News Sidequest

On July 4th, 32-year-old Grand Canyon river guide Kelsey Pfendler rowed her 21-foot boat Lily into Honolulu harbor after 43 days, 17 hours, and 55 minutes at sea — shattering both the women's record of 86 days and the men's record of 52 days, and raising over $180,000 for the Whale Foundation along the way. Also: the American Time Use Survey just confirmed what a lot of people feel but nobody wants to say — average daily socialization time has fallen from 45 to 35 minutes over the last 20 years, with teenagers down nearly 50%. And ETH Zurich researchers just published a light-controlled molecular switch that wakes dormant cancer cells out of hibernation, potentially making previously untreatable tumors vulnerable again. Plus the Brooklyn Bridge catching fire, the Smokey Bear sign thief, rental swimming pools, and a Delta flight hit by a firework over Chicago. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sony just announced that physical disc production for new PlayStation games ends in January 2028 — and the deeper story is what this means for everyone who's watched a one-time purchase quietly become a monthly subscription. Also: a new Albert Einstein College of Medicine study published in Neurology finds that people in their 80s who walk unusually fast have about half the risk of cognitive impairment — and they maintain that advantage even when their brains show the same Alzheimer's-related pathology as everyone else. And new research from StudyFinds maps exactly how people lie to their partners — and finds that "good" lies damage relationships about as often as selfish ones. Plus shark attack alerts on your phone, Pokémon cards stolen from an arcade, an Empire State Building climbing arrest, and king cobras on Everest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NPR reports that the US murder rate in 2025 was almost certainly the lowest ever recorded since the FBI started keeping national data in the 1950s — and 2026 is tracking to go lower still. This is the second "Great Crime Decline" in American history and almost nobody is talking about it. Also: a new study from the University of Silesia finds that people who gossip and spread rumors are more likely to be in romantic relationships and have more children — and the evolutionary logic behind it is more interesting than the headline. And a Chinese platform launched in March called Wangbu lets dog owners in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen rent out their pets by the hour to strangers for walks, and animal welfare experts are not pleased. Plus a Harvard UFO professor running the White House alien council, human remains in a Queens school chimney, two-month-olds on screens, and a woman who denied owning the cocaine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate reports that kindergarten, first grade, fifth grade, and pre-K graduations have exploded into ticketed events with caps, gowns, diplomas, and professional photographers — and parents can't figure out who asked for this. Also: with the 250th anniversary tomorrow, life expectancy in America has doubled since 1776 — from roughly 35-40 years to 79 — and the story of how that happened is worth knowing. And a 60-year-old man in Spain came to the hospital with two weeks of worsening headaches, was put on the oncology track when his CT scan showed what looked like metastatic brain cancer, and was eventually diagnosed with something considerably more unsettling. Plus a bear who needed a lift, a water slide world record at a vow renewal, the Michigan lemonade stand freedom bill, and the Mexican Batman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Epic Research analyzed electronic health records from nearly 200 million American adults and found gambling disorder diagnoses jumped more than 60% since 2018 in states that legalized sports betting — with the rate among men 18 to 29 more than doubling. In the 11 states that never legalized it, diagnoses fell 30% over the same period. Also: a small Japanese trial found that a daily cup of probiotic yogurt, regular walks, and basic diet coaching shifted a DNA-based aging marker in overweight men within just 12 weeks — though the study was funded entirely by the yogurt company that makes the product. And a new Penn State experiment with real money on the line confirms that fear of losing and the dread of regret both shape our decisions simultaneously, with loss aversion the stronger of the two forces. Plus the world's loudest man, a self-driving toilet, the rhinestone menswear trend nobody asked for, and an instant-karma story for the ages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new Realtor.com analysis finds a record 25.2 million Americans under 35 — roughly one in three — were living with a parent in 2025, and 70% of them have jobs. This isn't a story about unemployed young adults playing video games in the basement. It's a story about a 4-million-unit housing supply gap and a median home price up 34% since 2019. Also: a 30-year study tracking three generations of college students from 1982 to 2022 finds Millennials entered adulthood with significantly more fear of growing up than Gen X or Baby Boomers before them — but that fear fades with age across every generation, suggesting nobody stays scared of adulthood forever. And a new study of 180 British university students finds a year abroad makes you measurably more agreeable and curious, with lower anxiety — but it doesn't overhaul your personality the way the brochures promise. Plus a teleporting FEMA official, smoke grenades in checked luggage, a Carnival cruise brawl, and a snake and a spider sharing a bedroom in Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new PNAS study of more than 2,400 people finds women achieve the exact same economic outcomes as men in negotiations — but their partners trust them more, like them more, and want to negotiate with them again, even in fully anonymous text-chat negotiations where gender was unknown. The compounding effect projects to a roughly $55,000 earnings advantage over time. Also: Texas A&M researchers have regenerated bone, joints, and ligaments in mice using a two-step treatment that redirects the body's healing response away from scarring — suggesting the capacity for regeneration may never have left us, just gotten switched off. And researchers say the old phones sitting in drawers around the world contain an estimated $67 billion in recoverable critical minerals, and recycling currently meets just 1% of global rare earth demand. Plus a giant street-legal banana, a retired Robocop with a perfect arrest record of zero, an influencer who learned a hard lesson about showing off online, and a man who fell into a vault toilet rescuing his sunglasses. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new Talker Research survey finds 86% of Americans distrust AI-generated results — but the study was commissioned by a content management company with a clear stake in the answer, and the actual complaint underneath the number is more specific and more interesting than blanket distrust. Also: a 6-year-old girl in Tokyo spent months preparing with her parents before completing a solo trip through the city to the grocery store and back — and the show that inspired an entire genre of "free-range kid" content is now a real parenting movement. And Columbia University exercise physiologists confirm that five minutes of walking every 30 minutes of sitting is enough to meaningfully offset the health harms of a sedentary day. Plus tentacled rabbits, a 13-year-old who climbed out of a Disneyland ride mid-drop, a missing giraffe with a $5,000 reward, and a DIY exorcism gone wrong. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A decade-long study of more than 1,400 young people found that 83% of the life events they call most meaningful are positive — graduations, friendships, travel, sports. But teens and young adults with anxiety or depression were far more likely to name a struggle or a loss as their defining moment instead, raising a real question about which came first: the hard life or the hard lens. Also: a Wall Street Journal writer spent five days in total silence at a Buddhist retreat in Massachusetts, and it nearly broke her. And a McGill-led study of more than 200,000 people across 22 countries finds that feeling poorer than your peers wrecks your wellbeing — even when your actual income is identical to theirs. Plus the Titanic artifacts dispute, tentacled rabbits, a pickleball felony, and Russian soldiers catfished by Ukrainian fighters posing as lonely women online. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The New York Times reports that older couples who once stayed in "empty-shell" marriages are increasingly unwilling to spend their remaining healthy years that way — longer life expectancy is changing the math on what's worth enduring. Also: a Nature Human Behaviour study of 105,000 headlines viewed six million times confirms that negative words drive clicks — and a developmental psychologist explains why a brain built to track local, immediate threats is now being asked to process a war, a financial shock, and a climate disaster before lunch. And Zillow's new analysis finds a record 242 American cities now have "starter homes" priced at $1 million or more — triple the number from before the pandemic. Plus an 87-year-old's smart lottery decision, a vanished magician, the Red Lobster shrimp justification for invading Greenland, and 5,000 beers in Dallas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A USC study of 5,642 American adults finds that 26% of people with a completely normal BMI already meet the clinical criteria for obesity — because BMI can't tell the difference between muscle and dangerous belly fat. Also: a new Fox News poll finds only 25% of registered voters say they generally trust the federal government — the lowest reading in more than two decades of this poll, dating back to 2002 when more than half of Americans said they trusted it. And a University of Tokyo brain imaging study finds that reading on paper requires measurably less mental effort to piece a story together than reading the same content on a tablet — same comprehension, lower cost. Plus a quiz on dating red flags, the three pillars of a perfect dad joke, an 85-year-old street racer, and a nurse who sold 3,000 fake diplomas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new Gallup-Milken Center survey of more than 6,300 Americans finds belief that everyone has a real shot at the American Dream has fallen to 46% — but 69% still believe they personally will achieve it, and striving for it remains important to 78%. The gap between those two numbers might say more than either one alone. Also: Johnson & Johnson's CEO told a London leadership summit this week that curing certain cancers within the next decade is a realistic goal — not aspirational marketing, but a real projection backed by current treatment trajectories. And NPR reports that bumblebees just solved a classic problem-solving test originally designed for chimpanzees — using a ball as a stepstool to reach an out-of-reach reward, with no training required. Plus a 194-year-old tortoise, a robot toilet, a TSA ranch dressing warning, and a 12-year-old's elaborate fake kidnapping. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Dutch study of 451 married couples, average relationship length 28 years, finds that spouses genuinely resemble each other on exactly two personality traits — shared values and shared curiosity — and almost nothing else. On the rest of the personality spectrum, married couples are basically strangers. Also: a viral trend out of South Korea called "dopamine sites" lets users browse, fill a cart, and track a fake courier on fake food delivery apps that never complete a real order — all the anticipation, none of the bill. And new ground-penetrating radar scans at Turkey's Durupınar site are reigniting the decades-old Noah's Ark debate — researchers claim distinct organic material inside a boat-shaped formation, while geologists call it a natural rock structure. Plus the San Andreas Fault's worst stress level in 1,000 years, Scottish soccer fans drinking Boston dry, the 17,000-year doomsday formula, and the cats-don't-reduce-stress study. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

USA Today reports that "goblintimacy" — showing up on a first date as your actual, unpolished, slightly chaotic self — is having a moment, and the relationship experts quoted are surprisingly divided on whether it's a good idea. Also: a Semmelweis University study finds one in three young adults are heavy smartphone users primarily because of FOMO — fear of missing out — and the psychological mechanism behind it is more interesting than the name suggests. And a London School of Economics meta-analysis of 82,000 college students across 35 years finds that perfectionism has climbed steadily since 1989 — and phones aren't the cause. Economic anxiety is. Plus the CIA gold heist, bees on a United flight, the Idaho flaming torch juggler, and mixed emotions during a Weird Al song. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A University of Michigan poll finds most parents of 18-to-25-year-olds are using location tracking apps — and a quarter of those parents say it causes more anxiety than peace of mind. Also: a Medical University of Vienna study finds that people who appreciate dark humor score higher on both verbal and nonverbal intelligence tests, and lower on aggression — and the findings hold up across replications. And the Dog Aging Project just published in the Journals of Gerontology finding that the same metabolic biomarkers that predict lifespan in humans also predict it in dogs, with a striking correlation across 24 human cohort studies. Plus a house full of snakes, medieval eel rent, a scammer who got chocolate coins, and a lemonade stand robbery. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Columbia University base editing paper has triggered a major scientific debate — with the researcher who helped develop CRISPR saying "the cat's out of the bag" and calling it "a gateway to embryo editing to do enhancements." Also: Northwestern Mutual's 2026 Planning and Progress Study finds 33% of Gen X adults — people now aged 45 to 61 — still feel financially dependent on their parents, and 1 in 5 say they don't expect to ever be financially independent. And a new MIT study in Open Mind finds that the social expectation of reciprocity — you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours — only applies between equals. In hierarchical relationships, once you're the giver, you're the giver forever. Plus a gaming PC that stopped a bullet, police in mascot costumes, the potato-shaped UFO, and the Marilyn Monroe world record. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Wall Street Journal reports that young New Yorkers are moving into convents to escape a rental market where Manhattan's median one-bedroom just hit $4,680 a month — and some of them say it's genuinely great. Also: in May 2026, for the first time in US history, solar power generated more electricity than coal — 12.8% to 12.2% — and solar is now the third-largest electricity source in the country. And Columbia University geneticist Dieter Egli and his team just published a landmark preprint demonstrating precise base editing of human embryos with high efficiency — and the conversation about where this goes next has officially started. Plus therapy donkeys, a period in a text message, Bigfoot's right to privacy, and a Pasadena horseplay situation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New data from the Princeton Review finds 16 American colleges have crossed the $100,000-a-year threshold for total cost of attendance for 2026-27 — Harvey Mudd tops the list at $104,512 — and the trend is accelerating. Also: a woman at a Florida noodle restaurant went to war with staff over her son's uneaten $5 bowl, invoking "the law" and threatening to call the owner and sue, and the internet mostly sided with the restaurant. And new research from Penn State and the University of Colorado finds that AI fact-checkers face the same problem human fact-checkers always have: people's politics strongly shape whether a fact-check changes their mind at all — and for conservatives, the reputation of the source matters more than the verdict. Plus an alligator DWI getaway, a whale graveyard, a satanic ritual at an Olive Garden, and a lightning-struck church. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two new papers from the National Bureau of Economic Research find that US fertility rates have fallen 22% since 2007 — the year the iPhone launched — and access to smartphones correlated with birth rate declines of up to 8% among teenagers. Also: the average all-in cost of a date in the US has hit $189, up 12.5% in a year, and a growing number of Gen Z and millennials are responding by opting out of dating entirely — a trend they're calling solo-maxxing. And Geoffrey Wall, a 59-year-old former Air Canada captain from Barrie, Ontario, flew more than 900 commercial flights on Boeing 767s, 777s, and 787s between 2009 and 2025 — allegedly without ever obtaining the license required to do so. Plus a fake boarding pass, woolly mammoth DNA in squirrel poo, a Florida man arrested on the way to court, and a hot sauce shortage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A 15-year-old Minneapolis café called Post Modern Times stopped charging for food in January as an act of protest and community care — converted to a nonprofit, kept the model, and owner Dylan Alverson says: "Stepping out of the capitalist system gave us more support than existing in it for 15 years." Also: Cambridge neuroscientists scanning 577 brains found that older adults' brains register fewer distinct "moments" per unit of time — literally processing fewer neural transitions — which is why years vanish faster the older you get, and what you can actually do about it. And a Pepperdine professor told Fortune: "It's not even an inability to critically think. It's an inability to read sentences." Plus dynamite in a freezer, mashed potato litigation, AI-look plastic surgery, and a mysterious cold blob. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A landmark study published in Science — 590,000 workers, 13 years of data — finds remote work explains about a third of the increase in isolation and mental distress since the pandemic. Workers in remote-capable jobs became more likely to see mental health professionals and fill prescriptions for anxiety and depression. Also: a new survey of 2,000 men finds 57% say financial struggles have made them feel like they're failing at manhood, 77% were taught growing up that a man's primary role is to be a financial provider, and 72% say society expects them to handle that stress quietly and alone. And a Zety survey of 900+ Gen Z workers finds 95% have stopped sharing their real opinions online to protect their careers — and 90% have already faced workplace consequences for something they posted. Plus $8.65 returned to the Pope, a goat in a London office, a spider in disguise, and a four-winged velociraptor cousin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Guardian profiles a booming category of faith-based energy drinks — with brands called Yahweh, 4gvn, and Praise Energy — that claim to spread the gospel through caffeine. The theology here is thin, but the market opportunity is apparently real. Also: physicists at ETH Zurich just published a landmark paper in Nature demonstrating certifiably perfect randomness for the first time in human history — using quantum entanglement and two chips cooled to near absolute zero. And a new LendingTree analysis finds 18.7% of Americans 65 and older are still working — the average Social Security benefit is $2,071 a month, but basic monthly expenses for a single adult run $4,641. Plus flesh-eating screwworms returning after 60 years, SpaghettiOs with unexpected ingredients, identical twin doctors, and 60 Idahoans who learned the hard way about raw milk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new PNAS study from Tufts University finds that Americans born between 1970 and 1985 are dying at higher rates than any previous generation did at the same age — with rising deaths from cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, and external causes including overdoses and suicide. The lead researcher called it "genuinely alarming." Also: Art Ulene is a physician, television personality, and author who survived a suspected stroke in Paris, watched his wife battle illness, and is now training six days a week at 89 years old to become the oldest person ever to summit Mount Kilimanjaro — in July, on his 90th birthday. And a Myrtle Beach detective named Michael DeBiase was arrested, charged with a felony, and fired from the police department after allegedly pulling his department-issued handgun on a fellow officer who microwaved fish in the breakroom. Plus sourdough from a mummy, the world's largest blanket fort, a casino self-ban that went awry, and a Frontier flight situation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Travel Guard survey of 1,022 Americans finds 97% have taken at least one trip they regret — and the most regretted destination in the US is Las Vegas. Also: The Atlantic profiles the solitude influencer, a growing genre of creator documenting life alone — and one woman's formula ("you live alone in NYC and have no friends") has 195,000 followers and sparked a real cultural conversation. And a new study from the International Agency for Research on Cancer finds that during just the first nine months of the pandemic, 55,000 cancer cases went undiagnosed across seven countries — with prostate cancer down 24% and breast cancer down 18% from expected levels. Plus a bed bug infestation at the USDA, a 19-year red light ticket fight, an AI laser mosquito system, and the Uber lost and found. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The New York Federal Reserve just published the most direct answer yet to why young college graduates can't find jobs — and it's not AI. Remote work accounts for 64% of the surge in youth unemployment since the pandemic, because companies won't hire inexperienced workers onto distributed teams they can't train. Also: a University of Illinois study finds gratitude journaling and optimism training can reduce blood pressure by more than 7 points within weeks — and the mechanism is more interesting than "think positive thoughts." And gateway hotels near Crater Lake National Park are devastated this summer — not because the park is closed, but because misinformation spread that it was, and people cancelled anyway. Plus a chicken police recruit, a yellow submarine mystery, kitchen sponge microplastics, and a $200,000 Lego lawsuit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new Michigan State University study finds people consistently underestimate how cynical their friends are — and the blind spot appears to be deliberate, a kind of social glue that keeps friendships intact. Also: an aerospace engineering professor at Georgia Tech just did the math on interstellar travel, and the numbers are not encouraging for anyone hoping an alien civilization is on its way here. And new research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology finds that insomniacs under 50 are up to three times more likely to develop certain cancers — and the timing of the surge maps almost exactly onto the arrival of smartphones. Plus a Bluetooth device named "bomb," men emerging from a Brooklyn manhole, Gen Z tanning, and a humanoid robot with a mop. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Brookings Institution just released the most precise picture yet of American household financial fragility — and the number that should stop everyone is this: a single $1,000 increase in annual living costs would push 3 million more households over the edge. Also: prediction markets and sports betting apps are using memes, leaderboards, and social media to recruit users as young as 18 — and a UCLA gambling researcher says a young brain exposed to this "is going to want it again." And flight attendants are formally asking passengers to stop poking, tapping, prodding, and otherwise physically touching them to get their attention. One veteran of 20 years says it's a rare flight when it doesn't happen. Plus an excavator divorce, a kindergarten graduation brawl, a monkey in a Florida backyard, and an influencer banned from Cedar Point. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bloomberg reports that younger consumers are redirecting their entertainment budgets from bars to boutique gyms, and some are spending $300 or more a month to do it — because the gym has become the social infrastructure that everything else used to provide. Also: physicists at the University of Toronto just published a peer-reviewed study in Physical Review Letters confirming that photons can spend a negative amount of time inside a cloud of atoms — exiting before they enter. No, it's not time travel. Yes, it's still deeply unsettling. And a meta-analysis of 54 studies covering 2.5 million people across nearly 50 years confirms the happiness gap for single parents — and the specific reasons why it's worse in the US than anywhere else on Earth. Plus a Kit Kat truck, a murder investigation that wasn't, a dismissed phone charge, and a Florida man in a thong. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new survey finds 48% of Americans say their lives are currently lacking fun — and the survey was commissioned by Dave and Busters, which tells you everything about the source and nothing about whether the finding is wrong. Also: a Harris Poll/Indeed survey finds 52% of professionals with degrees say their degree wasn't relevant to their current job, and among Gen Z that number rises to 51% who call it a waste of money outright. And a Chinese startup called Meng Xiaoyi has launched a $118 AI pet translator collar claiming 95% accuracy — with zero published data to back it up and 10,000 units already pre-ordered. Plus a robin nest that's holding a Ford truck hostage, a driver stuck in fresh concrete, a paraglider and a plane, and a toothpick world record. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new NYT/CNN poll finds 61% of Americans changed what they buy at the grocery store to stay within budget — a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and independents all said the same thing. Also: a rural North Carolina school district stopped students from using screens on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and a public health professor who studied the results shares what happened — including the kid whose eye strain went away. And a new PNAS study of 215,000 professional chess moves finds that faster decisions are consistently linked to better moves — and the reason why is more interesting than "trust your gut." Plus a mayor who tasered his own adviser, an AI girlfriend breakup, an airport hair removal evacuation, and some screws on a Florida highway. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Space Camp registrations doubled after Artemis II splashed down — and the NASA administrator who attended Space Camp as a kid is now running the agency. Also: Luis Salazar walked into a Wawa bathroom in Riviera Beach, Florida, found a fanny pack with $30,000 in cash, spent days trying to find the owner, and returned every dollar. The owner was carrying it for a family emergency. He cried. He hugged Luis. And a new report from the Oxford Longevity Project presented at the Smart Ageing Summit finds that at least 80% of the health problems people experience in old age are driven by lifestyle and environment — not genetics. Plus Harvard capping A grades, a Google Translate robbery, mutant super pigs, and a 14-year-old with incredible dedication to avoiding school. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new Adelaide University study of more than 20,000 students found that well-being declines across every single measured category after the move to high school — and the damage can persist for more than two years. Also: Burning Glass Institute data shows master's degree unemployment for workers under 35 is at the 77th percentile over the past two decades — near a 20-year high — while PhD, law, and medical degree unemployment is near a 20-year low. The lines used to move together. They don't anymore. And on the banks of the Darling River in Australia, archaeologists have uncovered a 950-year-old dingo burial that is the first documented case in world history of humans ritually feeding a grave — for 500 years after the animal died. Plus a frog in a salad bag, a heat gun and a dealer decal, a courtroom birth, and a sailor whose rescue flare started a wildfire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oxford researchers just published the most comprehensive answer yet to why 90% of humans favor their right hand — and it turns out it has everything to do with how we learned to walk. Also: a three-bedroom colonial on Nantucket that sold for $3 million five months ago is yours for free — you just have to move it off the property in 180 days, and the moving bill runs between $150,000 and $500,000. And the debate over whether human brains have been shrinking for thousands of years is genuinely unresolved — with one side saying yes, and the reasons pointing toward collective intelligence, and another side saying the data doesn't hold up. Plus a six-year-old who may be the rightful King of Norway, a Qantas flight diverted by a man who bit a flight attendant, and a 100-year overdue library book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The research on money and happiness has been debated for 15 years, but the most current numbers adjusted for inflation put the sweet spot around $100,000 to $111,000 — and the story of why problems scale beyond that is more interesting than the headline. Also: Dawn Zuidgeest-Craft got a microscope when she was seven years old, wanted to be a doctor her whole life, raised four children, worked as a neonatal nurse practitioner for 45 years, used her retirement savings to attend medical school in her late 60s, and is graduating this month at 72. And Gen Z — the generation raised on Amazon and Instagram — is driving a shopping mall renaissance, and the reason why is actually the same reason they put down their phones for a month. Plus sleeping Windsor Castle guards, the TSA's official position on rotisserie chicken, Southwest's robot ban, and the great glutes longevity story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At NC State's Wilson College of Textiles commencement on May 8th, donor Anil Kochhar stood up and announced he and his wife were paying off the final-year student loans for all 202 graduates — in honor of his father, who came from Punjab, India to study there in 1946. Also: a man who changed his Bitcoin wallet password while high eleven years ago just recovered $400,000 worth of cryptocurrency by dumping his old college computer files into an AI — which found an older wallet file he didn't know existed. And a new academic study finds tarot readers are increasingly using AI to interpret their cards, which raises a genuinely interesting question about why people consult tarot in the first place. Plus drunk deer in France, a ChatGPT confession, the Alabama annoyance defense, and a wine bottle hidden somewhere remarkable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Harvard, Stanford, and Dartmouth researchers just published a national education scorecard and the reading results are sobering — scores have been declining since 2013, well before COVID, and the states making gains all have one thing in common. Also: new data shows college-educated dads cut their paid work by six hours a week and added four hours of childcare between 2019 and 2024 — the biggest shift in household labor in decades. And a new JAMA study of 76 million children finds that 15% — 11 million kids — had a family member criminally charged in the past five years, triple the rate from 2000. Plus the Knight Rider car's speeding ticket, a Zoltar machine with a winning lottery number, the vomit fee restaurant, and a fertilizer spill on a Pennsylvania highway. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adult band camps are having a moment — and they're being described as an antidote to isolation, which tells you something about why they're catching on right now. Also: the optimism research is genuinely interesting — optimistic brains are measurably different, they process good and bad news in distinct ways, and about 80% of people have an optimism bias they don't even know about. And Oxford physicist Vlatko Vedral just published a piece in Popular Mechanics arguing that your alternate universe selves are literally shaping your fate — and the physics behind it is more grounded than it sounds. Plus the Manson mansion for rent, fingerprint theft from selfies, Dante as the Simpsons of the 14th century, and federal charges on a Carnival cruise. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new Gallup poll of 141 countries finds young Americans are more pessimistic about the job market than their older counterparts — creating a generational gap bigger than any other country in the survey. Historically, young Americans have always been more optimistic than older ones, even through the Great Recession. That pattern just broke. Also: the American Academy of Pediatrics just released its first new recess guidance in 13 years, and one of the doctors accidentally summarized the whole thing perfectly: "We all kind of need recess." And a professor in Searcy, Arkansas spent a week noticing his shoes had moved, food was disappearing, and chairs kept turning up in different places — before his family found a man living in a storage closet under his basement stairs. Plus an earthquake machine under the Alps, a pencil running for governor, a hospital wall smashing, and a dead rat in an energy drink. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new survey of 6,400 older Americans finds that looking back, people report peak life satisfaction at age 52 — and the reasons why make a lot of sense once you hear them. Also: a major new study finds that one specific flavor of anxious, neurotic personality is linked to a 35% lower risk of death over 15 years — and the mechanism behind it is genuinely interesting. And the Wall Street Journal spent time with the Hadzabe of Tanzania, one of the last true hunter-gatherer societies on Earth, who are quietly debating whether to join the modern world. The answer, in my opinion, should be no. Plus AI self-replication, Bigfoot sightings in Ohio, a brain-eating amoeba warning, and someone tracking private jets to predict the apocalypse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new study confirms what every teenager already knew: they're not telling their parents about the sketchy stuff they see online, because they're afraid of the freak out that would follow. Also: just one night of bad sleep can spike the exact brain proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease by 25 to 30 percent — and a week of poor sleep makes it worse. And four volunteers at NASA's Johnson Space Center just hit 200 days inside a 1,700 square foot 3D-printed habitat pretending to be on Mars, with 178 days still to go. Plus a hacked robot lawn mower, a Buddhist robot monk, two Florida alligators, and a bear that wanted a pastry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new study finds 37% of Americans have ended a friendship, family relationship, or romantic partnership over political differences — and the rate has accelerated since 2016. Also: a new Allianz retirement study finds 67% of Americans are now more worried about running out of money than about dying, up 10 points in just three years. And a Texas A&M researcher has identified the specific compounds in coffee that explain why it's been linked to longer life and lower disease risk for decades — and it has nothing to do with caffeine. Plus a 28-year-old posing as a high school student, Apophis getting closer, a Wile E. Coyote car crash, and a woman who took poultry protection very seriously. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new survey finds the average American with a $79,000 household income would spend $57,000 a year — nearly three-quarters of it — just to feel okay. Also: a TikToker named Hunter Peterson posted a joke video about buying Spirit Airlines after it shut down Saturday, and 125,000 people pledged $88 million in four days. And a major 15-year study of nearly 40,000 older adults finds that eating at least one egg a week is associated with a 27% lower risk of Alzheimer's — and the mechanism actually makes sense this time. Plus a porta-potty explosion, a man whose seizure saved his life, children drawing fake mustaches to bypass age checks, and 64 stolen calves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new survey finds nearly half of Gen X workers are pushing back their retirement dates — and more than half expect to raid their retirement accounts early just to cover near-term costs. Also: rage workouts are having a moment, and the psychology behind using anger as athletic fuel is more interesting than it sounds — and more effective than punching a pillow. And a new study published in PNAS finds that 2024 was the first year in human history that female global fertility levels exceeded male fertility — and the trend is projected to continue through 2100. Plus a painted donkey that escaped a zoo, a dog that shot its owner, a couple that torched a neighbor's drone, and an atmosphere beyond Pluto. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new survey of 2,000 Americans finds one in three is currently having an existential crisis — and for Gen Z it's more than half. The top word people used to describe 2026 so far is "stressful." Also: a Paris Brain Institute study of 92 adults finds that dream-like mental experiences can and do happen during confirmed wakefulness — the boundary between dreaming and being awake is far more porous than anyone realized. And Spirit Airlines, 34 years old and bright yellow, shut down Saturday morning after jet fuel prices tied to the Iran war doubled and a government bailout fell apart. Seventeen thousand people are out of work. The Spirit Halloween conversion is already underway. Plus a robot that delayed a Southwest flight, a kid who watched 13,000 YouTube videos during school hours, and an $80,000 mac and cheese scheme. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new Gallup poll finds 55% of Americans say their financial situation is getting worse — the highest number since 2001, higher even than during the pandemic or the 2008 financial crisis. This is the fifth consecutive year of declining financial confidence, and the only comparable stretch was the Great Recession. Also: a new study finds two-thirds of babies under two watch screens, some for up to eight hours a day — and the research on what that does to developing brains is more nuanced and more concerning than most parents realize. And archaeologists at Pompeii just used AI to reconstruct the face of a man who died fleeing Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 — carrying an oil lamp, a ring, and ten bronze coins. Plus weaponized bees, a skeleton at the bank, GPS-collared possums, and a bird with a grudge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new study finds dreams function as a complex social simulation space — your brain running rehearsals for the challenges it thinks you'll face. Also: Pam Cronrath promised her husband of nearly 60 years a "super wake," and she delivered — a life-size hologram of Bill appeared at his own memorial service, took questions from 200 mourners, and told his wife he loved her one last time. And college students are switching majors in search of AI-proof careers — but here's the problem: nobody actually knows what an AI-proof major is. Plus infrasound and ghost sightings, a pastor with a publishing problem, an orangutan who crossed the road, and someone who used a hair dryer to win a $34,000 weather bet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new NBC News poll finds nearly half of Gen Z would choose to live in the past if they could — and the reasons are more specific and interesting than simple nostalgia. Also: a new wave of surveys confirms what a lot of people already feel — dating has become expensive enough that millions of Americans are going on fewer dates or stopping altogether, and the apps aren't helping. And summer travel costs are up 26% since 2019, jet fuel prices are spiking due to the Iran conflict, and 65% of Americans have already changed their summer plans because of price. Plus kindergarteners naming themselves, a game hunter and some elephants, Americans who might now be Canadian, and a very generous lottery winner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Wall Street Journal survey finds nearly a third of Americans are pregaming before going out to avoid paying $20 for a drink at a bar — and liquor brands are packaging miniature bottles specifically to enable this. Also: a group of 20- and 30-somethings in Washington swapped their smartphones for flip phones for a full month, and the things they rediscovered are more interesting than the detox itself. And MIT just published the first direct evidence that plant seeds can sense sound — specifically, that rice seeds exposed to the sound of rain germinate 30 to 40 percent faster than seeds in identical conditions without it. Plus a US sailor sidelined by a monkey, the Senate's hot rotisserie chicken legislation, a bored arsonist, and a man who gave police the wrong name. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new survey finds 38% of Americans went no contact with a friend or family member in the last year — and the generational gap is stark. Also: South Korean Air Force investigators just published their findings on how two F-15K fighter jets collided mid-air, and the reason is both absurd and surprisingly human. And a family in China hired an AI company to create a digital clone of their deceased son so his 80-year-old mother — who has heart disease — would never learn he'd died. The ethical questions are real and they're coming for all of us. Plus the Yellowstone wolf, Pope Leo on Bozo's Circus, Germany's military timeline, and a DUI excuse that was never going to work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A New York Fed survey finds American workers are more dissatisfied with their pay and chances of advancement than at any point in the survey's 12-year history — and job mobility is simultaneously at a multi-year low. That's a trap, and the question worth asking is what you actually do when you're in it. Also: 65% of Americans are picky about their water, a third of them bring their own water wherever they go, and the survey was commissioned by a bottled water company, which tells you everything you need to know. Plus: NASA's Curiosity rover just detected more than 20 organic molecules on Mars — including a nitrogen-bearing compound that resembles a DNA precursor — and the researchers are careful to say it's not proof of life, but it's the most compelling chemistry yet. And Finnish Air Force cadets, an arson suspect with a very telling forehead, and a parrot who knows your name. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.