Cool Stuff Ride Home
Covering the most interesting and coolest stories that you may have missed around the world in about 15 minutes a day. Cool Stuff Ride Home looks at science, progress, life-hacks, memes, exciting art, and hope. This is the antidote to depressing headlines. Smart stuff in podcast form. Cool news, as a service.
Hosted by Reggie Risseeuw and Marques Pfaff.
451
Tue. 12/06 - Gory, Graphic Shakespeare & Those ...
Candles will play stunt double for actors in a new staging of Shakespeare’s most violent play. Plus, we take a detour down the path of Shakespearean conspiracies. And, in other news, the moon just got its own infrastructure package. Sponsors: ...
17 min
452
Mon. 12/05 - Will Sherlock Holmes Go Goblin Mode?
2023 is going to be a big year for the public domain, and especially for one estate who will finally be losing control of a character they’ve tried their very best to wring every last dollar from for over a century. Plus, Oxford English Dictionary...
18 min
453
Fri. 12/02 - Pilk & Cookies: Santa's New Fave?
AriZona Iced Tea is joining the hard beverage movement. Pepsi is joining… Big Milk? And scientists have got some new, practical tips for training your body to wake up earlier and actually alert. Sponsors: Uncommon Goods, Get 15% off your next gift...
18 min
454
Thu. 12/01 - Your Toilet Could Save Your Life
Was Mars once hit with an asteroid on the scale of Earth’s own dino-killer? Plus, what if there was a device that listened to your farts and let you know when you should go see a doctor? And the USDA program that’s recognizing indigenous food...
17 min
455
Wed. 11/30 - Designing Spotify Wrapped
A dive into the design behind Spotify Wrapped, and some of the new features this years––including the Myers-Briggsification of your personal listening data. Plus, the baguette was just granted UNESCO world heritage status! Sponsors: Shopify, Sign...
18 min
456
Tue. 11/29 - Summer Drought Is Haunting Christmas
Drought and inflation are making it a tough year for Christmas trees. Plus, Japan has had to abandon what would’ve been their first-ever lunar landing, but a private Japanese company launching a lander tomorrow might still fulfill that milestone for...
15 min
457
Mon. 11/28 - The World's Largest Active Volcano...
The world’s largest active volcano has begun erupting for the first time in four decades. Plus, “monkeypox” has officially been renamed “mpox.” And insurance company State Farm has just released a jazz album. Sponsors: American Musical...
14 min
458
Tue. 11/22 - Should 16-Year-Olds Be Allowed To ...
New Zealand is set to vote on lowering the voting age to 16. Scientists have added four new prefixes to the metric system. And a peek inside the wide world of Monster Energy drink collection and trading communities. Sponsors: Uncommon Goods, Get 15%...
18 min
459
Mon. 11/21 - A Ray of Hope For the "Tripledemic?"
Could the “tripledemic” be tamped down slightly by the viruses interfering with and preventing each other from spiking in the same place at the same time? Plus, public libraries in the US and Canada have been launching their own streaming...
15 min
460
Fri. 11/18 - Giant Turkey Legs, The Quintessent...
What’s the deal with those giant turkey legs they serve at renaissance fairs and Disney World? Plus, Coors Light has just launched a color-changing nail polish that lets you know when your beer is cold enough to drink. And Cambridge Dictionary’s...
17 min
461
Thu. 11/17 - Lab-Grown Meat Gets FDA Approval
The FDA has given approval for the first time to a lab-grown meat. Plus, another company is genetically modifying plants to work as superpowered air purifiers. And 500 new words like bae and subtweet have been added to the official Scrabble...
16 min
462
Wed. 11/16 - Fruitcake Flavored: The Pumpkin Sp...
Can wearing a mask yourself make it harder to recognize the faces of people, even when they’re not wearing a mask? Plus, why Kraft Heinz has upped the goof factor with so many off-the-wall stunts in recent years. And is fruitcake the new go-to...
17 min
463
Tue. 11/15 - Chimps––They're Just Like Us!
In what feels like the start of a riddle, egg prices are surging, but chicken prices are going down. Plus, it turns out chimps like to share cool stuff as much as some daily podcasters. And Artemis I is supposed to launch late tonight, but if this...
19 min
464
Mon. 11/14 - Polar Night, Midnight Sun, & Fruit...
Polar Night and Midnight Sun. What’s it like living in a place that stays absolutely pitch black for two and half months, and what can we learn from the people who live there? Plus, a new emergency alert system in the US to let you know when an...
17 min
465
Fri. 11/11 - VR Special Effects Made Live TV D...
How tech from shows like The Mandalorian is now being used in live election coverage on TV. Plus, an enormous tunnel has been uncovered beneath an Egyptian temple and some think it could lead to Cleopatra’s tomb. And Netflix is starting to...
15 min
466
Thu. 11/10 - Can I Get One Large Algae, Please?
Is algae the secret to feeding our growing world? Plus, new evidence for a sixth mass extinction that occurred even earlier than the Big Five. And some prescient thoughts on democracy from fifty years ago, courtesy of the creator of Charlie Brown....
15 min
467
Wed. 11/09 - Ballpoint Pens Killed the Cursive ...
Could the ballpoint pen be just as responsible for the death of cursive handwriting as the computer? Plus, lab-grown blood has been injected into two patients in a world-first clinical trial. And, would you attend a Zoom meeting in a movie theater?...
17 min
468
Tue. 11/08 - 3D Printing Human Organs In Space
From a 3D bioprinter for human tissues to pumpkin spice cappuccinos, here’s the cargo being delivered on board the S.S. Sally Ride tomorrow to the International Space Station. Plus, this time it’s not just in your head, the New York Times really...
17 min
469
Mon. 11/07 - The Uncertain Future of Social Med...
On TikTok, Twitter, and more broadly how social media has changed us, how we might finally be approaching a tipping point in how we use it, and the ways in which our devices play just as large a role as the algorithms. Sponsors: I Am Bio, Subscribe...
24 min
470
Fri. 11/04 - Music to Prevent Nightmares
Could a musical cue played while you’re asleep help prevent nightmares? Plus, a round-up of science news from this month in history. And the US government might be getting an official Space Bureau. Sponsor: BetterHelp, Get 10% off your first month...
15 min
471
Thu. 11/03 - How the World Series Led To the Te...
A deep dive into two major events that led to the television boom, and a question of what that has meant for the artifice and theatricality of live events. Sponsor: BetterHelp, Get 10% off your first month at Links: (The Conversation) ...
15 min
472
Wed. 11/02 - Cornhole Controversy
2022 has been the year of cheating. The latest scandal to rock a niche community? BagGate at the American Cornhole League World Championships. Plus, Collins Dictionary has declared “permacrisis” their word of the year. And an exciting update for...
15 min
473
Tue. 11/01 - Dracula: A Tale of Misinformation?
Why does Dracula still resonate with audiences over a century later? The disease narrative is one possible reason, but there’s another less-discussed theory too. Plus, one team of scientists have detected traces of an ancient ocean on Mars. And a...
14 min
474
Mon. 10/31 - Queen Victoria's Halloween Ragers
Dispatches from the Recreational Fear Lab on why being scared might be a healthy thing. And the raucous Halloween parties Queen Victoria used to throw in Scotland. Sponsors: BetterHelp, Get 10% off your first month at Indeed, Links: (Slate) ...
16 min
475
Fri. 10/28 - Best Of: Candy Corn, Witches, & Sp...
In our first-ever "Best Of" episode, we look back at the history of candy corn. How did this contentious candy come to be, why does it persist when so many people hate it, and does it really contain bug secretions? Plus, a segment from 2020, were...
26 min