When you picture a "prepper" you probably think survivalist - maybe wearing camouflage, with a cache of guns and canned goods for when civilization as we know it goes south. Today, the "survival mom" just may surprise you.
Plus, we celebrate leap day with a historical look at the Gregorian calendar, and the many efforts to reform it, including a thirteen-month year that almost took off in the 20th century.
Listen to the full show.
Survival Mom
Picture a "prepper” or survivalist. Now picture your typical mom - protective, practical, and prepared for the worst. One smacks of paranoia...the other of good common sense.
Anne Helen Petersen is a news features writer for Buzzfeed who wrote about Lisa Bedford, who's known to a growing community as "Survival Mom"
Recommended reading: "What to Expect When You're Expecting the Collapse of Society As We Know It"
Why Do Doctors Use Pagers?
From robotic surgeries to artificial organs, hospitals are one place where cutting edge technologies are pioneered and developed - except it would seem, when it comes to getting ahold of staff.
Allison Bond is a resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a contributor to Slate, where she recently wrote about why hospitals still use pagers to reach physicians and nurses.
A Leap Day Primer
In case you’ve forgotten the date, or already mixed it up, we’ll remind you: it’s February 29th, or leap day. It happens once every four years - except the 3 times every four centuries when it doesn't - and is kind of easy to forget. Unless leap day happens to be your birthday. Word of Mouth producer Molly Donahue spoke to one leap day activist for a leap day primer
99% Invisible: The Calendar
In this episode of 99% Invisible host Roman Mars and producer Avery Trufelman look at the birth of the Gregorian calendar, and one man's lifelong mission to make it better.
You can listen to this story again at 99PercentInvisible.org.
Malware Museum
The Internet Archive is tasked with being the library of the internet, or as its mission statement puts it "offering permanent access to historical collections that exist in digital format."
In a new collection for the archive, they've gone back to the early days of home computers and collected computer viruses that once infected hard drives around the world. It's called the "Malware Museum" and Jason Scott is the curator.
