Adam Ruins His Vacation

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Sep 17 2017
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Americans are really bad at relaxing, as Adam demonstrates when he hits the road to reveal the surprising history behind Mount Rushmore, explain how Las Vegas slot machines are deliberately engineered addictions and uncover the strange story of Hawaiian statehood.

Sources

"It was also never finished. The rubble at the base is just debris from the construction no one cleaned up."

"Mount Rushmore National Memorial." National Park Service, 22 Jan 2004.

"In the early 1920s, a group of South Dakota historians was trying to figure out how to attract tourists to their state."

John Taliaferro. Great White Fathers: The Story Of The Obsessive Quest To Create Mount Rushmore. PublicAffairs, 2002.

"Borglum became so obsessed that Congress even threatened to cut his funding."

"Memorial History." National Park Service, 19 Apr 2017.

"But six years later, that all changed when General Custer found gold."

Linda Greenhouse. "Sioux Lose Fight for Land in Dakota." The New York Times, 19 Jan 1982.

"In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled this land grab unconstitutional..."

Linda Greenhouse. "Sioux Lose Fight for Land in Dakota." The New York Times, 19 Jan 1982.

"...and ordered federal compensation now worth over one billion dollars."

Francine Uenuma and Mike Fritz. "why the Sioux Are Refusing $1.3 Billion." PBS NewsHour, 24 Aug 2011.

"The problem is, the Sioux don't want the money, so to this day it's sitting on-hold in the U.S. Treasury."

Maria Streshinsky. "Saying No to $1 Billion." The Atlantic, March 2011.

"They began to look for ways to make slot machines harder to win and more enticing to play."

Natasha Dow Schüll. Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas. Princeton University Press, 2012.

"These new virtual reel slots are capable of hundreds of stops. That means casinos can program different odds for each symbol, and it takes a lot more plays to win."

Natasha Dow Schüll. Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas. Princeton University Press, 2012.

"They're also programmed to land on more near-misses. A near-miss makes it look like you almost hit the jackpot, which psychologically tricks you into feeling like you could improve your luck the more you play."

Natasha Dow Schüll. Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas. Princeton University Press, 2012.

"Today, most machines are video slots: bigger, flashier, and even more addictive."

Natasha Dow Schüll. Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas. Princeton University Press, 2012.

"With each false win you get a tiny hit of dopamine, the chemical that activates your brain's reward centers."

David J. Linden. The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good. Penguin, 2011.

"'The zone' is what gamblers call it when they're completely absorbed in the flow of a game. And, using player loyalty cards, casinos track your every move to keep you there."

Natasha Dow Schüll. Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas. Princeton University Press, 2012.

"The data on your player loyalty card tells the casino which games you like, how much money you bet, even what snacks you order. Most importantly, they also know when you tend to get frustrated and walk away."

Natasha Dow Schüll. Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas. Princeton University Press, 2012.

"Yeah, every year, over 8 million tourists come to Hawaii thinking they're getting a 'traditional' Hawaiian experience."

"Annual Visitor Research Report." Hawaii Tourism Authority, 2015.

"Tiki bars were invented by a California restaurant owner, and hula dancers only started wearing grass skirts on the U.S. vaudeville circuit."

Audrey McAvoy. "Hawaii Takes Aim at Inauthentic Island Icons." USA Today, 14 Oct 2012.

"Long before it became a state, Hawaii was its own full-fledged, sovereign country! They had a Queen, a democratically-elected house of representatives, and they had ambassadors all over the world."

Tom Coffman. Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawaii. Duke University Press, 2016.

"The strange story of Hawaiian statehood begins with a group of white Hawaiian businessmen."

Tom Coffman. Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawaii. Duke University Press, 2016.

"In 1893, they threatened a violent coup and forced the queen to give up her throne."

"Jan. 17, 1893: Hawaiian Monarchy Overthrown by America-Backed Businessmen." The New York Times, 17 Jan 2012.

"Did they have an army?" "Nope, but a corrupt U.S. ambassador did."

Eugene Tyler Chamberlain, John L. Stevens, and William M. Springer. "The Hawaiian Situation." The North American Review, Dec 1893.

"The Hawaiian League also realized it would be better for trade if they became part of the United States, so they appealed for annexation."

Wynell Schamel and Charles E. Schamel. "The 1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii." Social Education, Nov/Dec 1999.

"I have a petition from 95% of Native Hawaiians saying we do not want to be part of the United States."

Noenoe K. Silva. Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism. Duke University Press, 2004.

"Conflicted, America didn't make up its mind for years, until the start of the Spanish-American War."

Tom Coffman. Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawaii. Duke University Press, 2016.

"They were officially declared a U.S. territory."

"Annexation of Hawaii, 1898." Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State, 20 Jan 2009.

"As a nation, Americans are really bad at relaxing. In 2015 we let 658 million vacation days go unused."

"The State of the American Vacation: How Vacation Became a Casualty of Our Work Culture." Project: Time Off, 2016.

"And even when we did go on vacation, 30% of us brought work to do."

Patti Neighmond. "Overworked Americans Aren't Taking The Vacation They've Earned." NPR, 12 Jun 2016.

"Studies show that going on vacation actually makes people more productive when they go back to work."

Will Yakowicz. "Why You Need to Encourage Employees to Use Their Vacation Time." Inc., 15 Jun 2015.

For More on This Topic

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/03/saying-no-to-1-billion/308380/


https://books.google.com/books/about/Addiction_by_Design.html?id=_Vsk6EXc1_4C


https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/12/losing-it-all/505814/


https://books.google.com/books/about/Nation_Within.html?id=a_ZijgEACAAJ

https://books.google.com/books/about/Unfamiliar_Fishes.html?id=QRPXBXsU7UIC