Mass for Shut-ins: The Gin and Tacos Podcast
91 episodes - English - Latest episode: 17 days ago - ★★★★★ - 292 ratingsAn unholy amalgam of politics, historical anecdotes, cocktail recipes, performances by talented people, and interviews with people who are doing interesting things with their lives.
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Episodes
Minicast C1: The Molotov Cocktail
February 21, 2020 05:01 - 11 minutes - 11.4 MBThe origin story of those flaming bottles we all know and love. Nothing says "Take that, The Man!" like the imagery of someone in a mask lobbing a Molotov. Today it's an anti-authoritarian gesture, but it started as (checks notes) a Finnish tank-killer. In one of the least-remembered conflicts of the 20th Century, the Soviet-Finnish Winter War of 1939. Minicasts are short stories for fans of quick, to-the-point podcasts and as a nice change of pace from the longer full episodes of Mass for...
023 - Apocalypse Now! (Mike Pearl / The Harvesting Effect)
February 14, 2020 03:52 - 58 minutes - 58 MBStory: One of my favorite phenomena in demographic data...the harvesting effect. What I learned from a heat wave in Chicago in 1995, and how it applies to the current coronavirus outbreak. Mortality data can simultaneously be accurate and misleading. Guest: Mike Pearl (@MikeLeePearl), author of the Vice column "How scared should I be?" and of the new book The Day it Finally Happens. We talk about existential threats to life on Earth like antibiotic resistance as well as more prosaic pheno...
022 - Iran (with Adam Johnson of Citations Needed)
January 06, 2020 05:01 - 47 minutes - 45.6 MBGuest: Adam Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) is the cohost of Citations Needed, an outstanding podcast on the media and political communication. He joins me to talk about the unfolding situation in Iran and how it rekindles some of the biggest problems with media coverage of the Iraq War run-up, like the exclusion of anti-war voices in "debates" that boil down to both sides agreeing that war is awesome and disagreeing on the details. Question Cathy returns with the (live!) mailbag. Please supp...
021 - Mailbag Episode II
December 04, 2019 04:37 - 37 minutes - 37 MBThe 2nd annual All-Mailbag Episode. Question Cathy and I tackle ranked-choice voting & instant runoff voting, whether the primaries are too nasty, how to put your time to the best use in the election, climate change, Brexit, and whether the hot dog counts as a sandwich (hint: it does, and I'm sorry). Please support Mass for Shut-ins, an independent and ad-free podcast, via Patreon. Contact me via Facebook, Twitter (@edburmila), or the venerable website Gin and Tacos. Thanks: QC, all the...
Minicast B11: Lewis & Clark's Heavy Metal Diarrhea
November 12, 2019 15:19 - 7 minutes - 7.41 MBIf you need more encouragement to listen to a story about the Lewis & Clark expedition shitting poisonous heavy metals all over the continent and how science has exploited that to generate useful historical data, I don't know what to tell you. Minicasts are short stories for fans of quick, to-the-point podcasts and as a nice change of pace from the longer full episodes of Mass for Shut-ins. Get full episodes on Stitcher, Apple Music, Spotify, and more. Patreon.com/ginandtacos
Minicast B10: Harry Beck's London Tube Map
October 28, 2019 04:05 - 5 minutes - 5.24 MBAn underemployed draftsman named Harry Beck looked at the original London Underground map, realized it was crap, and set himself the task of creating a better one. By ignoring one of the cardinal rules of mapmaking he showed how to make transit maps better and easier to use. Minicasts are short stories for fans of quick, to-the-point podcasts and as a nice change of pace from the longer full episodes of Mass for Shut-ins. Get full episodes on Stitcher, Apple Music, Spotify, and more.
020 - The Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme (Tanzania)
October 15, 2019 04:05 - 56 minutes - 53.2 MBIn 1946, post-war Britain tries to solve four very different problems at once: a labor surplus of returning military, a shortage of key foods, the need to make colonies economically independent, and a dignified way to draw down the Empire. The scheme they came up with is ... incredible. That is to say, you will not find it credible. Tanzania. 3 million acres of rock-hard clay soil. It just screams "Let's grow peanuts there!" doesn't it. A tale of overconfidence, bureaucratic overkill, p...
Minicast B9: The Mass Trespass
September 11, 2019 04:05 - 9 minutes - 9.36 MBWalking around the countryside ("rambling") is very important to the British, and they don't take kindly to the idea that unoccupied land is off-limits to walkers. The so-called Right to Roam, even on privately owned land, is the direct result of ... direct action. In 1932 a group of walking enthusiasts / Communists in Manchester engaged in mass civil disobedience by walking across the Duke of Devonshire's land at a spot called Kinder Scout. They won. 20 years later, that spot became the f...
019 - Astra Taylor / Natural Born Citizenship
August 29, 2019 20:59 - 49 minutes - 49 MBStory: Why does the President, and only the President, require natural born citizenship in the Constitution? If you think you know why, you're likely only half-correct. It has a lot to do with the way the document's authors understood the history of politics in monarchies. Guest: Astra Taylor (@astradisastra) is a documentarian and author whose recent book, Democracy May Not Exist, But We'll Miss It When It's Gone, and film, What is Democracy?, have both received great critical acclaim. ...
Minicast B8: People Express
August 13, 2019 04:02 - 8 minutes - 11.5 MBFlying was luxurious (and costly) before 1977. Then deregulation happened. Now flying is cheap and bad. Pioneering low-cost / no-frills airlines like People Express showed us the way. In its short life (1981-1987) People Express introduced many lamentable aspects to U.S. air travel: paying to check bags, exchanging comfort for low prices, and going to Newark for some reason. And wait until you hear about their "innovative" ticketing procedure. As Homer Simpson said, it introduced a gene...
Pop-up Stadium
July 24, 2019 02:00 - 10 minutes - 13.1 MBA 90,000-seat stadium is built to host a single event, then torn down. And it was in, of all places, Toledo, Ohio. In 1919 boxing was the king of the sports and entertainment world, and a match between two household names - Jack Dempsey and the little-remembered Jess Willard - was such a big event that its promoter could afford to build a stadium and use it like a Kleenex. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the fight, here's the whole improbable story. Enjoyment of sports is not required...
018 - Amanda Litman of Run for Something / Why You Can't See Out of Your Car
July 12, 2019 05:04 - 38 minutes - 42.8 MBStory: Today's new cars are crammed full of tech to compensate for unusually poor rear and blind spot visibility. They've also gotten much heavier since 2000 - and more dangerous to for pedestrians. All of these are unintended consequences of regulatory changes in the auto industry after the Firestone Tires / SUV rollover debacle of the late 90s. I tie all those threads together for you. Guest: Amanda Litman (@amandalitman) co-founder of Run for Something. We talk about how people like you...
Atlantropa
June 27, 2019 04:26 - 8 minutes - 8.36 MBAfter World War I, German utopian pacifist architect Herman Sörgel proposed a scheme to keep European nations busy (and not fighting wars!) for 100 years by damming the Strait of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles, and the Strait of Sicily. This would produce enormous amounts of hydroelectricity AND lower the Mediterranean Sea by over 600 feet. That would connect Africa and Europe into one supercontinent with thousands of square miles of new dry land. No more need to fight about territory, Herman be...
017 - The Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides (Vanuatu)
June 14, 2019 03:41 - 38 minutes - 43.5 MBTwo police forces. Two sets of laws. Two postal systems. Two kinds of money. For 74 years the UK and France governed the island colony of the New Hebrides (since 1980, the independent nation of Vanuatu featured on Season 9 of Survivor) under a bizarre condominium arrangement. The islands were governed by the respective nations, with totally different laws and bureaucracies, on alternating days. And if you had a complaint, you appealed to...the king of Spain. Read that all again. The New He...
Minicast B5: The Cannibal Food Critic
May 28, 2019 04:01 - 6 minutes - 7.91 MBIn a life-or-death situation, would you engage in cannibalism? What do people even taste like? In 1931, journalist and author William Seabrook wrote a book in which he answers that question for you...which is both extremely kind of him (so you don't have to find out on your own) and really gross and weird. One hint: People taste like another thing we shouldn't be eating. Minicasts are short (approx. 5-8 min) stories for fans of quick, to-the-point podcasts and as a nice change of pace ...
016 - Radical Suburbs / Amanda Kolson Hurley / Diamond Jim Brady
May 20, 2019 04:21 - 44 minutes - 50.9 MBStory: Diamond Jim Brady's Million Dollar Sauce. Famous gourmand and eccentric rich person of the Gilded Age goes to ludicrous lengths to steal the recipe for what is purported to be the world's most delicious sauce for Filet of Sole. How far would you go to satisfy a food craving? Spoiler alert - you wouldn't go as far as Diamond Jim. Guest: Amanda Kolson Hurley, author of the new book Radical Suburbs. We talk about what makes some suburbs interesting and why most of them aren't. Fans o...
Minicast B4: The Virginia Lottery Buyout Scheme (1992)
May 02, 2019 02:00 - 9 minutes - 12.3 MBIf you've ever wondered, "Is it possible to guarantee winning the lottery by buying one ticket for every possible combination of numbers?" this is the Minicast for you. Does it work? Is it legal? Is it even POSSIBLE to do? You're about to find out. Minicasts are short (approx. 5-8 min) stories for fans of quick, to-the-point podcasts and as a nice change of pace from the longer full episodes of Mass for Shut-ins.
015 - How to Hide an Empire / Daniel Immerwahr
April 18, 2019 02:00 - 43 minutes - 45.7 MBGuest: Dr. Daniel Immerwahr, associate professor of history at Northwestern University and author of the new "How to Hide an Empire: the history of the greater United States." We talk about the many ways in which America has maintained (and still maintains) an empire through territorial occupation, a network of military bases fanned out across the globe, and domination of international standards. Tales of various Guano Islands Act (1856) possessions are told, and you don't want to miss them....
Minicast B3: Why Chickens are Chicken but Pigs are Pork
March 25, 2019 03:32 - 6 minutes - 8.33 MBFish are served as fish. Chickens as chicken. Turkeys as turkey. But when it comes to other commonly consumed animals in the English-speaking world we use different words for the animal and the food. Cows, pigs, sheep, and deer become beef, pork, mutton, and venison. Why? Well, it starts with the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and has to do with social class divisions between speakers of Old English and Anglo-Norman (the predecessor of modern French). You'll never look at the meat de...
Minicast B2: Naked Came the Stranger
March 06, 2019 04:02 - 9 minutes - 12.2 MBA young Long Island housewife named Penelope Ashe saw her debut novel, Naked Came the Stranger, go straight to the best-seller list despite the mystery surrounding its reclusive author, its racy content, and its little-known publisher. It pushed the limits of what "obscenity" meant in 1969. But gratuitous sex scenes aside, Penelope Ashe had an even bigger secret... Minicasts are short (approx. 5 min) stories for fans of quick, to-the-point podcasts and as a nice change of pace from the ...
014 - Dr. Rebekah Tromble / Civility on Twitter
February 25, 2019 03:13 - 38 minutes - 43.9 MBGuest: Dr. Rebekah Tromble (Leiden University), professor of political communication, led a team chosen by Twitter to conduct research on overall "health" of conversation on the platform. As soon as the company announced its plan to sponsor research, right-wingers flipped out and began a campaign of threats and harassment aimed largely at Rebekah. Six months later, her life is (mostly) back to normal and the research is moving ahead as planned. This is a fascinating story about how becoming ...
013 - Dr. Stephen Pettigrew / The Drunken Inauguration of Andrew Johnson
February 04, 2019 01:53 - 36 minutes - 46.4 MBStory: Andrew Johnson gets incredibly drunk at his inauguration and makes a scene you'll have to hear about to believe. He calls out every member of the Cabinet by name (Wu-Tang style), makes up his own oath of office, and nearly drives his colleagues to weep from shame. And he owed it all to Civil War-era medicine's inability to treat serious illness except with Patent Medicines (i.e., alcohol, opium, or alcohol with opium) Guest: Dr. Stephen Pettigrew, Senior Analyst on the NBC News deci...
Minicast B1: The White House Arsonist
January 28, 2019 00:00 - 4 minutes - 6.79 MBMs. Julia Chase, 53, of Hagerstown, MD took the White House public tour on April 3, 1956. She wandered away from her group and spent two hours creeping around the Executive Manson...starting fires. Five in total. You won't believe what happened next (teaser). Minicasts are short (approx. 5 min) stories for fans of quick, to-the-point podcasts and as a nice change of pace from the longer full episodes of Mass for Shut-ins.
012 - Folger Shakespeare Library / How to Run for Local Office
January 09, 2019 05:13 - 38 minutes - 51.7 MBStory: Shakespeare Comes to America - How was a minor American industrialist, Henry Clay Folger, able to buy up so much of Shakespeare that more of Ol' William's written output is now in Washington DC than in all of England? It's a tale of an agricultural depression and the decline of the British aristocracy. You know, Downton Abbey style. The Brits needed money. American robber barons had it. Suddenly, every piece of Europe's culture was for sale at the right price. Guest: Leeman Kessler,...
Minicast A6: Nuclear Fracking and Project Plowshare
December 13, 2018 05:05 - 8 minutes - 13 MBDuring the Cold War, the Pentagon tried to come up with a non-military use for nuclear warheads to justify building even more of them. Project Plowshare was one of the results. Because detonating nukes underground to help mine natural gas is...a thing that could not go obviously and terribly wrong. Yeah fracking is bad. But fracking could have been so much worse. Minicasts are short (approx. 5 min) stories for fans of quick, to-the-point podcasts and as a nice change of pace from the lon...
011 - Special Midterm Election Episode
December 05, 2018 03:06 - 34 minutes - 46.7 MBQuestion Cathy joins me for an entire episode of user submitted questions about the midterm election. Topics we cover include Beto-mania, the Democrats' challenge in retaking the Senate, alternative voting methods, and the risks of political hobbyism (and the best ways to get involved if you can). Episode 012 (forthcoming) will return to the normal format shortly. If you're dying for a story, check out Episode 010 or the recent Minicasts. Support Mass for Shut-ins via Patreon. Contac...
010 - Ten Cent Beer Night
November 14, 2018 19:39 - 18 minutes - 24.4 MBStory: Ten Cent Beer Night - In 1974 the Cleveland Indians turned to the forbidden fruit of promo giveaways to cure their ailing attendance. Results are predictable, except the part where a guy was nearly killed with a gallon jug of Thunderbird. That surprised everyone. They played the Texas Rangers that night, but their real opponent was human nature. Guests: This is a shortened episode (story only) because Question Cathy and I will be back with Episode 011 very shortly. It will be a spec...
009 - LIL BUB / Harold Holt
October 17, 2018 04:01 - 40 minutes - 44.4 MBStory: The Disappearing Prime Minister - Australia is a crazy place. It's huge, empty, and full of things that can kill you. And every once in a while one of their Prime Ministers will disappear without a trace. Not figuratively, either. Guests: Mike Bridavsky, owner / engineer of Russian Recording, member of Memory Map, and LIL BUB's (@IAMLILBUB) human dude. Yes, the same BUB who became a darling to millions as a famous Internet Cat. Bub raises $100k annually, and over a half-million dol...
MInicast A5: Why do Trump's Suits Look So Bad?
October 11, 2018 03:39 - 6 minutes - 7.85 MBThe President of the United States, a man who claims to possess unimaginable wealth, somehow cannot get a suit that fits him. Why? The reasons have more to do with his personality than you might think. Minicasts are short (approx. 5 min) stories for fans of quick, to-the-point podcasts and as a nice change of pace from the longer full episodes of Mass for Shut-ins.
Minicast A4: The Origins of "Filibuster"
September 20, 2018 01:23 - 5 minutes - 7 MBThe filibuster has an interesting history in the U.S. Senate, but the term itself has an even more convoluted story. It involves, separately, both pirates AND mercenaries. Minicasts are short (approx. 5 min) stories for fans of quick, to-the-point podcasts and as a nice change of pace from the longer full episodes of Mass for Shut-ins.
008- Silent Sam-demonium
August 29, 2018 02:28 - 39 minutes - 53.2 MBStory: Brother, have you seen my Vermeer? The crazy secret life of stolen art masterpieces. For more information on the Isabella Stewart Gardner heist covered in this podcast, check out Master Thieves by Steven Kurkjian. Or get a quick overview here. Guests: Alyssa Bowen (@alyssaannbowen) UNC graduate student and anti-Silent Sam activist and Dr. Carolyn Holmes (@carolyneholmes) of Mississippi State University. For background on Silent Sam, here is a truncated history or follow Alyssa o...
Minicast A3 - The Genius of Steve Allen
August 15, 2018 04:01 - 3 minutes - 6.59 MBMost people under 50 only know Steve Allen, if at all, as the answer to the trivia question, "Who was the first host of the Tonight Show?" Those who remember his normie comedy stylings would hardly call him a genius. But I'm here to talk you through it. Mass for Shut-ins Minicasts are ~5 minute stories to tide you over between full episodes, unless of course you don't like long podcasts. In that case, these are the perfect length for you. Support Mass for Shut-ins on Patreon (patreon.com...
007 - Cetacean Information
July 27, 2018 04:01 - 39 minutes - 55.9 MBStory: THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WHALES - The true story of Abraham Gesner, the obscure Canadian geologist whose big discovery in 1846 made whaling unprofitable just as most whale species were on the brink of extinction. Guest: Dr. Ari Kohen, professor of political theory at University of Nebraska - Lincoln, curator of TrumpWatch, co-founder of the Hero Roundtable, and author of Untangling Heroism. We talk about civility and maintaining one's sanity while trying to create a daily record of t...
Minicast A2 - What is Mass for Shut-ins?
July 12, 2018 04:01 - 5 minutes - 7.7 MBA brief look at the ORIGINAL Mass for Shut-ins - not this podcast, but the 1962-1992 public service broadcast on WGN-TV out of Chicago. I have discovered that the reference was not nearly as recognizable as I thought at first, so consider this an explainer if you've been curious what this seemingly random phrase means. Mass for Shut-ins Minicasts are ~5 minute stories to tide you over between full episodes, unless of course you don't like long podcasts. In that case, these are the perfec...
006 - Hold Mein Beer
June 27, 2018 02:43 - 47 minutes - 44.9 MBStory: THE RED SQUARE PILOT - The true story of Mathias Rust, the German teen who took his tiny Cessna 172 and invaded the Soviet Union with it. Late Cold War hijinks. May have very slightly hastened the fall of the USSR. Guest: Dr. Lisa Wade, author of best-selling textbook "Gender" and the popular press book "American Hookup" about the sex lives of college students. She founded the excellent blog Sociological Images and can be found @lisawade. Cocktail of the Month: Bee's Knees. It...
Minicast A1 - Emergency! Emergency!
June 11, 2018 21:43 - 5 minutes - 7.04 MBThe terrifying tones of the Emergency Broadcast / Alert System are a lot more interesting than you think. And since you think they're not interesting at all, I have a very low bar to clear. Minicasts will be in the area of 5 minutes, posted between episodes and without many bells and whistles (intro, music, etc) which is time consuming for me production-wise. They will be short, hopefully interesting, and unadorned. Just a quick story I feel like sharing. These won't be posted on a regul...
005 - For Unlawful Canal Knowledge
May 22, 2018 22:57 - 40 minutes - 48.3 MBStory: THE STAMP THAT MAILED A CANAL - How a 10-centavo Nicaraguan postage stamp turned the Nicaragua Canal into the Panama Canal in 1902. The tale combines all of your favorites: Gilded Age corrupt-af US congressional politics, comic-tragic Frenchmen, the Suez Canal, and hydrological engineering! Guest: Dr. Timothy Rich, who studies the Korean Peninsula as well as Taiwan and...Nigerian email scams? We discuss the recent developments in ROK-DPRK peace talks, Kim's fears and logic, and how ...
004 - Wild Mood Swings
April 26, 2018 13:32 - 36 minutes - 45.2 MBStory: THE ROGUE TYPESETTER who terrorized Victorian London. The mystery of the Harcourt Interpolation. Easily the most exciting moment in the history of type compositing. Guest: SSgt. Katie Schmid, US Army (@SchmidCathrine), plaintiff challenging the Trump transgender military ban. Read more about Katie's story here. Topic: Duverger's Law and the American two-party system. Why does Germany's parliament have eight parties while we only get two parties that everyone seems to hate anyway...
003 - Markov Chains
March 30, 2018 15:42 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MBStory: DEATH BY UMBRELLA: The Georgi Markov story. A tale of intrigue and covert operations from the late Cold War that John Le Carre couldn't have scripted any better. Guest: Mike Konczal (@rortybomb), Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and contributor to Vox, The Nation, Dissent, and other fine publications. Mike and I discuss the art of punditry, appearing on TV without pants, the myth of a democratized economy, and stock buybacks. We also do Professor Brothers voices. Performance by ...
002 - Fuselage Mucilege
February 28, 2018 17:54 - 41 minutes - 47.1 MBGuest: 12-time Jeopardy! Champion Seth Wilson Topic: How you, yes YOU, can boost voter turnout Story: How to have a picnic in the Korean DMZ (and why it's at the 38th Parallel) Cocktail of the Month: 24th Street Spritz Support Mass for Shut-ins via Patreon. Thanks: Seth Wilson, the bands that contribute music (Waxeater, IfIHadAHiFi, The Sump Pumps, Oscar Bait), Zachary Sielaff, #PostcardsToVoters, and all Patreon supporters, subscribers, and listeners.
001 - I am Eagle! I am Eagle!
January 29, 2018 00:40 - 52 minutes - 48.3 MBEpisode 001 Topic: A history of impeachment and why it matters now Story: US Postal Service Missile Mail Cocktail: Corpse Reviver #2 Performance: Author Andrew Bentley reads "Erosion!" Guest: Helen Clarkson, CEO of The Climate Group, joins us to discuss the future of the planet, China, and why the British refuse to put ice in their beverages.