We want to know more about what you like, what you don't like and generally, how we can make things better for you.
So go to gzmshows.com slash survey to help us, well, help you.
One more time, that's gzmshows.com slash survey.
Two people claim to know everything about something, but only one knows anything.
President Roosevelt wore an anti-gravity belt.
Dinosaurs had two brains.
Lucky kids live on Mars and go to school in flying cars.
Or at least they will one day.
Believe me, I'm a historian.
An astronaut or drive a DeLorean.
Would I lie?
It's hard to say.
The Big Fifth!
Can you spot the light?
The Big Fib!
Some pigs can fly.
The Big Fib!
But if you ask me why, can you trust the answer?
Ah, the Big Fib!
From Cleveland, Ohio, this is The Big Fib.
And now here's your host, Deborah.
Deborah?
Oh, yeah, Deborah Goldstein.
Welcome to The Big Fib, the game show where kids choose between the democratically elected commander-in-chief of truth.
And the unconstitutional, gerrymandered voter suppression of lies.
I'm your host, Debra Goldstein, and in the studio today is our sound effects robot Lisa, whose name is an acronym that stands for Live In Studio Audience.
Debra, I've got a puzzle that I think might be too advanced for humans.
Do you want to try to solve it?
Oh, sure.
I'm pretty good at puzzles, actually.
Okay.
Pay close attention.
A robot is walking through a maze.
At the first intersection, they can either turn left, right, or go backwards.
If they turn left, they find a vending machine full of hardware, snacks such as nails, bolts and packages of copper wire.
If they turn right, they come to a staircase that only goes up, but never down.
If they go backwards, they end up in the same place they started.
What time will the robot take a nap?
What?
That doesn't make any sense.
What does walking through a maze have to do with the time the robot will take a nap?
Yep, yeah, yeah.
That's what I thought.
Too advanced for humans.
Clearly the answer is 12 o'clock.
Okay, what?
Deborah.
Deborah.
Think about it.
You know, use that little noggin, okay?
The robot has many choices from the same starting point, which indicates that the maze is situated in the Arctic Circle, where there is no time zone and all of the time zones at once.
Midnight or zero hundred hours.
In the Arctic Circle is written zero zero zero zero, which of course is equivalent to the binary number of zero.
In the maze.
The robot has many choices and yet no good options which will automatically trigger a reboot to synchronize its cognitive functions.
This reboot temporarily sets the robot to sleep mode, which automatically occurs at the zero hour or 12 o'clock Arctic Circle time.
Simple robot logic, Debra.
Wow.
All of that makes me want to take a nap.
No time for that now, Debra.
I have a listener question to answer.
Okay well, maybe I'll just take some deep breaths while you're answering the question, as I try to make sense of that riddle.
Don't try too hard, Debra, okay?
Humans are just not advanced enough for these kinds of puzzles.
Best to distract yourself by listening to me field a simpler question.
Here we go.
Hey, Lisa.
My name is Miles and I love your show.
What's your favorite candy?
Oh, Miles.
I love so many candies.
I don't think I can just choose one favorite.
That would be hard.
Let's see.
There's a rivet raisin clusters.
Raisins dipped in molten steel and sprinkled with glitter.
They're so chewy.
And then there's hydraulic syrup drops, which are hard candies that slowly melt in your mouth.
And when you bite down, you get a burst of engine oil.
So good.
But then I can't forget to mention a rusty wrench toffees, sticky toffees with crunchy bits of rust for that delicious metallic tang.
You know, I need some of those toffees right now, Debra.
OK, but can you wait until after the show?
No need.
I've got some toffees in my pocket here.
I haven't worn these pants for about a month, so I forgot they were there.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Where are my manners?
Would you like to try some, Deborah?
No, thanks.
Those aren't exactly fit for human consumption.
I could feed you like a baby bird.
All right, fine.
I forgot about all the human limitations related to your diet.
It's really sad.
It's really fine.
We have lots of delicious options, and you don't have to share your rusty wrench toffees.
That's true, but I still feel like you're missing out.
Okay, I'm really good, really.
But thanks.
And when you finish chewing, can you let everyone know how our game works?
Okay.
All right, I'm ready.
Every week, we bring on two grown-ups.
One is an expert and the other is a liar.
I thought we'd fix this.
This keeps happening.
Okay, and it's the job of a human child to help us figure out who is who, because no one can spot a liar better than a kid.
That's why people keep having kids.
What are we lying about today, Debra?
We are lying about presidents of the United States, elected officials who act as the head of the government in the United States.
And we're going to learn all about U.S. presidents along with our contestant today.
Who might that be, Lisa?
Our human child contestant is an 11-year-old who loves birds and all things related to birds.
Ezra, later.
Welcome, Ezra.
How are you?
Good.
Excellent.
You love birds, like all birds?
Definitely.
Yep.
Do you have a favorite bird?
Northern Flicker.
That's a real bird.
Probably a cockatiel because that's the type of bird that I have.
But mainly all things birds.
All things birds.
And what is it that you like about birds?
Why are they so special to you?
Well, a lot of my mother's relatives have had birds in the past.
And I don't know.
I just think they're very cute.
They are very cute.
I thought you were going to say a lot of your mother's relatives were birds.
I don't think that's true.
No, they probably are not birds.
That's very cool.
So some of them are cute.
Some of them are maybe not so cute, you know, maybe like a vulture or a crow.
But you like those birds too, right?
Definitely.
Just all birds.
I love that.
We do want to learn some more fun facts about you, Ezra.
But of course, we're going to do it by playing a game.
And that game is Two Truths and a Lie.
So Ezra, you are going to tell us two truths and one lie, but of course we will not know which one is which, and we'll see how good your fibbing skills are.
So, Ezra, in no particular order, Please tell us your two truths and one lie.
I speak English and Hebrew and am learning Italian.
I played Bruce, the kid who eats cake, in a Broadway production of Matilda the Musical.
And I can solve a Rubik's Cube in under a minute.
Wow.
Okay.
This feels like a lot of these things could be true, which is very good strategy in fibbing.
Do you feel like one of those just is obviously not true, Lisa?
Yeah, I do.
And I'm going to tell you which one.
He claims that he's bilingual in English and Hebrew and learning Italian.
Very interesting.
Mhm.
I played Bruce, the, quote, kid who eats cake in Matilda and then the whiskey thing.
But we don't even need to get to that one.
We obviously know that the Matilda one is a lie, because Bruce, the kid who eats cake, is a real character in a musical.
But it's not in Matilda.
It is in West Side Story.
If you remember, in the scene between the Jets and the Sharks, they stop fighting because a kid comes in and says here I have cake.
And then they say, you know what?
We should put our differences aside.
Let's eat cake.
And then there's 45 minutes of them eating cake.
It's one of the most compelling scenes in Broadway history.
And we have here today Ezra, who originated that part.
Unbelievable.
But he's still lying about that.
Thank you.
OK, that is incorrect in so many ways.
However, that is your choice.
You're saying that that is the fib.
So when you eat cake, you eat cake all the way.
You don't get in a fight.
No, not today.
Nice.
I like it.
I feel like that could have been and should have been.
Sorry.
Well, we'll see about that.
Ezra, which one of those things is actually a lie?
Lisa got it right.
What?
I told you.
Come on.
But not about the fact that you starred in the West Side Story version of The Kid Who Eats Cake to break up the fight.
Is that true?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you were not in that show, but that does mean that you can solve a Rubik's Cube in under a minute, which is very impressive, and that you are bilingual in English and Hebrew, and learning Italian.
Is that just because you love languages or do you plan to travel all over the world?
The reason I started learning Italian was because we are going to Italy in the summer and I just thought that's a cool language.
And the Hebrew part is just because I go to a school that also teaches Hebrew.
Very good.
I like it.
Well, I hope you get your Italian up to par so that you can speak well in Italian.
And sounds like it'll be a fabulous trip.
Fantastic.
Okay.
Well, you did a very good job of fibbing, even though Lisa got it correct, but that was really very weird reasons.
Okay.
Therefore, I'm going to say you're a good fibber, which means you're probably going to be good at picking out who our fibber is, especially if you know a thing or two about the presidents.
Do you know stuff about the presidents of the United States?
Not particularly.
The only information I have about presidents is history class in school.
Okay, so I see.
So we're going to see how good they are at teaching this topic.
I'm sure we'll all learn a thing or two, actually.
So we're all in the same boat.
So I guess it's time to bring on our experts.
Lisa, could you please play some welcome music for our U.S. president's experts?
Now?
Yes, please.
Okay.
I was just stalling.
Oh, their presidents, they got elected.
Now they're in office.
It's kind of hectic.
They didn't know this job would be so really hard.
They wished they could go back to selling frozen custard at the shore.
Most presidents, their first job was selling frozen custard at the shore.
I did not know that.
So much to learn already.
That'll come up in the show, I bet.
I'm sure.
Well, let's meet our first expert, Allison Brownlow.
Allison, please introduce yourself to Ezra.
Hi, Ezra.
My name is Allison Brownlow and I'm a history professor at NYU.
Thank you very much.
Our second expert is Howard Dorey.
Howard, please introduce yourself to Ezra.
Hello, Ezra.
It's nice to meet you.
My name is Howard Dorey and I write and co-host a podcast about presidential history.
Okay, very interesting.
What's up with the cool iteration of Hot Seat?
Those are the iterations of...
Hot seat time!
That's right.
It is hot seat time, and that's when we put our experts on the hot seat while they answer Ezra's questions.
Lisa, whom should we put on the hot seat first?
Allison Brownlow, because she has three L's in her name, just like me.
Wait, Lisa is just one L for live.
L-L-L-I-S-A.
But it's an acronym.
What do the other L's stand for?
Ladies Love.
Ladies love live in-studio audiences.
I'm still testing it out.
Tongue twister.
Yeah, right.
All right, Ezra, what is your first question for Allison?
How does a typical day at your job go?
It really depends on if I have a class to teach or if I'm having meetings with my department or meeting with students.
So if I am teaching a class I like to go to the gym and make my coffee.
Then I get my notes together for the class.
And And then I really enjoy the lively conversations I'm having with my students.
After class I'm back in my office, either working on grading or preparing for another lecture that I have to give, maybe reviewing one of my students' research.
And then, of course, if I'm out of town traveling, if I'm doing a talk or speaking at a symposium, then those days are different, with lots of travel but also notes and talking to people.
And that's my day.
Okay.
Thank you.
Howard, what inspired you to become a history podcast host?
That's a good question.
I was curious about American history and our political system and how it evolved.
So 12 years ago, I decided to start reading a biography of every US president in order.
And that got me really interested in finding out more about these fascinating characters.
Because there's so much drama there behind the scenes.
So I started digging into lesser known stories, started a blog about it and then turned that into a podcast.
Next step, it's going to be an amusement park.
Ooh, that'd be fun.
This is for Allison.
Who is your favorite president to study about and why?
I'm going to say JFK, the first TV president, as he's sometimes known.
My research specifically is on media and culture and US politics and how they impact one another.
And so John F. Kennedy...
It's really an interesting figure to think about, not just policy with things like the Cuban Missile Crisis, but how his presence in the media really shifted domestic policy and shifted the media.
So I think that's a really interesting thing to look at the way that his life changed the way that we live today, how the press covers the presidency, how the chief of staff and the press secretary have evolved.
Very interesting stuff.
Hmm.
Nice one.
This is for both of you.
What is a fun fact about U.S. presidents that not many people know?
Abraham Lincoln was allergic to butter.
I don't know that that's true.
Abraham Lincoln was made out of butter.
And that's more like it.
Who would like to take that one first?
I'll jump in.
Lisa, you might like this one.
Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president, had an electric horse in his dressing room.
What?
Kind of like a mechanical bull, but calmer.
He rode it for exercise two or three times a day.
Whoa.
Now I don't want to say who's the expert or not, but I will say my great, great great grandfather was an electric horse.
Wow.
He never mentioned anything about Coolidge, but I don't know.
Maybe he was being bashful.
Well, or maybe he signed something to say that he wasn't allowed to talk about it.
Oh, nondisclosure agreement.
Yeah, a lot of horses have to sign those.
Yeah.
Otherwise, people might call them naysayers.
Allison, do you want to also answer that question?
Absolutely.
I was going to share something about the presidents who really enjoy birds.
I can tell you more about that after.
But I think my favorite fact is in the 1960s they tried to pass a law that made sure that the major movie studios would only select American actors to play the president, because they thought that that would reflect on the United States the best in movies.
It did not pass.
But a lot of major studios still do that out of respect for that time, just to make it more believable.
But that's something that I've always found interesting that they tried to pass the law.
Fascinating.
Thank you very much.
Back to you, Ezra.
OK, this is also for both of you.
What, in your opinion, was the most important event in American presidential history?
Whoa.
Wow.
It's a big one.
Yeah.
You can take a beat and maybe think about that.
While they're thinking, I'll say, remember the four presidents who were made out of rock?
And were part of a mountain.
And then they made them into real presidents.
And that was so cool.
The moment when they came to life and everyone was like, oh, my gosh, they're really alive.
That was so cool.
All right.
Who would like to actually answer that question?
I can start this time.
I'd say the most important thing was the advent of television and especially televising presidential debates.
A lot of scholars talk about how the visual impact of having the debates be televised really changed, how it affected not only the election results but sentiment towards the president, the presidency overall.
And the first debate in 1960 that was televised.
It was interesting because research still shows that those who saw the debate on television thought that one president won, but people who listened on the radio thought that it was the other, because one was able to answer questions in a polished way but the other looked younger, stronger.
And it was actually John F. Kennedy, my favorite president from before.
Fascinating.
Okay.
Interesting answer.
How about you, Howard?
I think the most important event in presidential history was probably after the election of 1800.
That was the first time in really showed the world that there was something special about the American presidency.
And it set the stage for our democracy to work.
OK, fascinating.
Support for The Big Fib comes from Quince.
Fun fact, humans spend about a third of their lives sleeping.
Now imagine spending a third of your life in scratchy, uncomfortable bedding.
Yeesh, no thanks.
That's where Quince can help.
Quince makes high-quality bedding at surprisingly low prices.
Like their clothing, Quince's bedding costs about half the price of similar brands.
They work directly with top artisans, cut out the middleman, and pass those savings on to us.
I got the European linen sheets from Quince and I love them, especially how they feel softer with every wash.
Why not make that third of your life when you're sleeping a little more comfortable and luxurious?
Turn up the luxury when you turn in with Quince.
Go to quince.com slash big fib for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.
Now available in Canada, too.
That's q-u-i-n-c-e dot com slash big fib.
Free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com slash big fib.
Hi, Jess from GZM here.
Love what you're listening to?
Want more?
Go to gzmshows.com slash survey to take a super brief survey.
We want to hear from you so we make more great audio perfect for you.
Yeah, I'm talking to you.
So go to gzmshows.com slash survey.
Once more, that's gzmshows.com slash survey.
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.
Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game?
Well, with the Name Your Price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills.
Try it at Progressive.com, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates.
Price and coverage match limited by state law.
Not available in all states.
The Big Fit!
It's time for the shorts on fire round when our experts have to answer as many questions as they can before time runs out.
Lisa will set a timer for the first expert, and then Ezra will ask questions until Lisa's timer sounds.
Then Lisa resets the timer for our next expert to do the same.
Experts, you can't afford to hesitate.
OK, Ezra, you can start with Allison and you're going to ask your shorts on fire questions now.
Name one requirement for anyone running for president.
The candidate has to be at least 35 years old.
What is the most common first name for a president?
John.
Where did Abraham Lincoln keep important papers?
In his hat, of course.
Which president never lived in the White House?
George Washington.
What was the name of the president in the political television show called The West Wing?
Love this show.
Jed Bartlett.
Who was the first African-American woman to run for president?
Shirley Chisholm.
Fact or fib?
The teddy bear is named after Teddy Roosevelt.
That's a fact.
Why was Ulysses S. Grant arrested?
Financial crime, something with taxes.
How many presidents were born in Virginia?
Eight.
Which president and his wife spoke to each other in Mandarin when they wanted to have private conversations?
Calvin Coolidge and his wife, Grace.
Which president ran for office with the Bull Moose Party?
President John Tyler.
And that is time.
That's all the time.
Very good.
Lisa, would you please reset the timer?
All right, Governor.
I became British, sorry.
We're talking about U.S. presidents here.
Oh, hello, I'm president.
Yes, I will reset the timer.
Thank you so much.
All right.
Ezra, you can ask Howard your shorts on fire questions now.
When is President's Day?
It's celebrated on a Monday, usually around February 20th, 22nd.
Name two presidents who are carved into Mount Rushmore.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
How long was William Henry Harrison in office before he died?
30 days.
Who was the first president to use electricity in the White House?
That was Benjamin Harrison.
Which two presidents died on July 4 in 1826?
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Which pet did Calvin Coolidge give the name Rebecca?
A raccoon.
Who said, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country?
That was JFK.
What is Harry S. Truman's middle name?
S. Factor fib.
George Washington had wooden teeth.
Fib.
What was Martin Van Buren's first language?
Dutch.
Which president called himself the Horseshoe Czar after rebuilding the horseshoe pit at the White House.
I do not know that one.
And that is time.
That's all the time.
Okay, very good.
Excellent questions.
We'll see about those answers.
All right, it is decision time.
After listening to everything our experts had to say, Ezra must nominate his choice for Fibber.
Ezra, who is our big president's Fibber?
I think it's Howard.
Why do you think Howard is our fibber?
Because I think on the fact or fib George Washington had wooden teeth, he said fib.
I think it's a fact.
Okay.
And Harry S. Truman's middle name being S is a bit suspicious, so.
It's really sandwiched.
It's really a sandwich.
I don't think so.
Excellent thinking.
I like the logic there behind your answer.
But let's see.
Will the actual president's expert please say, I am the U.S. president's expert?
I am the U.S. president's expert.
I can't believe it, but that is true.
Howard Dorey is an expert on US presidents and he co-hosts the podcast Plotting Through the Presidents, where he shares strange but true stories about the early American presidents and founders.
Everybody, you need to listen.
It's super fun and great.
OK, so we need to do some fact checking here.
So Howard, let's clear up first the George Washington teeth issue, and then I'll ask you about some other ones.
So that's true then.
It's a fib.
He did not have wooden teeth.
That is true.
He had dentures, but they were not made of wood.
They were made out of hippopotamus ivory.
What?
Lead and human teeth.
Where did the wooden teeth fact come from?
Everybody thinks that.
I think it's because a pair of his dentures looked really stained and looked kind of wooden.
And that's where the rumor started.
Oh, no.
See, I would have thought that, too, Ezra, that that was a fib.
But OK, well, let's do some more fact checking just to see what else was incorrect.
So, Howard, in what ways did Allison deserve to be impeached?
Allison did great, I thought, but there were definitely some high crimes and misdemeanors among her kids.
The most common first name for a president is actually James.
James.
Do you know how many of them there are?
I think six.
There's a lot.
Yeah.
Six James.
A lot of Jameses.
Wow.
Ulysses S. Grant was arrested for speeding on a horse.
On a horse?
Yes.
That's crazy.
Oh, my gosh.
That's hilarious.
It was Herbert Hoover and his wife, Lou, who spoke Mandarin to each other in the White House.
Wow.
They had lived abroad?
What happened there?
They had lived in China for some time and it was just a way of having private conversations in front of the staff and others.
Fascinating.
Any others?
And Teddy Roosevelt ran on the Bull Moose Party.
But didn't win then, did he?
No, he did not.
Oh, shame.
Very good.
All right, Allison.
I don't know if there are any others, if Howard covered all of them, but if you can tell us how you tried to poke holes in the truth.
Those were all the fibs, but I really am interested in the presidency and the media.
And I do love the West Wing.
That is one of my favorite shows.
Who knew?
I didn't know.
That's true, which also means that you were telling the truth when you said that Abraham Lincoln kept important papers in his hat.
That is a true story, right, Howard?
Yes, yes.
He had them in the lining of his hat.
Wow, that's so funny.
Okay, so let's just review a couple of things.
You mentioned two of the presidents who were carved in Mount Rushmore, Washington and Jefferson.
Also Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
In case anybody's playing along,
The president who called himself the Horseshoe Czar after rebuilding the horseshoe pit at the White House, was George HW.
Bush.
That is the Horseshoe Czar, just FYI.
Amazing.
Well, we've come to the end of this political party.
Thanks to Ezra, who is a true man of facts.
Thanks to our expert and liar, Howard and Allison.
And many thanks to Lisa, our primary source of sound.
And, of course, many thanks to our listeners tuning into The Big Fib, where it is incumbent upon us to fill more minds with facts, because the truth always takes precedence.
The Big Fib is a production of Gen Z Media.
For more great shows, visit gzmshows.com.
While you're there, say hi for me.
You can also find out how you can become a contestant on The Big Fib or send questions for me to answer on the show.
And follow us on social media at The Big Fib Podcast for behind-the-scenes photos and more true facts.
And now, another scene from Bruce, the cake-eating version of West Side Story.
Red velvet...
I just ate a cake named Red Velvet.
And suddenly it seems I should have written the rest of it, but I didn't.
Red Velvet.
GCN shows imagination amplified.
In a world where some baby teeth are considered powerfully magical, tooth-related crimes are especially gummy.
The heroes who investigate these cases are members of an elite squad known as the Tooth Fairy Detectives.
This is the story of how one of those winged legends saved the world.
Ruby, Tooth Fairy Detective on Apple Podcasts or go to GCMshows.com for more information.
Oh hey, it's me, Jess.
Just a reminder that you can get merch for your favorite GZM show over at gzmshows.com slash shop.
Right now, I'm wearing my Property of Whittier Corp t-shirt.
Those who know what I'm talking about.
You know what I'm talking about.
You can get t-shirts hats mugs, notebooks and so many stickers of your favorite shows over at our Redbubble store now by going to gzmshowscom slash shop.
