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Scoot talks to WWL listeners about the threats that artificial intelligence language models pose to our jobs, and the idea of meritocracy.
On a quiet November morning in 1980, a drilling crew making an exploratory borehole in the middle of Lake Peigneur, Louisiana, ran into a problem: their drillbit got stuck at 12,000 feet down. Although they didn't know it, this would be the first sign of an industrial accident on a massive scale, one that would flood a mine, drain a lake, cause a 150-foot waterfall, set off a geyser, and a begin a natural gas explosion. This week, we invite you to grab a salty snack, make sure your safety drills are up-to-date, and join us for a deep dive (sorry) into the Lake Peigneur disaster. Sources for this episode include: “The Jefferson Island Mine Inundation: Report of Mine Innundation, Jefferson Island Mine Inundation, Diamond Crystal Salt Company, New Iberia, Iberia Parish, Louisiana” by M. W. Nichols et al, 1981 “How Can a Lake Vanish in 3 Hours?--Phenomenon Explained (The Lake Peigneur Salt Mine Disaster)”, video by L. Klein, 2020 “Lake Peigneur: The Swirling Vortex of Doom”, by A Bellows for Damn Interesting, 2005 “Lake Peigneur” “4oth Anniversary of salt mine breach causing Louisiana's Deepest Lake” staff reporters for KLFY
John "Liver-Eating" Johnston was one of the "mountain men" who explored the American Northwest in the mid to late 1800s. Like the other "mountain men," Liver-Eating Johnston had his fair share of battles with the Native Americans who were defending their land. Unlike the other "mountain men," Johnston supposedly ate the livers of hundreds of natives he had killed. It was only recently that we learned this wasn't exactly true, but in Johnston's case, the truth might just be more horrifying than the fiction.Sources:The Anaconda Standard, February 11, 1900. Bellows, Alan. “Liver-Eating Johnson.” Damn Interesting. Damn Interesting, January 21, 2020. https://www.damninteresting.com/liver-eating-johnson/. Bunker, Robert, and Raymond Thorp. Crow Killer: The Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson. New ed. Indiana University Press, 2016.“Woodhawks.”The Flathead Courier, May 12, 1927. French, Brett, and Dave Shors. “The Legend of Liver-Eating Johnson Keeps Getting Taller.” Billings Gazette, August 24, 2017. https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/the-legend-of-liver-eating-johnson-keeps-getting-taller/article_7864cffc-afe4-5adf-8403-dbad9fe37450.html.The Helena Independent, May 7, 1893. Herda, D. J.. The Never-Ending Lives of Liver-Eating Johnson. (Helena: Twodot, 2019).Langford, Nathaniel Pitt. Vigilante Days and Ways: the Pioneers of the Rockies. (Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1912).Maccar, David. “The True Story Behind 'Jeremiah Johnson': What We Know (and Don't).” Free Range American, September 14, 2021. https://freerangeamerican.us/true-story-jeremiah-johnson/.McLellan, Dennis. The Avenging Fury of the Plains: John "Liver-Eating" Johnston. (Mountain Man Tales Publishing Co., 2021).“Noted Pioneer Dead.” Red Lodge Picket, February 2, 1900. Rasmussen, Cecilia. "Trailing a Wild West Character to his Graves." Los Angeles Times, August 21, 2005. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-aug-21-me-then21-story.html“The Real Jeremiah Johnson.” Notes from the Frontier, April 7, 2021. https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/the-the-real-jeremiah-johnson.Western Kansas World, October 12, 1889. Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.comFor more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com
Today I released the 50th episode of my podcast. It's been amazing. Read along at: https://penguinlatte.blog/2021/03/12/50conversations/
Spring-run chinook and summer-run steelhead are exceedingly strange creatures. What makes them different from their (more numerous) winter-run colleagues? Why are they an important indicator of the health of a river? What's their future?Scott Greacen (Friends of the Eel River) and Tom Wheeler (Environmental Protection Information Center) host a discussion on these odd fish, with Bill Tripp of the Karuk Tribe, consultant Craig Tucker and fish researcher Samantha Kannry.Support the show (https://www.humboldtbaykeeper.org/get-involved/donate)
-052- The Spy Of Night And Fog by ⚠️ Damn Interesting
In which I celebrate Alien Day by discussing the reproductive habits of the xenomorph. References Arnold, C. (2016, September 28). The viruses that made us human. PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/endogenous-retroviruses/ Bellows, A. (2006, May 17). This place is not a place of honor. Damn Interesting. https://www.damninteresting.com/this-place-is-not-a-place-of-honor/ Blakemore, E. (2017, January 26). Human-pig hybrid created in the lab—Here are the facts. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/01/human-pig-hybrid-embryo-chimera-organs-health-science/ … Continue reading "Alien day 2020"
Fruit that smells like butt, Snails in court, A cat named Socks, 19th century corpse acquisition, Benefits of sun exposure, The limits of caffeine, Unique anatomy of the swamp wallaby. Jennifer and Angela discuss the Damn Interesting curated links for the week of 3/13/2020.
Telecommuting for the future, The end of Moore's Law, Making humans more like jellyfish, Insect snacking, Right-sizing body parts, Building with ice. Jennifer, Curtis, and Angela discuss the Damn Interesting curated links for the week of 2-28-2020.
Digital tracking on the job, 17th-century fanfic, Luck be a moral quandary, Reduce-reuse-reallocate, Geothermal wells. Jennifer and Curtis discuss the Damn Interesting links from the week of 2/21/2020.
Chevron destroys the little guy, Feral hogs go viral again, Virtual colonialism, Tor takes a hit, The economics of potty training. Jennifer and Curtis discuss the Damn Interesting curated links from the week of 2/7/2020.
Zen stillness on the microscopic level, Unique immune system of bats, Pablo Escobar's hippos, How to develop smart AI, Cancer patients high on shrooms, Cryptographic failures of the CIA. Jennifer, Curtis, and Angela discuss the Damn Interesting curated links from the week of 2/7/2020.
Pepsi point shenanigans, Hegemony of archives, Interplanetary vocalization, Behind the scenes at Rotten Tomatoes, Economics of fake meat, Cat spats in Britain. Jennifer, Curtis, and Angela discuss the Damn Interesting curated links for the week of 1/31/2020.
Dueling with your spouse, Modern leeching, Pigeons as makeup, Alligators for lunch, X-rated cat animation, Hidden secrets of Notre Dame, Beetle jewelry, The mysterious Order of the Oddfellows. Jennifer and Angela discuss the Damn Interesting curated links for the week of 1/24/2020.
Precariously balanced geology, Garlic prejudice, Unionization of the bagel industry, Weight loss of the tongue, The most powerful word in the English language, Yet another tech utopia. Jennifer and Curtis discuss the Damn Interesting curated links for the week of 1/17/2020.
Will and Laura talk about Billy Tipton and discuss A Quick and Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40538740-a-quick-easy-guide-to-queer-trans-identities [Disclaimer: some of the sources may contain triggering material.] Thomas, Marlo. “The Curious History of Women Who 'Passed' As Men In Pursuit of a Dream.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 3 May 2013, huffingtonpost.com/marlo-thomas/women-who-passed-as-men_b_3203857.html. Williams, Holly. “Culture - The Cross-Dressing Gents of Victorian England.” BBC, BBC, 8 June 2016, bbc.com/culture/story/20160608-the-cross-dressing-gents-of-victorian-england. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-a-cross-dresser-and-a-trans-woman Park, Chris. “Billy Lee Tipton (1914-89) - Jazz Musician.” LGBT History Project, 1 Jan. 1970, lgbthistoryproject.blogspot.ca/2012/02/billy-lee-tipton-1914-89-jazz-musician.html. Smith, Dinitia. “One False Note in a Musician's Life; Billy Tipton Is Remembered With Love, Even by Those Who Were Deceived.” The New York Times, 1 June 1998, nytimes.com/1998/06/02/arts/one-false-note-musician-s-life-billy-tipton-remembered-with-love-even-those-who.html. Middlebrook, Diane Wood. “Suit Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Jan. 1989, nytimes.com/books/first/m/middlebrook-suits.html. Lehrman, Sally. “Billy Tipton: Self-Made Man.” Stanford Today, Stanford University, 1997, web.stanford.edu/dept/news/stanfordtoday/ed/9705/9705fea601.shtml. Chin, Paula, and Nick Gallo. “Death Discloses Billy Tipton’s Strange Secret: He Was a She.” PEOPLE.com, Time Inc, 20 Feb. 1989, people.com/archive/death-discloses-billy-tiptons-strange-secret-he-was-a-she-vol-31-no-7. Associated Press. “'Dad' to Adopted Sons: Jazz Player Billy Tipton Kept Her Secret to the End.” Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 1989, articles.latimes.com/1989-02-01/news/mn-1454_1_billy-tipton. Blecha, Peter. “Tipton, Billy (1914-1989): Spokane's Secretive Jazzman.” History Link, 17 Sept. 2005, historylink.org/File/7456. “Billy Tipton.” Queer Music Heritage, Feb. 2003, queermusicheritage.com/feb2003bt.html. Robinson, Kathryn. “The Double Life of Billy Tipton.” Inlander, Inlander, 8 Sept. 2017, inlander.com/spokane/the-double-life-of-billy-tipton/Content?oid=2215477. Traphagan, Monica. “Double Life.” Damn Interesting, Damn Interesting, 14 Oct. 2016, damninteresting.com/nugget/double-life. Judd, Hannah. “Navigating Gender: Billy Tipton and the Jazz Culture of Masculinity.” Penn Libraries, University of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons, 2016, repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=uhf_2016.
Edible confetti, Copyright extension trickery, Y2K20 parking apocalypse, Coots are bad parents, Buddy Holly feat. Tupac, Seaplane circumnavigation in WWII, Grandpa's salacious bucket list, Love in the quantum realm. Jennifer, Curtis, and Angela discuss the Damn Interesting curated links for the week of 1/10/2020.
Nintendo breaks Sweden, Disney's dismal opening day, The Redemption of MSG, Japanese KFC for Christmas, Clean equals pretty, Minestrone treats malaria, 3D printing with metal, NHL dentists, Jokes that get you jail time. Jennifer, Courtney, and Angela discuss the Damn Interesting curated links for the week of 12/20/2019.
Bee stings for Lyme disease, Dating on dopamine, An American city in Canada, Illegal ancient bread, Rules for time capsules, Stowaway DNA, Radioactive photography, CRISPR has some issues, 34 is the new 40, Hearing and chewing go hand in hand. Jennifer, Curtis, Courtney, and Angela discuss the Damn Interesting curated links for the week of 12/13/2019.
Italian spyware, Oysters in months with an R, Gorbachev's day job at Pizza Hut, Nudist culture wars, The ethics of eating roadkill, Ageing as a disease, The world's oldest con artist, Anti-terrorist narwhals. Jennifer, Curtis, Courtney, and Angela discuss the Damn Interesting curated links for the week of 12/06/2019.
Objective reality doesn't exist, Big brain hiccups, Retrofuturism from 1967, Insulin pump hacking, Virtual clothing, Political flooding in Venice, Feral hogs like cocaine, Miniscule space junk, Self-checkout theft, Home x-ray machines, Origins of Play-Doh. Jennifer, Curtis, Courtney, and Angela discuss the Damn Interesting curated links for the week of 11/22/2019.
Mistimed Valentine's texts, Getting your face "stuck like that," Living funerals, Timeouts for speeders, Profile of a pickup artist, Stolen sex toys, Horses don't get the plague, Oldest company in the world, Terraforming candidates, Unhelpful houseplants, Dark secrets of NASA's training pool. Jennifer, Curtis, Courtney, and Angela discuss the Damn Interesting curated links for the week of 11/15/2019.
We're starting off our month-long Halloween series with a fit of the vapors! Our first Halloween episode will take us to the mad, mad world of Mattoon, Illinois in 1944, where the "Phantom Anesthetist" attacked dozens of people with...well, we still don't know. But we have theories and rampant speculation, as always. And don't miss several seriously random fun facts involving fast food restaurants, popular comic books, and well-known children's writers. Plus helium voices and a truly beautiful Broadway song commemorating this week's topic. Also, give us that 5-star review you know we deserve! You can also follow us here on Podbean, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. While you're at it, hit us up on our FB group or Twitter to talk Old Timey Crime. Thanks for listening, and remember: just, you know, don't gas people. ____ Sources: Bsonstott. “Information on Farley Lewellyn.” Reddit: Unresolved Mysteries. https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/6pcuva/information_on_farley_llewellyn/ Bellows, Alan. “The Mad Gasser of Mattoon.” Damn Interesting. https://www.damninteresting.com/the-mad-gasser-of-mattoon/ Carlson, Debbie. “The Mattoon Mad Gasser – Looking Back At A Textbook Case Of Mass Hysteria.” BELT Magazine. https://beltmag.com/the-mattoon-mad-gasser-looking-back-at-a-textbook-case-of-mass-hysteria/ Cox, Ray. “Botetourt's Mad Gasser reports of 1930s discounted as mass hysteria.” The Roanoke Times. https://www.roanoke.com/news/local/botetourt-s-mad-gasser-reports-of-s-discounted-as-mass/article_0aa70661-bb5e-5b6d-a424-c836062e99ff.html “Flit Gun.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flit_gun Grubin, Don and Madsen, Lars. “Lie detection and the polygraph: A Historical Review.” Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology. Vol. 16 Issue 2. P. 357-359. Klickna, Cindy. “The Case of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon.” Illinois Times. https://illinoistimes.com/article-70-the-case-of-the-mad-gasser-of-mattoon.html MacGowan, Doug. “The Mad Gasser of Mattoon, Illinois.” Historic Mysteries. https://www.historicmysteries.com/the-mad-gasser/ “Mad Gasser of Mattoon.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Gasser_of_Mattoon “Mattoon, IL.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattoon,_Illinois Mio, Leslie. “The Mad Gasser of Mattoon.” Eastern Illinois University. https://www.eiu.edu/localite/gasserhome.php Morphy, Rob. “Mad Gassers of America.” Mysterious Universe. https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2011/06/mad-gassers-of-america/ Slocum, Jake. “6 Famous Unsolved Mysterious with Really Obvious Solutions.” Cracked. https://www.cracked.com/article_16671_6-famous-unsolved-mysteries-with-really-obvious-solutions.html “Victims of Gas Prowler Now 25.” Charleston Daily Courier. https://www.eiu.edu/localite/9-9-44.JPG “The Mad Gasser of Mattoon.” American Hauntings. https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/madgasser?rq=mad%20gasser
-027- Faxes From The Far Side by ⚠️ Damn Interesting
The story of Roy Sullivan. A different kind of Damn Interesting episode.