エピソード

  • 99. Emoji
    2025/07/14

    We send 10 billion of them every day. Where do they come from? Zachary Crockett hearts this topic.

    • SOURCES:
      • Jennifer 8. Lee, co-founder of Emojination.

    • RESOURCES:
      • "Apple Removes The Gun Emoji, Replaces It With A Squirt Gun," by Carl Franzen (Popular Science, 2021).
      • "Ford’s secret fight for a pickup truck emoji," by Mark Dent (The Hustle, 2019).
      • "The WIRED Guide to Emoji," by Arielle Pardes (WIRED, 2018).
      • "How the iPhone won over Japan and gave the world emoji," by Sam Byford (The Verge, 2017).
      • "About Emoji," (Unicode Consortium).

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    18 分
  • 98. Police Sketches
    2025/07/07

    When security cameras and facial recognition tools fail, law enforcement investigators fall back on a witness's memory and an artist's hand. Zachary Crockett's nose was a little bigger than that.

    • SOURCES:
      • Lois Gibson, forensic artist.
      • David Sarni, adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

    • RESOURCES:
      • "Fighting Crime With Pencil and Paper," by J. David Goodman (New York Times, 2013)
      • "Something Sketchy About Identifying Suspects," by Stephen Owsinski (National Police Association).
      • "Forensic Art Certification Scope and Role," (International Association for Identification).
      • "Forensice Art Composites," (Samantha Steinberg).

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    18 分
  • EXTRA: Fireworks Stands
    2025/07/02

    How does an industry built on roadside pop-ups make billions of dollars in two weeks of the year? Zachary Crockett gets pyrotechnical.

    • SOURCES:
      • Alex Zoldan, vice president of Phantom Fireworks.

    • RESOURCES:
      • Phantom Fireworks 2025 Wholesale Price List.
      • "The Explosive Growth Of The Fireworks Market," by Greg Rosalsky, Darian Woods, and Julian Ritchey (NPR, 2023).
      • "Directory of State Laws for Consumer Fireworks," (American Pyrotechnics Association).

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    17 分
  • Car Washes (Replay)
    2025/06/30

    Why are these sudsy roadside stops one of the fastest growing industries in America? Zachary Crockett takes a look under the hood.

    • RESOURCES:
      • "Private Equity Wants to Wash Your Car," by Miriam Gottfried (The Wall Street Journal, 2022).
      • "California Labor Commissioner Recovers $282,000 for Car Wash Wage Citations," State of California Department of Industrial Relations News Release (2022).
      • "Sgt. Clean’s Future Shines Bright Thanks to Subscription Model, Strong Reputation," by Vince Guerrieri (Crain's Cleveland Business, 2018).
      • "One California Drought Winner? The Local Car Wash," by Lauren Sommer (Marketplace, 2015).
      • Sonny's CarWash College.
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    16 分
  • 97. Elevators
    2025/06/23

    Americans take more than 20 billion elevator rides every year — and keeping them safe is an expensive proposition. Zachary Crockett makes small talk.

    • SOURCES:
      • Frank Christensen, president of the International Union of Elevators Constructors.
      • Shannon Moore, service mechanic for the International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 8.
      • Brian O'Connell, senior vice president of the Eastern U.S. at Otis Elevators.
      • Stephen Smith, executive director of the Center for Building in North America.

    • RESOURCES:
      • "Elevators," by Stephen Smith (Center for Building in North America, 2024).
      • "Elevator and Escalator Fact Sheet," (National Elevator Industry, 2020).
      • "The Evolution of Elevators: Physical-Human Interface, Digital Interaction, and Megatall Buildings," by Stephen Nichols (Frontiers of Engineering, 2017).
      • Lifted: A Cultural History of the Elevator, by Andreas Bernard (2014).

    • EXTRAS:
      • "Up and Then Down," by Nick Paumgarten (The New Yorker, 2008).
      • "World's Tallest Towers."
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    18 分
  • 96. School Buses
    2025/06/16

    Districts across the country are facing shortages of school bus drivers. Can technology help? Zachary Crockett takes a seat in the back.

    • SOURCES:
      • Keith Corso, co-founder and CEO of BusRight.
      • Marc Medina, transportation supervisor for the Farmingdale School District in Long Island.
      • Jada Melendez, school bus driver in Burlington County, New Jersey.

    • RESOURCES:
      • "How St. Louis parents are dealing with school bus driver shortages," by Gabrielle Hays (PBS, 2024).
      • "The school bus driver shortage remains severe," by Sebastian Martinez Hickey and David Cooper (Economic Policy Institute, 2023).
      • "‘End of the Line’: School Bus Industry in Crisis Because of the Coronavirus," by Pranshu Verma (New York Times, 2020).



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    20 分
  • 95. Airplane Food
    2025/06/09

    Everyone loves to complain about it — but preparing a meal that tastes good at 35,000 feet is harder than you might think. Zachary Crockett will have the fish.

    • SOURCES:
      • Molly Brandt, innovation chef for North America at Gategroup.
      • Chris Kinsella, chief commercial officer for North America at Gategroup.
      • Guillaume de Syon, professor of history at Albright College.

    • RESOURCES:
      • "No Thanks, Grandma, I’m Saving Room for Airplane Food," by Christine Chung (New York Times, 2023).
      • "The Golden Age of airplane food is over. The future: Snacks and sustainability." by Natalie Comptom (The Washington Post, 2019).
      • "Why does food taste different on planes?" by Katia Moskvitch (BBC, 2015).
      • "And to Penny-Pinching Wizardry," by Claudia Deutsch (New York Times, 2001).
      • "The Pioneering Years: Commercial Aviation 1920–1930," by Rich Freeman (U.S. Centennial of Flight).
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    20 分
  • 94. Fireworks Shows
    2025/06/02

    Every year, America celebrates its independence with millions of dollars worth of explosives imported from China. Zachary Crockett lights a fuse and backs away quickly.

    • SOURCES:
      • JJ Brau, fireworks coordinator for J&M Displays.
      • Mark Johnson, vice president of J&M Displays.

    • RESOURCES:
      • "The explosive history of fireworks, from ancient China to Revolutionary America," by Joe Hernandez (NPR, 2024).
      • "July 4 fireworks fiasco solved – technically," by Jonathan Horn (The San Diego Union-Tribune, 2016).
      • "The Fireworks King," by Damian Paletta and Emily Rauhala (The Washington Post, 2018).
      • "Exploding The Mystery Of Blue Fireworks," by Short Wave (2013).
      • "How Do Fireworks Make Shapes?" by Natalie Wolchover (Live Science, 2011).

    • EXTRAS:
      • "Agreement Between The City of Rapid City and J&M Displays, Inc. for Annual Fireworks Displays" (2023).
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    21 分