Ever wonder who Simon actually is—and why we’ve all blindly followed his oddly specific commands since childhood? This episode dives into the mysterious (and mostly unverified) origins of “Simon Says,” including a couple of historical figures who may—or may not—have inspired the name.

But that question opens the door to something bigger: where do kids’ games come from? From ancient bone-tossing games that evolved into jacks, to centuries-old versions of tag played across different cultures, we take a look at the real (and sometimes totally mythical) histories behind the games we grew up with. Along the way, we also uncover how some playground traditions changed—or disappeared entirely—over time.

Turns out, not everything you learned on the playground came with a rulebook.

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Are performance-enhancing drugs banned in the Special Olympics? Short answer: yes—but the long answer is way more interesting.

In this episode of And Now You Know, Teresa breaks down how the Special Olympics approaches PEDs differently from the traditional Olympics. Instead of constant testing and harsh punishments, the focus is on fairness, athlete safety, and education—because the mission is about inclusion and personal achievement, not elite competition.

Along the way, we get into why you’ve never heard about cheating scandals, how certain medications can complicate things, and why the organization handles issues quietly. Plus: a surprising deep dive into The Ringer, a bizarre South Park controversy, and one of the wildest cheating scandals in Paralympic history.

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Ever wondered how many jalapeños it would take to actually kill you? Teresa did—so you don’t have to. In this episode, she breaks down the spicy science behind capsaicin, why your body throws up every red flag imaginable before things get truly dangerous, and the very real difference between feeling like you’re dying and actually being in danger.

From gut-wrenching regret and poor life choices to the absolute chaos of ultra-hot peppers and concentrated extracts, things escalate quickly. Along the way, Teresa dives into the risks behind viral spice challenges, the one documented fatality tied to extreme capsaicin consumption, and the frankly horrifying math of how many jalapeños it would take to push things too far.

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