Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

Spy vs. Spy: The History of Espionage

In the first installment of MFFI's espionage series, Shane gives Duncan an overview of the spy game, from its origins in postiquity through the Cold War and all the way to the modern intelligence industry. 
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In this episode: 
Sun Tzu and the Art of War
Francis Walsingham and Mary Queen of Scots
Alberto Ridolfi
Louis XIV and the Cabinet Noir
George Washington, America’s First Spy Master
The Culper Ring
Nathan Hale
James Armistead and Lafayette 
Benedict Arnold
The Great Game
Embassies and Diplomats
The Evidenzbureau
British Topographical & Statistic Department
The Military Information Division
The Secret Service Bureau
Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 5 (MI5)
Military Intelligence Section 6 (MI6)
Office of Strategic Services
The CIA
SIGINT
The NSA
Cipher Bureau 
The Black Chamber
KGB
The Cold War 
Life as a Spy
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~
 
 

Cursed Tourism: Unique and Surreal Tourist Attractions

One traveler’s dream vacation is another’s nightmare. This week, Shane shares his personal picks for some of the least appealing tourist destinations on earth, and a couple that are just plain bizarre.
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In this episode: 
Bubblegum Alley (San Luis Obispo)
Ark Encounter (Kentucky)
Aokigahara ("Suicide Forest,” Japan)
Isla De Las Munecas (Island of the Dolls, Mexico)
Juju Love Island (South Korea)
Carhenge (Car Art Reserve, Nebraska)
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~
 

International Cryptids: The Strange and Obscure

In the second MFFI host-swap episode, Duncan teaches Shane  about a bevvy of baffling and little-known cryptids from around the globe. 
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In this episode: 
Indrid Cold (the Smiling Man)
The Fresno Alien
Popobawa
Tikbalang
Melon Heads 
Skunk Ape
The Green Children of Woolpit
Kelpie (Water Horse)
The Bunny Man
The Pope Lick Monster
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~
 

Marketing Boomsplode: Ads that Crashed and Burned

In the latest "what the hell were they thinking" edition of MFFI, the boys trace the history of advertising and then call out the worst marketing blunders of all time. 
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In this episode: 
Early advertisements
The evolution of logos
Sign boards, trademarks, and town criers
The rise of the printing press
Trade cards, print ads, newspapers, and trade publications
The origin of false advertising
The father of modern advertising, Thomas J Barratt
Pears Soap
Brand curation and positive associations
N.W. Ayer and Son, the first American advertising agency
Diamond rings are vile
Sex sells
Helen Lansdowne and the Woodbury Soap Company
"A skin you love to touch"
Richard Nixon and the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1970
The FTC and advertising regulations
Kendall Jenner's Pepsi debacle
Dove (doh) soap
Bloomingdales spikes the eggnog
Sprite sucks
H&M & WTF
Peloton cycles into infamy
Hyundai commits public-relations sepukku 
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~
 

We Are Legion: Exorcism and Demonic Possession

BEGONE, FOUL DEMON!! NO LONGER SHALL YOU BEDEVIL THE INSOMNIACS OF THE MIDNIGHT MASSES
(Apologies for the caps lock, but Satan doesn't respect lowercase.)
What's the difference between a demonic vexation, an infestation, and an oppression? How many demons do you have to host to become Legion? And is the Pope really on Twitter? Join the boys for a deep-dive into hellfire and brimstone in this examination of the disturbing history of exorcism and demonic possession.  
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In this episode: 
Ancient exorcisms in Babylon
Demonic possession in the Bible
Relevant Biblical passages
Jesus, demons, and exorcisms
Judas
Mark 5: My name is Legion
The Pope on Twitter
Official Exorcist of Indiana, Father Vincent Lambert
Demonic entry points and doorways
Sexual abuse and demonic possession
The International Association of Exorcists
Infestations, Vexations, Obssessions, and Subjections
The Exorcist, the movie
Peter Blatty, Linda Blair, Roland Doe/Robbie Mannheim
Cultural impact of the film
Discernment
Qualifications to receive an exorcism
The ritual itself
Notable cases of possession
Jason Dalton and the Uber Demon
The Tanacu exorcism
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~
 

Dangerous Toys: Notorious Product Recalls

Despite what the American Supreme Court would have you believe, corporations aren't actually people, but it turns out that companies can be just as stupid and irrational as any individual human. And when large corporations make mistakes, the consequences can range from hilarious to horrifying. 
From colorful beads that roofied kids to airbags that went boomsplode, these are the most notorious product recalls in history.
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In this episode: 
Bindeez (Aqua Dots)
Tylenol
Takata Airbags
Easy-Bake Oven
Anti-Drug Pencils
Vitamin Water
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~
 

Bizarre Laws: International Edition

From Australia's anti-bunny legislation to Caribbean profanity bans, from lonely Swiss Guinea Pigs to the protected Royal Fish of Britain, Shane and Duncan explore some of the world's strangest laws.
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In this episode:
Australia: Rabbits of Queensland
The United Kingdom: Royal Fish
Tasmania: "No Questions Asked"
Singapore: Chewing-Gum Ban
Germany: Gas on the Autobahn 
Canada: Protectionist Media
The Caribbean: Saint Kitts Public Profanity Ban
Switzerland: Solo Guinea Pigs
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~
 

Robots go Rogue: When Artificial-Intelligence Malfunctions

Are robots dangerous? Is Artificial Intelligence destined to take over the world? 
The short answers: yes, and eventually. The robot apocalypse is inevitable. But there's no need to stress, because at least for now, machines are complete idiots. Anything that we currently refer to as "AI"--from Siri to Alexa to advanced machine-learning algorithms--are definitely artificial, but they aren't remotely intelligent. Listen to this episode to find out just how intelligent AIs aren't.
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In this episode:
The Sad State of Artificial Intelligence
Alan Turing
The Turing Test (the Imitation Game)
Google Duplex
CPUs VS GPUs
Parallel Computing
Narrow AI VS General AI
Microsoft's "TAY" Chatbot
Watson and Urban Dictionary
Watson for Oncology
Solid Gold Bomb
Amazon "Rekognition" Facial Recognition
This (blank) Does Not Exist
NVIDIA's StyleGAN
Amazon's Recruiting Tool
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~

Dry America: The Prohibition Debacle

It makes perfect sense that a comedy podcast would cover this week’s topic, because prohibition was a joke.
If you’re not familiar with the story behind the bootlegging, moon shining, home-brewing chaos of 1920s America, you’ll want to listen to this week’s episode and learn all about the giant clusterf*** that was the 18th Amendment.   
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In this episode:
Prohibition Through the Ages
The Code of Hammurabi
Beer Bartering
The Puritans, Pilgrims, and Alcohol
The American Temperance Society
Women's Christian Temperance Union
Drys vs Wets
Visitation Bands
Carrie Nation
The Anti-Saloon League
Wayne Wheeler
Wheelerism and Pressure Politics
Prohibition and the Ku Klux Klan
Blue Mondays
World War 1 and the War Against German Brewers
The Food and Fuel Control Act
The Alcoholic Blues 
The Volstead Act and an Epic Mustache
The 18th Amendment 
Connecticut and Rhode Island, Heroes
Woodrow Wilson's Veto Attempt
The Conundrum of Enforcement
Section 29
Vine-Glo
Warren G. Harding Flouts the Law
Congress Flouts the Law
Congress and the Man in the Green Hat Flout the Law
Everyone Flouts the Law
Smuggling, Brewing, Bootlegging, Bathtub Gin, Moonshine
NASCAR
Denatured Alcohol
Al Capone
The Stock Market Crash
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Repeal
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~

How it Ends: The Most Likely Extinction Events

Like it or not, the earth has an expiration date. Billions of years from now the sun will expand and swallow the planets of our solar system...but there’s no guarantee humanity will even make it that far.  
 
So what are the most likely end-time scenarios? Will the end of civilization  come at our own hands via nuclear conflict or rogue Artificial Intelligence? Or will nature take us out via plagues or asteroids or super-volcanoes?
 
Listen along for a final countdown...
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In this episode: 
The Doomsday Clock
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
Anthropogenic Risks vs Non-Anthropogenic Risks
The Global Catastrophic Risk Conference
Close Calls (NORAD fails)
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)
Gold Bullion
International Rivalries
Nuclear War
Asteroids (Boomsplode Cataclysm)
Artificial Intelligence
Super-volcanoes
Yellowstone Caldera
Long Vally Super-Volcano
Climate Change, briefly
Pandemic, briefly
The Great Deoxygenation
Red Giant/White Dwarf
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~