Lateral with Tom Scott 93: Political proofs
Jul 19, 2024
Comedy panel game contestants Corry Will, Luke Cutforth, and Jordan Harrod discuss studio sackings, timely trademarks, and complicated campaigns. The podcast is a comedy panel game about weird questions with wonderful answers hosted by Tom Scott.
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How A Misspelled Trophy Created Throppy
- Throppy originated from a misengraved trophy where "trophy" was mistakenly engraved as "throppy", and the name stuck for New Zealand's North Island novice debating tournament.
- Tom Scott explains contestants and students from Auckland, Waikato and Wellington accepted the mistake and the tournament kept the misengraved name permanently.
James Dean Fired For Ruining A Game Show
- James Dean was hired by Goodson-Todman to rehearse on the game show Beat the Clock, doing one-minute dexterity tasks, but was fired for being too skilled and unrepresentative of typical contestants.
- The producers needed average performers for rehearsals; Dean's superior ability broke the format so they let him go before he became famous.
Halley's Comet Panic Drove A 1910 Scam Boom
- In 1910 widespread panic about Halley's Comet led scammers to sell useless protective items like sugar pills, umbrellas and gas masks at inflated prices.
- A French astronomer warned the comet's tail contained poison gas, prompting fear-driven opportunists to market doomproof devices.