Scattered Curiosities

What happens when a podcaster is asked to turn the first season of his show into a book that does not get published? This episode happens. Chapter one sets the tone for Scattered Curiosities: The Book by utilizing material from our first “Tinysode” (New Yorkosities) and expanding it by a hexatruple and a Pizza Rat. A handy listen for navigating the acronymed neighborhoods: SoHo, NoHo, DUMBO, TriBe...

What is the connection between Pink Floyd, a cat named Jackie and the Wizard of Oz? Third roar synchronicity…or second…or NEITHER. Get to know the black & white, sepia-toned and Technicolor MGM “Felidae” that roared (or not) their way into Hollywood royalty to one day unveil The Dark Side of the Rainbow.

It is curious that our one hundred forty character, emoticon-centered, cell phone addicted, American society is not well-known for its ardency of reading, yet is so familiar with a doublet of British writers from 150-400 years ago that had so much in common: neologism, fame, reboots, fathers’ named John, and fantastic signatures. Enter the parallel worlds of William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens...

Get to know Albort’s idol Rube Goldberg a little better in this episode through Pee Wee Herman, Mr. T and a slew of RGMs. You’ll also meet a train robbing Rube, a sandwich named Rueben, some heroic lady Rubys, along with some musically talented ones who are as precious and iconic as rubles, rubies and the Rubicon River.

Leftovers are the soup du jour today. Get into Albort’s scatter-brains and learn about Sadie Hawkins Day, Bandwagons, Diner Slang and King Og. This episode is especially interesting for those of you that love the year 1986.

It’s the first episode of Season Two! Albort explores the world of simple inventions and how they came to market. Did you know Twister was thought of as “Sex in a Box” when it debuted? Or that the Snuggie wasn’t the first sleeved blanket? How exactly did John Henderson benefit Mister Kite? And what do Wacky Wallwalkers have to do with Christmas? All these answers and much, much more. Welcome back...

PILOT: In this first episode of Scattered Curiosities, Albort Einstone takes you to the Netherlands and makes poignant connections between Amsterdam and New Amsterdam (New York City) all while weaving in and out of the Eighty Years War.

For the season one finale, Albort will explore the connections between Duct Tape, Swiss Army Knives, Matches, Springs, Lighters and the Boy Scouts of America. Learn about the Unknown Scout and how he was pivotal to the formation of the BSA. Discover what “Congreves” and “Lucifers” are, and the difference between “The Original Swiss Army Knife” and “The Genuine Swiss Army Knife.” What do a Muskrat,...

Finding the right band name is one of the most pivotal moments in a musical group’s journey. Many notable bands went through more than one title before settling on a Rock Moniker. Discover which bands once went by names like: Naked Toddler; Wicked Lester; The Shrinky Dinks; Atomic Mass; and The Polka Tulk Blues Band.

Join us for one of the most infuriatingly extreme subway rides ever, and learn all about toe spreading, licking the sword, burning the giraffe, magic blankets and why Albort is worried about possums, zebras and woodpeckers plaguing the New York subway systems.

Widen your vocabulary with these words that sound dirty, but aren’t: Sack-But; Sack-ButT; Shuttlecock; Nicker-Picker; Nib lick; Logorrhea; Pissasphalt; and an Interrobang (‽). Don’t be a lobcock or a nodgecock; be a fartlek and get fecund with Albort Einstone in today’s episode, Talking Dirty.

Did you know that Green Acres was a spinoff of Petticoat Junction? And Petticoat Junction was a spin off of The Beverly Hillbillies? And Good Times was a spinoff of Maude! Can you believe that Sheriff Lobo got his own series? And Magnum PI has crossed over with Simon & Simon and Murder, She Wrote. Learn some fascinating television trivia relating to sitcoms, spinoffs, crossovers and catchphrases....

Explorer. Adventurer. Neurologist. Sailor. Stud. Diplomat. Scientist. Champion Ice Skater. Champion Skier. Nobel Peace Prize Winner. You need to know about this guy.

E06.3 That Ain't Right by Albort Einstone

Albort jumps the shark in our 22nd episode, Idiomdom. Toeing the line between literal and figurative speaking he uncovers the stories behind such idioms as “it’s a cakewalk” “throwing in the towel” “costing and arm and a leg” and, of course, “jumping the shark”. Discover the origin of the words “bimbo” “pushover” and “scram”, find out why we call weaker, smaller, frightened people “chickens” and l...

Jump into the Curiosity Winnebago as Albort takes you on a road trip across America, zigzagging north to south and south to north and from east to west to see the biggest ball of twine, the Paul Bunyan statue that comes alive in Stephen King’s novel “IT”, a UFO House, Jim the Wonder Dog Gardens, PT Barnum’s grave, the Fiji Merman, the Death Tiki of Awesomeness and go inside Lucy the Elephant, Clim...

American English can be one of the most confusing languages to comprehend as it is constantly evolving and including everyday slang into its lexicon. Even words that have been around for a while can be confusing to people who already speak English: flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. This week, Albort highlights some of the many instances from everyday conversations that make failing En...

Where did the infinity symbol come from? What is the true meaning behind the barber pole? Does a little blue ribbon mean more that one thing? What common everyday gesture means “anus” south of the equator? Discover the answer to these and other symbols, logos and gestures that are recognizable worldwide. This is symbolically speaking.

After Saturday’s big boxing match, we decided to pit the Warner Brothers Duck against the Disney Duck to find out which is most Quacktastic. Which pantsless fowl do you prefer? After Albort makes his case, you may change your mind. And get to know some of the amazing voice talent that have entertained us for the past 80+ years from Silly Symphonies to Looney Toons to Scooby Doo to Futurama and The...

To celebrate today’s rare Solar Eclipse, this episode is dedicated to the exploration of the heavens and the invention that opened the night sky to everyone, the telescope. And you have to go through Aristotle, Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei, just to name a few, to get to it. Learn about Halley’s Comet, the Hubble Telescope, the black hole in the center of our galaxy, wha...

In one of our tiniest “sodes” ever, Albort briefly analyzes the root origins of the names of colors. While he doesn’t cover all of the hues sewn into Joseph’s Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, he most definitely enlightens the origins of all of the chromatic tones of the rainbow, the three crayon colors they give your kid when you go to a family friendly restaurant, and a couple of less popular tinge...

Albort is cleaning out the file cabinet of spare curiosities that he was unable to include in past shows, so, these are kind of like the deleted scenes from materials found for our first 12 episodes, revealing Cookie Monster’s first name, the meaning of the phrase, “The Luck of the Irish” and you’ll meet a heavy metal singing parrot and Chinese Fire Monkeys!

Who really invented the moonwalk? Was the Apollo moon landing a hoax? Is there water anywhere else in our solar system? Was Galileo a jerk? What are the names of all the other moons in our solar system? What is the Jade Rabbit? Who invented the moonpie? All of this and more are revealed in this episode of lunacy about our moon, all of the moons of our solar system and the ritual of mooning.

This week, Albort invites his first guest, and long time friend and colleague, Bobby Fulton on the show for an incongruent back and forth that proves to be an assortment of multifariousness. Get to know your host a little bit better in this zany session of outrageous questions that will make you think about how YOU would answer them.

April 11, 1954 is considered the most boring day in history since 1900, but is it? Join Albort as he attempts to “deborify the boring”. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.