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Parents once mailed their children. A bank was shipped to Utah by parcel post. And the CIA tried to turn a cat into a spy. In this episode of The Absurdists, Marlo Anderson and guest Ginger G celebrate America’s 250th birthday by counting down 25 of the most absurd moments in U.S. history.

It starts with a 5-year-old mailed 73 miles across Idaho for 53 cents, Boston’s Great Molasses Flood and the chaotic 1904 Olympic marathon (a runner who rode in a car, a winner fed strychnine and brandy, and a Cuban mailman who stopped for a nap). Then it’s the government poisoning industrial alcohol during Prohibition, moonshiners’ cow shoes, the CIA’s Acoustic Kitty, World War II bat bombs, B.F. Skinner’s pigeon-guided missiles, the plan to nuke the moon, the steel cap launched by a nuclear test and missile mail.

They also get into the Pig War, the Toledo War, Ohio’s 150-year paperwork problem, Indiana’s attempt to legislate pi, Wisconsin’s yellow margarine ban, Mike the Headless Chicken, outlaw-turned-funhouse-prop Elmer McCurdy, the Cardiff Giant (and P.T. Barnum’s fake of a fake), Dan Sickles and his leg, Andrew Jackson’s 1,400-pound cheese, the Battle of Los Angeles, Oregon’s exploding whale and Cleveland’s Balloonfest ’86.

The Absurdists, where logic takes a back seat. Season 2, Episode 8 with Marlo Anderson and guest Ginger G.

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Why does a basic greeting card cost $8 now? Season 3 of The Absurdists kicks off with new co-host Brandi Mastrud, who brings Marlo Anderson a list of everyday things we all accept as normal but are kind of ridiculous when you stop to think about them.

Marlo opens with the e-bike that hit him outside the building, then they get into pricey greeting cards, card keepers vs. card tossers, thank-you letters vs. thank-you cards, birthday months, the Texas Roadhouse birthday saddle and birthday spankings.

Then comes tipping: the convenience-store tip screen, why the $2 button wins, whether tipping devalues real service, where tip screens came from, the no-skip tip screen near Flagstaff, self-serve froyo, cash tips and no tipping in Iceland. Plus the oat milk upcharge, credit card fees, coffee dates instead of drinks, a local restaurant’s Halloween decor debate, who gets to trick-or-treat, Christmas Eve shopping, gift exchanges full of gift cards, favorite holidays, Hallmark movies and the top Christmas songs.

The Absurdists, where logic takes a back seat. Season 3, Episode 1 with Brandi Mastrud and Marlo Anderson.