Hellooooo, friends! How is everyone out there in the real world? Josh and I have been under our desks sucking our thumbs like a pair of pale golems, because our brains have melted into mush from researching health care reform for some future podcasts (stay tuned). Having said that, I’m going to try and stumble through this podcast roundup.

Tuesday, Dr. Clark and I covered why the United States is so dependent on cars. We found that one of the main reasons is that there was a powerful lobby by the tire and fuel companies that had some serious sway over getting all manner of public rail transportation shut down in favor of buses. Pretty hinky stuff. Cars have since shaped the very fabric of our country, from parking lots, to super highways, to drive-thru restaurants and billboard signs. I can taste the exhaust just writing this.

Yesterday was a fun one about the Ig Nobel Awards. These are science awards that honor real research, real left-of-center, that is. While all of the research is legit, it’s kind of hard to take a study on necrophiliac ducks seriously. But that’s kind of the whole points for the Ig Nobels. They strive to shine a fun light on the science community, which ideally opens it up to more people.

Before I sign off, I want to point ya’ll in the direction of this new iTunes Podcast Episode of the Day Twitter feed. Check it out sometime for some good skinny on what all is going on out there in podcastland. It’s pretty sweet. http://twitter.com/iTunesPodcasts/

Thanks to Doc Kodachrome for digging up this old photo of Josh and I hanging with the Merry Pranksters – those were some good times!

So that’s that, folks. Talk amongst yourselves. Tell us a story.

Read if you want to be cool:
How do the Ig Nobels Prizes work?
Why did cars become the dominant form of transportation in the United States?
How Gasoline Works