The nonprofit Invisible Children released a 2012 documentary about Ugandan militia leader Joseph Kony. The group hoped to raise awareness about Kony and his crimes against humanity. It did that, but what did it do with all that attention? Casting directors are crucial for a film’s success, finding the right actor for the proper role. How do they do it? Plus, some of the most interesting ‘what if’ casting decisions in film history. Wait, that guy almost played Han Solo!? Would you allow a demon-p...
Nov 08, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 40
So you ordered a pair of pants and, unfortunately, they don’t fit. The following steps seem simple, right? You mail them back, get a new pair, and move on with life. Well, it’s not so simple for that pair of pants you just returned. We explore the tragic journey of the returned item. Technology has emerged to allow you to chat virtually with loved ones. There’s just one catch - they’re dead. If you’re a child of the ’90s, or had a child in the ’90s, chances are you remember those little skateboa...
Nov 01, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 39
World War II officially ended on September 2, 1945. Why did one man continue fighting for nearly three decades? You’re minding your own business when, unprompted, your brain blurts out, “I want my baby back, baby back baby back,” and suddenly you must have ribs from Chili’s. We explore the irresistible power of the jingle. Halloween is coming and, if you’re like most of us, you’ll wait until the last minute to get your costume, visiting a temporary Halloween store called “Spirit of Halloween.” W...
Oct 25, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 38
The 1980’s blockbuster film E.T. took the world by storm. With it came opportunities rarely seen in marketing: video games and toys based on the movie, and a powerful new form of advertisement - product placement. Ever wonder where they find the houses used in television shows and moves? If you play your cards right, your place could be next. The plot of Minority Report includes a futuristic form of policing that arrests bad guys BEFORE they commit a crime. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do th...
Oct 18, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Like over 90% of internet users, you utilize Google for all of your search needs. Heck, Google is synonymous with search! But what about the distant second place option: Microsoft’s BING? Shouldn’t BING concede to Google and quietly go away? It’ll never happen. We’ll tell you why. Near the North Pole there’s a facility that guards mankind’s most critical resource. It’s not a medicine, it’s not a fuel, it’s not Santa’s workshop. What could it be? Abercrombie & Fitch used to be the official un...
Oct 11, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 36
A few years ago, in an attempt to revise struggling sales, JC Penney hired a new CEO and immediately changed its sales strategy - doing away with coupons and discounts in exchange for “fair and square” pricing. The result? Well, seven months later, that CEO was looking for a job. Netflix. Hulu. Apple TV+. Disney +. Quibi. One of these is not like the others. The latest version of the popular Sims video game has user-created challenges. One has players portrayed as a homeless person. Is this a go...
Oct 04, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In 1996, Microsoft debuted a virtual assistant to help folks navigate Microsoft Office - a cartoon paper clip named Clippy. What started as “Aw, that’s kinda cute,” quickly turned to “Let’s kill him!” How did it go so wrong? In the 1990s, a movie about a goofy genie captivated the hearts of American moviegoers. No, it wasn’t Disney’s Aladdin or the Shaquille O’Neil feature, “Kazaam.” This movie was called Shazaam - and it doesn’t exist. We explore the bizarre reason that so many people are convi...
Sep 27, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 34
You’ve tried to use Wikipedia as a scholarly source, only to have it rejected because anyone can edit Wikipedia. Right…? McDonalds had not only Ronald McDonald (ep 9) in its advertising, but an entire gang of wacky characters. Hamburgler, Grimace, and The Pirate (??) to name a few. What happened to them? If you were rich how would you spend your money? A couple of houses? A few cars? Maybe even a private island? Billionaire Marc Lore has an idea of his own on how to spend his - build a brand new...
Sep 20, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 33
** Episode 7 Rebroadcast** On this episode: Over the last 20 years, you’ve probably owned a computer with the Windows XP operating system. Remember the legendary default wallpaper photo of the green rolling hill? Yea, that’s a real place. Can you buy an unused superhero from Marvel Comics and make it your own? Ya know, one of the weird ones that no one has heard of? The team at NPR’s Planet Money decided to try. Free The Doorman! At some point in the past, your parents thought they’d get rich of...
Sep 13, 2021•18 min
Before we paid constant attention to our cell phones, many of us did the same to something else in our pocket - a digital pet called a Tamagotchi. A virtual animal that ate, pooped, and, sigh, could even die. Prep school Bishop Sycamore recently lost a high school football game to the national powerhouse IMG academy. But here’s the thing - Bishop Sycamore might not exist. All the movies you can watch for $10 a month?! Movie Pass seemed too good to be …. http://www.commutethepodcast.com - Follow ...
Sep 06, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Real cash prizes in real-time - the quiz show game “HQ Trivia” exploded in popularity in 2018 and was one of the most downloaded apps in the world - and then fell into obscurity in 2019. What happened? Well, a lot. Real players with actual stats on fake teams. The fantasy sports industry has taken over our attention and our bank accounts. But as the interest in fantasy sports continues to climb, will the actual games suffer? What if you could vacation… forever? Mario Salcedo has lived on a cruis...
Aug 30, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 31
For years we’ve heard about the rise of virtual reality and its inevitable march into our culture. But If this is virtual reality’s time to shine, why is it still so niche? Go look in your coffee mug cabinet. Go ahead - we’ll wait. Happen to find a mug with a single word or simple phrase on it, like “Blessed” or “Family” among your collection? If so, you’re probably among the millions of people who own a product from Rae Dunn. These have developed a cult-like following and often bring in a haul ...
Aug 23, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 30
A lot of us pop or crack our knuckles. But are we giving ourselves a higher chance of arthritis? Let’s see if Harvard can help us figure this out. Regardless of whether you think his chicken is Finger Lickin’ Good or not, the white suit-wearing face of Kentucky Fried Chicken was a complicated man. Oh, and wait until you hear what he thought about the gravy. Usain Bolt is the fastest human alive. His 2009 world record of 9.58 seconds in the 100-meter dash has remained unbeaten. Will anyone ever r...
Aug 16, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 29
When someone wins a lifetime supply of something, what does it mean? Do you get it delivered to you for the rest of your life? You’ve reached the mountain top of the game-show world: you just won the best prize! You can’t be stopped! Or can you? In 1974, a violent clash broke out in West Virginia over a proposal about school textbooks. What can we learn, and are the ramifications still playing out today? http://www.commutethepodcast.com - Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com/commutethepodca...
Aug 09, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 28
It’s a special Olympic-themed episode this week on Commute! Gold. Silver. Bronze. To win an Olympic medal is a lifetime achievement, an invitation into an exclusive club of enteral glory. But what’s the award itself worth, and not just in dollars and cents? It sure seems cool to host the Olympics, but is it worth it? Global exposure carries a unique set of challenges. How do you become an Olympian? Aside from talent and passion, what’s the day-to-day training schedule actually look like? And you...
Aug 02, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 27
It’s Monday morning, and you want a bowl of cereal. But you have a problem - your milk expired Saturday. Or did it? Who decides the lifespan of food? In 2014 Richard Simmons disappeared. He stopped returning calls, emails, and texts. He stopped showing up for his fitness classes. Did he get kidnapped? Was he hiding from someone? Or was it something else? Long before Spotify and Apple Music we downloaded music to our computers in a very different way... Illegally. With a bit of help from a compan...
Jul 26, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 26
In the 1970s, a boyband was dubbed the next Beatles because of the fan fervor they generated. You’ve probably never heard of them today. Did the heightened public reaction actually hurt their career? The table game Dungeons & Dragons has been popular among a small subculture of people for decades. In recent years gameplay has soared, even increasing 30% during the pandemic. What is so attractive about this game? We bring in an expert to help us make sense of it all. On a hillside in England ...
Jul 19, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 25
In 2007, as reality TV was becoming a thing, MTV had a big idea - what if we took an up and coming rock band, forced them to live together for 30 days while they write a new album, and streamed the entire thing on the Internet? That's a great idea, right?! Right…? The classic movie Space Jam is getting a reboot, with Lebron James teaming up with the Looney Tunes Gang instead of Michael Jordan. Can the new version have the same impact as the first? How has the original Space Jam held up? And what...
Jul 12, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 24
For nearly 50 years, the movie “JAWS” has been making beachgoers think twice about getting in the ocean. Set around the July 4th holiday, we look back at the film that “shouldn’t have worked” and the star that, unexpectedly, only showed up for half of the filming. Aren’t Facebook and social media alerts, in general, annoying? A shrug quickly replaces the dopamine rush when you find that friend from high school is only inviting you to play “Casino Rush.” We have one game to blame - FarmVille. A l...
Jul 05, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Got milk? Most of us grew up hearing that milk was an essential part of a healthy diet. But were those milk mustaches good for us? All existing copies of the worst video game of all-time were dumped into a landfill in New Mexico. We’ll tell the incredible story and shed some light on the man behind it. *listener submitted topic! For over 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America have been viewed as an organization committed to family, fun, and leadership building. But for some it has been an avenue f...
Jun 28, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 22
In 2014 Apple gave iPhone users in 119 countries a free gift - an automatic download of the upcoming U2 Album “songs of innocence” - and caused one of the most bizarre backlashes in company history. You may know the urban legend - you’re driving down a dark road and notice a car headed toward you with their headlights off. Should you flash your headlights to alert them, but risk being hunted down by a gang? We explore the “headlights are off” urban legend. Is there something to it? Many televisi...
Jun 21, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Humans can all be very different but one thing they typically share in common - they hate to wait. But perhaps we should work on this: scientific studies suggest developing the trait of patience pays off in the long run. In the mid-1800s a rail worker suffered the most famous brain injury in medical history. What the case of Phineas Gage says about how much we can, and can’t, change our minds. With this rose, I choose.... an opportunity to make a TON of money (and maybe love for a month or two)....
Jun 14, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Do you know the most popular destination on YouTube, which is also the dominant show on Netflix? If you’re 5 or younger, or live with someone who is, you most likely do. Like Google and search engines, the word Skype used to be synonymous with video chatting. It should have exploded in popularity during the coronavirus shutdowns, so how did this once-dominant platform get surpassed by Zoom? Billions of us play video games, and more and more of us have trouble putting the controller down. Is vide...
Jun 07, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 19
In 2021, you don’t have to be Mulder or Scully to be a believer in extraterrestrial life. Why are more and more people becoming believers? (Spoiler alert: Jay = believe; Dave = LOL, yeah, right.) It’s been over two decades since Y2K went from panic-induced fear to late night TV punchline. Was there ever really anything to fear? Be kind - rewind! In the 1990s, Blockbuster video was woven deeply into the fabric of American entertainment. Now all but gone (only one Blockbuster remains), why have we...
May 31, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 18
The average dollar bill remains in circulation for nearly 15 years. How filthy is it? And what’s that about traces of ... cocaine? Ari Nagel, AKA “The Sperminator” has fathered 78 kids and may not be done. Huh? Later this summer we’ll commemorate the worst contract in professional sports history. Long live Bobby Bonilla Day! (Until 2035, at least) Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com/commutethepodcast/ Twitter - @PodcastCommute Facebook - facebook.com/commutethepodcast *** Episode Sources/G...
May 24, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Ever felt like a fraud in your own life? Like you're an imposter just waiting to be found out? We discuss the psychological phenomenon of imposter syndrome. Razor blades in candy bars? Poison in pixie sticks? Are sadistic people actually trying to hurt children on Halloween by tampering with candy? What's better than a great cup of coffee? A QUICK cup of coffee, of course! While the k-cup changed the way we make our coffee at home or in the office, it also presented us with a significant problem...
May 17, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 16
We think that having more money would lead to a happier life, right? Not so fast, my friend. Find out what the research says is the optimal salary for a more comfortable life (and what to do if you start making more). Duolingo is the world’s # 1 web application for learning a foreign language. But while the service can be helpful, its animated mascot Duo can be... salty. How does shame work (or not work) toward pushing us to pursue our goals? None of us want to die. But some of us would prefer d...
May 10, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 15
How does the content we consume affect us? Facebook decided to find out. And not tell anyone about it ahead of time. In 1987 a book with no words and a character with a love for red striped clothing was born. Hiding in plain sight, we discuss the staying power of Where’s Waldo. Google does a time capsule report every year - a list of what people searched for in the previous year. 2020’s results may surprise you. Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com/commutethepodcast/ Twitter - @PodcastCommu...
May 03, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 14
This week: If you've ever been to NYC, you've most likely had a run-in with a street performer. You know what I'm talking about - Elmo takes a picture with you and then wants a quick buck for his time. But who's under the mask? And did the pandemic change this fringe "acting industry" forever? The bystander effect is a social psychological theory that says you are less likely to offer help to a victim when there are other people around. Oh, that's juicy. We discuss. Free pizza, no judgment, plen...
Apr 26, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 13
On this episode: You can do many things with Legos - build spaceships, castles, and apparently (listen for more detail) flowers. Heck, there are even video games, movies, and theme parks based on the beloved toy. But now people are stealing them to resell on the black market? Tell me more! Once upon a time, there was a magical retail store named Steve & Barry’s where you could spend $20 and walk out with some basketball shoes, a pair of jeans, and an officially licensed collegiate hoodie. Bu...
Apr 19, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 12
