We’re joined by Australia’s own Paul Hix from Waiting for Doom – the Doom Patrol Podcast, to dig into the latest and strangest conspiracy theory: Bird Trutherism!
Counterfeit avians? Feathered Cameras in the Sky!? Why does it feel like the desire to answer serious questions in the most unserious ways has gone frighteningly mainstream?
Has the legalization of marijuana in many states left us doomed to a future where pot smoking will be branded tragically…uncool?
And we get an opportunity to grill our Aussie guest on an outsider’s view of American culture and cuisine. Do we have things that scare and confuse others as much as vegemite does us? (Spoiler: yes, we do.)
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$2 bills were actually in circulation earlier in the 20th century as well – I learned that in school as a wee lad when they were reintroduced for the bicentennial in 1976.
As to the question of what non-Americans find bizarre about American culture, I can sort of provide my own response to that as an American who’s been living outside of the country (in Croatia specifically) since the early 1990s. Like Australians apparently, your typical Croats are also puzzled by the popularity of peanut butter as a dietary staple and, yes, our insane gun culture – which honestly seems to have gotten much worse since I left.
Also: baseball. Most people here can’t see the attraction of watching a sport in which everybody on the field is standing around most of the time (and they think American football is only marginally better). When they ask me to explain, I’m at a loss, because frankly I’ve never really liked either – especially baseball/softball. I usually tell them it’s about as boring to play as it is to watch…