1 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,240 Speaker 1: Hey, you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My 2 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: name is Robert Lamb. Today is Saturday, so we have 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: a vault for you. This is going to be the 4 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: Invention of Cotton Candy, Part two. We just re aired 5 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: part one, so here we go Part two of two. 6 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: It originally published two four, twenty twenty five. Let's have it. 7 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 2: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 8 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 9 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 3: My name is Robert Lamb, and I am Joe McCormick. 10 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 3: And we're back with part two of our discussion of 11 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 3: cotton candy. In part one, we talked about the chemistry 12 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:50,519 Speaker 3: of candy making, how sugar syrup heated and reduced to 13 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 3: a precise, precise consistency gets turned into everything from saltwater 14 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 3: taffy to lollipops to sponge sugar. We talked about the 15 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 3: properties of still in sugar versus sugar glass, and we 16 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 3: described the standard process for making cotton candy in a 17 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 3: dedicated machine. And we also got into some historical predecessors 18 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 3: of cotton candy, like spunge sugar and especially the Chinese 19 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 3: culinary invention known as Dragon's beard candy and we're back 20 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 3: today to talk about more Rob. Did you end up 21 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 3: eating any cotton candy between our two parts. 22 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: Here, you know, I did not. I was like, it, 23 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: surely we can make it out to the place where 24 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: I know there's a Japanese cotton candy machine, because these 25 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: are quite quite impressive. Japanese cotton candy is known as 26 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:43,479 Speaker 1: watame and there are these nice automated machines that make 27 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:46,479 Speaker 1: it no humans involved in the process at all, comes 28 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: out like super colorful. I don't know about the taste. 29 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: I'm assuming the taste is still very much cotton candy 30 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: but sugar. Yeah, But I know where one is in Atlanta, 31 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: and I was like, we can go out and try 32 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: it out. But our week ND ended up just being 33 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: super busy, so we did not make it out to 34 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:09,119 Speaker 1: try cotton candy. But as is always the case, we 35 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: ask any listeners out there, if you have experience with 36 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: cotton candy, Japanese or otherwise, right in and give us 37 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: your feedback on the sugary trade. 38 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 3: Now, we promised in today's episode we would go into 39 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 3: a little more depth on the invention of the cotton 40 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:26,799 Speaker 3: candy machine, and I figured maybe that's the place we 41 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 3: should start today or you gained for that. 42 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: Rob Let's do it. 43 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 3: Let's spin it up. Okay, okay. Now, in the previous episode, 44 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,239 Speaker 3: we talked a bit about how cotton candy is made 45 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 3: with a dedicated machine in a manner that is somewhat 46 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 3: similar to the industrial method of producing fiberglass. So your 47 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 3: standard cotton candy machine consists of a large, deep metal 48 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 3: dish with tall sides. Think halfway between like a dog's 49 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 3: water bowl and a kiddie pool, kind of a large, 50 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:00,399 Speaker 3: you know, wash basin sized. This large outer dish will 51 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,679 Speaker 3: remain stationary, but in the middle of that large outer 52 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 3: dish and there is a small secondary dish which spins 53 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 3: rapidly and contains a heating element. This inner dish is 54 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 3: known as the spinner. And to make the candy, you 55 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 3: take a sugar mixture. This is something you usually just 56 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 3: buy fully prepared. Maybe some people make artisanal cotton candy 57 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 3: sugar mixtures, but usually you just like buy a box 58 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 3: of this powdered stuff. And so it's like sugar with 59 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 3: some coloring and flavoring included, and you pour that into 60 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 3: the spinner. Inside the spinner, the sugar gets melted by 61 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 3: the heating element and then once melted sugar glass leaks 62 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 3: out of extremely tiny holes in the walls of the 63 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 3: spinner because it's being driven outward by centrifugal force. I 64 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 3: think sometimes also there's a fourst air component that's kind 65 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 3: of blowing it out of these little holes. And as 66 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 3: the melted sugar flies out into the colder air outside 67 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 3: the spinner, it rapidly cools and solidifies into tiny hair 68 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 3: like strands of sugar glass. And these are they collect 69 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 3: in the outer dish. And then you can watch the 70 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 3: operator kind of you know, take a stick or a 71 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 3: cone and wave it around, almost like they're dusting for cobwebs. 72 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 3: They're just collecting all of the strands onto the eating utensil, 73 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 3: and then they hand it to you. 74 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: I wonder if it's ever marketed as such, you know, 75 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: if you want to like really goth up your cotton 76 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: candy install of cobwebs. Yeah, candy cobwebs and so forth. 77 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know, we'll have to look that up afterwards. 78 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 3: But as we've said, so, when you get cotton candy, 79 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 3: it's almost always made with a specialized machine. It's not 80 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 3: really something as far as I could find that you 81 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 3: can easily do with just you know, repurposed home equipment. 82 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 3: You kind of need a cotton candy machine to make 83 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 3: cotton candy. So where did these machines come from? Well, 84 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,799 Speaker 3: that question takes us back to the Saint Louis World's 85 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 3: Fair of nineteen oh four. This was the first big 86 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 3: public debut of what inventor William J. Morrison and John C. Wharton, 87 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 3: both of Nashville, Tennessee, called the electric Candy Machine, a 88 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:12,480 Speaker 3: machine for making a novelty confection that they called fairy floss, 89 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,799 Speaker 3: which at the nineteen oh four World's Fair was sold 90 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 3: in boxes for twenty five cents of serving. And as 91 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 3: pointed out in a blog post by Morgan Byrne for 92 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 3: the Tennessee State Museum, a ticket for the nineteen oh 93 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 3: four World's Fair was fifty cents, and so a box 94 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 3: of cotton candy's twenty five cents. This is this is 95 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 3: a candy treat that cost half as much again as 96 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 3: the full admission price. 97 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: All right, all right, So depending on where you're going, 98 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: like you could compare this with like paying like five 99 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: to ten bucks for it these days. 100 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I don't know what canton candy usually costs. 101 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 3: On one hand, I think it's amazingly cheaped, Bruce. 102 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 1: It's just like you know, yeah, twenty five cents feels good. 103 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,799 Speaker 1: It feels reasonable by today's standards. Yeah, like that's probably 104 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: the material cost. Oh, I'm sure it's costing three to 105 00:05:58,720 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 1: four bucks, right. 106 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, probably was fair prices, so that everything's jacked up 107 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:05,119 Speaker 3: to is so maybe it's ten box, who knows. 108 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a meltdown on a stick though for a 109 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: kid like you know what you're getting into. 110 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, But anyway, so over the six months the fair 111 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 3: was open, they sold almost seventy thousand boxes of this stuff. 112 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:20,919 Speaker 3: And just a few funny notes about the nineteen oh 113 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,919 Speaker 3: four World's Fair. We've talked about the weird culture of 114 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 3: triumphalist futurism at these near turn of the century World's 115 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 3: Fair events. One that we talked about extensively on the 116 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,720 Speaker 3: show in the past was the famous World's Columbian Exposition 117 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 3: in Chicago in eighteen ninety three. We did a live 118 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 3: show in Chicago one time where we talked about various 119 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 3: aspects of that event. But you can see a lot 120 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 3: of that same spirit in the nineteen oh four fair. 121 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 3: In Saint Louis as well with its naming conventions. So 122 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 3: the fairy Floss machine was an exhibit at what was 123 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 3: called the Palace of Electricity. Now, while nineteen oh four 124 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 3: was the big the year that the cotton Candy machine 125 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 3: made a big public impression, the two inventors had actually 126 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 3: created the machine many years before the fair way back 127 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 3: in eighteen ninety seven. I found some more detail about 128 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 3: the history here in an entry for the cotton Candy 129 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 3: machine within a reference book called Technical Innovation in American 130 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 3: History and Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, edited by Roseanne 131 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 3: Welch and peg Lamfeir. The cotton Candy entry is by 132 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 3: a scholar named Stepka Zanova, and according to Zenova here, 133 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 3: the better known of the two inventors was William Morrison, 134 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 3: who lived eighteen sixty to nineteen twenty six. And just 135 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 3: from the little bit of detail we get here about 136 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 3: his life, I'm picking up on something. He sounds to 137 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 3: me like one of those real late nineteenth century Renaissance eccentrics. 138 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 3: So he was a dentist and a children's book author, 139 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 3: and a prolific inventor, having drafted a novel process for 140 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 3: extra acting cottonseed oil among other patents. But then Senova 141 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 3: also mentions that he received credit for creating his hometown's 142 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 3: first water purification plant, and he was also active in 143 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:15,680 Speaker 3: Tennessee based professional associations for dentists. So I don't know 144 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 3: if this is right or not, but I'm kind of 145 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 3: getting a picture of like the town wizard that sounds 146 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 3: like his partner in the creation of the fairy floss 147 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 3: machine was a Nashville based confectioner a candy maker named 148 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 3: John Wharton, and together they filed for a patent on 149 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 3: December twenty third, eighteen ninety seven. Their machine worked basically 150 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:39,559 Speaker 3: the same way the machines do today. There's not a 151 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 3: whole lot of difference that you know, modern machines are 152 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,199 Speaker 3: pretty close to what they originally came up with. You 153 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 3: you have a central spinner with a heating element inside 154 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 3: walls perforated by tiny holes to let the threads of 155 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 3: melted sugar glass stream out. They freeze in the cooler 156 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 3: air of the surrounding dish. However, one thing that Senova 157 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 3: notes is that while Wharton and Morrison are usually credited 158 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:05,959 Speaker 3: as inventors of the electric cotton candy machine, their original 159 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 3: design in the eighteen ninety seven patent was not exclusively 160 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 3: to be used with electric power, and instead included a 161 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 3: mechanism to operate on foot power. So I think that 162 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 3: means there was like a foot operated pedal or pump, 163 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,839 Speaker 3: though they specified that a different power source could be 164 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 3: applied without changing the core mechanics of the device. So 165 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 3: when this machine made it to the Palace of Electricity 166 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 3: at the nineteen oh four World's Fair, it was a 167 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 3: huge hit. It won the fairs Novelty of Invention prize 168 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 3: and to make the final sale numbers I've read they 169 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 3: must have sold something like three hundred and seventy five 170 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 3: boxes of cotton candy a day, though it wasn't called 171 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 3: cotton candy yet it was still fairy floss. Actually, the 172 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 3: name cotton candy came from another dentist in cotton candy business. 173 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 3: This was a guy named Joseph Lascaux who was based 174 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 3: in Louisiana, who t He tried to introduce improvements on 175 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 3: Morrison and Wharton's design, though apparently his modifications did not 176 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 3: catch on. Tzanova's entry here casts doubt on whether his 177 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 3: improvements were actually improvements or not, but he kind of 178 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 3: tried to say, no, here's the way you should do 179 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 3: these machines. His machine didn't stick, but the name did so. 180 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 3: In the US now basically everybody calls it cotton candy, 181 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 3: though in some other places in the world fairy floss 182 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:30,959 Speaker 3: or candy floss is still the more popular name. Now, Rob, 183 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 3: I'm attaching here an advertisement for a version of Wharton 184 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 3: and Morrison's machine that appeared in the program for the 185 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 3: nineteen oh seven Tennessee State Fair. You can examine, but 186 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 3: I wanted to include because this has a lot of 187 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 3: good text on it. So at this point they're calling 188 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 3: the device the Wonderful Electric Candy Machine. It's being sold 189 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 3: by the Electric Candy Machine Company of Nashville, and it 190 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 3: explains the virtues of their product as followed quote. The 191 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 3: candy made by this machine is absolutely pure. Granulated sugar 192 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 3: is poured into the spinner and is instantly changed into 193 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 3: flossy filaments of pure candy without the touch of a 194 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:16,440 Speaker 3: contaminating finger. 195 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:17,440 Speaker 1: Ah. 196 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:21,080 Speaker 3: What I'm kind of wondering if this is going back 197 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,319 Speaker 3: to what we talked about in part one that old 198 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 3: confectioners used to test the temperature and consistency of their 199 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 3: boiling sugar syrup by feel which once again please let 200 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 3: us empthesize, do not try this at home. You can 201 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 3: get horribly, horribly burned. 202 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean also just the I guess, the novelty 203 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: of it. Like here, candy is spun out of out 204 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:44,079 Speaker 1: of thin air. You know, it's not made by human 205 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: fingers and hands, it's not shaped by a druggist's hands 206 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: or anything. Nope, it's just you just stick the cone 207 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:54,839 Speaker 1: or the stick in there and you just spin it up. 208 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: And of course, like I was saying, modern cotton candy 209 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: machines have taken this to an even they have gone 210 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:05,679 Speaker 1: a step beyond, like it's just completely automated. No one's 211 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:06,960 Speaker 1: even sticking a stick in there. 212 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 3: Maybe that is it. There just seemed something old fashioned 213 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 3: and unsanitary about a human having to be involved in 214 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 3: the making of your candy. And you know, it's just 215 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 3: like the machine does it all, except it doesn't. You've 216 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 3: got it. You still somebody had to pump the pedal 217 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 3: on this thing, I guess, or I don't know, maybe 218 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 3: that by this time, in nineteen oh four or nineteen 219 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 3: oh seven it was the fully electric model. I'm not 220 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:28,680 Speaker 3: sure which way this is. 221 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: I mean, the poster is advertising to me the wonderful 222 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: electric candy machine. So yeah, and electric candy electric candy machine. 223 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: Which part is the electric part? I mean, it seems 224 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: like the candy itself is kind of electric. 225 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 3: Why not the electric candy machine? Ascid test. Yeah. The 226 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 3: advertisement also tells us these machines are expressly made expressly 227 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 3: for here's the list. Druggists, fruit stands, confectioners, and hotels. 228 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:03,200 Speaker 3: Hotel my god, but think of the cleaning staff. They're 229 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 3: selling cotton candy at hotels. Also, I love fruit stands 230 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,959 Speaker 3: because cotton candy is my favorite fruit. Also, they make 231 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 3: a special appeal coming back to the Druggists. I think 232 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 3: they say, make the soda fountain space pay in winter. 233 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 3: Oh okay, So that's an interesting pitch. They're probably saying, like, 234 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 3: you're gonna sell a lot of cold soda in the summer, 235 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 3: but you know nobody wants to come in for a 236 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 3: soda in the winter. So what do you do instead 237 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 3: that space? You have a cotton candy machine. 238 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, which is I guess it comes out hot. I 239 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: don't think it stays hot long, but yeah, at least 240 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 1: it's not cold. 241 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 3: Also, this ad is full of ludicrously aggressive small texts. 242 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,840 Speaker 3: Can I read you the intellectual property section? It says 243 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 3: our machines are fully protected by our patents. A number 244 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 3: of pirates have infringed on our patents. We prosecuted the 245 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 3: first who attempted it. The United States Court at Saint 246 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 3: Louis has just rendered judgments staining our patents and perpetually 247 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 3: enjoining infringements. We own the exclusive right to the only 248 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 3: method of making floss or spun candy, and will prosecute 249 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 3: every maker and user of infringing machines. Man's coming on hard. 250 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, they like the villains in a Willy Wonkom movie here. 251 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, a number of pirates have tried. But anyway, So, 252 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 3: after going into more depth about how cotton candy is made, 253 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,560 Speaker 3: you know, what its characteristics are, and the history of it, 254 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 3: I thought maybe we should come back to a question 255 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:38,840 Speaker 3: I asked at the beginning of part one, and that 256 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 3: question is why is cotton candy particularly associated with fairs 257 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 3: and carnivals in a way that other candies and treats 258 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 3: are not. I mean, you know some other treats are 259 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 3: I guess you think funnel cakes. That's especially fairs and 260 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 3: carnivals within the United States at least, But why cotton 261 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 3: candy and more so than most other candies. I now 262 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 3: have a of thoughts on that. First of all, we 263 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 3: just have this history that cotton candy began its life 264 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 3: as a fair grounds attraction, winning fame and publicity as such. 265 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 3: You know, most people in their very first encounter with 266 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 3: cotton candy was probably learning about it at this World's 267 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 3: Fair exhibit, or it's some subsequent fair or public event. 268 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: And this seems to have played a role in then 269 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,680 Speaker 1: allowing it to spread out around the world. 270 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 3: Yeah. Another thing is what we talked about last time. 271 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 3: Cotton candy is very delicate and sensitive to heat, moisture, 272 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 3: even just to humidity in the air. Remember the sugar 273 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 3: here is hygroscopic, so it will attract moisture, will pull 274 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 3: humidity out of the very atmosphere around it. So if 275 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 3: it is not sealed inside a tight moisture barrier, within 276 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 3: just a few hours, cotton candy will lose its fluffiness 277 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 3: and shrivel down and transform into a sticky, disgusting blob. 278 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 3: Remember those slow death of cotton candy time laps videos 279 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 3: we talked about in the last episode. Now you can 280 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 3: make it last longer if you seal it up tight 281 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,360 Speaker 3: inside plastic, but at that point your packaging costs are 282 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 3: going to increase. And I would also imagine that cotton 283 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 3: candy is not super efficient to ship in its spun 284 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:21,040 Speaker 3: form because of its volume relative to its weight. You know, 285 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 3: I imagine that would be kind of like shipping trucks 286 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 3: full of pre inflated balloons. 287 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. Like, just as a quick example from today's 288 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: candy market, there's all sorts of stuff that is labeled 289 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: cotton candy that you can buy prepackaged and have shipped 290 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: to your house. But I mean, it's clear that it 291 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: is not at all the same as fresh spun cotton candy. 292 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: It you could almost classify it as a different sort 293 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 1: of candy, I think. 294 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. And also, I mean, not to judge people's products, 295 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 3: but even though you can buy this cotton candy in 296 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 3: sealed tubs, however similar or dissimilar it is from the 297 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 3: cotton candy you get at the fair, it just seems 298 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 3: that generally this pre made stuff is not a very 299 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:13,679 Speaker 3: appealing and probably not a super cost effective product. So 300 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:17,359 Speaker 3: ideally cotton candy should be made right when and where 301 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:19,119 Speaker 3: you're going to eat it. You know, you need to 302 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:21,640 Speaker 3: get it fresh. Where is ideal for that. 303 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 1: Well, you need a lot of turnover exactly. 304 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:27,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, So you can't really make cotton candy with regular 305 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 3: kitchen equipment. You need a special machine. And most people 306 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,160 Speaker 3: do not want to eat cotton candy or don't want 307 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:36,880 Speaker 3: their kids to eat cotton candy often enough that they're 308 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 3: going to buy a machine for the home. So, you know, 309 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,959 Speaker 3: we mainly like it for the novelty, the visual and 310 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,959 Speaker 3: textual novelty, not because it's delicious. So it's a you know, 311 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 3: it's a it's a lark, it's a once every now 312 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:54,119 Speaker 3: and then weird, interesting little experience. So you need to 313 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:56,959 Speaker 3: sort of have a system where people go where the 314 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 3: machine is. So where does it make sense to have 315 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,400 Speaker 3: the machine. It's probably where you have a lot of turnover, 316 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 3: where people can do a lot of business, ideally in 317 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:08,679 Speaker 3: a space that the operator of the machine, you know, 318 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:10,959 Speaker 3: will not have to clean up sticky messes left by 319 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 3: the customers later on. So an outdoor fair is kind 320 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:16,760 Speaker 3: of perfect. The customer takes the mess with them and 321 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 3: it's outdoors anyway. So that's where I'm at the more 322 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 3: I think about it, the more it absolutely makes sense 323 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 3: that cotton candy is carnival food. It's fair food. It 324 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 3: comes from that world, and for a number of practical reasons, 325 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 3: it probably will stay in that world. 326 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:35,000 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, Like you can think of other fair and 327 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 1: carnival foods, and a number of those kind of transcend 328 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 1: the limitations, you know, like the corn dog. Yeah, corn 329 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: Dog's totally a fair and carnival type of food. But yeah, 330 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 1: you can buy it frozen, you can you can make 331 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: it at home. It's you know, all those things are possible, 332 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,960 Speaker 1: and it's just as good, if not better, in those situations. 333 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 1: But cotton candy, again, the technology limits you and it 334 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:03,120 Speaker 1: and also it's just not the kind of thing you'd 335 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: want to eat on even a semi regular basis. Or 336 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,359 Speaker 1: you might want to if you're a child, but as 337 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 1: an adult, like you said, you don't want your children 338 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:15,800 Speaker 1: having ready access to this. Meltdown on a stick. 339 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:18,639 Speaker 3: Contradict us folks, Let us know, do you have a 340 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,399 Speaker 3: cotton candy machine in your house? I don't want to 341 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 3: hear about that. 342 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,359 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, and maybe you do if you also 343 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: go out to the fair and sell it, right, I mean, otherwise, 344 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:30,359 Speaker 1: it just seems like a lot of machinery to have 345 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:32,639 Speaker 1: just sitting around. I mean, maybe there's some sort of 346 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,720 Speaker 1: a smaller apparatus for it. I don't know. 347 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:38,720 Speaker 3: I don't know. Maybe if you've got a fancy home 348 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:42,000 Speaker 3: theater arcade set up something like that, but it's like 349 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:44,120 Speaker 3: people who have a fancy home theater and they've got 350 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:46,760 Speaker 3: like one of those popcorn carts in it. 351 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: I think it comes down to kitchen space. Because I'm 352 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 1: just looking around now doing a little shopping for cotton 353 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 1: candy machines. I'm sure this is going to screw up 354 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:59,280 Speaker 1: all sorts of targeted advertisements for me, but it looks 355 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 1: like you can you can get one that's on a cart. 356 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:04,399 Speaker 1: I'm assuming this is maybe like low end of the 357 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: professional spectrum, but you know, you can get like a 358 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: cart bas cotton candy machine for something like three hundred bucks. 359 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,919 Speaker 1: And they do have models that are more from like 360 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: the seventy dollars to one hundred and thirty dollars range 361 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 1: that look like you could have room for it in 362 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: your kitchen. I don't have room for it in my kitchen, 363 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: but you might well have a kitchen with enough space 364 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,880 Speaker 1: where it makes sense to fire this thing up every 365 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:27,959 Speaker 1: now and again. I don't know. 366 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,639 Speaker 3: Okay, I'm looking for the bottom shelf stuff. You can 367 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 3: get a cotton candy maker at Walmart for thirty bucks. 368 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: See yeah, okay, well you know it's possible. Oh boy. Yeah, 369 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:41,200 Speaker 1: I mean it's like you can get you can get 370 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: waffle makers for really cheap, but they are exciting to 371 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: use in a way that you just might not want 372 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,640 Speaker 1: that level of excitement too many mornings out of your week. 373 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 3: This strikes me as something that again, maybe I'm totally wrong, 374 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 3: but my guess is that the majority of people who 375 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 3: buy cotton you know, like Domess cotton candy machines for 376 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 3: the home, are buying it essentially to use one time 377 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:05,880 Speaker 3: at a party they're throwing. 378 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that would make sense. You're doing you're 379 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 1: doing a kid's birthday party. You're like, well, for thirty bucks, 380 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: we can do this. So yeah, I understand that maybe 381 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:17,360 Speaker 1: there's a case to be made where there's some sort 382 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 1: of special treat you're making where you're going to utilize 383 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:21,679 Speaker 1: that cotton candy on top. I don't know, like some 384 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,679 Speaker 1: sort of a trolls head muffin or something. I don't know. 385 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: But beyond that, you know, cotton candy is just one 386 00:21:28,359 --> 00:21:30,679 Speaker 1: of those things. It just doesn't seem like they're that 387 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:35,880 Speaker 1: many applications, right, It's just this sugary treat. It doesn't 388 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 1: really have any beneficial qualities beyond sugaring up kids, and 389 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: you know, the novelty of the spectacle of watching it made. 390 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,400 Speaker 1: But you know, I was, I was a little surprised 391 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:51,959 Speaker 1: by this. There do seem to be some applications. I mean, 392 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,400 Speaker 1: you would be forgiven if you assume that no health 393 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:59,640 Speaker 1: benefit or medical application existed or was possible for these 394 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: miracle those clouds of pure sugar. But there's actually been 395 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 1: some pretty interesting research into a cotton candy based artificial 396 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 1: organ technology that, fittingly, like the twentieth century cotton candy 397 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: machine itself, has at least partial Tennessee roots. 398 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:18,639 Speaker 3: Oh nice. 399 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: Yeah. A lot of the research that I'm about to 400 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 1: talk about here is taking place in Nashville. It is 401 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: at Vanderbilt Universe. So you might have caught some science 402 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:35,560 Speaker 1: headlines about this over the years, because the headlines and 403 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: the leads basically write themselves. You know, some sort of 404 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: cotton candy based organ transplant. It raises strange images in 405 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 1: the mind of human organs replaced with candy. It makes 406 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: me think of the old mister Bones candy from the nineties. 407 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: This was, like I distinctly remember, like a little plastic 408 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 1: casket that said mister Bones, and inside they were interlocking 409 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: candy bones and sometimes a heart, you know, shaped like 410 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,880 Speaker 1: a heart emoji. And you would assemble these and then 411 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: you would look at it, and then you would eat it, 412 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: and then you could keep the little plastic casket and 413 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: you know, sometimes you could fit a little toy in there. 414 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 3: I am paralyzed now by unexpected nostalgia. 415 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:14,880 Speaker 1: Rob. 416 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,680 Speaker 3: You have brought my brain to a halt with this. 417 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:20,159 Speaker 1: Yeah. I think I only ever got to get this 418 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,000 Speaker 1: like once. This is another one of those like how 419 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 1: often are you gonna have mister Bones candy. The candy 420 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,919 Speaker 1: itself was not good. It was like, you know, Pez 421 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 1: Dispenser candy, which is another example. It's like nobody loves Pez. 422 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: It's the mechanism. It's a spectacle. 423 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,199 Speaker 3: Look at this little plastic coffin. Though I want this 424 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 3: right now, I am. 425 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,479 Speaker 1: Oh. Oh, my feelings they may have. It's just one 426 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,919 Speaker 1: of those things that may have come back to varying degrees. 427 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:47,679 Speaker 1: I don't know with the whole you know, ups and 428 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: downs of nostalgia based marketing. But anyway, now, this is 429 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: not about making organs or tissues directly out of candy, 430 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,920 Speaker 1: as grotesquely amazing as that may sound. But it's also 431 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:02,880 Speaker 1: a lot closer to the idea than you might assume, 432 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: because you know, obviously headlines are going to be quick 433 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: to capitalize on the candy connection. But it does have 434 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: a pretty strong candy connection. Okay, So the research in 435 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:18,119 Speaker 1: question here was at least initially the work of doctor 436 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 1: Jason Spector, a reconstructive surgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital, 437 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 1: and Leon Bellin, a graduate student at Cornell at the 438 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 1: time of the idea's creation and now an associate professor 439 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 1: of biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. And so 440 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:39,120 Speaker 1: there have been multiple reports on this research over the years, 441 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,159 Speaker 1: and some of them have been reported on in the 442 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:46,400 Speaker 1: mainstream media. Is reported on NPRS All Things Considered. Back 443 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: in two thousand and nine. Bellin got the idea for 444 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:53,879 Speaker 1: the approach based on previous work with nanofibers and observations 445 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:58,320 Speaker 1: about cotton candy. As it turns out, the fine sponge 446 00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 1: sugar in cotton candy. With discussed about how it's hair like, 447 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,439 Speaker 1: it's very thin. Well, the nanofibers here are about the 448 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: same thickness as various blood vessels in human tissue, so 449 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: about one tenth the diameter of a human hair. 450 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 3: Okay, so this would not be talking about like your 451 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 3: thicker main veins and arteries, but sort of the little 452 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,440 Speaker 3: blood vessels that branch out from them to feed all 453 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 3: the tissues in the body. 454 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:27,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, we're talking about capillaries, like tiny capillary blood vessels 455 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:31,760 Speaker 1: that with their thin walls deliver oxygen and nutrients to 456 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:36,359 Speaker 1: cells and carry away waste and the threads. According to 457 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: Bellin and a Vanderbilt University Medical Center release from twenty sixteen, Yeah, 458 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: they have the size, the density, and the complexity that 459 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: matches up with capillary blood vessels. So the creation of 460 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: artificial capillary systems like this would be absolutely necessary for 461 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 1: the creation of living artificial organs. Specifically, we're talking about 462 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: hydrogel based scaffoldings upon which the organ is grown. But 463 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,480 Speaker 1: to put it roughly, you can build a mansion, you 464 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: can build an enormous home, but you've got to have 465 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: bathrooms in it. And for those bathrooms to mean anything, 466 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,639 Speaker 1: you've got to leave room for the plumbing. And so 467 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 1: the plumbing inside of a working human organ that's complex. 468 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:21,880 Speaker 1: And so what we're talking about here is a way 469 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:25,159 Speaker 1: to grow like not just the and I'm putting it 470 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: like crudely and roughly here, not just the meat of 471 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,680 Speaker 1: the organ, and not just to say here's a lump 472 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 1: and this lump is liver, this lump is kidney, but 473 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:36,199 Speaker 1: to say this lump of kidney also has all the 474 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: plumbing necessary for the organ to live and have the 475 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:45,359 Speaker 1: necessary blood supply that it needs. Okay, so over the 476 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 1: years they've devised and apparently as of twenty sixteen, demonstrated 477 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 1: the use of a cotton candy based technique to create 478 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: quote micro fluidic networks that mimic the three dimensional capillary 479 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:02,200 Speaker 1: system in the human body in all friendly fashion, according 480 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,760 Speaker 1: to the the UMC release that I referenced earlier. 481 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:10,199 Speaker 3: Okay, well, I'm seeing the visual analogy between the sugar 482 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:14,199 Speaker 3: glass strands made made by a cotton candy machine and 483 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 3: the tiny capillaries that infuse an organ. But like, how 484 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,880 Speaker 3: do you actually make how do you make this? How 485 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,680 Speaker 3: do you make the capillaries with a cotton candy like process. 486 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:29,920 Speaker 1: All right, so, as of twenty sixteen, the method didn't 487 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 1: involve sugar spun into this delicate network, but spinning it 488 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: out of something called The abbreviation is p n I 489 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: PAM penny PAM I'm going to go with, and this 490 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:51,440 Speaker 1: stands for poly in isopropyla krylamide, a cell friendly polymer 491 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:55,360 Speaker 1: frequently used for biomedical applications, though it also has other 492 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,480 Speaker 1: sort of like nano applications. I've seen studies that are 493 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 1: talking about using it for very small triggers and so 494 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:09,920 Speaker 1: forth in nano constructions and so forth. But the key 495 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: to it is that it is insoluble at temperatures above 496 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:15,920 Speaker 1: thirty two degrees celsius or eighty nine point six degrees 497 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:21,080 Speaker 1: fahrenheit and soluble below that temperature. The machine, however, is 498 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,280 Speaker 1: described as essentially being a cotton candy machine in its 499 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 1: core functions, so it's still spun out and created via 500 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 1: the same process. And the interesting thing is, if you 501 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:38,160 Speaker 1: look at older writings about this research, prior experiment such 502 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 1: as the one profile by NPR back in what two 503 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: thousand and nine actually involved sugar based cotton candy that 504 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: then had a liquid polymer poured over it and then 505 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 1: the sugar was washed out. 506 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 3: Oh okay, so you'd make cotton candy and then you'd 507 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 3: use that as a mold and then you would melt 508 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 3: the sugar away. 509 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: Yes, so these really thin threads, again, thinner than a 510 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 1: human hair standing in for the capillaries. You gel something 511 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:09,120 Speaker 1: around that and then you just melt out all the sugar. 512 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 1: But then those tiny little tunnels will remain and those 513 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 1: can serve essentially as the capillary blood vessels for the 514 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: organ that you would grow there. 515 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 3: Wow, that's amazing. 516 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, and apparently they managed to make that old method 517 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,120 Speaker 1: work to some extent and not just dissolve the candy 518 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 1: capillaries before you could make use of them. But this 519 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,720 Speaker 1: pinipam method, this makes it more viable because this stuff 520 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: is not going to disintegrate when a hydrogel is poured 521 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: directly around it. So they describe this hydrogel as a 522 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: gelatine with human cells in it, so like, and this 523 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,600 Speaker 1: is their description to jell o with bits of fruit, 524 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: except the fruit is human cells and this is poured 525 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:55,479 Speaker 1: around this capillary matrix that you've made this cotton candy essentially, 526 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: and it's gelled in an incubator at thirty seven degrees 527 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,760 Speaker 1: cell and then when it's brought out, it's allowed to cool. 528 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:05,480 Speaker 1: And when it's allowed to cool that pin and Pam 529 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: floss in there, well it dissolves, leaving behind that intricate 530 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: network of microscale channels that could serve as artificial capillaries. 531 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 3: Amazing. 532 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, and so Bellin's work and the work of his 533 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: colleagues this continues. And I'm to assume this technology, or 534 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 1: something that has evolved out of it, remains part of 535 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 1: their work. They might be getting away from the cotton 536 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: candy comparisons, at least in the peer reviewed papers. But 537 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: I was looking at a Vanderbilt A affiliated twenty twenty 538 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:45,200 Speaker 1: four paper in Biofabrication, the journal Biofabrication, on which Belin 539 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 1: was a co author, and it speaks of quote, solvent 540 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: spinning to process the thermo responsive polymer solaplus into a 541 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: sacrificial microfiber mesh, which is then employed to pattern a 542 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 1: high gel matrix. 543 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 3: Okay, sounds like a similar principle. 544 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 1: It sounds like, yeah, the similar principle, if not the 545 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:09,680 Speaker 1: same thing. So it seems like this isn't it. This 546 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:13,400 Speaker 1: doesn't seem to be a case where we've abandoned the 547 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: what at least began as cotton cut candy based artificial capillaries. 548 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:23,360 Speaker 1: It seems like this, this technological journey is still ongoing. 549 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: But it is. It's pretty exciting. I think we've we've 550 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:30,440 Speaker 1: talked about the idea of artificial organs on the show before, 551 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:33,360 Speaker 1: and the idea of growing these out over some sort 552 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,440 Speaker 1: of scaffolding. But yeah, it's like you can again, you 553 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: can build a big old house, but you've got to 554 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:40,600 Speaker 1: have working plumbing, You've got to have the wiring, and 555 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,280 Speaker 1: this is about making sure the wiring is in place. 556 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:48,960 Speaker 1: And as crazy as it may seem, cotton candy may 557 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: have been the inspiration that will help make that possible 558 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 1: down the road. 559 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:55,760 Speaker 3: Truly could not have known we would end up here. Yeah. 560 00:31:55,920 --> 00:32:00,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, Like I said, biomedical applications for cotton candy. I 561 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:01,880 Speaker 1: did not expect it to be a thing, but it is. 562 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:15,600 Speaker 1: So that's that's inner space with cotton candy. But we 563 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:17,920 Speaker 1: also can go into outer space. 564 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:21,360 Speaker 3: Take me there, Rob, I don't even know where you're 565 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 3: going with this. 566 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:26,480 Speaker 1: Well, we have cotton candy planets, or we have we 567 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:30,520 Speaker 1: have exoplanets that are sometimes described as cotton candy planets, 568 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,440 Speaker 1: more formally known as super puffs, which also sounds a 569 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 1: bit silly. Puffy Jupiter's also pretty silly cool. And then 570 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:41,280 Speaker 1: you'll find headlines that go as far as to call 571 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:42,400 Speaker 1: them clown planets. 572 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 3: Surely the origin of the of the much discussed Killer 573 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 3: Clowns exactly. 574 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 1: I mean, we don't know what their home world looks like. 575 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,440 Speaker 1: We have not. We haven't gotten to see it in 576 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:57,360 Speaker 1: any of the Killer Clowns media to my knowledge, so 577 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:01,400 Speaker 1: this may be where they come from. Okay, so obviously 578 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,200 Speaker 1: the idea of clown planets, cotton candy planets, or what 579 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,960 Speaker 1: have you, this brings to mind a lot of images. 580 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:10,680 Speaker 1: But what are we actually talking about here when we 581 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 1: get past the headlines here. Well, essentially, these are lower 582 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 1: mass gas giant sized exoplanets. Sometimes you'll see them described 583 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: as cotton candy planets. They're colder and less massive than 584 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: hot Jupiter's. Possible explanations include atmospheric dust making them appear 585 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,640 Speaker 1: larger than they really are. They are also possible explanations 586 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:37,479 Speaker 1: that involve ring systems that serve to make them register 587 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:41,280 Speaker 1: as larger than they actually are in either case, making 588 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:46,000 Speaker 1: an Earth mass world registering as large as Neptune or bigger. 589 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:50,640 Speaker 3: Oh interesting. So basically just the idea is lower density 590 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:53,960 Speaker 3: planets than we would normally expect to see. We have 591 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,840 Speaker 3: a basic idea of how planets normally form, we and 592 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,520 Speaker 3: they have a certain predictable type of density, and these 593 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:04,520 Speaker 3: are showing up as like kind of bigger and less massive. 594 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:08,120 Speaker 1: Right right, like, so they like their size as such, 595 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:10,560 Speaker 1: they're like the radius is such that they're on the 596 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: scale of Jupiter's. But when we're looking at for them 597 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 1: with say radial velocity, that's where we're looking at a 598 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,960 Speaker 1: stars spectrum as its planet's orbit and then shifts pointing 599 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:26,680 Speaker 1: to massive planets like, they don't read as massive via 600 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:27,800 Speaker 1: the radial velocity. 601 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 3: So then cotton candy because cotton candy is low density, 602 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:32,520 Speaker 3: is wrisk correct? 603 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:36,319 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, they're not. Necessarily they're not pink or purple, 604 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:40,520 Speaker 1: though I think I saw some accompanying illustrations which showed 605 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:42,520 Speaker 1: kind of like pink or purple worlds, which you know, 606 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 1: fair enough, it helps bring in the eyeballs. But there 607 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,600 Speaker 1: are some examples of these. The main one I'm going 608 00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:53,479 Speaker 1: to talk about is WASP one ninety three B great 609 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:57,040 Speaker 1: name for a planet discovered in twenty twenty three. It 610 00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:02,680 Speaker 1: is approximately one eighty one light years from Earth, orbiting 611 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:06,320 Speaker 1: an F type star called WASP one ninety three in 612 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:10,040 Speaker 1: the WASP one ninety three system. It is a big planet. 613 00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:13,560 Speaker 1: It is one point four sixty four times the radius 614 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: of Jupiter. It is officially classified as a gas giant, 615 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:20,480 Speaker 1: but it is discussed by Jennifer Cheu for MIT News 616 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:23,960 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four. The article here is Astronomers spot 617 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:29,359 Speaker 1: a giant planet that is as light as cotton candy. Again, 618 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:33,440 Speaker 1: the headlines will like to play up the candy. The 619 00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:35,960 Speaker 1: chwo points out that it may be half again as 620 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:39,600 Speaker 1: large as Jupiter, but it is about a tenth as dense. Wow, 621 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,640 Speaker 1: and this is apparently extreme, even so far as puffy 622 00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:47,400 Speaker 1: jupiters are concerned. This made it more difficult to detect 623 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:50,879 Speaker 1: again coming down to the radial velocity, and the likely 624 00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:53,680 Speaker 1: explanation that was at least discussed at the time was 625 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:58,640 Speaker 1: that it just had a highly inflated atmosphere, and this 626 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:01,840 Speaker 1: of course means we need to study its atmosphere and 627 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:05,360 Speaker 1: greater detail, you know, looking at how easily light travels 628 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:08,400 Speaker 1: through it and so forth. But apparently the very existence 629 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:12,480 Speaker 1: of worlds like this challenge some of what we hypothesize 630 00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 1: about planetary formation, you know, by some estimates, like we 631 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:20,440 Speaker 1: shouldn't be running into puffy jupiters, but they are out there, 632 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:25,360 Speaker 1: and it forces us to look again at everything we 633 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:30,600 Speaker 1: thought we knew about planet formation. Another one is hat 634 00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:33,720 Speaker 1: P one B. This one is five hundred and nineteen 635 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:37,000 Speaker 1: light years away from Earth. It's half the mass of Jupiter, 636 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:40,160 Speaker 1: but twenty percent larger. I don't know if this would 637 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:44,239 Speaker 1: directly qualify as a science fiction example of this, but 638 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:46,680 Speaker 1: it made me think about something I saw in the 639 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:50,960 Speaker 1: recent series Star Wars Skeleton Crew, which, by the way, 640 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:53,680 Speaker 1: is a lot of fun. Ofvoon out there is at 641 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,279 Speaker 1: least halfway interested and you haven't watched it yet. It 642 00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:58,920 Speaker 1: has kind of like a Goonies esque quality to it. 643 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:01,839 Speaker 1: Kids on an adventure in the Star Wars universe, their 644 00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:04,880 Speaker 1: space pirates. It's a lot of fun. We really enjoyed 645 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:08,560 Speaker 1: watching it, but at one point only mild spoilers here, 646 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,920 Speaker 1: you do encounter a world that looks like it's some 647 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,879 Speaker 1: sort of a gas giant, but it's actually an earth 648 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:19,920 Speaker 1: like world. At the center of a essentially like an 649 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:23,640 Speaker 1: artificial like ring system or some sort of a disguise 650 00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 1: system that's set in place, so sort of an artificial 651 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:28,160 Speaker 1: puffy Jupiter to. 652 00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:30,040 Speaker 3: Some extent stealth planet. 653 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:32,759 Speaker 1: Yeah, like it's there's something hidden. 654 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:36,719 Speaker 4: There, you know, like pirates, treasure, that sort of thing. Now, 655 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:41,320 Speaker 4: that's not to imply that, yes, sorry, I think we 656 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:43,680 Speaker 4: both at the same time thought where people might be 657 00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 4: running with this, not to imply there's any reason to 658 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:47,720 Speaker 4: think that about these exo plants. 659 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:51,120 Speaker 1: Correct, Yeah, I did not see anybody even chatting about 660 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:55,239 Speaker 1: the possibility that puffy jupiters are, you know, are some 661 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:59,759 Speaker 1: sort of artificial structure or or potentially a signal of 662 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:03,759 Speaker 1: any kind of like alien technology. No, that doesn't seem 663 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:05,880 Speaker 1: to be the case at all. But they are mysterious 664 00:38:06,239 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 1: in their own right, and again possibly in our estimates 665 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:12,320 Speaker 1: the homeworlds of the Killer Clowns. 666 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:15,200 Speaker 3: Sorry, I fell silent for a second because my mind 667 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:20,880 Speaker 3: has been spinning. And here's what it was. What happens 668 00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:24,160 Speaker 3: to you if you are one of those who is 669 00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:28,080 Speaker 3: a maker and user of infringing machines, infringing upon the 670 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:32,080 Speaker 3: intellectual property of the electric candy machine Company of Nashville. 671 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:34,200 Speaker 3: I think they send the clowns after you. 672 00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:37,480 Speaker 1: Probably so. They're probably the enforcers. As we discussed in 673 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:40,320 Speaker 1: the last episode, they use cotton candy based weaponry. 674 00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:43,000 Speaker 3: You're out there whipping up a cone and the children 675 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:44,520 Speaker 3: fall silent. You hear ten? 676 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:50,880 Speaker 1: All right? Well, I think on that note, we have 677 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:55,279 Speaker 1: we have finished our cotton candy exploration here, but again, 678 00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:57,800 Speaker 1: we'd love to hear from everyone out there. What is 679 00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:03,600 Speaker 1: your relationship with cotton candy, your nostalgic memories, your current frustrations, 680 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,200 Speaker 1: your your very what if your travels reveal? What kind 681 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:09,160 Speaker 1: of cotton candy do they have in your neck of 682 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:12,839 Speaker 1: the woods. Have you tried Dragon's Beard candy or any 683 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:19,080 Speaker 1: of the various international cotton candy adjacent treats? All of 684 00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:22,359 Speaker 1: it's fair game. Send your thoughts, send your pictures. We'd 685 00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:23,120 Speaker 1: love to hear from you. 686 00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:27,280 Speaker 3: Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio producer JJ Posway. 687 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:29,120 Speaker 3: If you would like to get in touch with us 688 00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:31,640 Speaker 3: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 689 00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:33,719 Speaker 3: a topic for the future, or just to say hello, 690 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:37,040 Speaker 3: you can email us at contact stuff to Blow Your 691 00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:38,000 Speaker 3: Mind dot com. 692 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:48,640 Speaker 2: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 693 00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,480 Speaker 2: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 694 00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:54,440 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listening to your favorite shows. 695 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:05,240 Speaker 3: The West