Doorknobs

Episode notes

Alex Schmidt is joined by author/comedian/jurist John Hodgman (‘Dicktown’ on FXX/Hulu, ‘Judge John Hodgman’ podcast) for a look at why doorknobs are secretly incredibly fascinating.

Visit http://sifpod.fun/ for research sources, handy links, and this week’s bonus episode.

LINKS FOR THE GUESTS:

• Dicktown (FXX / Hulu) — Season 2 premieres March 3rd on FXX!
• ‘Judge John Hodgman’ podcast (Maximum Fun)
• Medallion Status: True Stories From Secret Rooms by John Hodgman

RESOURCES USED TO INFORM THE EPISODE’S LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

• native-land.ca
• U.S. Department Of Arts And Culture
• The True Native New Yorkers Can Never Truly Reclaim Their Homeland (Smithsonian)
• Mapping Manahatta: 10 Lenape sites in New York City (6sqft)

RESEARCH SOURCES:

• The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman
• Freedom Machines: “The Principles of Universal Design” (PBS)
• Vancouver Banned Doorknobs. Good. (Popular Science)
• Can Salted Doorknobs Prevent Superbug Infections? (The Atlantic)
• Teens Create a Self-Cleaning Door Handle to Eliminate Germs (Mental Floss)
• Biltmore Estate’s Secret Passages (Atlas Obscura)
• A $1 Million Haunted Elementary School To Fear (Defector)
• This link is a blog post on a British handle seller’s website. It’s the source of dozens of Internet articles claiming “doorknobs were invented in 1878”, which is not true.
• Points of contact – a short history of door handles (Apollo Arts Magazine)
• 7 Fascinating Facts About King Louis XIV (Biography) — one of many options for more Louis XIV information.
• See the Damage Those Home Alone Booby Traps Would Do in Real Life (Mental Floss)
• Curing ‘The Doorknob Phenomenon’ (CBS News)
• Sometimes, Doctors Find Answers Far Off the Charts (The New York Times)
• The Doorknob Phenomenon in Clinical Practice (The American Academy of Family Physicians)
• This is the catalog page for MyKnobs.com‘s most expensive doorknob: the Privacy Sanzio Door Knob Set in Antique Gold.