1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. Listener mail. 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 2: My name is Joe McCormick. My regular co host, Robert 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 2: Lamb is out today, so I'm going to be recording 5 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 2: this episode solo, but Rob is going to be back 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 2: with me on Mike for all new episodes very soon. 7 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 2: We'll get to your messages in just a minute, but 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 2: first I wanted to say if you're a fan of 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 2: the podcast and you've never written in before, now would 10 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 2: be a great time to do it. You can reach 11 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 2: us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 12 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 2: All types of messages are welcome. We love feedback to 13 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 2: recent episodes, especially if you have something interesting you would 14 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 2: like to add to a topic we've talked about. You 15 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 2: can also write in with corrections if necessary, if you've 16 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 2: got questions or you're curious about our opinion on something, 17 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 2: if there's a topic you think would make for a 18 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:59,320 Speaker 2: good episode, or if you just want to say hello, 19 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 2: let us know where you listen from, how you found 20 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 2: out about the show, what you like about the show. 21 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 2: All of that is fair game. Contact at stuff to 22 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 2: Blow your Mind dot com. Okay. This first message comes 23 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 2: from repeat correspondent Renata. This came in after the series 24 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 2: Rob and I did about the great Red Spot of 25 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 2: Jupiter and JJ. If you can, let's throw on a 26 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 2: little bit of Gustav Holst's Jupiter theme from the Planets. 27 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,559 Speaker 2: All right, Renata says, Hello, Joe and Rob. I feel 28 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 2: like I hit the jackpot with the episodes on Jupiter's 29 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 2: Red Spot for one thing. As you may have guessed 30 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 2: from my very first email to you about Holst's Planets 31 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 2: and free San, I love Jupiter, especially the red spot, 32 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 2: and you went into cyclones and hot towers and folks. 33 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 2: If you want to go back and listen to the 34 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 2: episode that Renata is referring to there, I think it 35 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 2: was just called Musical Freesan that spelled frissn about that 36 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 2: feeling when music gives you goosebumps. I did that. I 37 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 2: believe I did that as an episode with former producer 38 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 2: Seth Nicholas Johnson. So yeah, you can look that up 39 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 2: in the archive if you want to give it a lesson. Anyway, 40 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 2: Renata's message continues, this is a great opportunity to bring 41 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 2: up Joanne Simpson, the first woman to earn a PhD 42 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 2: in meteorology in nineteen forty nine. Joanne Simpson was a 43 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 2: pioneering atmospheric scientist whose work dramatically advanced our understanding of 44 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 2: tropical meteorology, particularly regarding tropical convection, cloud dynamics, and tropical cyclones. 45 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,079 Speaker 2: She got her pilot's license during World War II and 46 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 2: flew into scary storms for her early research. Sometimes she 47 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 2: would even bring her young son. You almost certainly referenced 48 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 2: her work in your research, as well as that of 49 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 2: Robert Simpson, her husband. No relation to the Simpsons, though 50 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 2: I'm sure they did not appreciate the Simpsons getting the 51 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 2: Coriolis effect wrong. Joanne worked for NASA, and while she 52 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 2: worked on satellites for studying clouds on Earth, she didn't 53 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 2: directly study other planets. However, her work on how individual 54 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 2: thunderstorms self organized into larger weather systems like hurricanes helped 55 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 2: scientists theorize how giant storms on Jupiter like the Red 56 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 2: Spot and White Ovals might form and persist. The Tropical 57 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 2: Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM, satellite, which she worked on, 58 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 2: advanced the use of spaceborne radar and microwave instruments to 59 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 2: measure rainfall and vertical cloud structure, helping to design and 60 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 2: interpret data of Juno and earlier missions to Jupiter and Saturn, 61 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 2: especially in understanding moist convection and deep atmospheric motions beneath 62 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 2: the cloud tops. Anyway, I could go on. Also, Joanne 63 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 2: Simpson was my grandma. She passed away in twenty ten. 64 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 2: It's fun to hear her work coming into play in 65 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 2: a Stuff to Blow your Mind episode. Thank you for 66 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 2: All you do, Reanata. Wow, Well, thank you, Renauda. That 67 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 2: is a really cool family connection. So after we got 68 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 2: your email, I went and I read more about Johann 69 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:18,160 Speaker 2: Simpson's biography, including one piece that was her twenty ten 70 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 2: memoriam in EOS, the news journal of the American Geophysical Union. 71 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 2: This was an article by a UVA environmental scientist named 72 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:30,919 Speaker 2: Michael Garstang, and after reading this, I was thinking about 73 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,599 Speaker 2: Joanne Simpson's work in the context of Jupiter, and one 74 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 2: interesting parallel is that, as we talked about in the episode, 75 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 2: Jupiter's weather and atmospheric circulation is driven mostly not by 76 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,840 Speaker 2: solar energy, but by heat that emanates from deep within 77 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 2: Jupiter itself due to gravitational contraction. The gravitational squeezing of 78 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 2: the planetary mass, so heat wells up from below, and 79 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 2: that heat coming up from below provides most of the 80 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 2: energy that drives Jupiter's weather. Now, Earth is not like that. 81 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 2: By contrast, Earth's atmosphere gets almost all of its energy 82 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 2: ultimately from the Sun. But that does not mean you 83 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 2: should think about the Earth's atmosphere and its weather patterns 84 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 2: and atmospheric circulation as being driven by heat from above, 85 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:27,160 Speaker 2: so Garstang writes in this piece about Joanne Simpson. Quote. 86 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 2: Critical to Joanne's understanding of how the fluid systems of 87 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,599 Speaker 2: the planet worked was her early clarification of how the 88 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,359 Speaker 2: Sun's energy was used. She pointed out that although the 89 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,599 Speaker 2: Sun is the sole source of energy, atmospheric circulation is 90 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 2: driven not from above, but from below through its coupling 91 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 2: with the surface of the ocean and the land. This 92 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 2: led her to not only contribute to the fledgling field 93 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 2: of air sea interaction, but also to make notable contributions 94 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 2: to the concepts of heat islands, land, sea breezes, and 95 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 2: other surface atmosphere connections. So, in other words, Joan Simpson 96 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 2: focused on the ways that weather patterns and atmospheric circulation 97 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 2: are driven from below by radiation, convection, and also by 98 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 2: evaporation because evaporated moisture from the ocean and from the land, 99 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,279 Speaker 2: that moisture in the air is sometimes referred to in 100 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 2: atmospheric sciences as latent heat. That's still a type of 101 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 2: energy that water vapor can then condense and fall back 102 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 2: down as rain, so that contributes to the energy of 103 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 2: storms as well. But these things, the radiation, the convection, 104 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,479 Speaker 2: and the evaporation from the land masses and the sea 105 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 2: water that were originally heated by the sun, those are 106 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 2: the things that really drive atmospheric circulation and weather in storms. 107 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 2: So in a way, though the original source of the 108 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 2: energy is different, Earth and Jupiter both have this weather 109 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 2: from below principle in common. There are also a lot 110 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 2: of great stories about Joan Simpson's preference for actual sensing 111 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 2: of data about clouds from directly in the sky, like 112 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 2: using airplanes equipped with sensors to gather data about clouds 113 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 2: from up in the air and being on those flights herself, 114 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 2: as Renata was talking about. So again, thank you for 115 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 2: not a very very cool connection. Your grandma was a 116 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 2: cool lady. Okay. Next, I think I'm going to jump 117 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 2: into a couple of responses to our series on p Male. 118 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 2: This was a collection of episodes that Rob and I 119 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 2: did about animal communication based on the medium of urine. 120 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 2: Of course, humans have language in its many forms, but 121 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 2: lots of other animals, from dogs to dolphins to lobsters, 122 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 2: apparently share vital, sometimes complex information through their pee. And 123 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 2: one of the things we talked about in these episodes 124 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 2: was the role of old faction, the sense of smell, 125 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 2: which is the main sense that a lot of land 126 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 2: animals like dogs used to read the p male of others. 127 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 2: And it's amazingly weird to imagine living in the smell world, 128 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 2: of a dog being so much more sensitive than us 129 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 2: to olfactory information, being able to read so much of 130 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 2: social and even probably emotional relevance from these volatile chemical signals. So, 131 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 2: I don't know, it's like we talked about imagining a 132 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 2: physical environment all marked up with little bits of smell 133 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 2: based poetry, and from this Rob made a comparison to 134 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 2: a character from a Terry Pratchett novel who is a 135 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 2: werewolf detective with extreme olfactory sensitivity from her wolf side, 136 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 2: so she could kind of see into the past like 137 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 2: who was in what room, where, even where they stood 138 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:46,439 Speaker 2: and so forth because of smells. Anyway, onto this message 139 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 2: from Skuyler, subject line Pemil the Nose. Nose. Hey, there's 140 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 2: a cool TV show, The Sniffer. It's a Russo, Ukraine 141 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 2: and cop show about a consultant with a superhuman sense 142 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 2: of smell that he uses to solve the most impossible 143 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 2: of cases. It's quite good. I watched it on Netflix 144 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,199 Speaker 2: a decade or so ago, though I don't know if 145 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 2: it's still there. Great stuff as usual, Skyler. Well, thank you, Skyler. 146 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 2: I've never seen this show. It seems to share an 147 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 2: angle with that example where ib was talking about, because 148 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,599 Speaker 2: the idea of is like a super smeller as a detective. 149 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 2: And this got me thinking about other characters with super 150 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 2: senses of smell. Obviously, you've got like comic book heroes 151 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 2: like Wolverine from The X Men. I think maybe saber 152 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 2: Tooth as super smell as well, and in that vein 153 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 2: for rather obvious reasons. Characters with super smell a lot 154 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 2: of times have animal connections. Maybe they're part animal, or 155 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 2: they transform into an animal, or they've been you know, 156 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:54,959 Speaker 2: injected with super animal serum like they're part wolf or something. 157 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 2: You know, that's a pretty clear connection. Why that would 158 00:09:57,640 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 2: be because we know a lot of animals have more 159 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 2: powerful and more socially relevant senses of smell than us, 160 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 2: So that kind of, you know, grafts on to a 161 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 2: humanoid to a humanoid hero who gets their powers. Of course, 162 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:12,200 Speaker 2: a lot of characters like the one you're bringing up 163 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 2: from this detective show and the one Rob was talking about, 164 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 2: tend to use super smell powers as a kind of 165 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 2: investigation aid, like sensing the past or sensing things that 166 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 2: are invisible. I was trying to think about other characters. 167 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 2: It's been a long time, long time since I've read it, 168 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:33,040 Speaker 2: but I remember the narrator of Midnight's Children by Salmon 169 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 2: Rushdi had a large nose that was like always getting 170 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,200 Speaker 2: infected or congested or something. And then he has a 171 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,199 Speaker 2: medical operation and after this it turns out he can 172 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 2: like smell lies and smell the future and stuff. But anyway, 173 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 2: I started thinking about how in fiction, heightened physical senses 174 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 2: are often not just a literal physical senses, but they're 175 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 2: also metaphors for special emotional or cognitive sensibilities or sensitivities. 176 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:08,080 Speaker 2: Like I was thinking about characters who are described as 177 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 2: having sharp physical eyesight. I think that's a lot of 178 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:16,719 Speaker 2: times a metaphor for mental powers of observation and anticipation, 179 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 2: like you see things at a distance and thus see 180 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 2: them coming earlier. And it tends to be a physical 181 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 2: metaphor for cognitive attention to detail. So there's like an 182 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 2: association between visual acuity and the psychological trait of conscientiousness. 183 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 2: Powerful hearing, I think a lot of times is a 184 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:39,440 Speaker 2: metaphor for the cognitive trait of discernment, like the ability 185 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 2: to judge and decide well, and the ability to isolate 186 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:49,439 Speaker 2: relevant information and ignore what's irrelevant. I guess literally the 187 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 2: mental power to separate signal from noise, an information term 188 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 2: borrowed from auditory senses. So supersite and superhering I think 189 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 2: are the most common super sin is in fictional storytelling, 190 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 2: but super smell does pop up sometimes. One trend I 191 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 2: think is that heightened smell is often treated as a 192 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 2: bit more mysterious than supersiited or superhering. It is associated 193 00:12:14,559 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 2: with spooky cognitive traits like intuition. You get a feeling 194 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:22,079 Speaker 2: about something or someone, but you couldn't say exactly why, 195 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 2: and in fact, now that I think about it, smell 196 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 2: as a physical metaphor for intuition is already there in 197 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 2: common expressions in English, at least, like somebody saying of 198 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 2: a situation, this doesn't smell right, or calling something fishy. 199 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 2: You know that manifests in my imagination at least as 200 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 2: a fishy smell. And this is what we say when 201 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 2: we have a feeling that something is not to be trusted. 202 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 2: But it's difficult to spell out exactly why, Like you 203 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:54,880 Speaker 2: can't consciously connect to the dots, but something just feels 204 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,400 Speaker 2: off and I don't know. Yeah, for some reason, we 205 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 2: associate that with smell that may be connected to real 206 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:07,120 Speaker 2: physical and maybe neurological things about the sense of smell 207 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 2: that you know, smell is it's less connected to our 208 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:15,679 Speaker 2: conscious decision making, but it still connects to our emotions, 209 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 2: like smells are quite powerful in creating motivation states. For 210 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 2: a smell can very easily create an overwhelming attraction like 211 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:28,080 Speaker 2: to food, or it can create repellent disgust. You know, 212 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 2: there's hardly anything that drives you away from something faster 213 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 2: than like a rotten smell, And yet it's harder to 214 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 2: identify the point of origin for a smell than it 215 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,959 Speaker 2: is for an image in the mind or a sound. Also, 216 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 2: it's common in nature for a smell to exist and 217 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 2: be highly motivating even though you don't know exactly what's 218 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 2: causing it, Like a putrid smell can repel you, even 219 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 2: if you couldn't say what it was. Not sure what 220 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 2: all this adds up to, but I don't know. I 221 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 2: guess I think it's interesting that we have this tendency 222 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:06,439 Speaker 2: to use super superpowers, including super senses, as ways of illustrating. 223 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 2: They're kind of a shortcut to character development in a way. 224 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,480 Speaker 2: They serve as these metaphors for cognitive traits that you 225 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 2: want to illustrate or psychological tendencies. So I wonder if 226 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 2: this applies to this detective the Russo Ukrainian Detective show 227 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 2: that I've never seen before, Like, does this detective character 228 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 2: also tend to have a greater sense of intuition about 229 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,359 Speaker 2: things or something else that we tend to associate with 230 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 2: with sensing the invisible? Okay, this next message is from Kenna, 231 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 2: and it's also about femail. This message is referring to 232 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 2: how in those episodes we talked about a study of 233 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 2: urine scent marking behavior in dogs, which found that the 234 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 2: smaller a dog is typically the wider the angle of 235 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 2: its legs when it does raise leg you'rein scent marking 236 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 2: and there could be a number of reasons to explain that, 237 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 2: But one of the possible explanations was that smaller dogs 238 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 2: were working harder to quote lie about their size in 239 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 2: your incent marking, hoping to pee up higher on the 240 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 2: object that they're marking in order to seem like they're 241 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 2: a bigger dog than they are. Again, that interpretation's not 242 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,360 Speaker 2: for sure, but if that is in fact the reason, 243 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 2: that's rather amusing imagining these little dogs trying to pretend 244 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 2: to be big. Kenna says Hi, Robert and Joe. I 245 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 2: was listening to your episode on Pea Communication and was 246 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 2: surprised that the veterinarian you cited for reasons small dogs 247 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 2: might lift their legs at a higher angle than large 248 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 2: dogs didn't mention what I thought was obvious. In general, 249 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 2: the larger and heavier the dog, the more likely they 250 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 2: are to have hip or knee injuries. Our vet from 251 00:15:56,160 --> 00:16:00,040 Speaker 2: My Childhood Dogs said that this was especially true for 252 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,400 Speaker 2: some pure breeds, such as retrievers. But I'm not sure 253 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 2: how much of that is sampling bias. Since labs and 254 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 2: goldens are such popular breeds, you will get a lot 255 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 2: more labs in lab mixes in practice than say, purebred spaniels. 256 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 2: Love the show, keep peeing scientific information directly into our faces, Kenna. Okay. 257 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:24,840 Speaker 2: This next message is also from Kenna, responding to our 258 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 2: last listener mail episode, and in that episode, a listener 259 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 2: named Jeff wrote in about an old nature book series 260 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 2: from the sixties and seventies called Animals Do the Strangest Things. 261 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 2: I think there was also one called Fish Do the 262 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 2: Strangest Things. Oh yeah, that was it, because they had 263 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 2: the archerfish and the anglerfish. And among the many funny 264 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:53,040 Speaker 2: things about these books were that they would frequently refer 265 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 2: to mating pairs of animals as husband and wife. And 266 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:02,359 Speaker 2: also they had these passages with a sad clipped prosdy 267 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 2: and word choice, so they ended up sounding like confessional poetry. 268 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 2: I remember there was a there was some passage in 269 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 2: the Fish book that was talking about anglerfish and it 270 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,199 Speaker 2: was like the husband anglerfish is now fused to his 271 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 2: bride's body. He doesn't have to go fishing anymore. Now 272 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 2: he will never lose his wife in the dark anyway. 273 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 2: Following up on that, Kenna says, Hi, Robin Joe in 274 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,400 Speaker 2: response to your listener mail, I too had a copy 275 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,919 Speaker 2: of Fish Do the Strangest Things and Birds Do the 276 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 2: Strangest Things, and my brother and I used to try 277 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:38,439 Speaker 2: to copy the drawings mentioned in Fish was Granddad the 278 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,119 Speaker 2: lungfish who lived at the Shed Aquarium in Chicago. We 279 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,119 Speaker 2: begged to go meet him. The tickets were expensive, but 280 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 2: eventually our parents relented on the condition that we were 281 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 2: actually going to spend the whole day at the aquarium 282 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 2: and not begged to go see the Field Museum, our 283 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 2: favorite part of Chicago. Halfway through we did keep our promise, 284 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 2: but our parents were not impressed by how long we 285 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,880 Speaker 2: spent with our faces smashed against the glass, waiting for 286 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:10,040 Speaker 2: a large mudcolored fish fish tube to wake up and move. Sadly, 287 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 2: Granddad is long gone, but I have passed the series 288 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 2: on by way of a link to a secondhand book 289 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 2: website to multiple friends' children, some of whom now quote 290 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 2: the passages about bower birds building houses for their wives. 291 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 2: I guess someone is going to have to explain bigamy 292 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 2: to them when they learned about herd animals. But that 293 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 2: is not my problem. Kenna. Well, thank you so much, Kenna. 294 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 2: And as a special treat I went looking for it 295 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:37,760 Speaker 2: and I managed to find at least part of the 296 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 2: bower bird section from Birds Do the Strangest Things on 297 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,000 Speaker 2: the Internet. So this book, by the way, I believe 298 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 2: the whole series, but at least this book is by 299 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 2: Leonora and Arthur Hornblow, and it's got a section on 300 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:55,120 Speaker 2: the bower birds called the Builder. I'm going to read 301 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:59,320 Speaker 2: one of the passages here. Quote. One kind of bower 302 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 2: bird makes a garden of moss around a tree. Then 303 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:05,520 Speaker 2: he builds a house of twigs. Sometimes he builds it 304 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 2: six feet tall. He wants his house and garden to 305 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 2: be pretty. He puts leaves and moss and ferns all around. 306 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 2: He makes little piles of berries, stones, shells, and flowers. 307 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,600 Speaker 2: When the flowers die, he throws them out and brings 308 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:23,240 Speaker 2: fresh ones. Bower birds are always looking for pretty things. 309 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,960 Speaker 2: They will even steal them from another bird's bower. Okay. 310 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:31,200 Speaker 2: This next message is following up from a listener mail 311 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:35,199 Speaker 2: discussion after our series on cynicism. We were talking about 312 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:40,159 Speaker 2: whether the ever present threat of digital scams is making 313 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:44,680 Speaker 2: us more cynical. Unfortunately, I think the answer is probably yes. 314 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 2: I can explain more about that after the message, But 315 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:57,960 Speaker 2: this email is from Ian Ian writes subject line digital Scammers, 316 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 2: Dear Robin Joe. I wanted to respond to another listener 317 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:06,920 Speaker 2: mail about scams surrounding home purchases and protective measures banks 318 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 2: advise people to take, such as never clicking links, etc. 319 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:15,840 Speaker 2: Regarding phone scams specifically, I have read, though cannot vouch 320 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 2: for myself, that the scammers deliberately do things that should 321 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,120 Speaker 2: be read flags early in the call in an attempt 322 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 2: to filter out people who are on alert for scams 323 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 2: and not waste their time with them. That way, only 324 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 2: people who are more likely to go through the whole 325 00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 2: process make it beyond the first few seconds of the call, 326 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 2: and the scammers can better focus their efforts. Yeah, Yan, 327 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 2: I've read about this, but it was in the context 328 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 2: of email. I think this was an explanation for why 329 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 2: a lot of these initial scam emails seems like more 330 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 2: grammar and spelling mistakes and weird formatting and things like 331 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,399 Speaker 2: that than you would expect. The explanation given is that 332 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:02,680 Speaker 2: this actually does help the scammer, because yeah, it helps 333 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:07,640 Speaker 2: narrow things down. You can imagine that the biggest bottleneck 334 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 2: on money flowing into the scam operation is actually the 335 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 2: human scam operator's time, so they don't waste time going 336 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 2: through the early steps in the scam with victims who 337 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,640 Speaker 2: are less likely to hand over the money in the end. Anyway, 338 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:25,639 Speaker 2: back to Ian's email, Having said that, I may be 339 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 2: telling them myself by admitting that I was recently almost 340 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 2: caught by a Smischer Smischer for SMS text message scamming. 341 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 2: I received a text message purporting to be from easy 342 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:41,439 Speaker 2: Pass that my out of state toll road bill was 343 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 2: due by coincidence. I had in fact driven on an 344 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:47,719 Speaker 2: out of state toll road a couple of months before, 345 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 2: but never received a bill, so I had in the 346 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 2: back of my mind that I should be receiving one 347 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:55,879 Speaker 2: at some point. When I saw the text, which in 348 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 2: retrospect should have raised red flags, my first thought was oh, 349 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 2: fie finally, and I clicked the link. It was a 350 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:06,280 Speaker 2: standard short link format and didn't appear suspicious. It took 351 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,719 Speaker 2: me to a website that appeared legitimate at first Blush, 352 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 2: and I made it past the point of entering my 353 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,399 Speaker 2: address and phone number and it was only on the 354 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 2: page to enter my payment information that I noticed it 355 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 2: was for the wrong state that set off warning bells. 356 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 2: And then in looking closer, I noticed that the URL 357 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:27,879 Speaker 2: for the page was a gibberish url and not something 358 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:31,960 Speaker 2: legitimate like company dot com or state dot gov. At 359 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 2: that point I closed the page thankfully before entering my 360 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 2: credit card. But it was a close thing. I'm an 361 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 2: attorney and consider myself well educated, reasonably intelligent, and appropriately skeptical. 362 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 2: But because the text happened to catch me at the 363 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,879 Speaker 2: right time and happened to be something I'd been expecting, 364 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,159 Speaker 2: I almost fell for it. That's something that could happen 365 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:57,439 Speaker 2: to anyone. Thanks for a great show, Ian. Ps I 366 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:02,639 Speaker 2: have never been billed for my real toll room usage. Well, 367 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:06,000 Speaker 2: thank you, Ian. This is weird because literally within about 368 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,680 Speaker 2: twenty four hours of this email coming in, I also 369 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:14,399 Speaker 2: personally got an easy Pass branded toll road scam text 370 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 2: and I'd never seen one of those before. So, Ian, 371 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,119 Speaker 2: I wonder if you and I were both part of 372 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:23,199 Speaker 2: some kind of rolling mass text wave. But anyway, I 373 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 2: really appreciate you writing in about this because I think 374 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 2: this example illustrates several things about these scams that are 375 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 2: really important to remember. You do not have to be 376 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,359 Speaker 2: dumb or gullible to fall for one of these scams. 377 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 2: Just like Ian says, the fact that you're capable, at 378 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 2: least in some situations of skeptical thinking does not make 379 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 2: you immune. And the reason for this is that nobody 380 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 2: actually operates in skeptic mode all the time. That would 381 00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:01,480 Speaker 2: be impractical, obnoxious, and absurd. You can't go through all 382 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 2: of life and all situations looking for hard evidence and 383 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:09,440 Speaker 2: evidential verification. If I'm the grocery store and I'm about 384 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:11,439 Speaker 2: to get a bunch of bananas and my wife tells 385 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,680 Speaker 2: me we already have bananas at home, I just blindly 386 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 2: believe her. I don't need to go back home and 387 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 2: do a fruit check to verify she's probably right. The 388 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 2: cost of being wrong about this is trivial. There's just 389 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 2: no reason to put my guard up and go into 390 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:32,879 Speaker 2: evidence testing mode. And no matter how practiced of a 391 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:37,240 Speaker 2: skeptic you are, even if you're Carl Sagan or James Randy, 392 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,040 Speaker 2: you have to operate in banana faith mode for most 393 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 2: situations in life. In fact, I think one of the 394 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 2: core skills necessary for being a skeptic effectively is having 395 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 2: a good sense for when to turn off your automatic 396 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 2: trust and go into critical evidence seeking mode. In fact, 397 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,480 Speaker 2: some of the studies we looked at in the Cynicism 398 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:04,199 Speaker 2: episodes talked about this. I think the researchers called it 399 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 2: discriminate ability. That's the ability to tell the difference between 400 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,720 Speaker 2: situations where you should just trust and situations where you 401 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:16,000 Speaker 2: should not trust. But nobody is going to have a 402 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 2: perfect record at this Scammers often get around your skeptical 403 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,000 Speaker 2: impulses by crafting their pitch in a way that is 404 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:29,320 Speaker 2: designed to bypass skeptical review. So the scam doesn't exactly 405 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 2: defeat your evidence testing powers, it manages to slip by 406 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 2: without you ever using them, sometimes by disguising itself as 407 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:44,640 Speaker 2: a plausible, mundane, familiar type of transaction. I think Ian's 408 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 2: email is a good example here. So pay for usage 409 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:52,600 Speaker 2: of a road of a toll road, complete this form 410 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:54,440 Speaker 2: to receive your parcel. I've bet a lot of people 411 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:55,960 Speaker 2: out there have gotten this one. You get a text 412 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 2: message it's like, hey, you're waiting on a package, but 413 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 2: it can't be delivered. Come in or your address. And 414 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 2: it turns out this is a scam that's going to 415 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:04,400 Speaker 2: lead you to a form to fill in a bunch 416 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 2: of information. There's like, oh, check out this email attachment, 417 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 2: just kind of a strange email. Please open the spreadsheet. Oh, 418 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 2: you know, update your password, et cetera. These are all 419 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:20,560 Speaker 2: normal types of or at least seemingly normal types of 420 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 2: communications from institutions and service providers. Nothing about them unless 421 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 2: you're on the lookout for scams of this sort would 422 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 2: really set off a red flag. They also take advantage 423 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:37,879 Speaker 2: of scale, like the scale of the number of different 424 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:42,359 Speaker 2: victims they can reach out to to leverage coincidences. This 425 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 2: comes back to Ian's example with the toll road. So 426 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 2: you know, maybe the toll road scammer has some way 427 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:52,399 Speaker 2: of associating your phone number or your email address with 428 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:55,320 Speaker 2: usage data for toll roads. But I doubt that. If 429 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,400 Speaker 2: I had to guess, I'd say Ian probably just got 430 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:00,919 Speaker 2: hit with a coincidence, the fact that he had used 431 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 2: a toll road was expecting maybe to get a bill 432 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 2: and then actually got one. And this actually wouldn't be 433 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 2: very uncommon because lots of people use toll roads. The 434 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,440 Speaker 2: scammers are spamming lots of phone numbers, and the same 435 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,479 Speaker 2: thing with text messages about like a parcel delivery. At 436 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,600 Speaker 2: any given time, a pretty large percentage of people are 437 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,840 Speaker 2: going to be waiting on some kind of package. In 438 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:30,280 Speaker 2: other cases, the scam tries to bypass your skepticism, not 439 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:33,840 Speaker 2: by appearing to be something kind of innocuous and mundane, 440 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 2: but by creating a heightened state of emotion and motivation 441 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 2: that clouds your judgment. Sometimes they do this by taking 442 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 2: advantage of our desire for something like money or romantic relationships. 443 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,359 Speaker 2: You know, there are a lot of get rich quick 444 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 2: scheme scams or romance scams, or they work by creating 445 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 2: a state of fear, like this message is from the IRS. 446 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 2: You owe back taxes and if you don't pay within 447 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:04,840 Speaker 2: twenty four hours, we will issue an arrest warrant and 448 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:06,919 Speaker 2: you'll be subject to up to ten years in prison. 449 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,880 Speaker 2: They're trying to create a sense of fear and urgency 450 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,120 Speaker 2: to keep you from slowing down and thinking clearly about 451 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 2: what's going on. So anyway, the point in the end being, 452 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,399 Speaker 2: these tactics really do work, and they don't just work 453 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,920 Speaker 2: on dumb people or people who don't have the ability 454 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:28,119 Speaker 2: to think skeptically. They work on people who are capable 455 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:32,320 Speaker 2: of thinking clearly and skeptically in other situations by getting 456 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:36,199 Speaker 2: you to not think that way in this situation. And 457 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 2: this brings me back to what I originally said when 458 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 2: we talked about this in the episodes. The thing that 459 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:46,720 Speaker 2: I was saying was that I think digital scams are 460 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:51,920 Speaker 2: a much bigger problem than just what happens when the 461 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 2: scam is successful, then just the resources lost when somebody 462 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 2: actually does, you know, make the payment, and those numbers 463 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 2: are huge, by the way. I think probably most people 464 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:04,080 Speaker 2: listening know at least one person, maybe an older relative 465 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:06,760 Speaker 2: or maybe not somebody else in their life, who has 466 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 2: lost a ton of money to a digital scam like this. 467 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:15,240 Speaker 2: But the even more insidious effect of these scams is 468 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:19,480 Speaker 2: that I think they have toxic general effects on culture 469 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 2: because again, most people, most of the time are pretty trustworthy. 470 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:28,560 Speaker 2: This is actually this was confirmed by experiments that we 471 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,160 Speaker 2: talked about in the Cynicism series. We tend to overestimate 472 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 2: the selfishness and the untrustworthiness of strangers. Most people, most 473 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 2: of the time you can trust, but especially in the 474 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 2: modern technology age, a relatively small number of people, with 475 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:52,880 Speaker 2: the aid of digital technology, are able to initiate attempts 476 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 2: attempts to scam an asymmetrically huge number of victims, and 477 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:03,760 Speaker 2: even though most of those attempts fail, each contact point 478 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 2: between the scammer and the potential victim undermines general social trust. 479 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 2: The fact that you are getting, you know, scam texts 480 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 2: and scam emails and stuff is just creating this feeling 481 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:18,600 Speaker 2: in you that you know, there are a lot of 482 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 2: lies out there. There's a lot of you gotta have 483 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,320 Speaker 2: your guard up, which is bad because it makes us 484 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 2: feel less like we are safe to operate in banana 485 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 2: faith mode, even though we really are for the most part. Yeah, 486 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 2: so these things are insidious. Okay, This next message is 487 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 2: from Dave. This is about Weird House Cinema. Dave says, Howdye, 488 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 2: Joe and Rob. I'm a pretty new listener. First discovered 489 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 2: your podcast on your Zoo Warriors from the Magic Mountain 490 00:30:55,800 --> 00:31:00,120 Speaker 2: episode last year. That was one of my favorites, and 491 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 2: Dave says, and have been subscribed ever since. I don't 492 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 2: recall how I came across it. I hadn't heard of 493 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 2: Zoo Warriors before that, but I had a feeling to 494 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 2: dive in, and I'm so glad I did. I've always 495 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,160 Speaker 2: enjoyed movies and cinema, even worked in a theater during 496 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 2: high school. But growing up in the nineties and working 497 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,400 Speaker 2: at a theater, I really only paid attention to movies 498 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,920 Speaker 2: as they came out, So your podcast helped open my 499 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:26,360 Speaker 2: eyes to some of the gyms, polished and unpolished, from 500 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:29,719 Speaker 2: before that time. One of the other reasons I'm writing 501 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,520 Speaker 2: is I'm sure you're already aware, but I recently saw 502 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:35,560 Speaker 2: that Mondo Vision is releasing a four K of on 503 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 2: the Silver Globe later this month and figured you'd be interested. 504 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 2: It looks pretty dynamite, features some docs I guess documentaries, 505 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:48,760 Speaker 2: and a commentary from Zuovski, the director Andrew Zuovski from 506 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 2: twenty twelve. I really enjoy your show, standard and Weird 507 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 2: House episodes, and please keep up the good work. Thank 508 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:58,400 Speaker 2: you both for the countless hours of sharing knowledge and entertainment. 509 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 2: Best Dave from Wasson. Well, thank you, Dave. Actually I 510 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,000 Speaker 2: was not aware of this. I am looking it up 511 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 2: right now. Ooh yeah, this does look like a beautiful set. Yeah, 512 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,120 Speaker 2: so I was not aware of this. I also don't 513 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,240 Speaker 2: really know anything about Mondo Vision, but they have a 514 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,400 Speaker 2: great website. It looks like I feel like I'm in 515 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:21,640 Speaker 2: the year two thousand and two. But yeah, the set 516 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:27,080 Speaker 2: looks great with the nice cover art. Looking forward to that. Okay, 517 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,760 Speaker 2: on to the next Weird House Cinema message. This is 518 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:39,960 Speaker 2: from Pat, Pat says Rob Joe. As ever, thanks for 519 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,760 Speaker 2: the great shows. Today I write about the two part 520 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:46,440 Speaker 2: Weird House wicker Man episodes. Again, you chose to speak 521 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 2: of a unique film. I appreciate your comments and lively 522 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,240 Speaker 2: fan talk. I would like to expand some of the 523 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 2: thoughts expressed. This film is an expression of art. The 524 00:32:56,200 --> 00:33:00,520 Speaker 2: producer and director present an idea to spark debate and analysis. 525 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 2: You hesitate to call the film horror and point out 526 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,360 Speaker 2: that it is mostly mystery. You might be interested to 527 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,719 Speaker 2: know that the makers have presented a novelization which expands 528 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:14,880 Speaker 2: the story. Particularly covered is the question of how Sergeant 529 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 2: Howie was chosen by the people of summer Isle. Oh yeah, 530 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:22,520 Speaker 2: this was one of our questions, Pat says. Not part 531 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:25,480 Speaker 2: of the film was a subplot that had Howie's superior 532 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:28,800 Speaker 2: in contact with Lord Summerle Oh no, set up by 533 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:34,280 Speaker 2: his boss. That's rough. Pat says, on seeing the film 534 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 2: as horror, what defines this genre? Is it common tropes 535 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,840 Speaker 2: from a great many movies or something deeper. There are 536 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,440 Speaker 2: plenty of reasons to feel horror throughout the film. Howie 537 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:49,160 Speaker 2: is horrified by the blatant paganism he encounters. He sees 538 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 2: deadly sins constantly. He is a devout Christian witnessing damnation. 539 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,160 Speaker 2: The residents of the island see a high handed imperialist 540 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 2: threatening their way of life. Meaning in this film can 541 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 2: be found in this duality presented is an argument pitting 542 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:07,800 Speaker 2: an establishment against an outlying school of thought. The filmmakers 543 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:10,719 Speaker 2: assume that the viewers are aware of the power of 544 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:15,240 Speaker 2: the establishment and the dire consequences of Howie's report. Howie 545 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 2: represents an established culture well known for stamping out the other. 546 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 2: The ending makes sense to me in that it is 547 00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:25,000 Speaker 2: keeping it is in keeping with pagan beliefs, and represents 548 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:29,680 Speaker 2: a victory over encroachment, while simultaneously allowing a counter thought 549 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 2: on Christian reverence. The viewer must judge. I found myself 550 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:37,200 Speaker 2: thinking about Joseph Campbell and his Skeleton Key to Finnegan's Wake. 551 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:41,719 Speaker 2: Campbell shows that the scholar Joyce, meaning James Joyce, the 552 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,360 Speaker 2: author of the novel Finnegan's Wake. Joyce challenges his reader 553 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 2: to look deeply at his content, to see the symbolism 554 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:53,440 Speaker 2: in every reference. So too, can one look at Wickerman. 555 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:57,480 Speaker 2: This film is redolent with symbolism. Rich is it with 556 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:01,560 Speaker 2: images and dialogue that invite for thought? Why this seems 557 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:04,000 Speaker 2: like it was written in Lord summerle voice? Rich is 558 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:08,319 Speaker 2: it with images? The organic nature of the island, which 559 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,600 Speaker 2: can be seen as a celebration of animism. The blatant 560 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:14,560 Speaker 2: sexual worship of the islanders, which can be seen as 561 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:18,239 Speaker 2: holy rites. The endless references to reproduction, which can be 562 00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:21,880 Speaker 2: seen as obligations. The use of song to express ancient 563 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:24,320 Speaker 2: pagan beliefs, which could be seen as a reference to 564 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,640 Speaker 2: oral tradition and a connection to the deep past. I 565 00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:32,760 Speaker 2: found myself counting the references to seamen, pollination, phallic worship, orgies, 566 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:36,680 Speaker 2: sea foam, the foam from the ale, offering to the sea, 567 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:41,040 Speaker 2: and more. The importance of Howie's virginity cannot be overstressed. 568 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:44,360 Speaker 2: His seed must be potent to appease the gods. His 569 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,839 Speaker 2: struggle to maintain his virginity against temptation proves his worthiness. 570 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,440 Speaker 2: There is also the element of mystery. What is the 571 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:54,920 Speaker 2: nature of the beliefs of the people of Summer Isle. 572 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:57,920 Speaker 2: I am surprised you did not suggest a connection to 573 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,280 Speaker 2: the theories of Julian James. How do these modern people 574 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:05,360 Speaker 2: connect to ancient beliefs oral tradition. The filmmakers, in my opinion, 575 00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:09,319 Speaker 2: assume that the viewers have some knowledge of paganism connections 576 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,959 Speaker 2: of the ancient calendar. This film is set at Beltane 577 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:16,760 Speaker 2: on Walpurgas Eve at a Hinge. I find it compelling 578 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 2: to think that the population of the island are experiencing 579 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:23,239 Speaker 2: a direct relationship to their past. The filmmakers present us 580 00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:26,720 Speaker 2: with this mystery. How is this connection made? Thanks again, 581 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:30,759 Speaker 2: Pat Well, Thanks Pat, This is a great question at 582 00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:33,040 Speaker 2: the end. We talked about this a little bit in 583 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 2: the episode, but there is something I've always wondered about 584 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:40,960 Speaker 2: the Wickerman. In the scene where Christopher Lee is explaining 585 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:45,080 Speaker 2: to how how his grandfather converted the island from Christianity 586 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 2: to the Summerle form of Celtic Paganism, he makes it 587 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 2: sound like there was no force or even effort required 588 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:58,640 Speaker 2: for this mass conversion. I think his exact words are, 589 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:03,480 Speaker 2: he gave them back their joyous old gods. Implying that 590 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,719 Speaker 2: the people were just waiting to receive them Nuada and 591 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:10,200 Speaker 2: all the rest, like, Ah, finally we can just be 592 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,719 Speaker 2: pagans again. Like I said in the episode, I do 593 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:17,880 Speaker 2: not buy the interpretation that the movie is just saying 594 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:22,239 Speaker 2: Paganism good, Christianity bad. I don't know how you can 595 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:24,920 Speaker 2: see the ending and really think that is the point 596 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:29,080 Speaker 2: of the film. But I do think it's suggesting that 597 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:34,680 Speaker 2: paganism somehow comes more naturally to us, that Christianity is 598 00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:39,759 Speaker 2: something that can only be maintained with great effort and suffering, 599 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:45,120 Speaker 2: that it is a perhaps noble burden, and whenever it 600 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:50,040 Speaker 2: breaks under strain or when it breaks us, Nuada and 601 00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:52,120 Speaker 2: the rest of the gods are just there waiting. They're 602 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:55,480 Speaker 2: kind of a rest state that we return to automatically 603 00:37:56,480 --> 00:37:59,880 Speaker 2: and pat this comes to your question about the can 604 00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:03,320 Speaker 2: in the movie of the Islanders to the ancient beliefs. 605 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:09,879 Speaker 2: It doesn't make literal sense that upon abandoning whatever your 606 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:16,000 Speaker 2: current religion is, you would just return automatically to the 607 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:21,040 Speaker 2: full semantic content of your ancestors beliefs from thousands of 608 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:23,520 Speaker 2: years ago, Like how would you know the names of 609 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:26,759 Speaker 2: the gods and what they represented? All that would have 610 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:29,759 Speaker 2: to be taught in some way. But I think it 611 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:33,560 Speaker 2: is more plausible, not necessarily that I think this is true, 612 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:38,320 Speaker 2: but it's at least plausible in principle that some types 613 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:44,080 Speaker 2: of religions are just more comfortably tailored to biological facts 614 00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:47,400 Speaker 2: about the human brain and the way we relate to 615 00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:50,080 Speaker 2: the planet we live on. So it could be that 616 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:56,040 Speaker 2: religions based more on nature and fertility represents something more 617 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:59,319 Speaker 2: like a rest state for us, easy to return to 618 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,240 Speaker 2: when a vact forms in the absence of another religion. 619 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:07,439 Speaker 2: And I think again that would be plausibly because these 620 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:11,200 Speaker 2: types of beliefs are more tied to inescapable facts about 621 00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:15,560 Speaker 2: like our bodies and our physical surroundings, about us as animals, 622 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:20,120 Speaker 2: and about our environment. But at the same time, there's 623 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:22,960 Speaker 2: this good question in the movie of like, how exactly 624 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:27,799 Speaker 2: do the specific beliefs of summer Isle's lost paganism, like 625 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:30,800 Speaker 2: the names of the gods and their domains and so forth, 626 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:34,759 Speaker 2: how do those beliefs make their way to the modern islanders. 627 00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:38,520 Speaker 2: That's a really good question, And Pat, I think you're 628 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:43,080 Speaker 2: right to flag the idea of songs here that could 629 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:46,400 Speaker 2: be a kind of narrative explanation for why folk music 630 00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:51,200 Speaker 2: is so prominent in the movie. Songs transmit messages from 631 00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:55,000 Speaker 2: the past, even when the singer is not attempting to 632 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:57,920 Speaker 2: do so, and song lyrics are kind of interesting in 633 00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:01,840 Speaker 2: this way as like a as a meme type, because 634 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:08,160 Speaker 2: song lyrics can become free writing or even parasitic information 635 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:13,799 Speaker 2: information content that get repeated and spread regardless of their 636 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:17,080 Speaker 2: value to the singer. Think about how often you sing 637 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:21,080 Speaker 2: a song without necessarily believing what the lyrics of the 638 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:23,680 Speaker 2: song are saying. The lyrics are just part of the 639 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:26,719 Speaker 2: musical content of the song, but they're also words, so 640 00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:29,400 Speaker 2: they do carry a message if you think about them, 641 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:32,200 Speaker 2: but you know they're attached to this tune you like, 642 00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:37,320 Speaker 2: and you definitely discover this weird free writing information content 643 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:40,440 Speaker 2: when you like, Like if you have a child and 644 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:43,759 Speaker 2: you find yourself singing English nursery rhymes to them, you're 645 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:47,959 Speaker 2: suddenly thinking, what is Humpty Dumpty about? Why is three 646 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:52,440 Speaker 2: blind mice so horribly violent? And so yeah, there's just 647 00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:56,359 Speaker 2: this like information content stashed in song lyrics that you 648 00:40:56,400 --> 00:40:59,239 Speaker 2: often don't think about because the song in your the 649 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:02,680 Speaker 2: song when you think about it standing back from it 650 00:41:02,719 --> 00:41:05,640 Speaker 2: is just music, but it does have words, and you 651 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:09,560 Speaker 2: could imagine, based on what we see in the movie 652 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:14,400 Speaker 2: that the drinking songs, the pub songs of the Summer Islanders, 653 00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 2: may have contained a lot of information about the pagan 654 00:41:18,719 --> 00:41:23,879 Speaker 2: pantheon long after the island had historically been converted to Christianity, 655 00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:27,520 Speaker 2: and maybe those same songs persisted across the hundreds of 656 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:31,360 Speaker 2: years and helped with the transition back to what Christopher 657 00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:35,359 Speaker 2: Lee calls the joyous old Gods. So anyway, I guess 658 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:38,239 Speaker 2: that's my riff pat on your suggestion about the role 659 00:41:38,239 --> 00:41:44,280 Speaker 2: of oral tradition in the islanders connection to their past. Okay, 660 00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:46,560 Speaker 2: I think I'm going to have to wrap this episode 661 00:41:46,719 --> 00:41:50,319 Speaker 2: up here, but hey, if you would like to get 662 00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:53,879 Speaker 2: in touch and perhaps have your message featured on a 663 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,719 Speaker 2: listener Mail episode in the future, as I said at 664 00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:59,560 Speaker 2: the beginning, you can always write us at contact at 665 00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:03,000 Speaker 2: stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. We love all 666 00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:05,239 Speaker 2: the different kinds of messages we get. We don't have 667 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:08,520 Speaker 2: time to respond to all messages, or certainly to feature 668 00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:12,080 Speaker 2: all of them on the air here on listener Mail episodes, 669 00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:14,600 Speaker 2: but we do read all the messages we get, so 670 00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:17,920 Speaker 2: we really do appreciate everybody who takes the time to 671 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:23,319 Speaker 2: write in it genuinely means a lot to us. Let's see, Hey, 672 00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:25,600 Speaker 2: if you're new to the show, what's the deal? What's 673 00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:28,080 Speaker 2: going on with stuff to blow your mind? This is 674 00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:31,200 Speaker 2: a listener mail episode. We typically are a science and 675 00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:34,720 Speaker 2: culture podcast. You know, science is sort of our main beat, 676 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:37,880 Speaker 2: but we smash it in with a bunch of other disciplines. 677 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:43,160 Speaker 2: We like to talk about science and history, science and religion, psychology, folklore, 678 00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:45,839 Speaker 2: all kinds of things like that. We do our core 679 00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:50,960 Speaker 2: episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and on Fridays we do 680 00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:54,359 Speaker 2: a different kind of show called Weird House Cinema, where 681 00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:58,000 Speaker 2: each week Rob and I just talk about a weird movie. 682 00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:02,760 Speaker 2: We talk about well known movies, obscure movies, good bad. 683 00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:05,880 Speaker 2: The only real criteria is that it's got to be weird. 684 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:10,680 Speaker 2: On Wednesdays we do a short form episode, and on 685 00:43:10,719 --> 00:43:13,880 Speaker 2: Saturdays and Mondays we run episodes from the vault, older 686 00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:18,239 Speaker 2: episodes of the show. Let's see. Oh huge, thanks as 687 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:22,959 Speaker 2: always to our excellent audio producer, JJ Posway. And as 688 00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:25,319 Speaker 2: I've said several times now, if you would like to 689 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:27,640 Speaker 2: get in touch with us with feedback on this episode 690 00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:30,640 Speaker 2: or any other. To suggest a topic for the future, 691 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:33,279 Speaker 2: or just to say hello, you can email us at 692 00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:42,200 Speaker 2: contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 693 00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:45,279 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 694 00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:48,160 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 695 00:43:48,280 --> 00:43:51,040 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.