Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

Host Swap: Talking Slang

The word of the week is “tangent.“ This host-swap episode is supposedly about slang (like, for instance, “off the rails”), but it’s also about bees and legs and wives and Snoop D-O-Double-G. If you enjoy listening to the guys talk smack and ramble, enjoy. 
In this episode:  
Definition of Slang
History
Gig
Lit
23 Skidoo
Dumpster Fire
Salty
California Slang
Monkey's Uncle
The Bechdel Test
Inspo
Gucci
Mansplain 
Unplug
Ghost
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Unreal: The History and Secrets of Reality TV

Never say never. Shane swore that MFFI would never address the dreaded "K" family, but fate (and the Discord crew) had other plans. Join the boys for a fascinating dive into the putrid swamps of television history to learn how the scourge that is Reality TV conquered the entertainment world. 
In this episode:  
Reality Television VS Documentary Series
The Finances
SAG-AFTRA
Networks VS Production Companies
Writers Strikes
The History of Reality TV
American Family
Meet the Louds
Nummer 28
MTV
The Real World New York
Cast VS Editors
Expedition Robinson
Survivor Debuts
Types of Reality TV
Competition/Elimination Shows
Formatted Shows
Docu-Style Shows 
Soft Scripting
Story Narratives
Criticism and Controversy
Reality TV as Anthropological Experiment
Frankenediting
Joe Millionaire and the Slurp Heard Around the World
Liquor and Sexual Abuse Allegations
Product Placement
The Humiliation Factor/Shame TV
Tragedies
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Botched Coups and Failed Assassinations: The Bay of Pigs

You can’t win them all.
In 1961, America experienced the sting of its first truly humiliating public defeat, a debacle that played out in real time on the international stage. The bungled and bloody Bay of Pigs Invasion would mark the first major misstep of the Kennedy administration, and as “Operation Zapata” began to unravel in Cuba, the resulting scandal would undermine America’s carefully crafted image as a shining beacon of virtue.
In this episode:  
Fulgencio Batista
1933 Sergeants uprising
Mafia’s Playground
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz
Che Guevara
The Movement
The Moncada Army Barracks
26 of July movement
Granma Yacht 
Brain Drain
Dwight D Eisenhower
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Operation Pluto
Phases One, Two, and Three
Operation Zapata
Sonic Booms
Brigade 2506
Carlos Rafael Santana Estevez
The Attack 
Mad Dog Flight
FAR T-33s
The Aftermath
Tractors 
Operation Mongoose
Poison Cigar
Exploding Mollusk
The Fountain Pen
Scuba Suit
Poison Pills
LSD Spray
Thallium Salts
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Crimes of the Century: The Lindbergh Baby, the Mona Lisa Heist, and the Fatty Arbuckle Scandal

Why have only a few particular murders and heists and scandals been immortalized in popular culture? Join Shane and Duncan for a dive into three famous capers of the 1900s to help uncover the x-factors that elevate a garden-variety crime to legend status. 
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In this episode: 
Charles Lindbergh
The Aerial Daredevil Lindbergh
Aviator Worship
Air Mail ServiceThe Orteig Prize
John Alcock and Arthur Brown
The Kidnapping of the Lindburgh Baby
The Ransom Notes
John Condon, Intermediary
The Body is Found
Gold Certificates Break the Case
Bruno Richard Hauptmann
The Trial
Theft of the Mona Lisa
The Louvre in the Early 1900s
Louis Beroud
Leonardo da Vinci and the History of the Painting
Francesco and Lisa Giocondo
Louis Lepine
Pablo Picasso, Suspect
Vencenzo Peruggia
Alfredo Geri and Giovanni Poggi
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Fatty, Chaplin, and the Keystone Kops
Memorial Day at the Saint Francis Hotel in San Francisco
Virginia Rappe
Bambina Maude Delmont
The Death
First Trial
Second Trial
Third Trial and Exoneration
William B Goodrich
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The Most Dangerous Cult in the World: North Korea

The largest cult on earth has over 25 million followers, the 4th largest army in the world, and a nuclear arsenal. It also has bowling alleys and karaoke bars, and regularly hosts international marathons. Under three generations of iron-fisted dictators, the so-called Hermit Nation disconnected from the rest of the world, but with the rise of western-educated Kim Jong-un, North Korea is rapidly modernizing. Is the country bracing for change? What is life like in an isolated, rogue state? And is there any point in negotiating with a hostile, nuclear-armed enemy? Join Shane and Duncan for a nuanced exploration of the most feared and vilified country on earth.
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In this episode: 
The First Sino-Japanese War
The Military Police Reign Era
Kim Il-sung, the Tiger
Kim Joins the Soviet Army
World War II and Pearl Harbor
Establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea
The Korean War, 1950
Armistice, 1953
Syngman Rhee and South Korea
Juche
Kim-Il-sung's Cult of Personality
Kim and the Titanic
The Rise of Kim Jong-il
Cult of Kim Jong-il
Mount Paektu
Collapse of the Soviet Union
North Korean Famine
The Rise of Kim Jong-un
Purging of Enemies
The Execution of Jang Song-thaek
The Murder of Kim Jong-nam
North Korean Economy
The Black Market
The Drug Trade
Counterfeiting
Cyberwarfare
Reforms 
Sanctions
Nuclear Capabilities
Life in North Korea
Life in Pyongyang
The DMZ (the 38th Parallel)
North Korean Myth Busting
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Bizarre and Disturbing Fashion Trends Through the Ages

From paper dresses to giant metal erections, MFFI explores some of the weirdest historical fashion trends. 
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In this episode: 
Hobble skirts
Paper clothing
Powdered wigs
Codpieces
Foot Binding
Tudor Ruffs
Crakowes
Sabatons/Poulaines
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Misattributed Quotes, Theories, Discoveries, and Inventions

Only a sucker would believe that P.T. Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute." In the latest episode of MFFI, the boys once again undermine their own faith in humanity by exposing the inventors, scientists, authors, and orators who deserve none of the credit they've been given. 
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In this episode: 
Stigler's Law of Eponymy 
Mark Twain and Helen Keller
Halley's Comet
The Pythagorean Theorum
Hubble's Law (Edwin Hubble)
Alexander Friedmann
Georges Lemaitre and the Hubble Constant
Hubble and the Nobel Prize
Fermi Paradox Redux
The Invention of the Automobile
Henry Ford, William Klann, and the Assembly Line
Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz
Siegfried Marcus
The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
Carriages
The Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell vs. Elisha Gray
Johan Philip Reis and the Singing Station
Antonio Meucci and the Teletrophono
Mark Twain Misattribution
Albert Einstein Misattribution
QAnon Misattribution (White Squall)
Marie Antoinette Misattribution
PT Barnum Misattribution
Marilyn Monroe Misattribution 
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Host Swap: The Science Behind Ghosts, Phantoms, and Apparitions

Is it reasonable to believe that ghosts actually exist? From a scientific standpoint, are there any credible explanations for ghost sightings? In the latest MFFI host-swap episode, Duncan debunks his own sketchy theories and then regales Shane with some of the world's earliest ghost stories. 
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In this episode: 
SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device)
Franz Mesmer
Animal Magnetism
Electromagnetic Fields
David Cohen and Heart Magnetism
Ghost Tale from Ancient Egypt
Ghost Tale from China (Mo-Tzu, Emperor Hsuan and Tu-Po)
Ghost Tale from Pliny the Younger
Ghost Tale from Plutarch (Damon and the Bath House)
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Decrypting Crypto: Bitcoin and NFTs

The boys take a break from espionage to explore bitcoin, the blockchain, and all things cryptocurrency. What even IS a Bitcoin, and how does it work? Is cryptocurrency a solid investment? Is Bitcoin really anonymous? And who the heck is Satoshi Nakomoto? 
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In this episode: 
History of Currency
Commodity Currency
Representative Currency
Fiat Currency
The Silver Standard
The Gold Standard
Fort Knox
Inflation
Satoshi Nakamoto
The White Paper
The Genesis Block
Laszlo Hanyecz and the Pizza Catastrophe
Bitcoin Mining and the Blockchain Explained
51% Attacks
Proof of Work
Dongles and Bitcoin Wallets
21 Million Max
Transaction Fees
Pseudonymity  
The FDIC
Mt. Gox
Fungibility and NFTs
The Electronic Elephant in the Room 
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Espionage Technology: From Lipstick Pistols to the Insectothopter

In the second installment of MFFI's espionage series, the boys investigate spying technology, from cryptography to microdots to The Thing. 
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In this episode: 
Dead Drops
Live Drops
Traps
Steganography
Scalp Tattoos
Mask Letters
Invisible Ink (the Sympathetic Stain)
Cryptography and Cryptology
Substitution Cypher
Frequency Distribution
Scytales
The Two Pillars of Classic Espionage: Cameras and Radio
Subminiature Cameras and the Minox
Microdots
Pigeon Cams
Heinrich Hertz and the Spark Gap Transmitter
Lee De Forest and the Vacuum tube
Amplitude Modulation (AM)
Practical Frequency Modulation (FM)
Bugs (Covert Listening Devices)
The Thing (The Great American Seal Bug), and RFID
Leon Theremin and Averell Harriman
Numbers Stations Redux and One-Time Pads
The Insectothopter
Dog-poop Transmitter
Lipstick Pistols
Rectal Toolkit
Shoe Phone (Heel-Transmitter)
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