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Followups 8

Chris “Stewie” Stewart joins us for brain tapeworms, murder by testicle crushing, cannibal cook cultists and more in our latest grab-bag “Followup” episode! Plus: Which is the lesser of two evils – having your testicles crushed over a parking space, or brain tapeworms?

Music: “Let That Be A Lesson To You” by Louis Armstrong

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10 Responses

  1. So there you are, folks! If want to you join an entrepreneurial cannibal cult with an eye to the food market, take an internship at a bakery first! Those are highly sought-after skills!

    Glad you guys liked the story. I saw it on the news and instantly thought of you. 🙂

  2. Thanks to the podcast/website, my coworkers run away screaming when I declare I have an interesting picture to show them.

  3. Hey guys,

    First want to say that I love your podcast and have turned many of my friends onto it — I often listen to it at my desk when I’m working on something mindless (so I can concentrate on all the learnin’ I’m getting from you!) and find my coworkers giving me funny looks when I laugh out loud (which is often). I have a love of random (mostly-useless) information and Caustic Soda really helps me with that! (That was meant as a compliment, lol.) My friends and coworkers get a weird look on their face whenever I say, “Did you know?” and spout off some fact I learned from the podcast 🙂

    I have a follow up for your Wrath episode, specifically about road rage — check out this article (http://wag.gl/N3dLJE) about a man who pulled a crossbow on another guy WHILE HE WAS STILL DRIVING, for cutting him off! Apparently it happened yesterday (July 10, 2012). Tell me that’s not taking it to another level!

    And finally, thank you for the Muppets intro — it literally makes me smile and dance around every time I hear it! You guys are awesome!

    Cheryl

  4. Thalidomide is actually problematic even if you were to use just a single enantiomer: the two enantiomers can actually interconvert (“epimerize” in chemist-speak) in the body, so even if you did use a pure sample of the “correct” enantiomer, there would be a small amount of the wrong enantiomer produced in the body over time. As a result, the teratogenic effects of the drug would not necessarily be avoided by using a single enantiomer. The long-term impact of the thalidomide story is that most chiral drug molecules are now prepared as pure enantiomers unless you can demonstrate that both enantiomers are safe.

    Although thalidomide has been discontinued for treating morning sickness, there is renewed interest in the drug as a cancer treatment as it has been show to inhibit angiogenesis (roughly speaking, preventing the induced growth of blood new vessels and thereby starving a tumor of blood supply).

    Great show as always!

    2. I am constantly surprised that anyone listens, whenever it becomes patently clear that probably everyone who listens to the podcast are smarter than the hosts……

      1. You’re surprised? Reading the comments for more information is half the fun to me! 😀

  6. A-ha! That explains it; I haven’t listened to that one yet. Thanks for the reply, Toren. And thanks for the great show! I listen to them while driving an 18-wheeler here in the states, and it really helps pass the time. Much appreciated.