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Episode 191: Half of a mountain
5th June, 2026 • Ella Hubber, Caroline Roper and Tom Lum from 'Let's Learn Everything!' face questions about inward injuries, backwards bars and Luneburg lenses.
Transcription by Caption+
Tom Scott:
Whenever Yogi was at home, he wore white. When he travelled, he wore gray. Why?
The answer to that at the end of the show. My name's Tom Scott, and this is Lateral.
This is a studio. On most days, it contains one host, a microphone, and a manageable amount of confusion. But today is different.
That's because the hosts of Let's Learn Everything have entered the building.
At first, the signs may be subtle: a casual mention of chemistry, someone being reminded of a fact, and going off on a long tangent. But exposure can escalate quickly. Experts warn that prolonged proximity to professional curiosity may result in spontaneous learning, unexpected tangents, and the uncontrollable urge to mention fruit flies.
If you encounter members of Let's Learn Everything: Don't panic. Remain calm. Avoid eye contact. Don't ask follow-up questions unless you've cleared your afternoon.
Nevertheless, containment has failed, and here they are now in the studio. Please welcome the members of Let's Learn Everything!
Ella:
Woo!
Caroline:
Yeah!
Tom Lum:
We've breached containment.
Tom Scott:
We will start with Caroline Roper. How are you doing?
Caroline:
You know... (sighs) I've gotta be honest. You've come crawling back to us finally.
Tom Scott:
(laughs heartily)
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Caroline:
I'm really surprised that you remember our name, to be honest with you.
Tom Scott:
It has been a while, hasn't it?
Caroline:
I can't believe it, yeah! It's been too long.
Tom Lum:
After all those episodes we've missed. And don't think we didn't notice, Tom Scott, that you didn't include us on some episodes.
Tom Scott:
Tom Lum, who absolutely did not cancel at the last minute because he was ill a while back, how are you doing?
SFX:
(Ella and Caroline laugh)
Tom Lum:
Tom, that's not how I remember it. I remember it clear as day. I went to sleep with an 104° fever, and then you told me I could never be on the show again.
SFX:
(others laughing)
Tom Lum:
You turned into my dad, flew away, and all my teeth fell out. I remember it pretty clearly.
Tom Scott:
It is a joy to have you back as ever. Also, you should plug the live show.
Ella:
Yes.
Tom Lum:
Well, all of us?
Tom Scott:
Good, well done.
Ella:
Ella, do it.
SFX:
(guests laugh heartily)
Tom Scott:
Ella Hubber, also from Let's Learn Everything, how are you doing?
Ella:
I'm so good. We are Let's Learn Everything, and we're doing a live show.
Tom Lum:
Woo! Our first one!
SFX:
(Ella and Caroline whoop)
Tom Lum:
As you can tell by our confusion.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom Lum:
It's gonna be part of the Cheerful Earful, which is how y'all do it.
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Tom Lum:
It's gonna be in London, around October-ish. You can go to letslearneverything.com/live to see all the details.
Tom Scott:
There's the pl— right, professionally done. Excellently done.
Ella:
Beautiful.
Tom Scott:
Ella, I have to ask how you're doing after a long while away?
Ella:
Yeah, I'm alright.
Tom Scott:
Cool!
Tom Lum:
(spit-takes)
Caroline:
(laughs heartily)
Tom Scott:
Good luck today, everybody! Let's broadcast some more public information, starting with question one.
Thank you to Jim Fishwick for this question.
Why are children in Sydney, Australia taught the sequence "Sheep, Toilet, Cow, Toilet"?
I'll say that again.
Tom Lum:
Whoa.
Tom Scott:
Why are children in Sydney, Australia taught the sequence "Sheep, Toilet, Cow, Toilet"?
Caroline:
Sheep, toilet, cow, toilet.
Ella:
Maybe if I say it in an Australian accent, that'll make things clearer.
Tom Lum:
I was gonna say.
Caroline:
Yes!
Ella:
Naur, naur... Sheep, toilet, caah, toilet.
Tom Scott:
Oh, that, I mean, that didn't sound bad to me. What was your key phrase there for cluing in on Australian accent?
Ella:
'No'. Just the word 'no'. Nawr.
Tom Scott:
Yeah. Yeah.
Caroline:
(laughs uproariously)
Tom Lum:
Mine is 'razor blades'. Have you heard? Is 'rise-a-blaids'.
Ella:
'Rise-a-blaids'.
Tom Scott:
Nice, nice.
Ella:
Sheep? Sheep, toilet, cow, toilet.
Tom Lum:
Sheep, toilet, cow, toilet.
Ella:
Sheep, toilet, cow, toilet.
Tom Lum:
I think if we say it probably 100 times, I think we'll get it.
Ella:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tom Lum:
So let's just get this—
Caroline:
Yeah, yeah.
Tom Lum:
It's about getting the reps in. That's how lateral thinking works.
Caroline:
Sheep, toilet, cow, toilet.
Tom Lum:
Okay, so obviously my first thought was, I'm surprised it's not a venomous animal. Although that would be my first thought for like a mnemonic for children in Australia was like...
Caroline:
I went another way. I went, I'm surprised it doesn't spell out a swear word. So very different ideas of the Australians here.
Tom Scott:
We're running through the Australian stereotypes here.
Caroline:
Yeah! (laughs)
Tom Lum:
Sheep for children. Okay. Sheep before toilets. You're doing soy...
Ella:
Wait, the key...
Caroline:
Soylet?
Tom Lum:
Let's go...
Ella:
Sheep.
Tom Lum:
on and continue.
Ella:
Okay, is it some... It's a mnemonic. Is it a mnemonic?
Tom Scott:
Yes, it is a mnemonic.
Tom Lum:
Mnemonic, yeah.
Ella:
So, like, ROYGBIV... what, it's "Richard of York gave battle in vain". S— So S-T-C-T.
Tom Lum:
Ooh.
Ella:
S... like sunscreen. You know, that's a big one there. Like, they do like slip, slap, slop.
Caroline:
Ooh.
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Tom Lum:
Sunscreen tan... cannot tan.
Tom Scott:
I wouldn't go for the first letters there. It's not that sort of mnemonic. It's mnemonic in the form of memory aid.
Caroline:
Ooh?
Tom Lum:
It has it twice. Sheep— Sheep has— Sheep have wool. Cow have milk. They're both mammals. They are... Wow, really just having nothing for this is really—
Tom Scott:
Well, you don't have nothing there. You don't have nothing.
Ella:
What does he have?
Tom Scott:
Wool.
Tom Lum:
Would this work in the US, for example?
Ella:
Wool.
Tom Scott:
It wouldn't work in the US. This is Sydney-specific. And Tom, you said wool.
Tom Lum:
I sure did.
Caroline:
Is it some... way of reminding you to check these places for spiders or insects or something like that? I'm thinking like bedding.
Ella:
And then the toilet, and then you check the fridge.
Tom Lum:
And I love it's toilet twice, because you really don't want it to be toilet.
Caroline:
You've gotta double check.
Ella:
Then you check the toilet again.
Tom Scott:
Again, we're going through the stereotypes, but you do have to check for black widow spiders in toilets sometimes, I believe, in Australia.
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Caroline:
Not a daft suggestion, just not the right suggestion.
Tom Scott:
'Sheep' does turn into 'wool' in this mnemonic. That is correct.
Caroline:
Ooh.
Tom Lum:
Okay. Tom, how... useful is this actually, or how silly is this, can I ask?
Tom Scott:
To people in Sydney, very useful.
Ella:
Oh? So okay, what could the other things be, guys?
Tom Lum:
Maybe like—
Caroline:
Knives, yeah.
Ella:
Water or flush.
Tom Lum:
Leather?
Ella:
Bowl or... Wool bowl, leather bowl.
Caroline:
(snickers) Nailed it.
Ella:
It's like a tongue twister. Wool bowl, leather bowl. Wool bowl, leather bowl.
SFX:
(Ella and Caroline laugh)
Tom Lum:
Is it that? My thought is like, is it— could this— something to remember, maybe like a transit line or something like that, or...
Tom Scott:
Getting closer, Tom, yep.
Tom Lum:
Okay. Like the locations of cities.
Tom Scott:
It's definitely geography. You're getting closer and closer with that.
Ella:
So geography within Sydney?
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Ella:
Suburbs or something?
Tom Lum:
Or Sydney and neighboring areas?
Tom Scott:
A suburb, actually, yes.
Caroline:
Oh?
Tom Lum:
Oh?
Ella:
Is it one like Woolwich or something?
Tom Scott:
Now we're getting close, Ella, yes.
Tom Lum:
Oh, what'd you say, Ella?
Ella:
Woolwich.
Tom Scott:
Why would you need a mnemonic for something like that?
Ella:
And also that means there's two suburbs in there that're the sa— or they— Well, there's one that's in there twice for some reason. Or is it they— that's supposed to represent different ones?
Tom Scott:
Have a think what other words might work for toilet.
Caroline:
Loo.
Tom Scott:
Loo.
Caroline:
Bog. Oh, loo!
Ella:
Oh.
Tom Scott:
Yep.
Ella:
Lewisham. I'm just g— I'm saying places in London, hoping that that's a suburb in Sydney.
Tom Scott:
Honestly, you're pretty close here already. I'm tempted to give it to you. You haven't said these out loud yet.
Caroline:
Woo-loo-moo-loo.
Tom Scott:
What was that, Caroline?
Ella:
Woolloomooloo.
Caroline:
Woo-loo-moo-loo.
Tom Scott:
Woolloomooloo.
Ella:
Woolloomooloo.
Tom Scott:
Has anyone heard of the Sydney suburb of Woolloomooloo?
Ella:
(wheezes) No?
Caroline:
No! (laughs)
Tom Scott:
And yet, Caroline, you said it anyway.
This is how you spell and say Woolloomooloo, which is a suburb of Sydney.
It may come from the Aboriginal place name for "place of plenty", possibly "young black kangaroo". No one's sure. This is from question writer Jim, who says that he can attest to this, as someone who grew up in Sydney.
The place is called Woolloomooloo: two Ls near the first bit, one L in the last bit. So it is actually the words "Wool, loo, moo, loo". And the mnemonic for that is "Sheep, Toilet, Cow, Toilet".
Tom Lum:
(laughs)
Ella:
Right.
Caroline:
I see why that's so helpful for kids who are learning to spell and stuff like that.
Tom Lum:
Yeah, for spelling.
Caroline:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tom Lum:
Spelling makes perfect— yeah. Well, it's— in the US, we have "Connect-I-Cut" for Connecticut.
Tom Scott:
Yep.
Tom Lum:
And then I love also, for Mississippi, all we learned is that y— how to spell is M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I. And it's like, that's not a mnemonic. That's just, you had fun how difficult it was.
Tom Scott:
Oh, I heard M-I, double-S-I, double-S-I, double-P-I, which has more of a cadence to it.
Ella:
Oh, that's lovely.
Tom Lum:
A little gallop, yeah.
Ella:
And in the UK, they're just like, "It's Worcestershire. Good luck."
Tom Scott:
Yep, good luck!
SFX:
(guests laugh uproariously)
Tom Lum:
Learn it!
SFX:
(laughter continues)
Tom Scott:
Caroline, we'll have your question, please.
Caroline:
This question has been sent in by Madeleine.
In 2002, over a period of a month, Chris spent hours listening to the same song played backwards. Why?
Tom Lum:
(guffaws deeply)
Caroline:
One more time.
In 2002, over a period of a month, Chris spent hours listening to the same song played backwards. Why?
Tom Scott:
Sorry, folks, I've worked this one out, possibly. Because I'm old enough to remember some specific things from 2002. Good luck to the Gen Z-ers.
Caroline:
I believe that you probably do know it as well. Yeah, okay.
Ella:
Well, Caroline... As I've said multiple times, Caroline is the only Gen Z-er here.
Tom Scott:
Oh, apologies.
Caroline:
Hi!
Tom Scott:
Apologies to the younger millennials.
Ella:
Thank you.
Caroline:
Yeah, that's right.
Ella:
Not that I want to be labelled thusly, but there you go.
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Ella:
2002, I don't have many memories from 2002. I was seven. But...
Caroline:
Congrats.
Ella:
Thank you. Music, 2002.
Tom Lum:
I was just sort of like, they could have just had nothing else to do in 2002. I remember watching episodes of SpongeBob backwards just 'cause I thought it was fun.
SFX:
(Tom Scott and Caroline laugh)
Ella:
I mean, the internet existed.
Tom Lum:
Yeah, yeah. But it existed to upload episodes of SpongeBob backwards for me to watch.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Ella:
I assume the song is important, Caroline.
Caroline:
Yeah.
Ella:
Okay, I'm just gonna list every song I know from 2002.
Tom Lum:
Let's do it.
Caroline:
Perfect, great.
Tom Lum:
Do we think there's a... I assume there's some kind of message, and we talked about backmasking on an episode of the show. I'm surprised I don't know it then actually. Huh, I didn't come across it in my research.
Caroline:
Well, eh, there's a reason why it didn't come up in your research.
Tom Lum:
Okay!
Ella:
'Cause it doesn't actually say anything. Was it, like, you know, there was a rumour going around that, you know, if you play this song backwards, it heals you or something?
Tom Scott:
(chuckles)
Caroline:
(laughs profusely)
Tom Lum:
Is it... Part of me wonders if it— 'Cause I feel like this is also the era of weird contests. And so part of me is wondering, is there a... Oh, hold on. Never mind. I found it out. I know it also.
Ella:
Oh!
Tom Lum:
Oh, I'm sorry.
Caroline:
Ohhh!
Tom Scott:
It— Oh, the penny dropped, didn't it?
Tom Lum:
I worked it out.
Caroline:
Wait, wait, wait.
Tom Scott:
Just guessing at numbers and figures, and then all of the sudden...
Caroline:
Please.
Tom Scott:
All of a sudden the penny drops.
Caroline:
I need Ella to... I feel like Ella could. I feel like Ella could. And I need somebody else to do this.
Ella:
I don't like doing these alone.
Tom Scott:
Nobody said it was easy, but we're okay. We're okay. You can do this.
Tom Lum:
Questions of science, science and progress. Like, really, I was just like, oh, yeah, it's—
Tom Scott:
Okay, Tom. I was trying to be subtle by dropping the lyrics in.
Tom Lum:
Yours was less subtle than mine.
Tom Scott:
Really? You think so?
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Ella:
Qu... That's a Coldplay song?
Tom Scott:
It is, yes.
Caroline:
It is a Coldplay song.
Tom Lum:
I guess it is, huh.
Ella:
♪ Questions of science ♪
Tom Scott:
Yeah.
Ella:
♪ Science and progress ♪ "The Scientist"? Is it called "The Scientist"?
Tom Scott:
It is.
Tom Lum:
Yeah, it is.
Caroline:
It is called "The Scientists", yeah.
So why might somebody be... Why would somebody named Chris be listening to this song backwards over and over again?
Tom Lum:
I didn't realize there was a name with the Chris also.
Caroline:
(laughs)
Ella:
It's Chris Martin of... the lead singer of Coldplay.
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Caroline:
Yeah.
Ella:
But why would he be listening to it backwards? I don't know, is...
Caroline:
What do you think?
Ella:
Oh, I have no idea. What would he be doing?
Tom Scott:
I'm not gonna drop more lyrics in. I was really tempted to. I'm not going to.
Ella:
Is it—
Caroline:
(laughs)
Tom Scott:
Actually, there is a lyric that would be helpful here.
Ella:
♪ Nobody said— ♪ I'm gonna have to sing and sit the whole— I'm gonna have to sit here and sing the whole song?
Tom Scott:
Let's go back to the start.
Ella:
Oh.
Tom Lum:
Oh, cool.
Ella:
(mumbling) ♪ Oh, let's go back to the start ♪ Wait, I don't... (sighs) It's not like he had to manually rewind it on a tape to listen to it again, so he heard it backwards a lot, surely.
Tom Lum:
He— I believe he did have to learn it backwards.
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Caroline:
He did have to learn it backwards.
Ella:
Oh, the video is recorded in backwards.
Tom Scott:
Yep.
Caroline:
Eyyy!
Tom Lum:
Yeah!
Caroline:
Well done, Ella.
Ella:
I don't— I think I've seen the video once.
Caroline:
Yeah, I had never seen the video before answering this question. Knew the song, of course.
Tom Scott:
(chuckles)
Caroline:
But yeah, so no.
As we've all said, Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, had to memorise the song in 2002, so that he could perform it backwards for the music video. It was also, he had to do it backwards and in double speed, so that the video could be slowed down as well.
So... I do not envy Chris Martin for having to do that one.
Ella:
Does it look good, the video? Is it convincing?
Tom Scott:
Yeah, it does look good.
Caroline:
Yeah, it's pretty good, actually.
Tom Lum:
I hope there's a tape out there of somewhere of the original cut forward motionally going... (imitates reverse singing)
Caroline:
(laughs)
Tom Scott:
Kai Sheppard sent in this next question. Thank you very much, Kai.
In 2011, Japan's Mount Hiyori lost more than half its height. When it was remeasured, locals were delighted. Why?
I'll say that again.
In 2011, Japan's Mount Hiyori lost more than half its height. When it was remeasured, locals were delighted. Why?
Ella:
It lost half its height, and then was remeasured and gained more height, or was just lost half its height upon remeasuring?
Caroline:
That's a great question.
Tom Scott:
The sequence of events is as in the question. It lost half its height, and then when it was remeasured, locals were delighted.
Ella:
Okay, so it gained its height back perhaps?
Tom Lum:
Well, we don't know that eit— Maybe it got even more.
Caroline:
May— yeah, my thought was that when it lost half its height, that's because it was measured properly for the first time maybe, and they realised, "Oh, this isn't as tall as we actually thought it was." Somebody's been exaggerating about this the whole time.
Ella:
There's like a record that they were holding, that they lost when it lost half of its height.
Caroline:
Ahhh.
Tom Scott:
Record, correct. Rest of it, not so much.
Caroline:
A record that they gained when they lost half of its height?
Tom Scott:
Yeah.
Caroline:
Which is why people were celebrating?
Tom Scott:
Yes.
Tom Lum:
It'd go from like the tallest hill to the smallest mountain.
SFX:
(Ella and Tom Lum chuckle)
Tom Scott:
Ohhh. Yeah, kind of. You've got the second half of it.
Tom Lum:
Oh.
Tom Scott:
Yep.
Caroline:
It's the smallest mountain?
Tom Scott:
It is the smallest mountain in Japan. It is officially now...
Caroline:
Ohhh?
Tom Lum:
(wheezes profusely)
Tom Scott:
There's still a few elements of this you haven't quite got.
Tom Lum:
Okay.
Caroline:
How did it lose half of its height?
Ella:
If you have a mountain in a ci— like in within city borders, you get special privileges of the city in Japan?
Tom Lum:
Was the other s... mountain that was in contention deemed no longer a mountain or something like that?
Tom Scott:
Nothing changed with the other mountain.
Tom Lum:
Ooh, did something happen to the mountain in 2011-ish or...
Tom Scott:
Yep.
Tom Lum:
Oh, vol— any volcanic activity or...
Ella:
Yeah, it erupted?
Tom Scott:
Along those lines.
Tom Lum:
An earthquake?
Tom Scott:
An earthquake, Tom. Yes. In 2011, there was an earthquake, and Japan's Mount Hiyori lost more than half its height. So when it was remeasured...
Caroline:
Whoa.
Tom Scott:
why were the locals delighted?
Caroline:
Because now it broke the record for the shortest mountain in Japan.
Tom Scott:
It was once again Japan's lowest mountain.
Ella:
Once again?
Tom Lum:
Wow!
Caroline:
No way!
Tom Lum:
It regained—
Caroline:
It was already?
Tom Lum:
Oh, that's so good.
Tom Scott:
Mount Hiyori is a tiny hill in Sendai that is officially recognised as a mountain by Japan's mapping authority. How tall do you think we ha— we're thinking here?
Tom Lum:
If it lost half, it can't be too much.
Ella:
I don't have a good sense of scale for mountains. 10 metres, 100 metres.
Tom Scott:
Originally six metres, about 20 feet.
Ella:
Six—
Tom Lum:
No— Okay, come on!
Ella:
That's not a mountain.
Tom Scott:
It lost that status in 1996 to a slightly lower mountain, and then the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake caused subsidence in the area. It reduced the height to three metres, and it was once again Japan's smallest mountain.
Ella:
Three— okay, well, what ca— what classifies it as a mountain to make it...
Tom Scott:
The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan.
Ella:
Oh, okay.
Caroline:
Oh, yeah.
Tom Lum:
'Cause I— Isn't it— Wasn't it originally most known for being a molehill at first? And then they turned it into this?
Caroline:
Wow! (laughs)
Ella:
Eyyy.
Caroline:
This is the only mountain that I'm willing to go climbing.
Tom Scott:
Yeah.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Tom Scott:
Tom, over to you, please.
Tom Lum:
This question has been sent in by José Sousa.
The sci-fi anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya did something unexpected with the narrative of their first 14-episode series. How did this lead to an anonymous poster on 4chan being credited in a scientific journal?
I'll read that again.
The sci-fi anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya did something unexpected with the narrative of their first 14-episode series. How did this lead to an anonymous poster on 4chan being credited in a scientific journal?
Tom Scott:
I've got to sit out this one as well. Sorry, folks.
Ella:
Ugh!
Caroline:
What?
Tom Lum:
Wow.
Tom Scott:
I—
Caroline:
What?
Tom Scott:
These are stories I know, I'm sorry.
Tom Lum:
It's a good one. I really like this one. I'll say, I'm gonna assuage everyone's fears that this has nothing to do with any of the bad parts of 4chan. It could have been any message board. I'll say right off the bat.
Caroline:
Nice, okay, okay.
Ella:
That is helpful. I guess my first thought goes to, like, the first 14 episodes did some kind of code, and then someone on 4chan broke that code?
Tom Lum:
That's not exactly right, but you're thinking definitely in the right headspace.
Caroline:
Ooh.
Tom Lum:
Yeah. What could that have been, if not a code? What could have happened in those episodes?
Ella:
Something that was good enough to— So someone solved something or... Is 'solved' the right route here?
Tom Lum:
(nods)
Ella:
They solved something that those episodes did, and then that was credited in a scientific paper. But whatever that is, it has to be significant enough to be in a paper.
Caroline:
Yeah.
Tom Lum:
Yeah. It involves a little bit more of... the creativity of the people watching it had sort of like a what-if that was inspired by the show
Caroline:
Okay.
Tom Lum:
I would say. But you're on the right track of thinking, how— What could a series do that would be weird? 'Cause it's not a— It's to do with the show— how a show can be— I'm sorry. I'm so excited with this. I just want to tell you guys, but I can't. You guys have all got this.
Caroline:
It feels like, because there feels like several stages that we have to go through here. I literally had to write down the or— the chain of things that happened. So there's an anime which has 14 episodes, and then they do something weird with those 14 episodes.
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Caroline:
And then 4chan message board people figure something out about it, and then that leads to a scientific journal.
Tom Lum:
You're exactly right.
Caroline:
So what's weird about the 14 episodes? So is it... Is it like, it appears normal for like the first 10 episodes, and then all of a sudden something changes in it? Or is it weird all the way through? Is my first question.
Tom Lum:
That's a gr— You're on the right track. I'll say it's—
And I know, 'cause I, in researching this question, I had one of my good anime friends info dump about the show for 40 minutes, so I could be properly prepared for this question and not lose cred.
So I will say it's weird from the get-go. It's weird immediately from episode one famously.
Tom Scott:
Oh yeah, that's important actually, isn't it? That is important.
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Ella:
Ohhh.
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Ella:
Is it the colours? Is there something to do with like, there's some kind of colour theory thing going on?
Caroline:
Ooh.
Tom Lum:
No, that's a good guess though.
Ella:
is it anything to do with maths?
Tom Lum:
Yes.
Caroline:
Oh, I was gonna guess psychology. Maths sucks. But—
Ella:
No, no. We like maths now, Caroline. We've done maths topics on the show.
Caroline:
(grumbles)
Tom Lum:
I think... the thing that— the phenomena that happens I think doesn't require math to understand. It just can lead to mathematics as you think about it.
Ella:
Is it like that Simpsons thing, where people think that The Simpsons predicted a certain mathematical equation? There was like an act— there were actual unsolved maths problems in the show that was— that were spread out throughout the narrative, and then people figured them out somehow?
Tom Lum:
Yeah, where they're just like, "And this is just something I've been thinking about, the Riemann hypothesis. I don't know. I just—"
Ella:
Yeah.
SFX:
(guessers chuckling)
Tom Lum:
No, I think Caroline, Caroline's more on the money with the sort of like... The episodes are weird, and... how the show progresses
Caroline:
Ooh...
Tom Lum:
I think is a good thing. A way to think about, like, what would be a weird way to air a TV show, I suppose? Something, something.
Caroline:
Backwards?
Tom Lum:
Something strange. That's a good guess, Caroline. You're warmer with that. You're really warm.
Ella:
Out of— Oh! It's out of— it's aired out of order.
Tom Lum:
(gestures affirmatively)
Ella:
So it's in different sequences. And they've figured out the sequence of the show on 4chan. Is that right?
Tom Lum:
Yes.
Tom Scott:
I think that—
Caroline:
Or they're trying to.
Ella:
Like maybe, I don't know if it's like... maybe scenes, individual scenes are out of order. I can't— Unless it's like second—
Tom Lum:
No, Ca— Ella, you are exactly right.
Caroline:
It's just full episodes.
Tom Lum:
The full episodes are out of order.
Caroline:
And then does it tell a different story if you put it together in a different sequence?
Tom Lum:
That'd be cool.
Caroline:
Or is it trying to tell one story, and the writers are trying to tell one story, and you have to figure out the right order?
Ella:
That doesn't seem like— 14 episodes doesn't seem that hard to, you know, mathematically figure out. So I feel like that's not—
Tom Lum:
Well...
Caroline:
Oh, yeah.
Tom Lum:
I mean, sorry. Let me confirm what is correct. Because you guys are getting— You might even get the math part right.
So yes, the episodes are aired purposefully out of order.
This is divisive. Some people are like, "Wow, it's so cool, 'cause it unl— it makes you rethink, and you have to figure out the puzzle."
Other people are like, "Just watch it in chronological order." There's a main contingency of people that are like, why? 'Cause the source material that it's based on is not out of order. They just decided to do this.
Some people think they did it because they were like, "Oh, we'll spice it up, just scramble the order."
Caroline:
Fun, okay.
Tom Lum:
Anyway, but... there are debates about... What were you saying, Ella? About sort of like the...
Ella:
The order that it's sup— Is there a debate about the order it's supposed to go in?
Tom Lum:
Yes. I'll say there's—
Ella:
Is the maths part like, they've calculated the number of how many possible ways the show could be in order?
Caroline:
Ohhh!
Ella:
The episodes could be in order?
Tom Lum:
You are exactly right. This is known—
Caroline:
Wait, but how does that then lead to a scientific journal?
Tom Lum:
Well, if you turn this from a nerd anime discussion to instead a discussion on superpermutations, then it suddenly is. So basically...
Caroline:
Great.
Tom Lum:
What had started to happen is people were like, "You should just watch it in chronological order."
Some people were like, "No, you should watch it in the airing order."
Some people said, "Start with this one and then watch in chronological order," which led to the sort of what-if question, how many different ways are there to watch it? And specifically, how man— what— How long would it take to watch every permutation?
Which is what a superpermutation is, is a list of all the permutations.
Tom Scott:
And more than that, I'm gonna chime in here. It's the shortest possible way to watch all possible orders. So that doesn't mean like...
Caroline:
Ooh.
Tom Scott:
you watch 1-2-3, then 1-3-2. It is the shortest possible string that contains all the orders, even if those orders overlap.
Ella:
Ohh.
Tom Lum:
So for example, if you want to watch it forward then back, you go 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9, 13, 14, 13, 12, 11, 12, because it overlaps, and so you can have a technically shorter runtime. The shortest current lower bound is... 93 billion, 884 million, 313 thousand, 611 episodes, or roughly 4.3 million years to watch.
Tom Scott:
And that's just the lower bound. They don't know what it could actually be. They just know it's somewhere around there.
Caroline:
Whoa!
Ella:
But— And if there's anyone who can do it, it's the good people on 4chan.
Tom Scott:
(laughs)
Tom Lum:
(laughs uproariously)
Tom Scott:
I remember the story of someone just posting that as a question, and some discussion happening, and then some mathematician coming along and going, "Hold on. Has someone... I'm pretty sure that someone discovered some new maths in this thread and hasn't realised it."
Caroline:
Wow.
Tom Lum:
Yeah. They basically, in classic... Honestly, this happens all the time in math history. Someone basically was like, "Here's the answer," and they posted a formula.
And then years later, they looked back, mathematicians looked back, and they're like, "Wait, they're right. Wait." But again, it's like an anonymous post with no work shown. They're like, "Wait, what? How did you..."
And then turned it into a paper and credited this anonymous person.
Tom Scott:
Thank you to an anonymous listener for this next question.
Fighter jets such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35 are sometimes fitted with a Luneburg lens – a device that objectively makes the jet's performance worse. Why is it used?
I'll say that again.
Fighter jets such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35 are sometimes fitted with a Luneburg lens – a device that objectively makes the jet's performance worse. Why is it used?
Tom Lum:
I'm gonna have to sit this one back, 'cause I've—
Caroline:
Do you know this one?
Tom Lum:
'Cause I've seen Naruto.
Tom Scott:
Oh, wow, okay.
Tom Lum:
And so I know... the famous fight with Rock Lee and Gaara, he takes the weights off, and he's suddenly very fast. And that's obviously... Sorry, I mean, we can trash this question. I don't have to... They put the weights on to make— to slow down the planes, and then it makes them faster afterwards, because they've been training.
Caroline:
Are you doing a bit?
Tom Scott:
Are you doing a bit, Tom? I feel like this is a bit.
Caroline:
This is a bit.
Ella:
It's a bit.
Tom Lum:
Yes, Is a bit. Yeah, this is a bit.
Ella:
It's a good bit when you have to explain at the end to everyone that it's a bit.
Tom Lum:
And I've always said that.
Caroline:
Thank you.
Tom Lum:
I've always said that.
Caroline:
My question is, is it something that... even if it impacts the... how good the plane is, is really important from a safety perspective of the pilots or something like that? So it's an essential tool, even if it is making the plane worse?
Tom Scott:
Yeah, in a way, it does help safety.
Caroline:
Oh, okay.
Ella:
I suppose we need to understand what the lens... the purpose. Well, yeah, that's the whole point of the question.
Tom Lum:
A lens is interesting.
Ella:
What am I saying?
Caroline:
(cackles)
Ella:
That's the point of the—
Tom Scott:
That's how the show works.
Ella:
Yep! I suppose we have to answer the question.
Tom Lum:
Right, but I guess to answer it, we'd have to think sideways in a way.
Ella:
Yeah.
SFX:
(group laughing)
Ella:
A lens suggests to me that it's focusing something.
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Ella:
Light?
Caroline:
Is it actually a lens, or has it just been called a lens for funsies?
Tom Lum:
Hmm, is it for photographing or viewing?
Ella:
Is it a lensing effect?
Tom Scott:
It is a lens. It is an actual lens. And I think you're right to think about light and things like that.
Tom Lum:
Okay.
Caroline:
Ooh.
Tom Lum:
My first thought was... the bad Naruto bit I had to explain. My second thought was...
Caroline:
Nice.
Tom Lum:
'Lune' made me think like a bird. And so this is to avoid birds in the sky. And that is worth slowing down, because you need to—
Ella:
It reflects...
Tom Scott:
(widens eyes)
Ella:
ultraviolet light. And so the birds are... informed of the plane's...
Caroline:
Wow.
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Caroline:
That was so many facial expressions, Tom.
Tom Scott:
I know, I know! Because you got some key words there.
Ella:
Reflect?
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Caroline:
Ultraviolet?
Tom Lum:
Bird.
Tom Scott:
And inform.
Tom Lum:
And bird?
Tom Scott:
Not bird.
Tom Lum:
Wow, okay, so it has to do with birds. Alright, huh.
SFX:
(Tom Scott and Caroline laugh)
Ella:
It reflects a type of light from the plane? Like, you put it on, and it reflects light from the plane.
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Tom Lum:
Oh, what if it reflects radar and stuff, so it can't be detected?
Tom Scott:
Tom, you're right. This is designed to reflect radar. But that's not the reason. Have a think about how radar works and what a plane might want to do or be designed to do.
Ella:
You don't— Well, you don't want to be reflecting radar, because then the ra— the signal is going back.
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Ella:
You wouldn't— It wouldn't— Reflecting radar wouldn't make it invisible. It would make it more visible.
Tom Lum:
Oh my god, you're so right, yes.
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Caroline:
Yeah.
Ella:
So this is when they need to use the plane, but they want it to be seen.
Tom Scott:
Yes!
Caroline:
Like a decoy plane or...
Ella:
(laughs) Decoy.
Tom Scott:
Well, that's a good question. This is the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II. They are designed to have an extremely small radar cross-section. Why might you attach a Luneburg lens to reflect radar better?
Tom Lum:
So you can tell people you're flying above, like, "Hey, I know we're called the lightning bolt killer plane, but we're just passing by. Please don't."
Tom Scott:
Yeah, basically. It's so air traffic control can track them. It's so friendly forces can monitor them, and it prevents other countries from measuring the jet's true stealth capability.
Ella:
Ah.
Tom Scott:
Spot on.
Tom Lum:
Much like Rock Lee in the Chūnin exams in Naruto!@7
Ella:
Great.
Tom Scott:
Ella, your question please.
Ella:
This question has been sent in by Joel.
Why are the UK's Royal Navy submariners more likely to get head injuries when sailing away from home than on the way back?
I'll say that again.
Why are the UK's Royal Navy submariners more likely to get head injuries when sailing away from home than on the way back?
Caroline:
Ooh.
Tom Scott:
Good news. I don't know this one.
Tom Lum:
Yay!
Caroline:
Yay!
Tom Scott:
(chuckles)
Ella:
Eyyy. Eventually you're gonna run out of questions that you don't know on the song— on the show, I would imagine.
Tom Lum:
I wouldn't be surprised if you were on a... like, you're like, "Well, I've been on a submarine leaving, but I haven't been on a submarine returning. So I don't know the answer yet."
SFX:
(group laughing)
Tom Scott:
I've never been on a submarine. Not an actual working one.
Tom Lum:
Really?
Tom Scott:
Other than, you know, the... museum one in dry dock maybe, but no. And the ride at Disneyland that isn't technically a submarine.
Ella:
Would you like to go on a submarine, Tom?
Tom Scott:
Depends on the submarine. If it's OceanGate, no.
SFX:
(guests laugh heartily)
Tom Scott:
I did actually think about that. I was never offered to go on and video OceanGate or anything like that, but... if I'd have been offered that, would I have taken it?
Ella:
You...
Caroline:
Ooh?
Tom Lum:
Yeah, you would not not be offered that.
Tom Scott:
Right, and if I'd have been offered that, and gone out there, and gone, "Yeah, we're gonna go down," would I have been... not brave enough to do it, but brave enough to look at what was going on there, and smart enough to look at what was going on there, and say no? At the point when I'm already there?
Ella:
When you saw the vi— If you saw the video controller?
Tom Scott:
I don't know!
Ella:
Would you have been like, "I'm not doing that"?
Tom Scott:
I feel like I've done sketchier things than that, and I do wonder if I'd have had the wherewithal and the bravery to turn someone down at that point. I don't know.
Caroline:
Hm, yeah, yeah.
Tom Scott:
I'm guessing it's not 'cause a submarine got crushed.
Tom Lum:
(blurts wheeze)
Caroline:
(laughs)
Ella:
No, it's not— nothing to do with crushing.
Tom Lum:
My first thought was... some kind of Doppler effect with radar, where it's like, when you're leaving, the... sound waves are not gonna bounce against the shore and hit you and make you dizzy. But part of me thinks it might be dumber, and it's like you hit your head on something.
Tom Scott:
Okay, but if you hit your head on something, that might be because you get shorter during the voyage. Admittedly this is astronauts, not submariners, so it's kind of the opposite.
Caroline:
Wow, yeah.
Tom Scott:
But no. Astronauts get taller during their voyage, 'cause no gravity. So I'm wondering if there's something that makes submariners shorter, and thus they're less likely to hit their heads.
Caroline:
I do really like the idea of just, it takes time for them to get used to being on a submarine.
Tom Scott:
(laughs)
Caroline:
And therefore... they're just gonna like— they're gonna bump their head a little bit when they first start off.
Tom Lum:
But is it— It's on the return you said, Ella, right?
Ella:
Yes, yeah, it's on the return. I can confirm that the... I mean, I don't know if... your physicality changes at— if you spend time in a submarine, but I can— It's not that.
Tom Lum:
Okay.
Caroline:
Okay. (laughs)
Tom Lum:
I'm like, does something in the orientation change when— Oh my god, it does— Wait, do— Ooh. Do submarines go... I assume they don't... They have a forward. Do they have a front, and then they turn around, or do they return backwards?
Ella:
I think they have a f— They have a forward. They have, I think—
Tom Lum:
Okay, okay.
Tom Scott:
Submarines definitely have a fore and aft.
Tom Lum:
Yeah, that makes sense.
Tom Scott:
There is a big old propeller at the back.
Tom Lum:
Yeah, that sure does make sense.
Ella:
Actually, it goes out upside down. So they're—
Tom Lum:
Oh, yeah!
Ella:
So they're already...
Caroline:
(laughs)
Tom Lum:
Well, does the propeller rotate them ever so slightly clockwise, in a way that...
Ella:
Wow.
Tom Lum:
Oh, they're turning and coming back. Is this a clever thing or very silly, Ella?
Ella:
It's quite... I mean, I would say it's quite silly in a w— in its way. It's important. It's vital for the ship. And it's— Well, rather the submariners.
Tom Lum:
Uh-huh.
Ella:
But it's not like some, you know, very clever seafaring thing that's happening.
Tom Lum:
Yeah. Do they have less food and stuff on board, so it's lighter?
Ella:
I'm not saying anything.
Tom Scott:
If they have less stuff on board... there's not much room on a submarine, Tom.
Caroline:
(gasps loudly)
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Ella:
That— Yeah? Elaborate.
Caroline:
Okay, so... if there's less stuff physically just everywhere, there's less stuff for you to accidentally walk into and things like that. Is that sort of what it is?
Ella:
Kind of. You're almost there.
Tom Lum:
What were you thinking, Tom?
Tom Scott:
I was thinking perishable supplies. Anything that's stored that gets used up over time. And eventually it's crushed and compacted down and put in the waste. There's just less stuff hanging up in the storage compartments overhead, so they get closed up. But—
Ella:
So not hanging up. You're right that there is less food and perishables and stuff, and that leads to them not hitting their head anymore. But where and why?
Tom Lum:
They consume banana peels, and then they slip on them as a result of their... So wait, so, so sorry.
Ella:
They hit their head less on the way going back, so...
Tom Lum:
They hit their head less on the way back. Oh, okay, okay.
Ella:
Where would they be storing things?
Caroline:
Where would they be storing things?
Tom Lum:
The trash can. The stor— the closets, storage closets, containers?
Ella:
There isn't very much space on a submarine, right?
Tom Lum:
The spare bedroom.
Ella:
So you've gotta use whatever space you have available.
Caroline:
This is it. When you asked that, I was like, it's gotta be everywhere. Including, like, above your head, like in corridors and things like that?
Ella:
Corridors, yes. In corridors.
Caroline:
So they're putting stuff above them in the corridors, and then as they use the stuff up, there's less stuff above them in the corridors?
Ella:
I mean, you're basically there, but flip it.
Tom Lum:
Below deck?
Ella:
Yeah, just... below the corridors. They put it below the corridors. The food is stored under the corridor, and as it's eaten, the floor lowers.
Tom Scott:
Wow!
SFX:
(Caroline and Tom Lum laugh)
Tom Lum:
Wow!
Caroline:
That makes so much more sense actually, yeah.
Tom Lum:
What?
Caroline:
That makes a lot of sense.
Ella:
I was gonna— I gave it to you. You were basically there. So...
Tom Lum:
Yeah.
Ella:
UK submarines are nuclear-powered. So that means they have— they spend a lot of time out at sea, and so you need to store a lot of food. There is not a lot of space.
And so they have removable corridor panels that they put food under, and it raises them slightly.
And so as they eat, they get rid of the food, the stores kind of disappear, and the corridor goes back to the normal level. And they don't need— they don't hit their head as much apparently.
SFX:
(Caroline and Tom Lum laugh)
Tom Lum:
That's wild.
Tom Scott:
We have unlocked the shiny bonus question. So...
SFX:
(Ella and Caroline whoop)
Tom Lum:
♪ (hums Zelda fanfare) ♪
Tom Scott:
We seem to do that a lot with you three. It's almost like you're very quick at solving things(!)
Thank you to an anonymous listener for this question.
A woman with a mild wheeze suddenly developed severe chest pain and had to be hospitalised – all because of a piece of plastic about two inches (five centimetres) wide. How did that happen?
I'll say it one more time.
A woman with a mild wheeze suddenly developed severe chest pain and had to be hospitalised – all because of a piece of plastic about two inches (five centimetres) wide. How did that happen?
Caroline:
Did she inhale the cap on her inhaler by mistake?
Tom Scott:
Not quite.
Caroline:
Ooh.
Ella:
Oh?
Tom Lum:
Okay, let's speedrun this one as well. I thought you were just gonna give us, just...
Caroline:
(laughs heartily)
Tom Lum:
miscellaneous medical prognoses that need answers. Just outsourcing the problem-solving to us.
Tom Scott:
Does sound a bit like a Chubbyemu video, doesn't it?
Tom Lum:
Yeah, yeah. You're just giving us someone's prognosis, and you're like, "So, what's your diagnosis? What should we give them? What do we think? A tunnel or..."
Caroline:
(laughs)
Ella:
She has asthma. That's the wheeze.
Tom Scott:
Yes, that is the wheeze.
Caroline:
Nice.
Ella:
And the plastic is not the cap of the inhaler.
Tom Lum:
Caroline's—
Ella:
Yeah, very good, Caroline.
Tom Scott:
No, because it's be very difficult to inhale that, wouldn't it?
Caroline:
I mean, you'd be doing really well.
Tom Lum:
You forget to take it off.
Tom Scott:
Yeah.
Tom Lum:
And you...
Caroline:
Oh, you see, in my head, the woman's drunk, I don't know, and just puts the whole thing in her mouth, and then breathes in, and then is just like, "What? This is crazy." So yeah, maybe that's not the way to go.
Ella:
Five... I'm trying to picture two inches, five centimetres. This is about the size of my nose maybe, perhaps.
Tom Scott:
The piece of plastic is the lid of the inhaler, though. That was the cause of it.
Ella:
Oh. She just— She's not inhaling it. She's doing some— So—
Tom Scott:
No.
Ella:
It's causing chest pains.
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Caroline:
She— So it is the cap that's wrong?
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Ella:
Oh, did the inhaler... you know, it pressurised and exploded, it launched the lid off into her chest or something?
Tom Scott:
Oh, good heavens. No, no, that's... nothing wrong with the device.
Caroline:
Fell over, landed fully flat on the floor, inhaler pointing up.
Tom Lum:
Like a LEGO piece.
Caroline:
Sticking into the ribs. Chest pain.
Tom Scott:
Uhm...
Caroline:
(giggles)
Tom Lum:
(wheezes)
Ella:
There are more elaborate ways we can imagine harming this woman, if you would like.
SFX:
(Caroline and Tom Lum laugh uproariously)
Tom Lum:
We— You got three Kevin McCallisters here just waiting to Home Alone someone.
SFX:
(both continue laughing)
Tom Scott:
I love "Home Alone" as a verb as well.
Tom Lum:
It sure is!
SFX:
(laughter continues)
Tom Scott:
The piece of plastic, the cap, actually just stayed inside her handbag.
Caroline:
Wait, so was the cap off... and something got into the opening of the inhaler?
Tom Scott:
Yes.
Caroline:
(gasps)
Tom Scott:
So talk me through what might have happened here.
Ella:
So she's in— she's gone to use her inhaler, but there's something— Because the cap was off, something's gotten in there that shouldn't be. What would that be?
Caroline:
Yeah.
Tom Scott:
Yeah.
Ella:
She's breathed something in, but that would cause chest pains.
Tom Scott:
Yep.
Caroline:
And then hospitalisation.
Tom Scott:
Yep.
Tom Lum:
A bug?
Ella:
A bug?
Caroline:
A penny? (laughs heartily) I'm thinking like what's in the bottom of your purse, right? Some gum.
Tom Lum:
Ooh.
Tom Scott:
Yep.
Ella:
Just tampons.
Tom Scott:
(chuckles)
Caroline:
(blurts laugh)
Tom Scott:
I'm not gonna ask you to list all the things that might be in a handbag. I'm gonna give you that.
Ella:
But can you let us though?
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Tom Lum:
May we?
Tom Scott:
It was an earring.
Caroline:
Oh!
Tom Lum:
Ooh.
Caroline:
That makes a lot of sense.
Tom Scott:
I believe a tiny little stud earring.
Ella:
Oh, it punctured her lung or something?
Tom Scott:
So you've got all the key points. She has kept the inhaler in her bag uncapped.
Caroline:
Mhm.
Tom Lum:
Did it cause it to depressurize or something, or yeah, explode if...
Ella:
Oh.
Tom Scott:
No, she then inhaled the inhaler.
Caroline:
Yeah.
Tom Scott:
There is one other thing that someone with asthma does to their inhaler.
Ella:
They shake it.
Tom Scott:
That she skipped.
Tom Lum:
Shake it?
Tom Scott:
Yes. And she shook it, and of course it rattled. Because that's what an inhaler's meant to do.
Caroline:
That's what they do. Yeah.
Tom Scott:
Yes, that's what an inhaler is meant to do.
Caroline:
Ohhh!
Tom Scott:
This was a medical paper published in 2015. She took her asthma inhaler from her handbag. It had been left uncapped. An earring had fallen into the mouthpiece and got lodged. She shook the inhaler, it rattled as it should...
Tom Lum:
Oh.
Tom Scott:
And she felt a scratch in her throat.
Caroline:
It unlodged the earring, and then it went in.
Tom Scott:
Yeah. Absolutely right.
Ella:
New fear unlocked.
Tom Scott:
She recovered fully, but if you have an inhaler, that's why you keep the cap on.
Tom Lum:
And if in— you're in Australia, you have to check the cap for black widow spiders also.
Tom Scott:
Yes, yeah. Similar incidents have been reported with coins and makeup pencils and rawl plugs and LED light bulbs.
Ella:
H— What?
Tom Scott:
I assume that's one of the tiny electronic LEDs, and not a big screw-in light bulb.
SFX:
(guests laughing)
Ella:
Something's blocking this. Just got a whole-ass light bulb in your mouth.
Caroline:
Wow!
Tom Scott:
So we just have the question from the start of the show.
Thank you to Ben.
Whenever Yogi was at home, he wore white. When he travelled, he wore gray. Why?
Tom Lum:
Fashion, baby.
Caroline:
(chuckles deeply) I was thinking Yogi's a train, and it's nice and clean when it's at the depot, but then it gets all dusty and sooty when it goes out. Something like that.
Tom Scott:
It is a famous Yogi, but it's not the bear.
Tom Lum:
Is it Yogi Berra?
Tom Scott:
It is Yogi Berra.
Ella:
I'm not familiar.
Tom Scott:
Do you— For those who do not know Yogi Berra...
Caroline:
Don't know who this is, yeah.
Tom Lum:
Was he a baseball player or associated with baseball?
Tom Scott:
Yes.
Tom Lum:
I know mostly just from all the quotes and jokes that my dad has told me of him. So I'm wor— I think this is—
Tom Scott:
Yogi Berra is a very famous baseball player, and he is the name that Yogi Bear is a pun on.
Ella:
Ah.
Tom Lum:
Ah.
Caroline:
Oh!
Tom Scott:
Yogi Berra was named as a joke around Yogi Berra, who was incredibly famous at the time.
Ella:
Is it just his h— oh, his home and away kits, for baseball of his team?
Tom Scott:
That is the what, but not the why.
Caroline:
Ooh.
Tom Lum:
Now... So Yogi Berra's famous for coining phrases like, what, "It ain't over 'til it's over" and lots of funny idioms, I think.
Tom Scott:
Mhm.
Tom Lum:
So I don't know if this is going to be a bad pun that my dad will then learn and plague me for years from this podcast. Or if this is going to be something else.
Tom Scott:
This isn't specifically Yogi. It is a tradition in baseball that continues to this day. Home is white, away is gray.
Ella:
Oh, I see, okay.
Tom Scott:
Yeah, so that's the what. We don't have the why.
Tom Lum:
Easier to see? It's brighter possibly? Cleaner?
Tom Scott:
Tom?
Tom Lum:
Or less clean? When you slide and stuff... you'll get more dirty if it's white?
Tom Scott:
This is a tradition from the late 19th century. So why might they have chosen gray for away?
Caroline:
Is it the travel side of things?
Tom Scott:
It is.
Caroline:
Again?
Ella:
Oh, because—
Tom Lum:
Oh, so you don't have to wash them as much! 'Cause they stain less.
Tom Scott:
So you don't have to wash them as much, and the dirt doesn't show. Spot on. That is why, to this day, the tradition in baseball is home is white and away is gray.
Thank you very much to the players from Let's Learn Everything.
Tom, tell us about the live show first.
Tom Lum:
We are gonna figure out what it is. It's our first time doing a live show, but it's gonna be silly. It's gonna be Let's Learn Everything Live.
Tom Scott:
Ella, what is Let's Learn Everything?
Ella:
Let's Learn Everything is a podcast where we talk about anything and everything interesting.
Tom Scott:
And Caroline, where can people find out about the show or get their tickets?
Caroline:
So if you head over to letslearneverything.com, you can find information to anything: where you get your tickets from, the link to our Discord server, our socials, all of the good stuff at letslearneverything.com.
Tom Scott:
And if you wanna know more about this show, you can do that at lateralcast.com, where you can also send in your own ideas for questions or join the Lateral Producer's Club. We are @lateralcast basically everywhere, and there are full video episodes every week on Spotify.
Thank you very much to Caroline Roper.
Caroline:
Wooo!
Tom Scott:
Ella Hubber.
Caroline:
Wooo.
Tom Scott:
Tom Lum.
Tom Lum:
Woo!
Tom Scott:
I've been Tom Scott, and that's been Lateral.
Episode Credits
| HOST | Tom Scott |
| QUESTION PRODUCER | David Bodycombe |
| EDITED BY | Julie Hassett at The Podcast Studios, Dublin |
| MUSIC | Karl-Ola Kjellholm ('Private Detective'/'Agrumes', courtesy of epidemicsound.com) |
| ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS | Ben, Joel, Madeleine, José Sousa, Jim Fishwick, Kai Sheppard |
| FORMAT | Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd |
| EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS | David Bodycombe and Tom Scott |