Lateral with Tom Scott - 149: Sea 26

Episode Date: August 15, 2025

Karen Chu & Colin Felton from 'Good Job, Brain!' and Daniel Peake face questions about fame films, right-angled rails and bountiful births. 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. 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: Tom Donnelly, Ali and Jenny, Der König, Daniel, Simon Lombart. 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

What profession is the subject of the documentary film, 20 feet from stardom? The answer to that, at the end of the show, my name's Tom Scott, and this is Lateral. You find me in something of an unfortunate position on this episode of Lateral, because due to a technical hitch, I genuinely do not have the introduction script in front of me. I just have a piece of paper that says improv. So, in the style of... of an improv game, could someone please give me some prompts in a style with which to introduce lateral? Any of our guests today? Shakespeare! Ah, forsooth! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I must speak

in iambic pentameter, and I'm not able to do that off the cuff, but welcome to lateral. Not in close. Give me another one. A very happy vegetable. I'm going to need a specific type of vegetable here? A very happy pee. Hello, welcome to Lateral! Oh, we're joined to be here! See, if it was a potato, would have been a bass voice, but you said pee, that's definitely...

A little tiny pee, yep. Colin, give me something. All-timey gangster. Well, see, we're here at Lateral today, and I bet be no trouble, all right? I can't do that accent, but you know what? That's clocked up enough of an intro that I can go to our guests. Last time that we had good job brain on here,

We had one person from the crew, and this time we have two. We'll start. Welcome back to the show, Karen Chu. Hello, double trouble. It is I, Karen, from Good Job Brain, a trivia podcast. And I brought a friend. Yes. One of my best friends, also from Good Job Brain.

Colin, this is your first time. Happy to be here. Like, at the rate we're doubling. Next time, there'll be four of us, unconstrained growth. Yes, I'm Colin, also from Good Job. Brain, also Karen's friend, and her one-time boss. Yes. That's filed away for the factoids.

I love it when the guests set each other up. I didn't have to read Colin Felton anyway. You just did that for me, thank you very much. You should plug Good Job Brain. We're proud to represent here, Good Job Brain, the offbeat trivia show and pub quiz podcast. And now in the style of a 1930s gangster movie. Listen, see, you're going to listen to the show and you're going to like it, all right? It's called Good Job Brain.

You found it on your radio, I guess. That's much better than mine. Rounding out the panel today, a friend of the show, regular on the show. Daniel Peek, welcome back. Hey up. I always wonder about what to introduce you as because you have so many arrows in your quiver right now.

I was going to all strings to the bow, and that metaphor got confused. What's your big thing right now? You leave my big thing out of it. I am Jack of All Trade's Master of None. At the moment, mainly I'm a puzzle editor and writer, but I also work on Only Connect. Those are my two big strings. How are you at improvised voices for the introduction to a panel show?

I like being in my pod. Thank you. That's all we needed. Well, very best of luck to all three of our players today. We'll see if we can improvise our way through question one. Thank you to Dare Kernig for this question. On a Swiss railway in the 1930s, how did the construction workers use one rail that was perpendicular to all the others. I'll say that again. On a Swiss railway in the 1930s, how did the construction workers use one rail that was perpendicular to all the others?

Perpendiculally. Naturally. All right. Well, I mean, it's going to be too small to like sit on. It's not a bench. But I have a guess here that, you know, they're Swiss. So maybe it's something related to working at high altitude. Oh, like an altitude sickness area. Oh, oh, sure. Like, you mean they lean over when they have to, you know, send something down below, as it were. They do often work at high altitudes in...

Just get that out there. Have any of you ever had altitude sickness? Because I've had it once in my life. I was like... I have. I have once. It was awful. It was pretty bad.

Your body just suddenly decides it can't do things? Yes. Just over the course of like 10 minutes, I went from, oh, that's fine. I'm jogging along here to, no, I must lie down immediately and I cannot eat anything. It took me ages to work out what had happened. It's terrifying. I was at the top of a snowboard slope. And when I went up to the top, I felt fine.

And as soon as I got there, my body was like, oh, no, you don't. No, you don't feel fine. Not anymore you don't. You need that third rail. The place I was staying actually had like one of those. oxygen machines you plug into your nose, just like, it was part of the hotel because it happens that often that some sea level idiot arrives and decides to run. Yeah, we'll just give you that for a couple of hours.

I had to make do with hot chocolate in the lodge, which was, you know, maybe not the best thing. What if these railway workers are working at such high altitude, they need a place to hang their stuff or maybe hang themselves while they work on the rails like from below or something. Like, doesn't that paint a cool little image? Ooh, but who's to say that you can't put something on the rail, right? If a train can go on the rail, like it could be a single car. It could be a single space that's kind of just an offshoot kind of out of the way. Maybe it's like a sleeping quarters kind of deal because they can't come back down home, right?

they're up there, they're working. When we say perpendicular, what are we saying it's perpendicular to? I'm fixated by this word, can I just say. All the others, all the other pieces of rail they were laying. Okay. Oh, okay. It could be perpendicular straight up. It could be.

It could be. Oh, good, taking us into the third dimension. Wow, Daniel. Well done, Captain Kirk in Star Trek 2. Oh, my third eye. That has not helped me, but I did like the ooze. It could be a marker. It could be a...

Help, I'm here in the snow. Yes. A distance marker, you know, until lunch break. You've got to work to the post. Now, Colin, you're stumbling very close to the answer there. Okay. Some sort of distance marker. All right, I don't believe it's tied to...

Not that part of your statement. Oh. Do you want to try saying that again, but this time the exact opposite? Oh. When it's lunchtime You need somewhere to put your stuff I don't know When it's lunchtime

You need to know where to stop working Oh So you know where you are It's not where When? The Swiss are famous for their clocks But what do you do if you haven't got a clock around You've got a cuckoo clock on the train

But it's all the way over there So you need to find a way to tell the time. Is that what they're doing? They're making an impromptu sundial? That is slightly more complicated than the actual answer. Oh, right. But you're right. This is being used to tell everyone that it's time for lunch. Is it, if you work and get to this marker, there you go. You can have a break. No? No. You've got all the key parts here. It's hanging up, it's hanging upright.

It's not welded and upright. It's hanging upright. bang on it, like a lunch bell, like, hey, no matter where you are on the line, it's lunchtime. Yes, on railway construction sites in Switzerland in the 1930s, a free-hanging piece of rail was basically used of public address system. Free-hanging. That was the last little bit there, right, right. So it was the equivalent of a factory whistle or something like that. It is just hit with a hammer, makes a very loud noise, and everyone knows it's time for lunch. Colin, it is over to you for the next question whenever you're ready. All right. We have a question that was sent in by Ali and Jenny.

Allie was planning a business lunch at the Café Les Duguerre. When booking, why was he asked to choose from C-26, that's S-E-A, and Game 27, among other options? Read it again. Allie was planning a business lunch at the Cafe Le Duguerre. When booking, why was he asked to choose from C-2-6 and Game 27, among other options? Cafe Duguer of war? Yeah. Of war.

Oh, G-A-R-E-S. Oh, G-A-R. Stations. Mm, you guys are linked. linguistically, uh, skilled here. Yes. Yes. It's more than anyone learning French. Like, one of your basic things is like, uh, le la gar. Like, that's just in my, is it pronounced right? No, but from years of high school French, that's stuck in there. Yeah. Well, you're on to, you're on to the right name here of the cafe at least. So, so how can you work with that?

C-26, game 27. 26 is always a very suspicious number for me. As a puzzler, there are 26 letters in the alphabet. But then you go to 27 minutes. So, yeah. So, you know, this is a lunch, right, that was being, uh, being scheduled here. Here's, here's a weird reference. It's not going to be this, but there is a restaurant at a theme park in Germany, which is a dark ride restaurant, like full, full gourmet dining experience, like molecular gastronomy type of thing. Whoa. But the tables and the chair. are individual little dark ride vehicles, and after every course,

make sure everyone's back from the low, everything like that, the whole restaurant setting will pick itself up and move into a new, like, space and theatre and everything like this, so the whole thing changes. Let's go! I haven't done it because it's crazy expensive,

and I'm not that much of a foodie, but I'm like trying to think, is it something where... If it's Café du Guère, like, it's moving between stations or something like... What if they're eating on the train? Ah, uh, uh, I think, I think, I think you guys are maybe giving a red herring here to yourselves with the, with the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the fact that you've hit on the language is, is a key to this. Um, this was a, this was a business lunch. And, uh, as the question notes, there were other options available, but maybe not quite so confounding as C-2-6 and game 27.

This is a business lunch being booked on. I will say that C could be like surf and game could be like turf. So it could be like surf and turf. Oh, yeah, the fish menu and the venison menu or something like that. Yes, I don't think it is, but it feels like C in game could be surf and turf. And then the number next to it is just the price. That's actually just how many euros it costs. I'm assuming France at this point.

It could be like Montreal or something like that. Yeah, Tom, let me steer you back a bit to, yeah, where do you think this lunch is taking place? this business lunch being booked online, I will add here, booking online a business lunch, a couple options thrown out, maybe less complicated than the restaurant moving or changing position, but just a simple act. I mean, it feels like we're in a French restaurant,

but it could be, or any French-speaking restaurants, so Canada would also work that sort of thing. Are we in France? You are in Paris, indeed. this cafe is in Paris It's weird that Sea and Game are in English Right if it is a restaurant in Paris

Why is C and game That's true If there's any city in the world That he's not going to try and do English If they don't have to It's going to be Paris Mère and Je Dan

You have stumbled Directly onto the answer Oh Why What's the link What's the link though? It's the days of the week is it the days of the week and it's been badly translated yes yes it got a bad google translation

or something and so your mecredi which is wednesday mayor got translated to see so that's exactly right 27th or 26th that's right vansis i think is right for that yes yeah yeah vansis and jerd jerdie is going to be thursday you got it well done yeah good teamwork on that one right into it. Yeah. And maybe an example of it, not a bad translation per se, but, you know, overzealous. Maybe overzealous, well said. Yeah. Yeah. I take back what I said about Parisians not translating to English. You were right. They did just hit the automated button rather than get a human to do it. The next question was sent in by Daniel. Thank you very much. In the 1960s, William Labov went to a Manhattan department store and asked dozens of employees where the women's shoes were. On the fourth floor,

they all replied. He then repeated this at two more stores, but with different products at each. Why? I will give you that one more time. In the 1960s, William Labov went to a Manhattan department store and asked dozens of employees where the women's shoes were. On the fourth floor, they all replied. He then repeated this at two more stores, but with different products at each. Why? I would just like to clarify, I am not the Daniel in question here, so I don't know the answer. You have sent in questions before. I have, indeed, but this is not one of them. Not planting.

Okay, with different products, meaning at another store, he might have asked, wear... Men's shoes. Men's shoes or housewares. Interesting. Small, happy peas. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Someone coming halfway through the show will not understand why I just did that,

but also, this isn't... On the radio in the 1930s, so I don't know why I thought that. Does this gentleman own the store? Maybe he's quizzing his employee's knowledge somehow. Some forms like undercover shopper. But why would he go to another store, other stores? Another one in a chain or something? So he's testing his own stores.

And why would he mix up products, you know, if he's just testing their knowledge? It's got to be some sort of, Manhattan, it's got to be some sort of department store where there are multiple floors for different things. At first, maybe I was like, oh, maybe he's casing the buildings. He's trying to figure out, like, oh, I like this thief. Oh, this is good. William Lubbuff, 1960.

Or he likes feet. Now, now let's not do fame, Mr. Lovov. Not there's anything wrong with that. Yeah. Oh, impressive double back pedal there. I like that. Yes. And there's a large number of shoes in Karen's background as well.

This is the question that's meant to be. Is he, is, is, is William Loveoff maybe less interested in the items than in getting to the items? You know what I mean? Like if he's mixing it up, is he, is he interested in root finding or is he the escalator designer? I mean, something like along those lines. Oh. Or, yeah, I like, maybe. this interior strategizing, maybe they had a survey and women are like, why are my shoes?

Because usually women's shoes are first floor or B1 nowadays. They're never that high up. Ah, so I was being cynical. I'm thinking they're marching them past all the other merchandise, so they have to buy something on their way to and from getting the shoes. You're right that he was not interested in the shoes themselves. And you're right that he is choosing the products very carefully. Oh, market research. So not like an undercover shopper, but seeing what their competitors are doing.

Oh, you've got your shoes there. Oh, this is where you stack your, can't think of any other words. There are no products in the world. Boots. Right, right. Like seeing how can I improve maybe, perhaps. But then why would you even bother asking the employees?

He specifically asked. He asked employees, you could just go and walk around the shop. He's asking employees, that that's important. Yes, and asked dozens of employees the same question at the same store. Okay, is he, I mean, checking for courtesy or memorizing the company tagline or something, I don't know, very nitpicky. Or maybe there isn't a floor for women's shoes, and it's kind of, I don't know, he's trying to see if people are BS and. him and giving the answer was always the same

and it was the same at the other stores. It was always on the fourth floor. Is he a scaffolding merchant? Or like a stair salesman hey, can you get up to the fourth floor? Is it accessible? No. Have

some stairs. Try stairs. Or an escalator. Possibly. Yeah. Elevator. At some point, someone had to invent the stairs. Of course. Right. No, in this case, he was compiling a study.

Is it, you know, disability access? Like, is there a way for someone in a wheelchair to get to the fourth floor? He could just find that out himself. He didn't need to ask dozens of employees at each store. True, true. Are the words fourth and floor important here? Yes, they are. I feel like it's something about the way they're said.

Something. Ooh. In the UK, the ground floor is what you call the first floor in the U.S. Yes. So I'm wondering if that's going to be a thing then. It's not. Or L, like floor one versus a lobby floor. Ooh, or four being an unlucky number in some cultures.

Okay, so he's trying to elicit people to say fourth floor. Yes, he is. It is what I... Okay, so he's doing a study, perhaps, on the linguistics of... The sounds involved in the words fourth floor. Yes, he is. Is he trying to learn an American accent or something? He is trying to study American accents.

What? And because I have enough of the linguistics background here, I am going to ask us to drill down and try and figure out what the difference might be. And what might be helpful is if each of you three... say the words. Fourth floor. Fourth floor. Fourth floor.

There was a distinct difference there between how Dan said it and how Karen and Colin said it. Yes, for sure. Yes. Which is? Yeah, the American R. Exactly right.

Keep going, Colin. Well, I mean, in fourth floor versus the lighting over the R in fourth floor, which would be closer to a more UK typical pronunciation. Yes. This was linguist. William Labov, who was studying the New York accent, and he couldn't...

I was just going to say it's a Manhattan, and that's even more a distinct accent. So why couldn't he just say, how do you say fourth? Because he's British. Yeah, or they would subconsciously mirror it back to him or change. They'd be aware of how they're saying it. Yep, they'd be self-conscious. So he found a natural question. He went to department store workers and asked where certain products were, so he could record

the way they said, fourth floor. without saying it himself in a way that might prompt a response. Absolutely right. He found that workers were significantly more likely to use the traditional NYC. Look, there's just a lot of Ws in this pronunciation here. Fourth. Fourth. Fourth.

Yes, at high-end stores, in the cheaper shops, staff use a more general Midwestern. There's a lot of R's in this, if someone could... Fourth. Fourth. Absolutely right. And today, Labov, I've just seen the pronunciation guide. It might be Labove. I'm really sorry if it is.

He is widely, because I should know that, he is widely considered the father of socio-linguistics. Wow. Didn't even buy anything in any of the shops. What a cheap state. Anyway. If there's one thing I know from studying linguistics, Dan, is that the budgets for studies are not that high.

Indeed. Dan, it is your question. All righty then. A woman crouches beyond a white line with people either side of her. She then sprints for 50 feet or 15 metres, stops and turns around. Soon she is surrounded by people who ignore her. What's happening? A woman crouches beyond a white line with people either side of her. She then sprints for 50 feet or 15 meters, stops and turns around.

Soon she is surrounded by people who ignore her. What's happening? Well, I mean, we're being led, I think, to think of, you know, some sort of track meet scenario, you know, possibly. Do you think that's a misdirection? Because the first thought I had in my mind is maybe it was a race. And sometimes people don't go to the porta potty or the bathroom because they're running. And they'll just kind of go or crouch down and do their business and, you know, finish the race. and people are kind of like, okay, we're staying away from that.

You would be ignoring that person. Yes, you would be ignoring that person. So you're trying to play cool. You're like, I did not see all that stuff in their shorts. Oh, that was unnecessarily graphic. Oh, yes. Yeah. We were ready to move on.

The last detail of a parting shot there. I have no social skills. My first thought was that it might be a false start at a track and field event. Because you're crouching the blocks You get up, you run And oh, there was no one else going The gun didn't go with this I think there's an alarm that sounds if you go off early

So after about 15 metres You would stop and you would turn around And come back again But that feels a very That doesn't feel like a lateral answer to me Yeah Yeah I feel like we're not We're not necessarily looking for a weird edge taste here

We're looking for yeah Something is hiding before us So she runs She stops And she sprints. She sprints. And then she returns. She turns around.

She turns around. Turns around. Bonnie Tyler. Okay. Doing total. No, sorry. Sorry, I heard the words turn around and my brain is activated. I think that's an automatic trigger for any Brit, I think.

It'll be playing in my head for the rest of this segment, no doubt. Is this a person maybe who's, you know, like, they're working in a, in a, in a, in a meta capacity at like a track event, like, you know, maybe a videographer or a photoque or somebody, you know, like where they're not the person performing, but they kind of have to mirror some of the actions. I don't know. We're not at a track and field event.

Okay, okay, God, it's hard to pull my brain away from that. So my thought is some other sporting thing. But I, that's not only my specialty. I'm going to move you away from sport. as well. Oh, okay. White line. I'm like disappointing people.

This is excellent. A school setting, a drill, maybe something military, perhaps. I don't know. I will say if you can work out what she's doing, then the wear might follow afterwards. But the action itself might be a way in here. Because it is important that she turns around.

Crouch behind a white line, sprint 15 meters, turn round. Okay. Maybe she doesn't want to miss something that's behind her, but she wants to keep moving forward. I mean, it feels like a very regimented distance, that, you know, this is the distance you do it. You are setting up an explosive, and the fuse is way too short. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But you want to be close enough to see it. Right, yeah. I mean, you're not going to go to all that trouble and not see it. It's like when you, like, as a kid, launching fireworks. Like, it's fine, don't need to. Okay, I'm running now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And people would do know her because they're currently going, ooh.

Don't play with fireworks, kids. No. Okay. She is turning around to face a friend. Okay. But it's, you're facing a friend. Maybe is she, I mean, the photographer angle is nice. Maybe she's trying to take a picture of her friend and trying to line it up.

Maybe it's like, you know, those Pisa, leaning tower of Pisa, where they're They're trying to do a pinchy photo. Maybe she's the one being photographed. Ah, she has to set the timer on her camera and jog back to a position. She's an influencer. She's doing a selfie. You're getting that. 15 meters, though.

Like, that's, what, about three, five seconds at a good... If you're going to speed up, slow down. It's about the length of time a camera will take on a time. Oh, I see. It's a pretty long. No, to be taking a selfie, right, at 50 feet. It is. And to be leaving her camera equipment there.

So she was with a friend. So someone else was looking after the camera. She is Wiley Coyote in a cartoon and has run out over the cliff and is just doing the realisation to turn back and get the picture before gravity kicks in. Oh, Daniel, you did say once we figure out kind of her activity, then the place and her whereabouts will come into focus. Yes. So it's something...

Because she turns around and then soon after that, she's surrounded by people who ignore her. Oh, I forgot that part. I completely forgot that part of the question. Yeah, it runs out, runs out with a friend, facing a friend surrounded by people who ignore her, yet are surrounding her. Oh, oh, it's one of those...

long exposure photos no the sprinting doesn't make sense then I thought it was like she's she's standing steady and all the people around her are blurred for like an artistic effect but that doesn't the sprint doesn't make sense you don't need to take time to you know for that yeah I mean

I'm thinking of like a natural phenomenon like a geyser or something where you have to time it to some external event maybe but the people ignoring surrounding her what are the people do maybe the people are paying attention to something else that's more important.

Maybe it's like the Mona Lisa situation. That crossing in Japan, Shibuya, where there's just so many people going past and there are so many people with cameras there, they just ignore them all the time. Tom, that's correct. Oh! Because you have to...

You have to cross. So what's going on? Because after a few seconds, the light will change, the people will not be in position. She wants to get there. Oh, no, she wants to get there. head of everyone else.

She wants to get the crossing while it's empty. There we go. She's taking a photo at Shibuya pedestrian crossing. She wants to be in the middle without the crowds. Wow. It has to just book it. This is the famous Shibuya Scramble pedestrian crossing in Japan. User Banana Peel 290 on TikTok posted a video of herself sprinting to the middle of the crossing,

then turning around so that her friend could take the photo. and then sprinting ahead of the crowds allowed her friend to take a clear shot before she swarmed either side by people using the crossing. Ah, the people on each side, yes. Oh. There is a film studio in Japan that has built a replica crossing. There's a lot of green screen around it for the detailed parts, but they have duplicated every bit of curb and every pavement and every line just so people can film without having to get permission.

They'll still issue you tickets, It's that accurate. Thank you to Simon Lombart for this question. Gwene and Marino had a child called Alex. In 2023, Gweney gave birth to their 13th child. They say their family is now complete, but mathematically they could have up to 11 more if they wanted to use every possibility.

How? And I will give you that one more time. Gwene and Marino had a child called Alex. In 2023, Gweney and Marino. gave birth to their 13th child. They say their family is now complete, but mathematically they could have up to 11 more if they wanted to use

every possibility. How? Okay, I have a feeling Gweny and Marino are not humans. Yeah. Yeah, that was my first angle. Yeah, I don't know, horses or pigeons or something. Hamsters, rabbits are known to...

Guinea pigs. It'll be some form of fast breeding. thing. It is a standard lateral trope to just make a question to be about animals when it sounds like it's about humans, but in this case Lenny and Marino are people.

No! How? How? I hate this show. Finally, I think I'm getting a handle on it. Oh, nice and constant. I know, I know. Yeah. Okay. 13. And 11 more. So they're 13th child in Mathemat.

could have 11 more. That makes 24, but add in Guerni Marino, that makes 26. Suspicious number o'clock. Alex! The first name is Alex, the first child. Oh, that's true. Alex. They work on their way through the alphabet.

What a strange goal. It's not working their way through the alphabet, but it is related to the names. Okay. 24. Every, all right, I'm struggling to think of, you know, muses or gods or things where there's a set of 24 to be named after

Greek letters there are 24 of those but I don't see how that helps Gweny and Marino what How are Gweny and Marino spelt please It's not actually relevant that one

Okay I can give you their full names There are Gweny Blankert and Marino I'm, again, probably mispronouncing that, but not relevant to the question. But it is to do with the names. You're right there. 2003 is their first child, Alex? No, they've had a child called Alex. Those are two facts. Yes, two facts.

Gwani and Marino had a child called Alex, and in 2023, Gwini gave birth to their 13th child. All right. So now, there was some emphasis on, like, by every possibility, right? I mean, why would there be an end? And, you know, why would they could have up to 11 more, all right? I mean, so it's definitely... A contained set. It's not open-ended, that's right.

They must know already what that last possibility would be. Yes. And it's not a power of 2 either, if that makes any sense. So it's not 2, 4, 8, 16, 32. But what is that maximum number? 24? Yes. 24.

Number of hours in the day. they wanted to give birth between 0 and 1 between 1 and 2 but the names the names it has to do with the names okay so so it's not the alphabet

I mean unless they're including themselves right Daniel is mentioned is it a short is it that the names are nicknames and they're working their way through Alex is sure for Alex Concentrate on the name Alex

So let's start with A Ends with X Mm, it does Yes Oh Maybe all the different ways to spell Alex A-L-Y-X

Oh There are 24 ways Of No Arranging four things I think I was kidding There you go

I think there are Wow Is that actually So are they're doing all the Anagrams of Alex Yes they are Wow Wow

And those are, so far. Okay, please. I've got a script in front to me, here we go. Alex, Axel, Lexer, Lexer, Zeal, Zeal, Exler, Leaxe, Zail, Leaxe, and now Laxey. That's actually quite a nice set of names. I mean, be that as it may, I do feel that the early children maybe got to find names. Yes, in theory, they could have four. four factorial children with this pattern, four times, three times, two times one.

You're absolutely right, Dan, that is the number of ways the letters can be rearranged. Some combinations, not really an option due to difficult pronunciation, but that is the possibility space of those four letters. I wonder at what point did they start thinking they want to do this? Because it must be at Child 2 at the very start. Yes. Right. But Child 2 requires the first name to be, like,

quite a reasonable name to begin with, because you can't do it with, say, the word, Rachel, or something like that you're going to have really difficult anagrams of that. So did they plan it at Child 1? They're going to go, we've got a plan here. Or they're having their morning coffee, and someone's just like, what if?

This is actually a personal anecdote from Simon, who sent the question in two of the children in the school he's an administrator in. But we do have a news article to back it up. There is evidence here outside just our question writer's word here. We do have a news article to back up the family naming. That's amazing. Karen, I think it's your question left whenever you're ready.

This question has been sent in by Tom Donnelly. Since becoming a parent in Norway, Tom's cell phone has gradually accumulated phone numbers of other parents. The more walks he goes on, the more numbers he gathers. Why is this? And why will he message, but not me, some of those parents Once again Since becoming a parent in Norway

Tom's cell phone has gradually accumulated phone numbers of other parents The more walks he goes on The more numbers he gathers Why is this and why will he message But not meet some of those parents? I think it's because Tom is staggeringly attractive Thank you

Oh sorry, not me, not me sorry I couldn't possibly comment I have a weird knowledge thing that I've never seen in person but I've been told that in parts of Norway it is traditional to just leave your kid outside in the cold to get some fresh air. Like even when it's really, really cold,

like Norwegian cold outside, you bundle the kid up and you put them outside because it is healthy for them. So I'm wondering if there's some, like, monitoring the kid's system, like as he goes from water, like, yep, kid's still that, check.

is my kid missing please call oh yeah to be clear when i say kid i mean like baby here i'm not talking like bundling up your 14 year old and going there you go out in the cold that is effective parenting though i mean if it's all right so these other numbers are to other parents i believe was the bit of info we got there um so he's out he's he's walking his child the other parents are saying, I'd love to do that too, let me know the next time you'd go out. So, clarification or an addition, in theory, childless people could also do this. Because, yeah, parents trade numbers all the time. You're going to meet outside the school gates when you're picking your kids up or whatever

the Norwegian equivalent of that is. I don't know if that's a thing they do there. I imagine the U.S. it's school buses. But, like, you're going to trade numbers with other parents. So, but why on walks? And message, but never meet. Right. I think I've cracked this.

Ooh. Oh. We've assumed that he's walking a child. And I don't think he is. I think is he walking pets? Is he walking dogs instead? And people are going up to him and say, yes, you can walk my dog. And therefore he'd collect the dog and would never meet the other owner at a future point in time.

It's a really brave move, Dan, to open with, I think I've cracked this. Do you still think you've cracked it? No. I've seen Karen's face. I'm still going for it. This is a Gwenian Marino situation where they are humans. Everybody's human. All right.

I still hate the show. Collecting numbers, message, but not me. So he's sending either information or photos, right? I mean, those are the two reasons that you would. message another human and yet not meet that human. Is there some, like, parent communication system that involves, like, putting your number up somewhere? Like, as you go for a walk, there is a space where you're, like, leave your number here

if you are a parent, because X, and I don't know what X would be. You're onto something. It's not a space. Where do you think these numbers appear? Like, where are these phonological? on a tree. These are phone numbers, right? These are definitely phone numbers.

Phone numbers, this isn't some... Phone numbers, yes. Hmm. It's not a space. It's not a space. It's a time. No. Is it written on paper?

Not necessarily paper. Not paper. Mm. Okay. I love what Tom noted earlier that, you know, leaving babies or maybe kids out is kind of part of the culture. Okay, so maybe he's just doing welfare check and sending photos of, hey, I spotted your kid, they're still okay?

I mean, but we sort of went through that idea. Is the number written on the kid? No, oh, good thinking, though. What is the number written on? The box on the outside or something, but no, okay. The kid box. Are the kids carrying the numbers with them? Usually.

Usually, usually, the kids are carrying the numbers with them. They all have the phone numbers in their jackets because they keep leaving them behind places. And it's like, if lost, return to. Yes, yes. And it doesn't apply to just jackets. It's everything. And on all belongings of said child.

All belongings. All belongings. And it's, I found it and I left it on this. park bench or I found it and it's by the water band. And that's why you wouldn't meet them because you just go here, that's where it is and then you go and collect it. Your kid has once again left their

favorite toy, their jacket, their whatever here. Yes. So Norway has a very strong communal and also like a strong outdoor get some fresh air culture. So children kindergarten age, around that age

they often play outside in all types of weather conditions. which means a lot of stuff, not just jackets, but gloves, hats, scarves. They get kind of maybe mixed up or even left behind. And so in Norway, the telephone numbers are written on labels like in all of the clothes. And so as Tom walks through, you know, takes a little stroll. He will often find lost items on the ground. He looks to see if there's like phone number on the tag on the label and then will arrange

to meet, to hand them back or let the people know where they left their stuff. That's so much better than the British system of just stick the lost glove on a fence post nearby. Yeah.

Or the American tradition of, you just keep it. Which also is, yeah. Which leads me to the question that I asked the audience at the very start of the show. What profession is the subject of the documentary film

20 feet from stardom? Before I give the answer to the audience, does anyone want to take a quick shot that? Oh, I already know. Karen knows this one. I'd go with Karen then. Karen? I believe the profession is background singer. Yes, it is. This is the people who are in the background of the stage 20 feet from the star. How did you know that? Oh, it's a terrific documentary. It's a good, doc. A lot of like, hopes and dreams and tension and it's like, can they make it? And the title itself, like you're 20 feet away.

You're a background singer. The star is right there and it's like, when can I have that chance? It's a really well done. I believe it won an Oscar, too. I believe it won an Academy Award. But yeah, terrific.

I would highly recommend. Well, congratulations to all three of our players for running the gauntlet. What's going on your lives? Where can people find you? We'll start with Dan. You can find me on Twitch and YouTube. I stream on Twitch for Twitchee Dan.

Colin, tell us about good job brain. Good job, brain. We have been doing for 12 years. I can scarcely believe it since before children. But it is a mix of pub quiz-style questions, crazy stories, fun facts, trivia nuggets. And with our beloved, still with us, not dead, our beloved partner, Chris, Karen and I meet to share the joy. And Karen, where can people find it? You can find it on Good Jobring.com and on all podcast apps.

And if you want to know more about this show, you can do that at lateralcass.com. There are full video episodes every week on Spotify, regular highlights on YouTube and TikTok, and we are at Lateralcast, basically everywhere. And if you go to Lateralcast.com, you can send in your own ideas for questions. Thank you very much to Karen Chu. Thank you.

Colin Felton. Thank you very much. Daniel Peek. Happy Pea! I've been Tom Scott, and that's been Latterall. Thank you.