22.760 --> 0:39:24.960
<v Speaker 2>good if you ask me, that's incredible, which means that

0:39:25.000 --> 0:39:27.480
<v Speaker 2>one hundred and sixty kids have been given like a

0:39:27.600 --> 0:39:31.800
<v Speaker 2>huge leg up to escape poverty and create like break

0:39:31.880 --> 0:39:35.360
<v Speaker 2>intergenerational poverty and create literally like a new life for

0:39:35.440 --> 0:39:37.759
<v Speaker 2>their entire family from that point on.

0:39:38.560 --> 0:39:39.080
<v Speaker 3>That's right.

0:39:39.480 --> 0:39:41.759
<v Speaker 1>You know, we went down there, I guess fifteen years

0:39:41.800 --> 0:39:44.160
<v Speaker 1>ago when they invited us very early on, and stuff

0:39:44.160 --> 0:39:49.759
<v Speaker 1>you should know is canon, yeah, in our history, And

0:39:49.760 --> 0:39:51.640
<v Speaker 1>we went down to Guatemala and those shows, we did

0:39:51.680 --> 0:39:54.759
<v Speaker 1>some shows on that trip and that visit we get

0:39:54.800 --> 0:39:57.280
<v Speaker 1>to actually hear Jerry speak, which is pretty exciting. Yeah,

0:39:57.320 --> 0:39:59.040
<v Speaker 1>And they're just great that we've been working with them

0:39:59.080 --> 0:40:01.239
<v Speaker 1>ever since. And the fact that the stuff you should

0:40:01.320 --> 0:40:03.080
<v Speaker 1>army has raised one point three million bucks for them

0:40:03.080 --> 0:40:05.359
<v Speaker 1>over the past fifteen years is going to be a

0:40:05.400 --> 0:40:08.400
<v Speaker 1>real proud part of our legacy. But we have a

0:40:08.440 --> 0:40:09.400
<v Speaker 1>call to action, right.

0:40:09.360 --> 0:40:13.440
<v Speaker 2>Yes, so you can joined. We're starting a drive essentially

0:40:13.560 --> 0:40:17.520
<v Speaker 2>right now, that's right. You can join the cooperative, which

0:40:17.560 --> 0:40:19.600
<v Speaker 2>is a program of THEIRS, for twenty dollars a month,

0:40:19.920 --> 0:40:23.160
<v Speaker 2>and you'll collectively sponsor a bunch of students in the

0:40:23.280 --> 0:40:26.719
<v Speaker 2>Rise Youth Development program, right, that's right, And so it's

0:40:26.719 --> 0:40:28.200
<v Speaker 2>going to get spread out. You're going to be helping

0:40:28.200 --> 0:40:30.240
<v Speaker 2>a bunch of kids at once, so you can feel

0:40:30.239 --> 0:40:33.960
<v Speaker 2>good like five times over with each each monthly donation.

0:40:34.440 --> 0:40:37.280
<v Speaker 2>And then in twenty twenty five, more than eleven hundred

0:40:37.320 --> 0:40:41.240
<v Speaker 2>students will be able to start school in World Guatemala,

0:40:41.440 --> 0:40:44.320
<v Speaker 2>which will be their biggest class ever. They need help

0:40:44.600 --> 0:40:46.919
<v Speaker 2>to make that happen, which is why we're saying join

0:40:46.960 --> 0:40:47.719
<v Speaker 2>the cooperative.

0:40:48.400 --> 0:40:48.839
<v Speaker 3>That's right.

0:40:49.080 --> 0:40:51.719
<v Speaker 1>And as an incentive, if this is for you, if

0:40:51.719 --> 0:40:56.000
<v Speaker 1>you set up your gift by Tuesday, December third, then

0:40:56.239 --> 0:40:57.640
<v Speaker 1>you are signed up for a chance to do a

0:40:57.719 --> 0:40:59.759
<v Speaker 1>virtual hangout with Josh and I. We do this every

0:40:59.840 --> 0:41:02.319
<v Speaker 1>year around the same time. It's always a lot of fun.

0:41:02.320 --> 0:41:04.279
<v Speaker 1>We hang out with I don't know if six or

0:41:04.320 --> 0:41:06.680
<v Speaker 1>eight people all over the country and they get to

0:41:06.719 --> 0:41:08.719
<v Speaker 1>just you know, ask us questions and tell us that

0:41:08.760 --> 0:41:11.400
<v Speaker 1>we're cool or dumb or whatever. It's your chance to

0:41:11.440 --> 0:41:13.640
<v Speaker 1>really hand it to us if that's what you're after, right.

0:41:14.080 --> 0:41:16.880
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, hopefully don't do that, but sure, I mean, I

0:41:16.880 --> 0:41:19.280
<v Speaker 2>guess if you've given to co ED and you deserve

0:41:19.320 --> 0:41:20.120
<v Speaker 2>to do whatever.

0:41:19.880 --> 0:41:21.160
<v Speaker 3>You want to us, that's right.

0:41:21.280 --> 0:41:25.839
<v Speaker 1>So just go to Cooperative for Education dot org. That's

0:41:25.840 --> 0:41:29.480
<v Speaker 1>the word cooperative f O R education dot org slash

0:41:29.800 --> 0:41:33.080
<v Speaker 1>s y s k and start giving.

0:41:33.120 --> 0:41:34.879
<v Speaker 3>Now. A little bit goes a long way down there.

0:41:35.160 --> 0:41:38.919
<v Speaker 2>Yes, And in the meantime, while you're looking up Cooperative

0:41:39.040 --> 0:41:42.200
<v Speaker 2>for Education dot org slash s y s k, you

0:41:42.239 --> 0:41:44.600
<v Speaker 2>can also send us an email. Send it off to

0:41:44.719 --> 0:41:50.640
<v Speaker 2>stuff Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com.

0:41:50.800 --> 0:41:53.680
<v Speaker 1>Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For

0:41:53.760 --> 0:41:57.960
<v Speaker 1>more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:41:58.080 --> 0:42:03.800
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.