
Show Notes
This week, The Shallow End opens the mailbag—and apparently our listeners have been making questionable decisions all over the world.
First, a listener in Germany discovers that noise-canceling earbuds work perhaps a little too well when a forgotten pot of rice bursts into flames. Then an innocent RV hookup mistake turns into one of the most horrifying sewage-related experiences ever submitted to the show. There are unfortunate names, childhood attempts to become part tiger shark, a geography lesson involving the surprising location of Alaska, and an encounter with poison ivy that ends with a very unusual doctor’s recommendation.
But the centerpiece may be an Arizona hiking trip that becomes a master class in escalating bad decisions: an 80-pound backpack, brutal sunburn, an unfortunately placed tent, dozens of wasp stings, tequila, a mysterious bagel thief, a badly gashed foot, and some improvised wilderness surgery involving mint-flavored dental floss.
It’s a special listener-mail edition of The Shallow End, proving once again that our audience doesn’t merely visit the shallow end.
Some of you appear to have taken up permanent residence.
Listen now—and please, make good choices. Your life might depend on it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from The Shallow End
The Shallow End Episode 231: Porch Pirate Karma and the Woman Who Declared War on Delivery Robots
A teenage robber walks into a convenience store on Christmas Eve, waves a gun around, and demands money. Unfortunately for him, the man behind the counter has a few surprises of his own. Meanwhile, a Wisconsin woman decides she's going to become a substitute teacher. No credentials. No authorization. No apparent interest in actually teaching. What could possibly go wrong?
A bank robber disappears inside a 21-story apartment building while police close in. A short time later, he turns up badly injured in the basement—with the stolen cash still on him. His escape involved one of the worst plans in criminal history: a garbage chute, a 210-foot fall, and an astonishing amount of luck.
Some bad ideas take careful planning. Others apparently require a counterfeit money operation, Abraham Lincoln’s corpse, and absolutely no consideration for how much a lead-lined coffin weighs.
A homesick teenager makes the worst travel decision in aviation history: in 1965, Brian Robson had friends nail him into a wooden crate and ship him from Australia toward Wales as air freight. When the crate is rerouted to Los Angeles—and turned upside down—his 36-hour plan becomes a horrifying four-day ordeal.