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.
701
Wed. 11/03 - The McRib, Space Tacos, and Tropic...
An abridged history of the McRib sandwich. Astronauts have leveled up their taco game by growing chile peppers in space. And Tropicana just introduced their own line of toothpaste. Sponsor: Tentree, Use code KOTTKE for 15% off your first order at ...
16 min
702
Tue. 11/02 - How to Rewild Your Attention
Some tips for “rewilding your attention.” Plus, how to help NASA train future rovers to better navigate Mars. And what’s going on with those NFT billboards in Times Square… and also, the McRib is now an NFT? Sponsor: Tentree, Use code KOTTKE...
18 min
703
Mon. 11/01 - "Behind The Joy Are The Algorithms"
A meditation on streaming entertainment, algorithms, and David Foster Wallace’s prescient writing on the illusion of choice. Plus, a possible functional cure for HIV has just been approved to enter human trials. And, the Wampanoag woman who grew...
18 min
704
Fri. 10/29 - Disease and the Vampire Myth + Hal...
Digging up the origins of some of the most popular Halloween memes––from “Spooky Scary Skeletons” to the dancing pumpkin man, and also touching on the Disney Channel’s 1980s answer to MTV. Plus, how times of disease have historically led to...
19 min
705
Thu. 10/28 - Human Eggs Made From Blood Cells
Could we one day create sperm and egg cells from any human cell, even across the sexes? Plus, how BJ Novak from The Office’s face ended up on products all around the world without him knowing. And the latest drops from two of the internet’s...
17 min
706
Wed. 10/27 - Permafrost Thaw May Unleash Radioa...
It turns out that melting permafrost could unleash Cold War-era radioactive waste and millions of years old antibiotic resistant bacteria. Cool cool cool. Plus, a look back at when picnicking in cemeteries was a common past time––and not just for...
15 min
707
Tue. 10/26 - Can AI Simulations Solve the Suppl...
Could a new generation of AI simulations help solve the mounting supply chain disruptions? Plus, the history and future of haunted houses. And Jeff Bezos is basically trying to start a WeWork in space. Sponsor: NetSuite, Links: (MIT Technology...
14 min
708
Mon. 10/25 - Music That Gives You Chills, and W...
The countercultural witchcraft music of the 1960s, and a study exploring what it is about certain songs that give us a spine-tingling chill. Plus, elephants in Mozambique have evolved to be born without tusks. And the guy who discovered a budget hack...
16 min
709
Fri. 10/22 - A Solar Storm Proved the Vikings V...
Thanks to a collab between trees and the sun, we can now pinpoint an exact year that the Vikings were in North America. Plus, are sirens actually effective tools for emergency vehicles? And why are apples associated with Halloween? Like what is up...
17 min
710
Thu. 10/21 - Using These Memes Is A Red Flag 🚩
Open captions are coming to the big screen as AMC Theaters takes a big step towards accessibility, and a look at captions’ growing popularity among the hearing. Plus, how some of the most popular memes are completely inaccessible. And the group of...
18 min
711
Wed. 10/20 - None Pizza With Left Beef: A Slice...
A brief history of one of the most famous pizzas on the internet. Surgeons have successfully transplanted a kidney from a genetically-altered pig to a human. And how to watch the Orionid Meteor Shower this week, if the big ol’ full moon doesn’t...
17 min
712
Tue. 10/19 - Grand Duke Travis of Westarctica W...
A look at the micronation of Westarctica, whose Grand Duke Travis started a nonprofit arm of the micronation to raise awareness about the consequences of the climate emergency in Western Antarctica. Plus, AstroAccess successfully completed their first...
16 min
713
Mon. 10/18 - Thank Exoplanets For Your iPhone's...
How the push to search for signs of life on exoplanets fueled the development of the technology we use in our latest generation of smartphones. Plus, what your punctuation habits can say about you as a writer––and a new website based on a 2016 art...
17 min
714
Fri. 10/15 - Responding to Pandemic Uncertainty...
A proposal for approaching this next phase of the pandemic less like an epidemiologist and more like an engineer. Plus, new findings from the Mars Perseverance rover that has NASA breathing a sigh of relief. And product placement in novels, added...
17 min
715
Thu. 10/14 - Do Spoilers Actually Make Movies B...
Should you read the spoilers for horror movies before you watch them? Plus, a butterfly species in Finland with parasitic wasps in its belly… and even more wasps inside of that one. And, what if instead of lamps we one day use glowing plants to...
19 min
716
Wed. 10/13 - Who's To Blame For Candy Corn?
How candy corn went from a year round candy marketed at farmers to the love-to-hate it Halloween treat it is today. Plus, a new interactive image gallery that starkly shows what effects three degrees of global warming will have on coastal cities...
19 min
717
Tue. 10/12 - Why Do We Casually Kill Spiders Wi...
What is it that makes spiders so frightening to us, and why do most of us kill them without sparing a second thought? Plus, a Scottish nightclub that’s using the body heat of their dancing patrons to heat and cool the venue. And Prince Charles,...
14 min
718
Mon. 10/11 - The Very Intense Miss Navajo Natio...
It’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day. More and more local governments are making it official, but why did we start celebrating Columbus Day to begin with? Plus, the impressive and gnarly competition to be crowned Miss Navajo Nation. And the history of...
21 min
719
Fri. 10/08 - Is The Nobel Prize Bad For Science?
The winners of the Nobel Peace Prize have been announced! As well as the winners in Chemistry and Literature. More on each winner, as well as a question about whether we really need the Nobel Prize. Plus, the remnants of the oldest Black church in the...
17 min
720
Thu. 10/07 - It's Like Venmo, But For the Post ...
The WHO has officially approved the first-ever malaria vaccine. The United States Postal Service is trying out being a bank. And the story of a white-naped crane named Walnut who fell in love with a human named Crowe. Sponsor: Novo, Links: (NY...
17 min
721
Wed. 10/06 - "Corpse Medicine," Brain Implants,...
A Russian film crew have arrived on the International Space Station to shoot the first-ever feature length film in space. A woman has received a brain implant that is successfully treating her depression by painlessly zapping her hundreds of times a...
17 min
722
Tue. 10/05 - The Facebook Outage Revealed a Gri...
Are we prepared to reckon with how much of the world came to a stop when Facebook went down yesterday? Plus, thanks to a new discovery, you may soon be able to find out if you had an identical twin in the womb using just a simple cheek swab. And...
17 min
723
Mon. 10/04 - Thor's Antiviral COVID-19 Pill & S...
The sexist history of the rollerboard suitcases. Plus, the facts about Merck’s new COVID-19 antiviral pill, including its connection to Thor. And the return of Nick Lutsko’s absurdist Spirit Halloween music videos. Sponsor: Novo, Links: (Ars...
15 min
724
Fri. 10/01 - Edibles In Your Kid's Trick-Or-Tre...
The persisting myth of tampered-with and tainted trick-or-treat candy, and why it’s an urban legend that will never die. Plus, how we humans produce speech and a website that shows you both the beautiful engineering and the chaos of our mouths. And...
14 min
725
Thu. 09/30 - Chinese Takeout Boxes Are American...
The very American history of the Chinese takeout box, and a look at the new “Americancore” trend. Plus, archaeologists have uncovered a hidden neighborhood in the ancient Maya city of Tikal that sheds new light on the imperialism of the...
17 min