A guide to good manners at the retail counter this holiday season

Any good holiday meltdown stories? I worked at a Walmart on Black Friday once. We got double pay so it was worth it, and it was extremely entertaining

Hiker is rescued from quicksand in Utah canyon after drone video spotted him struggling

I’m just as shocked as the rest of you to learn that quicksand is actually a legitimate thing after all

More Stories Below, but first some new content in the News Sidequest Podcast Universe…

Auditory Anthology

SCI-FI SHORT STORIES - NARRATED BY DARREN MARLAR & PRODUCED BY KEITH CONRAD

Tales From the Blue Line – Caller on Line Seven - The overnight staff at a dimly lit newsroom learns to dread… and then depend upon… a cranky, anonymous 11:37 p.m. caller on Line Seven who relentlessly complains about the station’s coverage of future events, accurately predicting everything from escaped goats at City Hall to the weatherman fainting live on air.

Tales From the Blue Line - Caller on Line Seven Keith Conrad / Darren Marlar Episode

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Also Worth A Look…

• AI “Research” Papers Are Complete Slop, Experts Say - Garbage in, garbage out. Once you know what to look for it’s not that difficult. There are things AI can do very well, and things it just can’t do

• Neanderthals made fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, scientists find - Next we’re going to find out that Neanderthals had 4K TV

• World’s Rich Own Triple the Wealth of Poorest Half, Study Finds - I remember back in 2019 all of us were making jokes about the Roaring 20’s… that doesn’t seem so ridiculous now

• 4-Year-Old Girl Lights Up When the Grinch Surprises Her by Speaking Fluent Spanish in Viral Video - The Grinch speaks the language of all children

• Thief Said He Was “Teleported” Into Stolen BMW - I mean… how are you going to prove that isn’t what actually happened?

• Boy Sent to Christmas Nativity Show as Elvis Instead of Elf After Family Mix-up - He’ll have a blue, blue Christmas

• Massive Great White Sharks Tracked Off East Coast - Mayor Vaughn wants people to know the beaches are open and “Amity” means “Friendship”

• Woman Gives Birth in Waymo Car in San Francisco - Probably would have been a little easier if there was a driver

• Dark Chocolate Compound Linked To Slower Aging - Yeah, but you still have to taste dark chocolate. You call that living?

• McDonald’s Pulls AI-Generated Christmas Advert Following Backlash - Bring back Michael Jordan