Are flushable wipes actually flushable?
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What question about flushable wipes sparks this episode?
Hello, Search Engine listeners. An announcement before we start the show. We are hosting our first ever Finders Salon in New York City on March 20th. What's a salon? That's a question I've been asking myself ever since I wrote on a website that Finders, our highest paid tier of listeners, the people I would least like to disappoint, would be invited to one, an exclusive one that I was going to host.
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It turns out that in the 19th century in Paris, when people wanted to discuss the ideas of the day, sometimes they'd meet at somebody's house and discuss those ideas. It was like a book club, but without a book everybody was pretending to have read. It was like a podcast, except nobody recorded it. Trees falling soundlessly in the forest. What is our salon going to be? If you're a finder, you get to find out. Here's what I can promise. It's not a podcast live show where I'm on stage laughing like a stupid chipmunk. And it won't be big. It will be a small, intimate group. We'll meet somewhere interesting. There will be cheese. There will be wine. And yes, you can bring a friend. If you want to join us for our inaugural salon, in which we will definitively answer together the question, what is a salon?
Join us in New York City on March 20th. If you are now or at any point in the past, if you have been a finder, you will have gotten an email inviting you. If you are not a finder and if you would like to become one, if you join by February 14th, Valentine's Day, you will get an email invitation to our first ever salon. You can join by going to searchengine.show, signing up for incognito mode and choosing finder. All right, after these ads, our show this week. This episode of Surge Engine is brought to you in part by MUBI, the global film company that champions great cinema. From iconic directors to emerging auteurs, MUBI is all about discovery, with every film hand-selected so you can explore the best of cinema without endlessly scrolling.
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Okay, I never know how to start these things. So I'll just say, hey, PJ. Hey, what do you have? Do you have a story for me today? I have a story for you today. It's a story about a question that we've actually received a few times at Search Engine. What is the question? So... It's a question that I'd seen float around the internet before, but it had never really grabbed my attention in any real way. Like it seemed like a question that would work really well as a New York Post headline, but like I wasn't sure there was much more to it. Is it about Hunter Biden? No, it's about flushable wipes. It's not a New York Post headline. You're reading a different New York Post than I am. So this question just never jumped out to me, but there was something about having received the same question many times that at least put it on my radar.
And then we get the question in an email from a guy named Egan. You sent us an email a few months ago now, and I'm wondering if you could just read that email to us.
Yeah. No, do you just want me to read it verbatim?
Yeah, you can read it verbatim.
Okay. Yeah. So my question is, can I flush flushable wipes or not? Every package in the store is trying very hard to convince me that I can.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What question about flushable wipes sparks this episode?
0:00–6:49
2
How do flushable wipes impact wastewater systems?
6:49–12:07
3
What historical context surrounds the invention of flushable wipes?
12:07–18:05
4
What are the legal battles surrounding flushable wipes?
18:05–24:05
5
How do marketing strategies influence consumer perceptions of flushable wipes?
24:05–31:09
6
What evidence supports the claims about flushable wipes and clogs?
31:09–37:20
7
What are the differing opinions on the safety of flushing wipes?
37:20–45:23
8
What conclusions can we draw about flushable wipes and their future?
45:23–56:35