Episode notes
Alex Schmidt and Katie Goldin explore why toothpicks are secretly incredibly fascinating.
Visit http://sifpod.fun/ for research sources, handy links, and this week’s bonus episode.
LINKS FOR KATIE GOLDIN:
- Katie Goldin on Bluesky
- @ProBirdRights on Bluesky
- ‘Creature Feature’ podcast (iHeartRadio)
- When Is a Bird a ‘Birb’? An Extremely Important Guide (Audubon)
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)
- “Finding Lenapehoking” (YouTube / Hudson River Maritime Museum)
- Why Do They Call It Beacon? (The Highlands Current)
- Dutch & Native American Heritage In The Hudson River Valley (National Park Service)
RESEARCH SOURCES:
- The Toothpick: Technology and Culture by Henry Petroski
- Book Of The Day: Digging Into the History of the Humble Toothpick (NPR)
- Stick Figure: The marketing genius behind the toothpick. (Slate.com)
- The Toothpick: Endless forms most beautiful and bizarre. (The Penn Gazette) — special thanks for the tip on this source to Matthew Algeo, author of wonderful books such as The President Is A Sick Man. That book is a crucial source for our SIF episode about Grover Cleveland.
- Man, the Toothpick User (Science)
- ‘Ancient humans’ used toothpicks (BBC News)
- The Roman Empire In The First Century: Nero (PBS)
- “Portrait of a Young Man” by painter Alessandro Oliverio, c. 1510-1520 (National Gallery of Ireland)
- A Tiny Fire Starter Makes Any Swiss Army Knife More Useful (Popular Mechanics)
- Tortoise Gear catalog page for Firefly Fire Starters
- Dentists Know You Hate Flossing. Try This Instead. (The New York Times)
- He Swallowed a Toothpick. It Could Have Killed Him. (The New York Times)
- Man gets drunk, wakes up with a medical mystery that nearly kills him (Ars Technica)
- Chicago artist uses toothpicks to build boats (WGN News / YouTube)
- personal website of Wayne Kusy: “All From Just Toothpicks: RMS Titanic”
- Character Study: The World in a Toothpick (The New York Times)
- The Folsom Prisoner Who Built Functional Miniature Carnivals Out of Toothpicks (Atlas Obscura)
- Press Release: Devastating New Report ‘The Walls Are Closing In On Me’ Documents Surge in Suicide & Self Harm in Solitary Confinement in New York State Prisons (Brooklyn Defenders)
- The Most Escape-Prone Prison Systems In Europe (WorldAtlas.com)
- @MarketHaulsAndLocalNoms on YouTube Shorts: “Where To Try Classic Conventual Sweets”
- The world of Portuguese conventual sweets (TasteOfLisboa.com)
- Strong, ME: The Rise and Fall of the Toothpick Capital Of The World (Atlas Obscura)
- “Chewing On Toothpicks” by William Boyle (The Oxford American)
- IMDb listing for ‘Hard Boiled’ (1992)
- Secretly Incredibly Fascinating: Chopsticks
- Secretly Incredibly Fascinating: Swiss Army Knives
In this episode...
About the show
A weekly podcast about the history, science, lore and surprises that make everyday things secretly incredibly fascinating. Hosted by comedy writer, emoji creator, and ‘Jeopardy!‘ champion Alex Schmidt. Join Alex & his co-host Katie Goldin for a joyful deep dive into seeing the world a whole new way!
Get in touch with the show
@sifpod
@sifpod
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