Selects: A Partial History of Action Figures

Humanity’s created a lot of neat things over the eons and starting in the 1940s, the UN created an agency focused on preserving those things for the whole world and future people. But that mission is in danger of becoming only about branding and money.See omnystudio.com/listener ...  Show more

There’s a kind of bird that lots of people think is a real jerk. And it kind of is. But in the brown-headed cowbird’s defense, it’s just evolved that way. Find out why it has such a bad reputation among bird lovers in this Short Stuff.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor ...  Show more

On this episode of Our American Stories, the "Nostalgia Awakens" is a Star Wars action figure exhibit from enthusiast and museum curator Jarrod Roll. He's here to share the story of how Star Wars toys revolutionized movie merchandising, licensing, and even how children play. Supp ...  Show more

When most of us think of toys, we fondly recall moments from childhood, or think of toys we gifted to loved ones over the years. Yet toys are a serious, big business -- and, more than once, they played a vital role in Japan's postwar economy. In part one of this week's special tw ...  Show more

While it's a taboo subject in the modern day, it turns out people have been improvising ways to pleasure themselves since, well, the dawn of history. In this week's two-part takeover episode, Ben and Noel join Eli and Diana Banks, real-life spouses and creators of the hit podc ...

While it's a taboo subject in the modern day, it turns out people have been improvising ways to pleasure themselves since, well, the dawn of history. In the second part of this week's two-part takeover episode, Ben and Noel join Eli and Diana Banks, real-life spouses and creat ...