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What do white truffles, hot air balloons, and the Atari 2600 have in common? That's right: They're all on your holiday wish list. But they're also the subject of some excellent podcasts this week. So lean back, pour yourself a glass of eggnog, and treat yourself to the stories of a 24-year-old who makes millions selling stinky fungi out of the trunk of his car, or a Swedish patent clerk who tried to conquer the North Pole by hot air balloon. Feeling soggy after all that 'nog? Try a little body-hacking—either with a thermometer on Freakonomics or an antenna implanted in your skull on Codebreaker.
Would you pay $50 to ensure that your fancy pasta dish tastes a little more like dirty socks? Ian Purkayastha bets his livelihood on it. As a white truffle dealer, he spends his days hustling around New York City, persuading chefs at the city’s finest restaurants to buy primo truffles from a styrofoam box in the trunk of his car. It's a worthwhile hustle—he can make up to $20,000 for a day of work. Join Purkayastha as he battles parking tickets, bartering chefs, and black market truffle smugglers—and consider why we pay so much for something that smells so bad. Listen here.
If you suffered through braces, take antidepressants, or have a pacemaker, where do you stand on your cyborg rights? Hear the debate about whether some biohacking is too much, from a wonderful cast of cyborgs and humans: Chris Dancy, a highly quantified, morose guy; Neil Harbisson, a colorblind “cyborg activist” with an antenna implanted in his skull to give him vibrations for different colors; and LeVar Burton, a dude with a lot of firsthand experiences with augmented visors. Listen here.
What noise does chasing a ghost or stomping a turtle make? That’s right: an 8-bit sound. The blips and bloops of Combat and Starship were simple—8-bit sound chips could only produce three notes at once—but with that limited set of options, designers in the early ‘80s created some of the most iconic sounds in gaming history. Put down your PlayStation 4 controller and let Twenty Thousand Hertz take you back to the days of Nintendo and the Atari 2600. You'll feel like you're back on the couch in mom's basement in no time. Listen Here
S.A. Andrée dreamed of exploring the North Pole. So, naturally, the Swedish patent clerk went on an expedition to get there via hot air balloon. In July 1897, Andrée and his two companions took off—but then they disappeared. Listen here for the 30-year mystery of the guy who dreamed of conquering the Arctic. Too bad his boasts were just full of... Yeah, you get it. Listen here.
Insulin, mercury, blood-letting: trial-and-error science has led to some life-saving medical treatments—and some life-threatening ones too. Freakonomics starts off its miniseries on scientific myths in Leipzig, Germany in the 1840s, where Carl Wunderlich established the long-held belief that 98.6 degrees is the ideal body temperature. Hear how researchers are trying to make sure medical science is based on a little less guesswork, a little more evidence—and how hard it is to debunk a commonly held medical belief. Listen here.
