Beatles Vs. Stones, How The Farm Bill Affects Wisconsin, Math And The Simpsons

Air Date:
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Rob Ferrett and Veronica Rueckert talk about the biggest rivalry in rock and roll, check in on the new farm bill could affect Wisconsin, and find out what The Simpons can teach us about…math?

Featured in this Show

  • Author Reveals Mathematical Secrets Of 'The Simpsons'

    Twenty-six is a magic number for the long-running animated comedy “The Simpsons,” which was renewed for its 26th season earlier this month. Science writer Simon Singh said that’s not the only important number behind the Fox show — and that there’s a rich vein of cutting-edge mathematics lurking in the background of this cartoon.

    Singh, the author of “The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets,” said a vein of mathematics run through the show, in part because many of the show’s writers have a mathematical background. He said that’s an opportunity to popularize an appreciation of math among people who might not be number lovers to begin with.

    “There are some people who think that math is kind of a fringe subject and something to be shunned and shirked and so on,” he said. “I’m trying to say, ‘No, here’s a subject, the writers of the most popular show in TV history, they love mathematics. If it’s good enough for them, maybe it’s good enough for everybody.’”

    As one example, he said the show teased viewers with a near-rebuttal to a famous mathematical concept, Fermat’s Last Theorem. The 17th Century mathematician Pierre de Fermat conjectured that no two whole numbers to the same whole-number exponent higher than two would add up to another number to the same power. So, for example, X cubed plus Y cubed would never equal Z cubed.

    Singh said the show’s central character, Homer Simpson, had an equation on a chalkboard that seemed to break that rule.

    “We find three numbers, each to the 12th power, apparently the first two adding up to the third. And in fact, if you’re quick enough to jot down the numbers and check them on your calculator — maybe the calculator on your phone — it really does seem to work,” he said.

    Singh said, however, calculators mislead people in this case as they don’t show the decimal places that tell people the answer isn’t quite right.

    Singh said there’s a deeper message. That the writers are telling the audience there’s nothing wrong with loving math. He said they’re sending a message that “mathematics is cool, and if you love mathematics, well, we love it, too.”

  • It’s the biggest argument in the world of rock ‘n’ roll: Beatles or Stones. An author discusses the rivalry between the two bands, and how they really felt about each other.

  • How The Farm Bill Affects Wisconsin

    Congress passed the last farm bill in 2008, and the agricultural industry has been limping along on extensions of that bill. Now lawmakers are debating a new bill. An agriculture expert explains what makes the new bill so contentious and what this bill could mean for Wisconsin.

  • The Simpsons And Their Mathematical Secrets

    We can learn surprising things about math by watching The Simpsons. That’s according to Central Time’s guest, who says the long-running animated series is a treasure trove of mathematical knowledge.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Simon Singh Guest
  • John McMillian Guest
  • Margaret Krome Guest
  • Chris Malina Producer
  • Amanda Magnus Producer

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