Lateral with Tom Scott - 22: A carousel's little secret

Episode Date: March 10, 2023

'SuperSaf' AhmedMia, Ali Spagnola and Mehdi 'ElectroBOOM' Sadaghdar face questions about rigging research, dating dwellings and exploiting extras. 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://www.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: Eglė Vaškevičiūtė, Nick Landis, Dhruv Gandhi, Josie, Sarthak Chandra. FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott. © Pad 26 Limited (https://www.pad26.com) / Labyrinth Games Ltd. 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Which TV show has the numbers 35 and 56 in its logo? The answer to that at the end of the show. My name's Tom Scott, and this is Lateral. To quote Shakespeare, when shall we three meet again, in thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurly-burly's done, when the battle's lost and won? Here for today's battle, we have Alice Spagnola! Hello! Glad to be here. Thanks for having me.

Thank you so much for being back on the show. We also have, from ElectroBoom, Medhi. Hi. Thank you. How are you doing after last time? I'm still recovering from the questions I was asked. We'll try and rein in the competition. There's no points here.

There's nothing but bragging rights, but it seems like you do like the bragging rights. Yeah, well, I do. And finally, from his own channel, SuperSaf TV, and from the Muslim Money Guys podcast, Saf. Hey, how you doing? Thanks for having me again. No worries.

Thank you for coming back for a second round. Are you ready to go? I'm feeling much better after that. The first round, I was a little bit anxious. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm confident. And I'm completely going to ruin it now, I know. Well, this is the last show we're recording in this particular block. So I'll be honest with you.

This is going to be the laziest rules explanation of the series. There are some people. There are some questions. Let's go. Easy enough. Let's do this. Our first question has been sent in by two listeners. Dhruv Gandhi and Josie both sent this one in.

So, Air Force One, the US presidential aircraft, has made more takeoffs than landings. How's that possible? I'll give you that one more time. Air Force One, the US presidential aircraft, has made more takeoffs than landings. How is that possible few of them crashed oh that's exactly what i was gonna say

to my to my knowledge air force one has never crashed i also think technically that is still a landing oh well i guess okay crash landing is it possible to land a plane in another plane is that a maneuver they do you know like air fueling you can also put a plane inside one and then i know you can launch a plane from another plane because that's how um virgin's spaceship is is getting to orbit they they take it up on a jet and then launch from there um i don't think you can land a plane on a that feels like something that red bull has done at some point and we are just talking about the plane, not the copters or anything else that is Air Force One.

Yeah, I think the chopper is called Marine One. I think. Is there always one in the air right now? So it's at least one takeoff that hasn't been cancelled out with a landing? Unfortunately not.

No. That would have been a good one a landing? Unfortunately not. No. That would have been a good one, actually. It would have been lovely. But this has been true since 1974. 1974? So we have a plane here that took off but never landed? Or the landing didn't count as landing somehow? Did it reach escape for velocity and just go off into space?

It's just orbiting Earth now. It's just constantly just there with the space debris. That's actually where, no, I was going to make a JFK conspiracy theory joke and just say he was up there orbiting, but that doesn't work. And weirdly, my brain went to that's where Haroldold holt disappeared to and he was the prime minister of australia that vanished so that's not it's not even remotely relevant deep cut oh no it's one of my favorite uh favorite stories about australia is that harold holt uh went swimming in the ocean vanished was never found um and and they named a swimming pool after him. Wow.

I don't know. Air Force One, depending on how you count it, has either had one or two more takeoffs than landings. One or two. What's that triangle where planes disappear, that just go in there and manifest itself away? Bermuda Triangle? There we go. I have a guess.

manifest itself away. Bermuda Triangle? There we go. I have a guess. Is it possible that it was Air Force One when it took off, but then the president switched, like he wasn't president anymore, and the president was someone else, and that plane was not Air Force One anymore?

Yes. Yes, you're spot on. Where did that suddenly come from? Wow. He's got Google Insight. Yes, so who would that have been? This is 1974. What was going on?

No idea, actually. Actually, did someone die in the plane or something? Yeah, did he have a heart attack or something? He was unconscious. And so then the vice president took over for that amount of time. That would also have been right. 1974 was Nixon. Oh, they impeached him or something, huh?

And he wasn't the president? Nixon resigned. Or resigned, right? Nixon resigned. From the air? He was like, peace out, but I'm on the plane. Well, sort of, yes. He was flying home while his successor,

Gerald Ford, was being sworn in. So at the moment of the transition of power, he was on Air Force One and then he was on SAM 27000 because the call sign travels with the president,

not with the aircraft. Wow. And so is this before they put him in that jar for Futurama? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, out of nowhere there, Mehdi. You got that absolutely right. Air Force One is a call sign, not a specific aircraft.

Yeah, that's what I remembered, yeah. So the transition of power happened while Air Force One was carrying the president and thus it just became any other player. So we will go to Mehdi for the next question. As ever, I don't know the question, I don't know the answer. The guests have just brought one along with them. So what have you got for us?

Okay, here's the question. Mesa Verde is a famous set of 13th century dwellings built into a cliff in Colorado. Scientists can accurately estimate when it was first built and when it was abandoned, using the same method, two different ways. What are they? Mesa Verde is a famous set of 13th century dwellings built into a cliff in Colorado. Scientists can accurately estimate when it was first built and when it was abandoned,

using the same method two different ways. What are they? You can't carbon date a rock. That doesn't work. You can't carbon date somebody leaving a building. 13th century. So this is going to be Native Americans somewhere in Colorado. I mean, I guess accurately means naming the century in this case,

because if they happen to say that it was the 27th of February, 1259, I'll be really impressed. But I think it'll, like, presumably just the rough timescale. Did they have any, like, I'm assuming, did they have any paintings or like, you know, I know they probably didn't have scriptures, but do they have any carvings or anything that indicated this? No, it's not about that. Okay. I know you can do some dating by like what's been left behind.

So you can like look at middens would be the archaeological term. But I feel like that's not going to give you an accurate date. Like what kind of circumstances would cause a settlement to be abandoned? Oh. Oh, weather. Weather? Some, yeah, natural, something happens naturally that would have caused them to know that it was built then

and then that sort of natural earth same method for arrival and departure though two different ways would it be like like i don't know i know there's lots of things about the eclipse and things so was there like a particular time that they used you know something like that as an indication well it's more to do with uh something that the dwellings were made of and they could use that to date it oh so we're back to carbon dating like uh could you guess what they were made of in general in the cliff in colorado apparently i i would have thought they've been dug out of the stone yeah like carved into it okay it. Okay, so it's about what they're made of. Because I was going to say some sort of animals that they're protecting themselves from and then ran them out.

Yeah, why are they exiting? Well, the dwellings were mainly constructed using sandstone and mortar supported by beams. Beams. Sandstone and mortar. It can't be carbon dating, though, can it? No, I don't think it's that healthy. I keep coming back to that. It's not.

No. It's not like the tree rings that they cut down to make the beams or something like that. You're getting somewhere. Yeah, go ahead. Okay. But that would only make sense for, like, working out. No, that just tells you how old the tree is when they cut it down to make the dwelling.

That doesn't give you an accurate date. No, but then if there's other trees that were still there, then they'd be able to kind of calculate, like subtract the trees that were used as beams to the trees. I don't know. Some trees last a long time, don't they? Like hundreds of years. 800 years?

Yeah. So then they're like, okay, this one's like 300 years, minus that from 800. All right, 500. This is what it was. I don't know. Since you said it, it is the answer. So I guess you win. Examining the rings in tree trunks is the answer.

Yeah. How? So the last tree failed to construct. The mesa was cut in the year 1281 so they know when was the last tree was cut i guess and then counted backwards from there to get a more accurate reading how on earth do they know that was cut down in 1281 so basically you're looking at the rings in the trees tree trunks you can see the pattern of weather and climate in those rings like if there was a drought or there was a very cold year or something it shows in the rings there'll be more packed or more space so you will see the weather pattern for many years in the tree trunks. And that way,

And you can match that to all the other records. Yeah, match that to the record. And you know exactly when that happened. I said weather, they left because of a drought. I got points. All yours. There are no points, but you know what? Absolutely. Have some points. It's the end of the recording. You all get points. You know what? Absolutely.

Have some points. It's the end of the recording. Thank you. You all get points. Our next question comes from a listener. Thank you to Sarthak Chandra. In Danish, it's called the War of the Ants. Other countries call it ant football, ant hill or fleas. 1% of it is from out of this world.

It's largely disappeared, having been replaced by coloured rectangles. What is it? I'll repeat that question one more time because there's a lot of stuff in there. In Danish, it's called the War of the Ants. Other countries call it Ant Football, Ant Hill or Fleas. 1% of it is from out of this world and it's largely disappeared to be replaced by coloured rectangles. What is it?

I can see some coloured rectangles in your background. Is that a clue, Tom? It's not. That's just the show's logo. The show's logo was not the War of the Ants. Out of this world, 1% of it is from space? So I assume it's not about ants at all. It just resembles something, like an ant hill or something, huh?

Yes. Okay, so 1% is out of this world. So is it uh vibranium oh yeah this is just the war of this is just the story of ant-man it's just the movie it's gonna be vibrating one percent of it is from out of this world but isn't everything on earth from out of this world anyways oh isn't everything on Earth from out of this world anyways? Oh, I've been out-technicalityed. 1% of it is very immediately from out of this world. Okay, so maybe like a meteor hit the Earth

and created something that resembles an anthill or... But what is left is a coloured rectangle? Red rectangle, was it? Coloured rectangles. Rectangles. Rectangles. And actually, I was wrong to push you entirely away from the coloured rectangles behind me.

I'd be lying if I said that wasn't completely unrelated, but it's not close. All these different places have different names for it. It must be something naturally occurring and people are just like oh that thing that has this name yeah i i would call this sort of naturally occurring there's a strong sort of in there okay well naturally if we than lights consider something falling from outer space underground the ground huh is it is that is there is something from outer space falling on the ground triggers the event that creates these rectangles or

not onto the ground no when you rub your eyes and you see weird patterns is that all those different cultures have names for that oh that is that is closer than you might think what i was trying to be dumb here. And this is how this show works. Sometimes you say something that sounds like a joke, and I get to go, you know what? That's actually quite close. What would a war of ants look like to you?

Giant human-sized ants with full armor. Well, we're not scripting a youtube video here we're actually trying to war of the ants oh is it I saw the lights come on there yeah it's gotta be

the black and white interference on a an old tv screen it's tv static we see that static. We see something else. Triangles. There you go. It's called

the War of the Ants or Ant Football, Ant Hill Fleece. There's also snow or sandstorm or rain. And yet, 1% of it is

radiation and interference from space rather than just atmospherics around here. And the coloured rectangles are? Pixels,

we can call them. Yeah. Yeah. The first line in, I think it's Neuromancer by William Gibson, is that the sky was the colour of television tuned to a dead channel. And for someone my age, that means it's grey and cloudy. And for anyone who's sort of born in this century, that means it's just bright blue.

Blue screen of death. Blue screen of death. So, yes, the War of the ants, snowstorm, I mean, white noise is the technical term. It's the white noise on old analogue televisions when they're not tuned to a channel. And yet 1% of it is from cosmic microwave background radiation. So it's the afterglow from the Big Bang.

Ali, the next question is yours. Over to you. All all right you arrive at a fairground with a friend you see a carousel in the far distance oh i love these traditional english fairs you say that carousel was originally built in north america not britain replies your friend how could they tell again you, you arrive at a fairground with a friend. Do you want to try that with an English accent this time? That was the best I could do. That was solid Australian, that was, it was great.

It was. Okay. You arrive at a fairground with a friend. You see a carousel in the far distance. I love these traditional English fairs, you say. That carousel was the far distance. I love these traditional English fairs, you say. That carousel was originally built in North America, not Britain, replies your friend.

How could they tell? So this is something obvious from a long way away. Is it because, I don't know, North American ones have horses and original ones... Or buffalo. North American ones have buffalo. Buffalo. Original ones Or buffalo North American ones have buffalo Buffalo

Are we saying that they were originally invented in North America? No, it must be some property of this carousel Makes it obvious from afar that it's North American But why would that be built differently? You are right You're too far away to see any words or symbols So it's about the distance it's just got a giant

American flag on top of it fireworks going off guns firing into the distance from the top of it meanwhile the English carousel

next door is just apologising but weirdly also invading several other carousels at the same time I'm going to take a punt on this and risk cutting the question short Also invading several other carousels at the same time. I'm going to take a punt on this and risk cutting the question short.

Is it that one goes clockwise and one goes counterclockwise because Americans drive on the right? It is that. I don't know if it's because of the driving situation, but yes, you are correct. You have nailed it. Excellent job. Straight through the goalposts. Punted. I was trying to think of any properties of a carousel

that you could see from a distance. It's got to be the rotating thing. So North American carousels go the other way? Yes. So American carousels kept the riders right hand free to catch a brass ring from a dispenser which entitled them to a free ride

or a prize so the more decorated side of the horse the one that faces outward is called the romance side wait wait they only decorate one half of a carousel horse? it's more decorated because you're not going to see the inside

save a little cash I guess I'm going to see the inside right that's cash i guess i'm gonna look for that next time next time i'm on a carousel as if i do that as a regular thing yes but yes american carousels turn counterclockwise british go clockwise and that's easy to see at a distance sorry i didn't mean to cut that one short it's just there was nothing else going like i can't think of anything else that it is um right. It'll give me more time to work on my English accent. Back to me for the next one then. Good luck, folks. In 1948, scientists George Gamal and Ralph Alpher released an academic paper. They credited their friend Hans as a co-author,

even though he didn't really help to write the paper. What is Hans's surname? I'll give you that again. In 1948, scientists George Gamow and Ralph Alpher released an academic paper. They credited their friend Hans as a co-author, even though he didn't really help to write the paper. What is Hans's surname? Hans Christian Andersson? Not in this case.

You feel free to name some famous Hanses. Famous Hanses? Not... I can't now come up with any other than Hans Gruber, but... Down. His last name is Down. Hans Down? Why?

Hans Down. Oh! Come on! That just... Over my head. I mean, I know this is the last one in the recording block, but I thought I'd be faster than that. That was good, Ellie.

Thank you. Perhaps something in his name has helped them figure out their problem that was answered in the paper. They're crediting him because his name sparked their solution. Well, I mean, I know that some professors, if you are the student writing the paper, you have to include the professor's name in the paper too, although they haven't helped. Hans was a friend. Okay. I don't know why that excludes him being the professor,

but in my head it does. Is it because the publication wouldn't accept a paper written by two people, but they would accept one that is written by three people? Paper written by two people, but they would accept one that is written by three people. No, I've seen workarounds for that before. I know there was someone who insisted on being credited next to their cat. And the journals kept rejecting that. Is there a hint somewhere for his name? The names are important here.

Okay. Can we hear the names again? Yeah, it's George Gamal and Ralph Alpher. Gamal, Alpher, and something else that kind of goes with the three. So the reason why they included them, because that makes something. Those three names. It's a nerdy joke. Yes, you've got that right. It's a nerdy joke. Okay. Yeah. Alpha.

Beta? His last name was Beta? Spot on. His last name was Beta. It is Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. There you go. And they did that entire... It was called The Origin of Chemical Elements, 1948, and it was credited to Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. And is it pronounced Alpha?

I don't know. I've only got A-L-P-H-E-R written down here but I deliberately made sure not to say Alpher in that sector. So well done. Well done working your way through that one, Megan. The final guest question of the show then goes to Saf. What have you got for us? So my question is,

a children's book has these illustrations. A tree with five branches in different directions. So my question is, a children's book has these illustrations, a tree with five branches in different directions, a sun peeking through a two pane window frame, a mountain with three peaks, the central one being highest. What is the book for? So a children's book has these illustrations a tree with five branches in different directions a sun peeking through a two-pane window frame a mountain with three peaks the central one being highest what is the book for it's for reading to children. Points.

It is something to do with teaching children, but what is it teaching children? I feel like it's a science book. Well, my mind goes towards science because of light and scattering and things of that sort. But maybe I'm wrong. I'm leaning towards religion because the three peaks feels like some sort of iconography. And the five branches are very specific.

It sounds religious to me. The second time you read the question out, I was doodling that in front of me. Like, oh, treat me with five branches. Oh, it's all my... No, I've got no idea. I've just got some weird ideograms in front of me like oh tree with five branches oh it all like no i've got no idea i've just i've just got some weird ideograms in front of me and nothing three with five branches sunlight going through two two five two three tree with five i mean i'm just looking at my hand like tree with five branches could be an arm with fingers but I don't know why you'd have three peaks or a sun poking through a two-pane window.

It's one sun, two panes, three peaks, five branches. We skipped over four because it's unlucky. Oh, was that a callback to a different episode? Sorry. And the middle peak is important. So the shape of boop, up higher boop, and lower boop is important. Is this... See, the center boop would be larger because I assume, like, if it was light scattering through two slits and the waves collide afterwards,

then the first one would be brightest and the next wave would be lowest and lower and going forward. But there are only three. I don't know. It doesn't have anything to do with science, does it? Not necessarily. Okay. That's a cautious answer. A sun poking through two window panes.

Is this like a word book? Like there's some connection between, because you said the numbers specifically. So like, is there a connection between five and tree or two and window or something like that? The thing I'm remembering is like that memory technique where you connect numbers to words. Yeah. So yeah yeah and you create a mental picture based on whatever you have to remember like i i can't can i remember what those are absolutely not i just know the technique i'm like four is door three is tree so you you're on this you're on the right theme you're on the right theme it's not necessarily numbers as such but you're on the right theme on the right theme it's not necessarily numbers as such but you're on the right theme colors brown tree no because the numbers are important so yeah okay so it's a tree with five branches

in different directions there's a sun peeking through a two-paned window frame a mountain with three peaks the central one being the highest it's the central one being highest that's got me. It's not just about the numbers then. There's got to be... The sun is peaking. Does it have a face? Does it have eyes and it's actually peaking? Or is that metaphorically peaking?

No, no, it's not got eyes. It's not the one from Teletubbies. It's three different illustrations, right? They are not one image. Yeah, three separate illustrations. And, you know, so we've said it's a children's book. So what are you trying to teach these children? Hmm.

Shapes? Could it be a language thing? thing like is there a language in which the number for five sounds like the word for tree in a different language i am desperately searching for any language in which that's true in my head but i can't think like is it calligraphy the way you make the shapes of the words that's why the peaks would have to be that shape and the the tree has to be all the different spread in different directions is it chinese characters that's ali's got it so it's teaching children chinese characters oh you got it i was about to say sign language so i was thinking that but yeah you you you got the language bit right and then you started going off and i was like i only brought it back in so the idea is to use pictures as

memory aids to remember what the chinese symbol is for those concepts the same concept has been used by a book called dot line curve and a youtube channel called chinesey which is a really clever name in Chinese if you draw the symbols person tree it means rest two woman symbols together means argument that's controversial controversial but woman child means good this is one of the things to do with sign language as well okay like I know very little about Chinese characters but I know things to do with sign language as well. Okay. I know very little about Chinese characters, but I know a few things about sign language. I think there was a push in America a few years ago to replace some signs

because they're not great for the 21st century. They're referring to races and religions by just signing stereotypes. And they've sort of had to change some of those signs for this century now. Wow. I imagine it's a lot harder to change characters. You gave me a reason to Google those now. So what do the signs mean?

How do you get from tree with a branch to... So the pictures are basically trying to demonstrate um concepts so of a tree sun mountains in a visual way so you've got these symbols so you've got um the tree with the five branches which makes that symbol but sort of looks like a tree then you've got uh the um sun peeking through a window frame so you've got the symbol there with the with the little dots and then you've got a mountain with three peaks so with the one being the highest and then the symbol is you've got the two and you've got the one that's higher in the middle so it's basically trying to find visual cues for these symbols to make it

easier for children to remember so it's like like, oh, what was this symbol? Oh, it's that mountain. Okay, I know how it goes. It's those three lines with the one in the middle being. But does the meaning of the symbol have anything to do with the mountain, for example? So they've basically turned the symbols into props in a scene. So with the lines for the tree,

you've actually got a tree in the background a little bit to kind of give that representation. And with the sun peeking through the window, again, that's representing the sun. And you've just got those symbols there that represent that and are good visual cues for kids to learn. So the symbol for sun is the window frame

and the sun is shining through that symbol. Yeah. Oh, that's clever. I mean, I'd struggle with this if I was to try to do that. So good luck to those kids. They must be very smart. Yeah, I mean,

how many characters are there? They have like 6,000? Do they? I think it's more than that. Yeah. It's a lot of characters. It'd make you very good at art. I'm sure.

Yeah, yeah. One more from me then. In 1963, which film director boasted that he was able to get 28,000 extras to work just for food? I'll say that again, in 1963, which film director boasted that he was able to get 28,000 extras to work

just for food? I feel like I got it already Oh, if you think you've got it immediately, Ali, you sit back from this one. Okay, well now this is like an overconfident thing. But I'm going to stick with mine. All right, if you want to write down your answer somewhere, go for it.

Otherwise, we'll take it on faith. If you want to try and find it. Text my mom. 1963. I'm so bad with names, I would never guess i mean i would i would take the film if you don't know the director i would take the film it must be one of those films that require i don't know all the old movies pretty much like the cleopatra for example had billions of people yeah they couldn't really use crowd simulations back then. So you definitely have to get real people.

The food was electricity. I mean, there are some beautiful old movies which use tens of thousands of people in the back of them. And then just a lot of sort of cutouts and matte paintings. It was a lot easier to just draw 28,000 people and keep the shot level than... But no, these were actual physical extras. These were not a matte painting. These were actually in camera. Well, considering the

question, I would say the guy didn't really care about human rights. So they went and found a whole lot of poor people, either from another country or from homeless people, and abuse them pretty much. Sounds like it. Now, Mehdi, on a light-hearted knockabout quiz like this... That's gone very deep.

Let's be clear, that's almost certainly happened many times in Hollywood. We're just going to point the camera at people and they're not going to Hollywood. We're just going to point the camera at people and they're not going to care. We'll just put it there. They'll be happy to be in the movies.

I'm sure that's it. But on a light-hearted show like this, we are not going to be asking a question about human rights abuses. Sorry, I just said the words human rights abuses while laughing. That's not a great look. Yes, we don't talk about

human rights you went to the qatar world cup good oh dear oh that was topical when we're recording this 28 000 people 28 000 extras extras like um thousand yeah in I see, my movie knowledge doesn't go back that far, but there's obviously going to be some sort of epic movie where there's going to be huge crowds involved. I'm trying to think of what kind of a movie would that be? So you mentioned Cleopatra. What else was there during that time? Like Moses,

for example. But I don't know if it had 28,000 people in there. Yeah. You think in the Ten Commandments? Yeah, yeah. Ten Commandments. Yeah.

Not in this one. We need 28,000 people in camera. Which movie would that be? 28,000 extras. Extras, yeah. I'm doing the thing where I'm subtly correcting you on a thing and hoping

you pick up on it. Extras. Yeah, they have to be I'm subtly correcting you on a thing and hoping you pick up on it. Extras. Yeah, they have to be extras. I mean, you can't have all 28,000 as the first character of the movie. Also, they were extras, so they weren't necessarily on camera. Oh, they were definitely on camera. Okay, they were on camera. 28,000.

28,000 extras. 28,000 extras. Oh, so then then they want people ah i'm doing a very deliberate correction there okay all right so they want people what i mean didn't the guy boasted that he hired them for food you don't oh unless it was like sheeps or something animals i i can i can see ali smiling at this i think i think ali's pretty sure that you've uh okay we are getting there we've got all right so there's there's extra so there's lots and lots of animals which obviously you don't have to pay them you just feed them what animals would they be 28 000 that's a lot that's that's that's a lot of animals

well on the bright side it it wasn't a human violation. It was an animal violation. 28,000 animals or... The exact quote from the San Francisco Chronicle was the biggest crowd I've ever had. Of course, they all worked for chicken feed. Chicken feeds? Chicken feeds, so they're birds.

Chickens. No, they ate chicken feed, right? Ali's just got this grin on her face. It's harder knowing the answer than not. I should just leave. If you're not getting it from this one, I think we're going to have to go to the person with movie knowledge. Ali?

I don't even have movie knowledge. It just happens to be one that was in my brain. So I can say it. Go for it. Is it Alfred Hitchcock's Birds? It is Alfred Hitchcock with the movie The Birds. 28,000 birds. And he said,

they all work for chicken feed, except for the vultures who have their own agents. Oh, so the birds eat chicken feet? Oh, I guess they do. So yes, Alfred Hitchcock once bragged that he had got 28,000 extras to work just for food because they were the birds from The Birds. Right at the start of the show, then,

I asked the audience this question, which was sent in by Nick Landis. Thank you very much. Which TV show has the numbers 35 and 56 in its logo? Any guesses from the panel? 35 and 56. Is it on a badge, a police badge, and it's some sort of cop show? No.

It is in squares. 3, 5, 5, 6. 35 and 56. Two numbers specifically. 35 and 56. And you specifically. 35 and 56. And you will have seen this logo. Are they Roman numerals? 5 times 7 is 35.

7 times 8 is 56. 7 is common in both of them. Does it have anything? Unfortunately not, but I really appreciate the fast lowest common denominator maths there. That's great. That was impressive. Are they door numbers?

They are numbers of something. Like a documentary for whatever happened between years of 35 and 56? No, they are labelling something. They're also next to pairs of letters. Pairs of letters. You might want to look them up in a table of some kind. Oh, yeah, I got it. Periodic table?

Yeah. Okay. Which means it is I got it. Periodic table? Yep. Yeah. Okay. Which means it is? Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad. Ah, okay, okay. The BR and BA in Breaking Bad

are made up to look like the elements from the periodic table, and those are bromine and barium, 35 and 56. And if there was a pause there, it's because I was desperately looking down at my notes to remember what those elements were.

So thank you very much to all our players. Thank you for battling through this gauntlet. What's going on in your lives? Let's start with Mehdi this time. Where can people find you? Well, people can, as always, find me on YouTube. My YouTube channel is ElectroBoom, and I also have accounts everywhere else under ElectroBoom or ElectroBoomGuy. Ali! I also have a podcast. It's funny and relatable health, fitness and longevity. And you can find me on YouTube making outrageous artwork and music under Ali Spagnola.

And Saf. Yeah, you can find me. I'm SuperSaf everywhere. YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, wherever you look. If you just search for SuperSaf, you'll find me. I also do tech videos, but also some podcasts. Thank you very much to all of you. And for the the folks at home if you want to know more about the show or send in a question yourself you can do that at lateralcast.com we are at

lateralcast pretty much everywhere on social media and there are weekly video highlights at youtube.com slash lateralcast thank you very much to alice bagnola yay thanks for having me this was awesome to saff from super saff thanks for having me. This was awesome. To Saf from SuperSaf. Thanks for having me. I didn't do so well this time, but I blame Jetlight. You did fine. Thank you.

And Mehdi from ElectroBoom. Yeah, thank you. And I did a little bit better this time, so I'm happy. I'm Tom Scott, and this has been Lateral.