Lateral with Tom Scott - 121: Elbow your brother

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

Tom Crawford, Evan Heling and Katelyn Heling face questions about supervising saints, totalled towns and reversed roles. LATERAL is a comedy panel game podcast about weird questions with wonderful answers, hosted by Tom Scott. For business enquiries, contestant appearances or question submissions, visit https://lateralcast.com. SPONSOR: https://lateralcast.com/emdash/ (use code 'LATERAL' for 10% off first 3 months). HOST: Tom Scott. QUESTION PRODUCER: David Bodycombe. EDITED BY: Julie Hassett at The Podcast Studios, Dublin. MUSIC: Karl-Ola Kjellholm ('Private Detective'/'Agrumes', courtesy of epidemicsound.com). ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: Joey Kerschnert, AAA, David Turner, Hayden LeMaster, James, Brian J. Devine, Lachlan C.. FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott. © Pad 26 Limited (https://www.pad26.com) / Labyrinth Games Ltd. 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Calling all sellers, Salesforce is hiring account executives to join us on the cutting edge of technology. Here, innovation isn't a buzzword. It's a way of life. You'll be solving customer challenges faster with agents, winning with purpose, and showing the world what AI was meant to be. Let's create the agent-first future together. Head to salesforce.com slash careers to learn more. In the game Fallout New Vegas, what type of building caused a small town to be rechristened Novak? The answer to that at the end of the show. My name's Tom Scott and this is Lattery. Welcome once again to the show that's all about one thing. Sideways thinking. And if you're wondering what that little pause was, let me tell you about today's sponsor,

the M-Dash. For a long while I've been using commas and hyphens to put pauses into my words, but they never quite give me the silence I need. And as for semi-colons, who knows what those are for? When the team at M-DASH asked me to try out their punctuation, it made my sentences so much more poignant. And if you act now, you can get 25% off your first month of M-Dashes using the code ALT0151. Alright, back to the show, and hoping that their hopes will not be dashed today, we start

with a mathematics fellow at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, Right, back to the show, and hoping that their hopes will not be dashed today, we start with a mathematics fellow at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, and from his own YouTube channel, Tom Rocks Maths, Tom Crawford, welcome back to the show. Pleasure to be back. It was a lot of fun last time, so I'm excited to see if I can keep the run going. This is your second time on How Was It Last Time? It was very, very enjoyable, and I think the sense of achievement on getting anywhere near an answer was unmatched with anything in my life.

That's also how I feel about mathematics. And I realise it's a cliché to just go, I'm bad at maths. But you're someone who has to deal with that kind of expectation from folks, that maths is something that they're just not good at. How do you get around that? How do you get people to pay attention to a thing they think they're not good at? Two things. First of all, I try and emphasize to them they are good at it. So it's interesting, you said you struggle.

You're constantly figuring out how long we've been talking and how long you've got, right? You're doing maths in your head right now, right? So I like to emphasize to people, they're doing it all the time to give them that confidence that like, you are doing maths, so maybe it's can't be as bad as you, or you know, you're building it up to be worse than it is. And other than that, it's trying to present maths in a way that makes sense to that person. So find out what they are interested in. Maybe it's sports, maybe it's video games, maybe it's movies. And then let's talk about maths in that language.

So let's talk about how to take a perfect penalty kick in a game of football. Let's talk about the maths of Pokémon. Whatever you're into, let's bring maths to your field of play, as it were. Well, very best of luck on the show today. You are joined by some more returning players who I believe are currently dealing with just a lot of resin in their lives. Always. Eben and Caitlin, makers extraordinaire.

Welcome back to the show. How are you doing? Great. Good. So excited to be back. It is always a joy to have you on the show. What's the big impractical thing you're working on at the minute? Well, we just recently embedded a computer inside of a cardboard laptop. And now I just

can't get it out of my head. What else can I embed a computer into? I honestly thought about combining two of our projects recently and making a pumpkin computer. I was just saying, last time you were on the show, you were in the middle of the annual pumpkin run. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But I do think making weird laptops is also becoming an obsession. When you say made of cardboard, like the case? The case, the keys, the like, the whole thing, yeah.

Everything but the electronics themselves was made of cardboard. We haven't yet figured out how to make a cardboard CPU, but maybe one day. Well, good luck to you as well. There is only one more thing to do. And that's to go to our first question, and thanks again to M-Dash for that pause. Link's in the description. When might users of the website of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh unexpectedly see a picture of Saint Anthony? I'll say that again. When might users of the website of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh unexpectedly see a picture of Saint Anthony? Well, I am very

lost because I don't, I feel bad saying that. I don't know who Saint Anthony is. I don't either. If you did, this would be very easy. Okay. Ha ha ha ha ha. Is Saint Anthony, okay, I have an out-there idea. This is genuinely a guess. Is Saint Anthony the 404th Saint? And so you get an error 404 and it's Saint Anthony's face.

So you've answered the basic question. You're right. Unexpectedly on the website you will see a 404 error, and it is Saint Anthony. That's not the reason. sick question. You're right. Unexpectedly on the website you will see a 404 error and it is St. Anthony. That's not the reason. And as we get into that one quickly, you know what, I'm going to ask you why. Why has the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh put St. Anthony on their 404 page? Because he is always lost and wandering around and it's an inside joke amongst that community

that that person has always lost? That's pretty close. So is... He made lots of errors. Is Saint Anthony an actual saint or is he like a mascot for something? Oh, he is an actual saint. Okay, he's an actual saint. Okay. Is he still alive?

Definitionally, no. A saint cannot be alive. Oh, okay. That's good. They must have been dead for a certain number of years and had two miracles ascribed to them, I think is the rules. Did he try and do a miracle but then got an error message? He was trying to... He's like, guys, guys, I've done a miracle, like, it's just an error message, don't worry

about it, but I did the miracles, it's cool. He's got to have something to do with errors. Yeah don't know, like there must be something he did wrong or something... otherwise, unless it's just an actual, complete inside joke, surely there's a link to things going wrong. I mean, it's kind of a Catholic inside joke. I did go to a Church of England primary school, but that was obviously 20 something years ago. Yeah. And it's not Catholic either.

Okay. So Catholic inside joke that has to do with saints, but for some reason, Saint Anthony specifically is on the 404 error page. So like when you have an error, it's like the page cannot load. It cannot be found. It doesn't exist. It doesn't exist. It doesn't exist. So is he a fake saint?

No, a real saint. Evan, you did say lost earlier. St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost things. Oh my gosh! Lost pages! Yep, the page says, Dear St. Anthony, please come around. This page is lost and cannot be found.

Because St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost things. That's cute. Evan, we will go over to you for the next question. This question has been sent in by Anonymous. Ooh. After a year or two, why might your coach say, elbow your brother and then phone your mother? I'll say this again. After a

year or two, why might your coach say elbow your brother then phone your mother? Elbow phone. Elbow phone. Oh, you think it's like a move. Is it like, are we dancing? Are we dancing? Elbow phone. And why would it happen after a couple years? So, something with either experienced players, or it's like, if you're on a high school team and you're going to graduate. You know? Like, something like...

Or you've been selected for something. Like, alright, you are going to the big leagues. Like, give your brother a nudge, call your mom. You're going to whatever the sports equivalent of Hollywood is. Yeah. You're going to the sports bowl, son. We haven't even established the sport yet, or even if it is a sport. Like, this might just be a motor coach, this might be a bus.

That's true, it could be like a voice coach or something else. Or life coach. I feel like the wording of elbow your brother call your mother sounds like a sports thing though. Yes, it does. It feels, I don't know, I want to keep, I'm just going to keep doing this action. It feels like why would you, you're elbowing and then you're like putting as though you're on the phone. Yeah.

So is it like, the fact that it has to be a few years, does that suggest you're quite advanced? It's not a beginner move. It's like a pro kind of tip. Okay. So you're on the right track. Something has to do with like being more advanced in the sport. Now also the moves have to be done quickly.

So it is moves. Oh, oops. We're getting there. We're getting there. You're getting there. You're getting there. Okay. So it is moves. Oh, oops. I mean, we're getting there. You're getting there. You're getting there. Okay, so it is moves. I think we figured that one out.

You just seen me doing this consistently and deciding. New TikTok dance. Oh, is it TikTok? Yeah, there's TikTok dance coaches out there now. Oh my gosh, that'd be hilarious, but no. Okay. Or is it like a swimming thing? Like this is, like a stroke?

A swimming stroke? For some reason, I'm thinking skiing, and I have absolutely no reason to back that up, other than it feels like some sort of arm motion with a ski pole or something like that that's just kind of some advanced thing to get it out of the way. Snowboarding? I feel like with skiing, you're kind of planting the poles more. So I don't know why you'd quite go up here. Snowboarding to twist your body? Possibly. Oh! Oh, is it like diving? Is it like platform diving? To make yourself spin? You hold your arm out.

Yeah, because you have to spend years working up to be good at that. Oh, I have a question. Yes? Is the move like a repeated thing? Like, you elbow phone, you elbow phone, you elbow phone? Or is it like a single, you elbow phone, and then you move on to other things? You elbow phone, but you do it repeatedly. Okay.

You'll elbow your brother, you'll phone your mom, then you'll do something else for a while, then you'll elbow your brother, phone your mom, then you'll do something else for a while, then you'll elbow your brother, phone your mom, then you'll do something else for a while. So... Okay. And I'll give you one more hint. You perform these actions when parallel to the ground. So that makes me think of swimming again.

Or falling through the air. How else could you be... unless you're literally lying on the ground. Would you have like a skydiving coach? When we went skydiving, they just said to become a banana. So if you were parallel to the ground and you did those actions, what would it look like? Okay, I just have to make myself more parallel for a second. Flat to the ground. Elbow out.

Ooh. Phone to the ear. This is great audio, this is. But you know what I can guarantee is that, assuming that they aren't driving a car or something like that, the entire audience at home is currently doing the same thing, trying to figure out what this gesture is. I'll give a very helpful hint. It has something to do with the water. The entire audience at home is currently doing the same thing, trying to figure out what this gesture is.

I'll give a very helpful hint. It has something to do with the water. Okay. I keep saying swimming, but I feel like it can't specifically be swimming. It's got to be some sort of other water sport, like water polo? Or is it like synchronized swimming? I think that you guys are close enough. I'm just going to give it to you, it is swimming.

Okay, so why? Oh, does it have to do with like, oh, oh! It's kickflips. Is it kickflips? Because you do those, you do the elbow and the mother, and then you do something else for a while, and then you have to do it again. That's the only thing I can think where you would do something else for a while, and then repeat it?

Wait, you mean like when they're bouncing off the end of the pool at the end of like a 50 meter? To like turn around. So they reach the end of the pool, they have to turn around and... but they have to do it when they're parallel? There's two ways to turn around when you reach the end of the pool. A kickflip is one, what's another way? Oh, there's another one.

Oh my gosh. I know this is killing Evan because he swam in high school competitively Wait is it wait is it kickflip the roll kickflip is the roll Okay, kickflip you don't touch the wall with your hands. You only touch with your feet Okay, so this is Kaylin. I taught this to you. I mean, we've basically got it, right? It's the other way to turn at the end of a pool, whatever that is. Yes, so there's a...

When you're swimming competitively, you do a normal kick flip when you're doing freestyle or backstroke, but when you're doing butterfly or breaststroke, we do an open turn known as a two-hand touch turn where you touch the wall, you quickly pull back with the elbow and then you push out again to get streamlined again and keep on swimming. Which part of that is call your mother?

Call your mother is the second part. I personally have issues with this because like I don't fully understand the call your mother completely elbow your brother. You do that fast. You like go for it and then you push out again. Maybe it's a quick call. It's like a, Hey mom. Yeah. Cause you don't pause here. You, you push all the way through and you don't call your mom like this. With one arm fully extended. Elbow your brother, punch your mother. Yes.

I mean to be fair, it might just be like waving your arm in the air and going, mom! Oh yeah, you could call and call it over. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh man, we were like so on the edge for so long. You started out so close. You said swimming so early on. And then you're like, nah, it can't be swimming. And I'm like, I'm malfunctioning over here. Thank you to both Hayden Lamaster and James for this question.

On the 21st of July, 2024, and shortly after, thousands of people in the US stepped out of their house and cut something in half. What was it? I'll say that again. On the 21st of July 2024, and shortly after, thousands of people in the US stepped out of their house and cut something in half. What was it? It's strange that it's thousands, because that's not a ton.

If you think about like the US population. Well, at first I was thinking like there was an eclipse in the US sometime this summer. Yes. And like a lot of people would step out of their house. But yeah, I feel like it would be more than thousands. Yeah, the thousands that actually like if it was hundreds of thousands odd I might have more guesses but thousands is relatively small when you think of like a large population you know what I mean so it must be like a community event or a small city celebration or but it's in the US yeah

but like somewhere in the US oh yeah I guess I wonder if is it spread out evenly across the US or is it clustered in one area? And why would they be doing it in july? And what are they cutting in half? Did they was there a large? Opening ceremony across the us for like a restaurant and it was like they all cut the uh, The red ribbon all at once across the us. Well, also is each of the thousands of people Cutting something in half? I think so. Yes. Thousands of people and thousands of things being cut in half.

Usually about one-to-one on that, I'd say. Was it like some weird world record attempt of like the most things cut in half at once that was arranged? You know what? It might actually qualify for that. But I don't think it was... It wouldn't have been simultaneous enough for that. Mmm. Okay, okay. My brain keeps going back to the eclipse.

Because that was something in the US... It was not that date. Okay. Just taking out your eclipse glasses and cutting them. I know! I was like... Damn you eclipse! It's over! I know some people cut holes in cereal boxes to, like, do something with, like, the... Yeah.

...with the shadows and stuff, but... Yeah. Okay, so it's not big flips. I was also thinking, like, could it be, like, a metaphor, like, cutting your life in half, like, cut something in half? But Tom said, you are physically cutting something, I think was implied. Yeah.

Physically cutting things. Yes, there were photos of this put online. Was it the Olympics around that time? No, but it was implied. Yep. Physically cutting things. Yep. There were photos of this put online. Was it the Olympics around that time? No, but it was a current event. There is a very specific date being given there. Okay. As the people in the US, I feel like we should know this.

Yeah, but we just make YouTube videos all day every day. We don't have time for current events. We're not connected to normal society. Okay. What gets cut in half irregularly? A cake. Um, was it like a birthday? Uh, was there, what else could you cut?

That's not with scissors. Also, it's cut in half. That makes me think like something is like not like a cake where you cut it into multiple small pieces. Mm-hmm. Yeah, what would you specifically cut in half? Ribbons. Right, because then it rules out, like, not a loaf of bread.

Yeah, a ribbon. Cut a ribbon in half. They all stepped out of their house. Specifically, like, their front door. Stepped out of their house and cut something in half. I wonder if... Does it happen regularly or only once? I think it's safe to say that this is the only time in history that this could have happened. Certainly in recent history.

Recent history, and it doesn't happen regularly. So that rules out. Were people protesting something? Were they like, oh, I'm gonna cut my... Business card in half. Yeah. Like cut my spending,, business card in half. Yeah. Like, like cut my spending, but like the thing is like, why would they step outside? Did it have to be so it would have to be something that you would, that would be

better to cut outside than inside. It's going to make a mess. Yeah. It's going to make a mess. The thing is outside already. It was already there. Does it have to do with like a, no, a recent event. I was thinking like flowers, you're like cutting

flowers to give a gift to someone. Will it be cut in half? I mean, it's usually in the garden, this thing. Oh, in the garden. But it's recent. Very much not everyone. But you'll have seen these around. Something in your garden you would possibly... Would you normally cut it in half? Or was this like, no, okay. This is a very special event.

Okay. Right, okay. And people in the US are doing it. Yep. And it would only have been the US, and it would only have been on or around that date. Only in the US? What only happens in the US?

Because I'm trying... I was trying to think of like, are there any obscure holidays or something? But it's the first time in recent— Yeah. —the first time it might have happened. Yeah, yeah. So it can't be a holiday. I feel like it's people protesting something, and then posting it on social media.

Or it's some sort of TikTok challenge. I don't think protesting is the right word here. Okay. But you're not a million miles away with that. So maybe it is something people are doing in solidarity with each other, even if it's not protesting per se. It's like they're making some sort of statement? Oh, they're definitely making a statement. Yes. So they walk outside, they cut something in their garden in half to make a statement.

Quite a positive statement, to be honest, for them. Oh, oh, was that when Biden dropped out of the presidential race? Yes, Biden dropped out on the 21st of July, so, Tom, talk it through. What's happening? So, I'm thinking they would have a sign that said, Biden and Harris, with Biden as the president and Harris as VP. Yes. So they went out and they cut it in half. Yes, they did.

And just left the Harris part. Absolutely spot on. Oh my gosh. Yes. That was went out and they cut it in half. Yes, they did. And just left the Harris part. Absolutely spot on. Oh my gosh. Yes. That was so good. Wow. Wow. That was so good.

Also, we definitely failed as US citizens today. That was so good. Yes, some people used duct tape to cover up his name, or they reinstalled signs from Harris' 2020 primary campaign. But yes, they were Biden-Harris signs and they got shears and they just cut off the top half to just say Harris. Hey, that's some good DIY energy. That's great.

There you go. If you'd prefer to watch Lateral instead of listen, we are happy to announce that full video episodes are now available in the Spotify app. You can start listening on one device, then watch on another. The choice is yours. Tom, it is over to you for the next question. So my question is as follows, and this question has been sent in by AAA. So thank you for your question, AAA.

On the streets of Vietnam, people wear rain ponchos with a special feature. Whilst the rest is opaque, there is a window of clear plastic roughly at waist height. How does this improve the safety and comfort of the wearer?" So I'll read that again. On the streets of Vietnam, people wear rain ponchos with a special feature. While the rest is opaque, there is a window of clear plastic roughly at waist height. How does this improve the safety and comfort of the wearer? I have an answer that would be how I use it. I'd hold my phone there so I could like look at my phone and keep my hands and the phone out of the rain so you can

like text you can watch videos and like your phone isn't getting wet your hands are getting wet you're thinking of that because we were just in Alaska yes ponchos and you couldn't use your phone yes I mean you could use it for that I think it has another purpose I was convinced I feel like that's a valid answer yeah I think let's say I think, I think the particular Pontros we're talking about were designed for another purpose. However, they could absolutely be used for the way you've described, Evan, to look at your phone.

To be fair, you said safety and comfort. And I think that's definitely for comfort. I'm not sure it's for safety. Okay, so safety and comfort. Is it in order to sign, like, do sign language under your poncho so your hands don't get wet? You have found another use for this particular poncho. This is the game now. How many alternative, incorrect uses can we come up with?

We've got DIY people on this show. This is their bread and butter. So again, I think that is a correct use. It is not the answer I'm looking for. But that means we've got the picture right. Like, the poncho is opaque, and there is this hole in the front that, in theory, you could see a phone through, or you could sign through, but it's that kind of size. There's just like a transparent window on the front for your belly.

Yes. I wonder, is it more for the safety of the wearer, or for the safety of those around the wearer? Yeah, because they could be wearing like a high-vis jacket or something. You can put that on over a poncho. Yeah. On the other hand, high-vis poncho. Ha ha ha!

I did know someone who deliberately got a High Viz lab coat made once. That's great. That sounds fun. Sorry, I said deliberately. Why'd I say deliberately? He didn't, like, accidentally make a High Viz lab coat. I don't know. Now, I wonder, does it have to do something with Vietnam in particular? It would certainly be used this way in Vietnam more than it perhaps would in a different country.

Oh, I'm immediately thinking about road safety then. I'm immediately thinking about trying to cross the road when there's 10,000 cars and scooters going by at very high speed. Uh-huh. So, I mean, unless people typically wear reflectors on their belts or something, and, like, the window allows you to see the reflector through the poncho... Yeah, but if I remember, I've not been to Vietnam, so I'm quoting something I heard a while back, is that basically the rules for crossing the road there are you start walking and you expect everyone to avoid you. You just keep a constant speed, a constant

pace, and because everyone understands that's the rule, they will avoid you. You are just an object moving at constant pace that they plan their routes around. And if you try and cross like you're European, and you just go, Oh, should we, should we go away? You will get run into because they can't read what you're trying to do. And I don't know how transparent the fun show was talking about. I feel like we have pieces, we just need to put them together. Yeah, absolutely. And you're completely right, other Tom. Oh, not again.

I was in Vietnam in... Did that one on purpose. I was actually in Vietnam in September, and you're right, that's exactly how you have to do it. But who would be avoiding you? Who would be avoiding you as you were crossing by just walking at a constant speed? Cars. Cars, scooters, bikes, everyone on wheels.

Which of those is most popular in Vietnam? Bikes. Oh, okay. Okay, so what if it's not crossing the road or that sort of thing, but it's something you wear while cycling in a rain poncho? Well, I'm trying to think, like, would there be anything under the rain poncho when you're cycling that gets kind of covered by it? Would the handles get covered by the poncho?

I don't think so. But your hands are on, your hands are on. Oh, oh, oh, I know it, I know it, I know it, wait. Okay, so if you're on a scooter and the poncho's over your hands too, safety and comfort, you need to have a clear thing to see the dash of your motorcycle. Oh, I was gonna say something else.

I was gonna say, if it's covering your hands, it might cover like a light on the front of your motorcycle. Oh, I was going to say something else. I was going to say if it's covering your hands, it might cover like a light on the front of it. Oh, that too. Katelyn's got it. This isn't a poncho just over the person. This is a poncho over the whole bike. Well, it's like, oh, if it covers your hands and you're trying to keep your hands dry,

then that means it's like covering the handles and therefore covering some part of the front of the bike. Oh, so it's to keep the light visible. So the light can still shine through. Oh, there you go. That's it. That's it. Well done, Caitlin. Yeah. Yeah. I was about to say, Evan, you have once again named another use for this show, which is so it couldn't be closer. You're like, you're riding a scooter. You riding a scooter, you need to be able to see, but you were like, dashboard instead of headlight.

I believe the use... The answer I was looking for is exactly what Caitlin said. Yay! It's you put it over the handlebars, it keeps your hands dry, keeps them warm, but you need the clear bit to allow the headlight to still shine for safety. That question writer, when they said waist height, it is at waist height, but just over the whole bike and not you as a person.

Sneaky. Sneaky. I like it though. Now why don't they just make the whole part so clear? That's a very good question. That's a very good question and we'll move on to the next one. Thank you to Brian J. Devine for sending in this next question. In 2013, an actor portrayed a physician trying to help someone who, in the past, had also

worked for the United Nations. Later that year, the actor took on another role with the two words swapped. Who is he? I'll say that again. In 2013, an actor portrayed a physician trying to help someone who in the past had also worked for the United Nations. Later that year, the actor took on another role with the two words swapped. Who is he? The two words swapped. There are a lot of words before the two words.

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out which two words are swapped. Oh before the two words. Yeah, which two words are swapped Oh the two words of his role. Oh Okay, and what was his role again? He was a physician a physician. Mm-hmm Wait, how can you flip physician? I mean it could have been like a specific type of doctor. That's two words. Oh Okay, so so physician is a clue for. What the role was, maybe? What the role was. And it's the role and it's flipped.

Yeah. So, so it could be like, Dr. Strange becomes a strange doctor. I don't know. That's possibly how I'm interpreting the question. I was also really confused about what, what was being swapped around. I was like, is he, is he working for the United Nations helping a doctor now? You might have been confused, but you've got very close there.

That is how it works. He portrayed roles that were X, Y, and Y, X. Okay, yeah. Okay, okay, okay. Okay, so the first role, he was a doctor helping someone from the United Nations. Infectious disease specialist? Two words. I'm just trying to think of what doctor would help the UN.

And this was in 2013. So 11 years ago. So is it going to be the name as in like Dr. Smith? Or do we think it's going to be like, like you say, like a disease doctor? I feel like it's probably more likely to be a name like Dr. Smith, Dr. Strange, something like that. Because like, if you're just doing like, you know, physical therapist, therapist physical, yeah, like that doesn't make sense. So I feel like it is, I think it's going to be doctor something, doctor blank, and then because blank, blank doctor. So I'm trying to think

of words that like when flipped, maybe means something else. Yeah. I mean, Dr. Strange works. Yeah. Would Dr. Strange help the UN? No, it says physician, doesn't it? I don't think you could call Dr. Strange a physician. Well, he was originally, and then... Oh yeah, I guess. Doctor who? Who doctor? Doesn't work.

Um, I mean, you've nearly got it there. Oh. What other organisations might a UN employee work for? Oh, Doctor Who. The World Health Organisation. WHO. Yes. Aww. If anyone has the trivia knowledge for which of the many doctors that was taken on the role in 2013? We barely watch movies anymore.

The guy who's now in Game of Thrones. House of Dragon. It was the one after him. It was Peter Capaldi who took the role of the WHO doctor in Brad Pitt's World War Z movie. And then later that year took on the role of Doctor Who. Very good. Yay! When you said Doctor Strange early on,

I was starting to panic a little bit that that one might fall in about 60 seconds. Caitlin, it is over to you for the next question. Okay. that one might fall in about 60 seconds. Caitlin, it is over to you for the next question. Okay. This question has been sent in by David Turner. Dennis looks out a window and sees five words. Commander, Lieutenant, Colonel, Sergeant, Private. He thinks it's a joke, but it's real. What does it mean?

Dennis looks out a window and sees five words. Commander, Lieutenant, Colonel, Sergeant, Private. but it's real. What does it mean? Dennis looks out a window and sees five words. Commander, Lieutenant, Colonel, Sergeant, Private. He thinks it's a joke, but it's real. What does it mean? Commander, Lieutenant, Colonel, Sergeant, Private. So they're like ranks of in the army, right? I think. Now, I'm not sure. Correct me if I'm wrong here. I think Commander is the Navy, not the Army.

Oh, nice. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lieutenant, Colonel, Sergeant and Private, they're all Army, but I think commander is Navy? Or Air Force? Can you have a commander in the Air Force? I don't know my military ranks enough to know which services those are. Okay. Something military. Let's go with that. I thought I was going to spell out something, but... Doesn't mean anything.

Also, I'll just remind you that these five words are on a window. Hmm. So these words are on a window? Yes. To give you a little bit more specificity, the window is part of a door. Hmm. Okay. And do we think Dennis is important? As in, is this like a person? Or do you think this is a random name?

Oh, this could be a specific Dennis, couldn't it? Yeah, I don't know any famous Dennis the Menace. My favourite Dennis the Menace fact, by the way, which I'm going to drop into this despite the fact it's completely irrelevant to the conversation. There is a UK and a US Dennis the Menace comic strip. They are completely different by completely different authors, and they started in different newspapers on the exact same day. Whaaat?

That's weird. Britain has a very different Dennis the Menace. Like same Miss Cheeva's Kid kind of thing, but ours is very different to the American one and they just started on the same day. Utterly irrelevant to the question, I just love crowbar-ing that fact in. It's one of the weirdest coincidences. It is a wild. That's a glitch.

That's a glitch. So you thought it was a joke, but it wasn't. Yeah. So what would be funny about joke, but it wasn't. Yeah. So what would be funny about that? And it's not a big window. Commander Lieutenant Colonel Sergeant Private. One of the reasons you would put words on a window is that you are saying who's inside that office, or something like that. Like, it's inside a building, but...

I don't think there's going to be someone called Commander-Lieutenant Colonel Sergeant Private. Oh, like a name label. And if there was, it would just say Commander Private. Because I'm absolutely certain that somewhere in the armed forces there is a commander private or a private commander. But I don't see there being five names there. So I will say that the door that this window is a part of is an entrance to an office. So you are correct on that front. I wonder, Tom, if you're on to something like, I wonder if it is like all the ranks that

this person has held in their lifetime. And like you said, maybe he jumped from like different service to different service, and he's just been collecting these titles for some reason. Because yeah, because if you got promoted within, say you were in the Navy and you moved up the rank, you would lose your old rank. But what if you were a private in the army and then became a commander in the Navy? Could you technically use both titles in your name? I still feel like it would be rude to put that on a door. Like, you're just kind of rubbing it in at that point.

Maybe that's the joke. But it's not a joke. It's not a joke. Oh my god. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, I think... No, there isn't going to be a commander private out there. Like, that's rare. But...

Sergeant is a last name. Oh. Like, not a common one, but there are plenty of people out there with the last name Sergeant. So... Could this be... The commander of the base, whose rank is Lieutenant Colonel, his last name is Sergeant, and it is private?

Oh! He should not go in. Thus making it Commander... M-Dash. Lieutenant Colonel Sergeant... M-Dash. Private. You got it.

Whaaaaaa! I didn't even have to use all my clues! Yeah, it's, um... Nice. I'd have got that faster if I'd written it down and actually used all the words instead of just using rank abbreviations to save myself time.

Was this a, this question included at the request of the sponsor? So in the late 1960s, Charles Sargent, you're right, Sargent is a last name, was serving in the 4500th Air Base Wing Supply Unit at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. His rank was Lieutenant Colonel, he was the commander of the base, and it was a private office. So, just like you said, Commander, Lieutenant Colonel, Sergeant, Private. That'd be so confusing! Do we know who Dennis is? We don't know who Dennis is! Probably the Menace. I don't know which one. I guess the US-based one.

Those were some very quick solves, so we have unlocked the shiny bonus question, sent in by Lachlan C. Thank you very much. In Australia, how is a pineapple and a lobster always worth $70? In Australia, how is a pineapple and a lobster always worth $70? I wonder if the price of lobsters are controlled by the government for some regulatory reasons. That was kind of my first thought, is it had to do with regulation. I'm also curious. Is it a combined lobster and pineapple like equal $70 or are they each $70?

Because why would a pineapple be $70? Are they super rare in Australia? Ooh. Like even if they have to be imported though, that seems very expensive. But Australia is an island. They can't be $70. They can't be $70. But Australia is an island, so they, like, there would be certain things that can only

be brought in by importing them. Also, I'm not a super big seafood person, but I've never seen lobster and pineapple together. Is it like a species of lobster? Is that like a pineapple lobster? Like is the species cause it's spiky and I don't know. Always $70. That's the thing that like I keep on going back to like, why is it always $70? Ooh, is there only one place in Australia where you can get pineapple lobster, the dish?

And they have set the price to $70. And there's only one place where you can get pineapple lobster. And it's like their signature dish, so it never changes the price. Maybe the restaurant is called Pineapple Lobster for $70 restaurant. These are not edible. Oh. Pineapple and lobster. Pineapple lobster for $70. Restaurant. These are not edible. Oh. Pineapple and lobster. Can you read the question one more time?

With a new context? Yeah, now that you can keep this in mind. In Australia, how is a pineapple and a lobster always worth $70? Oh, oh wait. It's money. It's money. It's money. Talk me through it.

Okay, so he said, you can't eat it. It's always worth $70. On their money, there must be like either a combination of one or two notes that have a pineapple and a lobster to it. Maybe like a... the 50 is the pineapple, and the 20 is the lobster. You even identified which one's on which note. Absolutely right. Okay, that was very good. Same. Wait, wait, wait. Wait, so they literally have a picture of a lobster and a pineapple on Australian money?

It's not pictures on the money, but this is Australian slang. Oh. Okay, that's what I was about to say, because I'm like picturing is... Because I was... I've been to Australia and like picturing, is... Because I was... I've been to Australia and I was like, their money looked like normal money. I didn't feel like I was playing some kids' game, where I was like,

here's a lobster note, here's a pineapple. Yeah. But what do you remember about that money? Is there anything in particular? They were one of the first countries to have the shiny new polymer notes. Really plastic, yeah. It did feel quite fake. Anything else about it? There were see-through bits.

Yeah. Like, you could hold it up and see through. Like, it was transparent. Did it have to do with the colours? Like, a yellow tone and a reddish tone? Ah, yep, they're all really colourful. Which is partly branding for the Australian government and Mint, partly to help accessibility, so you can tell which note is which,

and partly just because it looks nice. So yes, the $100 bill, which is green, is the watermelon. The 50, yellow, is the pineapple. The 20, red, is the lobster. You've got the 10, which is blue, which is a blue swimmer, a type of crab, and the slang for the pink $5 note is the prawn. Huh, that's fun!

Which brings us to the question right at the start of the show, sent in by Joey Kirschnett, thank you very much. In Fallout New Vegas, the video game, what type of building caused a small town to be rechristened Novak? Before I give the answer to the audience, does anyone want to take a quick guess? I've played old Fallout games, like the original, but I haven't played the one that you're referring to. Well, but something in Vegas, also. That's a relief, because that question would be a lot easier if you played the game.

Something to do with tennis. A tennis court. Why do you say tennis court? Novak Djokovic. Oh! To me, when I hear Novak, Novak is followed by Djokovic in my brain. That is not the connection. It's slightly more complicated than that. What's Fallout set in?

What's it about? It's a post-apocalypse world. There's nuclear fallout. And people are coming out of vault where they weathered the nuclear fallout. No vac, as in no vacuum, no... Oh! Is it like short for... no? Now you're getting very close. It is no vac with a C, not a K.

Oh. No vac. No evacuation, no... vac. You've got most of it. It is from a sign that was worse for wear. No vacancy. No vacancy. No vacancy. And then it changed. So the type of building is? A hotel.

It's a hotel. It's going to be a hotel. Yes, that is right. That is the Dino Delight Motel on Highway 95. Noted for its roadside attraction, Dinky the T-Rex. And after the game's apocalypse, most of the letters had fallen off and you just have a big sign that says Novak. Awesome! Thank you very much to all our players. What's going on in your world? Where can people find you? We will start with Tom. I recently sat an Irish high school maths exam, which took me two and a half hours.

So you can watch that on YouTube and you can watch me struggle my way through maths that an 18-year-old should be able to do as an apparent professional mathematician. And where can people find you? Tom Rocks Maths, on all social media. And Evan and Caitlin? Uh, we are Evan and Caitlin on YouTube and everywhere else. And in terms of stuff we're working on, I'll shout out something a little bit different. We're testing weird food hacks on our second channel

to see if the internet is lying to us or not. Why would the internet lie to us? Yeah, why would it do that? And if you want to know more about this show, you can do that at lateralcast.com. We have regular video highlights at youtube.com slash lateralcast and we are at lateralcast basically everywhere. With that, thank you very much to Evan and Caitlin.

Thanks for having us. To Tom Crawford. My pleasure. I've been Tom Scott and that's been Lateral.