This edition of "What We Learned From Podcasts This Week" truly runs the proverbial gamut, from the length of an iconic film to a new, deadly street drug to deciphering the age of bread you purchased via the tag.
One of my most helpful podcasts this week was NPR's Life Kit, where I learned how to take better naps. Forget learning a second language. Now, that's a skill I really need to study in depth.
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The U.K. podcast, Verbal Diorama
is an example of a superb film history podcast that is sadly lost in
the spacious landscape of podcasting. If you're a fan of film and film
history (a TCM junkie) this podcast should be playing in your ears
regularly.
On the 200th episode of the show -- March 16, 2023 -- The Wizard of Oz was covered that week. Now, that's a tough assignment for a film history podcaster because this movie has been exhaustively covered. But our host, Em, brought up an interesting point about the length of movies. Today, superhero movies run three hours or more. The 2023 film, The Flowers Of The Killer Moon, had a runtime of three hours and twenty-six minutes.
But back in the olden times, filmmakers believed that movies over two hours could hurt box office receipts. When The Wizard of Oz was complete, MGM executives thought the movie was too long and sought cuts.
Associate producer Arthur Freed stepped in, telling studio head Louis B. Mayer, “The song stays—or I go,” to which Mayer replied: "Let the boys have the damn song. Put it back in the picture."
Can you imagine The Wizard of Oz without its signature song?
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The Journal podcast explores the most important stories, explained through the lens of business. A podcast about money, business and power, The Journal is hosted by Kate Linebaugh and Ryan Knutson, with Jessica Mendoza. The Journal is a co-production from Spotify and The Wall Street Journal.
On the February 21, 2023, episode of The Journal podcast, WSJ's Julie Wernau goes to Robeson County, NC, which is ground zero for a new dangerous drug called xylazine, or "tranq."
Xylazine (also called “tranq” or “tranq dope”) is a non-opioid sedative or tranquilizer. Although not a controlled substance in the United States, xylazine is not approved for use in people.
In the last few years, drug dealers began adding "tranq" to fentanyl that was dispensed to their customers. From 2010 to 2019, the proportion of heroin and/or fentanyl deaths in Philadelphia where xylazine was detected rose from 3 to 28%.
Xylazine also causes serious, recalcitrant skin ulcers and necrotizing wounds. In the episode, we meet Ashley, a young woman with these ulcers on her leg. Like so many others, Ashley got hooked after a doctor prescribed opioids after she suffered a broken foot.
Research is still ongoing about why users get these open sores. Xylazine withdrawal is actually worse than opioid withdrawal and can engender violent behavior.
Xylazine and fentanyl drug mixtures place users at a higher risk of
suffering a fatal drug poisoning. Because xylazine is not an opioid,
naloxone (Narcan) does not reverse its effects.
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Salad with a Side of Fries is a podcast that lives up to its promise to answer questions on wellness and weight loss for real life, which includes drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store.
After all, host Jenn Trepeck declares, "What’s a life without fries and dessert, anyway?"
Every Wednesday since August 2019, the podcast has cleared up myths, misinformation, bad science, and slick marketing surrounding our nutrition knowledge and the food/diet industry.
On the February 2, 2024, episode of its Nutrition Nuggets series, Trepeck explains a basic nutrition fact that seems to have escaped a lot of people. On the five-minute episode, Trepeck discusses what the different colors of bread tags mean.
Now, I didn't even know that the colors of bread tags signified anything, and neither did the 20 people I asked at my gym.
Trepeck explains that these color-coded tags indicate the date the bread was baked and packaged. It helps staff keep track of what was baked when, so they can rotate out older loaves as needed. Most grocery stores follow the schedule below:
- Monday – Blue
- Tuesday – Green
- Thursday – Red
- Friday – White
- Saturday – Yellow
Wondering where Wednesday and Sunday are? Most bread bakeries take a production break on those days.
Check out Salad With A Chance Of Fries. It's one of the best nutrition and wellness podcasts in the audio verse. Recent episodes include the different aspects of heart health, remedies for weight-loss resistance, and midlife weight gain.
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