Radiolab - Funky Hand Jive

Back when Robert was kid, he had a chance encounter with then President John F. Kennedy. The interaction began with a hello and ended with a handshake. And like many of us who have touched greatness, 14 year old Robert was left wondering if maybe some of Kennedy would stay with him. Back in 2017, when this episode first aired, Robert found himself still pondering that encounter and question. And so with the help of what was brand new science back then, and a helping hand from Neil Degrasse Tyson, he set out to satisfy this curiosity once and for all.EPISODE CREDITS:Produced by - Simon Adlerwith help from - Only Human: Amanda Aronczyk, Kenny Malone, Jillian Weinberger and Elaine Chen. EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos: The Handshake Experiment (https://zpr.io/buzgQeJJLqvY)Books: Neil deGrasse Tyson's newest book is called "Astrophysics for People in A Hurry." (https://zpr.io/idRcrMu3Kj8c) Ed Yong, “I Contain Multitudes.” (https://zpr.io/ff5imFP3kA6s) Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected]. Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Duration: 30m
Broadcast on: 10 Nov 2023
Audio Format: other

EPISODE CITATIONS:

Videos:

The Handshake Experiment (https://zpr.io/buzgQeJJLqvY)Books: Neil deGrasse Tyson's newest book is called "Astrophysics for People in A Hurry." (https://zpr.io/idRcrMu3Kj8c) Ed Yong, “I Contain Multitudes.” (https://zpr.io/ff5imFP3kA6s)

Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!

Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.

Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

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RIDILEB is supported by AT&T. We all love to connect via video calls or texts. Right now, at AT&T, you can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with iPhone trade-in. Any condition. It has the ultimate pro camera system and big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long-lasting connection. Learn how you can trade in your iPhone for the new iPhone 18 Pro requires trade-in of iPhone 14 or higher, excluding iPhone 16E, an eligible plan. Terms and restrictions apply, subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details. RadioLab is supported by the Johns Hopkins Carry Business School, helping to advance careers with the flexible MBA that is 100% online. Johns Hopkins Carry Business School, build for what's next. Learn more at carry.jhu.edu. It can seem like a privilege to have hope these days, playwright Lynn Nottage and songwriter and sing. Can I just tell you a story? I don't have a choice, do I? This takes me back to when I was 14. Jack Kennedy was the president, and he's very glamorous. He was on television, he was fun to watch, and he would go to Mass in my neighborhood in New York. When he comes to New York, he'd go to a particular church all the time and just out of enthusiasm, some of my friends and I would go and stand there and watch him just walk up the steps where you can see the president of the United States and his wife. You did this multiple times. Many times, yes. Because he worked big fans. And then one day, we went to do that and I can't remember whether he zipped by or zipped in, but anyway, we missed it. My friend John said, "Damn." But he was a New York kid, so he thought that would be interesting. He knew the place where President Kennedy was staying, which was a famous hotel on Madison Avenue. He came up with this crazy plan that he was going to ask for his aunt when we walk in the lobby so the Secret Service wouldn't have to worry about us. We go to the hotel, he does the thing, we're in the lobby, and then crazily, the elevator door opens, and there is President Kennedy steps out of the elevator with Jackie. Wow. She's immediately grabbed by these reporters and they were asking her something and he's got nothing to do, so he's a politician, he glances around, and I am standing behind a potted plant staring at him. And so he steps towards the bush and he reaches over the bush and goes, "Hello, young man," or something like that. And I couldn't speak because there was so much flim coming flooding into my throat that I thought I might drown standing up, but he took his hand and I shook it. And then he released and he went off to do something else and I was just staring at my hand. Later that day, I said to my sister, "I shook President Kennedy's hand and I guess I'm not going to wash it for like two days, two weeks maybe." What did she say to you?

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