Will the US mint a trillion-dollar coin? Probably not, but in 2001 the tiny island nation (I know, I know) of Vanuatu created $300 million overnight by quadrupling its sovereign debt using as its stated collateral a 182-pound ruby that may or may not actually have existed. I value your support on Patreon.

Mass for Shut-ins: The Gin and Tacos Podcast

Minicast D7: The Giant Ruby Affair

In 1975 a right-wing loon purchased 300 acres of swampland outside Cape Canaveral with the dream of building a theme park recreating the experience of a US Special Forces barracks in a rural Vietnamese hamlet at the height of the war. Visitors could take turns firing a machine gun at real Vietnamese refugees play-acting as Viet Cong, while replica thatched huts dispensed souvenirs and snacks. Oh, and there were punji stakes. Real punji stakes. And a lot of barbed wire. I value your support on Patreon.

Minicast D6: New Vietnam Theme Park

After a player died from being hit by a pitch in 1920, Major League Baseball banned the "spitball." But it allowed 17 players whose careers were determined to be dependent on it to continue throwing it. A century later, baseball is still dealing with what it now calls the "foreign substances" issue.  The physics and history of baseball's dirtiest pitch, plus a guy named Urban Shocker. I value your support on Patreon.

Minicast D5: The Grandfathered Spitballers

In the late Sixties through the Seventies, John Brisker was widely known as the meanest, toughest man in professional basketball. After winning ABA titles in Pittsburgh and punching his way through a few tumultuous seasons with the Supersonics of the NBA, John Brisker visited Africa, came back to the US, told his friends he was off to Africa again, and disappeared without a trace. Theories of what happened to him abound. The most widely accepted involves Idi Amin. I value your support on Patreon.

Minicast D4: John Brisker, NBA Star Turned Ugandan Mercenary

Guest: Jen Howard (@JenHoward) author of Clutter: an Untidy History on Belt Publishing. Her book looks at the social, economic, and political causes of our addiction to Stuff, and our talk ranges from Marie Kondo to the Container Store to the Montgomery Ward Outlet. Why do we have all this crap and what is the right thing to do about it? It's not as simple as "throw everything out." The cocktail of the month isn't a cocktail, it's a short dive into Triple Sec (not literally). A truncated mailbag without Question Cathy will be followed shortly on Patreon (because capitalism) with a full mailbag. Please support Mass for Shut-ins, an independent and ad-free podcast, via Patreon. Contact me via Facebook, Twitter (@edburmila), or the venerable website Gin and Tacos.  Thanks: Jen Howard, the bands that contribute music (Waxeater, IfIHadAHiFi, The Sump Pumps, Oscar Bait), Zachary Sielaff, Question Cathy, and all Patreon supporters, subscribers, and listeners.

032 - Jen Howard (Clutter)

What if I told you that right now you can get a new car very nearly for free? Sounds like a scam, right? Well thanks to Hydrogen Fuel Cells, the Technology of the Future of 2002, you can. With some caveats. Crazy, right? Now what if I also told you this isn't the first time Americans have had the opportunity to get a brand new car for free? That part of the story takes to a place called ... Kragujevac.  I value your support on Patreon.

Minicast D3: Free Cars

Agatha Christie's two most popular characters - Poirot and Marple - can only exist and make sense in a universe in which the police simply cannot solve crimes. If they could, why would they need a weird Belgian private detective or a random old lady to do it for them? To understand why this was so plausible to Christie and to her contemporary readers, the story of Christie's own "disappearance" in 1926 emphasizes just how inept the police really were in her day. Even being given the answer didn't help them solve this big mystery. I value your support on Patreon.

Minicast D2: Agatha Christie Disappears! Sort of!

Guest: David Parsons (@davidlparsons) from the excellent history podcast Nostalgia Trap joins me to discuss Gerald Ford's disastrous rollout of a nationwide vaccination program in 1976 to combat a swine flu pandemic that didn't materialize. Vaccine recipients developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which is sometimes fatal, at a rate 8.8 times higher than the unvaccinated, making this event the foundation of the modern American anti-vax movement. But a closer look reveals that those numbers may not be what they seem, and certainly not what anti-vaxxers use them to mean. Despite our interest in this poorly-remembered historical event, neither David nor your host endorse any vaccine-related conspiracies, and encourage you to do as we are doing: getting the COVID vaccine at the earliest opportunity. The cocktail of the month is the Typhoid Mary. Has history been unkind to her? Yes, but it turns out she really was kind of a dick. Question Cathy returns with the mailbag, where we cover the 9th Amendment, Biden's first month, and Wegman's. Please support Mass for Shut-ins, an independent and ad-free podcast, via Patreon. Contact me via Facebook, Twitter (@edburmila), or the venerable website Gin and Tacos.  Thanks: David Parsons, the bands that contribute music (Waxeater, IfIHadAHiFi, The Sump Pumps, Oscar Bait), Zachary Sielaff, Question Cathy, and all Patreon supporters, subscribers, and listeners.

031 - The 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine Fiasco (David Parsons of Nostalgia Trap)

In 1996 a loutish young Briton got drunk and, on a lark, asked a tiny island nation if he could be their poet laureate. Mind you, the nation has no poet laureate and doesn't really do European-style poetry at all. That's ok, he doesn't know how to write poetry anyway. So the government of Kiribati said yes, and then, his bluff called, the young man said yes, and then hilarity ensued. Inspired by America's recent fascination with former National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, who is also the only poet I know by name right now. I value your support on Patreon.  

Minicast D1: The Poet Laureate of Kiribati

Guest: Mike Konczal (@rortybomb) returns with his new book, Freedom from the Market. We take a look at all the great things government used to (or could) do a pretty good job of providing for Americans but no longer does because we've turned them over to The Free Market, which isn't well-suited to provide them at all. It's a great blueprint for a better world, and we talk about where the political will to do it might come from. A full unedited version of my chat with Mike is available on Patreon, because capitalism. Please support Mass for Shut-ins, an independent and ad-free podcast, via Patreon. Contact me via Facebook, Twitter (@edburmila), or the venerable website Gin and Tacos.  Thanks: Mike Konczal, the bands that contribute music (Waxeater, IfIHadAHiFi, The Sump Pumps, Oscar Bait), Zachary Sielaff, Question Cathy, and all Patreon supporters, subscribers, and listeners.

030 - Mike Konczal, Freedom from the Market (2021)

"A Visit from St. Nicholas" standardized many parts of the Santa Claus story, but one key element of the story bridged a gap between Protestants and Catholics - as well as opening the door for the cultural, secular embrace of Christmas in the U.S. I value your support on Patreon.

Minicast C10: The Hidden Politics of "The Night Before Christmas"

I never promised you a Rose Garden, but I can give you a short primer on the how, what, and why of pardons before delving into the murky waters of what Trump does and does not have the power to do for himself and his felonious hangers-on. Can he pardon himself? Can he pardon people for crimes they haven't even been charged with yet? Why does the pardon power exist at all? 10 minutes of your time will answer all. I value your support on Patreon.

Minicast C9: I Beg Your (Presidential) Pardon (Power)

Question Cathy joins me for the post-election tradition of an all-mailbag episode devoted to listener-submitted questions. A partial list of topics covered here: Electoral College reform, rogue state legislatures, the census / redistricting, Trumpian antics, and more. We also dress the dog, and accidentally do a Ritz Crackers product placement. Please support Mass for Shut-ins, an independent and ad-free podcast, via Patreon. Contact me via Facebook, Twitter (@edburmila), or the venerable website Gin and Tacos.  Thanks: Tom Sexton and all the Trillbillies, the bands that contribute music (Waxeater, IfIHadAHiFi, The Sump Pumps, Oscar Bait), Zachary Sielaff, Question Cathy, and all Patreon supporters, subscribers, and listeners.

029 - Post-Election All-Mailbag Episode 2020

At the peak of the Great Depression, one nation sent its athletes to the 1932 Olympics on a coffee freighter with instructions to barter and beg their way to Los Angeles. Even though coffee was a worthless commodity in 1932. Fuel? Canal tolls? Immigration fees? Money for food and lodging? No, they didn't have any of that. What they did have was coffee - AND THE HUMAN SPIRIT. This is their story.  Bonus: a Hungarian water polo referee is senselessly beaten. I value your support on Patreon.

Minicast C8: Brazil Begs and Barters into the 1932 Olympics

In 1973 a low-ranking US Air Force officer training to work in a Minuteman missile silo asks, "How do I know that the launch order I receive comes from a president who is sane?" Good question, Harold Hering! The Air Force had no good answer, and Hering's career came to a screeching halt. I take a deep dive into what exactly presidents can and can't do with nuclear weapons and why I, in a rare moment of optimism, ultimately believe an unbalanced Trump could not start firing off nukes in a fit of anger. 18 minutes on a topic I could talk about forever, but decided to do only the interesting parts. I value your support on Patreon.

Minicast C7: Harold Hering asks, what if the president tries to launch nukes while out of his mind?

An unholy amalgam of politics, historical anecdotes, cocktail recipes, performances by talented people, and interviews with people who are doing interesting things with their lives.

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Mass for Shut-ins: The Gin and Tacos Podcast

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