Stuff You Should Know - How Ramadan Works

Episode Date: August 7, 2012

It's the holiest month of the Muslim calendar, and for good reason. It was during the month of Ramadan that Mohammed began to issue the Koran. Learn about the customs and traditions behind observing Ramadan in this episode of Stuff You Should Know. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Flooring contractors agree. When looking for the best to care for hardwood floors, use Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner. The residue-free, fast drying solution is specially designed for hardwood floors, delivering the safe and effective clean you trust. Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner is available at most retailers where floor cleaning products are sold and on Amazon. Also available for your other hard surface floors like Stone, Tile, Laminate, Vinyl, and LVT. For cleaning tips and exclusive offers, visit Bona.com slash Bona Clean. The War on Drugs is the excuse our government uses to get away with absolutely insane stuff. Stuff that'll piss you off. The cops, are they just like looting? Are they just like pillaging? They just have way better names for what they call,

like what we would call a jack move or being robbed. They call civil acid work. Be sure to listen to The War on Drugs on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by the reinvented 2012 Camry. It's ready, are you? Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant and Chuck, may I say, Kulu Amwa Antoom B. Kair. As-salamu alaykum to you, my friend. So Chuck and I were speaking Arabic to one another. What did you say? I said, may you be well throughout the year.

Okay. I should say that I want to qualify that by, that's the translation presented in the HowStuffWorks article. It's not Babel Fish. I said, peace be with you. Peace be upon you. Thanks. That's general greeting. Well, those are very nice greetings. Yeah. They're particularly appropriate to say to one another. The whole reason we're speaking Arabic to one another right now is because you may or may not know this. If you're one of the sixth of the world's population who practice Islam, you're probably well aware of this. But for the other five-sixths, it's Ramadan right now. That's right. It's a big month. 1.3 billion. I'd like to say a sixth. Second largest religion behind Christianity, of course. And-

Well, are you sure it's Christianity, really? Of course. What are you talking about? I thought there were way more Muslims than Christians. No. There's like over 2 billion Christians. I did not know that. You thought that it was the number one religion in the world? Really? Yeah. That or maybe Buddhism. No. Christianity. Are you sure? Oh yeah, do Christianity's. They're number one. They've got that missionary outreach program. I guess it's been effective. They got it down pat. Okay. So July 19th through August 18th this year, and we will explain why it's this year because it falls at a different time every year. Yeah. Well, we can explain why now because they use the lunar calendar. We get smacked down for

this, remember? No. In one of our shows a year or two ago, we said something about Ramadan falls on this. And people were interested. Actually, it falls at a different time every year. It was probably the fasting episode. Yeah. I think that was it. That would make sense. Yeah. And we were like, oh, wow. We need to educate ourselves. And we did. Yeah. We spent the last year and a half studying Islam. Yeah. This is the culmination of a year and a half of Islamic studies that you and I undertook to do the Ramadan episode. All right. So lunar calendar. That's where it all starts. Oh, okay. Is that where we're starting? Well, you already mentioned it, so I'm just bringing it back. All right. Well, we're used to the solar calendar, the one that is used in

the West, the 365-day calendar based on the cycle of the sun. Yeah. A lunar calendar breaks months down by when a new moon is sighted and then the next time a new moon is sighted. And there's a lot of disagreement about what sighting a new moon means. But yeah, the point is it's based on the cycle of the moon. Yeah. In America, Muslims in America generally adhere to the Islamic Society of North America. And when they get together and they say, this is when Ramadan starts this year. Right. So Ramadan starts as the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. So it's the ninth new moon of the year. And what it kicks off is the holiest, most joyful, most introspective, most charitable month of the year for Muslims. Basically, Ramadan, it's the name

of the month, but it's also the name of this month-long celebration, is basically like the comeback to Islam month for all you Muslims. And those of you who aren't may become get acquainted. Right. But it is all about like getting back to your religious roots as a Muslim. That's pretty much the point of Ramadan. That's right. And the ninth month you mentioned is significant because in 610 AD, there was a camel trader named Muhammad traveling through the desert. And he had a vision from Saudi Arabia, modern day Saudi Arabia. Yeah, it's a Mecca. And he had a vision from an angel, the angel Gabriel, and said, basically, you are the chosen one, dude, and you will receive the word of God to dispense to the people. And that was in the ninth month. So that's why Ramadan

happens in the ninth month. Yeah, it's like the most blessed month because that was to Muslims, the most significant thing that's ever happened in the history of earth. Sure. And the words that came through Muhammad ended up being the Quran. Yeah, it was transcribed. So as part of Ramadan, the entire Quran is read as read out loud at mosques around the world. And they read a little bit every night. And so about a 30th of the Quran is read. And over the course of the month, the whole thing is read. Bam, Quran read, Ramadan done. And the prayer where they read him is called the tarawih. And I need to say a special thank you to Khidir Azali, put out a call on Facebook. We got any Muslims out there. We need some help. Or I guess I could have said Arabic

speakers in general. Sure. But I wanted, you know, I wanted it from the horse's mouth. Right. So Khidir emailed me and I had a list of words and he gave me his best shot at phonetic pronunciations. And so thanks a lot, man. Yeah, thanks a lot, Khidir. Big help. I mean, that's a Chuck's doing great because of you. Well, I just don't want to stumble through this and offend people like we know I'm with you. I think it was a good move. So the prayer that in which in the mosque that you were reciting the Quran or the Quran, I guess is how I said it is tarawih. That's the prayer. And you say that every night. That's right. That's the nightly prayer during Ramadan. Right. Yeah. And I think it's not required this part, but it is highly encouraged that you

do stuff like this. Well, yeah, it's the it's the whole point. I think like also I don't know, but I would guess that there's it's the same with like say Christmas time among Christians. There's people who like use the the Christmas season to reflect and to be charitable and to go to mass. Right. Or during Lent fasting. Sure. Does that equal like fasting every day or giving up chocolate or something like that for 40 days? Right. I think it probably depends on the depth of your adherence. But the point is Ramadan is there so that you can come back and just kind of get back in touch with Islam and yourself to because the main component aside from the nightly the nightly prayers and the reading of the Quran and its entirety during that month is fasting. Yeah,

which is really the big the big part. Yeah. So fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. There's fasting. There's almsgiving. There is daily prayer. And then there's a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your lifetime. If you're able to. Is that right? Yeah, they give you a break if you know you can't afford it. Gotcha. Or you're, you know, like infirmed or something. Right. And then there's Shahada, which is the the I guess the first pillar probably is basically the belief in the creed of Islam, which is that Allah is God and Muhammad's prophet. Yeah. So you've got the five pillars. So if if the belief in God and fasting are on the same level, that's a big deal. Yeah. And so this is the month that you really do it.

And there's specific guidelines laid out for how you fast and when you fast, right? Yeah, you start at the age of 12, which is in Islam is I don't know if that's when they consider you an adult, but that's when most of the that's when you get involved in Islam as you know, as far as fasting and stuff like that goes, you're I guess you're no longer considered like a child. So at 12 years old, you can start fasting and one of the big parts about the fast is not just that you say, you know what, I'm not going to eat during the daytime from sun up to sundown. I'm just not going to eat. I could lose a few pounds and you know, it's can kill two birds with one stone. Right. The really important part and the really the only way for the fast to count

is has to do with a word called Nia N I Y Y A H and that literally means intention. What I gather from this is that if like the fastest to truly come from your heart for the sole purpose of praising Allah, right? It's not like you said, like you want to lose a little weight or you know, you're you're an IRA prisoner or something like that for political reasons. It's like you're doing it to be closer to God or to be a good Muslim. Yeah. And if you don't it in the scripture, it says, quote, whoever does not make Nia before dawn would not have fasted. So unless you really feel it in your heart, then it doesn't count. Right. So make it count. But everything counts like a little more during Ramadan, apparently. So this is a very special

month. During this month, according to the Quran, the gates of heaven are open. So angels are coming freely down to earth to help out. But the gates of hell are locked and all the demons within are chained. So you are basically the path is cleared for you to really just kind of shed all of your baggage from the year. Your prayers that are done every night are a way to basically clear off clear your conscience of any wrongdoing you've done. Yeah, they should make the demons locked away like 12 months out of the year. Well, here's here's here's the thing. There's there's an answer to that. If you if the demons were locked up 12 months a year, then it'd be all on you. That's the point during Ramadan. If you do wrongdoing or evil, sure, that is all you I can

take that. I can take that pressure. Can you? Sure. Why not? And not to make light of it. I'm just choking around. You know, the war on drugs impacts everyone whether or not you take America's public enemy number one is drug abuse. This podcast is going to show you the truth behind the war on drugs. They told me that I would be charged for conspiracy to distribute 2200 pounds tomorrow one. Yeah, and they can do that without any drugs on the table without any drugs. Of course, yes, they can do that in on the prime example. The war on drugs is the excuse our government uses to get away with absolutely insane stuff. Stuff that'll piss you off. The property is guilty. Exactly. And it starts as guilty. It starts as guilty. The cops are they just like looting?

Are they just like pillaging? They just have way better names for what they call like what we would call a jackmove or being robbed. They call civil asset. Be sure to listen to the war on drugs on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is what it sounds like inside the box car. I'm journalist in Elm Morton in my podcast City of the Rails. I plunge into the dark world of America's railroads, searching for my daughter Ruby, who ran off to hop trains. I'm just like stuck on this train. God knows where I'm gonna end up. And I jump. Following my daughter, I found a secret city of unforgettable characters living outside society off the grid and on the edge. I was in love with a lifestyle on the freedom

this community. No one understands who we truly are. The rails made me question everything I knew about motherhood, history and the thing we call the American dream. It's the last vestige of American freedom. Everything about it is extreme. You're either going to die or you could have this incredible rebirth and really understand who you are. Come with me to find out what waits for us in the city of the rails. Listen to City of the Rails on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts or cityoftherails.com. So the actual practice of fasting, what happens is you wake up early, you know, before dawn, if you want to have anything to eat and you eat a meal called a sahur and that gets you going through the day, sun comes up, then you can't eat at all.

Right, or drink water or anything. Yeah, it's got to be like nothing. It's a good point. Then when the sun sets, you break the fast with a meal called iftar. Not to be confused with ishtar. No, you can't confuse anything with ishtar. And this is your meal after the sun sets to kind of replenish your body. So you probably start off eating like some sweet, drinking some sweet drinks and dates. Yeah, eating dates and basically that you want to like give some energy to your body to get it going again. I was reading an article on the BBC about Ramadan and it was written by a Muslim scholar. And he was basically kind of chastising people who stock up as he put it for Ramadan, which it's like, okay, we didn't eat all days. We're going to eat like two days worth of

food at night. And he was like, that's not the point. You can't do that. So well, it says you can though. It says you can eat whatever you however much you want. Right, you can. But this guy, he's saying like, yes, you can. He's a purist. He was being a purist. He was saying that's not the point. All right, well, so says he. It's a rich meal because it's got to tide you over, obviously, unless you're just picking out on McDonald's at two in the morning. Right. And it includes a dessert called a kanafa or a kata if and the kata if looks sort of like an empanada from what I can tell. And the kanafa is a cake made of wheat sugar, honey and raisins and nuts and it looks sort of like just a sheet cake like a single layer sheet cake. And they both look quite delicious. I would like

to try each. There's other ones too. Like baklava is one. Oh, sure. It's a good one. Classic. Yeah. Yeah. So Chuck, you've got your ishtar. Iftar. Yeah, I actually did confuse ishtar. That's the nighttime meal. Right. Yeah. That's the nighttime meal. You go to bed, you wake up, you have a sahur and then the day begins where you're fasting. If you are sick, if you are chronically or acutely ill, the Quran specifically exempts you from fasting during Ramadan. It basically says like all I want you to be well and you need food and water during this time. So just go ahead and take care of yourself. Apparently a lot of Muslims still who are sick fast during Ramadan. So Muslim doctors or doctors in the Muslim world have

had to kind of think on their feet a little more to figure out how to take care of these patients who are like I'm not putting anything in my mouth the whole time I'm open. So they use like time release capsules, transdermal patches, that kind of stuff because you can't take a pill that's breaking your fast. But they don't consider that breaking the fast, I guess, as long as it doesn't enter your mouth. Yes. That's how I took it. It's called a workaround in the modern world. But that's pretty devout. Yeah. And apparently it's most dangerous of all to diabetics who are Muslim and are trying to fast. And it's like you can give it a shot, but if your blood sugar goes low, like you need to break your fast immediately. So you

can't even take like an insulin shot or you can. You could take an insulin shot, but I think like that's right. You want to try to keep your blood sugar up naturally first. Well, I'm glad they at least, you know, take care of the sick. Well, it's specifically exempted in Quran. Well, I guess like the pilgrimage too, if you're able to, right, like we don't want you to break your back or if you can't afford it, you can't go. So fasting is a big deal. And it's not, it's symbolic. It means that you're not paying attention to your earthly needs. That opens you up to be more inviting for Allah to, you know, to have that personal connection with Allah, freeze you up, which is a big deal. And it's also a one-two punch because you are

supposed to feel hungry and know what it's like for those who maybe can't afford food. So like a big part of it is the connection with the needy and those who might be going hungry because they can't help it. Right. Because again, it's one of the more charitable times of the year when it's, you know, kind of everybody gives that little extra. Sure. And then also, Chuck, it also practices self-control, which is a good one. Yeah, cleansing. Yeah. So you've got the, you're going through Ramadan, you're going along at a pretty steady clip. And then the last 10 days, you enter this time where it becomes basically the holy of the holies as far as the year is concerned, as far as the Muslim calendar is concerned. There's this night called Lalitul

Qadr. Did he give you the pronunciation for that one? No, I didn't. I don't know anything about that. I think I got that one. I'm hoping. So that was the night that Muhammad first started reciting the Quran as far as I could tell. Okay. It wasn't the night. I don't think it was the night that the archangel Gabriel came down and said, Hey, man, prepare for transmission because you're about to get the holy word of Allah. Right. I think it was the night that he did start saying the Quran and what was eventually transcribed into the Quran. Okay. Okay. It's a very holy night. The thing was, it was not recorded the date. So no one knows when it was. They just know that it was in the last 10 days of Ramadan. Traditionally, it's celebrated on the 27th day of Ramadan.

And this is the day where you do your prayers. What are the prayers called during Ramadan, the tariwi? Yeah, you do your nightly prayer on this night. They say that it is, it has the, it has, it's worth more than a thousand months of worship. Like if you do, if you pray and like you're a good devout Muslim on this one night, like it just takes care of everything. Wow. Yeah. And then after that, um, you've got a couple more days of Ramadan and then the end a big party. Yeah, you fasted that long. It's time to celebrate. Uh, when you break the fast, you, uh, say Takbir, which Takbir, the literal translation is, um, Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. There is no deity worth worthy of worship, but Allah and Allah is greatest.

Allah is the greatest and all praise is due to Allah. And this can be said, there's a variety of moments, uh, in a Muslim's life on a monthly basis that they will say this, you know, it's not just at the end of Ramadan. It could be a battle cry. It could be in times of need. Uh, basically it's just an expression that nothing is, is greater than Allah. And when you have completed this really important task at the end of Ramadan, this is what they say. Uh, men are supposed to say it out loud. Women are supposed to just think it. No comment on that. But basically that's the end of Ramadan. And then it's time for the celebration, the Eid al-Fatir, which is, you know, it's kind of a party. And everybody says Eid Mubarak,

which means a blessed Eid. That's right. Yeah. Eid means festivity. Fatir means breaking the fast. Yeah. So this is the party where you break the fast. Everybody gets gussied up and dressed to the nines and they go seek out the poor. They chase them down in the streets and then give them money and food. Yeah. They light up their houses. The what with lanterns and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. It's very beautiful. It's not Muslim Christmas. I know people in the western world always like to like say, Oh, this is like a Easter. This is like, you know, Fourth of July is the Cinco de Mayo in Mexico. It's like none of this is true. Yeah, that's true. That was a good thing to point out, Chuck. I'm glad you did that. Yeah. The war on drugs impacts everyone, whether or not you take

drugs. America's public enemy number one is drug abuse. This podcast is going to show you the truth behind the war on drugs. They told me that I would be charged for conspiracy to distribute 2,200 pounds of marijuana. Yeah. And they can do that without any drugs on the table. Without any drugs. Of course, yes, they can do that. And I'm the prime example of that. The war on drugs is the excuse our government uses to get away with absolutely insane stuff. Stuff that'll piss you off. The property is guilty. Exactly. And it starts as guilty. It starts as guilty. The cops, are they just like looting? Are they just like pillaging? They just have way better names for what they call like what we would call a jack move or being robbed. They call civil acid.

Be sure to listen to the war on drugs on the iHeart radio app, apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. This is what it sounds like inside the box car. I'm journalist in El Morton in my podcast city of the rails. I plunge into the dark world of America's railroads searching for my daughter Ruby who ran off to hop trains. I'm just like stuck on this train. God knows where I'm going to end up and I jump. Following my daughter, I found a secret city of unforgettable characters living outside society off the grid and on the edge. I was in love with a lifestyle on the freedom this community. No one understands who we truly are. The rails made me question everything I knew about motherhood history and the thing we call the American dream. It's the last vestige of

American freedom. Everything about it is extreme. You're either going to die or you can have this incredible rebirth and really understand who you are. Come with me to find out what waits for us in the city of the rails. Listen to city of the rails on the iHeart radio app, apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts or cityoftherails.com. And so what else happens after that? With Eid al-Fatir, I didn't get from this article how long it lasts. Like is it a one night? Is it like a week long thing? Does it depend on how the economy is doing that year? That's a good question. I didn't get to that either. Well, I'm sure someone will inform us. I hope so. But it is a big party and lots of generosity and gratitude among each other and like you said, toward the poor. Yeah,

which is pretty great. So in the end, Ramadan accomplishes a bunch of things. It's going to strengthen your relationship with Allah. Very important. It's going to enforce patience and determination. I imagine going through a month long sun up to sundown fast will do that. Yeah, I mean, there's got to be times for that month where you're like, I'm having a really bad day and I want a cheeseburger. Yeah, I'm sure. Promotes the principles of sincerity by making you shy away from arrogance and showing off. That's kind of cool. Like I like all these tenets. Promotes good character and truthfulness, which is a good one. Encourage you to do with way of bad habits. I guess if you've got some bad habits, Ramadan would be a good time to watch those

away. Sure. Because the whole 30 days theory of starting a new habit. Plus you're practicing self-restrain already anyway. Exactly. Enhance the generosity and hospitality. Reinforces the commonality and the feeling of brotherhood with other Muslims, which is a big deal. Observance of the value of time, which makes sense. Because if it were me, I'd be watching that sun go down each night. Plus also you're not just wandering around looking for food and stuffing your face. You have more time, so do something with it. Yeah. Makes you value time, I guess. Right. And teaches children to perform acts of servitude and obedience, be kind to the poor, that kind of thing. Yeah. Basically get your life back in balance. Get

your spiritual life back in balance. Be a good Muslim. That's what it's saying. That's right. So this year, since it's a lunar calendar, it falls on at different times of the year, every year. And not even different, like, oh, this year it's July 1st and then next year it's going to be July 5th or something. It's like in five or six years or something like that. It'll be in November. Yeah. It's all over the 12-month map, right? Right. So this year, if you're in the United States, the Islamic Society of North America, you said, they said, okay, the new moon sided on July 20th. And they use astronomical calculations and there's a big debate over whether that's okay. And they're saying, yes, of course it's okay. It's actually

more precise. You don't have to see it. There's nothing in the Quran that says you have to see it. Other people say, no, in the Quran, it's when the new moon is sighted. You can't sight it with astronomical calculations. You have to use your peepers. So there's a debate. And apparently all this goes away. But apparently all this goes away like once Ramadan starts over, it's like, okay, whatever it's Ramadan, be quiet. But there's two arguments on whether to, like, if you're in North America, that's not Mecca. So there's different arguments. And one argument for using a local sighting is, well, these are the people that you're celebrating Ramadan with your community. What's one of the reasons for it is to be part of the local community. But then the other argument

to use, like, say, the Mecca sighting, where, you know, when the new moon appears over Mecca, is that it unites Muslims around the world in their muslimness at the center of it. Those are both good points. But neither one's settled. I mean, in the U.S., they still use the Islamic Society of North America, mainly. Is it a hot debate or is it? I don't think, I think it's an ongoing debate. Right. But again, I think once Ramadan starts, it's like everyone says the important thing is that we're all together. Exactly. Yeah. Love it. Pretty interesting stuff. And I didn't know much about it. I knew those fasting, but it's good to, you know, I've always said one of the coolest classes I took in college at Georgia was my religion class.

Yeah. Very interesting stuff. Yeah. I think it's good to open yourself up to learn about stuff, whether or not you subscribe to any of it. Knowledge. And just listening to this podcast is a good start. Agreed. And if August 19th comes around and you have a Muslim friend, make sure to wish them Eid Mubarak, because that's Eid al-Fatir this year, August 19th in North America. Just remember. That's right. Okay. That's it for Ramadan. If you want to learn more about it, you can type that into the search bar at howstuffworks.com, R-A-M-A-D-A-N. And I said search bar, which means it's time for a listener mail. No, it's not, Josh. It is time for the administrative detail. It's been a while.

Wow. So this is going to span a couple of shows because it's pretty long. We've had an ongoing list or actually. And that's just the one you've compiled so far. I still have like a backlog myself. So let me give you this page and I'll take this one and just sort of mark where you left off and we'll finish up. Wow. There's like three pages. All right. So first of all, Bobby Duke, my man, the woodcarver. Awesome, awesome stuff. He carved us this handmade stuff you should know thing I've promoted before. It's on our TV show. Yeah. And it's like, it's really awesome. And if you're into wood carving and you want to support Bobby, dukewoodcarving.com is where you can go. Yeah. Okay. I got one for you with the dot com. Dan of sharpshirter.com S-A-J-R-P-S-H-I-R-T-E-R

sent us some great awesome t-shirts of a man punching a bear. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Given a bear haymaker, I believe. Yeah, I love that. We got stickers of that too. You can find him also at the Eastern Market in DC. That's right. Bailey Denmark, you sent us dark chocolate and bacon cookies, which means that you know us and you love us. And they were delicious and good luck at graduate school, Bailey. Jenny and Brian sent us some spam flavored macadamia nuts from Hawaii. Gracias. Mine are still sitting up there. I know. I'm waiting for like just the right moment. Well, I hope I'm around. Okay. Did you eat yours? I didn't get any. Oh, you didn't? No, you have the, you've been keeping them hostage. Oh, well, we'll split them. Okay. We'll give Jerry

one. We got a book from Samuel Lytle called Gold Star. And we certainly appreciate that. Have not read it yet, but it's on the shelf. Thanks, Sam. I want to put in a special shout out to our buddies Glenn and Sonya for the bottle of champagne that they sent us. Of course. For reaching the million dollar loan to Mark on Tiva. And they sent me and you me a bottle of champagne to congratulate us for our wedding. Champagne factory or something. Bought it all themselves. Pillow mob. Everyone has seen the Chuck pillow. There was a Josh pillow, but you haven't really. I keep the thing in hiding. When I opened the box and I saw that it activated the part of my brain that would be activated if it had been a human head. Like that's what was activated when I

looked in the box. It's scary. Well, I love my Chuck pillow. It's made appearances all over my house to freak out Emily like in the microwave because I know she'll go to put her coffee in there each morning and sometimes I'll put it in bed and when I go out of town and stuff like that. Anyway, pillow mob is, I think they're out of Seattle and they're pretty funny gifts. Yeah, they're awesome. What's your get one for somebody? What's their website pillow mob.com? I'm not sure, but it's pretty easy to find. Search pillow mob lazy. I've got one illustrator, Kevin Cornell, sent us his book, Six Penny Anthems volume two. He's specifically asked not to be plugged because he didn't want the gift to be disingenuous. Well, TS for you. It's a really

good compilation on the comics he's worked on and you can find it at bearskinrug.co.uk. Kevin Cornell, heck of a guy. Awesome comics. Agreed. Yeah. Man of Leisure from Missoula, Montana, sent us Moonshine. Yeah. Like four jars. And you tried it. I tried it at work at my desk. I know I watched you do it. It was delicious. Because I wouldn't touch mine until you drank yours. Yeah, I tried the cinnamon. Yeah, Josh was like, try it, try it. I want to see if you drop dead. And I tried the cinnamon and man, it was hot and delicious. I've got the citrus one and it's just right. I hope you tried it. Yeah. Okay. Let's see, we got a postcard from the Spam Museum, the Spam Museum from Julie G in Austin, Texas. Thank you.

We got a book called Swing from Alan Gerstle and he is a dude who found out that his birth father was Louis Prima. Cool. So he says, yeah, pretty amazing. Jennifer sent us a cat ball. Those went to you because I don't have cats. I use it all the time. Yeah. Cat ball.com. Yeah, it's basically. We know, I'm sorry, dcatball.com. T-h-e-c-a-t-b-a-l-l.com. Yeah, it's a big hollow open on two sides, sort of fabric-y ball that the cats can climb inside and my cats just lay in it. But other ones probably play. More active cats play. Liz, a little bit sweet as always. Oh, yeah. Your candy is delicious and your chocolate is delicious and we have an invite went next time we're in New York to come by and learn how to make

chocolate. Nice. And supposedly they're coming by on their book tour. Oh, yeah. So go to little bit l-i-d-d-a-b-i-t sweets and support them because they're like hand-making these delicious things and buy their book, which I don't have the name in front of me, but I'm sure they have the information at the Little Bit Sweets website. I would imagine. Yeah. Claire from Summit, New Jersey sent us a very nice handwritten letter. Thank you very much for that, Claire. That's a dying art. And I got one more and I feel like we should probably continue this another time. Yeah. Maya from the Brooklyn Brewery. Remember they sent us a big box of stuff. Yeah. Including beach towels and stickers and koozies and books, including the brewmasters table and beer school.

Yeah. So I've been drinking Brooklyn Brewery for a long time since I lived in New Jersey many years ago. Nice. And it's delicious stuff. It is great stuff. You're from that area. I'm sure you know it well. Yeah. If not, seek it out. Thanks, guys. Thanks to all of you guys. Yeah, more to come. I guess next time, if you want to, if you send us something and you weren't included, you better listen to the next few podcasts. That's right. If you want to send us something, we're always happy when something comes for us always, especially if it's not a severed head. And it just turns out to be a pillow mom. You can get us, you can get our address by tweeting to us at syskpodcast. You can ask us on facebook.com slash stuff you should know. And you can send us

an email saying, Hey, where do I send you cool stuff? To stuffpodcastatdiscovery.com. For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit howstuffworks.com. Brought to you by the reinvented 2012 Camry. It's ready. Are you? The war on drugs is the excuse our government uses to get away with absolutely insane stuff. Stuff that'll piss you off. The cops. Are they just like looting? Are they just like pillaging? They just have way better names for what they call like what we would call a jack move or being robbed. They call civil acid. Be sure to listen to the war on drugs on the iHeart radio app,

Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome to Crash Course, a podcast about business, political and social disruption and what we can learn from it. I'm Tim O'Brien. Every week on Crash Course, I'm going to bring listeners directly into the arenas where epic upheavals occur. And I'm going to explore the lessons we can learn when creativity and ambition collide with competition and power. Listen to Crash Course every Tuesday on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.