Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/the-wild-card Something completely different every Sunday. A private wild card podcast made for Chris. © 2026 Chris Bookman 5e6a02e9-7f80-57dd-b4e0-8a2b6483fe87 yes en Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:55:34 -0800 Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:56:18 -0800 https://img.transistorcdn.com/a168nTBZrTPkpdH59IveBZ7pfFlDF-KiDTlieCFqX-M/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8zMTk2/MDhhMTgxZjU4MTgx/ODdlM2NiYWZlZmU0/MGM1MC5qcGc.jpg episodic Chris Bookman Something completely different every Sunday. A private wild card podcast made for Chris. Something completely different every Sunday. Chris Bookman No No Turkey Talk: A Shift on the Talk-Line full 891fb5f7-1784-43da-b980-497eb2fa95c0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/03f2f948 Thu, 05 Nov 2026 04:43:19 -0800 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 362 Theo and Isla work a shift on the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line: six home economists and 11,000 calls in 1981, fifty experts and 100,000 questions a season now, and the real calls that became legend, the bathtub twins, the turkey lost in a snowbank, the 23-year-old freezer bird, and the power-outage save. Three weeks before Thanksgiving, the number one question is still thawing. Theo and Isla work a shift on the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line: six home economists and 11,000 calls in 1981, fifty experts and 100,000 questions a season now, and the real calls that became legend, the bathtub twins, the turkey lost in a snowbank, the 23- No The People vs. Happy Birthday full f33e153d-0f53-43e9-8b94-cc0a060c2b3f https://share.transistor.fm/s/5c0a6975 Thu, 05 Nov 2026 04:24:07 -0800 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 385 A mock trial of the most famous copyright claim in music. Isla prosecutes and Theo defends the claim that charged an estimated two million dollars a year for singing Happy Birthday, from the Hill sisters' 1893 classroom song to the 1935 registration that only covered a piano arrangement, the filmmaker who refused a fifteen hundred dollar invoice, and the fourteen million dollar settlement that set the song free. A mock trial of the most famous copyright claim in music. Isla prosecutes and Theo defends the claim that charged an estimated two million dollars a year for singing Happy Birthday, from the Hill sisters' 1893 classroom song to the 1935 registration that No Demolition Night: The Postgame Show full 3b524d61-2cf8-4d88-a20a-dd2c9a88e169 https://share.transistor.fm/s/37c469fe Thu, 05 Nov 2026 04:05:11 -0800 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 405 Theo and Isla host a postgame show for the most infamous promotion in baseball history: Disco Demolition Night, July 12, 1979. Steve Dahl, 98-cent tickets, 47,795 fans in a 44,492-seat park, one crate of exploded vinyl, a bonfire in center field, and a forfeit that is still one of the rarest results in the majors. Theo and Isla host a postgame show for the most infamous promotion in baseball history: Disco Demolition Night, July 12, 1979. Steve Dahl, 98-cent tickets, 47,795 fans in a 44,492-seat park, one crate of exploded vinyl, a bonfire in center field, and a fo No The House in the Catalog full ca007087-091f-486b-81f1-8f8593cebcd2 https://share.transistor.fm/s/62516238 Wed, 04 Nov 2026 15:22:33 -0800 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 432 Theo and Isla go shopping in the 1918 Sears Modern Homes catalog: whole houses by mail order, 25 tons and 30,000 parts in two boxcars, the ,140 Magnolia almost nobody bought, the 44 Winona, mortgages from the same order form, and why the surviving houses have to be identified by stamps on their lumber. Theo and Isla go shopping in the 1918 Sears Modern Homes catalog: whole houses by mail order, 25 tons and 30,000 parts in two boxcars, the ,140 Magnolia almost nobody bought, the 44 Winona, mortgages from the same order form, and why the surviving houses No Dear Aliens: A Mixtape full 0396aed7-58a9-464a-bbab-933f5937f515 https://share.transistor.fm/s/bd180e6e Wed, 04 Nov 2026 15:08:38 -0800 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 570 Theo and Isla sequence the greatest mixtape ever made: the Voyager Golden Record. Fifty-five hellos, the Sounds of Earth, 27 songs from Bach to Chuck Berry, a hidden track made of a woman's brainwaves in love, and why November 18 matters, when Voyager 1 becomes the first human object one full light-day from home. Theo and Isla sequence the greatest mixtape ever made: the Voyager Golden Record. Fifty-five hellos, the Sounds of Earth, 27 songs from Bach to Chuck Berry, a hidden track made of a woman's brainwaves in love, and why November 18 matters, when Voyager 1 b No The Punishment Machine in Your Living Room full 84e4b2c3-d675-45ea-a98a-48d49128db79 https://share.transistor.fm/s/ed04359e Sun, 01 Nov 2026 05:49:33 -0800 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 786 Theo interviews Isla, our treadmill historian, on how a machine invented in 1818 to punish prisoners — the everlasting staircase — became a doctor's diagnostic tool and then the most common piece of home fitness equipment in the world. Theo interviews Isla, our treadmill historian, on how a machine invented in 1818 to punish prisoners — the everlasting staircase — became a doctor's diagnostic tool and then the most common piece of home fitness equipment in the world. No Reel or Render? The Great Film-versus-Digital Debate full 196e01a0-195f-42d0-b216-7d5f2d39c9f0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/86eba862 Sun, 25 Oct 2026 05:53:44 -0700 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 1041 Theo defends shooting on film and Isla defends digital in a friendly debate over look, discipline, money, and archiving, from Attack of the Clones and the Alexa to Kodak's near-death and Oppenheimer's eleven-mile print. Both hosts steelman the other side before landing on why keeping the choice alive matters. Theo defends shooting on film and Isla defends digital in a friendly debate over look, discipline, money, and archiving, from Attack of the Clones and the Alexa to Kodak's near-death and Oppenheimer's eleven-mile print. Both hosts steelman the other side No The Man Inside the Laff Box full 1ffd24a8-d5fd-433f-b11b-6fb9de1d8652 https://share.transistor.fm/s/cb19d583 Thu, 22 Oct 2026 07:17:15 -0700 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 410 An explainer: how Charley Douglass and his padlocked Laff Box put one machine's tape loops of laughter under half a century of television — from The Hank McCune Show in 1950 to 80 percent of Hollywood sitcoms, the M*A*S*H rebellion, and the 1950s audiences still laughing today. An explainer: how Charley Douglass and his padlocked Laff Box put one machine's tape loops of laughter under half a century of television — from The Hank McCune Show in 1950 to 80 percent of Hollywood sitcoms, the M*A*S*H rebellion, and the 1950s audience No The Great Emu War full 99163f4f-0b82-4219-b84e-43b49bdfb1c5 https://share.transistor.fm/s/98bcc5f1 Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:21:04 -0700 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 433 A case study breakdown of the 1932 Emu War: Australia sent Major Meredith, two Lewis guns, and 10,000 rounds against 20,000 emus destroying wheat farms — and lost. The brief, the jammed ambush, the truck that crashed chasing birds, and why the fence, not the army, finally won. A case study breakdown of the 1932 Emu War: Australia sent Major Meredith, two Lewis guns, and 10,000 rounds against 20,000 emus destroying wheat farms — and lost. The brief, the jammed ambush, the truck that crashed chasing birds, and why the fence, not No The Worst Marathon Ever Run full 7087f2aa-7379-4971-ad3f-56c3d82c27c1 https://share.transistor.fm/s/8b30b0ea Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:57:01 -0700 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 417 A narrative story: the 1904 St. Louis Olympic marathon — purposeful dehydration, a winner carried over the line on rat poison and brandy, a champion who arrived by car, a Cuban mailman who napped mid-race and finished fourth, and a runner chased a mile off course by wild dogs. A narrative story: the 1904 St. Louis Olympic marathon — purposeful dehydration, a winner carried over the line on rat poison and brandy, a champion who arrived by car, a Cuban mailman who napped mid-race and finished fourth, and a runner chased a mile of No The Great Halloween Candy Panic full 5ab9e4e9-305d-4e51-8c35-94e9d1a9a21f https://share.transistor.fm/s/b9ab6c6e Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:35:05 -0700 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 477 Myth versus Fact: Theo and Isla put the poisoned-candy legend on trial — forty years of research finding zero stranger poisonings, the one real case that proves the opposite, and the JAMA Pediatrics study showing what actually makes Halloween dangerous. Myth versus Fact: Theo and Isla put the poisoned-candy legend on trial — forty years of research finding zero stranger poisonings, the one real case that proves the opposite, and the JAMA Pediatrics study showing what actually makes Halloween dangerous. No The Case of the Wilhelm Scream full e95b9ba2-782e-47c8-b3e5-3044cb27057f https://share.transistor.fm/s/6f37d922 Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:37:33 -0700 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 461 Theo and Isla open a case file on the most famous four seconds in Hollywood: one scream, recorded in 1951 for an alligator attack, that went on to fall off the Death Star, into the Sarlacc pit, and through more than 400 movies. Theo and Isla open a case file on the most famous four seconds in Hollywood: one scream, recorded in 1951 for an alligator attack, that went on to fall off the Death Star, into the Sarlacc pit, and through more than 400 movies. No Five Happy Accidents full 627ca8ef-a23b-4530-bb51-6cdfae3e0abf https://share.transistor.fm/s/295afc64 Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:30:10 -0700 Chris Bookman Chris Bookman 346 Penicillin, the microwave, Velcro, Post-it Notes, and saccharin: five inventions nobody meant to make. Theo and Isla count down the happiest accidents in the history of stuff. Penicillin, the microwave, Velcro, Post-it Notes, and saccharin: five inventions nobody meant to make. Theo and Isla count down the happiest accidents in the history of stuff. No