Lateral with Tom Scott - 181: Road of Lions

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

Ella Hubber, Caroline Roper and Tom Lum from 'Let's Learn Everything!' face questions about French phrases, rugged roads and profitable practices. 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: Katie Waning, Kagan Yildiz, Joseph Stamps, Crashington, Meredith Lowmaster, Rob, Paul Andrews. FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott. © Pad 26 Limited (https://www.pad26.com) / Labyrinth Games Ltd. 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In communities across Canada, hourly Amazon employees can grow their skills and their paycheck by enrolling in free skills training programs for in demand fields. Learn more at aboutamazon.ca. In France, what is known as Chateau LaPomp. The answer to that at the end of the show, my name is Tom Scott, and this is Lateral. Before we begin, a quick thank you to everyone who's taking time to leave as a review on Spotify. At time of recording, our rating is a one. wonderful 4.8, and we're trying not to let it go to our heads. But what, I wonder, would it be like to host a podcast with a rating of 4.7? Well, our guests today wouldn't know, as their

podcast is currently rated 4.9. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Which, I'm not going to lie, stings a bit, but it's richly deserved. It's the folks from Let's Learn Everything. Yeah. Wow, that's traumatic. I don't think we're at a 4.7 because I look at every review and I call those people personally and get them to change it.

My script here literally has a note from producer David that says in big square brackets, in bold, fake out. So I'm glad that works. The idea of like before the Oscars, like really kicking someone down the peg and then being like, and now you've won the award, it's like, oh, oh, ah, oh. And of course, we all know having a 4.9 is the equivalent of having an Academy Award. It's one of those things where you don't want a five.

That just means only one person's reviewed you. Yeah. It's like hotel ratings or anything like that. A high four, I'll believe, a five, something's wrong there. We do genuinely, if we see a review that's just like, they swear too much and they don't make, they make too many jokes. We're like, oh, the podcast is reaching people, new people, that's great. Yeah.

Let's talk about the award-winning 4.9 podcast. Caroline, tell us about let's learn everything. Because you're all a regulars here now, but for the folks who've just joined us in the last few weeks on this show, what do you guys do? So the three of us do a science comedy podcast where we talk about a science

and a miscellaneous topic, the twist. None of us know what we're going to talk about that day, so it's a surprise to all of us. One of us knows. Hopefully one of us does the reason. We go in completely blind, completely blind, all of the facts, not true, but we say it with confidence

so people believe us. To be fair, that is the difference between you and the vast majority of podcasts out there. We do too much research. We spend a lot of time. I do a lot of work. Ella, what sort of things are you researching? We do a huge range of topics on the podcast. In a single episode, you might hear about

fossil reality and movie censorship or unsolved mass problems and video game controllers, so you can just see the kind of eclectic range of things we do. And Tom Lum, what's your favorite card in Magic the Gathering? Oh. I had to pay Tom Scott so much to give me this airtime chaos warp. Or shareless spoils.

It's got to be mono-red. What about the guy that eats itself? Oh, we did actually talk about magic very briefly on one episode. It was a card called Terror that has a wonderfully macabre artwork of like a skeleton and like a circle thing. We all met up and Tom gave us some. gifts, and one of the gifts was the terror magic at the gathering card.

So, with that kind of group. Well, good luck to all three of you. Caroline, Ella, Tom. Best of luck. Let's see if you're going to leave a five-star review for question one. Well, it's a terror to have you all on, so let's get crazy.

Thank you to Meredith Lomaster for this question. At a museum in Cleveland, Ohio, there is a model of a German car affixed to the wall with a thin metal bar. Visitors find this both surprising and amusing. Why? And one more time, at a museum in Cleveland, Ohio, there's a model of a German car

affixed to the wall with a thin metal bar. Visitors find this both surprising and amusing. Why? I had a classic, is this genius or am I going to... Yeah. Okay. My first thought, this is what the first seatbelts look like. It was just a thin metal bar across the lap.

It sounds... Tom Scott's just not doing any reaction, which I don't know if it's like... I'm waiting for you all to say things! Oh, I thought it was like a fake out where you're going to tell Tommy's wrong again. I'm not going to do that twice in two shows. Or maybe I am, I'm just setting up the expectation now that I want.

The mind games. Okay, my first thought was it... The metal bar separates the east and west of the car. Wait, I'm interpreting this completely differently. I thought it was like affixed to the wall, but the bar was the thing holding it up there. Is that, am I interpreting that wrong?

Yeah, you've got the right. Yeah, that's right. I decided that the metal bar was over the car. Are we, is it standing on the metal bar? Would a car wear a metal bar this way or this way? The metal bar goes all the way through the car. Through the car. Through the car.

It is affixed to the wall. Is this a Phineas Gage car? Is this the car Phineas Gage? It's... Sometimes I start, like, a sentence with like the it. And I don't actually have the rest of the sentence. I just hope that something will come afterwards. And I have nothing.

Nothing. That reminds me of, it's just like, um... Okay, I'm bringing this back. Is it like, I'm picturing a car on like a flagpole and it's like, not through passenger side to driver's side, it's through like boot through to front windshield and it's just like hanging there like that. How are the rest of you picturing it? I was picturing it from boot to, from boot to nose. Yeah. Not passenger, like window through window on the side.

No, I don't know why. Interesting. Is it sticking, yeah, I was imagining the car sticking directly out of the wall. So, sorry, does, I'm so lost. Is this, I'm trying to rotate this metal car in my mind. Is the metal bar part of the car, or is it like something that, like, a car, the rod went through it and it's like a famous car for that reason or something like that? The metal bar is not part of the original car. Tom, what orientation are you seeing this in?

It goes through it lengthwise, down the middle, as if it was an axis describing yaw. Okay. No, in this case, it would be... Well, actually, I'm not sure... That's Roel the way you just moved your hand there. Yeah, you're right. You are right. Yaw is flagpole. Your is side to side, and you're right with that.

That one word, the model is mounted vertically on the wall. So really, I was right. Yeah, so for video watchers, I was wrong. For audio listeners, I was right. Yeah, exactly. The model is mounted vertically on the wall. It's mounted with its wheels on the wall. Yeah.

I see. That metal bar goes through the roof and through the floor and into the wall. It's like a car was like a fly on the wall and then you skewered it. Had not processed that that was. an option, to be honest. Yeah, I don't know why I went for the least, like, reasonable way to stick this car to a wall, which was just hanging. I don't think there's a common way. Is it a flagpole? Is it the American flag? Oh. Metal. Through a German car, you know? It's not. Tom, when you said it's like a fly on the

wall, closer than you might think. Oh, is it pinned like a butterfly, like an insect is Yes, it is. Is this art exhibit? Wow. Is it a beetle then? Yes, it is. Oh, I got it. That's the one, two, three, baby.

Yes, this is the Cleveland Museum of Natural History who, inside a display case with genuine beetles pinned on the display case, have taken a tiny model of a vault-died beetle and pinned it into the display. You know what? I hadn't processed that it wasn't a car-sized car. You were all thinking, I think. I said model of a car. I did not specify the scale that.

Caroline, whenever you're ready, let's have your question. This question has been sent in by Khan Ildiz. In Ancana, Turkey, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kamal Ataturk lies at the end of a long path. This so-called road of lions is paved with stones that are laid asymmetrically and spaced five centimetres two inches apart. Why?

And that's a mouthful, so we're going to do it again. In Ancana, Turkey, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kamal Ataturk lies at the end of a long path. This so-called road of lions is paved with stones that are laid asymmetrically and spaced five centimeters two inches apart. Why?

Are they lions? Are they the shape of them? lions for stones. Nothing. Nothing. Carry on. I can give you some context here, which is that Ataturk was the founder

of the modern Republic of Turkey. I think. Well done. The guy. First bullet point on my notes here. Yeah, absolutely. That's like your general knowledge stuff. That, unfortunately, is as far as my knowledge,

does. I can add to the second part of the question. So roads are typically what cars drive on. It can be paved. People can walk on it also. But the rest I got, that's my work I've brought. And you said it was paved asymmetrically. Mm-hmm.

Or, no, asymmetric stones. Asymmetric stones, five centimeters apart. Okay. I would go, it's been the stones that are laid asymmetrically. Like, into the, like, tiles almost? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Oh, interesting.

Asymmetric, um, oh, I'm, is it shaped like a lion? Are these lion tiles that... I said that already. Oh, sorry. The tiles are not lions. There are lions there. There are lions there. Not real lions. So what of the tiles? Are the tiles lying down? Hey! Woo!

I, what do I know about the country? It's got a red flag with a, I think a white Crescenton star on it? Hmm. Oh yeah, is it the shape of the flag, the symbol on the flag? Um... It's not... No, that doesn't... That doesn't mean you've got five centimeter things.

It's got to be something clever about this, but... Yeah, my brain was like, oh, it's like a mathematical, asymmetrical tiling that is very unique or something like that. Or does it... Because, well, because... And also, you... It's a classic end to a problem which your question, Caroline, was just why? And so I'm wondering, is it functional in some way? Does it prevent people from stepping on something or direct them to a certain thing? I'm trying to think what you would want in a mausoleum.

It's not preventing people from doing something. It is encouraging certain behaviours instead. If it's asymmetric, you won't have people always going down the same path. Maybe they won't always stay in the center. Is it a... Did the classic Ella strategy start a sentence? Why it's so obvious, the answer is the tiles are on the road. Next question.

Nailed that. And with that, I think we could go into the next person. I think it's back to... Do, yeah, would it redirect them or let them form lines maybe? cues. You're like, you're a long, it is trying to encourage some form of behaviour that's expected here. Maybe, maybe like not littering or something like that is another, um, not taking selfies in the mausoleum, some kind of horrible tourist behavior that's, that's inappropriate for mausoleum. Or is it like a respect thing? It makes them do something that is respectful of

the road. Ella, I like your thinking. And the mausoleum. Oh. Yeah. It makes people... These are only five centimetres apart. That's not far.

I mean, these sound like... These sound like cobblestones or something like that, like something to deliberately slow people down so they don't run in. Interesting. Great shout. One part of it, yeah. It prevents running. It's not just slow.

blowing people down. What else is this? Prevent cars? It's more about that walking and that those people entering this space. Do you have to like walk a specific number of steps? Is that like a thing that encourages people to? Or yeah, okay. Yeah, they might be are they, yeah, are they not flat? Are they kind of like jutting out or texture it in a way that makes, does it make you lean forward or something like that? Ooh, not lean forward, but you're having to slow down in this space. It's not necessarily... Make you look down?

You're bowing? Yes! Oh. That's exactly. Yes, Ella. Well done. That was a hit and a swing from Tom and Ella there. You're trying to make people slow down and look down or bow their head in respect as they walk out.

Oh. There we go. Fascinating. So, the road. Road of Lions, it's 262 meters long. It has got some lions. It's got 12 lion statues on each side, representing the 24 tribes of the Ogres Turks.

The gaps between the stone tiles on the path mean that visitors must walk slowly, as Tom said, and visitors often have to look down, causing them to bow their heads as a sign of respect. Where are my gloves? Come on, heat. Any day now. Winter is hard, but your groceries don't have to be.

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inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women rocked the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to Westjetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. Thank you to Rob for this question. Paul crawls around his living room to improve his movie watching experience. What has he put in an unusual place and why? I'll say that again.

Paul crawls around his living room to improve his movie watching experience. what has he put in an unusual place and why? What a tone shift. Wow. Yeah, there's a concept of an archa-scuro, which is the contrast of dark and light. Oh, man. The thing is, producer David does not know in which order

I'm going to go to the three of you. That's not in my script. That's just art made on the fly. Yep. Oh, it's to bow. Surely the thing he's put in a weird place is the vessel with which he's watching the movie on. The vessel?

The vessel? Is it a phone? Is it a laptop? Is it a monitor? It's a vessel. I would have thought surround sound system. Oh, great. Ella, that's a great idea.

Is he crawling around to try and find the best place to... No, no, it's like you put it in relation to the... to the action on the screen almost. So like if it's... Right. Something's happening in the, you know, someone goes underwater, you've got to like get down on the floor to hear the surround sound that's on the floor. You put one on the roof, but like if there's sound overhead.

You're trying to make like a 4D experience for yourself. Yeah, manually. That's a really good idea, actually. It is a really good idea. Oh. It's not quite there, but you're right that this. is to do with the sound system? Crawling around to find the sweet spot of the sound quality.

Yes. Yes, I'll give you that. There's a couple more details there. Because you write about surround sound, you would just put that in roughly the right place. Right? You put the left, speak to the left, right, speak to the right.

There's something special about fancy movie watching systems. Like 3D binoral sort of, like, like, makes it feel like it's all around. I was still stuck on Caroline's idea because what I imagined was crawling around the law fours and like the thing is you have a phone on a Roomba playing a movie and you're chasing after it

and it's like, I don't know what that's for like Godzilla and you're chasing after something or is it like the point of least echoing or something like that would be my guess but I feel like that's not what you're asking for. You're asking. Honestly, I'm not going to expect you to know details of how sound works.

But I'll go over that. He's trying to find the best position for something. To hear the sounds. Nailed it, Ella. Yeah. When you think about surround sound systems, what, like, talk me through the parts of those. The speakers, there's the subwifor.

There is, Tom. Yeah. Oh, no. Okay. What's different about that subwuffer? It's big, and it does the low basses rumble. and so it usually sits on the ground, I suppose. I think I'm going to give it to you on that, Tom.

It is finding the best place to put the subwifor. Oh. So subwuffers are not directional. If you've ever seen like 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound, five is the number of directional speakers. The point one is just the bass track. And because that's just rumble, it doesn't matter what direction it comes from.

I had no idea. That's a funny, uh, uh, uh, Yep. 5.1 or 7.1 is five main speakers and one subwuffer track. Oh. Well, now I'm like, what's the point? What, what are we doing here? Decimal of a, at first I was like, that's clever naming and I'm like, well, what's the unit here? Yeah. The unit is, it should be 5 plus one or 7 plus, they went with 5.1. Um, sure. This is the subwaffe, which is a different channel. So you're right. He's trying to find a good place to put the subwifers. That you're right.

So you've got the what. The first half of the question, perfect. What's he put in an unusual place? It's a suburb. And he's crawling around to the floor. Why? I mean, you're just to feel the base, you know, where it best. No, he's trying to optimise here.

Is he trying to get the sound to bounce in a good way or something like that? Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Okay. Wait, so the sound is, it's already in the right place and he's crawling away from it. Oh, no. No, it's not in the right place. Okay, he's finding the plane.

It's not going to stay there. Oh, so this is a test to see where it will go. Mm-hmm. You've got almost all the picture. Like, the subwoofer is somewhere. He's crawling around on the ground. If he's on the floor, where's the subwuffer going to be? I mean, also, all the floor.

It's not unusual, that... Is he going to bury it in the floor, like, sink it in? How does sound waves work? Like, what's going on there? go, I believe they're a wave that pushes back and forth as opposed to going up and down. And so, the answer is that... To not break windows or something?

No, but it's for the sound. It's not about disturbing something else. It's about the sound. It's about the sound. Is it like from where he's sitting? He wants it to be the most optimal? Yeah, absolutely. He's trying to find the best sound for where he's sitting. Is the room matter? Is it like a bathroom or something? No, no. This could be any room. If you were setting up something, trying to optimize the sound, there is, like, there's a place you're optimizing for. The center? The couch. The, the...

Yeah. The subwuffer's on the couch. On the couch? He's imagining that he is the subwuffer. And he's shouting at the sub. So it's not shouting. What? What? Face response is what's called reciprocal. Because it's a subwaffe, you can make it work in reverse. If you place the subwaffe in the optimal listening spot

and then crawl around for where it sounds good, you can then swap positions, put the subwifers there, and it will sound great. That's why I was talking about sound waves. They work both ways. Oh my God. Oh my God. I'm actually like, that's really cool.

Huh. This is called the subwuffer crawl. Home cinema enthusiasts will put the subwaffe in the seat and then crawl around until they find that it sounds good and all the audio's bouncing around just the right way and then they'll mark that and swap it round. As opposed to moving your couch to where it sits best based on where the set up.

Or hefting the subwuffer round to try it, try and try and error, try and try and over, try and it's a lot easier to move your ears. Oh, that's fascinating. Ella, we'll go to you for the next question, please. Great. This question has been sent in by Katie Waning. Starting in 1948, Tony would row a short distance off Florida's West Coast, then put on a pair of oversized metal shoes with three prongs.

Why? It's a why question. No! Starting in 1948, Tony would row a short distance of Florida's West Coast, then put on a pair of oversized metal shoes with three prongs. Why? Last time it was Florida's West Coast,

it had to do with Cape Canaveral, although I don't know if that's on the West Coast. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. That's the East Coast. I'm going to drop a space fact in here, you know why? Oh, wonderful. Because it's closer to the ocean is more likely for debris to fall in. Yeah, because they launch the east.

You can't come in and steal someone else's fun fact, Tom. So rude. That's the rules, baby. You can say it faster. It's collaborative. It's collaborative. Yeah, they launch eastbound. So this is unlikely to be a space coast thing, despite also a bit early for 1948 as well.

It's nothing to do with space. Yeah, yeah. Well, so this is the first time they did it and they didn't realize that. You got to learn that. Are the metal shoes weighing this person down in some capacity? Yes, yeah, they are. I think I saw that they weighed about 30 pounds. That's so hefty.

Huh. And is the length of the prongs important? No. I'm thinking like, is this like a reef thing, like you're trying to... Yeah, yeah. Underwater mountain climbing. A short distance is doing a lot of work there. Like that off the Florida coast, that could be ankle-deep water.

Or it could be, no, you've got a full diving suit on and you also have to be wearing giant, like, pronged shoes. Also, year and tone. makes, is this like a specific occurrence or is this a thing that several people could have done? It was, it was a specific thing this man did. I don't, I doubt you would have heard of him in particular, but it was known in the area. Yeah. Is 48 late enough for there to be tourist attractions in Florida? Because nowadays, if this was a Florida thing, it'd be like, it's either a weird Everglades thing or it's just like some observation.

obscure tourist attraction that they're trying to set up. Years ago, I went to a mermaid show in Florida. There is a natural, like, spring, deep spring water thing. They've just built a glass wall theatre into the side of. Wow. And they have people in mermaid suits. Floridians are crazy. Yeah, that's right.

It's there some tourist thing here. I don't know if it was a tourist attraction, but if I was a tourist and I knew about this, I would definitely go. Sure, okay. It's something Ella would find interesting. So is it something that's still happening? Because you said it started in 48.

Did this carry on for a longer period of time? I think it carried on... I think it was for a decade. Whoa! Okay. They loved putting really heavy metal shoes on and just having a wander around, huh? Interesting. What, I wonder around. They put them on and they went for a little walk. Was there a shipwreck here or something that they could explore? The metal prongs make me think that there's something under the ocean bed

that they're trying to like, like, hit with the, like, the prongs are sinking down and they're trying to hit something under the, under the sand. It's really inefficient crab hunting. Yeah. Crab soccer. Yeah. I'll say this. Tony wasn't looking for something.

He wasn't trying to take something. But he is leaving something behind. Is he implanting something? Using the shoe? Footprints. Big foie. But, like, I was just putting, like, lots of big, spiky holes in there. Wait.

Is he trying to recreate dinosaur footprints? Caroline, you're so close. What? What do you mean? Big footprints? Is he trying to make a, um, pretend there's, uh, encrypted there? Yes, that's exactly it. You would love this.

You're 100% right. Weird tourist stuff. That's weird tourist stuff. Weird tourist stuff. Which crypted? Tony Signoreini was trying to make fictional tracks for a giant penguin or giant creature of some sort.

Oh my goodness. So it wasn't three prongs going down. No, three prongs sticking out. Oh, I had those on completely the wrong axis in my head. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So after seeing a dinosaur footprint picture in National Geographic, Tony Signoreini decided to create a fictional cryptid of his own. He made a pair of 14-inch lead shoes to leave footprints on Clearwater Beach near Tampa.

The massive tracts baffled both locals and scientists who wondered if it could be a 15-foot-tall penguin. Apparently, the charade went on for about a decade, and Tony didn't come clean until 1988, so 40 years later. Man, remember when misinformation was a craft that you had to be skilled? Crop circles, yeah, we'll just, we'll just get some folks, we'll put, you know, flatten some wheat, it'll be fine. Oh, no, now we've started a whole cultics. Okay, great. Dledged shoes, wow.

I like the penguin. That's a fun novel one. This question was sent in by Paul Andrews. Thank you, Paul. When a certain King's legal protections expired, he employed a business strategy that still used today for coffee machines, gaming consoles, and mobile phones. What is that strategy?

And one more time, when a certain King's legal protections expired, he employed a business strategy that's still used today for coffee machines, gaming consoles and mobile phones. What is that strategy? Let's list three things and see you at all. There we go. So my first thought was either planned obsolescence or evergreening. Two things we've talked about on the podcast.

What's evergreening? When a patent is going to run out on a drug, they will make small changes to the drug in order to extend their patent. I believe Disney does this as well with their copyright by like re-releasing movies for home video in different forms so that they can extend their copyright out. And I thought maybe a games console could do something like this to keep hold of their copy, right? You're along the right lines there.

Certainly it's a strategy very similar to those two. Gaming consoles, mobile... I feel like they'll have versions, right? Like, mobile phones every year it comes out, gaming consoles will sometimes, I guess a coffee machine might also have... This king keeps popping out new children that must be protected. and therefore... Oh. I kind of like that.

The new version. The king's legal protections expire, and so he invoked something that then presumably helped with... He's not royal. It's someone king or burger king. It's not Burger King. I'll cut you off with that one, but yes, it is someone king,

and you may have heard of him. Oh. Well, you'll certainly have heard of him just possibly not by... That name. Is it like a chess king? Is it castling? Ella, you were really along the right lines with the business strategies there.

Okay. That's what I'm known for, my business strategies. So patent or copyright adjacent? A patent, certainly, yeah. Okay. Normally when, okay, so with a patent, if you put a patent into the patent office, even if you don't make the thing, that pattern is still protected. Yeah.

How long for? I think it's seven years. It was... It's 20 years. 12 years. So there's something this person doesn't want to have made. He doesn't want it in the world. So he's putting a pattern in to stop other people from making it.

Oh, so I was like, do gaming consoles, because I presume, you know, PlayStation has makes it... It's not like someone can make a PlayStation 12 and then swoop in. ahead of them because they technically haven't made it yet. So I'm wondering if it's like a version. Yeah, exactly. To your point, L, like a version naming. Just going back to the question, the legal protections expired is a patent.

You're right there, Ella. And the king is someone called king. So the patent is expiring, has expired. The business strategy is changing. So their patent is expired. So now what do they do? Is it not just the make, yeah, making a small change and repatent?

filing the patent again. No, no, not for this. The whole method of what they'd invented, the patent had expired. What if it's just about, like, name recognition? So it's not about the actual legal thing. It's just like you'll want to get it from me because it's really cool if you get it from me specifically,

even though technically you could make it yourself or something like that. Did they start selling it at that point to other people to start producing? No, because that was going to happen anyway. The patent has expired. Did they buy the counter? and then sell them as their own. So I have a thing about coffee machines, gaming consoles,

mobile phones. They're kind of useless on their own. Oh, oh, a part. They patented the parts for the, for the thing he was making to stop. Or an add-on. So like, coffee machines useless without the coffee beans. Is it that kind of thinking?

Gaming consoles need games. Yep. iPhones are useless without the charge or the apps or... Yeah, or the network. So I'm wondering if it is... Right? Okay. Network is a very good thing. Not for the final answer,

but you're thinking about how the phones might be sold by the network. The business strategy is taking control of the platforms that sell the things or the manufacturers. I'm going to give you one more object here. We've got coffee machines, gaming consoles, mobile phones and printers. Oh, ink. The ink and printers.

Yeah. So, yeah, you pattern, you, you make, oh, you make a part that can only be used is, like, exclusive for that thing. Yeah. Oh, you make exclusives? Well, or you make the thing that goes in, so for mobile phones, right, it's like the, there used to be now, thankfully, all of them are USBC, but they're like, um. Oh, yeah, the different charging cables.

Prieta. Prieta. proprietary. Yeah. So, and then for ink cartridges, yeah, you're locked into the ecosystem, as it were. Locked into the ecosystem, definitely right. There's one other thing.

The question wasn't actually, like, what the specific thing is. I'll happily tell you that, but you haven't quite nailed the strategy. You're nearly there. It is about lock-in, it's about everything like that, but this is a business strategy,

particularly for printers. Selling you the ink before you've, run out so that you've constantly got it, but you can only do that through that company. We're like selling the ink for cheaper so that on the first one, so it's actually better to buy a new printer sometimes than it is to buy the refills. That's kind of the side effect. That's the unfortunate part of it. What's the strategy? What are, what is the company doing with that? Is it like you bundle in the stuff free, like the first one's cheap?

You bundle it more more ink than the printer needs, so you have to buy a new. printer. Where are the companies making their profit? Oh, they sell you the console for cheap, but then the games are more expensive. Yes. That's the business strategy. It is selling you the original item cheap. Selling you the coffee maker for cheap, but the pods are where they get the revenue.

Sell the gaming console cheap, make money from the games. Sell the mobile phone cheap, provided you have a $30, $40, $100 a month subscription to mobile network. Sell the printer far below cost price, but require the extra. expensive ink. So with that in mind, who came up with that business strategy the first time? Who is king? Oh. Oh. Oh. Whoa. And it's not a king. Who did it first? He patented this thing in 1904. It's a classic. The frame of the guillotine is cheap, but the blades that you have to replace. Here's the thing. There is a blade involved. Razor blades? Yes, it is. This is King Camp Gillette.

Gilles. Oh, my gosh. Sorry, the gear teet was, wow, okay. Yeah, always say the silly thing, Tom. You're absolutely right. King Camp Gillette patented the safety razor in 1904, and when the patent neared expiry, he changed strategy. He sold the razor handle so cheap,

and then kept the high prices for the blades, which guaranteed recurring income. That was the razor and blades model, which is now used for the coffee machines with pods, the printers with ink cartridges, everything like that. And now people are much more likely to just buy an entirely new razor. Or it is sometimes encouraged to buy an entirely new razor rather than just refilling it.

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We'd love to talk. Business. Tom, over to you when you're ready, please. Rock and roll. This question has been sent in by Joseph Stamps. In the 1970s, Alice Cooper, Warner Bros. Records, and Giovanni Mata each purchased something for 27,000 $450 more than Ryan Sechrest wants today. What are they? What was purchased?

Guillotine. I'll say that again. In the 1970s, Alice Cooper, Warner Bros. Records, and Giovanni Mata, each purchased something for $27,450 more than Ryan Seacrest wants today. What are they? I always, I love, it's very funny. I love the idea of someone seeing just this clip, and then Tom just shouted guitar

and be like, what does Tom have against Ryan Sechrest? Here's the thing. The reason that was in my head is Alice Cooper famously used a guillotine on stage, a trick one, a magic one. But he did a magic trick on tour, and I think still occasionally trots it out, where halfway through one of the songs, his head gets cut off.

Wow. And obviously, stage magic, everything like that. But like self-de-de-decential. capitation on stage was actually thinking on Alice Cooper's door. So when he said the name, that was the first thing I went to. Wow. Okay. All right. The guillotine also won a year of American Idol. Sorry, continue. Okay, so I suspect the other two Brits on this call do not know who Ryan Seacrest is. He's a TV personality. Yeah, he was a host of American Idol, I think, and still does radio shows and a lot of other stuff. In that same entertainment world. Did you say Ryan Sechrest wants?

today? So yes, they were purchasing it for $27,450 more. So it's something that has devalued so much that he can't even shift it. That's, it's not that it's devalued. It's that the ones that were purchased were a very special version of this thing. And again, Thing is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. So Alice Cooper, Warner Brothers Records. What was the other one? Giovanni Matsa. Who is that? They were someone in this sort of industry,

and I think that industry is going to be a sort of a hint. Interesting. Music. Music and entertainment. Yeah, entertainment. Entertainment is sure right on the money. Okay, so is this something that was in the 1970s and has now been revived,

like there's a reboot or something. like that. This is going to be the least helpful, yes. Because, and you'll see why. This really was rebooted, but not in a way that will be helpful. But that's what the money went to, actually. 27,450 is such a specific number. Is it something that was auctioned off when this thing originally, if you're saying

something's rebooted, when this thing originally ended? You're spot on that it is sort of a like... Oh, I know what it is. Oh my God. What? I'm so sure I know. I mean, as mentioned in the previous episode, if you're wrong, you are risking being mocked for your hooverous. Oh, it's on the table.

Even better. No, Ella, can I ask what hint sort of got you there? For one? Yeah. Does that make sense to you? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, come on.

For one. My apprentice, you have learned the ways. You've joined me now. So you, so, right, something was sort of, I don't know if it was technically auctioned off, but that's sort of the vibe of this. For something to be rebooted, that might be less helpful. Entertainment industry is extremely helpful for this. And we could try to go for the Ryan's Secret if that might have. help you. I don't know if it will. Is he still doing American Idol? No. I realized what Ryan Seacrest

was doing. Ah. Oh. What? Can I say that he hosts a... Could I say... Wow. That's beautiful. Video watchers. Do you... To see a realization happen in front of your eyes is really cool. There's no way I can connect this to Warner Brothers Records. Interesting. Okay. Does Ryan Seacrest host Wheel of Fortune now? Yes. Right?

Okay. No, I'm going ahead with this. I'm going ahead with this because I cannot work out the last part of this for the life of me. And I'm hoping one of Ella or Caroline brings it home. Wheel of Fortune has a thing where you buy a vowel. And you said it's what Ryan Seacrest is asking for. So I assume the amount you pay from your prize pool. to buy a vowel when you want to check the clue.

Like, it gives you a vowel up on the board. I'm assuming that it's not going to be 27,000, it's going to be something like $500 or whatever. Yeah, it's about, it's $250. It's $250. That is somehow, so I've got that bit. I can't connect to Alice Cooper or Warner Brothers records or anything of that. They bought the, they bought the letters, right?

That's the idea. They bought the letters. They bought a specific letter for this amount of money. for a lot of money. But he asks, when he asked, doesn't he say for one? That's why I was saying for what, like, that's the only thing I had in my head,

like for two, you're saying for 250, but I had this image in my head that he, that like the Wheel of Fortune host asked like, okay, for one, can we get a U or something like that? Yeah, on the board. And so if, does it matter? So, okay, that's as far as I had gotten. There was just the,

it's the price differential between the letter and the, in the time. No, it's not. It's a completely different one of these. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Well, I got... Okay, so I actually, so you can mock me because I guess I didn't know. I can't believe you didn't get that right. Alice Cooper, Warner Brothers Records, and someone else bought a vowel, a letter? It sure was a letter. It was a specific one for this amount of money. How could a letter be this expensive? Because there's only one of them. Or like, there's very... Zed? Yeah. No, there's, there's, it's, it's, there's only a few of them.

Oh my God, it's not like a Hollywood letter, is it? Or something like that. On the Hollywood sign? It exactly is, which letter? Oh. Oh. The O? They bought the O's in the Hollywood sign.

Hollywood, there's three letters. So it was sold to three people, to three different organizations. They all bought the O's. Yeah. Those are the three people and corporations. who bought like the rights to or the sponsorship of the letters for 27.5,000 each? About $28,000, yeah. And Ryan Sechrest now sells vowels on Wheel of Fortune, which is filmed in Hollywood.

Oh! How much does Ryan Seacrest sell the O for on Wheel of Fortune? $250. I think it was for one. For one dollar, the O. No, that's a price is right, gag. That is the pricing right. It's the bidding thing. If you think all three have overbid, you say $1.

So I was wrong in all kinds of different ways, but also right? Half-remembered little bits of American pop culture. Wow, yeah. The answer here is the vowel O. And specifically, they were buying the O's in the Hollywood side. I feel like you guys had a great job getting there. That's great. Real team effort that one.

In the 1970s, the famous. Hollywood sign was basically dilapidated. I had no idea. It was originally just a like real term marketing thing. It was originally said Hollywood land. And it was basically just being like, come live up here in Hollywood land. And they just made a huge sign on this mountain. And then it just became beloved, I suppose.

And so to basically fix it up because again, it was it was just an advertiser that they left there to basically just to fall apart. So to fix that, people don't. made $27,700 per letter. Nine people did this for the letters, various individuals and companies, to replace each letter to make it actually something that could stand the test of time.

And then, yes, like you said, Ryan Seagrest hosts Wheel of Fortune. Giovanni Mata was the co-founder of Panoria film. Other letter purchasers include actor Gene Autry, Playboy founder Hugh Heffner, and Andy Williams, who got the W. Which brings us to the question.

question from the top of the show. Thank you to Creshington for sending this in. In France, what is known as Chateau Le Pompin. Anyone want to take a punt at that before I give the audience the answer? Chateau is like a house or a building. House of... House of the something, yes. Pomp. Pomp. Pomp and circumstance. Not pomp, but there is definitely a connection between the French and the English here. Pump. Pump. Pump would be close. Like a dance? It's a club. Oh, no, not that kind of pump.

Like, pump it up, pump up the jam, pump it up while your feet is pumping. Has, like, fluid dynamics pumps. Different kind of pump. Ooh. Well, I mean, it is a literal pump, but we're not talking petrol pump or anything like that. Some other, a similar related word, maybe. Bicycle, bicycles? Pump up the tires?

What other things do you pump? There are very few working pumps in France that are like this anymore. Geerty. Is it like a water pump? Oh, yeah. Yes. Perhaps a better translation would be Castle of the Well, Chateau La Pomp. Is it just a water mill?

Or? You would use this if you wanted to prevent embarrassment or awkwardness. And water is absolutely right. Is this the... I know there's a thing in... I believe in Japan, where, like, fancy toilets can make the sound of running water. Oh, yeah!

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. If you asked for this, you would get a drink. Oh. Oh. Huh. Is it when you're too drunk? It's just to get water for...

Yes, it is. Is it a fancy name for... What? Is that what you're saying? A fancy name for a specific type of water. There's one word I'm looking for here. Is it sparkling? What else might you request? Warm.

Cold. You're all a much fancier at restaurants than I am. Tap water. Oh, it's an... There we go. Ask for tap water without embarrassing yourself. Chateau la Pomp means castle of the well.

So you are perhaps asking for an expensive drink, seeming like you are, but it is shorthand for tap water. Castle of the Welsh, Chateau-Lomp. Weaponized dads across the nation to have this Joker Randy and ready. Thank you very much to our players. As ever, it is a delight

to have you. Where can people find you? What's going on with your lives? We will start with Tom Lum. We are, let's learn everything, the Science and Comedy Podcast and soon, as this is recording, but when you're listening to this, the 100th episode of our show will be out.

Because we've been doing it for that long. Ella, what are some of the things in those shows? Well, the 100th episode, we covered everything. Whatever that means. You'll have to see what that means. We'll have to see what that means. We don't know yet.

And Caroline, where can people find that episode and 99, at least others? You can find all of our details over at let's learn everything.com. And if you want to know more about this show, you can do that at lateralcast.com, where you can also send in your own ideas for questions. We are at lateral cast basically everywhere, and there are video episodes. up on Spotify. Thank you very much to Caroline Roper. Yeah. Ella Huber. Yeah. Tom Love. Yeah! I've been Tom Scott, and that's been lateral. This spring performance auto group invites drivers to upgrade with confidence. From March 26 to 28th,

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