Episode 529: Conformity Gone Mad

This episode contains: You should live every day like it's Halloween! We bring this episode to you from the heart of spooky season. Ben tells us about a fan edit of Who Framed Roger Rabbit that includes deleted scenes that they cleaned up using today's tech. The movie was way different than the book. Ben's cat says hi to us. Ben attended the inauguration of his counties poet laureate. Ben was on the panel that selected the poet laureate. What makes a good poet laureate? Ben has watched a few episodes of Agatha All Along with his family and the reviews are mixed. The first episode was joyless and not fun. Steven recommends being patient with the show and assures Ben there are satisfying answers later in the show. Steven went apple picking with his family. Also, remember when October was cold? Devon did phone banking for democrats and had some interesting experience. Devon also can't help but go off on the state of the presidential election.   FUTURE OR NOW Fruit Fly Me to The Moon (Fast-Actin Tinactin): Scientists can reverse brain aging in fruit flies by preventing buildup of a common protein. Buildup of a protein called filamentous actin, or F-actin, in the brain inhibits the removal of cellular wastes, including DNA, lipids, proteins and organelles. The resulting accumulation of waste diminishes neuronal functions and contributes to cognitive decline. By tweaking a few very specific genes in the neurons of aging fruit flies, the researchers prevented F-actin buildup, maintained cellular recycling and extended the healthy lifespan of fruit flies by approximately 30%. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/10/241028164423.htm   Support You Local Theater: Ben when to the Great American Melodrama for the third or fourth time. He saw The Werewolf of Arroyo Grande. Howl did this happen? After a man relocates into Arroyo Grande to start up his nut based fast food restaurant, he discovers that the town is terrorized by a terrible hair raising werewolf! The village of Arroyo Grande must come together to put an end to the canine horror before it's too late! Next year will be the 50th year of the Great American Melodrama. https://americanmelodrama.com/   BOOK CLUB The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. A short story by Shirley Jackson that was first published in The New Yorker on June 26, 1948. The story describes a fictional small American community that observes an annual tradition known as "the lottery", which is intended to ensure a good harvest and purge the town of bad omens. We discuss the importance of questioning traditions and scientific thinking. Are there any winners in this lottery? "In fact, every copy of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery has been checked out from the Springfield public library. Of course the book does not contain any hints on how to win the lottery. It is rather a chilling tale of conformity gone mad." – Simpsons, Dog of Death, S3Ep19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryr06emUnRw&ab_channel=TimThoughts https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=273395915450826   Next week we're reading Nightfall by Isaac Asimov. This 1941 short story, written while Asimov was still only in his early twenties, is widely regarded as one of the greatest science-fiction short stories of all time. Indeed, in 1968 the Science Fiction Writers of America voted it the best science fiction short story written before 1965. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightfall_(Asimov_novelette_and_novel)