Hyperfixed

Help us continue making hyperfixed! Become a premium member for bonus episodes, access to our discord and much much more! https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/joinWe've had maybe a dozen submissions from people who reached out to us with questions about public restrooms. Specifically: why are they designed so poorly? And how gross are they actually? Alex and Hyperfixed Producer Amor Yates investigate. LINKS:Toilet: The Public Restroom and the Politics of Sharing.The American Restroom AssociationThe Germ Files: The Surprising Ways Microbes Can Improve Your Health and Life (and How to Protect Yourself from the Bad Ones) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Your support makes this show possible! Please consider becoming a premium member for bonus episodes, access to the discord, merch drops, and morehttp://hyperfixedpod.com/joinThere are still buttons available from our episode "Casey Wants to Believe" but they're going fast! Get one athttp://hyperfixedpod.com/buttonThis week, Kyle asks us whether a bit of folk wisdom, passed down through generations, is actually true, and once again we end up in a big philosophical discussion about the nature of knowledge and stuff.LINKS:Adam Savage's YouTube Channel TestedAdam Savage's own Savage Indusries tape measure The Lufkin Night Eye Tape Measure (again, this is not a sponsorship -- just what Adam recommends) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

You can sign up for bonus episodes, join our discord, and much more at https://hyperfixedpod.com/joinIf you would like to get the button featured in the "Casey Wants to Believe" episode of Hyperfixed, you can get one at hyperfixedpod.com/button (while supplies last!)This week - Kristin asks us for help on one of the most difficult decisions she'll ever have to make. Dylan Matthews: 23 charts and maps that show the world is getting much, much betterOur World in Data Robert De Neufville's substack "Telling the Future"How to become a Superforecaster Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

I've known Wendy, the host of Science Vs. for almost a decade at this point, and her show is spectacular! We are sharing an episode of her show on the feed this week, just because we love her and would like you all to hear it. You can find many more episodes of Science Vs. on SpotifyThere is a new bonus episode on our premium feed this week -- if you are interested in hearing that and getting a bunch of other fun premium perks you can sign up here:https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/joinIf you'd like a limited edition button from our recent episode as part of signing up for the premium feed, you can do that here:https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/buttonSee you next week with a new main feed episode! EPISODE DESCRIPTION:Some people can control their dreams. While they're fast asleep: they fly, create new worlds, live other lives. But Wendy isn't one of them. So in today's episode, Wendy and the Science Vs team find a scientifically approved method to try to lucid dream. We test it out — and bizarre things start happening. We also explore how scientists are trying to harness the strange powers of lucid dreaming to help people, as well as to crack huge scientific mysteries, like: What is consciousness? And what exactly goes on in all of our heads when we're asleep? To do all this and more, we talk to psychologists Dr. Denholm Adventure-Heart and Dr. Brigitte Holzinger, as well as cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Başak Türker.You can find an episode transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsLucidDreaming Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week - Casey has been chasing the origin of a very specific piece of ephemera for years. He came to us for help.If you like this episode and want to hear more, please sign up for our premium feed here!https://hyperfixedpod.com/joinIf you would like to join at the $60 yearly level and receive your very own Big Chub Chet's button, you can do so here:https://hyperfixedpod.com/buttonThere are a limited number so get them before they're gone! LINKS:Busy Beaver Button MuseumThe Button in Question (Spoilers! don't look until the episode is done!) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Subscribe to the Hyperfixed premium feed for bonus episodes, access to our discord, and much much more!https://hyperfixedpod.com/joinOn this episode, Dylan is concerned about something going on at the grocery store, but he's not quite sure how concerned he should be. That's where we step in.LINKSDaniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe PodcastPaco Underhill's Why we Buy: The Science of ShoppingJamie Loftus's 16 Minute PodcastIf you would like to call your grocery store about the energy they're wastingContact Walmart (and Sam's Club)Contact CostcoContact Kroger(they also own: Baker’s, City Market, Dillons, Food 4 Less, Foods Co, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Gerbes, Jay C Food Store, King Soopers, Mariano’s, Metro Market, Pay-Less Super Markets, Pick’n Save, QFC, Ralphs, Ruler, Smith’s Food and Drug)Contact Albertsons(they also own: Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs, Kings Food Markets, and Balducci's Food Lovers) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Sign up for bonus episodes and extra content at: https://hyperfixedpod.com/joinThis week: Eva lives in the UK, loves to bake, and frequently tries to bake American recipes. But Americans measure by volume and everyone else measures by weight — and converting those measurements is complicated, for complicated reasons.Do you have problems you'd like Alex and the gang to solve? Get in touch with us at http://hyperfixedpod.com by clicking the "Submit a Problem" button.Links: The National Institute of Standards and MeasuresLe Grand KBeyond Measure by James Vincent Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Sign up for bonus episodes and extra content at: https://hyperfixedpod.com/joinThis week: Gwen was born and raised in New York, and never felt like she needed to learn to drive. Now that she's turned 30, she's scared she's too old to change that. Alex stands around with a microphone and tries to help.Do you have problems you'd like Alex and the gang to solve? Get in touch with us at http://hyperfixedpod.com by clicking the "Submit a Problem" button. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Maybe it’s just a quiet annoyance you’ve grudgingly learned to put up with, or a life defining issue that makes it hard to move forward. Whatever it is, Alex Goldman — reporter, radio producer, and overconfident idiot — will get to the bottom of it (if there’s a bottom to be found. Results may vary). Follow Alex as he figures out not only the vast hidden mechanisms that create these problems, but works with you, the listener, to find a solution. Or at least enough of an explanation that you’re ok with the annoyance. He’s not perfect. Hyperfixed is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a network of independent and listener-supported podcasts. Discover audio with vision at radiotopia.fm. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices