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19 “Giant Lies” That Were Sold To Entire Generations Of Adults

They cover a lot of the hits… things like “Get a degree and you’ll be set for life.” But what are the small lies you heard during your life that still annoy you? I’m still disappointed that I’m not running into quicksand everywhere the way we thought we would. Also, there isn’t some “permanent record” that’s following you around everywhere

New Orleans will use AI to answer 911 calls instead of a human

That doesn’t seem like a great idea. It would absolutely make sense to have AI answer calls for just about any other situation, but it seems like it would be adding another layer to the process, and in an emergency that would really make a huge difference between getting help on time or too late

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

Potential & Maiden Voyage - Chapter Two - When a mysterious, unyielding artifact—made of an impossible extraterrestrial material—begins responding to a precise frequency, senior researcher Chen Liang realizes his team isn’t just analyzing an unknown object; they are waking something up.

On the maiden voyage of the MV Atlas, the world’s largest cruise ship, a ghost operative team attempts a silent extraction of a high-value defector carrying an impossible secret: an ancient, non-human artifact. Hidden amongst twenty-two thousand passengers and stalked by an elite foreign intelligence network, the team must execute a precise, high-stakes tradecraft operation in international waters. One wrong move could blow their cover and trigger a confrontation that could break the global order.

Potential & Maiden Voyage - Chapter Two Keith Conrad / Darren Marlar Episode

Substack | Listen on Apple | Listen on Spotify | Listen on Amazon | RSS Feed

New chapters post ever Sunday, and will be available to Auditory Anthology paid subscribers

Also Worth A Look…

• Study reveals cognitive decline linked to drinking Diet Coke daily - That’s not good. I might have to think my daily drinking habits. How often does something like this make you re-think things?

• Study: The Generation Gap In Vacation Bragging Rights - The older you are, the less likely you are to pick a vacation spot based on a potential bump in your social media clout. That checks out. I don’t think it’s so much a result of having better priorities, it’s that if you’re a Baby Boomer you don’t know what social media clout is or that you should be chasing it

• Bar Bans Customers From Wearing ‘Creepy and Intrusive’ Smart Glasses that Film People - I feel like we’re going to see more of that in the future. At least until they are pervasive enough that most people have them. They are a little creepy, especially if you don’t know the person could be recording you. At the same time, I’ve often thought that a lot of problems could probably be avoided if people were basically wearing body cams so we might be headed in that direction now that the technology exists

• Apocalyptic scenes after huge swarm of locusts fill up sky above Russia’s Dagestan - Things have taken a turn for the Biblical in Russia

• Leprosy cases climb in Florida: Here’s how to reduce your risk - Speaking of things turning Biblical

• Man Arrested After Filling Hotel Bath with Potatoes During Five-Day MDMA Binge - There’s a lot you can do with potatoes… boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew… but filling a bathtub seems like a new one

• 90K Rubber Ducks Poured Into Chicago River - It’s not the worst thing that’s been dumped into the Chicago River. Looking at you, Dave Matthews Band

• Awkward moment politician caught joining crunch meeting from her BATHROOM – with her underwear drying in background - Listen, sometimes you have to go where the wifi is the strongest

• Minnie Driver says she’s ‘grateful to be alive’ after ‘really bad’ car accident - Glad she’s OK. The irony of someone with the last name “Driver” being in a car accident is delightful though

• The Rise of the $100 Hot Dog - As long as they don’t have ketchup on them, I’m OK with anything you want to try