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Speaker 1: Guess what mango?

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Speaker 2: What's that? Will?

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Speaker 3: So I was looking up little American influences around the world,

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Speaker 3: you know, like how in Japan a hot dog is

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Speaker 3: called a Hota dog ou, but a corn dog is

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Speaker 3: called an American dog oo.

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Speaker 2: I love that. What else you got?

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Speaker 3: Potlucks are called American parties in the Netherlands, and one

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Speaker 3: of my favorites, brass knuckles, are referred to as an

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Speaker 3: American fist from France. But the thing I wanted to

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Speaker 3: tell you about was this little town in Brazil called Americana.

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Speaker 1: So basically, when the.

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Speaker 3: Confederacy lost the Civil War, about twenty thousand Confederates fled

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Speaker 3: to Brazil, where they established two colonies. There was New

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Speaker 3: Texas and Americana. But what's crazy is that it still

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Speaker 3: has this touch of America there. You can spot rocking

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Speaker 3: chairs on porches, families still speak English with a Southern drawl,

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Speaker 3: and they still make sweet potato pots. This has all

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Speaker 3: been passed down since the eighteen sixties.

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Speaker 2: That is crazy.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, But it got me wondering, if we ever decided

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Speaker 3: to leave America, what's the most non American American place

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Speaker 3: out there? Is it another country? Is it a US

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Speaker 3: territory and what is it that makes America America? I mean,

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Speaker 3: other than corn dogs, of course, let's dive in. Hey,

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Speaker 3: their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will

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Speaker 3: Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good friend

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Speaker 3: Mangesh how Ticketter, and today we're talking about the most

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Speaker 3: American places in the world, at least ones that just

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Speaker 3: so happen to be located outside the US.

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Speaker 2: That's right. We're gonna look at some foreign places that,

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Speaker 2: for one reason or another, have a very distinct American feel.

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Speaker 2: And we're also going to explore a few offshore territories

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Speaker 2: to see which parts of the States have rubbed off

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Speaker 2: on them and to help make.

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Speaker 3: Sense of these somewhat mysterious locales. Will be talking with

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Speaker 3: Doug Mack, author of the book The Not Quite States

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Speaker 3: of America Now. Doug spend a year touring the US

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Speaker 3: territories and came away with all kinds of amazing information

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Speaker 3: about the parts of our own country that many of

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Speaker 3: us tend to forget even exist.

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Speaker 2: I'm super excited to talk to him and for our

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Speaker 2: quiest today, we've also got a couple of part time

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Speaker 2: Geniuses calling in from Washington, d C. We're gonna hear

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Speaker 2: their thoughts on living in a city that's got quite

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Speaker 2: a chip on his shoulder thanks to its not quite status.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, DC residents are not shy about their frustration with

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Speaker 3: the federal District's lack of statehood. I mean, for almost

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Speaker 3: twenty years now, the motto on their license plates has

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Speaker 3: been taxation without representation. Compare that to what most states

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Speaker 3: put on their plates, and you'll get a sense of

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Speaker 3: how heavily the whole not a state thing weighs on them.

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Speaker 2: I know. Most states use the space to brag about

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Speaker 2: their accomplishments, like Ohio's plate Tatsa as the birthplace of aviation,

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Speaker 2: and Utah uses the plate to boast that they have

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Speaker 2: the greatest snow on earth.

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Speaker 3: How did Utah determine that it has the best snow

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Speaker 3: in the world. That seems pretty subjective. I mean, who's

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Speaker 3: to say theirs is the greatest?

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Speaker 2: I know, it's funny because states get away with ridiculous

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Speaker 2: statements like that all the time, like Virginia's for lovers.

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Speaker 2: Come on, now, it.

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Speaker 3: Was a very scientific study, and it's the same with Utah.

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Speaker 3: Fact checkers have shown that it isn't the driest or

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Speaker 3: the fluffiest or the most abundant snow, but they called

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Speaker 3: their unique mixture of snow the best.

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Speaker 2: On earth, the unique mixture.

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Speaker 3: When you try to think of a country that's most

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Speaker 3: like the United States, what comes to mind first?

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Speaker 2: Oh, it's got to be our neighbor to the north.

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Speaker 1: Right exactly, or at least in theory.

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Speaker 3: I mean, Canada is likely the place the average American

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Speaker 3: would say they'd feel most at home. And that's partly

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Speaker 3: because most Americans have a really positive view of Canada.

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Speaker 3: So last September, a poll from NBC and The Wall

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Speaker 3: Street Journal showed that seventy five percent of American surveyed

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Speaker 3: viewed Canada favorably. Well, only three percent had a negative

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Speaker 3: view of Canada. And by the way, those were the

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Speaker 3: highest ratings in the poll. People liked Canada more than

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Speaker 3: any other person or entity they were asked about.

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Speaker 2: That's pretty incredible. But I mean, I don't know who

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Speaker 2: those three percent are, because I can't imagine anyone actively

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Speaker 2: disliking Canada me either. Everyone knows they're pretty much like

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Speaker 2: the nicest people on earth, plus their land of great comedy,

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Speaker 2: like Lorne Michaels, Samantha bead kids in the.

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Speaker 1: Hall, that's right.

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Speaker 3: I was going to say kids in the hall mainly

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Speaker 3: just kids in the hall, right, So what's not to like?

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Speaker 3: But you know what's funny, Remember how much love Canada

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Speaker 3: got the night of the twenty sixteen election. Sure, as

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Speaker 3: the votes were tallied, there were all these reports about

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Speaker 3: Canada's immigration site crashing due to a stampede of less

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Speaker 3: than enthused Americans. But what's interesting is that it wasn't

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Speaker 3: just a twenty sixteen phenomenon. Every election year, thousands of

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Speaker 3: Americans on both sides of the out threatened to jump

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Speaker 3: ship to Canada should the quote wrong Canada win.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, the underlining thought is clearly that even if

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Speaker 2: life in Canada isn't the same as life in the US,

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Speaker 2: it's close enough.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Hopping the border to Canada is apparently the plan

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Speaker 3: B for lots of Americans, or at least they pretend

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Speaker 3: it is. It's kind of a if things go south,

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Speaker 3: I'll go north mentality. But the reality is it's a

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Speaker 3: whole lot harder to immigrate to Canada than most people think.

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Speaker 3: Even if you have a job in Canada, even if

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Speaker 3: you're married to a Canadian, becoming a citizen can be

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Speaker 3: time consuming and requires a crazy amount of paperwork. But

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Speaker 3: even setting aside the difficulty of becoming a citizen, there's

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Speaker 3: still the question of whether living in Canada would really

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Speaker 3: feel comparable to life here in the States. Is Canada

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Speaker 3: all that American?

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Speaker 1: Really?

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Speaker 3: I mean, don't get me wrong, there's a great deal

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Speaker 3: of crossover, but it's hardly a.

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Speaker 1: One to one.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Canadian culture isn't too far from what we find stateside,

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Speaker 2: and the food, for the most part, isn't that exotic,

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Speaker 2: though they do have stuff like proutine flavored potato chips

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Speaker 2: and camel meat apparently.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think that sounds very American.

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Speaker 2: Because we share the same continent, our economies and environmental

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Speaker 2: concerns are intertwined. But yet there would definitely be some

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Speaker 2: growing pains involved for American transplants. For example, According to

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Speaker 2: Canadian Business, buying stuff online is much more of a

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Speaker 2: challenge in Canada than it is in the US.

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Speaker 3: I like that you go straight to shopping as the

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Speaker 3: litmus tests for whether a place feels truly American. But okay,

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Speaker 3: what makes e commerce worse in Canada is that the

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Speaker 3: spotty Wi.

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Speaker 2: Fi not exactly in fact, Canadians are more likely to

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Speaker 2: have access to the Internet than residents of any other

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Speaker 2: G twenty nation, and that includes the US. Canadian citizens

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Speaker 2: have long since embraced the digital age, but Canadian businesses

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Speaker 2: are a totally different story. Fewer than half of all

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Speaker 2: Canadian companies have websites, much less the ability to sell

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Speaker 2: their products online.

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Speaker 1: Well, that would.

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Speaker 3: Definitely be a rude awakening for many Americans, and I

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Speaker 3: think the weather in Canada would be an even ruder one.

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Speaker 3: I don't want to blow your mind here, Mango, but

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Speaker 3: it gets pretty chilly in Canada.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good point. There are parts of the

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Speaker 2: US that experience some freezing cold winters, but that's true

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Speaker 2: of all of Canada. In fact, Canada vies with Russia

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Speaker 2: for the title of coldest country in the world. Oh wow,

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Speaker 2: The average daily annual temperature in the Great White North

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Speaker 2: a bomby twenty two degrees fahrenheit.

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Speaker 3: Iike's just thinking about that makes me want to reach

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Speaker 3: for the thermostat. So but I'm glad we're touching on climate.

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Speaker 3: That's one of the major points of departure you're going

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Speaker 3: to run into with any stand in for the States.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, our location in the sheer size of the continental

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Speaker 2: US allows for a lot of diversity in terms of

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Speaker 2: geography and climate. That's an aspect of life in America

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Speaker 2: that's tough for a lot of regions to match, even

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Speaker 2: if they do have same data delivery from Amazon. But

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Speaker 2: I think the biggest obstacle in trying to find another

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Speaker 2: country that feels American is the history itself.

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Speaker 1: What do you mean by that, Well, a.

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Speaker 2: Country's history and the sense that it's shared by the

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Speaker 2: people who live there. That's a large part of what

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Speaker 2: makes a place feel like home. Countries like Canada and

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Speaker 2: Australia have similar histories of European colonization to that of

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Speaker 2: the US. That's maybe part of the reason they feel

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Speaker 2: more American. Does Still, all the specifics of those histories

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Speaker 2: and the cultures they spurred are very different, and it's

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Speaker 2: those kind of details that really seem to help us

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Speaker 2: identify ourselves as Americans.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that sounds right to me. I mean, imagine in

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Speaker 3: America where the people didn't feel a swell of pride

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Speaker 3: when they spotted the Statue of Liberty, or feel a

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Speaker 3: twinge of childhood nostalgia when they heard notes from Yankee

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Speaker 3: Doodle could you ever really say a place like that

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Speaker 3: felt American? Well, plenty of people wouldn't be so lofty

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Speaker 3: and describing what makes America America. I mean, it's not

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Speaker 3: for nothing that we have the largest economy in the world.

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Speaker 3: Americans like to spend money, and we have tons of

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Speaker 3: options for where to spend it. See, it all comes

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Speaker 3: back to shopping. It really isn'tes capable. I mean, look

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Speaker 3: at fast food, for better or worse. It's become synonymous

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Speaker 3: with American culture. So any stand in country worth its

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Speaker 3: salt would have its fair share of golden arches. Now,

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Speaker 3: it's no surprise that the US leads and the total

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Speaker 3: number of McDonald's restaurants at about fourteen thousand, but there

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Speaker 3: are a few countries that are gaining ground. China, for instance,

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Speaker 3: has around two thousand McDonald's, in Japan nearly three thousand.

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Speaker 2: Whoa, they're really catching off.

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Speaker 3: In fact, US sales now only account for about thirty

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Speaker 3: one percent of McDonald's total revenues, according to Investipedia. The

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Speaker 3: rest comes from countries that are fast adapting to American taste.

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Speaker 3: And it's not just burgers. The KFC chain has become

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Speaker 3: ubiquitous in Asian markets.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I get that. I mean KFC has been steadily

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Speaker 2: expanding in both Japan and China for the past decade.

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Speaker 2: China has even overtaken the US for a number of

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Speaker 2: total KFCs, more than forty five hundred.

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Speaker 3: Oh wow, So as Kentucky Fried Chicken more Chinese than America.

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Speaker 2: Now, well, it's actually more Japanese.

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Speaker 1: Oh really, how's that for one thing?

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Speaker 2: KFC's mascot, Colonel Sanders, is hugely popular in Japan. He's

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Speaker 2: emphasized in all the marketing, the employee uniforms, even in

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Speaker 2: his trademark bulow tie. They even have a Colonel mascot

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Speaker 2: costume with a big Emoji style head for the customers

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Speaker 2: to take selfies with.

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Speaker 3: It's a little bit creepy. I mean, he was also

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Speaker 3: the founder, right, a real person. It's sort of like

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Speaker 3: if Disneyland had employees wearing big Walt Disney mask prowling

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Speaker 3: the park instead of Mickey Mouse.

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Speaker 2: Thankfully, that's something even the international Disney parks have avoided doing.

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Speaker 2: But it does get me thinking, could Disney theme parks

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Speaker 2: be some of the most American places in the world.

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Speaker 3: Well, you might be onto something there. Last year, Branding

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Speaker 3: magazine pulled nearly five thousand people between sixteen and sixty five.

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Speaker 3: They asked him to evaluate the patriotism of two hundred

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Speaker 3: and forty eight US brands.

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Speaker 1: Any idea who was at the top of the list.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna go on a limb here and say, uh, Disney.

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Speaker 1: That's right.

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Speaker 3: In fact, ninety eight percent associated the Disney brand with

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Speaker 3: US patriotism.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, a study, exposure to American brands in entertainment has

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Speaker 2: gone a long way toward making other parts of the

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Speaker 2: world feel a little more American, for better or for worse.

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Speaker 2: In fact, that's even true of our own offshore territories,

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Speaker 2: which are their own unique mixes of island native and

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Speaker 2: modern American col Very true.

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Speaker 3: But before we get into the strange, not at all

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Speaker 3: straightforward world of US territories, what do you say we

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Speaker 3: check in with our DC residents for an all American quiz?

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Speaker 2: Let's do it.

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Speaker 1: So, who do we have on the line today? Mango?

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Speaker 2: We have Drake and Don who are both DC residents

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Speaker 2: and in a strange coincidence, both of them have traveled

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Speaker 2: to nearly all fifty states.

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Speaker 1: Oh wow, yeah, So let's start with you. Will, You've

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Speaker 1: been to forty nine states, Is that right?

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Speaker 4: That's right?

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Speaker 1: So which one is missing on the list?

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Speaker 4: I have not been to North Dakota yet.

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Speaker 1: To North Dakota, it's going to say Hawaii or Alaska.

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Speaker 1: So what do you have against North Dakota.

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Speaker 4: Well, if you think about everything that's cool to visit

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Speaker 4: in the Dakota's whether it's Rushmore or Deadwood or Rapid City,

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Speaker 4: that's all South Dakota.

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Speaker 1: Man, all of our North Dakota listeners are going to

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Speaker 1: be so angry after hearing this. This could get out definitely.

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Speaker 3: Well yeah, yeah, alright, Well that's still pretty impressive. And

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Speaker 3: don I think you've been to what is it forty.

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Speaker 5: Eight I've been to forty eight states?

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Speaker 4: Yes, all right?

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Speaker 1: And what's missing on your list?

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Speaker 5: So what's missing is Wyoming and Alaska. But so as

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Speaker 5: somebody that has visited North Dakota, you haven't lived until

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Speaker 5: you've had dinner in Bismark.

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Speaker 2: Some bulled words, I like that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, all right.

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Speaker 3: Well, actually, Drake, you're also in the process of striking

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Speaker 3: off another list, and that is visiting every Major League

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Speaker 3: baseball park in America. Now, how many of you hit

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Speaker 3: at this point?

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Speaker 4: As of a few days ago twenty six wow.

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Speaker 1: Okay, all right, twenty six out of how many are there?

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Speaker 4: Thirty?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Okay, okay, well done. All right, well let's get to it.

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Speaker 3: We've got two DC residents here to play a game.

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Speaker 3: And what's the game called Mango?

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Speaker 2: It's a little quiz called DC or not DC?

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Speaker 3: All right, So we'll read a statement about Washington DC,

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Speaker 3: and if you think it's true, you'll say d C.

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Speaker 3: If you think it's false, you'll say not DC. Not

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Speaker 3: that confusing, all right, So you'll be working as a team.

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Speaker 3: We thought DC residents need to stick together and all

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Speaker 3: of their anger over not being a state, So we're

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Speaker 3: gonna let you collaborate, you guys. Ready, I good, Ready,

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Speaker 3: all right, let's do it. Question number one, It wasn't

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Speaker 3: until nineteen sixty one that DC residents got the right

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Speaker 3: to vote in presidential elections DC or not DC.

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Speaker 4: I'm not sure the date, but that sounds right. What

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Speaker 4: do you think done?

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Speaker 5: I don't know why it would have been nineteen sixty

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Speaker 5: I'm gonna go not DC. Actually, I think I think

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Speaker 5: we've been able to vote presidential longer.

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Speaker 4: I'm gonna deffer.

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Speaker 1: He's deferring, such a gentleman, but unfortunately.

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Speaker 2: It is d C. The twenty third Amendment gave them

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Speaker 2: the right. Yeah, and they first exercised that right in

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Speaker 2: the nineteen sixty four elections.

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Speaker 3: So don was actually thinking along the right lines of

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Speaker 3: like why would it be nineteen sixty one when it

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Speaker 3: wasn't exercised until sixty four. So I think we should

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Speaker 3: give him half a point for like putting that reasoning together.

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Speaker 1: So let's let's do that.

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Speaker 2: So just like DC's have to state that's.

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Speaker 1: Right, all right, not even all right? Question number two.

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Speaker 3: Underneath d C, there's a semi secret metro line that

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Speaker 3: runs congressmen and staffers between the office buildings. That is true,

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Speaker 3: all right, absolutely, yeah, Yeah.

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Speaker 1: What's it called.

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Speaker 2: It's called a Capital Subway system, and it makes over

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Speaker 2: two hundred runs a day.

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Speaker 3: Oh wow, okay, all right, so they have one and

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Speaker 3: a half points so far. Let's see what happens next.

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Speaker 3: Question number three. When Nixon accepted the gift of two

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Speaker 3: pandas to DC's national Zoo, he returned the favor by

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Speaker 3: sending them a pair of RCA speakers and a collection

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Speaker 3: of Danny k records.

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Speaker 4: D C or not DC, it's just dumb enough that

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Speaker 4: it might be true.

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Speaker 5: I don't know, you think that sounds like that sounds

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Speaker 5: like a tacky, tacky American thing to do.

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Speaker 6: Who is it, Danny K?

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Speaker 1: Yeah? Is that not the jam you were listening to

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Speaker 1: before you call it?

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Speaker 5: I just turned off the eight tracks.

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Speaker 6: I'm gonna go DC.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's actually not d C. Nixon actually sent them

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Speaker 2: a gift that was way tack here a pair of

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Speaker 2: Muskoks named Milton and Matilda, and according to the New

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Speaker 2: York Times, they weren't exactly quality cattle. Milton in particular

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Speaker 2: was complaining of post nasal drip, a cough, and his

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Speaker 2: hair seemed to be falling out on arrival.

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Speaker 3: What a sweet gift. God, Okay, all right, I sense

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Speaker 3: the stormback. They've got three questions left, all right? Question

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Speaker 3: number four. While Washington, d C. Isn't a state, it

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Speaker 3: does have a listed state flower, the American Beauty Rose

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Speaker 3: DC or not DC.

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Speaker 4: You know what it sounds to me like, it's probably right?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you're right, d Here we go, two questions left.

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Speaker 3: The first show, Viz Pizza, opened in Washington, d C.

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Speaker 3: In nineteen eighty. Vice President George Bush joins Spain's ambassador

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Speaker 3: to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony DC or

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Speaker 3: not DC?

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Speaker 4: Where does this stuff come from history books or not?

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Speaker 4: There's no way that's true.

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Speaker 1: I think Don should probably agree with you.

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Speaker 3: Let's see correct, all right? To finish up strong for

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Speaker 3: the big prize, here we go Question number six. Spiked

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Speaker 3: dog collars were invented in Washington, d C. By famed

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Speaker 3: dog breeder Gareth Winchester to make his Bassett hounds look

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Speaker 3: more intimidating. DC or not DC.

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Speaker 4: I'm going I'm going correct.

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Speaker 1: Who is Gareth Winchester?

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Speaker 2: We don't know who Gareth Winter? Say that name up?

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Speaker 1: Well, okay, so how have these guys done?

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Speaker 2: Our contestants got a stunning four point five out of five.

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Speaker 2: So not only will they get the note to their

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Speaker 2: mom or boss from us singing their praises, but we're

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Speaker 2: also sending them a vintage Republican Congressional cookbook filled with

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Speaker 2: delicious American recipes fans of any political party can enjoy.

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Speaker 3: So congratulations Don and Drake. Thanks for joining us on

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Speaker 3: Part Time Genius.

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Speaker 6: Thank you guys.

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Speaker 3: You're listening to Part Time Genius and we're talking about

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Speaker 3: the most American places in the world. So Mango, we've

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Speaker 3: been focusing on places that somehow feel American despite being

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Speaker 3: outside of the United States.

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Speaker 1: But before the break, you've touched on the topic of

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Speaker 1: US territories.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the territories are like these incredible scattered American gens

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Speaker 2: that are sadly overlooked by most of US. Puerto Rico

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Speaker 2: is the most famous by far of the five inhabited

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Speaker 2: US territories, the other four being the US Virgin Islands,

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Speaker 2: which is also in the Caribbean, plus American Samoa, Guam

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Speaker 2: and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific. They're also

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Speaker 2: about a dozen uninhabited islands that also technically count as

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Speaker 2: American soil.

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Speaker 3: All right, so there are five of them. That is

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Speaker 3: not something I could have told you before. And I

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Speaker 3: feel like we need a way to commit them to memory.

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Speaker 3: And you know how much I like namonic device is mango.

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Speaker 3: Can we just take a minute to come up with

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Speaker 3: a good way to remember all five.

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Speaker 2: That's a great idea, Okay, So we go by population

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Speaker 2: size from largest to smallest. That gives US Puerto Rico, Guam,

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Speaker 2: US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands pg

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Speaker 2: U A N.

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Speaker 3: I was kind of hoping it would make a word

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Speaker 3: by myself. All right, well let's think about this then.

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Speaker 3: How about let's see pg u a peguan.

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Speaker 1: That's not a word, all right. Pancakes grow under.

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Speaker 3: A nice tree, and nice tree is one word, by

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Speaker 3: the way, so don't call me out on that.

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Speaker 1: Pancakes grow under a nice tree. That's how you remember.

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Speaker 2: Oh that's good. Or maybe pickles get ugly after man.

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Speaker 2: I was gonna say knifing, but that's supposed the k

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Speaker 2: or gnawing, which starts to the G stupid silent letter.

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Speaker 2: How about pickles get ugly after negotiations? Negotiations, Yeah, negotiations

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Speaker 2: will wear anyone down. I was going to suggest neglect there, yeah, if,

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Speaker 2: But negotiation is just funny to picture and easier to remember.

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Speaker 1: All right, good point.

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Speaker 3: Okay, I think we both nailed it, But we know

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Speaker 3: our listeners are smarter than we are.

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Speaker 1: So let's make this a contest. Come up with a.

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Speaker 3: Better mnemonic for how to remember the five US territories,

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Speaker 3: and we'll award our favorite three with part Time Genius

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Speaker 3: t shirts. Just send your entries along with your mailing

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Speaker 3: address to part Time Genius at HowStuffWorks dot com, or

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Speaker 3: you can find us on Facebook or Twitter.

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Speaker 2: I can't wait to hear from them. Okay, back to

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Speaker 2: the territories.

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Speaker 3: Okay, we should note that we're following Doug Max's lead

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Speaker 3: on this by kind of broadly grouping them all together

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Speaker 3: as territories. But the logistics are a little more nuanced

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Speaker 3: than that.

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Speaker 2: Right. A territory can either be organized or unorganized, and

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Speaker 2: also incorporated or unincorporated. And then there are Puerto Rico

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Speaker 2: and the Northern Mariana Islands, which are officially commonwealth rather

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Speaker 2: than territories. It's all maybe a little too nuanced for

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Speaker 2: us to get into here.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I know.

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Speaker 3: There are all these distinctions that are used to describe

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Speaker 3: the extent to which the Constitution and federal laws applies,

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Speaker 3: well as whether a place is fully considered.

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Speaker 1: Part of the US. It's actually kind of a big mess.

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Speaker 2: You can really tell that the territories were acquired without

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Speaker 2: any solid long term plan for them. I mean, all

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Speaker 2: but nineteen of the current fifty states started out as

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Speaker 2: US territories, but that path to statehood has never seemed

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Speaker 2: like a serious option for places like Guam in the

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Speaker 2: Virgin Islands.

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Speaker 4: Right.

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Speaker 3: Which isn't to say that the US claimed than without

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Speaker 3: any rhyme or reason though.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, why do we start grabbing up offshore of territories anyway?

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Speaker 2: I know America was young, scrappy, and hungry to borrow

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Speaker 2: a phrase from Hamilton, but we were looking for ways

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Speaker 2: to assert ourselves as a full blown empire in the

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Speaker 2: eyes of the rest of the world. But that seems,

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Speaker 2: I don't know, sort of impractical.

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Speaker 3: Well, we definitely did want that seat at the big

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Speaker 3: boy table, and expanding the country's boundaries certainly got us

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Speaker 3: closer to that goal. But there was actually a more

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Speaker 3: practical reason too, And you're gonna like this one, but

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Speaker 3: back in the early eighteen hundreds, our farming game wasn't

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Speaker 3: so strong yet.

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Speaker 1: Here in the States.

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Speaker 3: We were producing tons and tons of tobacco and cotton,

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Speaker 3: but at the expense of the soil, which was fast

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Speaker 3: losing all of its nutrients.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess George Washington Carver was still quite a

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Speaker 2: few years off, so crop rotation wouldn't have be in

443
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:01,040
Speaker 2: vogue at the time.

444
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:01,760
Speaker 1: That's right.

445
00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:04,960
Speaker 3: Well, we were exhausting the soil, and since industrialization was

446
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,480
Speaker 3: still a ways off, it was becoming a very big

447
00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,800
Speaker 3: problem for our fledgling economy. So what's a young growing

448
00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:13,359
Speaker 3: nation to do but start mining bird poop from the

449
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,120
Speaker 3: barren islands off its shores.

450
00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,080
Speaker 2: Wait, that's why we have this territory, well many of them.

451
00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:21,359
Speaker 3: Yeah, these remote islands had been flyover spots for seabirds

452
00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,480
Speaker 3: for thousands of years. All those years of daily deposits

453
00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:28,240
Speaker 3: allowed for some pretty hefty build ups of utria rich fertilizer.

454
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,199
Speaker 3: I'm not kidding, And that's what American farmers needed. So

455
00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:34,960
Speaker 3: Congress passed the Guano Islands Act in eighteen fifty six,

456
00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,040
Speaker 3: and we started calling DIBs on all the unclaimed islands

457
00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:38,639
Speaker 3: we could find.

458
00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:40,480
Speaker 2: You're right, that is practical.

459
00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:40,960
Speaker 1: And kind of gross.

460
00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:43,720
Speaker 3: Yeah, but it also doesn't explain why we've continued to

461
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:45,199
Speaker 3: hold onto these territories.

462
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:46,280
Speaker 1: I mean, we aren't.

463
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,040
Speaker 3: Exactly hard up for fertilizer anymore, and my friends in

464
00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:51,359
Speaker 3: the guano mining industry telling me the work has dropped

465
00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:53,800
Speaker 3: off significantly over the past two hundred years or so.

466
00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:56,280
Speaker 3: I get that nations aren't chomping at the bit to

467
00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,600
Speaker 3: give up land. There's only so much of it in

468
00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,399
Speaker 3: the world, after all, But to be more to it, I.

469
00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:03,080
Speaker 2: Think it has a lot to do with what the

470
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,600
Speaker 2: US got in addition to copious mounds of bird poop.

471
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,560
Speaker 2: When a nation claims territory, it doesn't just get the

472
00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,679
Speaker 2: land itself. It gains possession of surrounding waters for miles

473
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,720
Speaker 2: and miles in all directions. That means cart blanc access

474
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,720
Speaker 2: to fishing and undersea minerals and shipping lanes.

475
00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,040
Speaker 3: Well, not to mention the opportunity for tourism. That's big

476
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,600
Speaker 3: business for the territories today, one of the reasons they

477
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,560
Speaker 3: feel so American in some ways, even though their official

478
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:27,800
Speaker 3: status is a little shaky.

479
00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:29,879
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was one of the things that jumped out

480
00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,040
Speaker 2: to me while reading Doug Max's book. A few of

481
00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,080
Speaker 2: the US territories are total tourist magnets, but it isn't

482
00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:37,920
Speaker 2: always the people you'd expect to be visiting. Like take

483
00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,120
Speaker 2: the Virgin Islands, for example. Unlike the Guano Rich Islands,

484
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:44,560
Speaker 2: the US bought these from Denmark in the early nineteenth century. Today,

485
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:46,800
Speaker 2: Danes flocked to the US Virgin Islands to get a

486
00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,679
Speaker 2: taste of their country's colonial history. In fact, there's a

487
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,119
Speaker 2: weird dichotomy on the islands in that Danish tourists largely

488
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,600
Speaker 2: visit for the historical attractions like museums and tours of

489
00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:00,160
Speaker 2: old forts, while American tourists visit mainly for the beach

490
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:01,600
Speaker 2: and the duty free shopping.

491
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,920
Speaker 3: Well, we have established that Americans love shopping, but it's

492
00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:07,119
Speaker 3: a little sad to hear Americans mostly think of the

493
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,000
Speaker 3: territories as beachfront.

494
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:11,040
Speaker 2: Mall right, And in some cases they're not so much

495
00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:14,679
Speaker 2: shopping destinations for Americans as they are for international tourists

496
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:15,920
Speaker 2: who want to feel American.

497
00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:18,160
Speaker 1: You're thinking of Guam, I'm guessing exactly.

498
00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:21,400
Speaker 2: Aside for the local population, Guam is almost entirely made

499
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,439
Speaker 2: up both navy and air force personnel and an endless

500
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:28,560
Speaker 2: stream of tourists from Russia, China, Japan, even Korea, And

501
00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:30,800
Speaker 2: for the sake of survival, the people from Guam have

502
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,240
Speaker 2: really had to cater to this foreign crowd. There's this

503
00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:36,119
Speaker 2: great part in Doug Max's book where he describes visiting

504
00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:39,479
Speaker 2: Guam and running across an outback steakhouse, and it's just

505
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:42,400
Speaker 2: this really surreal moment where he's outside the States looking

506
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,040
Speaker 2: at this Australian themed US chain restaurant with a big

507
00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:50,240
Speaker 2: glowing sign that reads America's favorite steakhouse in Japanese.

508
00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:52,400
Speaker 1: It was for the steakhouse which are in Japanese.

509
00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:52,840
Speaker 2: That's fair.

510
00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,119
Speaker 3: That reminds me of how perhaps Blue Ribbon was rebranded

511
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,080
Speaker 3: in China for luxury markets and sold for like eighty

512
00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:02,080
Speaker 3: dollars a bottle because not only was it American, but

513
00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:03,159
Speaker 3: it won a Blue Ribbon.

514
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,920
Speaker 2: And yet ziem a gold can't get any international love

515
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,080
Speaker 2: despite having that gold in the title.

516
00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:11,119
Speaker 3: I'm not sure that's what the gold stood for. But

517
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,320
Speaker 3: of all the territories, Guam really stands out for catering

518
00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,159
Speaker 3: to a particular breed of tourists, those who want to

519
00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:20,720
Speaker 3: experience all the cliche excess of US culture without actually

520
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,080
Speaker 3: visiting the States. And I mean it sounds like those

521
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,080
Speaker 3: visitors get exactly what they're after. Just listen to Doug's

522
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,760
Speaker 3: description of one of Guam's shopping districts. If you're so inclined,

523
00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:31,800
Speaker 3: in the course of a single afternoon, you can rent

524
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:35,920
Speaker 3: a canary yellow Chevy Mustang or a Harley Davidson, dress

525
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,160
Speaker 3: up like a cowboy and fire machine gun at wild

526
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:41,240
Speaker 3: West Frontier Village, eat a berger at the Root sixty

527
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:43,720
Speaker 3: six Pub and Club, by a bulk sized bag of

528
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,480
Speaker 3: your favorite beef jerkey from the dedicated section at the

529
00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,960
Speaker 3: souvenir shop and pose with the Statue of Liberty with

530
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:53,080
Speaker 3: a baseball field in the background, before ending the day

531
00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:55,560
Speaker 3: with a Las Vegas style magic show replete with white

532
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,359
Speaker 3: tigers and dancing showgirls with feathery head dresses.

533
00:23:58,400 --> 00:23:59,959
Speaker 1: It just makes me feel patriotic.

534
00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:03,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, that really does sound like America, or maybe just Vegas.

535
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,040
Speaker 2: But the territories do have places that are purposefully set

536
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:09,639
Speaker 2: up to feel like mainland America. But what about the

537
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,280
Speaker 2: people who lived there? I know that, with some exceptions,

538
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:16,000
Speaker 2: they are American citizens, but do they seem like Americans right?

539
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:18,200
Speaker 3: Well, we know they got the shopping thing down pat

540
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:19,800
Speaker 3: but maybe we should also take a look at the

541
00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,520
Speaker 3: aspects of history and culture that we talked about earlier.

542
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:24,919
Speaker 3: I think those will really be deciding factors for what

543
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,440
Speaker 3: territories can be considered places that truly feel American.

544
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:31,040
Speaker 1: But before we get into that, let's break for a quiz.

545
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,040
Speaker 3: So, our guest today is the author of this terrific

546
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,360
Speaker 3: book we're discussing the not Quite States of America. After

547
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,560
Speaker 3: realizing just how little he knew about the United States territories,

548
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:51,920
Speaker 3: he set off on a globe hopping quest covering more

549
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,920
Speaker 3: than thirty thousand miles to see them all, and he's

550
00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,439
Speaker 3: here for us to ask him questions about every single

551
00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:58,640
Speaker 3: one of those miles.

552
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:00,760
Speaker 1: Doug Mack, Welcome to Part time Genius.

553
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:01,879
Speaker 7: Hi, thanks for having me.

554
00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:02,920
Speaker 1: So, Doug, tell us.

555
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,399
Speaker 3: How this book idea came about and how long it

556
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:07,760
Speaker 3: took to make it happen. I mean, thirty thousand miles

557
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,640
Speaker 3: is no short track to see all of these places.

558
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:11,960
Speaker 7: No, it's certainly not.

559
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:13,200
Speaker 4: So.

560
00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:16,720
Speaker 7: I have a degree, a bachelor's degree in American studies,

561
00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,080
Speaker 7: but in four years of study, we never even once

562
00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:23,040
Speaker 7: talked about the US territories. And then we talked about

563
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:27,160
Speaker 7: history and politics and literature and all this stuff about

564
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:32,320
Speaker 7: the states, so specifically right, And then just a few

565
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,399
Speaker 7: years ago, I was with my wife on a Saturday

566
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:37,919
Speaker 7: morning and she collects all the state quarters and she

567
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,240
Speaker 7: was putting a new quarter in her portfolio and she

568
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:43,680
Speaker 7: kind of said, late, look, you know there are these

569
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:48,880
Speaker 7: the quarter for the territories, and went, right, we have territories,

570
00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:51,400
Speaker 7: which is kind of the response I get to every

571
00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:55,040
Speaker 7: from everyone when I say wrote book with territories. It's oh, right, territories,

572
00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 7: that's the thing. And so that sort of sparked this idea, thought,

573
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:00,359
Speaker 7: you know this, this is supposed to be my area

574
00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:04,000
Speaker 7: of espertise, right, but of American studies all this history,

575
00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,080
Speaker 7: and did a little googling, thought, you know this is

576
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,240
Speaker 7: these are really interesting places. I should go see them myself.

577
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,320
Speaker 7: And no one had really written this book before, which

578
00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:16,879
Speaker 7: is another thing that you were about as a writers.

579
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,080
Speaker 7: Has anyone already written this? And it turns out the

580
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:19,639
Speaker 7: answer is no?

581
00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:22,280
Speaker 2: And so was was your travel to any one of

582
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:24,159
Speaker 2: these places more surprising than others?

583
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:24,640
Speaker 4: Yeah?

584
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,639
Speaker 7: So all of the territories have a really interesting combination

585
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,040
Speaker 7: of what we would think of as sort of like

586
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:37,080
Speaker 7: familiar American culture and then and then their own region, right.

587
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,719
Speaker 7: So like the US Virgin Islands. One of the very

588
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,040
Speaker 7: first things that I saw as we're driving in from

589
00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:45,399
Speaker 7: the airport was there's a big baseball stadium with a

590
00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 7: big poster saying there's going to be some major league

591
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,639
Speaker 7: stars appearing in a couple of weeks. You know, you

592
00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:52,200
Speaker 7: kind of expect that as in part of the USA.

593
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,960
Speaker 7: But then a couple of blocks away was a big

594
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,480
Speaker 7: cricket ground. And the US Origin Islands are part of

595
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:00,680
Speaker 7: the West Indies cricket team, which is one of the

596
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,760
Speaker 7: most successful cricket teams in the world, and so you

597
00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:07,440
Speaker 7: don't think of any part of the USA as being,

598
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:12,000
Speaker 7: you know, a cricket hotbed, much less being both a

599
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,119
Speaker 7: popular spot for baseball and for cricket. And so there

600
00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,760
Speaker 7: are a lot of things like that across the territories,

601
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 7: where you know, there is something familiar and then something

602
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 7: completely Differently.

603
00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,160
Speaker 3: Now you write a little bit about, you know, their

604
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:28,080
Speaker 3: thinking and the various territories on the possibility of statehood,

605
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:31,360
Speaker 3: but in general, were you surprised at the feelings from

606
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:35,440
Speaker 3: place to place on the idea of achieving statehood?

607
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:36,800
Speaker 4: Yeah, well I was.

608
00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,080
Speaker 7: I was surprised by sort of the level of complexity

609
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:44,280
Speaker 7: on that because there's no current dried answer, right, so,

610
00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,040
Speaker 7: and it varies from place to place. You know, Puerto

611
00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:50,480
Speaker 7: Rico certainly has has the biggest debate that a lot

612
00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:52,919
Speaker 7: of people who were very strongly in favor of becoming

613
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,679
Speaker 7: independent nation they want nothing to do with the USA.

614
00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,000
Speaker 7: Plenty of other people want to become a state, and

615
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,240
Speaker 7: you know, certainly they have the population and then everything

616
00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:04,920
Speaker 7: that you know, they would fit right in. I think

617
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,240
Speaker 7: they would be about twenty ninth or so population wise.

618
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,159
Speaker 7: So yeah, it's it's it's really complicated, and it's all

619
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,880
Speaker 7: it's always changing as well. So for example, Guam right

620
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:18,200
Speaker 7: now has an independence moving movement that's starting to get

621
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:21,439
Speaker 7: to pick up some seam. But again, even there you

622
00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:23,240
Speaker 7: still have some people who want to keep things the same.

623
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:26,400
Speaker 7: You have some people who want state hits. So there's

624
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:28,480
Speaker 7: there's not really an easy answer there.

625
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,239
Speaker 3: Yeah, Now, which of these territories would you say, if

626
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,639
Speaker 3: you had to pick one to say is the most American?

627
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:34,560
Speaker 1: What would you say?

628
00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:40,000
Speaker 7: Possibly Guam They have the world's largest kmart is on Gwam.

629
00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:40,920
Speaker 4: Yeah.

630
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,960
Speaker 7: I took a tour the island with with a military

631
00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:51,280
Speaker 7: Veterans motorcycle club and they have amazing barbecue that's that's

632
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,400
Speaker 7: very much their own, their own thing, with a particular

633
00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:58,200
Speaker 7: marinade that's that's kind of unique to to the Mariana Islands.

634
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:04,640
Speaker 7: And Guam and gum Manum just really felt familiar in

635
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,000
Speaker 7: American to me, but also like it had some of

636
00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:10,240
Speaker 7: these cultural differences that I don't get certainly where I

637
00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:14,120
Speaker 7: live in Minneapolis, but that too felt very American, right

638
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:18,400
Speaker 7: that there are all these different people and traditions contributing

639
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,000
Speaker 7: to this broader story of the USA.

640
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:24,960
Speaker 1: All right, Well, Menga, what game are we playing with

641
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 1: Doug today?

642
00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:28,680
Speaker 2: Because Doug wrote the Not Quite States of America, we're

643
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,920
Speaker 2: saddling him with a game called the not Quite Brilliant Quiz.

644
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,040
Speaker 3: All right, So we've scoured newspapers and media headlines for

645
00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:38,400
Speaker 3: the phrase not quite something, and we want you to

646
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:40,440
Speaker 3: fill in the blank. But to help you out, we'll

647
00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:43,440
Speaker 3: give you a rhyming clue as well. This is one

648
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,960
Speaker 3: of more and more complicated games. So no pressure, right, yeah,

649
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 3: no pressure at all. But are you Are you ready

650
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:49,160
Speaker 3: to play?

651
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:49,400
Speaker 2: Doug?

652
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:50,520
Speaker 4: I think so?

653
00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 1: Okay, here we go. All right, so question number one.

654
00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 3: I'll give you the clue first, The answer rhymes with

655
00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:01,680
Speaker 3: an abbreviation for corporation. The answer rhymes with an abbreviation

656
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:02,440
Speaker 3: for corporation.

657
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:03,360
Speaker 1: All right.

658
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:08,360
Speaker 3: In an Atlanta Journal Constitution story headlined speeding man had

659
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:12,560
Speaker 3: alien doll passenger, the driver clocked in at eighty four

660
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,960
Speaker 3: miles per hour or not quite blank speed.

661
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:19,000
Speaker 4: Warp.

662
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:22,120
Speaker 1: Yes, morph rhymes yes one for one.

663
00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 2: Okay.

664
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:24,320
Speaker 1: Clue for number two.

665
00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 3: This answer rhymes with the title of a Monty Python

666
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:28,920
Speaker 3: Broadway musical.

667
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:30,640
Speaker 1: Okay, the question is.

668
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,560
Speaker 3: The New Yorker titled a movie about a Jackie O

669
00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:36,360
Speaker 3: wanna be not quite blank?

670
00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:41,720
Speaker 2: Oh came, that's rights right, camelot right, yeah, and it

671
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:43,120
Speaker 2: rhymes with spam a lot.

672
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:45,960
Speaker 1: Well done? Two for two, all right, question number three,

673
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:47,560
Speaker 1: there's two left. Here we go.

674
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,640
Speaker 3: The clue is This answer rhymes with how you describe

675
00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:58,400
Speaker 3: a monkey named George In a city am car review,

676
00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 3: the paper called a new automobile fast but not quite blank.

677
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:05,520
Speaker 5: Curios.

678
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:07,840
Speaker 2: Yay, curious.

679
00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:11,480
Speaker 7: I'll thank my toddler daughter and her book collection.

680
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:12,560
Speaker 4: That one.

681
00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:17,920
Speaker 3: All right, Last one here, This answer rhymes with spam gurgler,

682
00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:20,080
Speaker 3: which isn't a.

683
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:21,920
Speaker 1: Word that makes sense. Okay.

684
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:26,120
Speaker 3: The question is a New Jersey radio station referred to

685
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:29,080
Speaker 3: a man who tried to rob a Burger King as

686
00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:30,600
Speaker 3: not quite blank.

687
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,400
Speaker 7: It's probably not Ronald McDonald. That would be the hamburgler.

688
00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:39,560
Speaker 1: Yes, well done, all right, So how do Doug you mango?

689
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,760
Speaker 2: So Doug win incredible four for four, which wins our

690
00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:45,520
Speaker 2: hard earned admiration, which is also known as our number

691
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,320
Speaker 2: one best not quite prized.

692
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:50,960
Speaker 3: All right, congratulations Doug, and thanks so much for being

693
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:52,960
Speaker 3: on part time genius. I hope all of you will

694
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,680
Speaker 3: check out not quite states dot com to find out

695
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,680
Speaker 3: about Doug's book tour on August first, he'll be in

696
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,080
Speaker 3: New York. August second, he'll be in Boston. But you

697
00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:04,960
Speaker 3: can see on the website for his other stops. Safe travels, Doug,

698
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:06,520
Speaker 3: and thanks a lot for writing a great book.

699
00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:08,360
Speaker 7: Yeah, thanks for having me appreciate it.

700
00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:24,239
Speaker 3: So we were talking about all the things that make

701
00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:27,360
Speaker 3: the not quite states of America feel like the real thing.

702
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:30,240
Speaker 3: So what's the scoop on the local Well, I think

703
00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:32,400
Speaker 3: one of the main similarities to people's stateside is that

704
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:34,720
Speaker 3: people in the territories have this really strong sense of

705
00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 3: sharing the load.

706
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,840
Speaker 2: There are these really tightly knit communities of families and

707
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 2: friends that look out for one another despite having to

708
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:45,000
Speaker 2: constantly compete for resources. In some cases, this is especially

709
00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:47,960
Speaker 2: true of American Samoa, which is one of the less developed,

710
00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:49,600
Speaker 2: not as touristy territories.

711
00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:52,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, American Samoa is an interesting case and is the

712
00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:56,680
Speaker 3: only inhabited territory that's neither incorporated nor organized. It's actually

713
00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:59,760
Speaker 3: the least American territory in a legal sense. But on

714
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,120
Speaker 3: the other hand, the locals have a culture that closely

715
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:03,680
Speaker 3: mirrors part of the mainland lifestyle.

716
00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:05,360
Speaker 2: What do you think about Well, for one thing.

717
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:08,600
Speaker 3: American Samoans love football, and they're really good at it too.

718
00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:12,080
Speaker 3: American football, of course, so Christian missionaries introduced the locals

719
00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:15,120
Speaker 3: to rugby a long time ago. So when American television

720
00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,840
Speaker 3: brought the NFL to the region, many players made the

721
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:21,040
Speaker 3: switch from a European pastime to a more American one.

722
00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:24,080
Speaker 3: In fact, there were twenty eight NFL players of American

723
00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:27,080
Speaker 3: Samoan descent at the start of the twenty fifteen twenty

724
00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,479
Speaker 3: sixteen season. They've really taken to it.

725
00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:32,840
Speaker 2: That's awesome. I've also heard their avid web surfers because

726
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,920
Speaker 2: the internet speeds are crazy fast. They're like faster than

727
00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:38,240
Speaker 2: they are here on the mainland. Oh and another really

728
00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:41,640
Speaker 2: telling fact about American Samoa is its military enlistment rate.

729
00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:43,840
Speaker 1: It is pretty high, isn't it the highest?

730
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,120
Speaker 2: I mean, American Samoa has the greatest enlistment rate and

731
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 2: casualty rate of any US territory or state.

732
00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:51,400
Speaker 1: Wow, that is incredible.

733
00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:51,720
Speaker 4: Yeah.

734
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:53,960
Speaker 2: And the craziest part is that the American Samoans are

735
00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,640
Speaker 2: only considered American nationals, not full citizens. So they are

736
00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:00,280
Speaker 2: fighting and all too often dying for a country that

737
00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:03,000
Speaker 2: doesn't even recognize them as its citizens. Which is kind

738
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:03,719
Speaker 2: of heartbreaking.

739
00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:06,440
Speaker 3: Yeah, that is heartbreaking, especially when you consider how strong

740
00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,279
Speaker 3: the sense of patriotism is there, like apart from a

741
00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:11,920
Speaker 3: shared love of football and fast food. By the way,

742
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,440
Speaker 3: there are two McDonald's on the island. The people that

743
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:17,240
Speaker 3: really take pride in being American. But what's the difference

744
00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:19,240
Speaker 3: between being a national and a citizen.

745
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,560
Speaker 2: It's confusing. So I'm going to quote Columbia law professor

746
00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:26,279
Speaker 2: Christina Duffy Ponza here. Congress originally refused to give the

747
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:29,800
Speaker 2: inhabitants of the new territories citizenship, but the court decided

748
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:33,160
Speaker 2: that they weren't quite foreigners either. Eventually, the State Department

749
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:36,280
Speaker 2: came up with the labeled nationals, and while simons chose

750
00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:39,920
Speaker 2: to stay nationals at some point to protect their cultural identity,

751
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,480
Speaker 2: it also meant they can't get civil service jobs in

752
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:45,960
Speaker 2: the US, or vote here, or help their families immigrate,

753
00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:49,200
Speaker 2: even if they've served in the military. But on the

754
00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:51,520
Speaker 2: other hand, clearly there's a sense of shared history in

755
00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:54,720
Speaker 2: the territories that makes them feel more connected, unlike somewhere

756
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:58,800
Speaker 2: like Canada or Australia, which have broad similarities to US

757
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:02,279
Speaker 2: and a bit of over the territories are active parts

758
00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:04,799
Speaker 2: of American history. They were the sites of some key

759
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:07,359
Speaker 2: battles in many of our wars, including Sipan in the

760
00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:11,000
Speaker 2: Northern Mariana Islands, which was the bloodiest twentieth century battleground

761
00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:13,480
Speaker 2: anywhere in the US, and today they still serve as

762
00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:17,080
Speaker 2: strategic outposts for the military, helping as monitor potential threats

763
00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:18,080
Speaker 2: from overseas well.

764
00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,560
Speaker 3: That's a great point. So mainland Americans have a tendency

765
00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:23,240
Speaker 3: to overlook their connection to the territories, but the people

766
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:26,960
Speaker 3: who live there could never be accused of ignoring American identity.

767
00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,320
Speaker 3: I mean, with few exceptions, there isn't even a major

768
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:31,920
Speaker 3: push for independence or autonomy within the territories.

769
00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:32,520
Speaker 2: It's crazy.

770
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:35,880
Speaker 1: Most seem perfectly content, proud even to maintain their connection

771
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:38,680
Speaker 1: to the US, even if it hasn't treated them completely

772
00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:39,560
Speaker 1: fairly in the past.

773
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:42,160
Speaker 2: That's right. Puerto Rico definitely stands the best chance of

774
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:44,759
Speaker 2: achieving statehood and seems the most eager to do so,

775
00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,359
Speaker 2: but even that's uncertain and not likely to happen anytime soon.

776
00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,520
Speaker 2: There are few factors on its side, though, specifically the

777
00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:54,399
Speaker 2: population and the sheer size of its land mass. It's

778
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:57,040
Speaker 2: much bigger than the other territories, and it's actually larger

779
00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:59,879
Speaker 2: than Delaware and Rhode Island as well. It's also home

780
00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:02,479
Speaker 2: to over three point five million people, which is ten

781
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:05,320
Speaker 2: times the population of all the other territories put together.

782
00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:05,759
Speaker 1: Wow.

783
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,319
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the size alone helps lend an American feel

784
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:11,320
Speaker 3: to Puerto Rico. Like we mentioned earlier, the mainland US

785
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:13,360
Speaker 3: is big, which gives it a lot of diversity in

786
00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,560
Speaker 3: terms of climate and geography. Puerto Rico is the only

787
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:20,000
Speaker 3: territory that's big enough to have entire sections that look

788
00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:23,120
Speaker 3: and feel completely differently from one another, complete with their

789
00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:25,000
Speaker 3: own local vibes and cultural quirk.

790
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:28,319
Speaker 2: That definitely helps Puerto Rico feel more American. And while

791
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,919
Speaker 2: I hate to steer us back to shopping, I really

792
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:32,799
Speaker 2: want to mention that Puerto Rico is home to just

793
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:37,000
Speaker 2: about every American brand you can think of, including Macaroni, Grill, Costco,

794
00:36:37,239 --> 00:36:40,800
Speaker 2: Sam's Club, cheesecake factory. They even have the first Macy's

795
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:43,000
Speaker 2: department store outside the Connello US. Wow.

796
00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:46,080
Speaker 3: So another taste of the American experience for tourists, right.

797
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:48,920
Speaker 2: Well, that's the thing. Doug Max suggests that unlike Guam

798
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:51,239
Speaker 2: or some of the other more crossly commercial parts of

799
00:36:51,239 --> 00:36:54,719
Speaker 2: the territories. Puerto Rico feels extra American because those are

800
00:36:54,719 --> 00:36:56,640
Speaker 2: the locals tastes, not the tourists.

801
00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:57,720
Speaker 1: Oh that is interesting.

802
00:36:57,840 --> 00:36:58,080
Speaker 4: I know.

803
00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:00,439
Speaker 2: It tells us that the reason Puerto Rico is home

804
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,000
Speaker 2: to the highest concentration of walmarts in the world is

805
00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:06,600
Speaker 2: not because it's trying to appeal to outsiders with American tastes.

806
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:09,120
Speaker 2: It's because they're trying to peel to Americans, or in

807
00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:11,120
Speaker 2: other words, to themselves. I like that.

808
00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:14,960
Speaker 3: Still the most American places in the world, so those

809
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:15,840
Speaker 3: are in America?

810
00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,520
Speaker 2: Is that the cheating, Well, it's something we could all

811
00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:21,520
Speaker 2: probably stand to remember more often until we can easily

812
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:23,960
Speaker 2: rattle off the territories and their capitals like we do

813
00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:26,440
Speaker 2: for states. I'm gonna have to give us a pass.

814
00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:29,479
Speaker 2: But one case where cheating is never tolerated, the part

815
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:32,120
Speaker 2: time genius backed off. What do you say, will all right?

816
00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:43,160
Speaker 1: Bring it on? So.

817
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:46,880
Speaker 2: Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese sergeant during World War two, was

818
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:49,680
Speaker 2: stationed in Guam when the war ended. The only problem

819
00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,160
Speaker 2: he didn't know the war ended and hidden the Jungles

820
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:55,480
Speaker 2: for nearly twenty eight years. He survived on a diet

821
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:58,400
Speaker 2: of frogs, rats, and other small animals. So what happened

822
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:00,279
Speaker 2: when he was finally found by a couple of unters

823
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:02,680
Speaker 2: in nineteen seventy two. He was allowed to return to

824
00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:04,400
Speaker 2: Japan and live out the rest of his life as

825
00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:05,160
Speaker 2: a celebrity.

826
00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:08,920
Speaker 3: So what are some of the most American places in

827
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:11,239
Speaker 3: the States? Going by name alone, there are quite a

828
00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:14,640
Speaker 3: few cities worthy of the title, including three named Independents,

829
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:18,920
Speaker 3: two named Freedom, and a whopping nine named Liberty, not

830
00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,640
Speaker 3: to mention the ones that crib directly from the country's names,

831
00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:25,400
Speaker 3: such as American Fork, Utah, American Falls City, Idaho, and

832
00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:27,360
Speaker 3: American Canyon, California.

833
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:30,040
Speaker 2: Do you know? In twenty thirteen, Samoa Era started a

834
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:33,400
Speaker 2: very un American policy where they started charging people airfare

835
00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:34,279
Speaker 2: based on their weight.

836
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:35,799
Speaker 1: Oh wow, well.

837
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:38,160
Speaker 2: Their weight and their luggages. Wait. And when people were

838
00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:40,839
Speaker 2: furious about it, they just countered, well, you'll pay less

839
00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:41,440
Speaker 2: for your kids.

840
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:45,440
Speaker 3: So, according to Thrillist, in the mcguau neighborhood of Tokyo,

841
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:49,759
Speaker 3: aspiring Japanese cowpokes and stetson and wranglers, Line danced to

842
00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:52,720
Speaker 3: the sound of Brad Paisley at the Little Texas Honky

843
00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:53,239
Speaker 3: tonk Bar.

844
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:56,160
Speaker 2: You know what a sucker I am for wranglers and

845
00:38:56,239 --> 00:38:58,759
Speaker 2: Honky tonk Bar, I know you are, so I hate

846
00:38:58,800 --> 00:38:59,880
Speaker 2: to say it, but I've got to give it to

847
00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:00,880
Speaker 2: you for this episode.

848
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:02,880
Speaker 3: Well, I'm thrilled to have won this week, but I

849
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:05,360
Speaker 3: don't have to be the only one. Listeners, Remember to

850
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:08,839
Speaker 3: send your submissions for our Territories Mnemonic contest. There are

851
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:11,080
Speaker 3: big prizes on the line. And that's it for today's

852
00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:13,320
Speaker 3: episode of Part Time Genius. Thanks so much for listening,

853
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:34,920
Speaker 3: Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius is a production

854
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:37,440
Speaker 3: of how stuff works and wouldn't be possible without several

855
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:39,960
Speaker 3: brilliant people who do the important things we couldn't even

856
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:41,000
Speaker 3: begin to understand.

857
00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:42,879
Speaker 2: Christan McNeil does the editing thing.

858
00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:45,080
Speaker 1: Noel Brown made the theme song and does the mixy

859
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:45,919
Speaker 1: mixy sound thing.

860
00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:48,520
Speaker 2: Jerry Roland does the exact producer thing.

861
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,160
Speaker 3: Gabe Bluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the

862
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:52,600
Speaker 3: Research Army including.

863
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:54,960
Speaker 1: Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eves.

864
00:39:55,000 --> 00:40:19,440
Speaker 2: Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.

865
00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:08,960
Speaker 4: Six d