The One-Man Beautification Plan

Today on The Gist: a visual avenger for the beauty of Woodside, Queens. His canvas? FDNY fire call boxes, many dating back the 1920s. With a fresh coat of glossy paint (that's also urine-proof and barf-resistant), they look beautiful. We speak with John Colgan, whom you can follow as the Fire Alarm Guy on Facebook. For the Spiel, it's an antentwig. That's our name for a three-week period wherein we correct, amplify, and slouch toward plausible deniability, and it all ends in a Lobstar. Complete Slate's podcast listener survey! Tell us about yourself and your favorite podcasts so that Slate can serve you better. We'd appreciate two minutes of your time. Go to slate.com/survey. Today's sponsors: Squarespace. Get a free trial and 10 percent off your first purchase when you visit Squarespace.com and enter offer code GIST. Also, Acura, the presenting sponsor of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Check out the all-new Acura TLX at acura.com or test drive one for yourself at your local Acura dealer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.