Small Talk: Video store clerks, catapults and music to scare off wolves
TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: This final note on a Friday, a chance to escape the news of the week and catch up on the items that didn’t quite make the headlines, courtesy of Rico Gagliano, Brendan Francis Newnam, and the rest of the Marketplace staff.
Rico Gagliano: Jennifer Collins, reporter. What story are you going to be talking about this weekend?
Jennifer Collins: Well Rico, you know video stores have been closing for some time now.
Gagliano: Of course.
Collins: Well there’s this site called Clerk Dogs, and they’ve started this new service that allows you to talk to a video store clerk — a real live one — over chat.
Gagliano: To get video recommendations?
Collins: Like in the olden days. These guys need something to do, right?
Gagliano: Will they treat me with sarcasm if I ask for a non-independent movie? Like in the olden days?
Collins: They’ll also tell you rewind.
Brendan Francis Newnam: Avishay Artsy, assistant producer for Marketplace. What story are you going to be talking about this weekend?
Avishay Artsy: Mexican drug smugglers have figured out a new way to get drugs across the border.
Newnam: OK.
Artsy: Giant catapults.
Newnam: Really? How did that work?
Artsy: Authorities found this giant catapult on the back of an SUV. The smugglers were planning on hurtling these giant bales of weed over the border.
Newnam: This sounds like an inspired idea, and by inspired, I mean drug-inspired.
Artsy: Yeah, or perhaps “Looney Tunes”-inspired. I mean they could have just been watching Wile E. Coyote cartoons.
Gagliano: Rod Abid, senior producer of the Marketplace Morning Report. What story are you going to be talking about this weekend?
Rod Abid: It’s a story of a Norwegian boy walking home in the snow. Four wolves come upon him.
Gagliano: Is this a fairy tale?
Abid: What happened was he had his cell phone, he was playing music, so he turned up the volume as loud as he could, and scared off the four wolves with rock music.
Gagliano: What was he playing?
Abid: He was playing the band Creed. Initial reports were that it was Megadeth, but it turns out it was Creed.
Gagliano: Interesting. It’ll actually also scare off people with musical taste.
Abid: Exactly.
Ryssdal: That’s just the barest taste of what Brendan and Rico have to offer. You can get more on their podcast, Dinner Party Download.
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