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Host Mike Rogers and guest Michelle Napierski-Prancl, a sociologist and professor at Russell Sage College, explore how pop culture influences naming trends and dive into the more offbeat side of names – including some that have been deemed illegal, according to U.S. Birth Certificates.com – on “Something Offbeat” this week.

Host Mike Rogers and <a href="https://www.sage.edu/news/book-by-michelle-napierski-prancl-mediates-the-mommy-wars/">guest Michelle Napierski-Prancl</a>, a sociologist and professor at Russell Sage College, explore how pop culture <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44259598?mag=science-baby-names&amp;seq=5#metadata_info_tab_contents">influences</a> naming trends and dive into the more offbeat side of names – including some that have been deemed illegal, <a href="https://www.usbirthcertificates.com/articles/illegal-baby-names">according to</a> U.S. Birth Certificates.com – on “Something Offbeat” this week.

What’s the deeper story behind that weird headline you forwarded to your friends or shared at the watercooler? We ask questions to gain grounded insight into the stranger news of the week.

What&rsquo;s the deeper story behind that weird headline you forwarded to your friends or shared at the watercooler? We ask questions to gain grounded insight into the stranger news of the week.

Something Offbeat

Illegal baby names: How pop culture influences naming

For years, a 17-second song clip was floating around the internet, puzzling music fans. People loved it, but they had no idea where it was from. This year, they finally found out. Laura Holliday, a writer who specializes in internet culture, joined host Mike Rogers on the “Something Offbeat” podcast to talk about the mystery and how it was finally solved.

For years, a 17-second song clip was floating around the internet, puzzling music fans. People loved it, but they had no idea where it was from. This year, they finally found out. Laura Holliday, a writer who specializes in internet culture, joined host Mike Rogers on the “Something Offbeat” podcast to talk about the mystery and how it was finally solved.

How internet sleuths discovered a mystery song was from an adult film

On this week's Offbites, Lauren and Chris discuss a Florida man who wrangled an alligator near a busy shopping strip, a person regularly using the bathroom at a Michigan cemetery, and how several horses got loose on the streets of London.

On this week's Offbites, Lauren and Chris discuss a Florida man who wrangled an alligator near a busy shopping strip, a person regularly using the bathroom at a Michigan cemetery, and how several horses got loose on the streets of London.

Offbites: An alligator wrangler, a serial pooper, and horses loose on the London streets

It’s cicada-mania! For the first time in more than two centuries, two broods of North American cicadas will emerge from the Earth at the same time. One hasn’t been up in 13 years and the other has been underground for 17 years, and they are both different from the typical cicadas we hear every summer. “Something Offbeat” host Mike Rogers caught up with Tom Tiddens of the Chicago Botanic Garden to learn more about the broods and explore some of the mystery around cicadas. Mysteries like what they are doing for all those years underground.

It’s cicada-mania! For the first time in more than two centuries, two broods of North American cicadas <a href="https://www.audacy.com/kywnewsradio/news/national/cicada-geddon-is-upon-us-what-to-expect">will emerge from the Earth at the same time</a>. One hasn’t been up in 13 years and the other has been underground for 17 years, and they are both different from the typical cicadas we hear every summer. “Something Offbeat” host Mike Rogers caught up with Tom Tiddens of the <a href="https://www.chicagobotanic.org/">Chicago Botanic Garden</a> to learn more about the broods and explore some of the mystery around cicadas. Mysteries like what they are doing for all those years underground.

Illegal baby names: How pop culture influences naming

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