Something Offbeat: Recent Episodes
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What’s the deeper story behind that weird headline you forwarded to your friends or shared at the watercooler? We ask questions to gain grounded insight into the stranger news of the week.
The search for the perfect selfie consumes many social media users. But when does it go too far? Content creators have been seriously injured, or even killed, while trying to get that once-in-a-lifetime photo. Sam Cornell a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales and a co-author of the study titled: “Dangerous Selfies Aren't Just Foolish. We Need To Treat Them Like The Public Health Hazard They Really Are," joined Mike Rogers to explain the risks and why we do it.
For our second anniversary, we’re looking back at one of our first episodes!ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:It’s not hard to find gruesome, macabre images or videos – they’re on TV, in horror movies and online. But what if you wanted to see them in person? Through a series of donations and transactions, the body of a 98-year-old World War II veteran from Louisiana ended up on a table in an Oregon hotel ballroom where attendees paid as much as $500 to view a public dissection.Dr. Gail Saltz, associate professor of psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell School of Medicine and host of the “How Can I Help?" podcast, explains what drives people to seek out such spectacles and what that fascination with death can tell us about ourselves and our society.
On this episode of Offbites, Lauren and Chris discuss the otters who attacked a woman out for a jog, ask how many people is too many people in space, and the dog capturing people's hearts on a beach in Brazil.
Vampires are spooky, bacteria can be scary… and when you put them together? Things get a bit spooky-scary. New research published earlier this year reveal that some bacteria actually act like vampires. That is, they thirst for human blood and will feed on it when the chance arrives. Dr. Arden Baylink of Washington State University, the lead author of the study, joined Mike Rogers on the “Something Offbeat” podcast to explain.
Lauren and Chris are finally back with another episode of Offbites. This week, they discuss their Brat summers, the most unattractive qualities in the opposite sex, and say goodbye to a fast food sandwich staple.
For our second anniversary this summer, we’re looking back at one of our first episodes!
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:
Remember the fun of naming your pet? Now, imagine taking on the task of naming an entire species. Earlier this year, Dr. Christopher Whalen of Yale University got that chance. This week on Something Offbeat, we talk to Whalen about his discovery – an ancient ancestor of the octopus that he named after President Joe Biden – and to Dr. Brittany Kenyon-Flatt of North Carolina State University about the history behind scientific names.
According to a study released this summer, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago likely helped grapes flourish in the Western Hemisphere. While there may not be a direct correlation between dinosaurs and grapes, Monica Carvalho, the assistant curator at the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan and co-author of a study tracing the origins of grapes in our hemisphere, explains what new grape seed fossils discovered in South America reveal.
This Friday marks the 47th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death at age 42, which means that it is Elvis Week, a weeklong celebration of the late King of Rock and Roll at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tenn. Presley may have left Earth decades ago, but he’s still a household name and an enduring American icon. More than that, Audacy reported earlier this year that fans are still paying big money for Elvis memorabilia – $150,000 for a pair of his blue suede shoes. Why has our love for Elvis stood the test of time? We reached out to Sally Hoedel, author of “Destined to Die Young” and other books about the King to find out.
We love spicy food here at “Something Offbeat”. Sometimes, when the heat is intense, things can get scary. In one case, a spicy chip social media challenge has even been linked to the death of a teen. This week, we talked with Dr. Paul Terry, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine. He helped us explore the risks and benefits of eating food with lots of spice.
The Catholic church decided earlier this summer it would canonize the first Millennial saint. Carlos Acutis, an Italian teenager who died in 2006, was credited with a second miracle in May by Pope Francis.
To learn more about the canonization process, the novelty of such a young saint, and saints from the United States, Something Offbeat welcomed Dr. Kathleen Cummings, a professor of American studies and history and Notre Dame and the author of the book – A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American.
Elon Musk’s project Neuralink has been bringing a concept that seems out of science fiction, brain implants that allow users to control tech, into reality. So far, the company has implanted the device into a subject with quadriplegia. While he was able to do things like play online chess, he then lost some of the ability when parts of the device slipped out of place. This all begs questions about safety, ethics and the future of the human relationship with technology. Our team at “Something Offbeat” reached out to two experts – L. Syd M. Johnson, associate professor of bioethics and humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University, and science journalist Faye Flam – to dive into them.
From a voice assistant that sounds just like Scarlett Johansson to political deep fakes to a computer-generated sports broadcaster, AI is beginning to make some of its most public-facing moves yet in the media industry.
To discuss what the future holds for artificial intelligence in sports, news, and entertainment, Dr. David Gunkel, a professor of media studies at Northern Illinois University, joined Something Offbeat's Mike Rogers.
On this week's episode of Offbites, Lauren and Chris discuss knockoff Donald Trump sneakers, the 10 most unhealthy fast food items at America's five favorite spots, and a video game argument that wound up with an in-person fight.
When Apple released iOS 17.5 in May, some users found previously deleted files popping up on their devices, including old photos. Apple released a fix -- iOS 17.5.1 -- just days later, but it raised the question of where those deleted files came from.
Victoria Song, senior reviewer of wearable and fitness tech for The Verge, joined host Mike Rogers to discuss the iOS bug and the privacy we give up for the sake of convenience with our technology.
In the Colonial Room of the Drake Hotel in Oak Brook, Illinois, near Chicago, there’s a soup – not just any soup. Its price alone sets it apart. It costs around $1,900 to take part in the Bookbinder Soup experience. On this episode of “Something Offbeat” we have a reservation with Chef Colleen Garcia, director of curriculum and content development for the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, to learn more about big ticket menu items. Are they worth the hype, or the price? The answer is complicated.
Avocados have become a beloved part of the U.S. diet. So much so that we’ll even shell out extra money for a scoop of guacamole at Chipotle amid high inflation. This week, the “Something Offbeat” podcast explores how something that we take for granted at the grocery store may become endangered by 2050. Tierra Curry, an endangered species codirector and senior scientist for the Center for Biological Diversity, explained what’s going on and what we can do to keep avocados on the table in the future.
About 90% of tattoo inks in the United States contain ingredients not listed on their labels, according to a study published this spring in the journal Analytical Chemistry. So how can consumers know what is safe to put into their skin?
To find out, Mike Rogers visited with Dillon Forte, a tattoo artist based in the Austin, Texas area, about how to know who to trust, the differences between black and colored tattoos, and how the industry is regulated differently in the U.S. than it is in Europe.
It seems like everyone in Hollywood is ready for their close up, even wild animals. For example, a smiling bear that was recently photographed near Pasadena, Calif. According to the Los Angeles Times, wildlife photographer Johanna Turner captured the rare black bear image with a trail cam in late April. Nature and urban life seem to be crossing paths more and more lately. Sam Benson Smith, digital managing editor at Audacy station KNX in Los Angeles, joined the “Something Offbeat” podcast to talk about it.
On this week's episode of Offbites, Chris and Lauren discuss a fast food restaurant's newest dessert, which name could set a world record in a specific country, and why anyone would dive into the water with a killer whale.
A decade ago, a plane carrying 239 people vanished over the Indian Ocean. Since then, the mystery has stumped experts and left the loved ones of those aboard without closure. However, some researchers believe that searching in the right area will reveal the remnants of Malaysia Airlines flight 370. One of them is Vincent Lyne, and he recently joined the “Something Offbeat” podcast to discuss his research. He’s a researcher for the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania who has been independently researching the disappearance for years.
For years, a 17-second song clip was floating around the internet, puzzling music fans. People loved it, but they had no idea where it was from. This year, they finally found out. Laura Holliday, a writer who specializes in internet culture, joined host Mike Rogers on the “Something Offbeat” podcast to talk about the mystery and how it was finally solved.
On this week's Offbites, Lauren and Chris discuss a Florida man who wrangled an alligator near a busy shopping strip, a person regularly using the bathroom at a Michigan cemetery, and how several horses got loose on the streets of London.
It’s cicada-mania! For the first time in more than two centuries, two broods of North American cicadas will emerge from the Earth at the same time. One hasn’t been up in 13 years and the other has been underground for 17 years, and they are both different from the typical cicadas we hear every summer. “Something Offbeat” host Mike Rogers caught up with Tom Tiddens of the Chicago Botanic Garden to learn more about the broods and explore some of the mystery around cicadas. Mysteries like what they are doing for all those years underground.
Two weeks ago, much of the country stopped for a few minutes in the middle of the day to watch at least a partial solar eclipse. And in the path of totality, researchers were keeping an eye on animals to see how four minutes of darkness changed their behaviors.
This week on Something Offbeat, Dr. Adam Hartstone-Rose, a professor of biological science at North Carolina State University, joined Mike Rogers, to discuss his findings from April 8.
Lexington, Ky., recently started something it calls “the world’s first interstellar tourism campaign,” trying to attract extraterrestrials to the city, and the Associated Press wrote about it. Roswell, N.M., has long been a destination for UFO tourism, and “Something Offbeat” talked with Dennis Balthasar of the International UFO Museum and Research Center there about why people love aliens.
This week on Offbites, Lauren and Chris break down which city's remote work relocation package is the most appealing (hint: Lauren may soon be a Rochester resident), discuss the ethics of a gas station hack, and hear the heartwarming story of a community that came together to support a young girl.
Last month, the New Orleans police superintendent told the city council that police headquarters needed a lot of upgrades. But one comment stuck out: "They're all high." It had nothing to do with anyone in the city, but with rodents in the department's evidence room.
This week on Something Offbeat, Audacy's Mark Menard, a Louisiana native, joined Mike Rogers to discuss the saga at the New Orleans Police Department.
Glass has been around for more than 35 centuries, but the process to make it can still boggle our minds. Humans use their own lungs to breathe life into glass pieces such as those seen on the Netflix show “Blown Away”. The fourth season of the show just premiered, and a collection of the pieces featured on the program are on display at the Corning Museum of Glass. “Something Offbeat” host Mike Rogers talked with Eric Meek – the senior manager of hot glass programs at the museum and is a longtime glassblower.
This week on Offbites, Lauren and Chris discussed a story sent in about a nude cruise, a gym fight that resulted in a man getting stabbed in the butt, a lost structure found on the sea floor and a rocket launcher found hidden in a car.
The biotech company Loyal is working to develop drugs that would slow the process of aging in dogs, aiming to extend the healthy lifespan of our four-legged friends. Dr. Brennen McKenzie, Loyal's director of veterinary medicine, joined Mike Rogers to discuss how the drugs would work and how he'd answer people who question whether Loyal is tampering with nature.
Late last year, a UFO journalist released previously-unseen photo and video of two different unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, captured in the Middle East. One was called the chandelier and the other was called the jellyfish.
To get the latest on the search for extraterrestrial life and UAPs seen from Earth, Mike Rogers visited with Harvard's Dr. Avi Loeb, the founder of the Galileo Project, which he established in 2021 to search for this very thing.
Something Offbeat host Mike Rogers makes his long-awaited debut on Offbites. He joins Lauren and Chris to check in on the results of the Florida Man Games, discuss why the Philadelphia Phillies are doing away with dollar hot dog night, and break down the challenge of sprinting while holding a frying pan.
On an October day last year, people living in apartment blocks located in a coastal area of south Athens in Greece were evacuated. Near their homes, work on a huge urban development was underway. It was stalled after a frightening discovery. According to the Associated Press, it was a 500-pound bomb dating back to World War II. Matthew Osborne of the FBI joined the show to talk about bombs left over from wars. They can be found all over the world, from Europe to Asia and even the U.S.
Millennial beige -- the color has become so associated with that generation that it’s become a social media trend to make fun of it, particularly by Gen Z. This week "Something Offbeat" host Mike Rogers spoke with Charmaine Wynter – a repeat guest on the podcast – about those millennials, their bland taste and the future of color in interior design.
Lauren and Chris welcome Kieran back to the podcast this week! They discuss rats taking selfies, a Hawaii lake's Oscar protest, and parrots that parents with young children might want to avoid.
Almost every four years, an extra day scoots into calendars: Feb. 29, or Leap Day. It’s coming up this Thursday. Many people know that the shortest month of the year gets a little longer on occasion because the solar year doesn’t quite line up with our calendar. Still, the podcast team had some questions. Tim Goodwin, associate editor of the Old Farmer's Almanac, joined the show to help.
For years, millennials have been accused of killing chain restaurants. Now, it looks like they might be bringing them back.
This week, the “Something Offbeat” podcast takes a look at Applebee’s internet-breaking” date night pass – offering 52 meals for just $200 – and how it fits in to the chain restaurant resurgence.
Eater’s Amy McCarthy has had her eye on the trend since October. She joined the show to explore why more people are heading to spots like Olive Garden and Quizno’s lately.
On this week's Offbites, Lauren and Chris wonder how scammers have convinced people to send them billions of dollars, discuss why the sound of airplanes overhead comforts them, and how to avoid getting into a barfight on an airplane.
Americans are drinking less beer than they have in nearly a quarter century. According to a report by Beer Marketer’s Insights, beer shipments fell below 200 million barrels in 2023 for the first time since 1999. NBC News reports the drop in beer sales is due in part to consumers shifting to other forms of alcohol, or cutting it out completely.
Tyler Ashe, a senior trends analyst at consumer research agency GWI, joined Mike to discuss declining beer consumption and other wellness trends.
On this week's Offbites, Chris and Lauren get into whether or not they're afraid of shark attacks, a diet consisting strictly of baby food, and companies offering unique Valentine's Day gifts.
This week's Offbites are dedicated to Super LVIII! Chris and Lauren discuss performer safety during the halftime show, the most outrageous Super Bowl prop bets, why they're not into the commercials anymore, and of course, whether the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce relationship is real.
The Federal Highway Administration announced new guidelines for Changeable Message Signs a few weeks ago. Those are the message boards on the side of the highway that display things like, "Visiting in-laws? Slow down, get there late." The new guidelines strongly discourage states’ departments of transportation from using “punny” messages on signs.
To discuss the story, Dr. Tripp Shealy, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Virginia Tech, and the lead author of a report commissioned by the Virginia Department of Transportation titled “Driver Response to Dynamic Message Sign Safety Campaign Messages," joined host Mike Rogers on this week's Something Offbeat.
Something Offbeat minisodes have a new name! We're calling them "Offbites." This week, Chris and Lauren discuss the hit that shattered Patrick Mahomes' helmet, a walking stick that almost sold for $700 on eBay, and the man who took his clothes off and went swimming at an Alabama sporting goods store.
Last fall, a horse escaped from its still on a flight from New York to Belgium shortly after takeoff, forcing the carrier to turn around and head back to its point of origin. To discuss what it takes to transport large animals, host Mike Rogers is joined by Lyndee du Toit, the CEO of the Johannesburg office of Air Charter Service, who has chartered cargo flights for everything from horses to rhinos in her career.
This episode celebrates one of the superstars of offbeat news: the Florida Man. We talked to Pete Melfi, creator of The Florida Man Games. He tells “Something Offbeat” host Mike Rogers everything you need to know about the inaugural event coming up next month – from throwing alligators to chugging beer and showing off mullets.
It's minisode time again! Chris and Lauren are back before Mike returns next week to discuss calendars from 1996 accuracy in 2024, whether or not it's ethical to try to shove someone's face into a deep fryer, and what the expectation should be for artwork on candy.
On this week's post-holiday season minisode, Kieran joins Chris and Lauren to discuss a renowned art sleuth, catacombs beneath the city of Paris, and Lauren's love of bright blue foods.
To wrap up the holiday season, Something Offbeat decided to go all-in on Festivus, a holiday that entered the zeitgeist as a plot device in a 1997 episode of the sitcom “Seinfeld” and has managed to become a lasting tradition.
Allen Salkin, author of “Festivus: The Holiday For The Rest of Us” joined the show to discuss the staying power of Festivus, arguably the most offbeat holiday celebrated during the holiday season. Why have people continued to connect with it?
Last month, the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois announced that one of its sharks laid an egg that hatched in August. The catch was that the female that laid the egg hadn't been housed with a male shark since her arrival at the zoo in 2019.
Mike Masellis, the lead animal care specialist at the Brookfield Zoo, joined host Mike Rogers to discuss the process -- called parthenogenesis -- and deliver an update on how the shark pup is doing.
Jeff Bezos is one of the richest men in the world and his name is nearly synonymous with success. However, reactions to a recent Vogue photo shoot revealed that even billions of dollars can’t save him from internet trolls. Included in the comments were suggestions that Bezos’s biceps were photoshopped. This made the team here at “Something Offbeat” interested in male body image, how its shaped by the internet and why we don’t seem to address it as much as female body image. Registered Dietician Nutritionist Aaron Flores, host to the “Men Unscripted” podcast, joined the show to help break it all down.
Chris and Lauren are back with another Something Offbeat "minisode." This week, they hear from a listener about giant inflatable holiday decorations, discuss whether they would eat an 8-month-old missing space tomato, and how a giant billboard with an image of Santa holding a gun would impact children.
A study published last month in the journal Nature found that two “blobs of unusual material” near the center of the earth could be remnants of an ancient planet that collided with Earth billions of years ago in the same impact that created the moon. The “blobs,” or large low-velocity provinces, were discovered in the 1980s. Still, geophysicists didn’t know what they were but had long-hypothesized they were remnants of an ancient, smaller planet called Theia. One of the study's authors, Dr. Paul Asimow, a professor of geology and geochemistry at Cal Tech University, joined the show this week to discuss the findings and disprove the "Hollow Earth" theory.
Last October, a New Hampshire woman was walking through an Italian market in Boston when she slipped on prosciutto and broke her ankle. She then – according to NBC News – decided to sue the company, which runs its signature Italian markets throughout the world. Her story made the team at “Something Offbeat” curious about personal injury law… and about dangerous deli meats. Dr. Thomas Russell, an attorney and personal injury law professor, joined the show to help us sort out torts and personal injury law cases.(Check out his latest exam, where a prosciutto slip takes center stage!)
The “Something Offbeat” team also created a list dangerous of deli items to watch out for on floors as you shop this holiday season. As Russell said, no store wants to be known as the place “where Nonna goes and breaks her ankle slipping on prosciutto.”
Producers Chris and Lauren are back for another "minisode" to discuss holiday traditions. This week, they get into the best Thanksgiving side dishes, whether or not it's acceptable to run a 5K on a holiday, and learn they are embarrassingly bad U.S. geography.
From a dog bed for humans to a ladle shaped like the Loch Ness Monster, there's no shortage of quirky gifts on the market this holiday season. This week, smart shopping expert Trae Bodge joins Mike Rogers to discuss the offbeat gifts of the year, how to protect yourself from scams, and what she expects Americans to spend on presents between now and the new year.
It was like any other day off the coast of Tybee Island Georgia except for one thing. There seemed to be… a giant hamster wheel in the water. Inside it was a man who said he planned to get the vessel all the way to London, England. Before it could get far, the hamster wheel caught the Coast Guard’s attention and got its creator, athlete Ray Baluchi, in legal trouble. He allegedly claimed to have a bomb on board as they told him to stop the trip. If Baluchi wasn’t stopped, would he have been able to make it to his destination? The “Something Offbeat” team reached out to some experts – Dean Ovel, a runner who has experience running in a hamster wheel and Bart Kemper, principal engineer of Kemper Engineering – to find out.
Chris and Lauren are back with another Something Offbeat "minisode," talking through some of the stories they haven't been able to get to in a full episode. This week, they include two more toilet stories! Plus, a human skull found in a thrift store why the Texas Rangers couldn't celebrate in a pool after they won the World Series.
A toilet that's not even on this planet topped Money Inc's list of the most expensive toilets, coming in at just under $20 million. While there aren't any standard residential toilets that come close to that number, consumers can easily spend more than five figures on a commode if they so choose.
This week on Something Offbeat, Charmaine Wynter, an interior designer and lifestyle influencer, explains what can drive the price tag up on a toilet and how important a bathroom is to the feel of a home.
As she pulled a wiggling, 3-inch worm from her patient’s brain, Australian neurosurgeon Hari Priya Bandi could hardly believe the sight before her.
“It’s like something out of a sci-fi movie,” said Dr. Adler R. Dillman – a professor of Parasitology and chair of the Department of Nematology at University of California, Riverside – referencing news stories about the worm. He joined the “Something Offbeat” podcast this week to talk about the shocking discovery, what it has to do with our diets, and to share some insight that might help us get over our fears around parasites.
On this week's minisode, Lauren and Chris dig into the archives for stories they haven't had the chance to produce full episodes on yet -- from the dominatrix who requested public funds for a Florida nightclub to Elon Musk's "suggestion" that Wikipedia change its name.
When the zombie apocalypse happens, will you be ready? According to a "study" of the largest 200 cities in the country, Houston is the most prepared for the apocalypse, while Miramar, Florida is the least prepared.
Matt Thomas, a radio anchor in Houston, explains what makes Houston safe, while Zach Clark of Audacy's WWJ in Detroit, which came in at No. 194, defends his city's apocalypse preparedness.
Have you heard of the conspiracy theory that humans are actually aliens?
In the future, humans might actually become extraterrestrial beings. That is, some of us might start being conceived and born in space.
SpaceBorn United is a Netherlands-based company that is on the forefront of human reproduction in the cosmos. Dr. Egbert Edelbroek, CEO of the company, joined “Something Offbeat” to discuss the mission.
A flesh-like orb discovered in the Gulf of Alaska. Construction workers who went through the Great Wall of China. And a Roman Empire-inspired menu. In this mini-sode, producers Lauren Barry and Chris Blake dig into more stories in their queue.
Organizers put together the largest search for the Loch Ness Monster in 50 years in late August. So what about the loch and what could live in it continue to pique our curiosity?
Alan McKenna of Loch Ness Exploration explains that his fascination with Loch Ness goes back to his youth, and Ken Gerhard, author of The Essential Guide to the Loch Ness Monster and Other Aquatic Cryptids, tells us he has a couple of theories as to what the Loch Ness monster could be.
People couldn’t wait to see former President Donald Trump’s mugshot when he was booked at Fulton County Jail in Georgia this summer – both his supporters and his adversaries. This week Gillian Brockell, a writer for the Washington Post’s Retropolis section, joined “Something Offbeat” to discuss our collective obsession with mugshots.
From unusual auction items to how often men think about the Roman Empire, there are countless stories we haven't been able to tell in our regular Monday episodes of Something Offbeat. So producers Lauren Barry and Chris Blake took it upon themselves to take a shot at what we're calling a "mini-sode" -- a conversation about some of the stories missed and others we just have gotten to... yet.
About 30% of couples sleep separately at least some of the time, according to a study put out this summer by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. The study found that millennials lead the trend, with 47% saying they've taken part in what's been deemed a "sleep divorce."
To learn more, Something Offbeat tracked down Dr. Wendy Troxel, a senior behavioral and social scientist at the RAND Corporation and the author of Sharing the Covers: Every Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep.
We all know the phrase “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” but how true is it? This year, a man who claims he was drugged got up on a poker table to dance, naked, and punched an amputee. His story didn’t stay in Las Vegas long – it soon went viral online. To find out more about what’s really legal in Sin City and how true that famous catchphrase is, journalist Corey Levitan, who writes the “Las Vegas Myths Busted” column for Casino.org. joined the “Something Offbeat” podcast.
This summer, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) asked the Food and Drug Administration to look into an energy drink called Prime, which has 200 milligrams of caffeine per can and, Schumer said, was marketed to children.
So what isa safe level of caffeine for kids? What about adults? Host Mike Rogers visited with Amy Goodson, a Dallas-based registered dietitian, about the amount of caffeine we consume and what causes us to feel so sluggish.
From Billboard hits to sold our tour dates, Taylor Swift has been on a lot of people’s minds lately. A recent survey even indicated that she’s the top artist for students with high grade point averages. Could music taste and academic performance really be connected? To find out, the “Something Offbeat” team reached out to Dr. Alexandra Gold, a clinical fellow in psychology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Los Angeles Dodgers centerfielder James Outman keeps a pet rock (complete with a drawn-on smiley face) in his locker both at home and on the road to help him hit. He's one of many players over the course of baseball history, to adhere to some form of superstition. From the Orioles' Mike Cuellar in the 1970s to the Yankees' Jason Giambi in the early 2000s, baseball and superstition go hand-in-hand.
This week, Jason Turbow, the author of several books on baseball, including The Baseball Codes, explains why superstitions fit baseball's long schedule, Former big league pitcher Mike Bacsik tells us the one restaurant he wouldn't go to on the days he pitched, and we hear from Outman himself about the origin of the rock.
Have you ever handed in a library book late? Have you ever kept one so long that the “shame spiral” crept in? Well, at least you haven’t kept a library book out for nearly 120 years… probably. Just this year, the New Bedford Free Public Library in Massachusetts received a book that had been checked out about that many years before. We reached out to Caroline Land, manager of the Edmonton Public Library in Canada and the host of the “Overdue Finds” podcast, to learn more about what really happens with overdue books.
A Houston-area woman went viral this summer after she posted photos of herself pulling a loaf of bread out of her mailbox. The only problem was the photos were staged. She says she just wanted to draw attention to the summer heat and different opportunities to save energy.
But the whole saga got the Something Offbeat team wondering: Could you really bake a loaf of bread in a mailbox, fry an egg on the sidewalk, or bake cookies in a hot car?
To answer those questions, host Mike Rogers spoke to the chair of the Department of Geography and Meteorology at Valparaiso University Dr. Teresa M. Balz-Elsholz.
This summer, there have been a slew of strange headlines about concert-goers throwing things at the very performers they are paying to see. Excited fans have been known to throw things on stage – including panties and flowers – but throwing a phone at a star (as one man did to singer Bebe Rexha) is a different story. So, the “Something Offbeat” team decided to investigate. We reached out to Emerson College Professor Kristin Lieb – author of Gender, Branding, and The Modern Music Industry: The Social Construction of Female Popular Music Stars – to explore this weird, concerning, trend.
This spring, an American woman was arrested after bringing an undeclared, gold-plated handgun with her to Australia. She is free on bail, but it got the Something Offbeat team wondering about the most unusual finds airport security has made.
Domestically, the TSA handles security checkpoints. Mike Rogers is joined by TSA spokesperson Patricia Mancha to learn about meth burritos, earbud cases that look like hand grenades, and more.
Have you ever been on a plane while a lightning storm raged just outside the windows? Passengers on a Spirit Airlines flight late last year had to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia when lightning stuck their plane twice. This isn’t the first or last time it’s happened. These incidents made the “Something Offbeat” team wonder: when should we panic on a plane? To help us learn more, Dr. Kristin Calhoun, a research scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association National Severe Storms Lab in Oklahoma and Rhett Dennerline, a longtime pilot and aeronautical engineer, joined the show.
In Anchorage, Alaska this spring, a moose walked through an automatic sliding door and into a hospital building before starting to chow down on office plants -- don't worry, they were real plants. The staff was ultimately able to direct the moose back outdoors.
Lily Grbavach, the director of education for the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, explained how common it is for a human to cross paths with a moose and what to do if it happens. The short answer? Don't engage.
This month, cocaine was found in the White House. Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported that a toddler managed to squeeze through the executive mansion’s fence.
After reading about the intruder toddler in April, the “Something Offbeat” team started looking into other security close-shaves at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – and there have been some interesting ones.
Gregg Stebben, author of “White House Confidential: The Little Book of Weird Presidential History” joined the show to help us learn more.
A Maine museum is offering $25,000 to anyone who returns a piece of a meteorite whose strewn field is likely in the northern part of the state. The Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in Bethel has one of the largest collections of meteorites anywhere, its founder says.
"Our museum has probably the rarest collection of meteorites in the world in this little town in western Maine," museum founder Larry Stifler said. "One of the reasons we've had worldwide publicity is, for example, more than half of all the known lunar meteorites in the entire world are in this little museum."
Stifler explained where meteorites come from, how difficult it is to find pieces of them, and what the odds are of being struck by a space rock.
When you picture a T. Rex in your mind, what do you see? Thanks to films such as “Jurassic Park”, probably a big dinosaur with exposed fangs. However, a group of researchers recently discovered that isn’t really the case. One of them, Dr. Thomas Cullen of Auburn University in Alabama, joined “Something Offbeat” to explain how they found the dino’s long-forgotten lips.
In April, a naturist group in Pittsburgh hosted an event called "Balls Out Bowling." It turns out, naked bowling is not exclusive to western Pennsylvania.
The American Association for Nude Recreation, and other regional organizations, host 5Ks, bowling, and other events year-round. This week on Something Offbeat, the president of the AANR, Mitch London, explains how he got into nudism, walks us through the history of the practice, and divulges the most dangerous thing he's done sans clothes.
What are your chances of winning the lottery? It may seem like a long shot, but one man in Maryland recently won three times using the same numbers, according to a report from Audacy’s KYW Newsradio. This story caught our attention at "Something Offbeat" and we wanted to find out the real odds of winning. So, we reached out to Robert Davis, associate professor and chair of the statistics department at Miami University in Ohio.
When a 15-foot-tall, red spoon disappeared from outside a Phoenix Dairy Queen, it left many wondering why someone would take a spoon too big to eat with and how the thieves got away with such a large item. The spoon was ultimately found days later near a middle school baseball field.
Terrence Shulman of the Shulman Center for Compulsive Theft, Spending, and Hoarding explains how these tendencies can be treated as an addiction and why we're drawn to getting something for nothing.
Joey Santore and his friend Al Scorch were out kayaking on the Chicago River when they came across a sight more fit for “Jurassic Park” than a big city – a giant snapping turtle Santore named “chonkosaurus.” Santore, who runs the “Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t” YouTube channel, joined “Something Offbeat” to talk about the now-viral turtle video he captured as well as offbeat wildlife.
From shacking up in Michigan to eating oranges in the bathtub on California soil, there are some truly bizarre “dead crimes” on the books in the U.S. Joel Johnson, a law professor at Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law, penned “Dealing with Dead Crimes”, an examination of these outdated rules and how they actually undermine the rule of law. He joined “Something Offbeat” this week to dive deeper.
This episode also features audio from Audacy’s “The Daily J” podcast and WWJ Newsradio’s coverage of a current push to get rid of that Michigan cohabitation law. Special thanks to Zach Clark and the WWJ team!
Earlier this spring, a man in Peru was found with human remains estimated to be 600 to 800 years old inside a food delivery cooler bag. According to local media, the man told authorities he’d named the remains Juanita and described them as his "spiritual girlfriend." The mummy is believed to be an adult male.
To learn more about relationships with spirits and how we cope with loss, Mike Rogers talks to Mike Huberty, the founder of American Ghost Walks, on this week's episode of Something Offbeat.
Earlier this year, the team at “Something Offbeat” learned about Elvis Francois, a man who survived for weeks on his capsized boat by eating mostly ketchup. Heinz was so impressed that it vowed to buy him a new boat. This story made us interested in survival situations and how to deal with them.
So, we reached out to Josh Piven, co-author of “The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook,” a bestseller that has spawned several sequels, including the upcoming “Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Apocalypse, Now What?”
The original version of an animal welfare bill filed in the Florida Senate included a provision that would've banned dog owners from allowing their pets to stick their heads out of a car window. While that part of the bill was removed, it still got the Something Offbeat team wondering, why lawmakers would take so much joy away from our four-legged friends.
To get to the bottom of it, host Mike Rogers is joined by Dr. Melissa Bain, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Cal Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
A recent analysis found that $2 bills can be sold for up to $4,500 dollars – way over their $2 value. This seemed a little… well, offbeat to the team at “Something Offbeat” and it made us want to learn more. So, we reached out to Heather McCabe of Two Buckaroo, a site that documents what happens when people actually spend $2 bills.
From spray-painting a stolen tractor-trailer in a hotel parking lot to live streaming an attempt at driving under the influence, there's never a shortage of "dumb" criminals in the news.
This week on Something Offbeat, Northwestern University criminology professor Kaitlin Devaney explains why some criminals make seemingly simple mistakes, what role the complexity of our criminal justice system plays, and how economics impact the cost-benefit analysis of crime.
Bernhard Hufenbach, head of the European Space Agency strategic planning and outreach office for space exploration, joined “Something Offbeat” to explain why they are looking into making a time zone on the moon. With NASA’s Artemis mission aiming to put astronauts back on the lunar surface, humans might be spending more time there soon.
French authorities were alerted to cocaine that washed up on a beach along the English Channel in late February. But it wasn't just an amount that could've fallen out of someone's bag, it was 850 kilograms -- or nearly two tons -- of cocaine.
Steve Rolles of the U.K.-based Transform Drug Policy Foundation says it's not uncommon for large amounts of drugs to wash up on shore and explains why trace amounts of cocaine showed up in British wastewater samples.
A drive through line at a new Burger King restaurant in Canada prompted one person call 911. Headlines were written about it and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police even tweeted about it. This week, “Something Offbeat” dives into why most of us agree to wait in lines with Dave Fagundes, a lawyer and professor at the University of Houston Law Center. He’s the author of a paper called “The Social Norms of Waiting in Line.”
Two Massachusetts lawmakers introduced a bill earlier this year that would have allowed incarcerated people to shave up to a year off of their sentences if they donated an organ or bone marrow. After an outcry from criminal justice advocacy groups, the lawmakers said they'd amend the language in the bill to eliminate sentence reduction.
But simply the introduction of the bill got the Something Offbeat team thinking about the ethics of such a setup and about the prison healthcare system at large. This week, host Mike Rogers talks to Cary Aspinwall of the Marshall Project, a journalism outlet that focuses on criminal justice.
After learning about a New York City pop-up gallery focused on autonomous sensory meridian response, more commonly known as ASMR, from Time Out, the team at the “Something Offbeat” podcast wanted to find out what exactly ASMR is. Dr. Craig Richard, the founder of ASMR University and host of the Sleep Whispers podcast and Joy Bhattacharya, a professor at Goldsmith University in London, the lead researcher of a study on ASMR published in the Cortex Journal on ASMR, joined the show to explain.
The election of U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-Long Island) to Congress raised questions about why someone who fabricated much of his resume didn't get discovered sooner and how he convinced constituents and donors to support him.
Psychology professor Dr. Erin Heerey of Western University in Ontario, Canada is the author of a study titled The Influence of Similarity and Mimicry on Decisions to Trust and explains what characteristics we consider when we choose who to trust.
Last month, a group of astronomers from the University of Arizona discovered what looked like the face of a bear on Mars. This isn’t the first time that people have found a face in the heavens, and it made the team at “Something Offbeat” wonder why we are always looking to the sky for meaning. So, we reached out to two experts: Dartmouth researcher Nathan H. Heller, who specializes in pareidolia – hearing or seeing a specific sound or image in a seemingly random visual or auditory stimulus – as well as well-known astrologer Jessica Lanyadoo, host of “Ghost of a Podcast”.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment has used facial recognition technology to keep some fans out of Rockettes shows, Knicks games, and other events at its properties in recent months. But not just any fans -- attorneys who work for firms with pending litigation against the company.
This week, Leila Nashashibi with the nonprofit Fight for the Future, explains the biases of facial recognition, who controls the information, and the "creep" of technology that concerns her.
In the episode, Nashashibi mentions how people concerned about the technology can get involved, by visiting Fight for the Future or by clicking here.
Sabrina Boyd-Surka of Audacy's KYW in Philadelphia fills in for Mike Rogers this week.
What is the likelihood of an apocalypse like the one of “The Last of Us” actually happening? Dr. Cameron Carlson of the Zombie Research Society told the “Something Offbeat” podcast that one of the greatest zombie risks may be hiding in litter boxes. Carlson and host Mike Rogers also discussed the real-life Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus that inspired the pandemic depicted in the ‘Last of Us’ video game and HBO show.
Strange things have been happening in recent weeks at the Dallas Zoo. First, a clouded leopard went missing from its habitat, which had been tampered with. Next, a 35-year-old vulture was found dead. Then, two emperor tamarin monkeys went missing, though they were later found in an abandoned home. Environmental writer Emma Marris, author of the book “Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World” joined “Something Offbeat” as the mystery unfolded to talk about zoos and if they are the right place for animals to live.
During the world cup, a Brazilian soccer star known as Neymar was busy making appearances. Except, it wasn’t really Neymar. It was his identical, unrelated doppelganger, who calls himself “Ney’s Lookalike.” Could you have a rouge lookalike out there somewhere too? Canadian photographer François Brunelle has been working for years to photograph strangers who look like twins from all over the world. So far, he has captured 250 pairs of doppelgangers. He joined “Something Offbeat” this week to discuss the project. If you have your own doppelganger, you can learn more at his website, http://www.francoisbrunelle.com.
New York University dismissed an organic chemistry professor before the fall 2022 semester after 82 of his 350 students signed a petition against him, saying that his class was too difficult.
Organic chemistry is what's often deemed a "weed out" class for students pursuing careers in the medical field, but the petition raised the question of who really holds the power in higher education.
The professor, Maitland Jones, taught the subject for more than five decades, first at Princeton and then NYU. He wrote an op-ed in The Boston Globe defending his position and looking for ways students, faculty, and administrators could work together to help students.
In the aftermath of Jones' dismissal, Jessica Calarco, a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin who specializes in inequalities in education, wrote an op-ed in The New York Times arguing that "weed out" classes benefit privileged students. She joined Something Offbeat to discuss the power struggle in higher education.
James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” has been smashing box office records this month. Do you remember the substance “unobtanium” at the center of the original film’s plot? According to a recent headline from Smithsonian Magazine, it is actually a real thing… sort of. Dr. Matthew Shindell, curator of Planetary Science and Exploration at the National Air and Space Museum, joined “Something Offbeat” this week to explore the history of “unobtanium” and take us on a trip to the line between science and science fiction.
When the Stanford Daily reported that 20-year-old William Curry, who was not a student, was removed from a campus dorm, it unearthed another unsettling detail. The university was aware of Curry's presence for at least 10 months but didn't send out any communication to the campus at large.
On this episode of Something Offbeat, Mike Rogers visits with Theo Baker, one of the Daily reporters who broke the story, and Robert McDonald, a security expert and criminal justice professor at the University of New Haven, who spent two decades in the U.S. Secret Service.
Host Mike Rogers and guest Michelle Napierski-Prancl, a sociologist and professor at Russell Sage College, explore how pop culture influences naming trends and dive into the more offbeat side of names – including some that have deemed illegal, according to U.S. Birth Certificates.com – on “Something Offbeat” this week.
When the owner of Pets Gone Wild Resort in the Houston area put up a sign that said "Now Hiring Non-Stupid People," he never imagined the response he would get -- positive and negative. Walter Parsons joins Something Offbeat to tell the story of what drove him to post the sign, and HR consultant Caren Goldberg explains why it might have rubbed some people the wrong way.
Have you ever considered cleaning your blood? How about taping your mouth shut to sleep? Many health trends like these found on social media sites aren’t healthy at all. In fact, they could be dangerous. This week on “Something Offbeat” registered dietician and bestselling cookbook author Toby Amidor helps us debunk some of the weirdest examples of these viral health hacks.
The retailer Costco has famously sold its hot dog and soda combo for $1.50 for nearly 40 years. In fact, the big box store's founder, Jim Sinegal, reportedly once told the company’s current CEO Craig Jelinek, “If you raise the (price of the) effing hot dog, I will kill you.”
Now, Costco's competitor Sam's Club is offering the same deal for $1.38 in an effort to ease the burden on consumers. As inflation causes the prices of other commodities to rise, does the cheap hot dog combo really make an impact on consumers' bottom line?
Chris Thornberg, the founder of Beacon Economics, joins Mike Rogers to get to the root cause of inflation, discuss retail strategy, and yes... hot dogs.
Imagine driving down the street and suddenly seeing a giant silver ball rolling towards you like the boulder from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” – that’s what some motorists in London faced when a public art piece was dismantled by wind. Public art expert Laura S. Griffith, deputy director of the Philadelphia-based Association for Public Art, joined Mike Rogers on the “Something Offbeat” podcast this week to explore what goes into making public art safe and why this art is so important.
World records come in all shapes and sizes: the longest and the shortest, the biggest and the smallest. Some come naturally, while others take a little planning.
On this episode of Something Offbeat, we hear how Tik Tok helped Samantha Ramsdell, a comedian from Connecticut, realize she might have a record-setting mouth, and how a South African funeral trade expo organized the longest parade of hearses in the world. Both are now Guinness World Record holders.
Just about everyone has an unusual fear they can't explain, right? For example, Alyssa Boss loves animals, but when it comes to rodents she says she feels overcome with nausea and anxiety. Nothing scares her more than coming across a rodent with a hairless tail.
A new podcast from Audacy, called Your Weirdest Fears, explores these fears, and how we would survive if they came to fruition. Hosted by Larry Mullins, this lighthearted, weekly series explores fears both rational and irrational. Subscribe here.
Back in October, astronomers were dazzled when a flash of light from the depths of space was detected by NASA’s Fermi telescope, a trace of what scientists call a gamma ray burst. Is it something we should be worried about? Dr. Brian Thomas, leader of the research team studying astro-biophysics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Washburn University, joined “Something Offbeat” to explain this phenomenon and more.
NASA audio included.
Eva Velasquez of the Identity Theft Resource Center joined “Something Offbeat” to discuss the disturbing case of Northern California man who was charged with stealing by writing checks to himself from his dead roommate’s bank account. She also provided tips to help people avoid more common identity theft horrors.
More than 300 years ago, a woman in what is now Poland was buried with a sickle across her neck and a padlock on her foot. This summer, she made her way above ground and into the headlines. For this special Halloween weekend episode of “Something Offbeat,” we are joined by Dacre Stoker, the great-great nephew of “Dracula” author Bram Stoker – and an expert in all things vampire – to learn more about these creatures of the night.
When a religious group posted a message on social media saying a new pair of Reeboks were inspired by a Satanic symbol, it got the Something Offbeat team thinking about moral panics and conspiracy theories.
On the second week of our spooky season-inspired episodes, we talk to Dr. Joseph Uscinksi, a political science professor at the University of Miami and one of the nation's foremost experts on conspiracy theories, about what draws people to them, the real-world consequences they have, and if it's possible to bring someone back to reality.
“Something Offbeat” kicks off three weeks of spooky October episodes with nightmarish…ukuleles. Dr. Kim Meidenbauer of the University of Chicago’s Neuroscience Research Lab joined the pod to explain various ways that we are impacted by our environments, including a plane filled with 180 people learning to play ukulele.
Do you ever feel like the mascot for every high school or college team is a Wildcat or a Bulldog? That's because they're two of the top four mascot choices in sports.
But there's value to picking a mascot that sparks conversation, Jason Klein, co-founder of the sports branding company Brandiose, tells host Mike Rogers. And as the NFL's Washington Commanders prepare to select a new mascot, Jason and Mike discuss the factors that go into such a decision, while reminiscing about the Famous San Diego Chicken, the Philadelphia Flyers' Gritty, and the University of Alabama's Big Al.
Audio courtesy of KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia, 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., and 670 The Score in Chicago.
While exotic animals, and those more on the domestic side, may provide support for their owners, Dr. Lynette Hart, vice chair of the department of population health and reproduction at the University of California at Davis, and co-author of the recently released book “The Perfect Puppy,” revealed that there is also a darker side to the “support animal” industry.
"There's really no enforcement of these regulations. It's, it's very sort of sloppy, no one comes in and tries to enforce it. So. So it became a wild west free for all."
Imagine unlocking and starting your car with the wave of a hand. That's what a Michigan man has the ability to do with an RFID chip that's implanted in his hand. The chip is equipped to download apps -- including one for Teslas.
Host Mike Rogers talks to Texas Christian University religion professor Dr. Sage Elwell, who specializes in the intersection of the digital and theological, about the future of technology in our bodies. And we hear from Brandon Dalaly, the man with the implanted chip, courtesy of Audacy's KNX in Los Angeles.
When a man bit down on something hard while eating clams at a Delaware restaurant this summer, his first thought was that something was in his food. It turned out to be a rare purple clam pearl, and got the Something Offbeat team thinking about other exotic foods.
In this episode, host Mike Rogers talks to Scott Overland, the man who found the pearl, and explores the culinary art behind preparing wild game with Chef Brian Jupiter of Chicago's Frontier restaurant.
Fantasy leagues are growing to include far more than just sports. In 2016, a group of friends decided to start betting on the reality TV show "The Bachelor". What started as a game has since grown into a mini-fantasy reality TV empire. Bracketology.tv co-founder Kaitlyn Hurley says the games have expanded to include "Survivor" and "Big Brother", with more shows on the way.
In this episode, host Mike Rogers explores why we feel the need to add an element of intrigue to more shows and how fantasy reality TV and fantasy football have more similarities than it appears at first glance.
A recent study published in the Nature journal found that fourteen people who were legally blind now have improved vision thanks to a new procedure where material derived from pigs is injected into patients’ eyes. On this episode of “Something Offbeat” we spoke to study author Dr. Neil Lagali of Linköping University in Sweden and xenotransplantation expert Dr. David K.C. Cooper to figure out the role animals play in the future of human medicine.
In a study released early this summer, researchers used DNA extracted from ancient teeth to pinpoint the origin of the 14th-century plague, the Black Death.
Sharon DeWitte, an anthropology professor at the University of South Carolina, and an expert on the bubonic plague, explains how the new findings further our understanding of the Black Death, and Alicia Ventresca Miller, an archeology professor at the University of Michigan says future researchers will have much to learn from our remains.
This week on “Something Offbeat” the story of online entrepreneur Stephanie Matto from “90 Day Fiancé” selling her farts – and then selling them as NFTs – inspired us to look into the digital economy. Arabian Prince of rap group N.W.A. and founder of multiple technology-based companies joined us with his MdDAO business partner Nick Donarski to talk NFTs. We’re also joined by Nate, creator of the “Terrible Origami” Etsy storefront.
Crews rescued seven people from a ride that got stuck at a carnival outside St. Louis earlier this summer. That's despite county officials inspecting the attractions before the fair opened, according to organizers.
Amusement ride safety consultant Ken Martin explains that there's plenty that can wrong between the time of an inspection and when it's time for the ride to run, especially when the human element is introduced to the situation.
Remember the fun of naming your pet? Now, imagine taking on the task of naming an entire species. Earlier this year, Dr. Christopher Whalen of Yale University got that chance. This week on Something Offbeat, we talk to Whalen about his discovery – an ancient ancestor of the octopus that he named after President Joe Biden – and to Dr. Brittany Kenyon-Flatt of North Carolina State University about the history behind scientific names.
When an Austin-area antique dealer bought a 52-pound marble bust for $35 at a Goodwill store, she thought she might have a special find. But she may not have known howspecial.
The bust turned out to date back to the first century and was likely carried back to the United States by a soldier returning from World War II, says Laura Young, the woman who purchased it.
Shimrit Lee, the author of the book Decolonize Museums, explains that plunder and destruction during wars are common.
Last month, NASA announced it would commission a study on unidentified aerial phenomenon, or UAPs, otherwise known as UFOs. Why now? Does this new program signal that an alien visit could be imminent? Dr. Avi Loeb, a Harvard professor, bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” and head of the Galileo Project, joined Something Offbeat to provide a better understanding of what the public might get out of UFO research.
Last month an appeals court in Missouri confirmed a decision that awarded a woman more than $5 million from Geico after she says she contracted an STD from her partner in his car. That claim raises the question of what’s considered "the normal use of a vehicle." Tom Baker, an insurance law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, explains that how the case got to this point and details other interesting insurance claims he's seen.
Spongy moth caterpillars have taken over the lives of a Maine couple this year, from ruining trees to popping up in food. This week, Angela Mech, assistant professor of forest entomology at the University of Maine, and Erika Hasle, a conservation ecologist with the Keller Science Action Center at The Field Museum in Chicago, joined Something Offbeat to fill us in on the outbreak and explore how climate change influences human interactions with the insect world.
A procedure that slowly lengthens a patient's legs and makes them taller has grown in popularity in recent years. Is it just the latest trend in a centuries-long effort to modify our bodies, or is technology pushing the pace of human physical evolution?
From tattoos and gauging to botox and surgeries, Rebecca Lester, a professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, explains that as long as we have recorded history, humans have been altering their appearance.
A group of margarita-drinking kindergarteners got us thinking: How does advertising impact kids and how can advertisers improve on it?
From the Joe Camel cigarette ads of the late 1980s and 1990s to the fruit-flavored vape juice pods of recent years, the BBB National Programs' Mary Engle helps break it down on “Something Offbeat."
Hosted by Mike Rogers, produced by Lauren Barry and Chris Blake, audio editing by Chris Blake, original music by Myron Kaplan, editorial support from Cooper Moll.
It’s not hard to find gruesome, macabre images or videos – they’re on TV, in horror movies and online. But what if you wanted to see them in person? Through a series of donations and transactions, the body of a 98-year-old World War II veteran from Louisiana ended up on a table in an Oregon hotel ballroom where attendees paid as much as $500 to view a public dissection.
Dr. Gail Saltz, associate professor of psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell School of Medicine and host of the “How Can I Help?" podcast, explains what drives people to seek out such spectacles and what that fascination with death can tell us about ourselves and our society.
Hosted by Mike Rogers, produced by Lauren Barry and Chris Blake, audio editing by Chris Blake, original music by Myron Kaplan, editorial support from Cooper Moll.
We all know office parties can be a drag, but for some, they can be more than uncomfortable. Recently, a court awarded a man who suffers from an anxiety disorder $450,000 for being subjected to an unwanted office party. Why do some people dismiss mental health issues such as anxiety, and why are some boundaries not respected?
To find out, host Mike Rogers spoke with Dr. Kevin Chapman, founder and director of the Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders.
Hosted by Mike Rogers, produced by Lauren Barry and Chris Blake, audio editing by Chris Blake, original music by Myron Kaplan, editorial support from Cooper Moll.