Wikiphilia: Recent Episodes
Kevin, Blake, Steve, and Mike
Michael tries to get us in on the ground floor for a very exciting investment opportunity. Charles Ponzi
Blake discovers a firkin’s worth of strange and obscure measurements which will fascinate you for fortnights while increasing your microlife. List of Unusual Units of Measurement
Michael tries to sell us the Eiffel Tower, which was gifted to him by the Prince of Sudan. Confidence Trick
Blake tells story. He finds a king lost in the forest. The king throws a fish to the clever fox. The fox eats the king and laughs. Blake fails to learn moral. Arne Thompson Classification Systems Multilingual Folk Tale Database
Michael reports on the slo-mo, low octane, champagne fueled, contest of endurance that captured our imaginations before excitement was invented.
Kevin suggests that Yoko Ono wasn’t the only parasite draining blood out of the Beatles.
Blake stumbles upon the phenomenon of shadow people: nasty gremlins that sit on your chest and strangle you in your sleep if you accuse them of being hallucinations. Shadow person
Blake finds some intriguing methods to intentionally obfuscate semantic content of information whose importance, relative to that necessary for general discourse, may or may not have significant impact on the full comprehension of the intended audience. Technobabble Fedspeak
Kevin explains that Santa Barbara is famous for more than just wealth and Oprah Winfrey. Bombardment of Ellwood
Michael tells the story of Leopold and Loeb: two college students that make those frat boys down the street look like kittens. Leopold and Loeb
Kevin reminds us once again why being born before WWII is less than desirable. Orphan Train
Blake decides it’s time science gets put in its place, which depends on where and when you are observing it. Check out a few ideas that seemed good at the time. Plague Doctor Miasma Theory Luminiferous Aether
Blake discovers that you should always check on your grandma if she stops sending you birthday cards.
Kevin tells the story of Terrance Watanabe: a man with a little bit of a gambling problem.
Blake talks about a mysterious, unexplained sound called ‘The Hum’ and a smell so bad it almost shut down government.
Blake discovers two severe cases of polyphagia (aka over eating). Yes. They are gonna eat that. All of it. And then some. Then maybe some candles. And grass. Ooh a kitty.
Sarah gives sleepy Italians more to worry about than just a leaning tower and Mount Vesuvius.
Michael tells the tale of Big Nose George. And his big nose. And some special shoes. And his skull.
Michael investigates the disappearance of an Australian aircraft, begging the question: do UFOs spin the opposite direction south of the equator?
Blake finds out that there are magic elves at the end of the rainbow, once you taste it, with your eyes.
Kevin advises on how to destroy a country’s economy with a couple of cargo planes and lots of paper.
Blake is curious what sort of artifacts Dr. Jones would save from Nazis in real life. He found the most mysterious book ever written, and a clock that was built 1400 years before clocks were invented.
Kevin warns about losing your head while sailing with Ferdinand Magellan around the world for the first time.
Michael discovers Chico Xavier, a man who published 458 books, but claims to have written none of them. How is this possible? I’ll give you a hint: ghosts.
Blake discovers that humankind had a weird obsession with combining animals and explosives during World War II. Surprisingly, it didn’t work out so well.
Blake finds an array of animals that explode naturally, from decomposing in the hot sun, flexing the wrong muscles too hard, or just wanting to spread out a little bit on the weekend.
Kevin explains how zits and cold sores were nothing compared to what 15-yr-olds had to deal with 100 years ago.
Michael tells the story of the Dionne quintuplets, a major Canadian financial resource: part tourist trap, part hospital, part zoo, part national pastime.
Blake explores the dark origins of corn flakes cereal, and discovers that a truly balanced breakfast consists of solar baths, enemas, and a few strategically placed sutures.
Kevin discovers that our 16th president won the Civil War, ended slavery, reunited the nation, and had to spoon with many men during the “great bed shortage” of the 1800s.
Blake shines a light on some superheroes that won’t be having movies made any time soon.
Kevin finds out that ‘going medieval’ on someone is not an entirely amiable experience.
Blake lifts up a rock on Wikipedia, and finds where all the nerds have been hanging out.
Blake destroys your mermaid fantasies by explaining that they were just monkey heads attached to dead fish.
Kevin will find the humor in maniacal white guys that refuse to be rescued from the jungle.
Blake tells us about a gambling table in Virginia City, Nevada that seems to really make a fellow depressed.
Steve covers 1. Mister Splashy Pants 2. Bielefeld Conspiracy, 3. General Butt Naked 4. United States v. $124,700 in U.S. Currency 5. Marcel Petiot
Kevin dwells on just the negative side of using an abandoned strip mine for a trash dump, and then the dangers of lighting it on fire every year.
Blake explains how rabbits can destroy a garden, a movie, a presidential campaign, and an emperor’s hunting trip.
This tribe in the Indian Ocean does not like visitors. They are the most isolated tribe on earth.
The London Monster strapped knives to his knees and defaced women’s clothing. What a brute.