Short Stuff: Magic 8 Ball
The Magic 8 Ball, a pop culture staple and childhood toy for generations, has a surprisingly deep and quirky origin story rooted in spiritualism, wartime ingenuity, and a partnership between two brothers-in-law, one a visionary and the other a pragmatic businessman. What started as a psyc
Sign up to read the full summary
Free AI-powered recaps of every episode, delivered to your inbox.
Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.
Mentions
Books, people, and resources mentioned in this episode.
People
Companies
Products & Tools
Topics
Listen to This Episode
More from Stuff You Should Know
Short Stuff: MacGuffins
Some Silly Inventions That Became Wildly Popular
Some Interesting Curses
SYSK Gets Weird Playlist: What was the Philadelphia Experiment?
Keeping Time
Selects: How Spiritualism Works
Related episodes
From other shows on similar topics.
#553 -The Worst Urine Sample
The Basement Yard
Hoopst Was First?
Distractible
100 Objects #16: Wheel of Fortune Dalmatian
99% Invisible
Part One: The Fake Bomb Detector Grift That Killed Hundreds
Behind the Bastards
Surprising Factors That Influence What You Buy & The Strange Story of Ice
Something You Should Know
Tortilla Face
Bad Friends
Get summaries like this every morning.
Free AI-powered recaps of Stuff You Should Know and your other favorite podcasts, delivered to your inbox.
Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.