Solving the final riddle and closing

see Avatar Fire and Ash is now streaming on Disney pllus. It's the film critics are calling the best Avatar yet. A true epic and completely jaw dropping. This is the only pure thing in this world. Return to Pandora on Disney pllus. It will be an adventure for the whole family and watch the Oscar winning phenomenon act This is sick Fire and Ash, now stream runun Disney pllus, rated PG thirteen. What are you doing if you are committing monolithic bi aviicide The answer to that at the end of the show. My name's Tom Scott and this is lateral Lateral is incredibly excited to unveil our latest release, Questions twenty twenty six now with enhanced ambiguity, deeper misdirection, and a completely redesigned interface for guessing. Built from the ground U,Quions twenty twenty six features faster assumptions, smarter distractions, and a revolutionary new system that makes confident wrong answers feel even better We've also introduced three human beta testers who will be stress testing our logic in real time. They haven't seen the documentation, They skipped onboarding, and they've already agreed to the terms and conditions without reading them. Let's meet our early adopters. They are all returning players. We start with Izzy Lawce. Welcome back Thank you very much. Lovely to be here again. Again again. I appreciate the roller banner that has been placed behind you with the new books on it Indeed, I mean I was doing stuff earlier and it was up and if you've ever tried to, you know take a rbor carer down, it's almost lethal. So it's staying there. It's like a tape measure but vertical and so much bigger And it snaps back in exactly the way the tape measure does, the way you think it might actually still bite you. So it's staying there Is it for a particular book? Be I think you've got a new book out since we last saw you. I do have a new book. It's this book here. it is called The Doomsday Cows and I wrote it quite cynically because it's for nine to twelve year olds and what do nine to twelve year olds like more than cattle And the answer that is medieval surveys. So this is it's set in ten eighty six up in Chester and it follows a girl called Nora and it's good fun and involves hiding cattle, which is difficult because it's before they invented sofas Just to be clear, are you talking about leather sofas there or just a sofa to hide a cow behind? To be fair, I realized when I said that and I was saying that off the cp that I imagine Romans had sofas or some sort of sitting implements. I'm not going to would track my factual statement there. But if they did those sofas will be appearing in an Iizzy Lawce book at some point. indeed, definite Well, good luck to you on the show today. Also returning, Ofa Vorge, welcome back. Hi What have you been up to lately? Because I've been seeing clips of you doing English stand up in the Nordics. I'm not sure where in the Nordics. I was going to say a country and I'm like I'm probably going to be wrong. No, I've been doing it in Norway so in Oslo. called the English undernder Bottle Yeah, I thought like I've been doing the silly videoos Tled the Nordic for about five years I thought let's just try something different. Let's call it I don't know H middle agge kind of thing. let's just let's just go for it. let's just try different things Are you getting mostly folks who have English as the first language or are you getting Oslo locals who to be fair, almost everyone in Oslo speaks English anyway. Yeah, yeah, their English is perfect and it's fine and there's no problems. We do a little survey in the beginning of every show. It's like whoo here's International and it's about half and half. It us like a Nordic partner dragging their non Nordic other partner to a comedy show. So like here, I need to educate you about the culture. come join us. So yeah Well, good luck with the show today. alsoso returning to lateral. We have Miss London, Charlotte Young. Hello, so excited to be back. How is the Miss London journey going for you It's really good. I actually just came back from an international pageant in the Philippines and that was for people of Chinese descent that brought up in different countries. and I met people from all around the world. And it was the most wonderful experience. And I learned a lot about the culture as well I'm having like holiday blues right now Well, hopefully we'll be able to cheer you up a little bit out of those blues. I also feel for those who haven't heard your previous episodes, we should clarify what a modern pageant like that is about Oh yes. so I know that there's some underlying misunderstandings about pageantry as a whole and people seem to think it's like flaunting your body around or how pretty you look on camera. But I think like over the past few years, things have really changed and Really I believe that the best patterants are ones based upon purpose. So for example, the advocacy of the current pageant that I just participated in was raising gastric cancer awareness because the CEO recently had his wife pass away from gastric cancer And then we took a lot of we went around the hospitals and also learn a lot about the importance of testing early. And also it relates somewhat closely to my PhD supervisors like academic area because he does colonic cancer drug delivery. And so it was a really good like mix and I really felt that. and that's why I think I had such a good time there as well Also casually dropping the PhD in there. Well done. Yes. Y I've had to For all three of you then, let's hope this is a show to keep any holiday blues away. The scripts have already been compiled. It's time to clear the error messages and open the file labelledQuestion one Thank you to Victor for this question. In twenty twenty four, several roadside billboards in Texas featuring a smartly dressed man were installed upside down. Were they advertising? One more time. In twenty twenty four, several roadside billboards in Texas featuring a smartly dressed man were installed upside down Were they advertising Well, I would think it would be some sort of like Australian tourist board, but the smartly dressed man just doesn't really chime with Australia. So it can't be that. Anytime I think about roadside billboards in the US, I think about like like, oh where you entered? here's a lawyer that needs to like to help you out is there some sort of like, Anti lawyer. where they they turn the sign upside down and like The lawyers in the car and he can't help you or we can't help you. I don't know That is the right type of lawyer. I'm going tweak the question slightly. In twenty twenty four, several roadside billboards in Texas for an injury lawyer were installed upside down Is it like a turn your life upside down kind of vibe will help deal with all your injury issues and claims? I can also imagine like if it is an injury lawyer, maybe they're working with a car company to show you how good these belts are. So he is upside down in a car and it just won't fall out. but he's being held very firmly I'm trying to like think of all the puns I can involve being upside down because it has to be a pun based image. Surely. There's going to be a you know, like you said, Charlotte, turn your life upside down or dangle in with me. I don't know. You don't dangle in court, do you? That's not of thing. Mm Or like shake shake your pockets like for all your money. giveive me all your money. Oh that's good Or is it something weird like there's a sort of trademark on a particular person. So there's a what's the name of the spino from Breaking Bad, that guy who was like a sleazy Betool soul Bet cool soul. So it could be, for example, that they've trademarked betteret cool soul But not if he's upside down, the actor who plays him. So there could be a way of like getting past sort of like trademark rules where you have somebody's face upside down, doesn't count as using their face and so therefore you could have put a Hollywood actor up there advertising your brand. The entire billboard is upside down The text, the numbers, everything. One thing about these billboards is there are frequently so many of them and drivers get so used to them that after a few iterations of the cycle of the Nam spe up, they will start just putting their faces and something like, you know who I am or just de The drivers are expected to be familiar with this anyway So is this Well, you didn't just give us the answer there No I't It's not the case of, you know It stands out because it's weird That's part of it, if you like. know That's how people are going to talk about this lawyer's billboard as opposed to the other hundred lawyers' billboards. Okay O ofie you said u he's he's kind of Belted in It is not A little bit close there He's not Oh, but others are Ah. C I can imagine that you've said something about like there's many of these signs where there's like like this sign is like because if the whole sign's upside down, that means the phone number or the website everything is upside down, which means you can't go and see it unlessah you do your thing Yeah, maybe there's some sort of like Maybe it's in an area where Oh this is so silly, but like you know how on a roller coaster you're upside down and you would be able to spot it from like afar. But like maybe belted in not roller coaster but some other kind of contraption where you're upside down. Is there is there an actual car upside down next to the the billboards as a sort of like's a' you know, these people need me and they can read what I'm His budget didn't stretch that far, iszy, but you're right, that is the joke. If you get into an accident and flip over then the board will be the right way up This is a personal injury attorney, Haddy Lw, Hussein Haddie in Texas. And if you get into an accident and flip over near his billboard you will be able to read it. His company claims over a quarter of a billion dollars in trial settlements, which is probably why you can afford that many billboards. That's a lot. Yeah Izzy, let's go for your question please. Okay, here we go puts on a stethoscope, enters a sparsely furnished room and talks to an injured man he's never met before After a few minutes, John leaves without issuing any advice and never sees the man again. What's John doing And again John puts on a stethoscope enters a sparsely furnished room. and talks to an injured man he's never met before After a few minutes, John leaves without issuing any advice. and never sees the man again is John doing If he's a doctor, he's doing a bad job. But I'm guessing he's not a doctor He's not a doctor, he is in fact just pretending to be a doctor M He's actually advertising for the billboards. The injured man is the guy upside down and he' both a doctor and a lawyer, it turns out, qualified in both Well, I will say that unlike the lawyer from Texas, who I assume is American, John is in fact British. Oh, okay But and here's a little clue, he often works abroad tryrying to work out sparsely furnished room A medical ward is not sparsely furnished. There's a lot of there's a lot of stuff around there to keep the patient going famously furnished Indeed. Although when I went in for an op, I was very upset. I went in for an op and it's a proper go under op, but my room beforehand, they put a chair in and didn't get to lie down on a bed until they cut me over whichich I thought was me Just because I can walk. I remember the last time I had something like that, which was a long while ago now Nice room beforehand, put you on the trolley, wheel you through. the anes where they give you the anesthetic was in the basement And There's no natural light and it's not really like a patient focused area. So All all of a sudden, Its just kind of doesn The vibes changed a lot and not in a way that made you confident It's way when you turn from human to meat parcel. However, it's not it's not I will say now it the spotishously furnished room is not in a hospital. I wonder if like the injury of the man actually matters or is serious or like it just happens that they are. o, they're injured or something happened before. And this whole thing is kind of a I don't know, Mrter E Maybe he's just the wrong kind of doctor for this injured man. and he goes in, he's like, yeah, this is not working. Nothing no advice to give. Let me just leave and can't help you, so I'm not going to go see you again. I love that answer, but unfortunately that is incorrect. He is would be an amazing answer. I like that I'm sorry I'm a pedatrician. twos I too h. I'm actually a vet and you're not at do, so I'm sry But I can prescribe you some great tranquilizers, just really, really good So I will underline John is not giving out medical advice. I'm just going underline that. So maybe the stethoscope isn't for the patient Technically, you're correct Heck I don't like being technically correct on lateral. That' That is correct, but I don't know if it's going to help you, but it might. Show that has increased the possibilities Allright then I will give you another clue U John works to the UK government I wonder if this is Like it just they just happened to have met. It wasn't a thing that they have to meet or was this was an appointment. It just happed to have created that scenario of He has the statuscope and the person he met is an inter person On the way to hospital at some point Don't worry, we will get to that It just happened that that this was the situation. It's kind of the opposite of that This is an interrogation room. O. And I'm gonna whack him with my statoscope. until he gives me the answers that I want I want you to carry on with that thought but less of the whacking. Sparsely furnished could be a cell or a holding cell um could be u The custody suite It's where they keep someone after their arrest for the The twenty four hours are legally allowed to question them Like that's a sparsely furnished room donon't know I don't know why you would go in with a stethoscope I have a weird question Do you know how long he was in that room? Was it hours I don't imagine well, I don't know is the answer to that question. The impression that I would give to help you with the answer is he's probably been there for a short amount of time and has come in injured And then they send in John. because O' like I've read some books about interrogation techniques that were used in the past where a way to gain trust is just to be with a person like one way to get a spy to tell you something is just to have a chair right next to you and just read the paper for eight hours a day and then you leave. and you do that every day and eventually the person will be like, oh yeah, here's my paper person. I will open up to them So that is one interrogation technique. What is another waterboarding. Yes, that is. I don't know if that's I don't think. Remember, John works for the UK government and the UK government is a signatory of various UN conventions. So I't suggestion said in the calmest voice. So so well how would a stethoscope and going in to see an injured man and not giving you any medical advice, help with an interrogation. Make them feel like they are terminal or everything's okay or like give them Take medical advice, bad medical advice Make them worried about like, oh no this is You were so closer with your older aunter. You can trust me, I'm a doctor. You're not saying you're a doctor. You just happen to be wearing a stethoscope and that makes you trustworthy. Pretty much, I think you guys have got it So, in the early two thousands, an unnamed man appeared on a BBC chat show hosted by Johnny Vagh As a former British interrogator, he revealed that this was one of the tricks that was used to obtain information from captured soldiers. He would dress up as a doctor and ask seemingly innocuous questions like Where does it hurt? What were you doing at the time? Where did this happen? etcetera. As I've said, the UK is a signatory to various UN and European conventions that prevent the use of torture Charlotte During interrogation Evidence obtained this way is also inadmissible in British courts. So this is a way that you can kind of massage the truth out of someone by just going, Oh, where were you at the time? And then later you can send in a real interroator who said, Well, that's not what you told the doctor, was it Fourth of July savings are happening now at the Home Depot with select appliances starting at three hundred and ninety eight dollars Plus, get free delivery on appliance purchases of three hundred and ninety eight dollars or more, no membership required. Upgrade your kitchen with a modern and sleek GE profile refrigerator featuring hands free autofill for the perfect pour every time. 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Canva, the thing that makes anything a thing This question has been sent in by both Biona and Bernard Before flying an Airbus A three hundred twenty, both pilots check three small plastic balls mounted on the center window pillar They aren't sensors, lights or controls What are they for Say that again. Before flying an Airbus A three hundred twenty, both pilots checked three small plastic balls mounted on the center window pillar They aren't sensors, lights or controls What are they for So like I'm thinking literally like ping pong blls stuck to the middle of the windscreen Is that Yeahah Is that kind of what I'm yeah may okay. Maybe a little smaller, but yeah I imagine, okay, this has got something to do because the only thing that really goes wrong with aircraft is either they go too slow Or they basically there's something wrong with air pressure. So there something to do with air pressure Yeah because initially because when you said ping pong balls and Tom said they were smaller because initially I thought like, oh traveling a lot So this is Pokemon G. buy the bald version of Pokemon Go And then because they're flying all over the place and they want to catch the rad pookemonons that are at that airport. So they would just have a bunch of the Pokemon balls at upfront, but they're bigger than ping pong balls, so that wouldn't work I was thinking maybe it's something like quite religious but like u an event that they do every time, like superstitious, that they need to check that it's all aligned in the right way before they both fly off I was thinking is that something like a signaling? because I know like banks and stuff willll occasionally put like playing cards outside the windows and you don't go into the bank if it's the wrong type of playing card and you know that little code because somebody's like you know in the bank waiting to kill you if they put the wrong playing card up So is it like that? So it's three balls done and they've got like markers on them in a certain specific way and only you know that code because somebody could have, I don't know, you can't really there's not really the same sort of like. Where do you bank is he street banks look out for them. occasionally get their cards on the high street banks. if they've got a lot of money in they'll do a security thing where they will say don't enter. It's a true thing.. I've seen it. not I'm not lying. I have seen. like it's not always playing cards. There's usually there's some sort of thing in the shop Unless you know likell people know what card is and they'll get texted it that morning, donon't go in unless it's this card. That sort of stuff That would have be a great lateral question, wouldn't it? It would? I should have start down. It's gone now. Of all those suggestions, Charlotte it's not religious or superstitious But you're right, they go in They check these immediately and Alignment is an important word there I'm just curious about how these balls are stuck there because logically, you know, the windscreen tilts backwards towards the cabin. So is this a static electricity thing? Is there something to do with like, you know, you know how you get like balloons and you can rub them on your head and stick them to the side? Well maybe these are really static and there's something about oh yeah, cabin pressure has to be a certain way and electricity has to be a certain way or it'll get, I don't know, it doesnn't really matter if a plane is hit by lightning, and it's unlikely or I don't know. Or that they're painted. We have the three of them. e they're painted, you have like a line on them and you're checking if the lines have like twisted so they should have a line on them We're getting a lot closer now. Oh I think if you put that together with Charlotte's ideas about alignment and checking them very early on Is it to do with light if there's like u wind in the cabin to check any wind there's the leakage of the windows because that's what you don't want. You don't want it sl like cracking the ro. Well, you definitely don't want a window open. It'sact twenty Exactly. they go quite high up. They do that. But if there's any sort of like, you know like a breeze happening And if the balls are moving because they're lightly stuck there with what blue tack. What's going on? Well, they're in a triangular formation. I don't know how they're attached, but they are in a triangular formation Triangular formation Is it to know like the starting position of the plane before they lift off And I don't know why you would want to know Not of the plane, but that's very good, Chl, That's very close. Starting position of the pilot's seat. Yes, Sot on How does it work? You've got three balls in a triangular position there in the middle you would want to be exactly I don't know this is bad. Like you want to be exactly like X centimeter away on the left side and X centimeter away on the right side to be symmetrical. Is it the X, Y and Z of the I am very particular about my chair about how it should be set. So it is like If I said it this way, and line the balls up, then the cher will be correct. Yeah Wh Okay. I I was just going to say why wouldn't it be like just getting in a car and having a feel and looking out the windows and everything else? Why do they need like a specific Ball fter A because in an Airbus A three hundred twenty, the eyeline needs to be in the right position to see all the instruments at the right location for everything to line up as you come into land or take off, everything like that You need to have your eyes in the right place. And Charlotte, you're absolutely right. If you line up twow of these balls, the one in the middle and the one on the other side You know your eyeline is in the right position if they're both in the exact. covering each other. And for the co pilot, centre ball and the other ball. So not only as a pilot, do you need like perfect vision, you also need perfect posture. Yes say. Yeah. You can't slouch. Yeah. That's a nightmare job, isn't it So yes, on the Airbus A three hundred twenty, three small plastic spheres are mounted in a triangular arrangement on the central cockpit window strut and they are a seat position guide. Each pilot adjusts their seat until the middle ball visually lines up with the outer ball on the opposite side which means they're sitting at the precise design ey pointo too make sure they're not straining to see the instrument panel or the view outside. It's weird though, because I wrote a book guys, which involved doing a lot of research about the different types of planes, particularly during the Second World War and how different how different the seats were. So you had pilots trying to sit in seats. and like the female pilots who were delivering the planes around for the ATA in Britain, they had to use their parachutes to jam behind their back so they could reach the controls And there's a An amazing crress. There's a lady called Diana Bernato Walker and she was flying as an American plane out of the American Air base down in Southampton, which is currently Southampton Airport. And it was a twin engine and twin engines you have two What were they? like accelerators. Throt thrust levers thrust lever actually Right? And the thing is you check before you sort of like go on that the thrust levers are, you know, they're in lignment and everything else. She was in a rush because there was a war on. Anyway and she took off And I actually took off acceleration of the plane. she should have asked for a cushion, but apparently the Americans are a bit sort of poopy or female pilots and she didn't want to do that. And when she took off the acceleration pushed her right back in there and one of the throttles started to inch backwards. So she had one engine going full speed and the other one going really slowly And she didn't know she was just likeight and she was trying to reach for the throttle, but she'd been pushed back by the acceleration so much she couldn't and the entire plane started to tip and turn into the ground. And the only way she got out of it Well, she got her foot and kicked it. ward as possible. the whole thing righted itself and went up and then yeah, that's so there is, you know there is a danger of not fitting in your seat as a pilot that is beyond eyeline. If that's a movie scene I don't know what Oifa, whenever you're ready, it's your question, please. This question has been sent in by Lydia Why did many sports such as cricket, soccer, and tennis saw rapid growth, standardization and development during the eighteen thirties I'll say it again Why did many sports such as cricket, soccer and tennis see rapid growth, standardization and development during the eighteen thirties But I'd like to say this has got something to do with like nations and nationalization because this is mid nineteenth century everybody starting to become like very national citers when you get the, you know, brrothers Grim getting all the fairy tales and saying this is like, you know what we're all about So is it something to do with nations I was thinking more telegraph technology, there's something coming along and all of a sudden, There is all of a sudden teams in different areas are competing under the same rules because now they can send the rules to each other They could send the rules to each other before. it just wouldn't be as instantaneous. Why does it matter that it's instantaneous? I was thinking maybe something to do with increasing teamwork or trying to boost morale because cricket and soccer are team sports and tennis can also technically play twoV two Comment on a tangent about technology I would I would I would play with that idea It was a time of rapid industrialization in the eighteen nineties Um, So is it something to do with canal building? No. So why in the eighteen thirties Why? Be It is it is also a time. Is this the first time we're getting actual national it's a bit early for the Olympics being reintroduced, but it's getting there But is this kind of the first time as well that we're getting sort of like an England team and a French team and that sort. I've gone really international thing because that's kind of all I know about theenth early nineteent century. And we've all assumed that this is like England here. This could be international. this could be a thing coming out of the US. this could be This could be emmpire could just be we love standardisation. And we're getting really like we've done it. We've basically we've got all the species lined up now, we're starting to get into dinosaurs. Let's just do it with the sports. Let's get that down. Right, It could be something like that. I'll give you anoy annoying hint. Yeah, because it is technology related, but that technology has nothing to do with the sport itself directly Okay. so it comes from outside of the sport. What about like automatic rolling of The ball or the item They're all balls actually, like the soccball, the cricketball, the tennis ball, you have those machines that like wear them out, right I'm like, yeah And then it would just make it easier for people to pick up the sport It might be that this bull standandard is actually made a standard size because they've buil the machinery to make it a standard size. Hold on Oliver, you said it wasn't to do with the sport itself, correct How about the equipment. U And the only equipment I can think that all those sports use is going to be the uniforms. Is there some technology in like eighteen thirty that means we can suddenly dye clothes different or put clothes together differently and suddenly we get teams having matching cols and matching uniforms and and big gambling companies sponsoring them despite the fact that shouldn't be legal He says suddenly suddenly sh horn a personal opinion into his answer. What were the sports? Think of the sports. So you say cricket, soccer and tennis. There's something in common here. Balls. They all use balls What else They're all team sports They all originated, well, cricket certainly was a women's sport. tennis wasn't, it was an inside sport Soccer's just whatever. I mean, soccer' different in every country until It isn't They require running Where are they plate cururrently all over the world, but England was definitely I think England was cricket. On a pitch like Astroota Yeah They're all on grass Uhuh Okay They could make fake grass and standardize that across the countries They could standardize tough crossed Country he's getting pretty close there G. It's the size of the court They're just standardizing the actual lines and how long they should be Is it you know, are we moving from hundreds of meters? Did someone invent the lawn mower? They invented the lawnmower? He. Let'llro with geese Oh I love that my so was so good. That was so good. That was great. I was like it was like Astroturf or standardize the grass? No, they've standardized the height of the grass blades Well they standardized the grass by using a lawnmower Before the nineteenth century, maintaining smooth grass surfaces required teams of laborers using scythes and grazing animals produce uneven results which made consistent pitches difficult Edwin Butuding patented the first mechanical lawn mower in eighteen thirty This question comes from Sam E. Thank you very much, Sam. A twenty eighteen study found that juvenile judges in Louisiana handed down noticeably harsher sentences during certain weeks. At first, the pattern seemed random, but researchers eventually identified a specific cause. What was it And one more time, a twenty eighteen study found that juvenile judges in Louisiana handed down noticeably harsher sentences during certain weeks. At first, the pattern seemed random, but researchers eventually identified a specific cause. What was it? I think I know this one I not I'm not one hundred percent I'm like in the eighty percent percentile. I think I know this. I now I might jump in if I Hear something. Well, I'm gonna to ask Oliifa, because the first time I read this question, I was like, oh, I know the answer to this. It did say certain weeks, not certain hours Then yeah, then I might not know this. Yeah. What were you thinking? Because I was thinking before lunchim Did just want to go to lunch? So they were just, yeah, guilty, guilty, not guilty. Im going to go to Lung now So then yeah. there was a research paper about that, which has since potentially been debunked U because good t know Well, it's one of those things that's going be very confusing, whatever, but they found there may be a confounding factor in that the court schedulers tended to put simple cases immediately before lunch, so things wouldn't go into lunch might have confounded things slightly. But in this case, no, it is not that this is certain weeks thank you to producer David. That was the Hungry Judge effect, which is now somewhat debunked But these are specifically juvenile judges. Yes rather and which is such that why do you have a juvenile judge? So is it a judge it's not a kids doing it. It's a judge. No is Okay. This is for juvenile courts. Yes Okay So when are children most annoying What what time of year Because that would be when you're going to really crack down on them. Probably I mean, not going up to Christmas because they'll be like, oh, it's going up to Christmas. It's to be nice for the kids for that. So there must be times of year when people are just like, I'll get the kid out of the way H I don't I'm trying to It's sumer holiday and they're raising all the prices for like going going up to the Bahamas or something. We joke, but the juvenile prison industrial complex in America is awful.ust to be clear here. Okay Um, well I would suggest it's therefore going to be something to do with how obnoxious the kid is. It could be that. It could not just be that the judge is thinking, children are annoying and there've been so many crimes I' going really get to them because it's the time of year, like spring break where they they're just smashing stuff up and so I'm definitely increasing the you know, harsh punalty because I'm just getting so many in. It could literally be that there are times of year where children are more annoying than not. And it could be it could be an actual, you know, they b they are worse behave at these time fear. It's going to be one or the other. It's going to be the judge is getting more annoyed with the children at this time fear, or it's going to be the children are definitely worse. It is Neither of those. Oo, okay. I'm thinking wrong. Okay. this was a statewide effect, not just one courtroom I wonder if it's the case of likeike, okay, they are kids. We do want them to be in school So Let's give them sentences if the thing is happening over summer. So get them to work over the summer because we don't want them to cut up in school time. I think it's worse. I think this might be to because they've got a private prison system. this might be we've got a certain amount of budget to spend And therefore we will put them will be really harsh at this time because we can afford it. we've got to renew the budget next year. And if we don't lock up enough children, We're not going to get the same budget next year. Oh, emp of quarter. That would be absolutely terrible It would. That does not feel like a lateral question. I'm going to roll me. But That's not funuck. Get it off the way. what if the kids had like, um A a certain period in time where they had all collated that they were going to go and do something bad and it would be easier to sentence all of them simultaneously with the same kind of harsh punishment This is nothing to do with the kids or the crime. Why did you say juvenile That's . The Hungry judge effect may have been at least partly debunked and it may not have been the answer to this. Certainly there's a parallel here Christmas type effect We want all we want a whole docker unloaded before we go into Christmas. Let me clarify certain weeks. This would be one week on, one week off, just seemingly at random, week by week So then it's not the case of like, ah, just before Thanksgiving, just before Christmas, it's just if you would look at it on a map, you'd be like, that's a weird pattern Mmm. Yeah, absolutely. You'd need to correlate it with something There is something to color it Clated with Yes, absolutely. It's hard say. It is Cllorate. Yeah particularly because it's correlated, but correly. Yeah. It's not correlate. That's why it's weird. That's why it's not sitting right in my tongue. Okay, Okay. All And this is America And now I've got that song in my head Um Oh Maybe that's a question. If this would have been other countries, would we see similarly weird patterns? Like it says an America thing Or is this Is it something like they're getting like the juvenile judges are having feedback or like KPAIs like saying they're not hitting their KPIs, some sort of They're not getting like a raise or something and they're taking it out I'd say that that's not a lateral question But I think Charlotte's right in taking it out feels right. There is certainly a good mood or a bad mood thing going on here. And while this doesn't have to be Louisiana if you know any stereotypes about Louisiana, and where all those judges may have gone Is this Mardiigras No, that will be a certain week as opposed to ye seemingly random certain weeks Is it like, you know, I've just got the word the buy you Is it something to people like rainfall patterns? So people get really annoyed when it rains a lot? And if it's a really wet week, they lock people up and if it's dry, they don't. So not the weather But it is something as disconnected as that should be from sentencing Traffic is America Fit? Jazz music? L the judges are doing something else. Are they going to like going to a horse racing petting thing or like a sports event that's happening and their team is losing and then they give horse a sentences? Is it that it I was going to say that is definitely it. I don't know the Louisiana Bllsharks or something will have lost The Louisiana State University Tigers LSU Judges imposeed harsher sentences in the days after the LSU team lost And if you have been to Louisiana, the LSU tigers are a very, very big thing because college football is bizarrely this massive thing in the US. and the effect was strongest among judges who had attended LSU themselves Study and play. Come together on a Windows eleven PC. And for a limited time, college students get the best of both worlds. Get the unreal college deal, everything you need to study and play with select Windows eleven PCs. Eligible students get a year of Microsoft three hundred sixty five premium and a year of Xbox GamePass Ultimate with a custom color Xbox wireless controller Learn more at windows d. com slash student offer. Law Supplies last ends june thirtieth terms at aka. mS slash collllege PC This episode is brought to you by State Farm You know those friends who support your preference for podcasts over music on road trips? That's the energy State Farm brings to insurance. With over nineteen thousand local agents, they help you find the coverage that fits your needs. So you can spend less time worrying about insurance and more time enjoying the ride. Download the State Farm app or go online at statefarm dot com like a good neighbor State Farm is there Charlotte, we will go to your question, please This question has been sent in by Casey Minifield At certain times of year, Kpop idols will suddenly start counting on their fingers while posing for the camera. If they don't do it, they risk backlash Why? And one more time, at certain times of year Kop idols will suddenly start counting on their fingers while posing for the camera If they don't do it, they risk backlash I know one K pop thing. Wh is I think only going to be for the video audience, but it could be like, which is the heart? Oh, yeah, doing the heart differently to how you would expect it the UK over the U. Yeah instead of doing the this the all two handy. It's not the two handed gesture. It is like thumb anded index finger cion, I think. Yeah. And I don't know if it's tr, but I learned that you do this because then you can take a selfie while doing a heart because you can do this one hand. it's like this sh. I don't know if that's true but it feels correct. Oh that's sorry. I've only just realized that the top of those fingers It kind of makes a hart look like just right. Yeah. Okay I'm in my forties, okay. I've only just figured that out. No shame in that. like guys, I don't mean to show off right, but I go into schools. Oh yeah.es. and obviously the teachers and stuff, For the kids who are allowed to have their hurches taken, the kids would line up with me and hold my books and that sort of thing. But the amount of times a kid will hold up fingers and they're like, we can't have anything. we're going on with the hands because we don't know what is a gang su in. And this is like, you know, in like Burgess Hill. It's not like, you know in like Compton. This is just like, you know Any fingers is banned. So the the most cockney pronunciation of Compton there has ever been there. Thank you very much. You can drive past Compton. It's up on the M forty. You go past Compton quite a lot, but I don't think it's the same. Don't think it's the same No. Yeah, no, notot the same place Speaking of the younger generation and I don't know, counting, is six seven still a thing? I don't know if it's still a thing. Yeah Yeah It is. I was doing this just the other week. six seven is still a thing. I was going to say no one's going to know, but Izzy is going into schools, you know it's still a thing. Yeah. It's my favorite thing to do I often get kids to shout out a page that they want me to read from And when they don't say sixty seven, I sort of say, Oh, you didn't want sixty seven. weird. And then I just do this and they go insane and the teachers hate me So I want to go back to what you said, Izzy about kind of trying to to neutralize like doing a gangs Hm I would say that that is something along the lines of what we're looking for, but it's not about gang science Okay. arere there K pop territorial Rrivalries There are was like East seventeen. Yeah. like postcodes. C I know gangam is so. The difference between postcode gangars and a lovable boy band East seventeen I feel like it's quite a long distance there. I'm also so in my forties C That's fine Counting down. Okaykay, so I'm thinking Alongside finger gesture of the heart, it's like putting two fingers up and a V sign and a Pace sign. So I'm wonder if there's some timee when that's inappropriate and they're instead counting four ree, two, one, something like that. Is it just counting down to like a really important concert that their fans are going to be at? And they just want to show that when the photo is being taken so they know that it's like, o it's in four days. Oh it's in three days, or it's in two days, it's in one day. Oh it's the day in something like a communication method. Isn't it also like people count differently. L some people start put a little finger and go that way And are they then showing by the way The order they do it in, they're like, oh, we are from this neighborhood. That's why we count this way. But also like just to say the best finger counting ever is the Sumerian Kinairorm writing Pe's one where it's counting to twelve on one hand using your thumb as think it's one for the first digit, two for the middle digit three, four, five, six, seven, eight nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and it's so easy to keep count and then you can use the other hands to keep count of the bigger numbers as well And if you're ever doing something with one hand and you need to keep count, it is the easiest thing and they're geniuses U Particularly situps actually, they're very good for sit upps Well, out of everything that was said there, Izz's was the most interesting But Tom actually some of been more corct. I I love the buildilt up. Like out of everything, Izzy was the most interesting. It was a cl actually. Yeah Sadly Tom was closer So yes, as you said, like two Well, when people put up peace signs, it's more for like the gesture, but also it looks like the number too. So in this case, numbers actually matter more than the gesture So the number is symbolic of a meaning So it's not related to gangs, but it could be some other sort of meaning Not gangs or postcodes. We've also said postcodes. So Okay. so Are certain numbers linked to actual like celebrities there? So like, you know, Juan Pablo Montoy, I don't know. but could it be like there another reference to a name Like how Prince Andrew is now or that Andrew formerly known as is now known as number two So I wouldn't consider them celebrities But o, what might you get U backlash for. What would you get backlash for I mean, I mean You get a lot of backlash sort of in our cultures for like racial stigmization or bullying or something like that. So it's holding up a certain number seen as somehow Um ostracizing a certain group of people It's like this but like it's like Ces but I not tasty. It's also it's interesting. In other cultures, different cultures, there are like unlucky numbers and lucky numbers. Yeah. L like Western is se un lucky maybe in Korea, some numberbers lucky unlucky. thirteen unlucky.. don't have thirteen fingers though, so you're safe. I will say This behavior only appears during important times of the year I just don't understand why they're holding up any fingers. Just put your fingers away. They're just trying to be cute. like, you know, if you did a peace sign and then hadple boys, a lot of them They don't need to hold up anything. They can just go, look at my face. They don't need to be cute. I'm thin They're already cute I'm thinking it was mentioned that like it's celebrities, not celebrities, but it is famous people If it is like politicians, or is it around like When it is voting or vote party number three? Are the parties actually calleds numbers So like we've got colours, so if they held up red for labour or you know blue or blue for Democrat or whatever, you're going to, you know, affecting like showing your political alignment. And so therefore, you can't hold up four ' that's the fourth person down and that's the person you should vote for. Yes, that is actually exactly it. bothoth Oliver and Lizzie, like bang on, definitely, yes So in South Korea, ballot candidates are assigned numbers. handand gestures that resemble one or two, such as thumb signs or V signs, can be interpreted as implicit political endorsements. This becomes especially sensitive during election season when public figures are expected to remain strictly neutral When idols realize they flashed a pose that could be read as a candidate number, they often start counting all their fingers or switch to neutral gestures like clenched fists, and this makes it clear that they weren't deliberately signaling support And during those same periods, idols may also avoid wearing certain cols associated with parties. which is why again, the heart is the best. There'. Just stick to the heart guys One last order of business then. att the start of the show, we had this question sent in by Doo Rom. Thank you very much are you doing if you're committing monolithic bi aviicide? Izz already has a hand up and I think I think you might be able to get this one. Wan to take that before I give it to the audience? Well, I'm afraid guys, monolithic one stone. Yep. by avia side, two Avia bird side killing. Yes. Killing two birds with one stone? Yes. abbsolutely right Izzy, where can people find you? What's going on in your life? pllug the books? Indeed, I write books for shorts, people, children mostly, but everybody seems to enjoy them. The Doomsday Couse is my latest one for nine to twelve year olds. You can find out all about me and my various podcasts, including Talk Like an Egyptian, where we talk about Ancient history and Terrible lizards where we talk about dinosaurs All on Izzy. com Si. com Charlotte, what's going on with you? I blend pantry and games and PhD life and you can find me at Mki Chart on Instagram if you want to keep up with my life And Oifa You can find me at Oliver W on the interternet, wherever and please you let me people find it f appareal And if you want to know more about this show, or send in your own idea for a question or join the Lateral prodroducers Club, you can do that at lateralcast d. comot We are at lateralcast basically everywhere and there are full video episodes every week on Spotify. Thank you very much too Aa for Fay. Bye bye. Charlotte Youngll