Monday, January 21

The Debunker: Did St. Bernards Ever Carry Barrels of Brandy Around Their Necks?

by Ken Jennings 5 months ago

T. S. Eliot wrote that “April is the cruelest month,” but January brings the Northern Hemisphere its cruelest temperatures of the year. We’ve asked ex-Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings to come in from the cold and put a chill on some of the most persistent cold-weather myths he could think of. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you freeze (yes, we stole that from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s dialogue in Batman and Robin.)

Icy Myth #3: Saint Bernard Rescue Dogs Carried Little Kegs of Brandy to the Snowbound.

The ginormous St. Bernard dog breed, immortalized by Stephen King in his horror classic Cujo, was originally bred as a rescue dog in the Swiss Alps. In fact, the breed is named for the Great St. Bernard Hospice, a monastery atop the Great St. Bernard Pass in Switzerland, where the monks famously used the dogs in rescue operations.

Tuesday, December 11

The Debunker: Can You Prevent Acne By Washing Your Face?

by Ken Jennings 6 months ago

Dispelling misinformation is tough when you’re up against the biggest liars of all: Mom and Dad. In his new book Because I Said So!: The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids, Ken Jennings takes on generations of dubious parental wisdom. And this month on Woot, Ken will debunk four bonus parenting myths not found in his book, proving that Mother and Father don’t always know best.

Parental Myth #2: Dirt Causes Acne. Go Wash Your Face!

I’m turning forty in just over a year, which hopefully means my face will finally be clearing up soon. Eighty percent of young Americans have pimple problems, and their well-meaning parents often recommend all kinds of home remedies, from lemon juice to aloe vera to baking soda. But the one thing we can all agree on is the important of hygiene. Everyone knows you get acne from not washing your face, right?

Tuesday, December 04

The Debunker: Does Warm Milk Really Put You to Sleep?

by Ken Jennings 7 months ago

Dispelling all the misinformation in the world is a tough job when you’re up against the biggest liars of all: everyone’s parents. Let’s face it, Mom and Dad mean well, but parenting is a tough gig. In his new book Because I Said So!: The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids, Ken Jennings takes on generations of dubious parental wisdom on the dangers of gum-swallowing, knuckle-popping, post-meal swimming, and all the rest. And this month on Woot, Ken will be debunking four bonus parenting myths not found in his book. As we’ll see, Mother and Father don’t always know best.

Parental Myth #1: Drink Some Warm Milk Before Bed!

A glass of warm milk is an age-old folk remedy for insomnia. Mom’s bedtime advice got a nutritional boost in the 20th century when science discovered that milk is a good source for something called tryptophan, an amino acid sometimes prescribed as a sleep aid because the brain converts it into the sleep-regulating neurotransmitter melatonin.

Tuesday, November 27

The Debunker: Was David Rice Atchison President for a Day?

by Ken Jennings 7 months ago

Every schoolchild learns how John Quincy Adams used to deliver the State of Union address wearing only an oversized diaper and a velvet sash reading “BABY NEW YEAR 1823.” My fellow Americans, that’s just not true! And neither are the other four presidential misconceptions author and Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings will impeach this month.

Presidential Myth #4: In 1849, a Senator Named David Rice Atchison Was President for a Day.

Ah, the roll call of legendary American chief executives: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Atchison. Wait, Atchison?

David Rice Atchison was a Kansas lawyer and anti-abolitionist leader who represented his state in the U.S. Senate for twelve years, from 1844 to 1855. But today his fame mostly hinges on the historical claim that he, not Zachary Taylor, was the actual 12th President of the United States. In this version of history, Atchison is said to have served his term in office for twenty-four hours, between James Polk and Zachary Taylor. Also, the little guy was really tuckered out, so he spent most of his term asleep.

Tuesday, November 20

The Debunker: Did Kennedy's Inauguration Make Hats Uncool?

by Ken Jennings 7 months ago

Every schoolchild learns how John Quincy Adams used to deliver the State of Union address wearing only an oversized diaper and a velvet sash reading “BABY NEW YEAR 1823.” My fellow Americans, that’s just not true! And neither are the other four presidential misconceptions author and Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings will impeach this month.

Presidential Myth #3: John F. Kennedy Killed the Hat by Going Bare-Headed on Inauguration Day.

During the first season of the TV series Mad Men, the series’ fedora-wearing (and Nixon-voting) ad execs prophetically ponder the specter of a Kennedy presidency. “He’s inexperienced,” says Roger Sterling. “He doesn’t even wear a hat,” replies Bert Cooper.

Tuesday, November 13

The Debunker: Did Lincoln Write the Gettysburg Address on an Envelope?

by Ken Jennings 7 months ago

Every schoolchild learns how John Quincy Adams used to deliver the State of Union address wearing only an oversized diaper and a velvet sash reading “BABY NEW YEAR 1823.” My fellow Americans, that’s just not true! And neither are the other four presidential misconceptions author and Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings will impeach this month.

Presidential Myth #2: Abraham Lincoln Wrote the Gettysburg Address on the Back of an Envelope.

Seven score and nine years ago, at the dedication of a military cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Abraham Lincoln gave a two-minute speech that schoolchildren still memorize today. The so-called “Gettysburg Address” is one of the most famous orations in history, but the one thing people most often remember about its story—that it was hastily written on the back of an envelope while Lincoln was traveling by train to Gettysburg—couldn’t be further from the truth.

Tuesday, November 06

The Debunker: Does the Presidential Eagle Ever Turn Its Head?

by Ken Jennings 8 months ago

The collective American mind is stuffed with an incredible amount of fable and folklore about our forty-odd past presidents. For example: every schoolchild learns how John Quincy Adams used to deliver the State of Union address wearing only an oversized diaper and a velvet sash reading “BABY NEW YEAR 1823.” My fellow Americans, that’s just not true! And neither are the other four executive branch errors author and Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings will impeach this month. (We apologize in advance if you live in a swing state and are thoroughly sick of all things presidential at this point.)

Presidential Myth #1: The Eagle on the Presidential Seal Turns Its Head in Wartime.

One of the most iconic symbols of the American presidency is the Seal of the President, which features a bald eagle set against a blue background. In its left talon it holds a bundle of arrows, in its right, an olive branch. This seal appears on the presidential flag, on Air Force One, on the carpeting of the Oval Office, and—most important of all—in the West Wing credits.

Tuesday, October 23

The Debunker: How Was Dracula Killed?

by Ken Jennings 8 months ago

The poet John Keats called autumn a “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.” Let’s leave the “mellow fruitfulness” for November - October is all about the season of mists. We’ve asked Jeopardy! smart-aleck Ken Jennings to fact-check the spookiest Halloween lore he could dig up and fill us in on all these monstrous misconceptions.

Spooky Myth #4: Dracula Was Killed By a Stake Through the Heart.

A wooden stake through the heart is often said, in vampire lore, to be the only way to kill one of the pesky bloodsuckers. But apparently Bram Stoker, the Irish novelist who created Dracula, didn’t get the memo. At the climax of his 1897 novel, Mina Harker describes Drac’s death like this:

Tuesday, October 16

The Debunker: How Blind Is A Bat, Anyway?

by Ken Jennings 8 months ago

The poet John Keats called autumn a “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.” Let’s leave the “mellow fruitfulness” for November - October is all about the season of mists. We’ve asked Jeopardy! smart-aleck Ken Jennings to fact-check the spookiest Halloween lore he could dig up and fill us in on all these monstrous misconceptions.

Spooky Myth #3: Bats Are Blind.

Bats do have amazing ways of getting around that have nothing to do with eyesight, as you probably know. One suborder of bats, the microchiropterans, can echolocate, which means they emit high-pitched squeaks and listen for the sound bouncing back to help navigate and detect tasty nearby bugs. But echolocation wasn’t discovered until 1938, so it has nothing to do with the popular saying “blind as a bat,” which goes back to Shakespeare’s day. Maybe the cliché originally derived from the confused flailing of bats trapped indoors, or from the assumption that a nocturnal animal like a bat would be, in Bruce Springsteen’s words, blinded by the light.

Tuesday, October 09

The Debunker: Were Witches Burned at the Stake at Salem?

by Ken Jennings 8 months ago

The poet John Keats called autumn a “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.” Let’s leave the “mellow fruitfulness” for November - October is all about the season of mists. We’ve asked Jeopardy! smart-aleck Ken Jennings to fact-check the spookiest Halloween lore he could dig up and fill us in on all these monstrous misconceptions.

Spooky Myth #2: Witches Were Burned at the Stake at Salem.

Before I get into this one, let me stipulate right up front that every Women’s Studies paper on the Salem witch trials was exactly right. The trials were a fascinating and tragic confluence of screwed-up religious, political, and sexual dynamics, and twenty people were executed for the stupidest of reasons.