8.10.15: Drugs in E-Sports, the Peter Pan Market, & Puns

Pro sports have been plagued by doping scandals for years. The next sport up for scrutiny? Video games. Today, randomized drug testing comes to electronic gaming. Also, a new publishing niche: coloring books for adults.  We’ll find out why an increasing number of grownups are finding time to color in between the lines.  And a debate on the pros and cons of a controversial literary device – the sometimes clever, often groan-inducing pun.  

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Nick Wingfield is a reporter for the New York Times and co-wrote the article “Drug Testing is Coming to E-Sports."

Adrienne Raphel wrote about adult coloring books and what’s being called the “Peter Pan” market for the New Yorker.

When you think about the roots of hip-hop, you may think of the evolution of African American music – the blues, jazz, R&B, soul – one influence you may not have heard much about? Islam.  Kelly Jones of Backstory with the American History Guys brought us the story.

You can listen to this story again at PRX.org. 

As the Atlantic senior associate editor Julie Beck recently wrote, people love to hate puns. To better understand why people so abhor puns, we invited Julie and Charlie Hopper to duke it out and have some pun.  Charlie works for the Young and Laramore ad agency, is a songwriter, and wrote “The Pun is Not Your Friend” for McSweeney’s.

It’s been firmly established that puns are often the go-to weapon in the dad joke arsenal. To further drive home the point we spoke with one of our favorite science experts Joe Hanson. Joe is the host and writer behind PBS Digital Studios’, “It’s OK to be Smart” and he joined us to explain the science behind what makes us laugh. 

Memory Palace producer Nate DiMeo shares a famous misunderstanding about America’s founder Ben Franklin, and reveals why it sometimes takes a long time before we can find the humor in historical mishaps.

You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.