Mark and Toddcast

The Most Sold Product of All Time

This week we take a rollicking journey through Mark's gluten and boat news, the rise of Clavicular and LooksMaxxing, how much clouds weigh, Mark's ChatGPT humiliation fetish, hacking the French language, Ohio tries to steal Sasquatch glory, and finally, digging into the biggest selling product of all time -- what is it, and how did it come to dominate? Find out this week!

Birthdays, Bowels, and Beyond

tbh so much goes on in this episode there's no way to summarize it.

Meaningless + Memorable: the Biohazard Symbol

Creating a new symbol to reflect the deadly consequences of something completely undetectable required two essential components: the symbol had to be meaningless enough to carry zero current meaning to any culture on earth, yet had to be memorable enough for people to remember what it means. This week we go from Ancient Egypt and the pyramids to the creation of the biohazard symbol in the 20th century. Also, we learn wtf is going on with beavers and their hatred of running water.

Mark Goes to CES

Let's go to Las Vegas, CES, and the Sphere with Mark!

Why We Hate the Sound of Our Own Voice

There's a lot more happening when we hear our own voice than you'd think. We've all heard "it's because the bones in your head are conducting sound," but that's only part of it. Find out the rest of the reasons in this week's show. I won't be listening, because I hate the sound of my own voice. 

Ugly Laws

"Ugly Laws" were ordinances across the United States disallowed anyone who was “diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object” for appearing in public places. Not shockingly, this was used to discriminate and dehumanize the poor, needy, disabled, and anyone else that gave the vapors to people terrified of people different than them. All that and talk about Pluribus, Diddy, Star Wars, Frank Gehry, and Mark's debut as a runway model. Enjoy!

3i Atlas and Locating Yourself on the Moon

This week we take a look into space by discussing the weird interstellar object known as 3i/Atlas, conspiracy theories about what the object may be, and how the original Apollo astronauts figured out their exact location on the moon without the aid of any GPS.  

The TikTok-ification of the Mark & Toddcast

We're finally back after a two month hiatus, and we threw out the format of the show to see where the conversation took us. The discussion veers from drying off after a shower to AI cats to what g-force actually is, to our final hero of the week: the teacher fired for using fart spray. Enjoy!

A Chlamydia-Free Summer Wrap-Up

It's been a minute, but Mark and Todd are back for an end-of-summer news wrap-up, including great news for promiscuous koalas! (And for those looking for a break from last week's big news story, we don't discuss that here at all, so we're a nice escape from that particular news cycle.) Come hear about Texas's new maggot factory, DOGE's lack of efficiency, Oregon's fallout from Medicare cuts, the Denmark zoo wants your pets, bugs that cause "Kissing Disease", the West Coast's new health alliance, and magic dust that prevent the Amish from getting allergies. Enjoy!

Portland at the Movies: "Blast!" (2000)

The Unipiper noted that this movie begins like "Stand by Me," but ends up like "Reservoir Dogs." While not exactly right, he's not far off describing this 2000 movie with some legitimately shocking twists and compelling turns. But because this is a movie made around Portland (Vernonia, to be exact), it falls short of being an actual good movie. Find out why on this month's episode.