A Button is a Promise

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Hey there, I'm Rachel Feldman, and I host a podcast from Popular Science called The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week. Every other week, I circle up with guests like Bill Nye, Josh Gondelman, Mary Roach, and many more to prove that the lofty and noble pursuit of science can also be profoundly weird. From flying Ford Pintos to the world's most illegal cheese, The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is the ultimate source for all things interesting, informative, and most importantly, fricking weird. Check out The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week. Wherever you get your podcast, come on over whenever you're ready to get weird.

Alex Goldman (0:36)

This episode of Hyperfixed is brought to you by Momentous Creatine. Hey you! Yeah, you!

Look, there's no way around it. We're getting old out here. You can't just spend all day running around like we did when we were we ones. And that's what Creatine is for. Creatine is one of the most researched and effective supplements available. But as the category has exploded, most brands have focused on flavors, formats, and marketing instead of actually making the Creatine itself better. That's why Momentous created its Signature Spec Creatine, their most advanced Creatine ever, setting a new standard for Creatine quality. Momentous Signature Spec Creatine is one of the only Creatines to be manufactured in a pharmaceutical facility using reverse osmosis, water purification, and verified through an expanded six-stage testing process with four independent agencies. And that means Momentous Creatine delivers ten times fewer impurities, two to five times tighter heavy metal limits, PFAS, and microplastic screening. And even more? They've improved their product experience with ultra-fine powder that mixes effortlessly with no grit or clumping.

I take Momentous Creatine so that I can exercise because I'm a fragile old man and my body is slowly falling apart. Taking Creatine helps me fall apart more slowly and occasionally do things like run and leap and feel joy.

If you want to try Momentous Signature Spec Creatine, head to livemomentous.com and use promo code hyperfixed for up to 35% off your entire first order. That's livemomentous.com, promo code hyperfixed for up to 35% off. livemomentous.com, promo code hyperfixed.

SPEAKER_4 (2:15)

Are you the type of person who walks around the world and finds yourself wondering things?

Alex Goldman (2:21)

Why are there so many crows out today?

Emma Courtland (2:24)

Are these eucalyptus trees a fire hazard?

SPEAKER_1 (2:28)

What's with that abandoned mansion under the Bay Bridge?

SPEAKER_4 (2:31)

If so, check out the Bay Curious podcast. Listeners send us questions and we find the answers.

Find Bay Curious wherever you listen.

Alex Goldman (2:44)

Hi, I'm Alex Goldman, and this is Hyperfixed. Each week on our show, listeners write with their problems, big and small, and I solve them. Or at least I try. And if I don't, I at least give a good reason why I can't.

This week, a button is a promise.

So, usually we start these episodes by telling you a bit about the person who submitted the question, because understanding who's asking the question generally helps us understand why they're asking, which helps us understand why the question matters. But this week's question requires none of that stuff. You don't need to know where this listener lives or what she does for a living, because this week's question, it's one of the ultimate questions, at least as far as we're concerned.

Suzelle (3:26)

I thought everyone was kind of having this question, and then I asked a friend, and she looked at me like I had asked her if her toaster had feelings, you know? She was like, I've never thought about it.

Alex Goldman (3:44)

This is Suzelle, and the only thing you need to know about her is that she eats a lot of popcorn. By her own estimation, Suzelle is eating popcorn at least every other day, and most of the time she's eating it at home, out of a microwave popcorn bag.

But in the process of preparing these bags of microwave popcorn, some 182 times over the past year, a question has popped into her brain.

Suzelle (4:06)

What is the deal with the popcorn button on the microwave? Because every microwave I've ever seen has the button, and then every bag of popcorn I've ever seen says, do not use the popcorn button on the microwave.

Alex Goldman (4:24)

Now, if you have no idea what she's talking about, it's probably because you live outside of North America. The microwaves where you live probably come equipped with different power settings. They probably have a defroster, they have a timer, and all those things are included in the microwaves we have here too. But in addition to those things, nearly every microwave in North America has a button that's dedicated exclusively to popcorn. And the weird thing about this button is that nearly every bag of microwave popcorn comes with an explicit warning not to use the button.