Commute | The Podcast
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© 2025 Commute | The Podcast
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The average person spends 20-25 minutes per day commuting to and from work - why not learn while getting there? Join Dave & Jay every Monday to learn about a few fascinating things that'll make you the most interesting person in the room.
241 Episodes
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There are unexpectedly weird (and occasionally gross) sides to the food you enjoy on Thanksgiving. Email, text, phone call, snail mail … spam has been around longer than you think. Sources: https://bookriot.com/history-of-chain-letters/ https://www.mentalfloss.com/holidays/thanksgiving/thanksgiving-food-facts http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com/commutethepodcast/ Twitter - @PodcastCommute Facebook - facebook.com/commutethepodcast
Black boxes collect flight information on aircraft and are crucial for accident investigations. But how do they survive an accident when the plane doesn’t? Who decided the standard 40-hour work week? Is it still the best idea? Sources: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/how-did-we-get-a-40-hour-workweek-and-has-it-had-its-day/ar-AA1Qezmu https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/stories/2024-05-what-is-a-black-box-and-how-does-it-work http://www.commutethepodcast.com...
We recently lost an American Hero when Duane Roberts passed away. He wasn’t a politician, a famous athlete, or a movie star - but he did invent a burrito that mattered. Tom Brady is famous and rich and he recently cloned a pet. You don’t have to be famous to do that, but you’d better be rich. Sources: https://www.today.com/today/amp/rcna242078 https://gizmodo.com/the-inventor-of-the-frozen-burrito-has-died-2000680863 http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Inst...
Do you get up when the alarm goes off or hit snooze and get nine more minutes? How did that setting end up always at nine? You’ve just run 26 miles. Marathons expect an additional .2 miles. How did that happen? Sources: https://www.history.com/articles/why-is-a-marathon-26-2-miles https://www.rd.com/article/why-is-snooze-9-minutes/ Sources: https://www.history.com/articles/why-is-a-marathon-26-2-miles https://www.rd.com/article/why-is-snooze-9-minutes/ http://www.commutethepod...
Louie Louie is a song frequently heard at bars, athletic events, and open mics. Then the FBI decided to take a closer look at the lyrics. If you’re wearing jeans, look at your right pocket and you’ll see a tiny, seemingly useless additional pocket. Any ideas? Sources: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/1209181745/louie-louie-the-story-behind-the-song-everyone-knows-but-no-one-understands https://www.businessinsider.com/small-pocket-pants-jeans-watch-2018-03 http://www.commutethepodcast.com ...
It seems simple—two pieces of bread with something in the middle—but its namesake is anything but. Some world records seem to stand forever, while others can fall multiple times yearly. We look at the reasons why not all records are created equal. Sources: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251003-the-maths-behind-world-records https://www.history.com/articles/sandwich-inventor-john-montagu-earl-of-sandwich http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram....
We don’t think twice about using a fork today, but our ancestors didn’t love it - and they were pretty sure God wouldn’t approve, either. Since the 1950s, artificial laugh tracks have helped ensure that jokes land on sitcoms from I Love Lucy to Friends to The Big Bang Theory. Let’s meet the man responsible. http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com/commutethepodcast/ Twitter - @PodcastCommute Facebook - facebook.com/commutethepodcast
Ever wonder why keyboards seem random rather than in alphabetical order? Hint: it wasn’t done to help you type quicker. For 70 years, Publishers Clearing House knocked on the door of an unsuspecting winner and presented them with a giant cardboard check, granting them monthly payments for the rest of their lives. Things have changed. Sources: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/16/business/publishers-clearing-house-bankruptcy-winners-lose-prizes https://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...
Is Pig Latin a language? Is there a real pig involved? Why does Jay dislike it so much? Most of us cringe when we hear a recording of ourselves. Why do we dislike it so much? Do other people hear us the way we hear ourselves? Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jul/12/the-real-reason-the-sound-of-your-own-voice-makes-you-cringe https://www.mentalfloss.com/language/what-is-pig-latin http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com/commutethe...
The US Government once tried to ban sliced bread. That went as well as you’d expect. For thirty years, a statue with an unsolvable puzzle has stood on the lawn of CIA headquarters. The answer is about to go up for auction. Sources: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nobody-has-been-able-to-solve-the-cias-famous-kryptos-sculpture-soon-the-solution-will-be-sold-to-the-highest-bidder-180987200/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-ridiculous-reason-why-the-us-enacted-a-wart...
Can you use up all the honk that’s in your car’s horn? At one time the Olympics gave out medals for… architecture, music, painting, sculpture, and literature. Yes, we’re not kidding. Sources: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-the-olympics-gave-out-medals-for-art-6878965/ https://www.mentalfloss.com/transportation/cars-trucks/do-cars-run-out-of-honk http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com/commutethepodcast/ Twitter - @PodcastCo...
What would you want your last meal to be? Most of us will (hopefully) never be on death row, but how would your answer line up with real requests from death row inmates? Only about 10% of people are left-handed. That can be good or bad depending on the task. + Why is anyone left-handed at all? Sources: https://choicemutual.com/blog/favorite-last-meal-by-state/ https://www.shoutoutuk.org/2024/08/13/its-time-to-address-the-left-handed-elephant-in-the-room/ http://www.commutethepodcast.com ...
Why do some things (kids growing up 🥺) feel like they happen quickly, while others (DMV visit) creep along slowly? Gone since 2013, President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to bring back the presidential physical fitness test. Cue collective dread. http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com/commutethepodcast/ Twitter - @PodcastCommute Facebook - facebook.com/commutethepodcast
A clever crime ring in Bali has been successfully operating for decades and authorities are unable to stop it. The members of this crime syndicate are… monkeys. Some people get selected for jury duty so often they could teach a course on it, while others have never been called. What’s the story behind this (supposedly) random system? http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com/commutethepodcast/ Twitter - @PodcastCommute Facebook - facebook.com/commutethepo...
We do it enthusiastically at concerts, politely at ceremonies and awkwardly at meetings. Why do we clap? How did we start? The frozen crust-free peanut butter and jelly sandwich is the preferred snack of five-year-olds … and professional football players. Sources: https://foodinstitute.com/focus/the-incredible-uncrustable-how-the-frozen-pbj-won-over-the-nfl/ https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240523-why-do-we-clap http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Instagram -...
The fastest-growing segment of video gamers isn’t kids, teenagers, or guys in their mom’s basement—and they usually have grandkids. During the Cold War, the CIA’s most highly trained spies weren’t that good—and they weren’t human, either. Sources: https://www.history.com/articles/cia-spy-cat-espionage-fail https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/ng-interactive/2025/jul/14/video-games-older-adults-data http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com...
Vanilla sounds bland but the flavor is anything but basic. This week we’ll tell you where it comes from. (Hint: you’ll never think about beavers the same way again.) Independence Day fireworks fun can hide a grim reality: it may end up at the ER … or even the morgue. Sources: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/does-vanilla-flavoring-actually-come-from-beaver-butts-180983288/ https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/how-dangerous-are-fireworks-injuries-by-the-numbers ...
Why do toddlers experience an event but lose the memory? This week we explore why our youngest years vanish - and what we can do to make those earliest moments stick. How a tree nearly started WWlll. Sources: https://www.thehindu.com/children/operation-paul-bunyan-when-a-tree-sparked-a-military-standoff/article68763759.ece/amp/ https://www.popsci.com/health/why-we-forget-our-childhoods/#:~:text=This%20suggests%20the%20issue%20is,that%20prepares%20humans%20for%20adulthood http://ww...
How did a 19th-century joke become the world’s most spoken word? This week we scan the baby name blacklist and learn why some will never make it onto a birth certificate. Sources: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/06/03/us-banned-baby-names/84011765007/ https://www.history.com/articles/the-birth-of-ok-175-years-ago http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com/commutethepodcast/ Twitter - @PodcastCommute Facebook - facebook.com/commutethepod...
Was the famous tongue-twister really about a Victorian-era fossil hunter? Ever notice great whites are missing from aquariums? This week, we explore why the ocean’s superstar can’t survive life behind glass. Sources: https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2017/07/she-sells-seashells-and-mary-anning-metafolklore-with-a-twist/ https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/504168/why-dont-you-see-great-white-sharks-aquariums http://www.commutethepodcast.com Follow Commute: Instagram - instagram.com/commuteth...
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