Is there an international conspiracy to certify rigged elections across the planet? What's with the Coast to Coast story of "Mel's Hole?" Fiona writes in for more information about the extremely real -- and dangerous -- phenomenon of "Active Fitness Clubs." All this and more in this week's listener mail segment.
Child support payments could be cut for hundreds of Native American mothers. The looming change revolves around a debate in Congress over access to private IRS information. Child support enforcement efforts use that information to garnish tax refunds going to non-custodial parents. It's a system that reroutes some $2 billion across the country every year. But tribes fall into a special category that would prevent them from solutions that non-tribal agencies are able to use. North Dakota tribes have already had such child support payments cut off because of an IRS directive, but that decision is now reversed. We'll hear about the complex issue of child support enforcement for tribes.
In which the earliest discoverers of electricity disagree on whether it helps flowers, turnips, and myrtle shrubs to grow, and John punishes himself with sprouts. Certificate #27338.
Mia talks with Caleb, Theo, and Finn, three members of the new Seminary Coop Booksellers Union about how they turned a campus bookstore into the only unionized bookstore in Chicago.
Welcome to the Void Vault, the best of all possible vaults! You're so lucky you were born into this vault, especially because you can't leave. But why would you, everything in this vault is totally fine, you are absolutely NOT a test subject for some undisclosed social psychology experiment, especially not an experiment involving the development of new orifices. While you wait to see our totally safe doctors about that weird itching sensation, enjoy our discussion on the super good Fallout series and the popular but maybe ethically questionable concept "laboratories of democracy". Enjoy, and remember, please keep your responses honest, this is for scientific posterity.
Reindeer weren’t always in Alaska, but now there’s a strong connection for Alaska Native herders. It all started in 1891, when the U.S. Government signed onto a plan by a Presbyterian missionary to recruit Indigenous European Sami people in order to spark economic development and relieve food insecurity in Alaska. The program took off, but was greatly hampered by subsequent policy decisions. Somewhere along the way, the Arctic reindeer herding lifestyle meshed well with the state’s Iñupiaq and Yup’ik residents.
Pointy heads. Spiked arms. Tragic romance. It’s a whole episode about praying mantises with a real life Mantodeologist, Lohit Garikipati. Do they really eat hummingbirds? Are they endangered? Invasive? Smart? Extraterrestrial? Get your fill of mantid mythology, evolutionary gossip, sexual cannibalism, mantis motherhood, their alien egg cases, huge eyes, pet advice, and why they can show you the way to hell with this delightful entomologist, UC Davis entomology graduate and longtime keeper of mantids. You’ll lose your mind, but not your head.
