Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

Instruments of War: Medieval Weaponry

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On this week's episode, Shane and Duncan delve into the dark and deadly world of medieval warfare to learn how people fought, killed, and survived in the Middle Ages. From the elegant and lethal longsword to the gruesome and gory morning star, explore the history and science behind some of the most fearsome and fascinating instruments of war ever devised.
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In this episode:  
The 3 Criteria: Effectiveness, Cost, and Status
Chain Mail
Plate Armor
The Water-Powered Triphammer
War Horses
Horse Armor: The Full Bard
Peytrals, Chanfrons, Criniere, Caparisons
The Helmschied Family
Pre-Swords: Spatha and Gladius
Knightly/Long Swords
Sword Anatomy: Blade, Fullers, Cross Guards, Pommels
Axes
Axe Anatomy: Eye, Cheeks, Toe, Heel, Beard, Butt
War Hammers
Maces
Lances
Spears
Bows: (Recursive, Long, Cross)
Shields
Seige Weapons: Trebuchets and Catapults
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Zombies and Incest: The Wild, Kinky World of Japanese Mythology (Shintoism)

Are you ready for a rousing tale of ghosts and gods and taboo brother-sister love? No, this isn't a new streaming series from HBO; this is MFFI's first episode covering the bizarre, freaky world of Japanese Mythology. Join the guys as they uncover the rituals, creation myths, and divine deities of Shintoism, an ancient religion that predates Japan’s recorded history.
**NOTE: THIS EPISODE BEGINS WITH AN EXTENDED UPDATE TO THE PREVIOUS EPISODE. TO SKIP TO THIS WEEK'S TOPIC, JUMP TO 11:00**
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In this episode:  
AI Episode Update
The Two Japanese Religions: Shintoism and Buddhism
Kami (Spirits)
Kegare (Impurity)
Kiyome (Purity)
Animism
Shinkai (Shadow World)
Torii (Gate)
Priests and Priestesses
Kami-dana (home shrines)
The Four Affirmations: Family, Nature, Purity, Festivals (Matsuri)
Buddhist Funerals
The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki
The Imperial Family (The Yamato Line)
Takamagahara (The Plain of High Heaven)
Kotoamatsukami (The Five Gods, Original Kami)
The Zoka Sanshin: The High Creator, The Divine Creator, and the Central Master
The Kamiyo-nayo (Paired Gods)
Izanagi and Izanami 
Creation of Japan With Amenonuhoka (The Heavenly Bejeweled Spear)
Hiroku/Ebisu (The Leech Child)
Yomi (Land of the Dead)
Amaterasu (Kami of the Sun)
Tsukuyomi (Moon Kami)
Susanoo (Storm Kami)
Jimmu, the First Emperor
The Humanity Declaration
Yokai/Mononoke (Shapeshifting Spirits)
Nekomata (Cat/Demon Spirits)
The Oni (Demon Yokai)
Shuten-doji, King of Oni
Raiko the Hero
Hannya Masks
The Bancho Sarayashiki (The Dish Mansion at Pancho)
Okiku and Aoyama Tessan
The Ring
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AI 2050: The Future of Artificial Intelligence

What will AI look like in 2050? Will it solve all our problems, or create new ones? Will our future AI companions be more “Her” or “T1000"? In the latest chrome-plated, mechanized, fully sentient episode of MFFI, Shane and Duncan discuss the possibilities and pitfalls of generative artificial intelligence, and explore all of the ways it might reshape media, society, economy, and culture.
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In this episode:  
The Swaggy Pope
The Dartmouth College Rockefeller-Funded AI Conference
John McCarthy Coins the Term "AI"
Deep Learning
NLP
The Data Age
Advanced Tamagotchi 
AI Tutors
Insurance
Autonomous Vehicles
AI Catfishing: Filters, Deepfakes
Bold Glamour
Coconut Kitty
Replika and the Emotional Connection
Robot Sexting
AI and the Economy
General AI
The Singularity
Alignment Research
Misalignment
Open AI Risk Assessment
AI Warfare
 
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Artificial Intelligence: ChatGPT, Bing, Bard, and the AI Apocalypse

Ready or not, here they come: the robots have arrived.
Artificial Intelligence has been under development since the 1950s, but viable AI didn't explode into mainstream pop culture until the introduction of ChatGPT in November of 2022. The chatbot has since rocketed in popularity to become the fastest-growing consumer application in history, and prompted an AI arms race that shows no signs of abating. Artificial Intelligence is now piloting cars, painting pictures, composing poems, writing term papers, passing the bar exam, and (presumably) plotting world domination. 
Join Shane and Duncan to explore the technological breakthroughs that made these latest versions of AI possible, and find answers to all of your most pressing questions, including:
What is ChatGPT?
How does generative AI work?
Which AI is the smartest: ChatGPT, Bard, or Bing (Sydney)?
Is there a chance that any current versions of AI are actually sentient? 
How long does the human race have left before the arrival of AI armageddon? 
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In this episode:  
Overview
ChatGPT
LaMDA
Blake Lemoine
Bing/Sydney
GPT-4
Jailbreaking
Sydney and the New York Times
How to Build a Generative AI
Large Language Models and Natural Language Processing
Generative Adversarial Networks (GANS)
Stable Diffusion and DALL-E
Open AI 
Peter Theil, Elon Musk, and Sam Altman
Capped For-Profit Model
RHLF
Bard
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Historical Figures (That Might Never Have Existed)

For millennia, characters like King Arthur and Robin Hood have captivated the masses, inspiring songs and books and films and Saturday morning cartoons, but their reality is obscured behind myth and legend. Prepare for history-bending revelations as Shane and Duncan uncover the truth behind famous figures who might never have existed.
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In this episode:  
Sun Tzu
Robin Hood
Tokyo Rose
King Arthur
Spokespeople: Betty Crocker & Aunt Jemima
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Government Coverups: The Iran-Contra Affair

In the first installment of MFFI’s Government Cover-Ups series, grab your New Coke and Trapper Keeper for a trip back to the 1980s to uncover the truth behind one of the wildest political scandals in American history: the Iran-Contra affair. It’s a saga of guns, drugs, hostages, and lies that shook the White House to its core. 
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In this episode:  
Ronald Wilson Reagan, the Actor
The Hollywood Blacklist 
President of the Screen Actor’s Guild
Ronald W. Reagan, Informant
Governor Regan
Candidate Regan
President Regan
Nicaragua in the ‘80s 
The Sandinistas 
Fall of the Samosa Dictatorship
The Contras (Counterrevolutionaries) 
Democrats Sweep Congress 
The Boland Amendments 
“The Enterprise”
Richard Secord
Oliver North
The Iran Iraq War
Operation Eagle Claw
Israel, Intermediary
Manucher Ghorbanifar, Sneaky Snake
National Security Adviser Robert MacFarlane
Shipments Commence
Hostage Release
John Poindexter
The Scheme Unravels
Eugene Hasenfus, Lucky Pervert 
Mehdi Hashemi
Fawn Hall and the Shredding Party
Cleaning House and the Tower Commission
Congressional Inquiry 
Oliver North, Celebrity Traitor
Repercussions 
George Bush 
The Cover-Up Complete 
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Old Wives Tales

Can an apple a day keep the doctor away? If you swallow your gum, will it spend years in your stomach? Can walnuts repair floor-scratches? (Spoiler alert: no, no, and yes.)
Everyone is familiar with Old Wives Tales, those dubious snippets of folk wisdom that have been passed down from generation to generation. But where do they come from? And are they all just harmless superstitions, or do any of them contain a grain of truth? Join Shane and Duncan as they explore the true stories behind some of the most enduring Old Wives Tales. 
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In this episode:  
Does Coffee Stunt Your Growth?
Can you Catch a Cold From Having Wet Hair?
Should You Pee on a Jellyfish Sting?
Does an Apple a Day Keep the Doctor Away?
If You Cross Your Eyes Will They Get Stuck Like That?
Should You Wait 30 Minutes to Swim After Eating?
Will Self-Love Put Hair on Your Palms?
Should You Feed a Cold and Starve a Fever?
If You Shave, Will Your Hair Grow Back Thicker and Faster?
If You Swallow Your Gum, Will it Stay in Your Stomach for Years?
Can a Penny on the Train Tracks Derail a Train?
Is There a Chemical That Can Detect and Reveal Urine in a Pool?
Can Sitting Too Close to the TV Make You Blind?
Can Spicy Food Cause Ulcers?
Will a Watermelon Seed Sprout in Your Stomach?
Do Cats Smother Newborn Babies?
Can Peanut Butter Remove Gum From Your Hair?
Can Walnuts Repair Floor Scratches?
Do Wooden Spoons Keep Water From Boiling Over?
Does Hot Water Cause Temporary Infertility? 
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Accidental Inventions

From Viagra to Super Glue, history is littered with "aha!" moments that were nothing more than lucky accidents. In this bumbling, stumbling episode of MFFI, the boys take a closer look at the flukes and misadventures that led to some of the most successful inventions in human history.
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In this episode:  
Sildenafil Citrate (Viagra)
Peter Dunn and Albert Wood
Dr. Nicholas Terret
PDE5 and GMP
Time Magazine and The Potency Pill
Super Glue
Dr. Harry Coover
Eastman 910
I’ve Got a Secret
Durabond
Slinky
Richard and Betty James
Slinky Physics 
Hookes Law, Compression Waves
Slinkies in Space
Velcro, the Zipperless Zipper
George de Mestral
David Letterman and Velcro Gender Fluidity
NASA
Matchsticks
Tao Gu and the Fire Inch-Stick
Chemical Matches
Jean Chancel
François Derosne
John Walker and Friction Lights
Play-Doh 
Noah McVicker and Kutol
Joseph McVicker
Kay Zufall
Rainbow Modeling Compound
Play-Doh Pete
The Doh-Dohs
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Killer Beasts: Notorious Animal Attacks

Warning: This one is brutal.
On this week’s karma-packed episode of MFFI, cringe along with Shane and Duncan as they delve into some of the most notorious animal attacks in history. From the killing of Steve Irwin (the Crocodile Hunter) by a startled stingray to the public tiger-mauling of Roy Horn (of Siegfried and Roy), explore instances of hubris and outright stupidity that resulted in shocking animal-on-human violence. This episode won’t help your insomnia, but it’s a wild ride…
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In this episode:  
Animal Attack Facts
Danger Level: Cats vs. Dogs
Danger Level: Humans vs. Snakes
Unprovoked Ferrets
Defense Strategies
Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn
Roy vs. Mantecore
Timothy William Dexter aka Timothy Treadwell aka Grizzly Man
The Death of Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard
Werner Herzog and Jewel Palivak
The Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin)
Terri, Robert, and Bindi
The Stingray
Dingoes Got My Baby
Alice (Lindy) Lynn Chaberlain-Creighton and Michael Chamberlain
Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain
Uluru 
Greg and Sally Lowe
The Conviction
The Pardon
The Vindication
Sandra Herold, Charla Nasha, and Travis the Chimp 
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Social Media Meltdowns: The Rise and Fall of MySpace, the Teetering of TikTok, and the Twitter Apocalypse

Welcome to the "Social Media Schadenfreude" episode, in which Shane and Duncan delve into the misfortunes of the fortunate.
First up: MySpace, the has-been of the social networking world. Next: TikTok, the latest all-singing/all-dancing/all-spying flavor of the month. And last but not least, the endless stream of drama and chaos that is Twitter, from its beginnings as a 240-character bullhorn to its current incarnation as the pet project of a billionaire in freefall.
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In this episode:  
Primitive Social Media
Samuel Finley Breese Morse
Morse Code
Telegraph Chat Culture 
The Rise of the Internet 
BBS
CompuServe
CB Simulator
CBIG and the Rise of Online Dating
America Online
AOL's Disastrous Merger with Time Warner
Classmates.com: The Proto Facebook
Sixdegrees.com: The Proto MySpace
Friendster: Proto MySpace #2
MySpace: The First Juggernaut
Tom Anderson, Everyone's Friend
Lord Flathead
The Top 8
News Corp. Acquisition
Specific Media and the Justin Timberlake era of MySpace
The Ascendence of Zuckerberg 
Odeo Spawns TWTTR
The Founders: Noah Glass, Biz Stone, Evan Williams, & Jack Dorsey
Backstabbing and Drama at Early Twitter
Twitter's Big Break: SXSW
The Myth of Musk
The Elon Era at Twitter
Crashes and Burnings
Trashfires Galore
Is There a Rock Bottom?
ByteDance Spawns Douyin
Douyin Spawns International TikToks 
Trump v. TikTok
Government v. TikTok
TikTok is Shady AF
The All-Powerful Algorithm
"Toxic" Content
The Current State of the Socials
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