We've all heard them. You're watching or hearing a show, a character says something, and -- boom! -- an invisible choir of audience members loses their minds in riotous laughter, awws, or applause. But how did where does this come from? In today's episode, we're learning how this came to be, and how it eventually became its own worst enemy. Ben here: I'd like to give a special thanks to Max for some stellar sound design.

Inventors Who Died Due To Their Own Inventions: The Irrational Death of Hippasus
34:48

The Spiritualism Movement Was Utterly Ridiculous, Part Two: Con Artists, Skeptics, and Ghosts
52:36

CLASSIC: Idiomatic for the People II, Part I: What's in a word?
49:54