Podcast Summary: "HTDE: Crickets and Clowns"

Podcast: Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Date: March 18, 2026
Hosts: Mike & Ian
Guests: Biologist Marlene Zook, Clowns International Egg Register’s Julie Proctor

Overview

In this episode, Mike and Ian delve into two quirky topics: unraveling the surprising science behind using cricket chirps to estimate temperature, and exploring the colorful tradition of the Clowns International Egg Register—a unique way for clowns to "trademark" their makeup. Filled with playful humor, curious questions, and fascinating guests, the hosts bridge natural history and clowning culture while pondering the oddities of science, law, and language.

Main Discussion Points

1. Cricket Chirps & Temperature Estimation

• Introduction to the "Cricket Formula"

  • Originates from over 100 years ago, attributed to a researcher named Dolbear.
  • “If you count the number of cricket chirps in 15 seconds and you add 40, you end up with the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.” (Marlene Zook, 01:20)

• Scientific Basis and Limitations

  • Works only under specific circumstances:
    • Accurate for tree crickets (not the more common field crickets).
    • Limited, as the formula depends heavily on species and temperature range: “It actually only works under a very, very, very limited set of circumstances.” (Zook, 01:48)
  • Crickets are exothermic: their bodily functions—including chirping rate—directly reflect ambient temperature.
  • Field crickets’ variable chirp rates make the formula unreliable for them.

• Fun Exploration of Cricket Life

  • Tree crickets live in shrubs and tall grass, are green and “lovely” with “lacy looking wings.” (Zook, 04:15)

  • “Much more glamorous looking than the field crickets, which…like I said, were my study subject.” (Zook, 04:34)

  • Q: Could tree crickets tell the temperature of a pizza oven?
    A: They’d die before chirping. “If you wanted to eat the crickets, it would work because they would crispen up.” (Zook, 05:18)

    Memorable Quote:
    “Tree cricket sounds amazing. It's good looking. It tells you the temperature and apparently it's a great source of protein.” (Host, 05:27)

• The Strange Sex Lives of Crickets

  • Males attract females with song, and offer part of their bodies as "nuptial gifts"—nutritious glands females eat during mating.
  • “It's kind of like cannibalism combined with music.” (Zook, 05:48)
  • Some katydid gifts can reach “30% of his body weight...imagine you’d have to manufacture something out of your own body that weighed like 50 pounds, which you had to give to your date before she would have sex with you.” (Zook, 06:48)
  • Hosts tie the nuptial gift concept to engagement ring traditions: “It works out similar to...three months salary should be the price of the engagement ring.” (Host, 07:35)

• Playful Listener Challenge

  • Listeners are invited to count cricket chirps hidden throughout the episode, apply the formula, and email the calculated "temperature" for a chance to win a T-shirt. (08:07–08:50)

2. Name Punctuation Predicaments

• Listener Mail: The Saga of ‘Autumn’s’ Apostrophe (10:08–12:43)
  • Listeners write in creative solutions to Autumn’s challenge of having an apostrophe in her legal first name:
    • Use double apostrophes, turning it into "Autumn''s"
    • Invert punctuation, creating a new mark like an "upside down semicolon"
    • Shift the possessive to her middle name (“Autumn’s Hope’s bicycle”)
    • Use superscript (“Autumn²”)
    • Replace the apostrophe with a quotation mark ("Autumn’s”)
  • Amusing consensus: Most creative fixes either look like a typo or an energy drink.
  • Listener Jeffrey simply pleads, "Please, please fix your episode. My head is exploding." (Jeffrey, 12:43)

3. Clown Makeup “Trademark” with the Egg Register

• History of the Clowns International Egg Register
  • Created nearly 100 years ago by Stan Bolt, an accountant and circus enthusiast, to document clown face designs on eggs (13:17–13:43).
  • Each clown’s makeup—captured with 360-degree photos and fabric samples—is painted onto a ceramic or real egg, cataloged by number.
• Purpose: Face as Intellectual Property
  • “Do clowns think of it as a way to kind of claim their look and kind of trademark it?” (Host, 14:55)
  • “That's why they take so long to get their eggs, because they don't know which one…they want to stick with.” (Julie Proctor, 15:02)
• Expansion to Drag Culture
  • Now expanded to capture drag queens’ unique makeup on eggs as well.
    • “They have their own unique look…why not?…they would love to be immortalized somewhere in a museum.” (Proctor, 15:34–15:44)
  • New golden register for drag queen eggs, “with loads of high heeled shoes on the front.”
• Notable Detail:
  • The tradition preserves not only clown makeup, but comedic history, and helps performers claim visual identity.

4. Historical Oddities & Episode Reflection

• Both interview topics “started with someone saying hundreds of years ago…” (Host, 16:18)
• Hosts comment on the cyclical nature of history:
  • “The past is prologue.”
  • “Those who do not understand history are doomed to repeat it.” (16:42–16:48)
• Memorable Moment:
  • Discovery of a 1926 news snippet proposing to put a wristwatch on the Statue of Liberty:
    • “I’m just worried she doesn’t know what time it is.” (Host, 18:04)
    • “The problem with the Statue of Liberty: she was always late.” (Host, 18:20)

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On the cricket formula’s limitations:

  • “It actually only works under a very, very, very limited set of circumstances.” (Marlene Zook, 01:48)
  • “It doesn’t work for [field crickets] because their chirp rate is more variable. It only works for one kind of cricket.” (Zook, 03:41)

• On cricket reproduction:

  • “So it's kind of like cannibalism combined with music, which is like what we would all strive for.” (Zook, 05:48)
  • “Imagine you’d have to manufacture something out of your own body that weighed like 50 pounds, which you had to give to your date before she would have sex with you.” (Zook, 06:48)

• On clown “trademark” via eggs:

  • “That's why they take so long to get their eggs, because they don't know which one…they want to stick with.” (Julie Proctor, 15:02)
  • “Each egg gets numbered and put into a register.” (Proctor, 15:46)

• On historical parallels:

  • “Those who do not understand history are doomed to repeat it.” (Host, 16:48)

Important Segments & Timestamps

• 01:20 – Cricket formula explained by Marlene Zook
• 04:15 – Tree crickets: habitat and beauty
• 05:18 – Comic discussion: crickets as pizza oven thermometers
• 05:48 – Nuptial gifts & bizarre cricket mating rituals
• 08:07 – Listener challenge: count the cricket chirps
• 10:08–12:43 – Listener emails about the apostrophe dilemma
• 13:11 – Julie Proctor on clown egg registry
• 15:34 – Registry expands to include drag queen eggs
• 17:06 – “On this day in history” segment with whimsical discoveries

Tone & Style

• Warm, witty, and inquisitive banter between Mike, Ian, and their guests.
• Blends scientific curiosity with offbeat humor and a touch of historical reverence.
• Audience engagement via playful challenges and mailbag readouts.

For First-Time Listeners

This episode is a perfect blend of eccentric science and whimsical culture. Whether you’re curious about estimating temperature by listening to insects or’re fascinated by the curious rituals of clowns and trademark law, you’ll walk away entertained—and a little smarter about the world’s smaller, stranger wonders.