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How Ramadan Works · Stuff You Should Know

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Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.
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Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you welcome to you stuff you should
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Speaker 1: know from House Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome
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Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, There's Charles W. Chuck
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Speaker 1: Bryant and Chuck May. I say kulu uma unto be
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Speaker 1: care a salama they come to you, my friend? So,
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Speaker 1: um chu can I speaking Arabic to one another? Um,
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Speaker 1: what did you say? I said, May you be well
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Speaker 1: throughout the year. Okay, I should say that. I want
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Speaker 1: to qualify that by that's the translation presented in the
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Speaker 1: House to Folks article. It's not babel fish. I said
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Speaker 1: peace be with you, Peace be upon you. Thanks. That's
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Speaker 1: general greeting. Well, those are very nice greetings. They're particularly appropriate,
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Speaker 1: um to uh say to one another. The whole reason
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Speaker 1: we're speaking Arabic to one another right now is because
1:02
Speaker 1: you may or may not know this. If you're one
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Speaker 1: of the um sixth of the world's population who practice Islam,
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Speaker 1: you're probably well aware of this. But for the other
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Speaker 1: five six Um it's Ramadan right now. That's right. It's
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Speaker 1: a big month, one point three billion. I'd like to
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Speaker 1: say a sixth, second largest religion behind Christianity of course,
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Speaker 1: And uh, well are you sure Christianity really? Of course?
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Speaker 1: What are you talking about? I thought they are way
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Speaker 1: more Muslims than Christians. U, there's like over two billion Christians.
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Speaker 1: I did not know that. You thought that it was
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Speaker 1: the number one religion and that or maybe Buddhism Christianity.
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Speaker 1: Are you sure? Oh? Yeah, I do. Christianityes they're number one.
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Speaker 1: They've got that missionary outreach program. I guess it's been effective.
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Speaker 1: They got a downpat So July eighteen, I'm sorry, July
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Speaker 1: nine through August eighteenth this year, and we will explain
2:00
Speaker 1: why it's this year because it falls at a different
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Speaker 1: time every year. Yeah, well we can explain why now
2:05
Speaker 1: because they use a lunar calendar. We got smacked down
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Speaker 1: for this. Remember, No, in one of our shows a
2:12
Speaker 1: year or two ago, we said something about Ramadan falls
2:15
Speaker 1: on this and people write intersaid, actually it falls at
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Speaker 1: a different time every It was probably the fastening episode. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: I think that was. It would makes sense. Yeah, and
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Speaker 1: we were like, oh wow, we need to educate ourselves
2:26
Speaker 1: and we did. Yeah, we spent the last year and
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Speaker 1: a half studying. Uh, Islam. Yeah, this is the culmination
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Speaker 1: of a year and a half of Islamic studies that
2:33
Speaker 1: you and I undertook to do the Ramadan episode. All right,
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Speaker 1: So lenar calendar, that's where it all starts. Okay, is
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Speaker 1: that where we're starting. Well, you already mentioned it, so
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Speaker 1: I'm just bringing it back, all right, Well, the luard.
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Speaker 1: You know, we're used to the solar calendar, the one
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Speaker 1: that UM is used in the West, the sixty five
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Speaker 1: day calendar based on the cycle of the sun. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: a lunar calendar. UM breaks months down by when a
3:00
Speaker 1: new moon is sighted and then the next time a
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Speaker 1: new moon is sighted. And there's a lot of UM
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Speaker 1: disagreement about what sighting a new moon means. But the
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Speaker 1: point is it's based on the cycle of the moon.
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Speaker 1: In America, Muslims in America generally adhere to the Islamic
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Speaker 1: Society of North America, and when they get together and
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Speaker 1: they say, this is when Ramadan starts this year, right,
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Speaker 1: So Ramadan starts as the ninth month of the Muslim calendar.
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Speaker 1: So it's the ninth new moon of the year. And
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Speaker 1: what it kicks off is the holiest, most joyful, most
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Speaker 1: introspective most um charitable month of the year for Muslims.
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Speaker 1: Basically Ramadan, it's the name of the month, but it's
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Speaker 1: also the name of this month long celebration. Um is
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Speaker 1: basically like the come back to Islam month for all
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Speaker 1: you Muslims and those of you who aren't maybe coome
4:02
Speaker 1: get acquainted, but it is all about like getting back
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Speaker 1: to your religious roots as a Muslims. That's pretty much
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Speaker 1: the point of Ramadan this right, and the ninth month
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Speaker 1: you mentioned is significant because in a d that was
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Speaker 1: a camel trader named Mohammed traveling through the desert and
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Speaker 1: he had a vision from Saudi Arabia Modernday, Saudi Arabia
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Speaker 1: outside Mecca, and he uh had a vision from an angel,
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Speaker 1: the Angel Gabriel, and said basically, you are the chosen one, dude,
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Speaker 1: and you will receive the word of God to dispense
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Speaker 1: to the people. And that was in the ninth month.
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Speaker 1: So that's why Ramadan happens in the ninth month. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: it's like the most blessed month because that was two Muslims,
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Speaker 1: the most significant thing that's ever happened in the history
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Speaker 1: of Earth, and the words that came through Mohammed was
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Speaker 1: ended up being the Kuran. Yeah, I was transcribed. So
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Speaker 1: as part of Ramadan, the entire Koran is reading, is
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Speaker 1: read out loud at mosques around the world. Um, and
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Speaker 1: they read a little bit every night, and so about
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Speaker 1: a thirty of the Koran is read, and over the
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Speaker 1: course of the month the whole thing is read. Bam
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Speaker 1: Koran read Ramadan dunne and the prayer where they read
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Speaker 1: him it's called the Taawi. And I need to say
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Speaker 1: a special thank you too. Uh Ki Deer Azali put
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Speaker 1: out a call on Facebook. We got any Muslims out there,
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Speaker 1: we need some help, or I guess I could have
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Speaker 1: said Arabic speakers in general. Sure, but I wanted you know,
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Speaker 1: I wanted it from the horse's mouth. So key Deer
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Speaker 1: emailed me and I had a list of words, and
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Speaker 1: he gave me his best shot at phonetic pronunciations. And
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Speaker 1: so thanks a lot man, Yeah, thanks a lot, Key Deer,
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Speaker 1: big big help. I mean, that's a chuck's doing great
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Speaker 1: because of you. Well, I just don't want to stumble
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Speaker 1: through this and the thin people like we know. I'm
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Speaker 1: with you. I think it was a good move. So
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Speaker 1: the prayer that in which in the mosque that you
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Speaker 1: were adding the Koran or the Koran, I guess that
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Speaker 1: is how I said. It is tara wheat, that's the
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Speaker 1: prayer and you say that every night. That's right, that's
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Speaker 1: the nightly prayer during Ramadan, right, Yeah, And I think
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Speaker 1: it's not required this part, but it is highly encouraged
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Speaker 1: that you do stuff like this. Well, yeah, it's the
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Speaker 1: it's the whole point. I think. Like also, I don't know,
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Speaker 1: but I would guess that there's Um it's the same
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Speaker 1: with like say Christmas time and when Christians there's people
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Speaker 1: who like us the the Christmas season to reflect and
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Speaker 1: to be charitable and to right or during Lent fasting.
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Speaker 1: Does that equal like fastening every day or giving up
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Speaker 1: chocolate or something like that for forty days. I think
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Speaker 1: it probably depends on the depth of your adherents. But
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Speaker 1: the point is Ramadan is there so that you can
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Speaker 1: come back and just kind of get back in touch
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Speaker 1: with Islam and yourself too, because the main component, aside
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Speaker 1: from the nightly um, the nightly prayers and the reading
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Speaker 1: of the Kuran and its entirety during that month is fasting,
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Speaker 1: which is the big the big part. Yeah, so um,
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Speaker 1: Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. There's fasting,
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Speaker 1: there's alms giving um, there is daily prayer uh. And
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Speaker 1: then there's a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in
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Speaker 1: your lifetime if you're able to. Yeah, they give you
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Speaker 1: a break if you know you can't afford it or
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Speaker 1: you're you know, like infirmed or something, right, um. And
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Speaker 1: then there's Shahadah, which is um the the I guess
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Speaker 1: the first pillar probably basically the belief in the creed
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Speaker 1: of Islam, which is that Allah is God and Mohammed's
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Speaker 1: his prophet. So you've got those five pillars. So if
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Speaker 1: if the belief in God and fasting are on the
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Speaker 1: same level, that's a big deal. And so this is
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Speaker 1: the month that you really do it, and there's specific
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Speaker 1: guidelines laid out for how you fast and in you
8:00
Speaker 1: fast right. Yeah. You start at the age of twelve,
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Speaker 1: which is um in Islam. Is I don't know if
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Speaker 1: that's when they consider you an adult, but that's when
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Speaker 1: most of the that's when you get involved in Islam.
8:12
Speaker 1: As you know, as far as fasting and stuff like
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Speaker 1: that goes, you're I guess you're no longer considered like
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Speaker 1: a child. So at twelve years old you can start fasting.
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Speaker 1: And Um. One of the big parts about the fast
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Speaker 1: is not just that you say, you know what, I'm
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Speaker 1: not going to eat during the daytime from sun up
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Speaker 1: to sundown. I'm just not gonna eat. I could lose
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Speaker 1: a few pounds, and you know, it can kill two
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Speaker 1: birds with one stone. The really important part and the
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Speaker 1: really the only way for the fast account is uh
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Speaker 1: has to do with a word called nia and I
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Speaker 1: y y a h and that literally means intention. And
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Speaker 1: what I gather from this is that if like the
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Speaker 1: fastest to truly come from your heart for the sole
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Speaker 1: purpose of praising Allah. Right, it's not like you said,
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Speaker 1: like you want to lose a little weight, or you
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Speaker 1: know you're um, you're an ira, a prisoner or something
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Speaker 1: like that for political reasons. It's like you're doing it
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Speaker 1: to be closer to God or to be a good Muslim. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: and if you don't. In the scripture, it says quote
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Speaker 1: whoever does not make nia before dawn would not have fasted.
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Speaker 1: So unless you've really feel it in your heart, then
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Speaker 1: it doesn't count. So make it count. But everything counts
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Speaker 1: like a little more during Ramadan apparently, so this is
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Speaker 1: a very special month. Um. During this month, according to
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Speaker 1: the Koran, the gates of heaven are open, so angels
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Speaker 1: are coming freely down to Earth to help out, but
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Speaker 1: the gates of Hell are locked and all the demons
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Speaker 1: within are chained. So you are basically the path is
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Speaker 1: cleared for you to really just kind of shed all
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Speaker 1: of your baggage from the year. Your prayers that are
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Speaker 1: done it every night are a way to um, basically
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Speaker 1: clear off, clear your conscience of any wrongdoing you've done. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: they should make the demons locked away like twelve months
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Speaker 1: out of the year. No, well, here's here's here's the thing.
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Speaker 1: There's there's an answer to that. If you if the
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Speaker 1: demons were locked up twelve months a year, then um,
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Speaker 1: it would be all on you. That's the point during Ramadan.
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Speaker 1: If you do wrongdoing or evil, that is all you.
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Speaker 1: I can take that. I can take that pressure, can
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Speaker 1: you sure? Why not? Uh? And not to make light
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Speaker 1: of it, I'm just choking around you know. Um. So
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Speaker 1: the actual practice of of fasting, what happens is you
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Speaker 1: wake up early, you know, before dawn if you want
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Speaker 1: to have anything to eat, and you eat a meal
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Speaker 1: called sahure and that gets you going through the day.
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Speaker 1: Sun comes up, then you can't eat at all, right,
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Speaker 1: or drink water yea, yeah, yeah, it's gotta be like nothing.
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Speaker 1: That's a good point. Um. Then when the sun sets,
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Speaker 1: you break the fast, which with the meal called if tar,
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Speaker 1: not to be confused with ishtar, No confuse anything. And
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Speaker 1: this is your meal after the sun sets to kind
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Speaker 1: of replenish your body. So you probably start off eating
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Speaker 1: like some sweet drinking some sweet drinks, and dates, eating, yeah,
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Speaker 1: eating dates, and basically that you want to like give
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Speaker 1: some energy to your body to get it going again.
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Speaker 1: And I was reading an article on the BBC about
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Speaker 1: Ramadan and it was written by a Muslim scholar um
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Speaker 1: and he was basically kind of chastising people who stock
11:40
Speaker 1: up as he put it, for ramadon which it's like, Okay,
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Speaker 1: we didn't eat all days. We're gonna eat like two
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Speaker 1: days worth of food at night. And he was like,
11:47
Speaker 1: that's not the point. You can't do that. So well,
11:49
Speaker 1: it says you can. Now, it says you can eat
11:51
Speaker 1: whatever you how however much you want, right, you can.
11:53
Speaker 1: But this guy he's saying like, yes you can. He's
11:56
Speaker 1: a purist. He was being a purist, gotcha. He was saying,
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Speaker 1: that's not the point, all right, Well so sissy, Um,
12:04
Speaker 1: the it's a rich meal because it's gotta tie you over, obviously,
12:08
Speaker 1: unless you're just picking out on McDonald's two in the morning.
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Speaker 1: And um, it includes a dessert called a kanafa or
12:16
Speaker 1: a kata if. And the kata if looks sort of
12:21
Speaker 1: like an impanada from what I can tell. And the
12:25
Speaker 1: kanafa is a cake made of wheat, sugar, honey and
12:28
Speaker 1: raisins and nuts, and it looks sort of like just
12:30
Speaker 1: a sheet cake, like a single layer sheet cake. And
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Speaker 1: they both look quite delicious. I would like to try each.
12:36
Speaker 1: If there's other ones too, like baklava is one. That's
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Speaker 1: a good one. Classic. Yeah, um, so chuck, you've got
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Speaker 1: your uh ista iftar. Yeah, I actually did confuse the istar.
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Speaker 1: That's the nighttime meal, right, Yeah, that's the nighttime meal.
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Speaker 1: You go to bed, you wake up, you have a saher,
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Speaker 1: and then the the day begins where you're fasting. If
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Speaker 1: you are sick um, if you are chronically or acutely
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Speaker 1: ill um. The Koran specifically exempts you from fasting during Ramadan.
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Speaker 1: It basically says like, all I want you to be well,
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Speaker 1: and you need food and water during this time, so
13:19
Speaker 1: just go ahead and take care of yourself. Apparently, a
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Speaker 1: lot of Muslims still who are sick fast during Ramadan,
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Speaker 1: so um Muslim doctors are doctors in the Muslim world
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Speaker 1: have had to kind of think on their feet a
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Speaker 1: little more to figure out how to take care of
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Speaker 1: these patients who are like, I'm not putting anything in
13:36
Speaker 1: my mouth the whole time I'm open, so uh that
13:40
Speaker 1: they use like time release capsules, um transdermal patches, that
13:44
Speaker 1: kind of stuff, because you can't take a pill that's
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Speaker 1: breaking your fast, but they don't consider that breaking the fast.
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Speaker 1: I guess as long as it doesn't into your mouth,
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Speaker 1: that's that's how I took it. It's called the workaround
13:57
Speaker 1: in the modern world, but that's that's pretty devout, Umpandon.
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Speaker 1: Apparently the it's most dangerous of all two um diabetics
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Speaker 1: who are must lament trying to fast, and it's like
14:07
Speaker 1: you can give it a shot, but if your blood
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Speaker 1: sugar goes low, like you need to break your fast immediately,
14:13
Speaker 1: so you can't even take like an insulin shot or
14:15
Speaker 1: you can. You could take an insulin shop. But I think,
14:17
Speaker 1: like that's right, you want to try to keep your
14:21
Speaker 1: blood sugar up naturally. First, well, I'm glad they at least,
14:25
Speaker 1: you know, take care of the sick. Well it's specifically exempted. Well,
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Speaker 1: I guess like the pilgrimage too, if you're able to
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Speaker 1: write like, we don't want you to break your back
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Speaker 1: or if you can't afford it, you can't go. Uh.
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Speaker 1: So fasting is is a big deal and it's not
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Speaker 1: it's symbolic a UM. It means that you're not paying
14:45
Speaker 1: attention to your earthly needs. Um that opens you up
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Speaker 1: to be more inviting for Allah to you know, to
14:53
Speaker 1: have that personal connection with Allah frees you up, which
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Speaker 1: is a big deal. And it's also um a one
15:00
Speaker 1: too punch because you are supposed to feel hungry and
15:06
Speaker 1: know what it's like for those who maybe can't afford food.
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Speaker 1: So like a big part of it is the connection
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Speaker 1: with the needy and those who might be going hungry
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Speaker 1: because they can't help it. Right, because again it's one
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Speaker 1: of the more charitable times of the year when it's
15:21
Speaker 1: you know, kind of everybody gives that little extra sure um.
15:27
Speaker 1: And then also check it also practices self control, which
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Speaker 1: is a good one. Yeah, cleansing. Yeah, so you you've
15:35
Speaker 1: got there. You're going through Ramadan, You're you're going along
15:39
Speaker 1: at a pretty steady clip, and in the last ten
15:43
Speaker 1: days um you enter this time where it becomes basically
15:48
Speaker 1: the holy of the holies as far as the year
15:52
Speaker 1: is concerned, as far as the Muslim calendar is concerned,
15:56
Speaker 1: there's this night called lilttle cutter. Did he give you
16:01
Speaker 1: the pronunciation for that one? No, I didn't. I don't
16:03
Speaker 1: know anything about that. I think I got that one.
16:05
Speaker 1: I'm hoping. So that was the night that Mohammed first
16:09
Speaker 1: started reciting the Koran. As far as I could tell,
16:14
Speaker 1: it wasn't the night. I don't think it was the
16:16
Speaker 1: night that the archangel Gabriel came down and said, hey, man,
16:19
Speaker 1: prepare for transmission, because you're about to get the holy
16:23
Speaker 1: word of allah Um. I think it was the night
16:26
Speaker 1: that he did start saying the Koran and what was
16:31
Speaker 1: eventually transcribed into the Koran. Okay, it's a very holy night.
16:35
Speaker 1: The thing was, it was not recorded the date, so
16:38
Speaker 1: no one knows when it was. They just know that
16:40
Speaker 1: it was in the last ten days of Ramadan. Traditionally,
16:43
Speaker 1: it's celebrated on the twenty seven day of Ramadan. And
16:46
Speaker 1: this is the day where you do your prayers. What
16:49
Speaker 1: are the prayers called during Ramadan? The tarawi Um. You
16:53
Speaker 1: do your nightly prayer on this night. They say that
16:57
Speaker 1: it is has the um, it has It's worth more
17:02
Speaker 1: than a thousand months of worship. Like if you do,
17:05
Speaker 1: if you praying like you're a good devout Muslim on
17:08
Speaker 1: this one night, like it just takes care of everything. Wow. Yeah.
17:13
Speaker 1: And then after that, Um, You've got a couple more
17:15
Speaker 1: days of Ramadan, and then the end a big party. Yeah,
17:23
Speaker 1: you fasted that long. It's time to celebrate. When you
17:26
Speaker 1: break the fast, you say, talk beer, which talk beer.
17:31
Speaker 1: The literal translation is Um, Allah is the greatest. Allah
17:36
Speaker 1: is the greatest. There is no deity worth worthy of
17:39
Speaker 1: worship but Allah, and Allah is greatest. Allah is the greatest,
17:43
Speaker 1: and all praise is due to Allah. And this can
17:47
Speaker 1: be said. There's a variety of moments uh in a
17:51
Speaker 1: Muslim's life on a monthly basis that they will say this.
17:55
Speaker 1: You know, It's not just at the end of Ramanan.
17:58
Speaker 1: Could be battle cry, it could be in times of need.
18:03
Speaker 1: Basically it's just an expression that nothing is greater than Allah.
18:08
Speaker 1: And when you have completed this really important task at
18:11
Speaker 1: the end of Ramedan, this is what they say. Men
18:13
Speaker 1: are supposed to say it out loud, women are supposed
18:15
Speaker 1: to just think it. No comment on that. But basically
18:22
Speaker 1: that's the end of Ramadan. And then it's time for
18:25
Speaker 1: the celebration the d al faittier, right, which is you know,
18:30
Speaker 1: it's kind of a party, and everybody says D mobarik,
18:35
Speaker 1: which means a blessed D. That's right. Yeah, D means festivity.
18:40
Speaker 1: The tier means breaking the fast, yea. So this is
18:43
Speaker 1: the party where you break the fast and everybody gets
18:45
Speaker 1: gustied up and dressed to the nine and they go
18:48
Speaker 1: seek out the poor. They chase them down in the
18:51
Speaker 1: streets and then give them money and food. They light
18:54
Speaker 1: up their houses the what with lanterns and stuff. Yeah, yeah,
18:58
Speaker 1: it's very beautiful. It's not Muslim Christmas. I know. People
19:02
Speaker 1: in the Western world always like to like say, well,
19:05
Speaker 1: this is like Easter. This is like, you know, fourth
19:08
Speaker 1: of July is the Sinco de Mayo in Mexico. It's like,
19:12
Speaker 1: none of this is true. That was a good thing
19:15
Speaker 1: to point out, Chuck, I'm glad you did that. Um.
19:18
Speaker 1: And so what else happens after that? With adolph A
19:21
Speaker 1: Tier I didn't get from this UM article how long
19:24
Speaker 1: it lasts? Like is it a one night is it
19:27
Speaker 1: like a week long? Thing? Does depend on how the
19:29
Speaker 1: economy is doing that year, that's a good question. I
19:32
Speaker 1: didn't get to that either. Well, I'm sure someone will
19:35
Speaker 1: inform us. But it is a big party and UM
19:39
Speaker 1: lots of generosity and gratitude among each other, and like
19:43
Speaker 1: you said, towards the poor, which is pretty great. Uh
19:47
Speaker 1: So in the end, um Ramadan accomplishes a bunch of
19:50
Speaker 1: things that's gonna strengthen your relationship with Allah, very important.
19:55
Speaker 1: It's gonna enforce patients and determination. I imagine going through
19:59
Speaker 1: a month long sun up to sundown fast. We'll do that. Yeah,
20:02
Speaker 1: I mean there's gotta be times during that month where
20:04
Speaker 1: you're like, I'm having a really bad day and I
20:06
Speaker 1: want cheeseburger. Yeah. Sure. Uh promotes the principles of sincerity
20:12
Speaker 1: by making a shy away from arrogance and showing off.
20:16
Speaker 1: That's kind of cool. Like I like all these tenants.
20:19
Speaker 1: Promotes good character and truthfulness, which is a good one,
20:24
Speaker 1: UM encourage you to do with way with bad habits.
20:26
Speaker 1: I guess if you've got some bad habits, Ramadan would
20:29
Speaker 1: be a good time to watch those away because the
20:31
Speaker 1: whole thirty days theory of you know, starting a new habit,
20:35
Speaker 1: plus your practicing self restrain already anyway, exactly enhance his
20:40
Speaker 1: generosity and hospitality, reinforces the commonality and the feeling of
20:45
Speaker 1: brotherhood with other Muslims, which is a big deal. UM
20:49
Speaker 1: observance of the value of time, which makes sense because
20:53
Speaker 1: you know, if it were me, I'd be watching that
20:55
Speaker 1: that sun go down each night. And well plus also
20:59
Speaker 1: you're not just wandering around looking for food and stuffing
21:02
Speaker 1: your face. You have more time, so do something with it. Yeah,
21:05
Speaker 1: it makes you value time, I guess. And UM teaches children,
21:09
Speaker 1: uh to perform acts of like servitude and obedience, be
21:13
Speaker 1: kind of the poor, that kind of thing. Yeah. Basically,
21:16
Speaker 1: get your life back in balance, get your spiritual life
21:19
Speaker 1: back in balance. A good Muslim, that's what it's saying.
21:22
Speaker 1: That's right. So this year, UM, since it's a lunar calendar,
21:25
Speaker 1: it falls on at different times of the year every year,
21:27
Speaker 1: and not even like different like oh this this is
21:31
Speaker 1: just this year it's July one, and the next year
21:33
Speaker 1: it's gonna be like July five or something. It's like
21:36
Speaker 1: in five or six years or something like that, it
21:38
Speaker 1: will be in like November. Yeah, it's like it's all
21:41
Speaker 1: over the the twelve month map, right right, So, um,
21:45
Speaker 1: this year, if you're in the United States, Uh, the
21:48
Speaker 1: um North the Islamic Society of North America, you said, um.
21:53
Speaker 1: They they said, okay, the new moon sided on July
21:59
Speaker 1: and then is astronomical calculations. And there's a big debate
22:03
Speaker 1: over you know, whether um, that's okay, and they're saying, yes,
22:07
Speaker 1: of course, it's okay. We're we're it's actually more precise.
22:10
Speaker 1: You don't have to see it. There's nothing in the
22:12
Speaker 1: Koran that says you have to see it. Other people
22:15
Speaker 1: say no, in the Koran, it's when the new moon
22:16
Speaker 1: is cited. You can't sight it with astronomical calculations, have
22:21
Speaker 1: to use your peoper. So there's a debate apparently all
22:23
Speaker 1: this Yeah, but apparently all this goes away like during
22:28
Speaker 1: like once Ramadan started service, Like okay, whatever, qu um.
22:33
Speaker 1: But there's two arguments on whether to like, if you're
22:37
Speaker 1: in North America, that's not Mecca. So there's different arguments.
22:43
Speaker 1: In One argument for using a local sighting is, well,
22:46
Speaker 1: these are the people that you're celebrating Ramadan with your community.
22:49
Speaker 1: What's one of the reasons for it is to be
22:51
Speaker 1: part of the local community. Another But then the other
22:55
Speaker 1: argument um to use like say the Mecca sighting, where
22:58
Speaker 1: you know when the New Moon of peers over Mecca,
23:01
Speaker 1: is that it unites Muslims around the world in this
23:05
Speaker 1: in their Muslim nous at the center of it. Those
23:09
Speaker 1: are both good points, but neither one settled. I mean,
23:12
Speaker 1: in the US they still use the Islamic Society of
23:15
Speaker 1: North America mainly. So is it a hot debate or
23:17
Speaker 1: is it I don't think. I think it's an ongoing debate.
23:21
Speaker 1: But again I think what's Ramadan starts? It's like, which
23:24
Speaker 1: is the important thing? Is that we're all together exactly? Yeah,
23:27
Speaker 1: I love it. Pretty interesting stuff and I didn't know
23:31
Speaker 1: much about it. I knew those fasting but it's good
23:33
Speaker 1: to you know, I've always said one of the coolest
23:36
Speaker 1: classes I took in college at Georgia was my religion class. Yeah,
23:41
Speaker 1: very interesting stuff. I think it's good to open yourself
23:44
Speaker 1: up to learn about stuff, whether or not you subscribe
23:46
Speaker 1: to any of it. Knowledge you know, and just listening
23:49
Speaker 1: to this podcast is a good start, agreed um. And
23:53
Speaker 1: if August nine he comes around and you have a
23:55
Speaker 1: Muslim friend, make sure to wish them. Uh, I'd move
24:00
Speaker 1: bark because that's all fatier this year August in North America.
24:07
Speaker 1: That's right. Uh, okay, that's it for Ramadan. If you
24:10
Speaker 1: want to learn more about it, you can type that
24:12
Speaker 1: into the search bar at how stuff works dot com.
24:14
Speaker 1: R A M A D A n uh. And I
24:17
Speaker 1: said search bar, which means time for a listener, Mael.
24:19
Speaker 1: Now it's not, Josh, it is time for So this
24:33
Speaker 1: is gonna span a couple of shows because it's pretty long.
24:37
Speaker 1: We've had an ongoing list are actually, and that's just
24:39
Speaker 1: the ones you've compiled so far. I still have like
24:42
Speaker 1: a backlog myself. So let me give you this page,
24:45
Speaker 1: and I'll take this one and just sort of mark
24:47
Speaker 1: where you left off and we'll we'll finish up. There's
24:51
Speaker 1: like three pages, all right. So first of all, Bobby Duke,
24:55
Speaker 1: my man, the wood carver, awesome, awesome stuff he carved us,
24:59
Speaker 1: this handmade stuff. He you nothing I've promoted before it's
25:01
Speaker 1: on our TV show and it's like, it's really awesome.
25:04
Speaker 1: And if you're into woodcarving, you want to support Bobby
25:07
Speaker 1: um Duke. Wood Carving dot com is where you can go. Yeah. Um, okay,
25:11
Speaker 1: I got one for you with the dot com. Dan
25:14
Speaker 1: of Sharp Sugar dot com. S A J A R P,
25:17
Speaker 1: S H I R T e R. Send us some
25:20
Speaker 1: great awesome T shirts of a man punching a bear.
25:24
Speaker 1: That's pretty cool, giving a bear of Haymaker. I believe.
25:26
Speaker 1: I love that. We've got stickers of that too. Um.
25:29
Speaker 1: You can find him also at um the Eastern Market
25:32
Speaker 1: in d C. That's right, Bailey Denmark, you sent us
25:36
Speaker 1: dark chocolate in bacon cookies, which means that you know
25:39
Speaker 1: us and you love us. Uh and they were delicious
25:42
Speaker 1: and good. Lucky graduate School, Bailey, Um, Jenny and Brian
25:45
Speaker 1: sent us some spam flavored macadamia nuts from Hawaii. Grassius.
25:50
Speaker 1: Mine are still sitting up there. I know I'm waiting
25:53
Speaker 1: for like just the right moment. Well, I hope I'm around. Okay,
25:57
Speaker 1: I didn't get any You didn't know that you have
25:59
Speaker 1: the you been keeping him hostage. Well we'll we'll split him,
26:02
Speaker 1: We'll get Jerry One and will E the rest. Uh.
26:05
Speaker 1: We got a book from Samuel Samuel Little called gold Star,
26:09
Speaker 1: and we certainly appreciate that I have not ready yet,
26:12
Speaker 1: but it's on the shelf. Thanks sam Um. I wanna
26:14
Speaker 1: put in a special shout out to our buddies Glen
26:17
Speaker 1: and Sonja for the bottle of champagne that they sent us.
26:19
Speaker 1: Of course, Um for reaching the million dollar loanedmark on
26:24
Speaker 1: Kiva and they sent me and you me a bottle
26:26
Speaker 1: of champagne to congratulate us for our wedding. What did
26:29
Speaker 1: they have a champagne factory or something? Bought it all themselves.
26:34
Speaker 1: Pillow mob. Everyone you have seen the Chuck pillow. There
26:37
Speaker 1: was a Josh pillow it you haven't really I keep
26:40
Speaker 1: the thing in hiding. When I opened the box and
26:43
Speaker 1: I saw that it activated the part of my brain
26:46
Speaker 1: that would be activated if it had been a human head.
26:49
Speaker 1: Like that's what was activated when I looked in the box.
26:52
Speaker 1: It's scared well. I love my Chuck pillow. It's made
26:55
Speaker 1: appearances all over my house to freak out Emily, like
26:57
Speaker 1: in the microwave because I know she could have put
26:59
Speaker 1: her coffee and there each morning and sometimes I'll put
27:02
Speaker 1: it in bed and when I go out of town
27:04
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. Anyway, pillow Mob is I think
27:06
Speaker 1: they're out of Seattle and they're pretty funny gifts. Yeah,
27:09
Speaker 1: they're awesome. What's do you get one for somebody? What's
27:12
Speaker 1: their website pillow mob dot com. I'm not sure, but
27:15
Speaker 1: it's pretty easy to find search pillow mob lazy. I've
27:19
Speaker 1: got one. Illustrator Kevin Cornell sent it's his book Sixpenny
27:22
Speaker 1: Anthems Volume two. Uh. He's specifically asked not to be
27:26
Speaker 1: plugged because he didn't want the gift to be disingenuous.
27:29
Speaker 1: Well t s for you. Um. It's a really good
27:32
Speaker 1: compilation on the comics he's worked on, and you can
27:36
Speaker 1: find it at bear skin Rug dot c O dot uk.
27:40
Speaker 1: Kevin Cornell, heck of a guy, awesome comics. Yeah, a
27:44
Speaker 1: Man of Leisure sent from Missoula, Montanas and as moonshine. Yeah,
27:49
Speaker 1: like four jars and you tried it. I tried it
27:52
Speaker 1: at work at my desk. I know I watched to
27:54
Speaker 1: do it. It was delicious because I wouldn't touch mine
27:56
Speaker 1: until you drank here. Yeah, I tried the cinnamon. Um. Yeah.
27:59
Speaker 1: Josh was like try it, try it. I want to
28:01
Speaker 1: see if you drop dead. And I tried the centnamon
28:04
Speaker 1: and man it was hot and delicious. I've got the
28:06
Speaker 1: citrus one and is just right. Have you tried it? Yeah? Okay, Um,
28:10
Speaker 1: let's see. We got a postcard from the Spam muse Museum,
28:14
Speaker 1: the Spam Museum from Julie G and Austin, Texas. Thank you.
28:20
Speaker 1: We got a book called Swing from Alan Girl and
28:24
Speaker 1: he is a dude who found out that his birth
28:26
Speaker 1: father was Louis Prima. Cool, so he says, yeah, pretty amazing. Uh,
28:32
Speaker 1: Jennifer sent us a cat ball. Those are my to
28:35
Speaker 1: you because I don't have cats. I use it all
28:37
Speaker 1: the time. Yeah, cat ball dot com. Yeah it's basically
28:41
Speaker 1: you know, I'm sorry d cat ball dot com th
28:44
Speaker 1: G C A T B A L L dot com. Yeah.
28:46
Speaker 1: It's a big hollow open on two sides, sort of
28:50
Speaker 1: fabricy ball that the cats can climb inside. And uh,
28:54
Speaker 1: my cat's just laying it. But otherways probably play more
28:57
Speaker 1: active cats play Liz at Little Bit Sweets as always. Uh,
29:03
Speaker 1: you're candy and is delicious and your chocolate is delicious,
29:06
Speaker 1: and we have an invite went next time where in
29:08
Speaker 1: New York to come by and learn how to make chocolate.
29:11
Speaker 1: And supposedly they're coming by on their book tour. Oh yeah,
29:14
Speaker 1: So go to a little Bit l I D D
29:16
Speaker 1: A B I T Sweets and support them because they're
29:20
Speaker 1: like handmaking these delicious things and by their book which
29:23
Speaker 1: I don't on the name in front of me, but
29:24
Speaker 1: I'm sure they have the information at the Little Bit
29:26
Speaker 1: Sweets website. I would imagine, Um, Claire from Summit, New
29:30
Speaker 1: Jersey s it's a very nice handwritten lighter. Thank you
29:33
Speaker 1: very much for that, Claire. That's um, that's a dying art.
29:36
Speaker 1: It is, uh And I got one more and then
29:39
Speaker 1: I feel like we should probably continue this another time. Yeah.
29:43
Speaker 1: Maya from the Brooklyn Brewery. Remember they sent us a
29:46
Speaker 1: big box of stuff including beach towels and stickers and
29:50
Speaker 1: couzies and books including the brew Masters Table and Beer School.
29:54
Speaker 1: So I've been drinking Brooklyn Brewery for a long time
29:57
Speaker 1: since I lived in New Jersey many years ago. And
30:00
Speaker 1: this delicious stuff, it is great stuff from that area.
30:02
Speaker 1: I'm sure you know it well, but not to seek
30:04
Speaker 1: it out. Thanks guys, Thanks to all of you, guys. Yeah,
30:07
Speaker 1: more to come. I guess next time if you want to.
30:10
Speaker 1: If you send us something and you weren't included, you
30:12
Speaker 1: better listen to the next few podcasts. That's right, Um,
30:16
Speaker 1: If you want to send us something, We're always happy
30:19
Speaker 1: when something comes for us, always, especially if it's not
30:23
Speaker 1: a severed head and it just turns out to be
30:25
Speaker 1: a pillow mom. Um. You can get us. You can
30:29
Speaker 1: get our address by tweeting to us at s y
30:32
Speaker 1: s K podcast. You can ask us on Facebook dot
30:35
Speaker 1: com slash stuff you should Know, and you can send
30:38
Speaker 1: us an email saying hey, where do I send you
30:40
Speaker 1: cool stuff? To stuff Podcasts at Discovery dot com for
30:51
Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics. Is it
30:53
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. M brought to you by
31:03
Speaker 1: the reinvented two thousand and twelve Camry. It's ready. Are
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