pop-culture
Answers are hidden until you reveal them.
What do we know about Jack London?
Our guess
A San Francisco author of The Call of the Wild who wrote about the Yukon gold rush, living around the turn of the century.
A San Francisco author of The Call of the Wild who wrote about the Yukon gold rush, living around the turn of the century.
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The answer
Born January 12, 1876 in San Francisco and died in 1916 at age 40. Novelist, journalist and social activist who wrote The Call of the Wild, White Fang and The Sea-Wolf, and was one of the first fiction writers to gain worldwide celebrity.
Born January 12, 1876 in San Francisco and died in 1916 at age 40. Novelist, journalist and social activist who wrote The Call of the Wild, White Fang and The Sea-Wolf, and was one of the first fiction writers to gain worldwide celebrity.
Verdict partly
Who are the kids in the game-of-the-week jingle?
Episode 21: Old Lasagne (01:04)
Our guess
A host's neglected children forced into podcast labor (a joke).
A host's neglected children forced into podcast labor (a joke).
Reveal the answer
The answer
Two young daughters of a close friend of the host, recorded during a visit.
Two young daughters of a close friend of the host, recorded during a visit.
Verdict wrong
What does "Auld Lang Syne" mean, and where does it come from?
Episode 21: Old Lasagne (03:11)
Our guess
An old Celtic, Welsh or Scottish phrase from around the 1500s meaning "old and new".
An old Celtic, Welsh or Scottish phrase from around the 1500s meaning "old and new".
Reveal the answer
The answer
A Scots poem by Robert Burns from 1788, set to a traditional tune. The title translates to "long long ago" or "old times", and the poem asks whether old acquaintances should be forgotten. It is sung to bid farewell to the old year and at funerals.
A Scots poem by Robert Burns from 1788, set to a traditional tune. The title translates to "long long ago" or "old times", and the poem asks whether old acquaintances should be forgotten. It is sung to bid farewell to the old year and at funerals.
Verdict partly
Can you name the Best Picture winners from 1990 to 2000?
Episode 27: The Jimmies (02:09)
Our guess
Schindler's List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Unforgiven, The English Patient, Titanic, American Beauty and Gladiator.
Schindler's List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Unforgiven, The English Patient, Titanic, American Beauty and Gladiator.
Reveal the answer
The answer
Dances with Wolves (1990), The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler's List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, The English Patient, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love, American Beauty and Gladiator (2000). The hosts missed Dances with Wolves, Silence of the Lambs and Shakespeare in Love.
Dances with Wolves (1990), The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler's List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, The English Patient, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love, American Beauty and Gladiator (2000). The hosts missed Dances with Wolves, Silence of the Lambs and Shakespeare in Love.
Verdict partly
What is the plot of The Goofy Movie?
Episode 38: Follow the Money (00:00)
Our guess
A romantic comedy or a boy-overcomes-obstacles story, probably from the 1990s, with Mickey Mouse involved.
A romantic comedy or a boy-overcomes-obstacles story, probably from the 1990s, with Mickey Mouse involved.
Reveal the answer
The answer
It came out April 7, 1995. Goofy's son Max makes a promise to a girl he likes and is dragged on a cross-country trip with his embarrassing father; it's a teen romance with dad jokes. Mickey Mouse is not in it.
It came out April 7, 1995. Goofy's son Max makes a promise to a girl he likes and is dragged on a cross-country trip with his embarrassing father; it's a teen romance with dad jokes. Mickey Mouse is not in it.
Verdict partly
What is Dragon Ball Z?
Episode 41: Zero Swashbuckling (00:02)
Our guess
Either a pog-like game or an animated series, probably anime and not American.
Either a pog-like game or an animated series, probably anime and not American.
Reveal the answer
The answer
A Japanese anime based on the Dragon Ball manga. It adapts the later 325 chapters of the 519-chapter manga, aired in Japan from 1989 to 1996, and premiered in the US in 1996. Its catchphrase "Kamehameha" is what a rookie yells after hitting a three-pointer.
A Japanese anime based on the Dragon Ball manga. It adapts the later 325 chapters of the 519-chapter manga, aired in Japan from 1989 to 1996, and premiered in the US in 1996. Its catchphrase "Kamehameha" is what a rookie yells after hitting a three-pointer.
Verdict right
What are the names of Santa's reindeer?
Our guess
Donner, Rudolph, Blitzen, Dancer and Prancer.
Donner, Rudolph, Blitzen, Dancer and Prancer.
Reveal the answer
The answer
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, plus Rudolph. They come from the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (Clement Clarke Moore), with Rudolph added later.
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, plus Rudolph. They come from the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (Clement Clarke Moore), with Rudolph added later.
Verdict partly
What is the plot of Alice in Wonderland?
Our guess
Alice falls down a rabbit hole, changes size by eating and drinking, meets the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts, with chess and drugs, and it was a dream.
Alice falls down a rabbit hole, changes size by eating and drinking, meets the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts, with chess and drugs, and it was a dream.
Reveal the answer
The answer
The book (1865) has the rabbit hole, size changes, the Mad Hatter, croquet and the trial of the Knave of Hearts; it ends with Alice waking up. Chess, Jabberwocky, the Walrus and the Carpenter, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee are in the 1871 sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Dodgson.
The book (1865) has the rabbit hole, size changes, the Mad Hatter, croquet and the trial of the Knave of Hearts; it ends with Alice waking up. Chess, Jabberwocky, the Walrus and the Carpenter, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee are in the 1871 sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Dodgson.
Verdict partly
Why does Santa Claus have elves?
Episode 72: Pre-Tolkien (01:04)
Our guess
A holdover from Nordic or druid pagan myth, added in the 1800s to explain who makes the toys.
A holdover from Nordic or druid pagan myth, added in the 1800s to explain who makes the toys.
Reveal the answer
The answer
Elves come from ancient Scandinavian and Celtic folklore as nature spirits that guarded homes. The 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" calls Santa a "jolly old elf", an 1857 Harper's Weekly poem has him keeping elves at work, and by 1891 he merged with the Swedish "tomte".
Elves come from ancient Scandinavian and Celtic folklore as nature spirits that guarded homes. The 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" calls Santa a "jolly old elf", an 1857 Harper's Weekly poem has him keeping elves at work, and by 1891 he merged with the Swedish "tomte".
Verdict right
Where does the word "blockbuster" come from?
Episode 110: Paradigmatic Shift (00:38)
Our guess
A line of moviegoers wrapping around the block, or busting up the status quo; probably a 1970s movie term from Jaws and Star Wars.
A line of moviegoers wrapping around the block, or busting up the status quo; probably a 1970s movie term from Jaws and Star Wars.
Reveal the answer
The answer
It began in the 1940s as a name for aerial bombs capable of destroying a city block. The first known use for a film was in 1943 (Time magazine and Variety ads), and the "blockbuster era" is dated to 1975's Jaws. An alternate theory involves studio "block booking".
It began in the 1940s as a name for aerial bombs capable of destroying a city block. The first known use for a film was in 1943 (Time magazine and Variety ads), and the "blockbuster era" is dated to 1975's Jaws. An alternate theory involves studio "block booking".
Verdict partly
Where did fantasy races like orcs, elves and goblins come from, and why are they standardized?
Episode 117: Hobbier (00:30)
Our guess
Oral tradition and Norse folklore, standardized by Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons in the 20th century.
Oral tradition and Norse folklore, standardized by Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons in the 20th century.
Reveal the answer
The answer
No single origin was found. Many come from folklore (elves from Norse mythology), and the hosts agreed that Tolkien and D&D codified them. They appear as archetypes that have "always been in the ether".
No single origin was found. Many come from folklore (elves from Norse mythology), and the hosts agreed that Tolkien and D&D codified them. They appear as archetypes that have "always been in the ether".
Verdict unresolved
What is a hobgoblin?
Episode 117: Hobbier (09:22)
Our guess
A more threatening or hairier goblin, or a Spider-Man villain.
A more threatening or hairier goblin, or a Spider-Man villain.
Reveal the answer
The answer
A spirit of the hearth in folklore, once helpful but later considered mischievous after Christianity spread. Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream is called a hobgoblin, and the word can mean an imagined source of fear.
A spirit of the hearth in folklore, once helpful but later considered mischievous after Christianity spread. Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream is called a hobgoblin, and the word can mean an imagined source of fear.
Verdict partly
What does "with a bullet" mean (as in on the charts), and where does it come from?
Our guess
A song shooting up the charts like a bullet, or a bullet point marking a ranking.
A song shooting up the charts like a bullet, or a bullet point marking a ranking.
Reveal the answer
The answer
From the music trade magazine Cashbox, which put a red bullet next to chart positions of songs making sharp upward movement in the 1960s-70s (Billboard also used it). It came to mean rapidly rising or the best.
From the music trade magazine Cashbox, which put a red bullet next to chart positions of songs making sharp upward movement in the 1960s-70s (Billboard also used it). It came to mean rapidly rising or the best.
Verdict right
Why are spider webs a Halloween decoration, and where do haunted houses come from?
Episode 163: Now I Want a Beer (01:02)
Our guess
Spider webs make a house look abandoned and creepy, with haunted houses a 1950s American phenomenon or from Poe's stories in the 1800s.
Spider webs make a house look abandoned and creepy, with haunted houses a 1950s American phenomenon or from Poe's stories in the 1800s.
Reveal the answer
The answer
Spiders are associated with witches as sidekicks. The haunted house concept goes back to Pliny the Younger's account of a haunted villa, Marie Tussaud's 19th-century Chamber of Horrors, a 1915 English attraction, and Disneyland's Haunted Mansion (1969). Commercial haunted houses spread in the 1970s, and some trace them to Depression-era Halloween parties for kids.
Spiders are associated with witches as sidekicks. The haunted house concept goes back to Pliny the Younger's account of a haunted villa, Marie Tussaud's 19th-century Chamber of Horrors, a 1915 English attraction, and Disneyland's Haunted Mansion (1969). Commercial haunted houses spread in the 1970s, and some trace them to Depression-era Halloween parties for kids.
Verdict partly
Why are daytime dramas called "soap operas"?
Our guess
Soap ads in 1950s-60s daytime TV aimed at housewives, or soapboxes; "opera" for the melodrama.
Soap ads in 1950s-60s daytime TV aimed at housewives, or soapboxes; "opera" for the melodrama.
Reveal the answer
The answer
They originated in radio dramas sponsored by soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble, starting in the early 1930s (Painted Dreams on WGN in 1930, Guiding Light in 1937). The term followed "horse opera" for low-budget westerns.
They originated in radio dramas sponsored by soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble, starting in the early 1930s (Painted Dreams on WGN in 1930, Guiding Light in 1937). The term followed "horse opera" for low-budget westerns.
Verdict right
What does 'cheugy' mean?
Episode 200: Eat. Prey. Love. (17:30)
Our guess
Gen Z slang for lame millennials, maybe connected to 'bougie'
Gen Z slang for lame millennials, maybe connected to 'bougie'
Reveal the answer
The answer
A term for early-2010s lifestyle trends considered the opposite of trending, or trying too hard to be trendy; coined in 2013 by a high school student. Not related to 'bougie'.
A term for early-2010s lifestyle trends considered the opposite of trending, or trying too hard to be trendy; coined in 2013 by a high school student. Not related to 'bougie'.
Verdict partly
Where does the 'top banana' / 'second banana' hierarchy come from?
Episode 213: Banana Hierarchy (01:36)
Our guess
Show-business or clown slang from the 1930s; others said 1950s office culture or the banana bunch growing order
Show-business or clown slang from the 1930s; others said 1950s office culture or the banana bunch growing order
Reveal the answer
The answer
Burlesque and vaudeville: comedians were billed as first, second and third bananas, and Phil Silvers credited Harry Steppe with introducing the term around 1927. 'Top banana' later became slang for any boss.
Burlesque and vaudeville: comedians were billed as first, second and third bananas, and Phil Silvers credited Harry Steppe with introducing the term around 1927. 'Top banana' later became slang for any boss.
Verdict right