While You’re In: Get the scoop on ice cream, inanimate objects, and the right to vote
Ice cream dreams
If South Sound’s recent heat wave has thoughts of frozen desserts running through your head, you might want to check out a recent Seattle Post-Intelligencer article reporting that Washington state is the only oddball state where people prefer mint chocolate chip ice cream to any other flavor. The article, while fun to read, is misleading: The declaration of favorite flavor is based on a Twitter analysis of July tweets and hashtags. In a study of ice-cream-related Google searches in July — also a dubious measure of favorites, if you ask us — Washingtonians preferred spumoni, of all things. (Maybe they were wondering what spumoni was.) Between those two flavors, mint chocolate chip surely ranks higher, and it also makes an interesting tie-in to this 2013 video summarizing a Baskin-Robbins analysis that declared fans of that flavor argumentative and pessimistic. (The video, which doesn’t analyze the personalities of spumoni lovers, drives the point home with a photo of “Seinfeld’s” George Costanza.) If you’re going to watch a video, though, wouldn’t you rather it star a cat? Note to sensitive animal lovers: The feline is not enjoying its frozen treat.
It’s ‘Alive’
Like many other podcasts, “Everything Is Alive” is an interview show. The difference is in who — or what — is being interviewed. Among the subjects creator/host Ian Chillag has profiled are a chainsaw, a grain of sand and a toy alligator. (“It’s possible I’m a crocodile,” the alligator, Alligator, explains. “The distinctions are subtle, especially once you’re plush. I mean, you can tell an alligator from a crocodile by their teeth … but my teeth are made out of felt.”) It goes without saying that the funny and often moving interviews — unscripted interactions between Chillag and actors — are fictional, yet the episodes include plenty of interesting trivia: Martha, a box of tissues, reveals that there’s a species of butterfly that drinks turtle tears. The program has been getting critical praise since it launched in 2018, but it feels particularly appropriate now, when physical distancing means that some of your closest relationships might be with your pillow or your cell phone or the song that’s stuck in your head.
When women won the vote
Voting is making news these days, a lot of it scary. One hundred years ago this week, the voting news was a lot more encouraging: the 19th Amendment was ratified, giving women across the country the right to vote, a right that Washington women had secured 10 years earlier. The Washington State Historical Society is celebrating the big occasion with the Suffrage Special Whistle Stop Tour — happening, of course, online. The society is releasing a new video daily through Wednesday, Aug. 26, when the focus will be on Olympia. Looking for another way to celebrate voting? Trendsetters are rushing to buy Chari Cuthbert’s “vote” necklace, worn by Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention. Cuthbert’s piece starts at $298. If you want to get political in style, USA Today has compiled details on other options, some more budget friendly.
Freelance writer Molly Gilmore has noticed that a cat video makes any day a little brighter. She discusses local arts, entertainment and more with 95.3 KGY-FM’s Michael Stein from 3 to 4 p.m. Fridays.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 5:45 AM.