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Small Talk

Small talk: Iceland, Facebook, ducks

Brendan Francis Newnam Jun 4, 2010
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Small Talk

Small talk: Iceland, Facebook, ducks

Brendan Francis Newnam Jun 4, 2010
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TEXT OF STORY

Kai Ryssdal: This final note on the way out today, in which we’ll take a break from the actual news of the week and fill you in on the things that didn’t quite make the headlines. Courtesy of Brendan Newnam and the rest of the Marketplace staff.


Brendan Newnam: Paddy Hirsch, senior editor for Marketplace, what’s your story?

Paddy Hirsch: Iceland.

Newnam: Oh, here we go again.

Hirsch: You’ve obviously been having problems with bank crises and volcanoes and stuff. Now they’re trying to rehabilitate their tarnished public image with an e-mail campaign of all things.

Newnam: Explain.

Hirsch: So the manager of tourism in Iceland asked Icelanders all around the world to e-mail everybody that they knew a message of love about Iceland and what a great place it is.

Newnam: Wait. So let me get this straight, they’re using spam to make themselves more popular? Way to go.

Hirsch: It’s ironic, I admit.

Newnam: Ethan Lindsey, producer of the Marketplace Morning Report. What’s your story this weekend?

Ethan Lindsey: Facebook and privacy. I mean, we’re all talking about it.

Newnam: It’s the same old story?

Lindsey: Oh yeah. Except this time the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, he was speaking at a big tech conference and he says that Facebook is taking privacy and the privacy issues that are out there really seriously because even he, when he was young, he’s done some stupid things that he doesn’t want on the Internet.

Newnam: When he was young. How old is Mark Zuckerberg?

Lindsey: This guy’s 26.

Newnam: I guess every $10 million you have is like another four years of experience. It’s like dog years. There’s millionaire years.

Lindsey: Haha.

Newnam: Adriene Hill, sustainability reporter for Marketplace. What’s your story this weekend?

Adriene Hill: This week, I’m going to go with Dawn soap.

Newnam: Why?

Hill: Because Dawn is getting a lot of attention for cleaning off oil-covered seabirds. And I actually found this advertisement online that shows this cute, little duckling covered in what looks like oil getting washed off. I called them up and I said, like, you didn’t actually cover this cute little duckling in oil, did you? No. Molasses and finger paint makes good television oil on duck.

Newnam: See, if you had molasses with five-star spices and ginger, now you’re talking.

Hill: It could work. Yeah, there’s a dish. The finger paint you’re going to want to leave out of the recipe.

Ryssdal: There’s more just like that on Brendan and Rico’s podcast. It’s called the “Dinner Party Download.” Rico’s on his honeymoon, by the way.

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