1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, the production of 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. And 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: today we're bringing you some of your listener mail. We 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,239 Speaker 1: haven't done this in quite a while, so we had 6 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:26,119 Speaker 1: an enormous mail bag to plow through. Uh And on 7 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: top of that, I have to say, I don't know 8 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: exactly what happened, but I think we have lost a 9 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: significant amount of listener mail that came in in September 10 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,560 Speaker 1: and October. And I don't I don't know exactly why 11 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: that happened, but there's sort of a gap in there. Uh. 12 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: So I apologize if if your message you were hoping 13 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: to hear is among that group. But uh, but we've 14 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: still got a lot of great stuff to get to today. Yeah. Well, 15 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: we'll have to ask Carnie our mail about about this. 16 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: But I don't know. I feel like we all have 17 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: some some missing time from September and October, you know, 18 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: some some some blank spots in our recollection. Where did 19 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: that time go? What happened? It's like the part of 20 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: your your eyespot that you can't see because of the 21 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:06,759 Speaker 1: optic nerve, but you don't even notice that you can't 22 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: see it. It's the the invisibility is invisible. Yeah. And 23 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 1: now another thing that that we're going to go ahead 24 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: and mention about this listener Mail is that, in some respects, 25 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,559 Speaker 1: this is the final listener Mail, or at least this 26 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: is probably going to be the final full length listener 27 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: Mail episode that publishes as an episode, a regular episode 28 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: of Stuff to Blow Your Mind on a Tuesday or Thursday. 29 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: That's right, Because we are gradually, as we can, transitioning 30 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,960 Speaker 1: to a more daily publication schedule. We're gonna be putting 31 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 1: out some shorter episodes that come through on various days. 32 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 1: But one idea we've been kicking around is basically a 33 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: weekly episode that we've been sort of tentatively calling the 34 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: Flaming Barrel Chats, and these will quite often be listener 35 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: mail focused. Yeah. So yeah, just to reassure everyone, you're 36 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: not going to get six episodes, like six full episodes 37 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: of Stuff to Blow your Mind per week. It's gonna 38 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: be in two core episodes. It's gonna be the Vault episode, 39 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: it's gonna be the Weird House Cinema on Friday, and 40 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: then a couple of small things, so hopefully that won't 41 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,519 Speaker 1: overwhelm anybody. But as always, right in and let you 42 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: let us know what you think as this begins to 43 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,359 Speaker 1: uh to happen, and yeah, well we'll just see how 44 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:19,799 Speaker 1: it goes. All right, I think we should jump right 45 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: into the bag. All right, let's do it. What do 46 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: we have first, Joe, Well, we got a lot of 47 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: great feedback to our episode. I think it was a 48 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: couple of episodes about nails, fingernails and toenails. We got 49 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: into some surprisingly religious territory, including that one really interesting 50 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,639 Speaker 1: paper that was trying to explain the prevalence of religious 51 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: rituals about the proper disposal of nails, and the explanation 52 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: in this paper appealed to people trying to re enact 53 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: extremely ancient, reconstructed creation myths in which the earth is 54 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: made out of the body parts of a dead primordial god. 55 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: And we we got a number of messages on the 56 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: theme of of nails and religious traditions, and this first 57 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: one comes from Alice. Are you ready, Let's do it, 58 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: Alice says Hi, Joe and Robert, thanks for the two 59 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: part around fingernails. Love. When you guys take a seemingly 60 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: mundane topic and find fascinating tidbits about it from so 61 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: many different angles. I emailed today because when you were 62 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: discussing fingernails in creation myths, when instantly came to mind 63 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: that might not be familiar to American listeners. It's the 64 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: legend from Maori culture about Maui and his grandmother Mahuika, 65 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: the goddess of fire. In the story, Maui wonders where 66 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: fire comes from. He's only ever seen it made from 67 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: existing fire or lightning. So one night, because he's a 68 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: bit of a trickster, he extinguishes all the fires in 69 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: the village. In the morning, when everyone wakes up, he's 70 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: told to go visit his grandmother to get more fire. 71 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: Now here's where we get back to fingernails. His grandmother 72 00:03:55,120 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: married aahi Roa, a comet, and their children are fingernails 73 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: of fire on Mahuika's hand. There are some gorgeous depictions 74 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: of this and various books, some of which I've included, 75 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: and she did attach some pictures. The story continues with 76 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: Mahuika pulling off one of her fingernails to give to 77 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: Maui to take back to the village because he's a 78 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,720 Speaker 1: trickster Maui extinguishes the fire and goes back again and 79 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: again for more fingernails, until Mahuika is down to her 80 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:27,919 Speaker 1: last nail. She's furious at this stage and throws the 81 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,479 Speaker 1: last nail into a tree. The legend continues, but long 82 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: story short, this certain tree is known for being an 83 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: easy tree to start a fire with. Anyway, I hope 84 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: that was interesting. It's also referenced in one of the 85 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: songs in Disney's Mohana, which is cool. Thanks for the 86 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: work you guys do. It's been great to have something 87 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: saying to look forward to in this topsy turvy time 88 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: of lockdowns and craziness that we're going through. Alice, well 89 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: thanks Alice. I did not know that. Myth I thought 90 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: was really interesting. Kind of makes me want to watch Moana. Yeah. 91 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: I love the idea of magical fingernails as a as 92 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: a as a limited magical item. So you you know, 93 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: you can literally count on your your your fingers how 94 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: many times you can use this ability. It's uh, it 95 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 1: makes me wonder why we haven't seen this more in 96 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: in um science fiction or fantasy in general. You know, 97 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: because you could have some sort of like robotic fingernails 98 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,039 Speaker 1: that you launch, you know, and your your hero gets 99 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: down to the last couple of them or something. What's 100 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 1: your I d k F a code for fingernails infinite 101 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: fingernails Now. We got a couple of messages from listeners 102 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:33,040 Speaker 1: who were who had ideas about fingernails from various athletic perspectives, 103 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,800 Speaker 1: one about ballet and one about weightlifting, and I thought 104 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:37,720 Speaker 1: these were really interesting. Rob you want to read one 105 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: of these? Sure? This one comes to us from Hannah, Hi, Robert, 106 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 1: and Joe. I just finished listening to your pair of 107 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: fingernail episodes and wanted to write in with not one, 108 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: but two examples fingers and toes on nail length hindering 109 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: ability to perform task. I'lbeit in a kind of niche way. 110 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: I'll start with toenails, since I whom it is a 111 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: more unusual example. I'm a professional dancer, and although not 112 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: a ballerina, a lot of my training up through college 113 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: was based in ballet, including work on point. For those 114 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: who don't know uh this this refers to a technique 115 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 1: of ballerina is dancing on the tips of their toes. 116 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: Ballet terminology is a lot of French anyway, Dancing on 117 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: point is achieved by a combination of strengthening the muscles 118 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 1: of the feet and legs to be able to support 119 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: the full body's weight on a fully extended foot, with 120 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:35,720 Speaker 1: additional support from specialized stiff shoes, usually layers of fabric 121 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: with hardened glue with flattened tips to help give a 122 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,919 Speaker 1: wider surface to balance on, distribute weight more evenly across 123 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,359 Speaker 1: the foot, and provide more stability in that extended shape. 124 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 1: Although apparently a lot of people mistakenly think they are 125 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 1: balancing on the toe knuckle with the toes curled under, 126 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:54,919 Speaker 1: it is actually the very tip of the toe that 127 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,839 Speaker 1: is the point of contact. And I know from my 128 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: point I you know, I recognize this because I've I've 129 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: seen Suspiria, so I know what this looks like. Man, 130 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: this is one of those things that I cannot fathom. 131 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: The athleticism of this, the standing on the toes, it 132 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: just seems in superhuman to me. That in the spinning uh. 133 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: I recently did a video yoga thing and from a 134 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: teacher that I hadn't used before, and the teacher asked 135 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: me to ask the hoovers watching the video to spin 136 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: around like five times, and I did, and then I 137 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: had to lay down because I felt like it had 138 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: it had wounded my soul to spin around just five times. 139 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: And of course you see uh, these various spinning athletics 140 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: and in say ballet or in figure skating, and I 141 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: know there are certain tricks to it. Perhaps this is 142 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: something we could come back and discuss in the future, actually, 143 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: because you get into a lot of of interesting biology 144 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: and also cultural practices. Yes, now that I think about it, 145 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: we should do an episode on spinning around in circles 146 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: the centrifugal. Yeah, let's do it. Let's let's let's bookmark it. 147 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: But let let's get back to Hannah here. Oh yes, yes, 148 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,239 Speaker 1: I was reading an email, wasn't I. Let's say, um, 149 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: when wearing these shoes, you are acutely aware of the 150 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: length of your toe nails, and it is extremely important 151 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: to keep them trims short for a number of reasons. First, 152 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: if the toenail extends past the end of the toe, 153 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: it is the body's first point of contact with the floor, 154 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: which is extremely painful and can possibly break, crack, or 155 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: bruise the nail or nail bed. If the nail is 156 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: definitely not strong, enough to support the full weight of 157 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: the body. Also, because the toes are packed tightly together 158 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: in the end of the shoe, you could possibly cut 159 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: a neighboring toe with the offending long toenail. I am, 160 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: I'm shivering. Less directly related, the pain and discomfort of 161 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: a too long toenail pressing into the floor causes the 162 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: dancer to shift their weight back ever so slightly to 163 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: relieve the pressure, throwing them out of proper alignment. The 164 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: technique requires all of the joints toe, ankle, knee, hip 165 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: to be stacked vertically if viewed from the side, all 166 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:04,199 Speaker 1: though partly an aesthetic preference. Aligning the joints like so 167 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:08,959 Speaker 1: makes balancing much easier and takes unnecessary uneven pressure off 168 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,240 Speaker 1: of said joints. Shift out of alignment and you add 169 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 1: pressure and lose balance. The strain on your joints puts 170 00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 1: you at risk for chronic issues like tendonitis and brucitis, 171 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: while the lack of stability increases the chances of an 172 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: acute injury like a sprained ankle. In a field where 173 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: such injuries can be career ending, every bit of prevention 174 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: counts this. This part of this email has been a 175 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: horror movie for me. Yeah, you don't even need the 176 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: rest the Suspiria, right. My second example is a little 177 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: shorter in Quarantine. My partner has been teaching me to 178 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: play guitar, and I noticed I was having trouble playing 179 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,400 Speaker 1: certain chords. I keep my fingernails on the longer side. 180 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: Though nothing extreme, and though they had never hindered me before, 181 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: I found I had trouble pressing the strings down hard 182 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,199 Speaker 1: enough to play the chords without my nail bumping into 183 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: the fret board. He told me I would have to 184 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: wear them shorter to progress, but I didn't want to 185 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: give up my long nails and looked for a different solution. 186 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,880 Speaker 1: Then I thought of Dolly Parton. She has much longer, 187 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: flashier acrylic nails and gets by all right, what does 188 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:13,880 Speaker 1: she do? After some googling, I found that she seems 189 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: to rely on open tuning. And what does this bar chords? 190 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: You hear the guitar person. Yeah, bar chords are a 191 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: way of So there are open chords that usually play 192 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: with your fingertips near the top of the neck of 193 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:28,560 Speaker 1: the guitar, and then there are bar chords where you 194 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: use usually one finger, usually your index finger to sort 195 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 1: of like cap all of the strings and then press 196 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 1: down some other strings on top of that. Uh So 197 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 1: bar chords um allow you to sort of like play 198 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: the same chord forms anywhere on the neck of the guitar, 199 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,280 Speaker 1: She continues. The guitar is tuned so that it plays 200 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: a major chord with no strings pressed, and you lay 201 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: one finger across to bar different major chords. This works 202 00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: in some situations, but still limits what you can and 203 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: can't play. We'll see how it works for me. Sorry, 204 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: this email ended up ended up a lot little longer 205 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 1: than I intended. I get super excited to spout off 206 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: about our freaky alien bodies. Side note, would love some 207 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:14,319 Speaker 1: sort of an episode someday about body specialization in humans, 208 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: especially with athletes. Ever seen a picture of different athletes 209 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: standing next to each other, like gymnasts and a basketball player. 210 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: It's crazy that performance optimization can look so different. I 211 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,079 Speaker 1: love the show so much and hope you're doing well. 212 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: Thank you for what you do. Oh thanks, Hannah, and 213 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: I totally get you at the end here. I'm not 214 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:33,319 Speaker 1: really into sports. I don't really follow sports at all, 215 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: but there's one thing that always amazes me, which is 216 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:39,679 Speaker 1: when uh, when the which Olympics it is. It's summer winter, 217 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: but one of the Olympics has gymnastics, and whenever Rachel 218 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:45,439 Speaker 1: watches that, I'm always kind of entranced, like I can't 219 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: believe gymnasts are real people. What they're doing looks impossible. 220 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 1: Yeah it is. It is just amazing to be hold. 221 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: All Right, we got another message from our listener Era 222 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: about athletics and fingernails. Aaron says, hey 'all, I've been 223 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: listening to your show through multiple hosts for years. I'm 224 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 1: super thankful that you've done your best to go deeper 225 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 1: and deeper as the years go on. You've educated me 226 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: and sent me down some of the oddest corners of 227 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: the Internet in the best way possible. You asked in 228 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 1: Fingernails Part two if there are any odd uses for fingernails. Well, 229 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: I have one for you. I am a former Olympic 230 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: weightlifter and have had the pleasure to represent the United 231 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: States at multiple junior and senior world championships. Early in 232 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: my career, I met a fellow weightlifter from Greece. I 233 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 1: noticed how long his thumbnail was, and only his thumbnail. 234 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: I was super curious, so I asked him about it 235 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:42,200 Speaker 1: as best I could. We hit a standstill, so we 236 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 1: found a translator. After she translated my question, he laughed. 237 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: It's for weightlifting, he said, and I inquired how well. 238 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 1: Little known to me at the time, there is a 239 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,559 Speaker 1: rule that you can tape your thumbs as long as 240 00:12:55,559 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 1: the tip of the finger can be seen. This might 241 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:00,680 Speaker 1: not seem like a big deal, but in weightlifting we 242 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: use something called a hook grip, in which the four 243 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:07,440 Speaker 1: fingers wrap around your thumb, pretty much the opposite of 244 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 1: how any human grabs an object. This gives you an 245 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,080 Speaker 1: advantage by being able to hold more weight in your 246 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: hand while performing the lift. Now the tape and the 247 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 1: thumbnail length come in here. My friend explained to me 248 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 1: that if you let your thumbnail grow out longer, you 249 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 1: can tape further down your thumb, thus making your thumb longer. 250 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:29,839 Speaker 1: Looking for any advantage possible, I grew my thumbnail out 251 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:32,560 Speaker 1: to about an inch past what I normally would. I 252 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: then taped it, and wow, did it help a ton. 253 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,559 Speaker 1: The interesting part for me was I always bite my nails. 254 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: I still do, actually, but I have never bit my 255 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: thumbnail for risk of damaging my advantage. I've stopped lifting 256 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: competitively for about eight years now, and I cannot cut 257 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: my thumbnail still it still feels too foreign and uncomfortable. Anyway, 258 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:54,200 Speaker 1: Sorry for the long story, but I thought it was 259 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: interesting enough to write in. Thank you again for all 260 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,000 Speaker 1: you do to educate us in the populace. Hope you 261 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: all are staying strong and hopefully plenty of front yard 262 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,360 Speaker 1: lightsaber battles. Well, Aaron, yeah, that is referring to a 263 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 1: tidbit I shared about having lightsaber battles with my son 264 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:11,319 Speaker 1: in my front yard and then he would sometimes run 265 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 1: to the side yard and leave me exposed, um battling 266 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: no one in the front yard when people drive by. 267 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: But this, yeah, this is the anecdote about the weightlifting 268 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: and the growing out of the thumbnails. This is this 269 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 1: is fabulous. I just had no idea this. This really 270 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: blew me away. Yeah, totally really interesting. Thanks for getting 271 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 1: in touch. Okay, we got another one about nails and mythology. 272 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: So this comes from Carolina. Carolina says the episode on 273 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 1: fingernails reminded me of a creation myth from the Mayan 274 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: sacred book The Pope Voo, in which four hundred boys 275 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 1: attempt to murder the Demi god Zipakna by asking him 276 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: to dig a post hole for them and then burying 277 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: him in it. He overheard their plans and dug a 278 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,120 Speaker 1: side hole to save himself. The four hundred boy as 279 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: conclude Zipacna is really dead when they see ants crawl 280 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: up out of the ground carrying his fingernails. Here is 281 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: an excerpt from a literal translation by Alan J. Christensen 282 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: from Mezo Webb Publications. And so in this translation, I 283 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: just want to say some of the phrasing sounds strange. 284 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 1: But I looked this up and this is Christensen's translation. 285 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:23,480 Speaker 1: I think the odd grammar of it comes from the 286 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: fact that it's kind of a transliteration that looks like 287 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:30,320 Speaker 1: it's attempting to preserve word order of the original more 288 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: than it's trying to make it sound fluid in English. 289 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: So it goes like this. Then assembled ants, they walk about, 290 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: they swarm. Then they gathered beneath tree everywhere they carry 291 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: with their teeth. Hair they carry with their teeth as 292 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: well as his nails Zipakna. Then they saw, therefore the 293 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 1: boys he was finished. The demon look at Shirley. Ants 294 00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: they gathered hither they assembled hither everywhere, hair they carry 295 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: with their teeth. There are his nails that can be seen. 296 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: Surely we did it at last, they said to each other. 297 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: He therefore the Zeppachna merely alive. He cut off its hair, 298 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: his head merely as well. He gnaws off his nails. 299 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: He gives them away to them, the ants. Thus he died. 300 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: They thought, five eighties boys, and the five eighties that's 301 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 1: four hundred, not five boys from the nineteen eighties. Uh uh, 302 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: So Carolina continues. Zeebakna kills the four hundred boys by 303 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: collapsing their house on them. They then rose into the sky, 304 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: becoming stars. I read a very similar legend from Micronesia 305 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: and thought it was strange to have such similar myths 306 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 1: from such far flung places, until one day when I 307 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: was clipping my fingernails outside and saw ants carrying away 308 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 1: the clippings. I have no idea what ants use fingernails for. 309 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: Maybe they think that they're dead bugs. I can see 310 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:59,840 Speaker 1: how such a disconcerting image could crop up in creation. 311 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: It surround the world. For most of my life, I 312 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,439 Speaker 1: grew my fingernails long and tapered them to points. I 313 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:07,800 Speaker 1: liked looking like I had claws and having such a 314 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:12,160 Speaker 1: visible signifier of nonconformity. I didn't play sports, throw clay, 315 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:14,639 Speaker 1: or participate in other activities where long nails would be 316 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: a hindrance. I was so used to having them long 317 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: that when I decided to cut them short. After deciding 318 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: long nails no longer reflected my identity, I found some 319 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 1: things more difficult, such as doing needlework or otherwise grasping 320 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:29,160 Speaker 1: its small objects. I used to pick up very small 321 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,160 Speaker 1: objects by scooping them up with a nail right after 322 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: cutting my nails. The increased sensation made my fingertips tingle. 323 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:40,919 Speaker 1: Thanks for such a consistently thought provoking podcast. Best regards, Carolina. 324 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,679 Speaker 1: I'd say, Carolina, this is a very thought provoking email. 325 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Yeah, there's a there's a lot 326 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,440 Speaker 1: to comment on here. First of all, I love the 327 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:53,679 Speaker 1: the story here uh from papal Vu and uh you know, 328 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:56,840 Speaker 1: of course that instantly makes me think of the German 329 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: music collective pop Vu. Who did um who did the 330 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: soundtrack for a number of Vernon Herzog films, including a 331 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: gear Ay The Wrath of God? Has that the wonderful 332 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 1: um uh you know South American pipe sound in it? 333 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:14,160 Speaker 1: Um so certainly somebody have listened to a fair amount 334 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:16,120 Speaker 1: in the last couple of years. Oh, when you first 335 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 1: came across them, did you not realize they were named 336 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: after the Mayan story? I made that connection pretty pretty quickly, 337 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:25,879 Speaker 1: but that they were there. They're probably the first thing 338 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,920 Speaker 1: I think of though when I think of pop them, like, oh, yeah, 339 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,959 Speaker 1: I like them. They're good. They put out some good soundtracks. 340 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 1: Um uh. The The other thing this is interesting about 341 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: the ants because when it was first brought up, the 342 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,359 Speaker 1: idea of ants carrying off fingernail clippings, that that well, 343 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 1: clearly that's somebody saw a leaf cutter ants in action, 344 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: and you kind of think, well, what you have? They 345 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 1: were carrying fingernail clippings instead of vegetation, and that was 346 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 1: what I was expecting to be like the basic connection there. 347 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: But then the idea that that they have been observed 348 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,920 Speaker 1: to carry off fingernails, that turns that on its head totally. 349 00:18:57,920 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: That's really interesting. I've never seen that before, but I 350 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: feel like I got to look that up now. Yeah, Okay, 351 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: do we want to finish up nails with one last 352 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 1: message from Bethany? Sure? This one comes to us from Bethany. Hi. 353 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: Robert and Joe, I've been thinking a lot about your 354 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 1: episodes on fingernails and have a handful unintended of antidotes 355 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: to share. I started playing violin about a year ago 356 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,200 Speaker 1: after a decade long break, and have noticed that my 357 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: nails are growing much more quickly than they used to. 358 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 1: I'm left handed, so that, combined with the extra use 359 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: of my left hand fingertips, means that my nails are 360 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: growing at warp speed, which is really a bummer when 361 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 1: I realized they're too long and I need to trim 362 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: them again. Violin playing requires my nails on the hand 363 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 1: to be very short, and they can damage the wood 364 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: of the neck of the instrument, or they can get 365 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 1: caught on the strings and can cause that awful teeth 366 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:59,480 Speaker 1: twining nails on a chalkboard feeling. My My husband teases 367 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 1: me every time time I only trim my left hand 368 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 1: nails and leave the right ones, but honestly, the right 369 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: side doesn't grow that quickly. Now for a couple of 370 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 1: gross stories. My husband and I moved into a beautiful 371 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: home about two years ago. It had stood empty for 372 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:14,399 Speaker 1: about three years and was fully ready to move in. 373 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 1: We had to do some of the standard painting and cleaning, 374 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,159 Speaker 1: but nothing too terrible. I remember the first time I 375 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,679 Speaker 1: went through the drawers of the master bedroom. I cleaned 376 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 1: out all of the drawers and cabinets with pretty standard 377 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: bathroom debris, some stray hairs, toothpaste, etcetera. Nothing to labor intensive, 378 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:31,920 Speaker 1: but a tiny bit gross. The last drawer was full 379 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:35,239 Speaker 1: of the previous owner's fingernail clippings. It was so so 380 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:37,360 Speaker 1: gross I couldn't touch them. I made my husband take 381 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:39,520 Speaker 1: care of them. What a great horror movie. This could 382 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: become a beautiful home, except all the drawers are full 383 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 1: of the previous owner's fingernail clippings. You know, I have 384 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: to say, Joe, this reminds me this is not fingernails. 385 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 1: But have you ever encountered an old um bathroom mirror 386 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: medicine cabinet that has the slot in the back of 387 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: it where you deposit razor blades? Oh yeah, yeah, I 388 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 1: know exactly what you're talking about. I thought you were 389 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:06,680 Speaker 1: gonna say, have you ever opened like an old bathroom 390 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,639 Speaker 1: cabinet that had somebody else's hair in it? Which? Yes, 391 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:11,399 Speaker 1: but no, I know what you're talking about with the 392 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 1: razor blades. Never anywhere I've lived, but I've seen that before. 393 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,639 Speaker 1: I've only encountered it like once, but I mean clearly 394 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: it was a mass manufactured thing. And like there was 395 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: an idea at one point where it's like, yeah, as 396 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,400 Speaker 1: you use up your razor blades instead of throwing them away, 397 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: what if they went through a hole in your wall 398 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 1: and then fell down into either the crawl space or 399 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,639 Speaker 1: just sort of in between the walls of your house 400 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: and accumulated there. Like that is just so strange and 401 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,439 Speaker 1: and weirdly mysterious, and it reminds me of some of 402 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 1: these traditions I've read about before about depositing hair and 403 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 1: fingernails within the walls of the house because that would 404 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,719 Speaker 1: be a safer place for them to be, so that, 405 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,639 Speaker 1: you know, evil things cannot acquire them. Yeah, it's kind 406 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,920 Speaker 1: of like the ossuary churches, the buildings that are built 407 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 1: with the bones in the wall les. Yeah. So if 408 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 1: anyone out there, if you've ever you're involved in like 409 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 1: demo or reconstruction, remodeling at all, I'd love to know 410 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: what happens when you you open up that wall behind 411 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,879 Speaker 1: that one of these these these medicine cabinets, Like what 412 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,399 Speaker 1: is it, Like, what's back there. Is it just full 413 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: of razor blades, rusty old razor blades, haunted razor blades? 414 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 1: I I have to know anyway, Bethany continues. Finally, there's 415 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,400 Speaker 1: something about other people's nails and teeth that just grosses 416 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:30,440 Speaker 1: me out so much. My husband and I have been 417 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 1: hosting a foster kiddo for about a month and he's 418 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: lost three teeth. They're all in an envelope and will 419 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 1: be shipped to his forever home. Similarly, I've been dealing 420 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: with my nine year old stepsons teeth and nails for 421 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,120 Speaker 1: years now. Dealing with disembodied teeth in an invisible pixie 422 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: that steals them from the under a pillow while he's 423 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:50,959 Speaker 1: sleeping is bad enough, but walking into my child chewing 424 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: on his toe nails and he's watching TV definitely makes 425 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,400 Speaker 1: me question where I've gone wrong as a parent. Queue 426 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 1: some horrified laughter. I've seen a lot of fingernail biting. 427 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:01,880 Speaker 1: I've never seen toenail biting, but that seems much more 428 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: doable for a kid who's more flexible. I guess, oh yeah, 429 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: these kids are crazy flexible. Um, the the the loose 430 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 1: teeth thing is certainly can be a little wiggy because 431 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: they have. They'll come up to you and there's like 432 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 1: a tooth flapping. They're like, they're like, help me rip 433 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,720 Speaker 1: this out, you know, because there's this they want the 434 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,120 Speaker 1: teeth gone. They they there's something about like they want 435 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:24,840 Speaker 1: you know, there's the tooth fairy idea on one hand 436 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 1: that you know they'll they'll be able to trade this 437 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: for money with some sort of other worldly spirit, but 438 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:31,399 Speaker 1: also just the idea of of like other kids are 439 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: losing their teeth, I want to lose some of my 440 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: teeth too. And you tell them, like, we don't mess 441 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:36,840 Speaker 1: with it. It It will come out on its own. It's 442 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: it's leaving your head. You don't need to accentuate it 443 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: because you're just gonna get blood everywhere. And of course 444 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: they end up wiggling and until it comes out and 445 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 1: there's blood and it's a whole scene anyway. But Bettany continues, 446 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: I would be interested to know if there's some connection 447 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:53,840 Speaker 1: between nails and teeth. I know that when my nails 448 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: get snagged or scraped or something like a violin string 449 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: or rigged rigid hard surface like concrete, or would my 450 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: teeth almost hurt compounded with my reaction to the kid's 451 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: teeth and nails. Just something else to think about. Anyway, 452 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: I'm sure that's enough fingernail talk for you. Thanks for 453 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,239 Speaker 1: your podcast that keeps me occupied, whether I'm sitting at 454 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,160 Speaker 1: my desk at work at a public library that's currently open, 455 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 1: or doing laundry at home. I've been inspired to start 456 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: a Lord of the Rings reread rewatch this fall, and 457 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 1: to rekindle my love of Queen by listening to I'm 458 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,160 Speaker 1: in Love with My Car on repeat after your Vault episode. 459 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: Our cars, our bodies, our minds, keep up the great conversations. 460 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:32,439 Speaker 1: I'm in Love with My Car is one of my 461 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 1: favorite just absolutely stupid rock anthems. It is one of 462 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: the dumbest songs ever written, and it's really good. Gotta 463 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: feel from my automobile. All right, Uh, I guess we're 464 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: done with nails for now. So this next message came 465 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: to us in response to our episode on Lins and 466 00:24:53,040 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: this is from Sophia. So Fia says, Hi, Robert and Joe. 467 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,199 Speaker 1: I believe this is my third time writing to you. 468 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:06,840 Speaker 1: I'm an evolutionary biologist and I'd just like to point 469 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 1: out an inspiring thought related to the kinds of symbiosis 470 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:15,720 Speaker 1: that we observe in Likens. Everything on Earth that photosynthesizes, 471 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:20,920 Speaker 1: except for cyanobacteria, is a product of symbiosis. There is 472 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:25,399 Speaker 1: always a photosynthetic component and a non photosynthetic component. This 473 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: appears to be such a go to strategy for many 474 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:30,960 Speaker 1: organisms that I don't think we can even estimate how 475 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 1: many times this happened. All plants are a product of 476 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:39,800 Speaker 1: ancient indosymbiosis. Um. That's mean intern like a symbiosis in 477 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: which one organism sort of swallows another or takes another inside. 478 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 1: Picking up between a prokaryotic photosynthetic organism now chloroplasts and 479 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: other plastids, and a proto you carry out. Moreover, some 480 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,720 Speaker 1: kinds of algae have chloroplasts with one or two additional 481 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: membranes surrounding the existing two brains of primary plastids. These 482 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: extra membranes likely formed to due to secondary endosymbiosis. Roughly speaking, 483 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:12,200 Speaker 1: a cell engulfed another cell, after which at some point 484 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:16,359 Speaker 1: it was itself engulfed by another cell, et cetera, and 485 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 1: in some cases probably even tertiary endosymbioses. Likens seem to 486 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,280 Speaker 1: be a more recent example of an In some ways 487 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:29,640 Speaker 1: similar evolutionary strategy, but the components still maintain a high 488 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: level of independence. Now, if we look at the animal kingdom, 489 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 1: we also find something similar. In corals, there's a primary 490 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: animal component which strongly depends on its photosynthetic algal symbions. 491 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,360 Speaker 1: If they're lost for an extended period of time due 492 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:50,480 Speaker 1: to increased water temperatures coral bleaching, the corals die. So 493 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 1: in this case, at least, the animal already went far 494 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: enough down the evolutionary path in the direction of obligate 495 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:01,440 Speaker 1: symbiosis being tied to this algal organism necessary to survive. 496 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:06,159 Speaker 1: I find it fascinating imagining what some photosynthetic life on 497 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,400 Speaker 1: Earth might look like in millions of years. There might 498 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:13,520 Speaker 1: very well be many different kinds of obligate symbiotic organisms 499 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: that would in many ways look and behave like modern plants, 500 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,160 Speaker 1: but having very different life histories. Some of them may 501 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:25,719 Speaker 1: have animal and algal origins, others fungal and bacterial or algal, etcetera. 502 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,479 Speaker 1: As always, thanks for the great show. Can't wait for 503 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:33,680 Speaker 1: more inspiring episodes, Sophia. Yeah, that is all really interesting, 504 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,520 Speaker 1: so thank you for getting in touch, Sophia and I 505 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,520 Speaker 1: I do love thinking about how the the I don't know, 506 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: the tree of life that we often imagine is not 507 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,359 Speaker 1: just sort of like branches split off and then all 508 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: go their own way. There's there's actually a fair bit 509 00:27:51,040 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: of sort of re growing together of branches. And that's inspiring. Alright, 510 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:05,399 Speaker 1: here's another one. This comes to us from John. This 511 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,239 Speaker 1: also has to do with lin and and this this 512 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,320 Speaker 1: is I really love this one. This is a great 513 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:12,160 Speaker 1: little bit of listener mail. Hi, Robert and Joe. I've 514 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: been listening to stuff to Believe your Mind for years, 515 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: but have never felt I had a good reason to 516 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 1: write in until your most recent episode about LINS when 517 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: you mentioned the Lins of the Arctic article by James 518 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,680 Speaker 1: Walton UM and this, by the way, this was published 519 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: UM on the National Park Service website. Lins of the 520 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:36,400 Speaker 1: Arctic by James Walton, National Park Service. Anyway, John continues here, 521 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:39,680 Speaker 1: I did a double take at the time. I've been 522 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 1: fortunate enough to do vegetation monitoring work with James at 523 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 1: the boreal forest of Lake Clark National Park in southwestern 524 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: Alaska and can tell you that he really knows his flora. 525 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:54,120 Speaker 1: When he walked along thirty transsects of moss undergrowth and 526 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 1: spruce trees. James would instantly an accurately idea the organisms 527 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:02,600 Speaker 1: that we passed, including the numerous mosses and lins. Anyway, 528 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:04,640 Speaker 1: it was fun to hear you mentioned him in the podcast. 529 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: If you're looking for episode ideas, how about one on 530 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: the salmon runs of the North Pacific. The early salmon 531 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:14,400 Speaker 1: run is an important event for bears, commercial fisheries, and 532 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:18,480 Speaker 1: um and anglers alike. It has unique economic, cultural, and 533 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,720 Speaker 1: ecological significance for communities across the North Pacific, and is 534 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: threatened by climate change, poor fisheries management, and damn building. 535 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,520 Speaker 1: Worth a look best, John, Oh, that is a great 536 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: idea for an episode. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're I mean 537 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: it's it's certainly come up in research before. I don't 538 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,840 Speaker 1: know if we've really mentioned it much on the show before, 539 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: but yeah, it's like a fact. There's a fascinating biological 540 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: story there. There's a story of humans interfering with it, 541 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 1: and then also some innovations that have been at least proposed, 542 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 1: if not implemented, to uh to help them out. Like 543 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:53,000 Speaker 1: I think there has been a salmon canon cannon, salmon 544 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,760 Speaker 1: cannon that has been suggested at times to sort of 545 00:29:55,800 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: like launch them upward over dams and whatnot? Did first 546 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:06,240 Speaker 1: say camon salmon, like out there camon salmon, salmon jam 547 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:10,280 Speaker 1: and salmon cannon. Yes, um, so that that would make 548 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:12,760 Speaker 1: for an interesting episode. And and and again I just 549 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: love the idea that you know, we this is just 550 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 1: a source I came across, and it's neat to hear 551 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:21,440 Speaker 1: some of the human story behind the individual responsible for it. Yeah, wonderful. 552 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: So thanks for getting in touch. Okay, we got a 553 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,920 Speaker 1: lot of responses to our episodes about mushroom foraging. Again, sorry, 554 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 1: we can't get to them all. We're picking out a 555 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 1: few here. One I just wanted to mention briefly was 556 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,280 Speaker 1: Thomas got in touch because in the mushroom foraging episodes 557 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 1: we ended up talking about whether it was safe to 558 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,360 Speaker 1: drink milk produced by a goat who had who had 559 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 1: eaten a bunch of poison ivy, and Tom got in 560 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,080 Speaker 1: touch to share an article by a North Carolina State 561 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: professor of Crop and Soil sciences named J. M. Lugan Boule, 562 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:02,360 Speaker 1: and he writes this article that research shows that toxic 563 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 1: compounds from poison oak ivy and sumac are not passed 564 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:08,840 Speaker 1: onto the milk of goats, so it should be safe. 565 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: I guess that's potentially good news, but I'd still say, 566 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 1: I guess, please nobody go drink, you know, poison oak 567 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:16,920 Speaker 1: goat milk because you heard it here. Do your own 568 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:19,920 Speaker 1: research first, check it out. Yeah, And so this was 569 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 1: me that said that that threw that end really quickly, 570 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:24,680 Speaker 1: just cut of an offhand, because I think I had 571 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,480 Speaker 1: heard that at some point. I I researched it after 572 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:31,239 Speaker 1: we received this email. And yeah, it does seem that 573 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:33,760 Speaker 1: that it does right across a couple of studies, or 574 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: at least two studies referring to the same thing here, 575 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:40,640 Speaker 1: that that you don't have to worry about poison um 576 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,520 Speaker 1: ivy or poison oak, et cetera passing through to the milk. 577 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:48,000 Speaker 1: But I also ran across an article that I can't 578 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,560 Speaker 1: completely vouch for yet that I need to return to 579 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: about the idea of psychedelic goat milk, about psychedelic compounds 580 00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 1: surviving and becoming part of goat milk. And perhaps I 581 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:03,320 Speaker 1: think the author was arguing it could have played into 582 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:06,800 Speaker 1: various traditions in the past. I don't know. Uh, don't 583 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: take my word on that one either. Uh, that one 584 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:13,120 Speaker 1: requires more research. But I love the idea of magical 585 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 1: goats passing on their magical milk to early humans. It's 586 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:22,240 Speaker 1: an insight from dairy farmer Farmer McKenna. He had some 587 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:24,760 Speaker 1: great things to share on the subject. No, we should 588 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:26,960 Speaker 1: come back to that. I want to learn more. Yeah, 589 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: thank so, let's see we We definitely have some more 590 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,080 Speaker 1: mushroom um mail here. Like you said, we got a 591 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:39,800 Speaker 1: lot of it. We had to sort through it because 592 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:44,000 Speaker 1: the thing about mushroom emails is that you know, some 593 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:46,680 Speaker 1: of them look fine until you start reading them, and 594 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,760 Speaker 1: then you know suddenly you can have a really dire 595 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,560 Speaker 1: reaction to them. So you've gotta be choosy. Uh. Sometimes 596 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:55,080 Speaker 1: the good emails and the bad emails look remarkably alike. 597 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:03,040 Speaker 1: So here's one of the good ones from Joseph. A 598 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:05,760 Speaker 1: few thoughts on mushrooms. I couldn't believe you didn't bring 599 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 1: up Hobbits and the Hobbit metabolism episode, since they are 600 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:12,720 Speaker 1: particularly fond of mushrooms. It is true Hobbits love mushrooms. 601 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:18,080 Speaker 1: Microphilick shy are yeah more doors microphobic? I would say, 602 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:21,240 Speaker 1: do you think so? Yeah? I think so. Yeah. I 603 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:24,680 Speaker 1: guess it's hard to imagine mushrooms really thriving there. Yeah, 604 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:27,760 Speaker 1: all right, Joseph continues, I have not been foraging, but 605 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:30,080 Speaker 1: I have been attempting to grow mushrooms in a closet 606 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 1: at home for the last few months. No luck yet, 607 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:35,479 Speaker 1: but I will keep trying. As to toxicity, when I 608 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 1: was in high school, I played in a band. Some 609 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 1: people assume since I was a guitar player, I must 610 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,120 Speaker 1: have been into illicit drugs. I was approached by some 611 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:46,160 Speaker 1: fellow students and invited to go shroom hunting. I made 612 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:48,000 Speaker 1: up an excuse not to go and forgot about it. 613 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:49,800 Speaker 1: A few days later I found out they were in 614 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 1: the ICU because they had picked the wrong type. Lastly, 615 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:56,440 Speaker 1: mushrooms might be the first food eaten just because they 616 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:00,400 Speaker 1: taste good and not because of calaric or nutritional value. 617 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:03,320 Speaker 1: The nutritional value is really low compared to other foods. 618 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,880 Speaker 1: There are over seven times the calories in venison as 619 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,840 Speaker 1: in mushrooms. Salmon has nearly ten times as many calories 620 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:13,240 Speaker 1: for an equivalent weight of mushrooms. Sure, there's some vitamins 621 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 1: and mineral, some fiber, and some species have a little protein, 622 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:18,279 Speaker 1: but not nearly as much as plants. And animals. I 623 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 1: believe hunter gathers ate them when they were there was 624 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:23,920 Speaker 1: nothing else, but also continued to eat them when denser 625 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:28,799 Speaker 1: nutrition options were available, simply because they were tasty. Um. 626 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:32,080 Speaker 1: And then uh yeah, so that's the fully meo. Interesting. Yeah, 627 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:34,279 Speaker 1: this got me thinking about other foods that we eat 628 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: that have a pretty low caloric density. I mean, for example, 629 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:41,920 Speaker 1: low starch vegetables, vegetables like celery or like leafy greens. 630 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,800 Speaker 1: You would kind of have to eat a disgusting amount 631 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,120 Speaker 1: of these foods in order to get a day's worth 632 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:50,279 Speaker 1: of calories. So it seems like we do eat them, 633 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 1: but we eat them for a reason other than, you know, 634 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:55,840 Speaker 1: filling up and getting energy from them. I don't know 635 00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:57,719 Speaker 1: if there's a disgusting amount of spinach, though, I can. 636 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,400 Speaker 1: I can eat spinach all day, No, I I love spinach, 637 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:02,480 Speaker 1: and sometimes I do eat it all day. You know, 638 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,080 Speaker 1: you have it in your smoothie in the morning, then 639 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:06,560 Speaker 1: you have it in like a case of d or 640 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:08,560 Speaker 1: something at lunch, and then it factors into whatever you 641 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:11,279 Speaker 1: having for dinner as well. Actually, one pasta dish I 642 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:14,560 Speaker 1: really like to make has uh it has roasted mushrooms, 643 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:16,680 Speaker 1: and I used to make it with roasted mushrooms and 644 00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:20,480 Speaker 1: spinach and like like a peccorino cheese. But I've recently 645 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:22,960 Speaker 1: discovered that actually, I think kale holds up better than 646 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,400 Speaker 1: spinach in the dish because the spinach wilts just a 647 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,120 Speaker 1: little too easily. The kale is a little bit heartier. 648 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 1: You've ever been to a pizza place where they don't 649 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,879 Speaker 1: have spinach? Is a topping? Oh? I don't usually look 650 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:36,520 Speaker 1: for it, but I'd be into it. It should be there, 651 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:44,680 Speaker 1: it should be offered, at least my opinion. Well, speaking 652 00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:48,120 Speaker 1: of pizza, let's go to our next email about mushroom foraging. 653 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:51,120 Speaker 1: I think there's some translation issues on this one, but 654 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:55,160 Speaker 1: I'll do my best. This is from Jacob. Jacob says welcome. 655 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:58,800 Speaker 1: It starts with a quote welcome beings from an afterlife, 656 00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:02,840 Speaker 1: and then Akaba explains that this is the Polish greeting 657 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:07,200 Speaker 1: and voyager one. It seems like someone confused cosmology with 658 00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:11,640 Speaker 1: ghosts when they were doing the translation there. Um, but 659 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:14,680 Speaker 1: Jacob says, being Polish, it was really great to hear 660 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:18,240 Speaker 1: someone to hear that anyone in the Western world quotes 661 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,279 Speaker 1: pantadas that I had to read in high school as 662 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:25,840 Speaker 1: a mandatory book in a context other than PhD study 663 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:29,839 Speaker 1: on Slavic poetry. I cannot imagine the process that led 664 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:34,640 Speaker 1: you to quote this poem, you know. I think that 665 00:36:34,719 --> 00:36:36,759 Speaker 1: happens a lot. On our show. We often hear from 666 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:38,919 Speaker 1: people who say, I have no idea how you ended 667 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:42,160 Speaker 1: up reading X Y or z well. I research is 668 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:45,319 Speaker 1: often like the idea of someone following a trail through 669 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:47,520 Speaker 1: the woods, and then you see something off to the side, 670 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,000 Speaker 1: maybe a fairy ring or some mushrooms, and you go 671 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:52,800 Speaker 1: out to look at it. And sometimes we get a 672 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,319 Speaker 1: little bit lost in the woods, but we but in 673 00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:59,000 Speaker 1: doing so we find sometimes some of them very remarkable things. Totally. 674 00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:01,440 Speaker 1: I mean, I loved our segment on pantadays I I 675 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:05,000 Speaker 1: don't regret it at all. But but Yaka continues, says, 676 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:07,960 Speaker 1: if you like such stories, I recommend a more modern book, 677 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:13,560 Speaker 1: The Wedding by Stanislav Vespianski. Mushroom foraging is indeed part 678 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,319 Speaker 1: of our culture, and visiting other countries and continents, it 679 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:18,600 Speaker 1: was hard for me to understand why people there do 680 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:21,520 Speaker 1: not like to wander the woods to do it. Being 681 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:24,280 Speaker 1: raised at the end of communism in Poland, it seemed 682 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,759 Speaker 1: mushroom foraging was part of every holiday anywhere close to 683 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:31,680 Speaker 1: the woods. Referring to poisoning with mushrooms, I honestly do 684 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:34,320 Speaker 1: not know how much vodka you need to drink to 685 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:40,279 Speaker 1: confuse macro lepiota pro sera with Amanita virosa or Amanita ploides. 686 00:37:40,719 --> 00:37:43,880 Speaker 1: These mushrooms do not look, smell, or feel the same, 687 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:47,480 Speaker 1: but unfortunately some people die every year because of that. 688 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:50,239 Speaker 1: If you like consuming mushrooms, I have a good hint. 689 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 1: Try our Malaria malia. Unfortunately, you will have a hard 690 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:57,320 Speaker 1: time to find it in North America. As a pizza topping. 691 00:37:57,760 --> 00:37:59,759 Speaker 1: I send you a picture when I make one. It 692 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: go is very well with a glass of primativo. As 693 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:05,160 Speaker 1: I do not eat animal products, I tried most widely 694 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,279 Speaker 1: available mushrooms as pizza toppings and this one wins the 695 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:13,800 Speaker 1: contest for me. However, our Millaria melia does it as well, 696 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:17,759 Speaker 1: quite good. By the way, I remember the episode about biophilia, 697 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:20,480 Speaker 1: but do not remember one about aquaphilia. By that, I 698 00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:23,480 Speaker 1: mean a phenomenon that people like to spend time by 699 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:27,799 Speaker 1: the water. Longtime listener, first time emailing Jacob, Oh Wow, 700 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:29,560 Speaker 1: there's a lot of good stuff in that at that email. 701 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:33,440 Speaker 1: For sure. Surely you love mushrooms on pizza, right on me, 702 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,680 Speaker 1: of course? Yeah, I mean I love mushrooms and pretty 703 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:39,040 Speaker 1: much anything. Well not the smoothie. I guess we're not putting. 704 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:41,920 Speaker 1: We don't put them in the morning smoothie. I'll have them. 705 00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,040 Speaker 1: I'll have them on an omelet or something in the morning. Yeah, 706 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:51,000 Speaker 1: that sounds great. All right. Here's another one. This one 707 00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:54,680 Speaker 1: comes to us from Nancy regarding eggs. They're right. My 708 00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:58,240 Speaker 1: neighbor turned me onto podcast and I'm hooked. I chanced 709 00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:00,719 Speaker 1: upon your show and have enjoyed each episode and look 710 00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:03,439 Speaker 1: forward to listening to more. I've also told about five 711 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,960 Speaker 1: people I know about podcasts and recommend your show. I 712 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:09,479 Speaker 1: have to react to your podcast about the exploding egg. 713 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:12,799 Speaker 1: I taught commercial food service to high school students aged 714 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:16,480 Speaker 1: students at a career center in Cadillac, Michigan, a small town. 715 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,640 Speaker 1: In the scheme of things, we had a large commercial 716 00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:21,640 Speaker 1: kitchen and a dining room that could see a hundred 717 00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:24,120 Speaker 1: We serve lunch four days a week for about two 718 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,240 Speaker 1: thirds of the year. One day, during lunch, a student 719 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:30,240 Speaker 1: waited on a gentleman who wanted two hard boiled eggs 720 00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:33,560 Speaker 1: with toast, which wasn't on our menu, but she took 721 00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:35,959 Speaker 1: the order and brought it to the kitchen. Because hard 722 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,360 Speaker 1: cooked eggs take a relatively long time to cook for 723 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:42,120 Speaker 1: a restaurant order, the student cook decided to improvise. She 724 00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:44,360 Speaker 1: grabbed two hard cooked eggs out of a large bucket 725 00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:47,640 Speaker 1: of hard cooked eggs which are available through commercial food providers. 726 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,840 Speaker 1: These eggs are processed and sit in a liquid bath. 727 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,520 Speaker 1: I'm not sure the composition of the solution, but it 728 00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:56,440 Speaker 1: must contain some ingredients to keep the eggs usable for 729 00:39:56,520 --> 00:40:00,000 Speaker 1: at least two weeks. She microwaved these eggs and prepare 730 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:03,560 Speaker 1: aired the plate for takeout. I was in the dining 731 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:05,839 Speaker 1: room when the students served the eggs, not aware of 732 00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:08,439 Speaker 1: what had happened in the kitchen. There were about six 733 00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:10,799 Speaker 1: tables with customers in the dining room at the time. 734 00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,400 Speaker 1: I happened to be facing the gentleman when he pierced 735 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,759 Speaker 1: the egg with his fork. Boom, the egg exploded and 736 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:19,280 Speaker 1: sprayed a ten foot circle of tiny pieces of cooked 737 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:21,680 Speaker 1: egg on the guy and around the table and floor. 738 00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:23,960 Speaker 1: Of course, everyone's eyes turned to see what had happened. 739 00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:26,359 Speaker 1: It was a mess, and the guy had egg all 740 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:28,800 Speaker 1: over him. Luckily, he was very nice about it. The 741 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:31,399 Speaker 1: egg brushed off his clothing easily and we were able 742 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:34,640 Speaker 1: to move him and prepare something else. These commercial eggs 743 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:38,320 Speaker 1: are available to prep hard cooked eggs for salad, stuffed eggs, 744 00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:41,239 Speaker 1: et cetera, but not to microwave. Buckets of eggs come 745 00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:43,920 Speaker 1: in various sizes that depending on the restaurant's needs. It 746 00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:46,200 Speaker 1: was a real learning experience and the students loved the 747 00:40:46,239 --> 00:40:49,399 Speaker 1: teachable moment. Looking back, it was hilarious and it worked 748 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:51,760 Speaker 1: out well for all of us. I said this because 749 00:40:52,040 --> 00:40:54,600 Speaker 1: I did not hear this particular reason for the exploding edge, 750 00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:57,040 Speaker 1: which was which was not a freshly cooked egg at 751 00:40:57,080 --> 00:40:59,400 Speaker 1: least that's what I'm assuming, like the ones used in 752 00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:02,760 Speaker 1: your experiments. Is there a searchable list of topics? Although 753 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:04,919 Speaker 1: I enjoy all that, I have heard friends ask about 754 00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:07,480 Speaker 1: particular subjects, such as animals, and it would be nice 755 00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:10,400 Speaker 1: to start them there to pique their interests. I also 756 00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,760 Speaker 1: would like to look up particular topics. I'm truly impressed 757 00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:16,400 Speaker 1: by the depth of research and documentation you do for 758 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:19,160 Speaker 1: your podcasts. I look forward to listening to more of 759 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:22,120 Speaker 1: your work. Thank you, Nancy Well Nancy, I would say 760 00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:24,560 Speaker 1: to start with the least fun part of your email. 761 00:41:25,239 --> 00:41:28,840 Speaker 1: I would say, Unfortunately, our podcast has become less searchable 762 00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:33,640 Speaker 1: in recent times. That's not due to decisions on our part. Yeah, 763 00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:37,360 Speaker 1: I would say, whatever, however you're getting the podcast, or 764 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,799 Speaker 1: however you're your friends might be getting the podcast, the 765 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:43,920 Speaker 1: best bet is to try and search within that framework. 766 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:46,840 Speaker 1: So if you're listening to a show at at on 767 00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:50,600 Speaker 1: iHeart radio, um you know is, then you can search there, 768 00:41:50,719 --> 00:41:52,920 Speaker 1: Or if you're in iTunes, try searching there, like doing 769 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:55,400 Speaker 1: the search for stuff to blow your mind, plus animals, 770 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:58,960 Speaker 1: because we've certainly recorded a number of episodes about animals 771 00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:02,560 Speaker 1: over the years. If our website is ever brought back 772 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:06,759 Speaker 1: from the Internet dead by digital necromancy, we will immediately 773 00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:08,839 Speaker 1: let everyone know and that that will be the best 774 00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:13,399 Speaker 1: way to search for things once again. Yeah, but yeah, oh, 775 00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:15,400 Speaker 1: I love this story. So of course, in the Eggs episode, 776 00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:18,200 Speaker 1: we talked about the phenomenon of exploding hard boiled eggs. 777 00:42:18,239 --> 00:42:21,040 Speaker 1: This is something that apparently happens pretty frequently when you 778 00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:24,480 Speaker 1: microwave a previously hard boiled egg and it we don't 779 00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:26,279 Speaker 1: know for sure why it happens, but it seems like 780 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:29,200 Speaker 1: a good candidate. Explanation is that there are little pockets 781 00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:32,120 Speaker 1: of water in the yolk that get trapped by the 782 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:36,479 Speaker 1: matrix of proteins there and get superheated, and then when 783 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:39,640 Speaker 1: they get exposed to lower pressure by cutting open the egg, 784 00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:42,839 Speaker 1: they suddenly rapidly expand and just pop and blow all 785 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:45,719 Speaker 1: over the place. I'm sure it would be terrifying to 786 00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:47,520 Speaker 1: have this happened to you if you didn't know it 787 00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:50,080 Speaker 1: was possibility. All right, Well, thanks thanks for writing in. 788 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:52,080 Speaker 1: We appreciate that, and it's always great to hear from 789 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:54,480 Speaker 1: from new listeners who discover, you know, what we've what 790 00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:56,319 Speaker 1: we're putting out, what we've put out in the past, 791 00:42:56,400 --> 00:42:58,279 Speaker 1: and what we're going to continue to put out here 792 00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:01,200 Speaker 1: in the future. Totally. Uh Now, we a lot of 793 00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:04,520 Speaker 1: listeners got in touch about episodes that we did this October, 794 00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:07,840 Speaker 1: our standard October episodes like Anthology of Horror, The Leshy, 795 00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:10,719 Speaker 1: the Minotaur. I think we're probably gonna come back and 796 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:15,520 Speaker 1: read some of those messages in our first Flaming Barrel 797 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:17,720 Speaker 1: Chat or whatever we end up calling it our weekly 798 00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:20,960 Speaker 1: listener mail related offering. But just to wrap up today, 799 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:22,600 Speaker 1: I did want to say that a bunch of listeners 800 00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,320 Speaker 1: got in touch to say nice things about Weird House Cinema, 801 00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:27,400 Speaker 1: So we we really appreciate all of the love and 802 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:30,880 Speaker 1: feedback about that. Are our new episodes that are about 803 00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:33,320 Speaker 1: are you probably know by now that we have a 804 00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:37,200 Speaker 1: passion for strange b movies, uh, you know, odd films 805 00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:39,560 Speaker 1: that aren't going to make it onto any mainstream lists, 806 00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:42,160 Speaker 1: and so we've been looking at those in these recent 807 00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:44,359 Speaker 1: Weird House episodes. Those have been a lot of fun. 808 00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:46,480 Speaker 1: It seems like you've mostly been enjoying them. I think 809 00:43:46,520 --> 00:43:49,480 Speaker 1: we heard from one person who wasn't really complaining. We 810 00:43:49,640 --> 00:43:51,839 Speaker 1: just said, yeah, not really for me, but otherwise all 811 00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:55,040 Speaker 1: the feedback has been wonderful and it's it's been really encouraging. 812 00:43:55,360 --> 00:44:04,279 Speaker 1: But Robert, do you want to read this message from Scott? Oh? Yes, 813 00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:07,120 Speaker 1: Scott writes, dear stuff to blow your mind. Weird How 814 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:09,520 Speaker 1: Cinema is an absolute delight. Thank you for sharing the 815 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:12,920 Speaker 1: joy of flock movies with the masses. I've noticed Robert 816 00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:15,520 Speaker 1: Lamb introduces himself as Rob in both episodes of Weird 817 00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:18,319 Speaker 1: How Cinema released so far. Is this a signal that 818 00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:20,640 Speaker 1: he's really letting his hair down to discuss the likes 819 00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:25,000 Speaker 1: of without warning con troll to best Scott. Uh yeah, 820 00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:26,960 Speaker 1: I I would, I guess. So you know it's this 821 00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:30,120 Speaker 1: is like the like the part in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood 822 00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:33,560 Speaker 1: where he changes sweaters. You know, it comes in from 823 00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:37,160 Speaker 1: the outside, uh and uh and is going to share 824 00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:39,920 Speaker 1: you know some some stories go to the neighborhood and 825 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:42,480 Speaker 1: make believe that's that's kind of what weird how cinema 826 00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:45,000 Speaker 1: is to me. Well, I'm sorry, I've been sort of 827 00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:48,120 Speaker 1: cross contaminating because I realized I've been calling you Rob 828 00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:50,399 Speaker 1: on regular stuff to blow your mind episode, So I 829 00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:53,240 Speaker 1: I apologizeified. I mean trying to jam the sweater onto 830 00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:56,840 Speaker 1: you while you're not. It's not that uh that fiercely 831 00:44:56,840 --> 00:45:01,400 Speaker 1: thought out a concept. So I'm I'm I'm Robert. Robert 832 00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:06,280 Speaker 1: in most situations put the sweater on. But has anyone 833 00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:08,360 Speaker 1: ever called you Bert? I don't know if I've been 834 00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:10,719 Speaker 1: a bird before. I've been just about everything else, uh, 835 00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:15,000 Speaker 1: Robbie as a kid, I think my my great grandmother 836 00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:17,759 Speaker 1: called me Robin. So yeah, I mean every there's so 837 00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:19,920 Speaker 1: many variations on it, and I think I've been all 838 00:45:19,920 --> 00:45:23,239 Speaker 1: of them before. Do you know are some Bert's Roberts 839 00:45:23,360 --> 00:45:26,600 Speaker 1: or all Berts like Burton's or whatever. I don't know. 840 00:45:26,719 --> 00:45:28,680 Speaker 1: We'll have to ask some birds birds of the world. 841 00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:31,879 Speaker 1: Bert listeners, let us know. We'd love to hear from you. 842 00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:33,879 Speaker 1: We're gonna go ahead and close out the listener mail 843 00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:38,799 Speaker 1: mail bag for today, but obviously a again, we we 844 00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:41,080 Speaker 1: didn't have time to get into everything here. Uh B. 845 00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:43,919 Speaker 1: We're gonna come back and we're gonna do listener mail 846 00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:47,759 Speaker 1: on a more regular basis, So stay tuned and then 847 00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:50,840 Speaker 1: see yeah right in, let us know. Is your name Bert? 848 00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:53,320 Speaker 1: Have you ever watched an egg explode? Ever seen a 849 00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:56,360 Speaker 1: bad movie that all these things are on the table? 850 00:45:56,560 --> 00:45:59,239 Speaker 1: Tell us about the Bert life? Yeah, tell the Birt life. 851 00:45:59,239 --> 00:46:00,719 Speaker 1: How do you? How do you of it? What's it like? 852 00:46:01,320 --> 00:46:02,680 Speaker 1: In the meantime, if you want to listen to other 853 00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:04,279 Speaker 1: episodes of Stuff to Blow your Mind, you can find 854 00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:06,200 Speaker 1: us wherever you get your podcast and wherever that happens 855 00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:08,759 Speaker 1: to be. We just ask you rate, review, and subscribe. 856 00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:10,360 Speaker 1: You can also find us about going to stuff to 857 00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:12,000 Speaker 1: Blow your Mind dot com that will shoot you over 858 00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:14,040 Speaker 1: to the I heart listing for our show. And on 859 00:46:14,040 --> 00:46:16,440 Speaker 1: that page there's a button. It's called shop or store 860 00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:18,920 Speaker 1: I don't remember you click on that, it'll take you 861 00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:20,239 Speaker 1: to a place where you can buy a T shirt 862 00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:21,960 Speaker 1: or a sticker or a toebag or what have you 863 00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:24,200 Speaker 1: that has our logo on it or a monster design. 864 00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:26,960 Speaker 1: There's some cool new ones. There's one with Pandora on it. 865 00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:30,080 Speaker 1: Go check it out. Uh see them for yourself. Huge 866 00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:33,680 Speaker 1: thanks as always to our excellent audio producer Seth Nicholas Johnson. 867 00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:35,400 Speaker 1: If you would like to get in touch with us 868 00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:37,720 Speaker 1: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 869 00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:39,800 Speaker 1: a topic for the future, to tell us about the 870 00:46:39,840 --> 00:46:42,520 Speaker 1: bird experience, or just to say hello, you can email 871 00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:45,120 Speaker 1: us at contact that Stuff to Blow your Mind dot 872 00:46:45,160 --> 00:46:54,920 Speaker 1: Com Stuff to Blow your Mind. It's production of I 873 00:46:55,040 --> 00:46:58,000 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart radios, the 874 00:46:58,040 --> 00:47:00,920 Speaker 1: iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listening to 875 00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:13,520 Speaker 1: your favorite shows,