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    Look It Up

    If you've ever wondered whether spiders get depressed, or what happens when you put a gun in a refrigerator, or what Presidents of the United States do after their terms end, this podcast will relieve you of the effort of having to look it up yourself.
    en16 Episodes

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    Episodes (16)

    14: bean pools, international dairy, Soviet Union trumpet solos

    14: bean pools, international dairy, Soviet Union trumpet solos

    Timestamps:

    00:55 - Filling a swimming pool with beans

    06:16 - International dairy classification guide 

    13:20 - Shorts: how much is in a ton of money, when can you resume wearing white if you stop on Labor Day

    14:15 - Trumpet solos in Soviet movie-musicals

    31:30 - Outro: Ivan Vasilievich

     

    Sources: 

    Alyans - Na Zare (80s Soviet synthpop)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6wl-EyhXl0

     

    Bean pools - 

    http://www.poolwizard.net/metric-pool-volume/

    https://fina.org/sites/default/files/finafacilities_rules.pdf

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooting_Bec_Lido

     

    Shorts - 

    https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/coin-specifications

    https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/centers/mrcbg/files/Eliminating%2BHDNfinalXYZ.pdf

     

    Trumpet solos - 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYddUl-GItk 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEXDFaTFKsg 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZzG1XbDH_Q

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqJI09R-4ZQ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO6FMIrLaSs

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3WUiJziSYM

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXMHsfUaFoU

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTFfd8ZKKzQ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2ie01PETGI

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjMEfNhShh8

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UslGLtDARcs

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tun_ZYsnuAA

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt7r8tRVoXI

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knRAf2-9Zs8

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LzKDH2hWJ4

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRmZ9KIBWhA

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsUOBtR75u0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIyXiiaEzjg

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko8P3rbDFFg

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RVSm1i0fok

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB2yiIoEtXw

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzpQbxHhen4

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBvOAOghu2E

     

    Look It Up
    enMay 21, 2020

    12: Fallow fields, Amtrak, otters

    12: Fallow fields, Amtrak, otters

    Look It Up is a podcast for the curious. On today's episode: are farmers given enough incentive to leave fields fallow? How does Amtrak stay in business? And otters. 

     

     

    Sources: 

    Farming subsidies (Grist): bit.ly/farmingsubsidie. USDA Conservation Reserve Program (AgWeb): bit.ly/crpsubsidies. Average expected crop yields: bit.ly/potatopounds.

    History of Amtrak subsidies: bit.ly/amtraksubsidies. Amtrak budget starting 2015: bit.ly/amtrakbudget15. Supplementary amtrak data (Federal Railroad Administration): bit.ly/amtrakfra.

    Baking yeasts: bit.ly/activedryyeast. Otters (Aquarium of the Bay): bit.ly/liuotters.

    Look It Up
    enSeptember 22, 2017

    11: Voronoi school districts, rhubarb pie, blankets

    11: Voronoi school districts, rhubarb pie, blankets

    On this week's episode: do school district boundaries follow the lines suggested by a Voronoi diagram? What are the origins of the Prairie Home Companion song about rhubarb pie? Are some types of blankets warmer than others?

     

    0:42 - Voronoi school districts

    3:09 - Rhubarb pie

    7:06 - Shorts

    7:40 - Blankets

    9:33 - Sources

    10:05 - Lev Theremin playing the theremin

     

    Sources: supplementary images for "Voronoi school districts," bit.ly/liuschools1. School district boundaries, bit.ly/liuschools2. Prairie Home Companion, prairiehome.org. A book about Lawrence Tibbett, bit.ly/liulawrence.

    Look It Up
    enJanuary 06, 2017

    Supplementary images for Episode 11: Voronoi school districts

    Supplementary images for Episode 11: Voronoi school districts

    These images accompany the "Voronoi school districts" segment in Episode 11.

    Missoula - all layers

    Above: Missoula, MT. Bottom layer Google Maps, middle layer Voronoi, top layer actual school districts.

    Missoula - Voronoi only

    Above: Missoula, MT. Bottom layer Google Maps, top layer Voronoi.

    Santa Rosa - all layers

    Above: Santa Rosa, CA. Bottom layer Google Maps, middle layer (colour) actual school district boundaries, top layer Voronoi.

    Santa Rosa Voronoi

    Above: Santa Rosa, CA. Bottom layer Google Maps, top layer Voronoi.

    Look It Up
    enJanuary 06, 2017

    10: Hammock heat loss, dangerous transport, weekday etymologies

    10: Hammock heat loss, dangerous transport, weekday etymologies

    Look It Up is a podcast for the indiscriminately curious. On this week's episode: why do I get so cold in a hammock? Which type of transport is safest per mile traveled? Where did the names for the days of the week come from?

     

    Sources: transportation statistics from the NTSB and IIHS, bit.ly/liutransport1, bit.ly/liutransport2, and bit.ly/liutransport3. Weekday etymologies on Wikipedia, bit.ly/liuweekdays.

    Look It Up
    enSeptember 13, 2016

    9: Lunar gymnastics, data scraping, forfeitures

    9: Lunar gymnastics, data scraping, forfeitures

    Look It Up is a podcast for the indiscriminately curious. On this episode: 

    0:43 - What would gymnastics look like in low gravity? 

    4:19 - What is data scaping?

    5:52 - Shorts: does the third-party doctrine apply to iMessage? What happens if you drive over a road flare?

    6:48 - Forfeitures, a segment about the weird stuff the US Government seizes

    9:09 - Sources. NASA video about movement in space suits, bit.ly/liugravity. Scientific American article on lunar Olympic gymnastics, bit.ly/liugymnastics. SLU Law Journal article about iMessage and the third-party doctrine, bit.ly/liudoctrine. US Government forfeiture website, www.forfeiture.gov.

    Today's episode featured a clip from Philippe Beer Gabel's "Cats in my mind" and "Mystical Picnic" by Nutmeg, all from the Free Music Archive, freemusicarchive.org

    Keep in touch on twitter (@liupodcast), or email thelookituppodcast@gmail.com.

    Look It Up
    enAugust 31, 2016

    5: Grain silos, etymologies, license plates

    5: Grain silos, etymologies, license plates

    This week: a history of grain silos, etymologies, and what'll happen when California runs out of license plate combinations. Also on this episode, shorts and a list of cool stuff seized by United States Customs and Border Protection officers. 

     

    Sources: grain silos at bit.ly/liugrains and bit.ly/grains2; license plate article at bit.ly/liuplates; forfeiture lists at forfeiture.gov. 

     

    Contact thelookituppodcast@gmail.com with any questions or comments! 

    Look It Up
    enJune 14, 2016

    4: 1500s Marches, Foreign Keyboards, Historic Pronunciation

    4: 1500s Marches, Foreign Keyboards, Historic Pronunciation

    On this episode of Look It Up: were there marches in the 1500s? How do you type on a Japanese or Chinese keyboard? Is there a correlation between geographic location or political party and whether you say "an -" or "a historic?"

    This, and more. Check it out. 

    Links:

    bit.ly/anhistoricspreadsheet: the data and results for an v. a historic
    bit.ly/liu1500march: the YouTube video of the march we listened to 


    Look us up on twitter @lookituppod, or email thelookituppodcast@gmail.com

    Look It Up
    enJanuary 09, 2016

    3: Post-Presidential jobs, heroin highway, unfinished house tax laws

    3: Post-Presidential jobs, heroin highway, unfinished house tax laws

    On this week's episode of Look It Up: what kinds of jobs do former Presidents of the United States have? What and where is the heroin highway? Can I leave a house unfinished and not pay property taxes on it? 

    This, and more. Check it out. 

    Links:

    bit.ly/liuhistoric: "an historic" v. "a historic" survey
    bit.ly/liupresjobsabc: ABC news article about post-presidential life
    bit.ly/liupresjobschart: chart of former US Presidents' occupations
    bit.ly/liuillsurvey: Illinois Youth Survey
    bit.ly/liutaxesallegheny: Allegheny County tax abatement codes
    bit.ly/liuconstructiontx: Texas construction definitions
    bit.ly/liuconstructionca: California construction definitions
    bit.ly/liuconstructionwa: Washington State construction definitions. 

    Look us up on twitter @lookituppod, or email thelookituppodcast@gmail.com

    Look It Up
    enOctober 06, 2015

    2: Refrigerated Guns, Pronunciation Surveys, Equity Politicians

    2: Refrigerated Guns, Pronunciation Surveys, Equity Politicians

    This week's episode of Look It Up deals with whether or not it's safe to refrigerate guns, a survey looking to see whether Republicans say "an historic" disproportionately more than Democrats, and what would happen if Equity name rules applied to politicians. 

    Links:

    bit.ly/liusenturia: gun study 
    bit.ly/liukennedy: Huffington Post article about Kennedy
    bit.ly/liuhistoric: "an historic" v. "a historic" survey

    Look us up on twitter @lookituppod, or email thelookituppodcast@gmail.com

     

    Look It Up
    enSeptember 22, 2015