Riff 96 - Boom Goes the Neighborhood and Defining Indecent

We set out to talk about fireworks and somehow ended up with a tour of the neighborhood personalities who make every holiday feel like a live-action sociology experiment. Along the way, we compare fireworks laws in Georgia and Indiana, wonder how the same explosive can be either a treasured tradition or probable evidence, and marvel at the confidence of people who treat safety warnings as optional reading. From there, we wander through memorable neighborhood encounters, the strange customs that become normal once you've lived next door to them long enough, and celebration enthusiasm that crosses into illegal behavior. We also speculate as to why fireworks have become such a fixture of American celebrations, and how everyday life keeps producing stories that are far funnier than anything people would invent.