Optimizing the Magic

This week's episode covers some of the most famously dangerous toys in modern history. Just in time for your kids to start working on their Christmas lists!

The gang takes a look at children's toys released over the past half century and asks, "What were they thinking?"

A little of this, a lot of that.

The world's most magical place can always get a little more magickly. These dunces solve the most common parks problems.

Papyrus went from a carefully handmade typeface to one of the most overused fonts in the world, becoming a punchline while picking up all kinds of cultural baggage along the way.

Will Producer Ash ever do a deep-dive on a beloved IP from your childhood that DOESN'T end in heartbreak and disgust? Probably not.

In this episode, the gang covers how a cigar-smoking rat and a bunch of creepy robot animals accidentally became Silicon Valley’s first attempt at hacking human dopamine - by trapping kids in a flashing-light pizza fever dream powered by Atari-era chaos!

This week the gang tackles the legend of “Lawnchair Larry” - the guy who basically did Up, but with a lawn chair, weather balloons, and absolutely zero Pixar-level forethought.

Of all time.

Walt Disney’s Three Little Pigs came out in 1933, smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression - and it really struck a nerve. People saw the Big Bad Wolf as a stand-in for the harsh economic times, while the pigs felt like everyday Americans doing their best to get by.