Lateral with Tom Scott 62: The lifesaving blackout
Dec 15, 2023
Hannah Witton, Mike Boyd, and Geoff Marshall tackle questions about versatile voting, clever creatures, and brick buildings. They discuss the mystery of a repurposed building, a bizarre arrangement with chickens and prisoners, a hijacking incident with a clever landing strategy, a silent show of support for the Civil Rights Act, an anti-smoking charity's clever message campaign, and Scottish people and lottery tickets.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Fans Celebrate Statistical Milestones
- Sports fans sometimes celebrate rare statistical firsts rather than team outcomes.
- The NFL community marked 25–11 as the first-ever final score in league history and shared it widely online.
Prison Built With Chickens Above Inmates
- Mike Boyd recounts a Thai prison design that housed chickens above inmates.
- A perforated floor let chicken droppings fall onto prisoners, causing misery and ammonia smell.
Darkness Used As Tactical Deception
- Authorities used darkness as a deception tactic during a 1983 hijacking in Varna.
- Turning city lights off made hijackers believe they were landing in Vienna so commandos could storm the plane.