The Wholesome Show

Submit feedback/questions/rebuttals/abuse to cheers@wholesomeshow.com or comment below and you'll be featured/glorified/shamed in the next episode! We are heading back into the wholesome lab to re-jig our format so we are creating the best possible show for you all. Nothing is sacred during this rebuild so we are tearing it all apart! We'll be back under a different name, with a different show, still presented by your two favourite truant beer-wielding academics! See you in the future! MORE FROM THE WHOLESOME SHOW: AppleSpotifyOmny FMWebsiteTwitterTikTokInstagramSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1990s, Samuel T. Cohen, the father of the neutron bomb, became extremely vocal about the fact that the Soviets had discovered a new raw material that could potentially spell the end of organised society. Red mercury had hit the market.    Apparently, when detonated in combination with conventional high explosives, it could create city-flattening blasts like a nuclear bomb. And, it would help make nuclear fusion weapons more efficient and considerably smaller. It was an arms dealer’s dream!   In theory, red mercury could produce enormous pressures and temperatures, sufficient to initiate a mini pure fusion explosion. Traditionally, fusion weapons need a fission component to trigger the deuterium fusion. However, with red mercury, this fission step is supposedly unnecessary. Cohen described it as a remarkably non-exploding high explosive. Sounds like something from a Marvel movie right? SOURCES: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/sep/30/thisweekssciencequestions1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Cohen#Red_Mercury_claims https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1997.11456737 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazher_Mahmood https://web.archive.org/web/20081016050603/http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/douglass/2003/0311.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-doomsday-scam.html https://www.gizbot.com/internet/news/what-is-red-mercury-and-why-people-are-ready-to-pay-lakhs-for-it-068487.html https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13418241-900-only-fools-still-hunt-for-elusive-red-mercury/   CHAPTERS: 00:00 Samuel T. Cohen Concerns About New Raw Material 03:05 Red Mercury: Doomsday Dreams 07:41 Mass Destruction or Myth? 10:06 Red Mercury Hoaxes  14:23 Cohen Claims Red Mercury Exists 17:28 Frank Barnaby’s Investigations 23:30 Scammers and Fake Red Mercury 31:12 The Mystical and Sexual Properties of Mercury 41:16 The Enduring Red Mercury ScamSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Born just outside Vienna, Austria in November 1860, Hanns Hörbiger was an engineer by trade. He invented a steel valve for a blast furnace blowing engine which changed the game for efficient steel production. He also played a key role in the design and construction of the Budapest subway, the third in the world at the time. He was obviously a clever man. A real thinker. And some might say, a complete nut job.  A keen astronomer, one evening Hörbiger pointed his telescope at the moon and suddenly realised, it was all made of ice. It was so shiny! How could it not be ice? He looked at Mars. He looked at Neptune. He looked at the Milky Way…Everything in the cosmos was ice. And not only was it made of ice, but ice was the driving force of the entire universe. Strangely, the German scientific community at the time thought Hörbiger was bonkers and didn’t pay attention to anything he said. World War I was happening so, you know, people had other things to think about. But Hörbiger was not dissuaded. He became a total zealot and decided that all he needed to do was convince the masses of his ideas. Then the academic scientists would be pressured to agree.  SOURCES: Willy Ley: Pseudoscience in NazilandChristina Wessely: Cosmic Ice Theory—Science, Fiction and the Public, 1894–1945. Eric Kurlander: Hitler’s MonstersEric Kurlander: A Song of Ice and Fire Philip Ball: How 2 Pro-Nazi Nobelists Attacked Einstein’s "Jewish Science" The Occult History of the Third Reich: Horbiger CHAPTERS: 00:00 The Dark Side of the German Students Union 03:12 Hans Hörbiger: Engineer & Inventor 05:35 Hörbiger's Cosmic Ice Theory 06:25 A Prophetic Dream and Pendulum Science 11:09 The Origin of the Solar System According to Hörbiger 17:23 Cults and Cosmic Theories 19:14 Hobiger's Zeal and Post-War Tactics 20:16 The Rise of the World Ice Movement 22:38 Hitler Embraces World Ice Theory 29:52 The Pseudoscience Impact on Nazi Germany 33:39 The Downfall and Legacy of the World Ice TheorySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Humans love a good apocalypse. Give us a blockbuster about a virus that obliterates the population, an asteroid that wipes out the entire planet, or anything with aliens and we lap it up. But have you ever thought about what will actually kill us at the finish line? Sure, we’d like to think the zombie apocalypse will be the winner, but if we’re talking about plausible ways to exterminate humanity, what’s a good way to go?   The end of the world as we know it isn’t all fiction. Life on Earth has come pretty close to getting wiped out a few times actually. Genetic analysis shows humanity plummeted to perilously low numbers—about 1,200 breeding humans (yes, we are all related)—when intense volcanic activity in Siberia caused global warming and wiped out 96% of plants and animals.    But life persisted. We might be inbred, but it seems total annihilation is harder to pull off than you think. The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago didn’t completely destroy the earth, and humans managed to scrape through the black plague. So what could be our final end?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do humans and lobsters have in common? Apart from the fact that both have social hierarchies and serotonin, not all that much really. Last time we checked, we don’t live underwater or have tasty claws.    But despite the differences, esteemed (and often controversial) Canadian psychologist and Harvard Professor, Jordan Peterson, has become rather well known for his theory linking human social hierarchies to lobsters.    The first rule in Peterson’s book is “Stand up straight with your shoulders back." Indeed, aggressive and dominant lobsters stand up to exert their authority. Lobsters also don’t really like each other much on the whole, except when they're trying to mate. Mostly they’re just trying to be macho and make all the other lobsters their subordinates. The males compete for the best territory to win access to most females.    So the moral of the story is, just be a dickhead because you’re the same as a lobster?    CHAPTERS: 00:00 What is Sociobiology? 05:16 Jordan Peterson: Psychologist & traditionalist 12:57 12 Rules for Life: An Overview 15:52 Stand Up Straight with Your Shoulders Back 18:15 Lobster theory 20:01 Humans and Lobsters Exist in Hierarchies 23:22 The Science Behind Serotonin 26:31 Why Compare to the Lobster? 31:43 Cherry Picking to Illustrate Existing Beliefs 35:34 What’s Next on The Wholesome Show   SOURCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Petersonhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/06/04/jordan-peterson-needs-to-reconsider-the-lobster/https://theconversation.com/psychologist-jordan-peterson-says-lobsters-help-to-explain-why-human-hierarchies-exist-do-they-90489#:~:text=Peterson%20argues%20that%2C%20like%20humans,helps%20make%20more%20serotonin%20availablehttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/21/human-instinct-why-we-are-uniquehttps://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/jordan-peterson-12-rules-kate-manne-review/https://deadwildroses.com/2019/01/07/sociobiology-and-jordan-peterson-lobsters-all-the-way-down/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2018/nov/01/pity-jordan-peterson-lobster-analogy-replace-sense-humour See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No one likes being told what to do. As soon as we can choose for ourselves, humans thrive on the sense of agency to wear what we want, eat what we want, say what we want and do what we want. And that includes laughing.   So why did so many television shows include a laugh track, telling us when to laugh at something? Was it an attempt to manipulate us? Or perhaps the jokes weren’t funny enough to conjure up a genuine guffaw. The Big Bang Theory was the last show to incorporate a laugh track and that ended in 2019. So with laugh tracks pretty much dead now, what caused producers to kick the canned laughter? You mean they have to rely on clever scriptwriting, innovative directing and engaging actors?!   Could the laugh track be dead forever? CHAPTERS: 00:00 Laugh Tracks: Why? 03:30 Loathe It or Love It 06:09 The Invention of the LAFF Box 08:49 Laugh Boy Art 13:52 The Rise and Fall of the Laugh Track 15:44 Shows That Used Fake Laughter 19:44 Laugh Track: An Evil Innovation 23:01 Why Did The Laughing Stop? 30:34 Is It All That Bad? 31:57 What’s Next on The Wholesome Show   SOURCES: - RIP canned laughter, the most evil innovation in TV history - The Death of Laugh Tracks - The Hollywood Sphinx and his Laff Box - The Laugh Track: Loathe It or Love It - The Most Hated Sound on Television - The Real Reason TV Sitcoms Stopped Using Laugh Tracks - This Sitcom’s Cancelation Signals The Death Of A 70-Year-Old Sitcom Trend - 20 Funniest Sitcoms With Laugh TracksSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reality TV is a genre that has wormed its way into our screens, our culture, and—for many of us—our guilty pleasures. While some might dismiss these shows as frivolous entertainment (we’re using the term “entertainment” generously here), maybe there’s more to it than good old fashioned wife swapping, marrying strangers and surviving in the wild with nothing but a six-pack and an epic tan.   Perhaps reality TV is so popular because it holds up a mirror to society, showcasing the full spectrum of human emotions. Watching real people in real situations causes us to reflect on our own life choices and experiences. Or perhaps it’s all completely fake, scripted rubbish that makes the producers a hell of a lot of money. As a writer of The Simpsons, Dana Gould put it, reality TV is “people who aren’t actors working with people who aren’t writers in an amateur production of nothing.”   But how “real” is reality TV… really?   *CHAPTERS:* 00:00 Born In The Wild 07:30 Bet on Your Baby 11:06 How Real is Reality TV? 16:38 Release The Hounds 25:14 The Role of NDAs in Reality TV 29:14 The Naked Magazine Sweepstakes 30:21 Ethics and Consent in Reality TV 31:24 Who's Your Daddy? 33:59 Viewer Shame 37:11 When Reality TV Goes Too Far 43:17 The Upsides of Reality TV 48:23 What’s Next on The Wholesome Show   SOURCES: Who's Your Daddy? (2005 TV series) - Wikipedia34% of Aussies who watch reality TV lie about it"Born in the Wild": Lifetime TV has lost its mind | Salon.com"Born in the Wild" TV Review on Lifetimehttps://www.pedestrian.tv/entertainment/absolutely-bonkers-reality-shows/Release the Hounds - WikipediaIntervention (TV series) - Wikipediahttps://www.forbes.com/sites/joshwilson/2022/03/17/reality-tv-how-the-genre-has-consistently-re-engineered-itself-into-new-life/?sh=2cbffce5303aHow Reality Shows Affect Our Lives and Society | Psychology Today AustraliaReality TV Has Reshaped Our World, Whether We Like It or NotWhy are people so embarrassed to say they love reality TV? - ABC NewsFull article: The Voice: non-disclosure agreements and the hidden political economy of reality TVAngles /The Reality Behind Reality TV by John YazbekFive myths about reality television - The Washington PostJust how fake are reality TV shows? | HowStuffWorks20 worst reality TV shows of all-time (so far)The New Quiz Show Scandal -- Reality Television - Los Angeles Times‘Intense and insane’: was this the most unsettling reality TV show ever? | Documentary films | The Guardianhttps://www.digitalspy.com/tv/reality-tv/a823156/most-dangerous-reality-shows-ever/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christopher Havens was a smart kid. While it mightn’t have been the best move for his social status in the fourth grade, he was so keen on maths that he even tutored his classmates. Nerd alert! Maybe that’s why he eventually got caught up in the wrong crowd. He just wanted to fit in and be cool like everyone else. And of course, being cool meant smoking weed and drinking alcohol, which led to mushrooms and LSD. And then things eventually spiralled into pain pills and crystal meth, which spiralled even more out of control, resulting in him murdering someone. Sigh. Before going to prison, Haven’s dad gave him some helpful advice to survive incarceration - be the shark, not the clownfish. So, of course, Haven interpreted that advice as beating up another prisoner so he could join a gang. While that act might have confirmed his loyalty to the gang, it also opened the door to his new accommodation in solitary confinement. AKA Hell on earth.  Nothing but blank concrete walls, the smell of your own shit, and a bright fluorescent light to keep you company all day and all night. It was enough to drive a person mad, and by the sounds of the constant kicking and screaming next door, his neighbours were already there. Thankfully Havens was thrown a lifeline…in the form of a maths puzzle.   CHAPTERS: 00:00 The Horrors of Solitary Confinement02:42 Christopher Havens' downward spiral03:30 Algebra: A Solitary Confinement Lifeline10:06 Flow State in the Midst of Hell14:31 Solving the Unsolvable for Umberto Cerruti21:36 Giving Back with the Prison Math Project23:17 The Journal of Prisoners on Prisons26:31 Recidivism and Rehabilitation28:50 The Power of Education in Reducing Recidivism32:40 Spoiler Altert: Solitary Confinement Doesn’t Work34:04 What’s Next on The Wholesome Show?   SOURCES: A conversation with Christopher Havens, Prison Mathematics ProjectA systematic review of criminal recidivism rates worldwide: 3-year updateAn inmate’s love for math leads to new discoveriesHow a maximum security prison offers a pathway to academic excellence and a PhDMoving from prison to a PhDPioneering Advanced Math from Behind BarsRecidivism Rates by Country 2024This Inmate Used Solitary Confinement to Learn Math. Now He's Solving the World's Hardest EquationsWhy Prison Education?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back in the old days, there were pretty slim pickings about what to do for a career. Basically, people just did what their father or mother did. Then, as education became more available to the masses, every parent’s dream was for their child to become a doctor, lawyer or accountant. Secure a respectable job and make the big bucks.    But what if you didn’t want to drag out your days in an ordinary job, working for the man in a major multinational corporation? What if you were more interested in say, mystical and astrological matters?   In 1996, when Rod was deciding his career fate, there was actually a one-year diploma in Astrology and Jungian psychology from The Urania Trust in London. He nearly signed up but chickened out and did the corporate grad entry thing instead. He loved it (NOT). Don’t make his mistake! Whatever you’re interested in, there’s a degree out there and some of them are pretty wild.   CHAPTERS: 00:00 Rod’s dreams for psychoanthropology 05:07 Masters of Science: Brewing and Distilling 09:36 Royal School of Needlework 12:18 Unusual Performance Degrees 15:20 The Art and Science of Time Measurement 20:56 Puppets and Existential Sadness 25:10 Surf Science In England 27:20 Theme Park Engineering 29:07 Bagpipe Studies at Carnegie Mellon 34:45 Ethical Hacking: Training criminals 38:56 What Next on The Wholesome Show   SOURCES: BSc (Hons) Ethical Hacking Degree | Abertay UniversityPolicy Statement - 99-12 Engineering, Bachelor of Science in, Option in Theme Park Engineering- Academic Senate | California State University Long BeachWhat Is Piobaireachd?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strathspey_(dance)16 most unusual university degrees - Save the StudentTen of the most unusual degrees in the world | Student20 Strangest Bachelor's DegreesUrania TrustRoyal School of NeedleworkSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

World War II pilots ate a bunch of carrots. Back then, people were well aware that vitamin A was critical for healthy eyesight and that carrots were a good source of beta-carotene. So in 1940, versions of high-carotene strains of carrots were being tested on pilots to reduce night blindness. This was pretty important at the time because during the 1940 Blitzkrieg, the Luftwaffe often struck under the cover of darkness. The British government issued citywide blackouts to make it more difficult for German planes to hit targets, so maximising vision among pilots and civilians was critical.    The year before, the RAF had built the new secret Airborne Interception Radar (aka AI). Instead of being limited to land-bound detection stations, the AI Radar was on planes, able to pinpoint enemy bombers before they even reached the English Channel.    In 1940, RAF night fighter, John Cunningham, became the first pilot to shoot down an enemy plane using AI. He eventually tallied 20 kills - 19 of them at night - and became known as “cat eye” Cunningham. But, the Poms needed to make sure the Germans didn’t know about the secret of their success. So, the UK Ministry of Food came up with a different reason: Carrots.    Make the Germans think that carrots gave Cunningham night vision.. And just don’t mention the little Airborne Interception Radar that he had on his plane. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Debunking Food Myths: Bread Crusts and Apples 02:16 The Spinach Iron Myth 04:32 Carrots and Night Vision 06:55 Ancient Egyptian cure: Liver Juice in the Eyes 09:17 Carrot Man Can’t Poop 13:19 WWII Airborne Interception Radar 16:49 Dig for Victory Campaign 19:59 Dr. Carrot and Wartime Propaganda 23:41 The Wholesome Verdict 29:01 What’s Next on The Wholesome Show PREVIOUS EPISODES MENTIONED: Arctic Cold Case Solved: Who Was First To The North Pole?   SOURCES: - Fact or Fiction?: Carrots Improve Your Vision | Scientific AmericanA WWII Propaganda Campaign Popularized the Myth That Carrots Help You See in the Dark K. Annabelle Smith August 13, 2013https://web.archive.org/web/20220519172618/http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/ww2seeinthedark.html Carrots and Night Vision - WW2 Copyright 1996-2022 World Carrot Museum. The Myth About Carrots and Vision Started to Foil Nazis - The Atlantic By Ed Yong November 13, 2015Do carrots really help you see in the dark? - BBC Science Focus MagazineWhat's so super about superfoods? by Cecilia Duong 26 September 2022The True Science of Spinach and What the Popeye Mythology Teaches Us about How Error Spreads – The MarginalianAn Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away — Fact or Fiction?Carrot man: a case of excessive beta-carotene ingestion Int J Eat Disord. 2012 Sep;45(6):816-8  doi: 10.1002/eat.22015.Epub 2012 Mar 19.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Besides unnecessary wars, assassinations and scandalous affairs, what comes to mind when you think about American presidents? The Oval Office, the Star-Spangled Banner, Air Force One, the official military salute… and of course golf.   With the exception of three presidents (Hoover, Truman and Carter), golf has been the presidential sport of choice throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. While Hoover avoided golf during the great depression (a bit rude while everyone was starving), others like Woodrow Wilson were fanatics, playing over 1600 rounds during his presidency.    But when it comes to golf, there’s one President who brings a flair of colour to the green - and we’re not talking about the colour of his polo shirt. This president is renowned less for his golfing prowess and more for his boastful claims of golf accolades and notorious cheating habits. None other than Donald Trump.   SOURCES: Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump, by Rick ReillyDoes Trump lie about how good he is at golf? 5 cheating stories about the ex-presidentHand-in-capHow Donald Trump Cheats at Golf, According to a Sportswriter: 'He Will Do Anything'How golf explains Trump. Seriously.Obama Golf CounterThe President’s club: How golf took over the White HouseThe Serial Golf Cheat in the White HouseTrump Golf CountSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all have our idiosyncrasies, those automatic things we do each day that form the way we are in the world. Whether we scrunch or fold, or leave the toilet seat up or down, these are things we do (or don’t do) automatically. Much like the urgent need to crap your dacks in a Japanese bookstore.    That’s right, there is a significant portion of Japanese people who feel overcome by a heaving sensation in the rectal passage whilst browsing books.    In 1985, 29-year-old Japanese woman, Mariko Aoki, contributed an article in the Hon no Zasshi or “Book Magazine” about her strong urge to defecate whenever she visited a bookstore. Surprisingly, a significant number of readers wrote to the editorial department to share their similar experiences. Who would have thought so many people had been fending back faeces in the fiction section?! Turns out a lot.    CHAPTERS: 00:00 Idiosyncratic & Biological Habits 02:21 The Aoki Mariko Phenomenon  08:07 Feature Article explains Book Bowel Tendency 12:13 Japanese Survey to Revitalise Bookstores 14:28 Millions suffer with Aoki Mariko Phenomenon  21:11 Symptoms: Body Shivers & Unusual Urges 26:13 Psychiatrist Speculation: Hyper Response to Stress 33:27 The Wholesome Verdict: Psychological or Sociological Phenomenon? 37:49 What’s Next on The Wholesome Show   SOURCES: What is “key in lock” syndrome? - Hands on HealthcareA Doctor Explains Why Bookstores Make Some People Feel the Need to PoopBathrooms and Noble - The Currenthttps://web.archive.org/web/20120509063936/http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/national/news/CK2012042902000077.htmlMariko Aoki phenomenon - WikipediaLet’s Talk About Poop. Specifically: bookstore poop | by Judey Kalchik | Artisanal Article Machine | MediumMariko Aoki Phenomenon | The Daily OmnivoreThe Mariko Aoki Phenomenon: When You Need To Poop After Entering A Book Store | Faculty of MedicineSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever seen someone in public and you swear you know them from somewhere, you just can’t pick where? Are they an old school friend? The guy who delivers bread to your local cafe? You feel like you know them but it would probably be weird if you started a conversation. Well, that’s a glimpse into the life of a small percentage of the population who recognise with freakish accuracy every face they’ve ever seen. People with this extraordinary gift can find themselves in awkward social interactions due to their detailed memories of people they’ve actually never met. Yes, it can look a tad stalker-ish...   Yenny Seo is one of these unique people (not a stalker). From a young age, she demonstrated an uncanny ability to remember faces - strangers on the street she had seen weeks ago, extras in movies, every person in her university lectures and people in photos on her social media feed. She even caught a serial shoplifter by recognising his face on CCTV.   In 2017, Seo got curious about her skills and stumbled upon the University of New South Wales (UNSW) face test online quiz. Her exceptional performance put her in the top 0.05 per cent of all participants, confirming she was a Super Recogniser. That’s right. Yenny officially has superpowers. And she’s not alone either.   SOURCES: The super-recognisers of Scotland Yard - New Statesman‘I’d keep it on the down low’: the secret life of a super-recogniser | Science | The GuardianCould super recognisers be the latest weapon in the war on terror? 2016 David James RobertsonSuper-Recognisers in the Metropolitan PoliceDJ Robertson et. al. February 2016 Face Recognition by Metropolitan Police Super-Recognisers PLOS ONE 11(2):e0150036 DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0150036What is it like to remember all the faces you’ve ever seen? | Psyche IdeasQPS Super Recogniser Network helps crack 1,000 cases - Queensland Police NewsIt is widely believed that humans are rather good at recognising facesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the millions of years of evolution, we humans have developed into a highly intelligent species. We’ve developed the ability to communicate, we’ve created social order, and established norms and protocols that facilitate a (mostly) harmonious coexistence. Take, for example, the fact that we all know how to stand in line to order a beverage.   But now, after millennia of humans lining up and waiting their turn, it seems all of a sudden there’s an entire generation that doesn’t know how to queue. They loiter in the vicinity of the line, they leave long gaps between them and the person in front, making the queue, if there even is one, ambiguous at best. Are they in the queue? Are they out of the queue? It’s all very unclear and to be honest, when all you want is your coffee, it’s wildly frustrating for us olds.   Now this is making a huge generalisation about a large group of people in society, but someone needs to say it. Sorry Generation Z, we love you, but it seems like you don't know how to queue properly. What’s going on? CHAPTERS: 00:00 Why can’t Gen Z queue properly03:33 Queue research: Cultural, Social and Psychology studies05:33 Cultural Differences in Queuing 08:50 Gen Z Don’t Care About Queue Jumpers10:11 Is Social Media to Blame?13:06 The Legendary AFL Queue of 196516:16 Why Queue Fitness Has Dropped20:42 The Art of Queue Jumping24:18 Generational Differences and Social Norms25:45 The Magic of the Seventh Son30:17 What’s Next on The Wholesome Show   SOURCES: A global guide to queuing philosophies, from Wimbledon to São Paulo, QuartzGeneration Z more likely to queue-jump and let others do the same, poll claimsNo, Argentina's president did not adopt a Jewish child to stop him turning into a werewolf by Uki Goni in The GuardianQueue Culture: The Waiting Line as a Social System, by Leon Mann in the American Journal of SociologyThe Psychology of Queuing, in Psychology, by A Furnham, L Treglown, G & Horne, G.What’s Up Doc? Seventh Sons in Victorian and Edwardian Lancashire, by Simon Young in FolkloreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Humans love their independence. Wars have been fought for it, songs have been written about it, and history is filled with examples of individuals and communities seeking to raise a flag towards more liberating ideals. And some have taken the flag very literally.    Project Minerva was an ambitious endeavour led by Michael Oliver in the 1970s to create a libertarian utopia on the coral reefs of the South Pacific. They got some coral, wrapped it in chicken wire, covered it in cement, and dumped it on the existing coral reefs which lay just a few metres beneath the water line. High above their man-made island, the flag for the Republic of Minerva flew proudly.   But do these libertarians think about the impact on indigenous populations?    And would you really want to live in a country (or a planet) that is bankrolled and governed by the wealthy elite? Surely they have their own agenda, and it’s likely not the health and well-being of their citizens…   00:00 Shipwrecked on Invisible Reefs01:27 Michael Oliver Escapes from Nazi Rule03:28 Constructing a Libertarian Utopia: The Republic of Minerva05:02 Exploring Libertarian Escapes with Professor Raymond B. Craib09:09 Post World War II Market Libertarianism13:27 Sealand: A Libertarian Exit with Longevity18:15 Ethical Dilemmas of Libertarian Exits21:42 Grand Schemes of Billionaires: Dreams vs. Reality22:24 The Labor Dilemma in Utopian Projects24:52 The Contrast Between Organic and Engineered Libertarian Projects31:04 Ethical Quandaries of Libertarian Experiments35:23 Reimagining Power and Governance in Libertarian Exits42:43 The Cautionary Tale of the Republic of Minerva45:58 Concluding Thoughts on Libertarian Utopias   SOURCES: A Narrative of the Wreck of the Minerva, by Peter Bays Adventure Capitalism: A History of Libertarian Exit, from the Era of Decolonization to the Digital  Age, by Raymond CraibEscape Therapy: On Douglas Rushkoff’s “Survival of the Richest”, by Raymond Craib, in LA  Review of Books See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you think of the word ‘cult’, what immediately comes to mind for most of us are things like hooded velvet robes, secretive gatherings and doomsday prophesies. Then there’s the charismatic yet nefarious leader brainwashing followers, maybe a forced orgie or two, a spot of mass suicide. Generally not good stuff.   Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton outlines three primary characteristics of destructive cults: a charismatic leader, coercive persuasion tactics, and exploitation of members. Well, that pretty much sums up NXIVM and the Order of the Solar Temple.   It’s pretty well established that there are a lot of bad cults. But are there any good ones?    CHAPTERS: 00:00 Management cult at Rod’s first job07:01 Scientology: A Cult or Not?10:23 10 warning signs of being in a cult14:14 Order of the Solar Temple 18:51 NXIVM: Were you a Nazi in a former life?24:16 Cognitive dissonance and why do people join cults? 31:23 Female Empowerment in New Religious Movements  34:55 Ma Anand Sheela and Osho40:04 Defining Cults: Destructive or Benign44:17 The Wholesome Verdict on Cults48:26 What’s next on The Wholesome Show   SOURCES: Benign Cults vs Negative CultsRajneesh movement - WikipediaHow Scientologists Founded the Pancake ParlourSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The teen years can be tough. Let’s be real, it was an awkward time for the best of us. During those tender years, we all did our best to navigate the tumultuous world between childhood and adulthood amidst raging hormones, love triangles and knife fights... the usual teenage stuff.   Ok, perhaps not every teenager gets in a knife fight, but this particular case has all the drama you would expect to find in a daytime soap opera.   The story involves a 15-year-old girl who was employed in a local bar (well that’s the first red flag right there). She was admitted to hospital after a knife fight outside the bar involving her former lover and a new boyfriend. Exactly who stabbed who was not quite clear, but all three participants in the small war were admitted with knife injuries.   Precisely 278 days later… The girl was admitted to hospital once again. This time with acute intermittent abdominal pain. Upon examination, the doctors found something very surprising indeed... A fully grown baby.    But she couldn’t possibly be pregnant… she didn’t have a vagina!! CHAPTERS: 00:00 Knife fight admits teenagers to hospital01:50 Mysterious abdominal pain02:14 Pregnancy without a vagina03:35 Medical investigations: How did this happen?05:55 Lessons from oral pregnancy PREVIOUS EPISODES MENTIONED: So did you get a root? Tales, definitions and loopholes for defining sex   SOURCES: Oral conception. Impregnation via the proximal gastrointestinal tract in a patient with an aplastic  distal vagina. Case report, by Douwe A A Verkuyl, in BJOGSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s the deal with redheads? It sounds like the beginning of a Seinfeld bit but in all fairness (pun intended), for a group of people who make up only 2% of the population, our flame-haired ginger guys and gals have attracted much attention throughout history. Some of that attention is due to the obvious: redheads are babes.   But the fascination with redheads over the centuries hasn’t all been positive. They’ve also received far more hostile attention like being labelled barbarians by the ancient Greeks and Romans. In Ancient Egypt, redheaded men were burnt as human sacrifices at the grave of Osiris (god of the deceased) and their ashes were scattered to the four winds in the name of a bountiful harvest; red hair symbolised the golden wealth of the corn after all, so… makes sense.   In medieval times, people with green eyes and red hair were considered either witches, werewolves or vampires. There were even alchemical recipes requiring the blood of a redhead to turn copper into gold. Just mix the blood up with the ashes of a basilisk, easy as pie.    Scientific or not, redheads do seem to carry the reputation of having a somewhat spicy temperament and the people from Charles University in Prague wanted to know if this translated into the bedroom… The science says yes but not in the way you think! CHAPTERS: 00:00 Why do redheads fascinate us?03:42 Barbarians and human sacrificing05:40 Alchemical recipe with the blood of a redhead07:30 19th century study: Most criminals were redheads09:31 Ayurvedic medicine and genetics13:42 Opiate response, Vitamin D and adrenaline 17:48 Redheads smell like ambergris19:12 Pain studies: Stabbing and electric currents21:50 Sexism in redhead stereotypes24:21 Study on Redheads and Sexuality 27:08 What’s next on The Wholesome Show   PREVIOUS EPISODES MENTIONED: What The Hell Happened To The Left-Handers?   SOURCES: Myths about red hair are rooted in fear of difference | Aeon IdeasThe Truth About Redheads Ginger hair: 13 fascinating facts about redheads World Redhead Day: 16 fun facts about red hair - Indianapolis Redheaded women are more sexually active than other women, but it is probably due to their suitors Science Confirms Redheads Are Equipped With Some Weird Genetic Superpowers - GQ Australia Red hair - Wikipedia  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you think about the Cold War, you immediately think about whale songs right? Okay, maybe not everyone makes that connection, but in a delightfully random way, the political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s had a lot to do with the discovery of the beautiful whale song, and ultimately, the collapse of the commercial whaling industry altogether.    Back in the 1950s, the United States had gone gangbusters with submarines. Travelling under the Arctic Ocean, they were set on going the longest, the deepest, the hardest. But they were worried about other countries doing it too… particularly the Soviets.     They knew they couldn’t stop them, but they at least wanted to know where the Red subs were. That’s when Frank Watlington was tasked by the US Navy to develop hydrophones (microphones they could stick in the ocean) to listen for submarine sounds.    So Watlington set off to Bermuda and got to work. One day he dropped his hydrophone 1,500 feet into the ocean and heard strange, eerie sounds coming from the deep. For the Navy, these sounds were just annoying distractions from detecting submarine activity but for Watlington, well, they were captivating. Ditching his original task of detecting Soviet submarines, Watlington became obsessed with the ethereal sounds he had recorded and he played them to anyone who would listen... CHAPTERS: 00:00 Everyone knows the whale song02:08 A dog’s breakfast: 20th century whaling03:32 The Cold War and the end of whaling05:21 Frank Watlington and hydrophones07:22 Roger Payne: From science to viral sensation10:35 Patterns and rhythm in the whale song 12:19 Humpback Whale record goes viral14:58 Rock stars, Greenpeace and whaling ban16:49 What next on The Wholesome Show   SOURCES: Francis W. Watlington; Recorded Whale Songs, NY Times  'It always hits me hard': how a haunting album helped save the whales, The Guardian  It Took A Musician's Ear To Decode The Complex Song In Whale Calls, NPR  Listening to Whales by Douglas Allchin in The American Biology Teacher  Number of whales killed, World, Our World In Data  Oral conception. Impregnation via the proximal gastrointestinal tract in a patient with an aplastic  distal vagina. Case report, by Douwe A A Verkuyl, in BJOG Whale song: A grandfather's legacy, CBS News  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Politicians get a bad rap, don’t they? Every mutterance and every action falls under intense scrutiny from the press and the public eye. If they make one wrong move, we’ll know about it and keep talking about it for ages too.   Maybe that’s why politicians go to such great lengths to win the people over. Like when Governor Carey of New York volunteered to drink a glass of PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls - highly carcinogenic chemical compounds) to prove a state building was safe.    It seems that drinking a cup of toxic liquid is the go-to political move. Punjab State Chief Minister, Bhagwant Mann, downed a glass of polluted water from a holy river in 2022 on the heels of a campaign to clean water bodies. He was hospitalised for 2 days. Then there’s the bizarre demonstration from Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who allegedly drank fracking fluid in a ritual-like manner around a table. Bit culty.   While you could argue that demonstrations like these showcase leadership and a willingness to share risks with the public, they could also just be downright reckless and stupid.  CHAPTERS: 00:00 Don’t put torpedos in your mouth03:06 Mad Cow Disease: Putting beef to the test05:47 President Obama drinks lead-lined Flint Water 08:35 East Palestine toxic chemical water11:58 The Fracking fluid ritual15:41 Proving that New York Midtown is safe18:41 Nuclear bombs are perfectly fine20:35 Dining Dangers: From COVID to Cholera25:38 Product safety testing downfalls32:03 What’s next on the Wholesome Show   SOURCES: Communications and Politics, in The Public Health Crisis Survival Guide: Leadership and  Management in Trying Times by Joshua M Sharfstein  Ex-N.Y. Gov. Hugh Carey dies at 92, Politico  Factiva archive  Food Irradiation by the CDC  New York Times Archive Trove The cholera epidemic in Latin America, Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen  What became of Cordelia Gummer, the Mad Cow girl?, Daily Express Vets dismiss fears of 'mad cat' disease, New Scientist  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.