July 4, 2025 • 40 mins
We all know the American places in America (Cleveland is one). But where should a U.S. citizen go to feel at home abroad? Will and Mango visit a wee America in Brazil (?!), tour the territories, and look for the Kentucky in Japan’s KFCs. Featuring our pal and Snack Stack author Doug Mack.
This episode originally aired on July 14, 2017.
Photo of a KFC in Toyohashi, Japan by Huu Huynh via Pexels. Thanks, Huu!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Guess what mango?
Speaker 2 (00:00):
What's that? Will?
Speaker 3 (00:01):
So I was looking up little American influences around the world,
you know, like how in Japan a hot dog is
called a Hota dog ou, but a corn dog is
called an American dog oo.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I love that. What else you got?
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Potlucks are called American parties in the Netherlands, and one
of my favorites, brass knuckles, are referred to as an
American fist from France. But the thing I wanted to
tell you about was this little town in Brazil called Americana.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
So basically, when the.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Confederacy lost the Civil War, about twenty thousand Confederates fled
to Brazil, where they established two colonies. There was New
Texas and Americana. But what's crazy is that it still
has this touch of America there. You can spot rocking
chairs on porches, families still speak English with a Southern drawl,
and they still make sweet potato pots. This has all
(00:46):
been passed down since the eighteen sixties.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
That is crazy.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah, But it got me wondering, if we ever decided
to leave America, what's the most non American American place
out there? Is it another country? Is it a US
territory and what is it that makes America America? I mean,
other than corn dogs, of course, let's dive in. Hey,
(01:26):
their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will
Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good friend
Mangesh how Ticketter, and today we're talking about the most
American places in the world, at least ones that just
so happen to be located outside the US.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
That's right. We're gonna look at some foreign places that,
for one reason or another, have a very distinct American feel.
And we're also going to explore a few offshore territories
to see which parts of the States have rubbed off
on them and to help make.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Sense of these somewhat mysterious locales. Will be talking with
Doug Mack, author of the book The Not Quite States
of America Now. Doug spend a year touring the US
territories and came away with all kinds of amazing information
about the parts of our own country that many of
us tend to forget even exist.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I'm super excited to talk to him and for our
quiest today, we've also got a couple of part time
Geniuses calling in from Washington, d C. We're gonna hear
their thoughts on living in a city that's got quite
a chip on his shoulder thanks to its not quite status.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, DC residents are not shy about their frustration with
the federal District's lack of statehood. I mean, for almost
twenty years now, the motto on their license plates has
been taxation without representation. Compare that to what most states
put on their plates, and you'll get a sense of
how heavily the whole not a state thing weighs on them.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I know. Most states use the space to brag about
their accomplishments, like Ohio's plate Tatsa as the birthplace of aviation,
and Utah uses the plate to boast that they have
the greatest snow on earth.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
How did Utah determine that it has the best snow
in the world. That seems pretty subjective. I mean, who's
to say theirs is the greatest?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I know, it's funny because states get away with ridiculous
statements like that all the time, like Virginia's for lovers.
Come on, now, it.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Was a very scientific study, and it's the same with Utah.
Fact checkers have shown that it isn't the driest or
the fluffiest or the most abundant snow, but they called
their unique mixture of snow the best.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
On earth, the unique mixture.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
When you try to think of a country that's most
like the United States, what comes to mind first?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Oh, it's got to be our neighbor to the north.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Right exactly, or at least in theory.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
I mean, Canada is likely the place the average American
would say they'd feel most at home. And that's partly
because most Americans have a really positive view of Canada.
So last September, a poll from NBC and The Wall
Street Journal showed that seventy five percent of American surveyed
viewed Canada favorably. Well, only three percent had a negative
view of Canada. And by the way, those were the
(03:40):
highest ratings in the poll. People liked Canada more than
any other person or entity they were asked about.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
That's pretty incredible. But I mean, I don't know who
those three percent are, because I can't imagine anyone actively
disliking Canada me either. Everyone knows they're pretty much like
the nicest people on earth, plus their land of great comedy,
like Lorne Michaels, Samantha bead kids in the.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Hall, that's right.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
I was going to say kids in the hall mainly
just kids in the hall, right, So what's not to like?
But you know what's funny, Remember how much love Canada
got the night of the twenty sixteen election. Sure, as
the votes were tallied, there were all these reports about
Canada's immigration site crashing due to a stampede of less
than enthused Americans. But what's interesting is that it wasn't
just a twenty sixteen phenomenon. Every election year, thousands of
(04:24):
Americans on both sides of the out threatened to jump
ship to Canada should the quote wrong Canada win.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, Well, the underlining thought is clearly that even if
life in Canada isn't the same as life in the US,
it's close enough.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, Hopping the border to Canada is apparently the plan
B for lots of Americans, or at least they pretend
it is. It's kind of a if things go south,
I'll go north mentality. But the reality is it's a
whole lot harder to immigrate to Canada than most people think.
Even if you have a job in Canada, even if
you're married to a Canadian, becoming a citizen can be
time consuming and requires a crazy amount of paperwork. But
(04:58):
even setting aside the difficulty of becoming a citizen, there's
still the question of whether living in Canada would really
feel comparable to life here in the States. Is Canada
all that American?
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Really?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I mean, don't get me wrong, there's a great deal
of crossover, but it's hardly a.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
One to one.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, Canadian culture isn't too far from what we find stateside,
and the food, for the most part, isn't that exotic,
though they do have stuff like proutine flavored potato chips
and camel meat apparently.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah, I don't think that sounds very American.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Because we share the same continent, our economies and environmental
concerns are intertwined. But yet there would definitely be some
growing pains involved for American transplants. For example, According to
Canadian Business, buying stuff online is much more of a
challenge in Canada than it is in the US.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
I like that you go straight to shopping as the
litmus tests for whether a place feels truly American. But okay,
what makes e commerce worse in Canada is that the
spotty Wi.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Fi not exactly in fact, Canadians are more likely to
have access to the Internet than residents of any other
G twenty nation, and that includes the US. Canadian citizens
have long since embraced the digital age, but Canadian businesses
are a totally different story. Fewer than half of all
Canadian companies have websites, much less the ability to sell
their products online.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Well, that would.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Definitely be a rude awakening for many Americans, and I
think the weather in Canada would be an even ruder one.
I don't want to blow your mind here, Mango, but
it gets pretty chilly in Canada.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, that's a good point. There are parts of the
US that experience some freezing cold winters, but that's true
of all of Canada. In fact, Canada vies with Russia
for the title of coldest country in the world. Oh wow,
The average daily annual temperature in the Great White North
a bomby twenty two degrees fahrenheit.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Iike's just thinking about that makes me want to reach
for the thermostat. So but I'm glad we're touching on climate.
That's one of the major points of departure you're going
to run into with any stand in for the States.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, our location in the sheer size of the continental
US allows for a lot of diversity in terms of
geography and climate. That's an aspect of life in America
that's tough for a lot of regions to match, even
if they do have same data delivery from Amazon. But
I think the biggest obstacle in trying to find another
country that feels American is the history itself.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
What do you mean by that, Well, a.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Country's history and the sense that it's shared by the
people who live there. That's a large part of what
makes a place feel like home. Countries like Canada and
Australia have similar histories of European colonization to that of
the US. That's maybe part of the reason they feel
more American. Does Still, all the specifics of those histories
and the cultures they spurred are very different, and it's
(07:23):
those kind of details that really seem to help us
identify ourselves as Americans.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Yeah, that sounds right to me. I mean, imagine in
America where the people didn't feel a swell of pride
when they spotted the Statue of Liberty, or feel a
twinge of childhood nostalgia when they heard notes from Yankee
Doodle could you ever really say a place like that
felt American? Well, plenty of people wouldn't be so lofty
and describing what makes America America. I mean, it's not
for nothing that we have the largest economy in the world.
(07:49):
Americans like to spend money, and we have tons of
options for where to spend it. See, it all comes
back to shopping. It really isn'tes capable. I mean, look
at fast food, for better or worse. It's become synonymous
with American culture. So any stand in country worth its
salt would have its fair share of golden arches. Now,
it's no surprise that the US leads and the total
number of McDonald's restaurants at about fourteen thousand, but there
(08:12):
are a few countries that are gaining ground. China, for instance,
has around two thousand McDonald's, in Japan nearly three thousand.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Whoa, they're really catching off.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
In fact, US sales now only account for about thirty
one percent of McDonald's total revenues, according to Investipedia. The
rest comes from countries that are fast adapting to American taste.
And it's not just burgers. The KFC chain has become
ubiquitous in Asian markets.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, I get that. I mean KFC has been steadily
expanding in both Japan and China for the past decade.
China has even overtaken the US for a number of
total KFCs, more than forty five hundred.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Oh wow, So as Kentucky Fried Chicken more Chinese than America.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Now, well, it's actually more Japanese.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Oh really, how's that for one thing?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
KFC's mascot, Colonel Sanders, is hugely popular in Japan. He's
emphasized in all the marketing, the employee uniforms, even in
his trademark bulow tie. They even have a Colonel mascot
costume with a big Emoji style head for the customers
to take selfies with.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
It's a little bit creepy. I mean, he was also
the founder, right, a real person. It's sort of like
if Disneyland had employees wearing big Walt Disney mask prowling
the park instead of Mickey Mouse.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Thankfully, that's something even the international Disney parks have avoided doing.
But it does get me thinking, could Disney theme parks
be some of the most American places in the world.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Well, you might be onto something there. Last year, Branding
magazine pulled nearly five thousand people between sixteen and sixty five.
They asked him to evaluate the patriotism of two hundred
and forty eight US brands.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Any idea who was at the top of the list.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
I'm gonna go on a limb here and say, uh, Disney.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
In fact, ninety eight percent associated the Disney brand with
US patriotism.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yeah, a study, exposure to American brands in entertainment has
gone a long way toward making other parts of the
world feel a little more American, for better or for worse.
In fact, that's even true of our own offshore territories,
which are their own unique mixes of island native and
modern American col Very true.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
But before we get into the strange, not at all
straightforward world of US territories, what do you say we
check in with our DC residents for an all American quiz?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Let's do it.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
So, who do we have on the line today? Mango?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
We have Drake and Don who are both DC residents
and in a strange coincidence, both of them have traveled
to nearly all fifty states.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Oh wow, yeah, So let's start with you. Will, You've
been to forty nine states, Is that right?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
That's right?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
So which one is missing on the list?
Speaker 4 (10:32):
I have not been to North Dakota yet.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
To North Dakota, it's going to say Hawaii or Alaska.
So what do you have against North Dakota.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Well, if you think about everything that's cool to visit
in the Dakota's whether it's Rushmore or Deadwood or Rapid City,
that's all South Dakota.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Man, all of our North Dakota listeners are going to
be so angry after hearing this. This could get out definitely.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Well yeah, yeah, alright, Well that's still pretty impressive. And
don I think you've been to what is it forty.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
Eight I've been to forty eight states?
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Yes, all right?
Speaker 1 (11:06):
And what's missing on your list?
Speaker 5 (11:08):
So what's missing is Wyoming and Alaska. But so as
somebody that has visited North Dakota, you haven't lived until
you've had dinner in Bismark.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Some bulled words, I like that.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Well, actually, Drake, you're also in the process of striking
off another list, and that is visiting every Major League
baseball park in America. Now, how many of you hit
at this point?
Speaker 4 (11:32):
As of a few days ago twenty six wow.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Okay, all right, twenty six out of how many are there?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Thirty?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Okay, okay, well done. All right, well let's get to it.
We've got two DC residents here to play a game.
And what's the game called Mango?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
It's a little quiz called DC or not DC?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
All right, So we'll read a statement about Washington DC,
and if you think it's true, you'll say d C.
If you think it's false, you'll say not DC. Not
that confusing, all right, So you'll be working as a team.
We thought DC residents need to stick together and all
of their anger over not being a state, So we're
gonna let you collaborate, you guys. Ready, I good, Ready,
all right, let's do it. Question number one, It wasn't
(12:12):
until nineteen sixty one that DC residents got the right
to vote in presidential elections DC or not DC.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
I'm not sure the date, but that sounds right. What
do you think done?
Speaker 5 (12:24):
I don't know why it would have been nineteen sixty
I'm gonna go not DC. Actually, I think I think
we've been able to vote presidential longer.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
I'm gonna deffer.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
He's deferring, such a gentleman, but unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
It is d C. The twenty third Amendment gave them
the right. Yeah, and they first exercised that right in
the nineteen sixty four elections.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
So don was actually thinking along the right lines of
like why would it be nineteen sixty one when it
wasn't exercised until sixty four. So I think we should
give him half a point for like putting that reasoning together.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
So let's let's do that.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
So just like DC's have to state that's.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Right, all right, not even all right? Question number two.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Underneath d C, there's a semi secret metro line that
runs congressmen and staffers between the office buildings. That is true,
all right, absolutely, yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
What's it called.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
It's called a Capital Subway system, and it makes over
two hundred runs a day.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Oh wow, okay, all right, so they have one and
a half points so far. Let's see what happens next.
Question number three. When Nixon accepted the gift of two
pandas to DC's national Zoo, he returned the favor by
sending them a pair of RCA speakers and a collection
of Danny k records.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
D C or not DC, it's just dumb enough that
it might be true.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
I don't know, you think that sounds like that sounds
like a tacky, tacky American thing to do.
Speaker 6 (13:45):
Who is it, Danny K?
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah? Is that not the jam you were listening to
before you call it?
Speaker 5 (13:53):
I just turned off the eight tracks.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
I'm gonna go DC.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah, it's actually not d C. Nixon actually sent them
a gift that was way tack here a pair of
Muskoks named Milton and Matilda, and according to the New
York Times, they weren't exactly quality cattle. Milton in particular
was complaining of post nasal drip, a cough, and his
hair seemed to be falling out on arrival.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
What a sweet gift. God, Okay, all right, I sense
the stormback. They've got three questions left, all right? Question
number four. While Washington, d C. Isn't a state, it
does have a listed state flower, the American Beauty Rose
DC or not DC.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
You know what it sounds to me like, it's probably right?
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Yeah, you're right, d Here we go, two questions left.
The first show, Viz Pizza, opened in Washington, d C.
In nineteen eighty. Vice President George Bush joins Spain's ambassador
to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony DC or
not DC?
Speaker 4 (14:51):
Where does this stuff come from history books or not?
There's no way that's true.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I think Don should probably agree with you.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Let's see correct, all right? To finish up strong for
the big prize, here we go Question number six. Spiked
dog collars were invented in Washington, d C. By famed
dog breeder Gareth Winchester to make his Bassett hounds look
more intimidating. DC or not DC.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I'm going I'm going correct.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Who is Gareth Winchester?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
We don't know who Gareth Winter? Say that name up?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Well, okay, so how have these guys done?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Our contestants got a stunning four point five out of five.
So not only will they get the note to their
mom or boss from us singing their praises, but we're
also sending them a vintage Republican Congressional cookbook filled with
delicious American recipes fans of any political party can enjoy.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
So congratulations Don and Drake. Thanks for joining us on
Part Time Genius.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
Thank you guys.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
You're listening to Part Time Genius and we're talking about
the most American places in the world. So Mango, we've
been focusing on places that somehow feel American despite being
outside of the United States.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
But before the break, you've touched on the topic of
US territories.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Yeah, the territories are like these incredible scattered American gens
that are sadly overlooked by most of US. Puerto Rico
is the most famous by far of the five inhabited
US territories, the other four being the US Virgin Islands,
which is also in the Caribbean, plus American Samoa, Guam
and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific. They're also
about a dozen uninhabited islands that also technically count as
(16:45):
American soil.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
All right, so there are five of them. That is
not something I could have told you before. And I
feel like we need a way to commit them to memory.
And you know how much I like namonic device is mango.
Can we just take a minute to come up with
a good way to remember all five.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
That's a great idea, Okay, So we go by population
size from largest to smallest. That gives US Puerto Rico, Guam,
US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands pg
U A N.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I was kind of hoping it would make a word
by myself. All right, well let's think about this then.
How about let's see pg u a peguan.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
That's not a word, all right. Pancakes grow under.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
A nice tree, and nice tree is one word, by
the way, so don't call me out on that.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Pancakes grow under a nice tree. That's how you remember.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Oh that's good. Or maybe pickles get ugly after man.
I was gonna say knifing, but that's supposed the k
or gnawing, which starts to the G stupid silent letter.
How about pickles get ugly after negotiations? Negotiations, Yeah, negotiations
will wear anyone down. I was going to suggest neglect there, yeah, if,
(17:58):
But negotiation is just funny to picture and easier to remember.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
All right, good point.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Okay, I think we both nailed it, But we know
our listeners are smarter than we are.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
So let's make this a contest. Come up with a.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Better mnemonic for how to remember the five US territories,
and we'll award our favorite three with part Time Genius
t shirts. Just send your entries along with your mailing
address to part Time Genius at HowStuffWorks dot com, or
you can find us on Facebook or Twitter.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I can't wait to hear from them. Okay, back to
the territories.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Okay, we should note that we're following Doug Max's lead
on this by kind of broadly grouping them all together
as territories. But the logistics are a little more nuanced
than that.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Right. A territory can either be organized or unorganized, and
also incorporated or unincorporated. And then there are Puerto Rico
and the Northern Mariana Islands, which are officially commonwealth rather
than territories. It's all maybe a little too nuanced for
us to get into here.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
There are all these distinctions that are used to describe
the extent to which the Constitution and federal laws applies,
well as whether a place is fully considered.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Part of the US. It's actually kind of a big mess.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
You can really tell that the territories were acquired without
any solid long term plan for them. I mean, all
but nineteen of the current fifty states started out as
US territories, but that path to statehood has never seemed
like a serious option for places like Guam in the
Virgin Islands.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Right.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Which isn't to say that the US claimed than without
any rhyme or reason though.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yeah, why do we start grabbing up offshore of territories anyway?
I know America was young, scrappy, and hungry to borrow
a phrase from Hamilton, but we were looking for ways
to assert ourselves as a full blown empire in the
eyes of the rest of the world. But that seems,
I don't know, sort of impractical.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Well, we definitely did want that seat at the big
boy table, and expanding the country's boundaries certainly got us
closer to that goal. But there was actually a more
practical reason too, And you're gonna like this one, but
back in the early eighteen hundreds, our farming game wasn't
so strong yet.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Here in the States.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
We were producing tons and tons of tobacco and cotton,
but at the expense of the soil, which was fast
losing all of its nutrients.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Yeah, I guess George Washington Carver was still quite a
few years off, so crop rotation wouldn't have be in
vogue at the time.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Well, we were exhausting the soil, and since industrialization was
still a ways off, it was becoming a very big
problem for our fledgling economy. So what's a young growing
nation to do but start mining bird poop from the
barren islands off its shores.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Wait, that's why we have this territory, well many of them.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Yeah, these remote islands had been flyover spots for seabirds
for thousands of years. All those years of daily deposits
allowed for some pretty hefty build ups of utria rich fertilizer.
I'm not kidding, And that's what American farmers needed. So
Congress passed the Guano Islands Act in eighteen fifty six,
and we started calling DIBs on all the unclaimed islands
we could find.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
You're right, that is practical.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
And kind of gross.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Yeah, but it also doesn't explain why we've continued to
hold onto these territories.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
I mean, we aren't.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Exactly hard up for fertilizer anymore, and my friends in
the guano mining industry telling me the work has dropped
off significantly over the past two hundred years or so.
I get that nations aren't chomping at the bit to
give up land. There's only so much of it in
the world, after all, But to be more to it, I.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Think it has a lot to do with what the
US got in addition to copious mounds of bird poop.
When a nation claims territory, it doesn't just get the
land itself. It gains possession of surrounding waters for miles
and miles in all directions. That means cart blanc access
to fishing and undersea minerals and shipping lanes.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Well, not to mention the opportunity for tourism. That's big
business for the territories today, one of the reasons they
feel so American in some ways, even though their official
status is a little shaky.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, that was one of the things that jumped out
to me while reading Doug Max's book. A few of
the US territories are total tourist magnets, but it isn't
always the people you'd expect to be visiting. Like take
the Virgin Islands, for example. Unlike the Guano Rich Islands,
the US bought these from Denmark in the early nineteenth century. Today,
Danes flocked to the US Virgin Islands to get a
taste of their country's colonial history. In fact, there's a
(21:49):
weird dichotomy on the islands in that Danish tourists largely
visit for the historical attractions like museums and tours of
old forts, while American tourists visit mainly for the beach
and the duty free shopping.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Well, we have established that Americans love shopping, but it's
a little sad to hear Americans mostly think of the
territories as beachfront.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Mall right, And in some cases they're not so much
shopping destinations for Americans as they are for international tourists
who want to feel American.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
You're thinking of Guam, I'm guessing exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Aside for the local population, Guam is almost entirely made
up both navy and air force personnel and an endless
stream of tourists from Russia, China, Japan, even Korea, And
for the sake of survival, the people from Guam have
really had to cater to this foreign crowd. There's this
great part in Doug Max's book where he describes visiting
Guam and running across an outback steakhouse, and it's just
(22:39):
this really surreal moment where he's outside the States looking
at this Australian themed US chain restaurant with a big
glowing sign that reads America's favorite steakhouse in Japanese.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
It was for the steakhouse which are in Japanese.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
That's fair.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
That reminds me of how perhaps Blue Ribbon was rebranded
in China for luxury markets and sold for like eighty
dollars a bottle because not only was it American, but
it won a Blue Ribbon.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
And yet ziem a gold can't get any international love
despite having that gold in the title.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
I'm not sure that's what the gold stood for. But
of all the territories, Guam really stands out for catering
to a particular breed of tourists, those who want to
experience all the cliche excess of US culture without actually
visiting the States. And I mean it sounds like those
visitors get exactly what they're after. Just listen to Doug's
description of one of Guam's shopping districts. If you're so inclined,
(23:29):
in the course of a single afternoon, you can rent
a canary yellow Chevy Mustang or a Harley Davidson, dress
up like a cowboy and fire machine gun at wild
West Frontier Village, eat a berger at the Root sixty
six Pub and Club, by a bulk sized bag of
your favorite beef jerkey from the dedicated section at the
souvenir shop and pose with the Statue of Liberty with
(23:50):
a baseball field in the background, before ending the day
with a Las Vegas style magic show replete with white
tigers and dancing showgirls with feathery head dresses.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
It just makes me feel patriotic.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah, that really does sound like America, or maybe just Vegas.
But the territories do have places that are purposefully set
up to feel like mainland America. But what about the
people who lived there? I know that, with some exceptions,
they are American citizens, but do they seem like Americans right?
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Well, we know they got the shopping thing down pat
but maybe we should also take a look at the
aspects of history and culture that we talked about earlier.
I think those will really be deciding factors for what
territories can be considered places that truly feel American.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
But before we get into that, let's break for a quiz.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
So, our guest today is the author of this terrific
book we're discussing the not Quite States of America. After
realizing just how little he knew about the United States territories,
he set off on a globe hopping quest covering more
than thirty thousand miles to see them all, and he's
here for us to ask him questions about every single
one of those miles.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Doug Mack, Welcome to Part time Genius.
Speaker 7 (25:00):
Hi, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
So, Doug, tell us.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
How this book idea came about and how long it
took to make it happen. I mean, thirty thousand miles
is no short track to see all of these places.
Speaker 7 (25:10):
No, it's certainly not.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
So.
Speaker 7 (25:13):
I have a degree, a bachelor's degree in American studies,
but in four years of study, we never even once
talked about the US territories. And then we talked about
history and politics and literature and all this stuff about
the states, so specifically right, And then just a few
years ago, I was with my wife on a Saturday
(25:35):
morning and she collects all the state quarters and she
was putting a new quarter in her portfolio and she
kind of said, late, look, you know there are these
the quarter for the territories, and went, right, we have territories,
which is kind of the response I get to every
from everyone when I say wrote book with territories. It's oh, right, territories,
that's the thing. And so that sort of sparked this idea, thought,
(25:58):
you know this, this is supposed to be my area
of espertise, right, but of American studies all this history,
and did a little googling, thought, you know this is
these are really interesting places. I should go see them myself.
And no one had really written this book before, which
is another thing that you were about as a writers.
Has anyone already written this? And it turns out the
(26:19):
answer is no?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
And so was was your travel to any one of
these places more surprising than others?
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (26:24):
So all of the territories have a really interesting combination
of what we would think of as sort of like
familiar American culture and then and then their own region, right.
So like the US Virgin Islands. One of the very
first things that I saw as we're driving in from
the airport was there's a big baseball stadium with a
(26:45):
big poster saying there's going to be some major league
stars appearing in a couple of weeks. You know, you
kind of expect that as in part of the USA.
But then a couple of blocks away was a big
cricket ground. And the US Origin Islands are part of
the West Indies cricket team, which is one of the
most successful cricket teams in the world, and so you
don't think of any part of the USA as being,
(27:07):
you know, a cricket hotbed, much less being both a
popular spot for baseball and for cricket. And so there
are a lot of things like that across the territories,
where you know, there is something familiar and then something
completely Differently.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
Now you write a little bit about, you know, their
thinking and the various territories on the possibility of statehood,
but in general, were you surprised at the feelings from
place to place on the idea of achieving statehood?
Speaker 4 (27:35):
Yeah, well I was.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
I was surprised by sort of the level of complexity
on that because there's no current dried answer, right, so,
and it varies from place to place. You know, Puerto
Rico certainly has has the biggest debate that a lot
of people who were very strongly in favor of becoming
independent nation they want nothing to do with the USA.
(27:57):
Plenty of other people want to become a state, and
you know, certainly they have the population and then everything
that you know, they would fit right in. I think
they would be about twenty ninth or so population wise.
So yeah, it's it's it's really complicated, and it's all
it's always changing as well. So for example, Guam right
now has an independence moving movement that's starting to get
(28:18):
to pick up some seam. But again, even there you
still have some people who want to keep things the same.
You have some people who want state hits. So there's
there's not really an easy answer there.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Yeah, Now, which of these territories would you say, if
you had to pick one to say is the most American?
Speaker 1 (28:33):
What would you say?
Speaker 7 (28:34):
Possibly Guam They have the world's largest kmart is on Gwam.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (28:41):
I took a tour the island with with a military
Veterans motorcycle club and they have amazing barbecue that's that's
very much their own, their own thing, with a particular
marinade that's that's kind of unique to to the Mariana Islands.
And Guam and gum Manum just really felt familiar in
(29:04):
American to me, but also like it had some of
these cultural differences that I don't get certainly where I
live in Minneapolis, but that too felt very American, right
that there are all these different people and traditions contributing
to this broader story of the USA.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
All right, Well, Menga, what game are we playing with
Doug today?
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Because Doug wrote the Not Quite States of America, we're
saddling him with a game called the not Quite Brilliant Quiz.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
All right, So we've scoured newspapers and media headlines for
the phrase not quite something, and we want you to
fill in the blank. But to help you out, we'll
give you a rhyming clue as well. This is one
of more and more complicated games. So no pressure, right, yeah,
no pressure at all. But are you Are you ready
to play?
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Doug?
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I think so?
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Okay, here we go. All right, so question number one.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
I'll give you the clue first, The answer rhymes with
an abbreviation for corporation. The answer rhymes with an abbreviation
for corporation.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
All right.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
In an Atlanta Journal Constitution story headlined speeding man had
alien doll passenger, the driver clocked in at eighty four
miles per hour or not quite blank speed.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
Warp.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Yes, morph rhymes yes one for one.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Clue for number two.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
This answer rhymes with the title of a Monty Python
Broadway musical.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Okay, the question is.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
The New Yorker titled a movie about a Jackie O
wanna be not quite blank?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Oh came, that's rights right, camelot right, yeah, and it
rhymes with spam a lot.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Well done? Two for two, all right, question number three,
there's two left. Here we go.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
The clue is This answer rhymes with how you describe
a monkey named George In a city am car review,
the paper called a new automobile fast but not quite blank.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
Curios.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Yay, curious.
Speaker 7 (31:09):
I'll thank my toddler daughter and her book collection.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
That one.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
All right, Last one here, This answer rhymes with spam gurgler,
which isn't a.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Word that makes sense. Okay.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
The question is a New Jersey radio station referred to
a man who tried to rob a Burger King as
not quite blank.
Speaker 7 (31:32):
It's probably not Ronald McDonald. That would be the hamburgler.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Yes, well done, all right, So how do Doug you mango?
Speaker 2 (31:40):
So Doug win incredible four for four, which wins our
hard earned admiration, which is also known as our number
one best not quite prized.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
All right, congratulations Doug, and thanks so much for being
on part time genius. I hope all of you will
check out not quite states dot com to find out
about Doug's book tour on August first, he'll be in
New York. August second, he'll be in Boston. But you
can see on the website for his other stops. Safe travels, Doug,
and thanks a lot for writing a great book.
Speaker 7 (32:06):
Yeah, thanks for having me appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
So we were talking about all the things that make
the not quite states of America feel like the real thing.
So what's the scoop on the local Well, I think
one of the main similarities to people's stateside is that
people in the territories have this really strong sense of
sharing the load.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
There are these really tightly knit communities of families and
friends that look out for one another despite having to
constantly compete for resources. In some cases, this is especially
true of American Samoa, which is one of the less developed,
not as touristy territories.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Yeah, American Samoa is an interesting case and is the
only inhabited territory that's neither incorporated nor organized. It's actually
the least American territory in a legal sense. But on
the other hand, the locals have a culture that closely
mirrors part of the mainland lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
What do you think about Well, for one thing.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
American Samoans love football, and they're really good at it too.
American football, of course, so Christian missionaries introduced the locals
to rugby a long time ago. So when American television
brought the NFL to the region, many players made the
switch from a European pastime to a more American one.
In fact, there were twenty eight NFL players of American
Samoan descent at the start of the twenty fifteen twenty
(33:27):
sixteen season. They've really taken to it.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
That's awesome. I've also heard their avid web surfers because
the internet speeds are crazy fast. They're like faster than
they are here on the mainland. Oh and another really
telling fact about American Samoa is its military enlistment rate.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
It is pretty high, isn't it the highest?
Speaker 2 (33:43):
I mean, American Samoa has the greatest enlistment rate and
casualty rate of any US territory or state.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Wow, that is incredible.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
And the craziest part is that the American Samoans are
only considered American nationals, not full citizens. So they are
fighting and all too often dying for a country that
doesn't even recognize them as its citizens. Which is kind
of heartbreaking.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Yeah, that is heartbreaking, especially when you consider how strong
the sense of patriotism is there, like apart from a
shared love of football and fast food. By the way,
there are two McDonald's on the island. The people that
really take pride in being American. But what's the difference
between being a national and a citizen.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
It's confusing. So I'm going to quote Columbia law professor
Christina Duffy Ponza here. Congress originally refused to give the
inhabitants of the new territories citizenship, but the court decided
that they weren't quite foreigners either. Eventually, the State Department
came up with the labeled nationals, and while simons chose
to stay nationals at some point to protect their cultural identity,
(34:40):
it also meant they can't get civil service jobs in
the US, or vote here, or help their families immigrate,
even if they've served in the military. But on the
other hand, clearly there's a sense of shared history in
the territories that makes them feel more connected, unlike somewhere
like Canada or Australia, which have broad similarities to US
and a bit of over the territories are active parts
(35:02):
of American history. They were the sites of some key
battles in many of our wars, including Sipan in the
Northern Mariana Islands, which was the bloodiest twentieth century battleground
anywhere in the US, and today they still serve as
strategic outposts for the military, helping as monitor potential threats
from overseas well.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
That's a great point. So mainland Americans have a tendency
to overlook their connection to the territories, but the people
who live there could never be accused of ignoring American identity.
I mean, with few exceptions, there isn't even a major
push for independence or autonomy within the territories.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Most seem perfectly content, proud even to maintain their connection
to the US, even if it hasn't treated them completely
fairly in the past.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
That's right. Puerto Rico definitely stands the best chance of
achieving statehood and seems the most eager to do so,
but even that's uncertain and not likely to happen anytime soon.
There are few factors on its side, though, specifically the
population and the sheer size of its land mass. It's
much bigger than the other territories, and it's actually larger
than Delaware and Rhode Island as well. It's also home
(35:59):
to over three point five million people, which is ten
times the population of all the other territories put together.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
Yeah, and the size alone helps lend an American feel
to Puerto Rico. Like we mentioned earlier, the mainland US
is big, which gives it a lot of diversity in
terms of climate and geography. Puerto Rico is the only
territory that's big enough to have entire sections that look
and feel completely differently from one another, complete with their
own local vibes and cultural quirk.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
That definitely helps Puerto Rico feel more American. And while
I hate to steer us back to shopping, I really
want to mention that Puerto Rico is home to just
about every American brand you can think of, including Macaroni, Grill, Costco,
Sam's Club, cheesecake factory. They even have the first Macy's
department store outside the Connello US. Wow.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
So another taste of the American experience for tourists, right.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Well, that's the thing. Doug Max suggests that unlike Guam
or some of the other more crossly commercial parts of
the territories. Puerto Rico feels extra American because those are
the locals tastes, not the tourists.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Oh that is interesting.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
I know.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
It tells us that the reason Puerto Rico is home
to the highest concentration of walmarts in the world is
not because it's trying to appeal to outsiders with American tastes.
It's because they're trying to peel to Americans, or in
other words, to themselves. I like that.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
Still the most American places in the world, so those
are in America?
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Is that the cheating, Well, it's something we could all
probably stand to remember more often until we can easily
rattle off the territories and their capitals like we do
for states. I'm gonna have to give us a pass.
But one case where cheating is never tolerated, the part
time genius backed off. What do you say, will all right?
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Bring it on? So.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese sergeant during World War two, was
stationed in Guam when the war ended. The only problem
he didn't know the war ended and hidden the Jungles
for nearly twenty eight years. He survived on a diet
of frogs, rats, and other small animals. So what happened
when he was finally found by a couple of unters
in nineteen seventy two. He was allowed to return to
Japan and live out the rest of his life as
(38:04):
a celebrity.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
So what are some of the most American places in
the States? Going by name alone, there are quite a
few cities worthy of the title, including three named Independents,
two named Freedom, and a whopping nine named Liberty, not
to mention the ones that crib directly from the country's names,
such as American Fork, Utah, American Falls City, Idaho, and
American Canyon, California.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Do you know? In twenty thirteen, Samoa Era started a
very un American policy where they started charging people airfare
based on their weight.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Oh wow, well.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Their weight and their luggages. Wait. And when people were
furious about it, they just countered, well, you'll pay less
for your kids.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
So, according to Thrillist, in the mcguau neighborhood of Tokyo,
aspiring Japanese cowpokes and stetson and wranglers, Line danced to
the sound of Brad Paisley at the Little Texas Honky
tonk Bar.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
You know what a sucker I am for wranglers and
Honky tonk Bar, I know you are, so I hate
to say it, but I've got to give it to
you for this episode.
Speaker 3 (39:01):
Well, I'm thrilled to have won this week, but I
don't have to be the only one. Listeners, Remember to
send your submissions for our Territories Mnemonic contest. There are
big prizes on the line. And that's it for today's
episode of Part Time Genius. Thanks so much for listening,
(39:32):
Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius is a production
of how stuff works and wouldn't be possible without several
brilliant people who do the important things we couldn't even
begin to understand.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Christan McNeil does the editing thing.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
Noel Brown made the theme song and does the mixy
mixy sound thing.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Jerry Roland does the exact producer thing.
Speaker 3 (39:48):
Gabe Bluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the
Research Army including.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eves.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.
Speaker 4 (40:01):
Six d
Guess what mango?
Speaker 2 (00:00):
What's that? Will?
Speaker 3 (00:01):
So I was looking up little American influences around the world,
you know, like how in Japan a hot dog is
called a Hota dog ou, but a corn dog is
called an American dog oo.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I love that. What else you got?
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Potlucks are called American parties in the Netherlands, and one
of my favorites, brass knuckles, are referred to as an
American fist from France. But the thing I wanted to
tell you about was this little town in Brazil called Americana.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
So basically, when the.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Confederacy lost the Civil War, about twenty thousand Confederates fled
to Brazil, where they established two colonies. There was New
Texas and Americana. But what's crazy is that it still
has this touch of America there. You can spot rocking
chairs on porches, families still speak English with a Southern drawl,
and they still make sweet potato pots. This has all
(00:46):
been passed down since the eighteen sixties.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
That is crazy.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah, But it got me wondering, if we ever decided
to leave America, what's the most non American American place
out there? Is it another country? Is it a US
territory and what is it that makes America America? I mean,
other than corn dogs, of course, let's dive in. Hey,
(01:26):
their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will
Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good friend
Mangesh how Ticketter, and today we're talking about the most
American places in the world, at least ones that just
so happen to be located outside the US.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
That's right. We're gonna look at some foreign places that,
for one reason or another, have a very distinct American feel.
And we're also going to explore a few offshore territories
to see which parts of the States have rubbed off
on them and to help make.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Sense of these somewhat mysterious locales. Will be talking with
Doug Mack, author of the book The Not Quite States
of America Now. Doug spend a year touring the US
territories and came away with all kinds of amazing information
about the parts of our own country that many of
us tend to forget even exist.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I'm super excited to talk to him and for our
quiest today, we've also got a couple of part time
Geniuses calling in from Washington, d C. We're gonna hear
their thoughts on living in a city that's got quite
a chip on his shoulder thanks to its not quite status.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, DC residents are not shy about their frustration with
the federal District's lack of statehood. I mean, for almost
twenty years now, the motto on their license plates has
been taxation without representation. Compare that to what most states
put on their plates, and you'll get a sense of
how heavily the whole not a state thing weighs on them.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I know. Most states use the space to brag about
their accomplishments, like Ohio's plate Tatsa as the birthplace of aviation,
and Utah uses the plate to boast that they have
the greatest snow on earth.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
How did Utah determine that it has the best snow
in the world. That seems pretty subjective. I mean, who's
to say theirs is the greatest?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I know, it's funny because states get away with ridiculous
statements like that all the time, like Virginia's for lovers.
Come on, now, it.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Was a very scientific study, and it's the same with Utah.
Fact checkers have shown that it isn't the driest or
the fluffiest or the most abundant snow, but they called
their unique mixture of snow the best.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
On earth, the unique mixture.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
When you try to think of a country that's most
like the United States, what comes to mind first?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Oh, it's got to be our neighbor to the north.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Right exactly, or at least in theory.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
I mean, Canada is likely the place the average American
would say they'd feel most at home. And that's partly
because most Americans have a really positive view of Canada.
So last September, a poll from NBC and The Wall
Street Journal showed that seventy five percent of American surveyed
viewed Canada favorably. Well, only three percent had a negative
view of Canada. And by the way, those were the
(03:40):
highest ratings in the poll. People liked Canada more than
any other person or entity they were asked about.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
That's pretty incredible. But I mean, I don't know who
those three percent are, because I can't imagine anyone actively
disliking Canada me either. Everyone knows they're pretty much like
the nicest people on earth, plus their land of great comedy,
like Lorne Michaels, Samantha bead kids in the.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Hall, that's right.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
I was going to say kids in the hall mainly
just kids in the hall, right, So what's not to like?
But you know what's funny, Remember how much love Canada
got the night of the twenty sixteen election. Sure, as
the votes were tallied, there were all these reports about
Canada's immigration site crashing due to a stampede of less
than enthused Americans. But what's interesting is that it wasn't
just a twenty sixteen phenomenon. Every election year, thousands of
(04:24):
Americans on both sides of the out threatened to jump
ship to Canada should the quote wrong Canada win.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, Well, the underlining thought is clearly that even if
life in Canada isn't the same as life in the US,
it's close enough.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, Hopping the border to Canada is apparently the plan
B for lots of Americans, or at least they pretend
it is. It's kind of a if things go south,
I'll go north mentality. But the reality is it's a
whole lot harder to immigrate to Canada than most people think.
Even if you have a job in Canada, even if
you're married to a Canadian, becoming a citizen can be
time consuming and requires a crazy amount of paperwork. But
(04:58):
even setting aside the difficulty of becoming a citizen, there's
still the question of whether living in Canada would really
feel comparable to life here in the States. Is Canada
all that American?
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Really?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I mean, don't get me wrong, there's a great deal
of crossover, but it's hardly a.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
One to one.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, Canadian culture isn't too far from what we find stateside,
and the food, for the most part, isn't that exotic,
though they do have stuff like proutine flavored potato chips
and camel meat apparently.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah, I don't think that sounds very American.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Because we share the same continent, our economies and environmental
concerns are intertwined. But yet there would definitely be some
growing pains involved for American transplants. For example, According to
Canadian Business, buying stuff online is much more of a
challenge in Canada than it is in the US.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
I like that you go straight to shopping as the
litmus tests for whether a place feels truly American. But okay,
what makes e commerce worse in Canada is that the
spotty Wi.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Fi not exactly in fact, Canadians are more likely to
have access to the Internet than residents of any other
G twenty nation, and that includes the US. Canadian citizens
have long since embraced the digital age, but Canadian businesses
are a totally different story. Fewer than half of all
Canadian companies have websites, much less the ability to sell
their products online.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Well, that would.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Definitely be a rude awakening for many Americans, and I
think the weather in Canada would be an even ruder one.
I don't want to blow your mind here, Mango, but
it gets pretty chilly in Canada.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, that's a good point. There are parts of the
US that experience some freezing cold winters, but that's true
of all of Canada. In fact, Canada vies with Russia
for the title of coldest country in the world. Oh wow,
The average daily annual temperature in the Great White North
a bomby twenty two degrees fahrenheit.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Iike's just thinking about that makes me want to reach
for the thermostat. So but I'm glad we're touching on climate.
That's one of the major points of departure you're going
to run into with any stand in for the States.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, our location in the sheer size of the continental
US allows for a lot of diversity in terms of
geography and climate. That's an aspect of life in America
that's tough for a lot of regions to match, even
if they do have same data delivery from Amazon. But
I think the biggest obstacle in trying to find another
country that feels American is the history itself.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
What do you mean by that, Well, a.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Country's history and the sense that it's shared by the
people who live there. That's a large part of what
makes a place feel like home. Countries like Canada and
Australia have similar histories of European colonization to that of
the US. That's maybe part of the reason they feel
more American. Does Still, all the specifics of those histories
and the cultures they spurred are very different, and it's
(07:23):
those kind of details that really seem to help us
identify ourselves as Americans.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Yeah, that sounds right to me. I mean, imagine in
America where the people didn't feel a swell of pride
when they spotted the Statue of Liberty, or feel a
twinge of childhood nostalgia when they heard notes from Yankee
Doodle could you ever really say a place like that
felt American? Well, plenty of people wouldn't be so lofty
and describing what makes America America. I mean, it's not
for nothing that we have the largest economy in the world.
(07:49):
Americans like to spend money, and we have tons of
options for where to spend it. See, it all comes
back to shopping. It really isn'tes capable. I mean, look
at fast food, for better or worse. It's become synonymous
with American culture. So any stand in country worth its
salt would have its fair share of golden arches. Now,
it's no surprise that the US leads and the total
number of McDonald's restaurants at about fourteen thousand, but there
(08:12):
are a few countries that are gaining ground. China, for instance,
has around two thousand McDonald's, in Japan nearly three thousand.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Whoa, they're really catching off.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
In fact, US sales now only account for about thirty
one percent of McDonald's total revenues, according to Investipedia. The
rest comes from countries that are fast adapting to American taste.
And it's not just burgers. The KFC chain has become
ubiquitous in Asian markets.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, I get that. I mean KFC has been steadily
expanding in both Japan and China for the past decade.
China has even overtaken the US for a number of
total KFCs, more than forty five hundred.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Oh wow, So as Kentucky Fried Chicken more Chinese than America.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Now, well, it's actually more Japanese.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Oh really, how's that for one thing?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
KFC's mascot, Colonel Sanders, is hugely popular in Japan. He's
emphasized in all the marketing, the employee uniforms, even in
his trademark bulow tie. They even have a Colonel mascot
costume with a big Emoji style head for the customers
to take selfies with.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
It's a little bit creepy. I mean, he was also
the founder, right, a real person. It's sort of like
if Disneyland had employees wearing big Walt Disney mask prowling
the park instead of Mickey Mouse.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Thankfully, that's something even the international Disney parks have avoided doing.
But it does get me thinking, could Disney theme parks
be some of the most American places in the world.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Well, you might be onto something there. Last year, Branding
magazine pulled nearly five thousand people between sixteen and sixty five.
They asked him to evaluate the patriotism of two hundred
and forty eight US brands.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Any idea who was at the top of the list.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
I'm gonna go on a limb here and say, uh, Disney.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
In fact, ninety eight percent associated the Disney brand with
US patriotism.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yeah, a study, exposure to American brands in entertainment has
gone a long way toward making other parts of the
world feel a little more American, for better or for worse.
In fact, that's even true of our own offshore territories,
which are their own unique mixes of island native and
modern American col Very true.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
But before we get into the strange, not at all
straightforward world of US territories, what do you say we
check in with our DC residents for an all American quiz?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Let's do it.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
So, who do we have on the line today? Mango?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
We have Drake and Don who are both DC residents
and in a strange coincidence, both of them have traveled
to nearly all fifty states.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Oh wow, yeah, So let's start with you. Will, You've
been to forty nine states, Is that right?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
That's right?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
So which one is missing on the list?
Speaker 4 (10:32):
I have not been to North Dakota yet.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
To North Dakota, it's going to say Hawaii or Alaska.
So what do you have against North Dakota.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Well, if you think about everything that's cool to visit
in the Dakota's whether it's Rushmore or Deadwood or Rapid City,
that's all South Dakota.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Man, all of our North Dakota listeners are going to
be so angry after hearing this. This could get out definitely.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Well yeah, yeah, alright, Well that's still pretty impressive. And
don I think you've been to what is it forty.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
Eight I've been to forty eight states?
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Yes, all right?
Speaker 1 (11:06):
And what's missing on your list?
Speaker 5 (11:08):
So what's missing is Wyoming and Alaska. But so as
somebody that has visited North Dakota, you haven't lived until
you've had dinner in Bismark.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Some bulled words, I like that.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Well, actually, Drake, you're also in the process of striking
off another list, and that is visiting every Major League
baseball park in America. Now, how many of you hit
at this point?
Speaker 4 (11:32):
As of a few days ago twenty six wow.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Okay, all right, twenty six out of how many are there?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Thirty?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Okay, okay, well done. All right, well let's get to it.
We've got two DC residents here to play a game.
And what's the game called Mango?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
It's a little quiz called DC or not DC?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
All right, So we'll read a statement about Washington DC,
and if you think it's true, you'll say d C.
If you think it's false, you'll say not DC. Not
that confusing, all right, So you'll be working as a team.
We thought DC residents need to stick together and all
of their anger over not being a state, So we're
gonna let you collaborate, you guys. Ready, I good, Ready,
all right, let's do it. Question number one, It wasn't
(12:12):
until nineteen sixty one that DC residents got the right
to vote in presidential elections DC or not DC.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
I'm not sure the date, but that sounds right. What
do you think done?
Speaker 5 (12:24):
I don't know why it would have been nineteen sixty
I'm gonna go not DC. Actually, I think I think
we've been able to vote presidential longer.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
I'm gonna deffer.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
He's deferring, such a gentleman, but unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
It is d C. The twenty third Amendment gave them
the right. Yeah, and they first exercised that right in
the nineteen sixty four elections.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
So don was actually thinking along the right lines of
like why would it be nineteen sixty one when it
wasn't exercised until sixty four. So I think we should
give him half a point for like putting that reasoning together.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
So let's let's do that.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
So just like DC's have to state that's.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Right, all right, not even all right? Question number two.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Underneath d C, there's a semi secret metro line that
runs congressmen and staffers between the office buildings. That is true,
all right, absolutely, yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
What's it called.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
It's called a Capital Subway system, and it makes over
two hundred runs a day.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Oh wow, okay, all right, so they have one and
a half points so far. Let's see what happens next.
Question number three. When Nixon accepted the gift of two
pandas to DC's national Zoo, he returned the favor by
sending them a pair of RCA speakers and a collection
of Danny k records.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
D C or not DC, it's just dumb enough that
it might be true.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
I don't know, you think that sounds like that sounds
like a tacky, tacky American thing to do.
Speaker 6 (13:45):
Who is it, Danny K?
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah? Is that not the jam you were listening to
before you call it?
Speaker 5 (13:53):
I just turned off the eight tracks.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
I'm gonna go DC.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah, it's actually not d C. Nixon actually sent them
a gift that was way tack here a pair of
Muskoks named Milton and Matilda, and according to the New
York Times, they weren't exactly quality cattle. Milton in particular
was complaining of post nasal drip, a cough, and his
hair seemed to be falling out on arrival.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
What a sweet gift. God, Okay, all right, I sense
the stormback. They've got three questions left, all right? Question
number four. While Washington, d C. Isn't a state, it
does have a listed state flower, the American Beauty Rose
DC or not DC.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
You know what it sounds to me like, it's probably right?
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Yeah, you're right, d Here we go, two questions left.
The first show, Viz Pizza, opened in Washington, d C.
In nineteen eighty. Vice President George Bush joins Spain's ambassador
to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony DC or
not DC?
Speaker 4 (14:51):
Where does this stuff come from history books or not?
There's no way that's true.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
I think Don should probably agree with you.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Let's see correct, all right? To finish up strong for
the big prize, here we go Question number six. Spiked
dog collars were invented in Washington, d C. By famed
dog breeder Gareth Winchester to make his Bassett hounds look
more intimidating. DC or not DC.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I'm going I'm going correct.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Who is Gareth Winchester?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
We don't know who Gareth Winter? Say that name up?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Well, okay, so how have these guys done?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Our contestants got a stunning four point five out of five.
So not only will they get the note to their
mom or boss from us singing their praises, but we're
also sending them a vintage Republican Congressional cookbook filled with
delicious American recipes fans of any political party can enjoy.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
So congratulations Don and Drake. Thanks for joining us on
Part Time Genius.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
Thank you guys.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
You're listening to Part Time Genius and we're talking about
the most American places in the world. So Mango, we've
been focusing on places that somehow feel American despite being
outside of the United States.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
But before the break, you've touched on the topic of
US territories.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Yeah, the territories are like these incredible scattered American gens
that are sadly overlooked by most of US. Puerto Rico
is the most famous by far of the five inhabited
US territories, the other four being the US Virgin Islands,
which is also in the Caribbean, plus American Samoa, Guam
and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific. They're also
about a dozen uninhabited islands that also technically count as
(16:45):
American soil.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
All right, so there are five of them. That is
not something I could have told you before. And I
feel like we need a way to commit them to memory.
And you know how much I like namonic device is mango.
Can we just take a minute to come up with
a good way to remember all five.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
That's a great idea, Okay, So we go by population
size from largest to smallest. That gives US Puerto Rico, Guam,
US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands pg
U A N.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I was kind of hoping it would make a word
by myself. All right, well let's think about this then.
How about let's see pg u a peguan.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
That's not a word, all right. Pancakes grow under.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
A nice tree, and nice tree is one word, by
the way, so don't call me out on that.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Pancakes grow under a nice tree. That's how you remember.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Oh that's good. Or maybe pickles get ugly after man.
I was gonna say knifing, but that's supposed the k
or gnawing, which starts to the G stupid silent letter.
How about pickles get ugly after negotiations? Negotiations, Yeah, negotiations
will wear anyone down. I was going to suggest neglect there, yeah, if,
(17:58):
But negotiation is just funny to picture and easier to remember.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
All right, good point.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Okay, I think we both nailed it, But we know
our listeners are smarter than we are.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
So let's make this a contest. Come up with a.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Better mnemonic for how to remember the five US territories,
and we'll award our favorite three with part Time Genius
t shirts. Just send your entries along with your mailing
address to part Time Genius at HowStuffWorks dot com, or
you can find us on Facebook or Twitter.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I can't wait to hear from them. Okay, back to
the territories.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Okay, we should note that we're following Doug Max's lead
on this by kind of broadly grouping them all together
as territories. But the logistics are a little more nuanced
than that.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Right. A territory can either be organized or unorganized, and
also incorporated or unincorporated. And then there are Puerto Rico
and the Northern Mariana Islands, which are officially commonwealth rather
than territories. It's all maybe a little too nuanced for
us to get into here.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
There are all these distinctions that are used to describe
the extent to which the Constitution and federal laws applies,
well as whether a place is fully considered.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Part of the US. It's actually kind of a big mess.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
You can really tell that the territories were acquired without
any solid long term plan for them. I mean, all
but nineteen of the current fifty states started out as
US territories, but that path to statehood has never seemed
like a serious option for places like Guam in the
Virgin Islands.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Right.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Which isn't to say that the US claimed than without
any rhyme or reason though.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yeah, why do we start grabbing up offshore of territories anyway?
I know America was young, scrappy, and hungry to borrow
a phrase from Hamilton, but we were looking for ways
to assert ourselves as a full blown empire in the
eyes of the rest of the world. But that seems,
I don't know, sort of impractical.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Well, we definitely did want that seat at the big
boy table, and expanding the country's boundaries certainly got us
closer to that goal. But there was actually a more
practical reason too, And you're gonna like this one, but
back in the early eighteen hundreds, our farming game wasn't
so strong yet.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Here in the States.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
We were producing tons and tons of tobacco and cotton,
but at the expense of the soil, which was fast
losing all of its nutrients.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Yeah, I guess George Washington Carver was still quite a
few years off, so crop rotation wouldn't have be in
vogue at the time.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Well, we were exhausting the soil, and since industrialization was
still a ways off, it was becoming a very big
problem for our fledgling economy. So what's a young growing
nation to do but start mining bird poop from the
barren islands off its shores.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Wait, that's why we have this territory, well many of them.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Yeah, these remote islands had been flyover spots for seabirds
for thousands of years. All those years of daily deposits
allowed for some pretty hefty build ups of utria rich fertilizer.
I'm not kidding, And that's what American farmers needed. So
Congress passed the Guano Islands Act in eighteen fifty six,
and we started calling DIBs on all the unclaimed islands
we could find.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
You're right, that is practical.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
And kind of gross.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Yeah, but it also doesn't explain why we've continued to
hold onto these territories.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
I mean, we aren't.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Exactly hard up for fertilizer anymore, and my friends in
the guano mining industry telling me the work has dropped
off significantly over the past two hundred years or so.
I get that nations aren't chomping at the bit to
give up land. There's only so much of it in
the world, after all, But to be more to it, I.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Think it has a lot to do with what the
US got in addition to copious mounds of bird poop.
When a nation claims territory, it doesn't just get the
land itself. It gains possession of surrounding waters for miles
and miles in all directions. That means cart blanc access
to fishing and undersea minerals and shipping lanes.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Well, not to mention the opportunity for tourism. That's big
business for the territories today, one of the reasons they
feel so American in some ways, even though their official
status is a little shaky.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, that was one of the things that jumped out
to me while reading Doug Max's book. A few of
the US territories are total tourist magnets, but it isn't
always the people you'd expect to be visiting. Like take
the Virgin Islands, for example. Unlike the Guano Rich Islands,
the US bought these from Denmark in the early nineteenth century. Today,
Danes flocked to the US Virgin Islands to get a
taste of their country's colonial history. In fact, there's a
(21:49):
weird dichotomy on the islands in that Danish tourists largely
visit for the historical attractions like museums and tours of
old forts, while American tourists visit mainly for the beach
and the duty free shopping.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Well, we have established that Americans love shopping, but it's
a little sad to hear Americans mostly think of the
territories as beachfront.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Mall right, And in some cases they're not so much
shopping destinations for Americans as they are for international tourists
who want to feel American.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
You're thinking of Guam, I'm guessing exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Aside for the local population, Guam is almost entirely made
up both navy and air force personnel and an endless
stream of tourists from Russia, China, Japan, even Korea, And
for the sake of survival, the people from Guam have
really had to cater to this foreign crowd. There's this
great part in Doug Max's book where he describes visiting
Guam and running across an outback steakhouse, and it's just
(22:39):
this really surreal moment where he's outside the States looking
at this Australian themed US chain restaurant with a big
glowing sign that reads America's favorite steakhouse in Japanese.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
It was for the steakhouse which are in Japanese.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
That's fair.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
That reminds me of how perhaps Blue Ribbon was rebranded
in China for luxury markets and sold for like eighty
dollars a bottle because not only was it American, but
it won a Blue Ribbon.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
And yet ziem a gold can't get any international love
despite having that gold in the title.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
I'm not sure that's what the gold stood for. But
of all the territories, Guam really stands out for catering
to a particular breed of tourists, those who want to
experience all the cliche excess of US culture without actually
visiting the States. And I mean it sounds like those
visitors get exactly what they're after. Just listen to Doug's
description of one of Guam's shopping districts. If you're so inclined,
(23:29):
in the course of a single afternoon, you can rent
a canary yellow Chevy Mustang or a Harley Davidson, dress
up like a cowboy and fire machine gun at wild
West Frontier Village, eat a berger at the Root sixty
six Pub and Club, by a bulk sized bag of
your favorite beef jerkey from the dedicated section at the
souvenir shop and pose with the Statue of Liberty with
(23:50):
a baseball field in the background, before ending the day
with a Las Vegas style magic show replete with white
tigers and dancing showgirls with feathery head dresses.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
It just makes me feel patriotic.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah, that really does sound like America, or maybe just Vegas.
But the territories do have places that are purposefully set
up to feel like mainland America. But what about the
people who lived there? I know that, with some exceptions,
they are American citizens, but do they seem like Americans right?
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Well, we know they got the shopping thing down pat
but maybe we should also take a look at the
aspects of history and culture that we talked about earlier.
I think those will really be deciding factors for what
territories can be considered places that truly feel American.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
But before we get into that, let's break for a quiz.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
So, our guest today is the author of this terrific
book we're discussing the not Quite States of America. After
realizing just how little he knew about the United States territories,
he set off on a globe hopping quest covering more
than thirty thousand miles to see them all, and he's
here for us to ask him questions about every single
one of those miles.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Doug Mack, Welcome to Part time Genius.
Speaker 7 (25:00):
Hi, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
So, Doug, tell us.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
How this book idea came about and how long it
took to make it happen. I mean, thirty thousand miles
is no short track to see all of these places.
Speaker 7 (25:10):
No, it's certainly not.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
So.
Speaker 7 (25:13):
I have a degree, a bachelor's degree in American studies,
but in four years of study, we never even once
talked about the US territories. And then we talked about
history and politics and literature and all this stuff about
the states, so specifically right, And then just a few
years ago, I was with my wife on a Saturday
(25:35):
morning and she collects all the state quarters and she
was putting a new quarter in her portfolio and she
kind of said, late, look, you know there are these
the quarter for the territories, and went, right, we have territories,
which is kind of the response I get to every
from everyone when I say wrote book with territories. It's oh, right, territories,
that's the thing. And so that sort of sparked this idea, thought,
(25:58):
you know this, this is supposed to be my area
of espertise, right, but of American studies all this history,
and did a little googling, thought, you know this is
these are really interesting places. I should go see them myself.
And no one had really written this book before, which
is another thing that you were about as a writers.
Has anyone already written this? And it turns out the
(26:19):
answer is no?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
And so was was your travel to any one of
these places more surprising than others?
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (26:24):
So all of the territories have a really interesting combination
of what we would think of as sort of like
familiar American culture and then and then their own region, right.
So like the US Virgin Islands. One of the very
first things that I saw as we're driving in from
the airport was there's a big baseball stadium with a
(26:45):
big poster saying there's going to be some major league
stars appearing in a couple of weeks. You know, you
kind of expect that as in part of the USA.
But then a couple of blocks away was a big
cricket ground. And the US Origin Islands are part of
the West Indies cricket team, which is one of the
most successful cricket teams in the world, and so you
don't think of any part of the USA as being,
(27:07):
you know, a cricket hotbed, much less being both a
popular spot for baseball and for cricket. And so there
are a lot of things like that across the territories,
where you know, there is something familiar and then something
completely Differently.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
Now you write a little bit about, you know, their
thinking and the various territories on the possibility of statehood,
but in general, were you surprised at the feelings from
place to place on the idea of achieving statehood?
Speaker 4 (27:35):
Yeah, well I was.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
I was surprised by sort of the level of complexity
on that because there's no current dried answer, right, so,
and it varies from place to place. You know, Puerto
Rico certainly has has the biggest debate that a lot
of people who were very strongly in favor of becoming
independent nation they want nothing to do with the USA.
(27:57):
Plenty of other people want to become a state, and
you know, certainly they have the population and then everything
that you know, they would fit right in. I think
they would be about twenty ninth or so population wise.
So yeah, it's it's it's really complicated, and it's all
it's always changing as well. So for example, Guam right
now has an independence moving movement that's starting to get
(28:18):
to pick up some seam. But again, even there you
still have some people who want to keep things the same.
You have some people who want state hits. So there's
there's not really an easy answer there.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Yeah, Now, which of these territories would you say, if
you had to pick one to say is the most American?
Speaker 1 (28:33):
What would you say?
Speaker 7 (28:34):
Possibly Guam They have the world's largest kmart is on Gwam.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (28:41):
I took a tour the island with with a military
Veterans motorcycle club and they have amazing barbecue that's that's
very much their own, their own thing, with a particular
marinade that's that's kind of unique to to the Mariana Islands.
And Guam and gum Manum just really felt familiar in
(29:04):
American to me, but also like it had some of
these cultural differences that I don't get certainly where I
live in Minneapolis, but that too felt very American, right
that there are all these different people and traditions contributing
to this broader story of the USA.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
All right, Well, Menga, what game are we playing with
Doug today?
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Because Doug wrote the Not Quite States of America, we're
saddling him with a game called the not Quite Brilliant Quiz.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
All right, So we've scoured newspapers and media headlines for
the phrase not quite something, and we want you to
fill in the blank. But to help you out, we'll
give you a rhyming clue as well. This is one
of more and more complicated games. So no pressure, right, yeah,
no pressure at all. But are you Are you ready
to play?
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Doug?
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I think so?
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Okay, here we go. All right, so question number one.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
I'll give you the clue first, The answer rhymes with
an abbreviation for corporation. The answer rhymes with an abbreviation
for corporation.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
All right.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
In an Atlanta Journal Constitution story headlined speeding man had
alien doll passenger, the driver clocked in at eighty four
miles per hour or not quite blank speed.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
Warp.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Yes, morph rhymes yes one for one.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Clue for number two.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
This answer rhymes with the title of a Monty Python
Broadway musical.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Okay, the question is.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
The New Yorker titled a movie about a Jackie O
wanna be not quite blank?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Oh came, that's rights right, camelot right, yeah, and it
rhymes with spam a lot.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Well done? Two for two, all right, question number three,
there's two left. Here we go.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
The clue is This answer rhymes with how you describe
a monkey named George In a city am car review,
the paper called a new automobile fast but not quite blank.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
Curios.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Yay, curious.
Speaker 7 (31:09):
I'll thank my toddler daughter and her book collection.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
That one.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
All right, Last one here, This answer rhymes with spam gurgler,
which isn't a.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Word that makes sense. Okay.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
The question is a New Jersey radio station referred to
a man who tried to rob a Burger King as
not quite blank.
Speaker 7 (31:32):
It's probably not Ronald McDonald. That would be the hamburgler.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Yes, well done, all right, So how do Doug you mango?
Speaker 2 (31:40):
So Doug win incredible four for four, which wins our
hard earned admiration, which is also known as our number
one best not quite prized.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
All right, congratulations Doug, and thanks so much for being
on part time genius. I hope all of you will
check out not quite states dot com to find out
about Doug's book tour on August first, he'll be in
New York. August second, he'll be in Boston. But you
can see on the website for his other stops. Safe travels, Doug,
and thanks a lot for writing a great book.
Speaker 7 (32:06):
Yeah, thanks for having me appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
So we were talking about all the things that make
the not quite states of America feel like the real thing.
So what's the scoop on the local Well, I think
one of the main similarities to people's stateside is that
people in the territories have this really strong sense of
sharing the load.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
There are these really tightly knit communities of families and
friends that look out for one another despite having to
constantly compete for resources. In some cases, this is especially
true of American Samoa, which is one of the less developed,
not as touristy territories.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Yeah, American Samoa is an interesting case and is the
only inhabited territory that's neither incorporated nor organized. It's actually
the least American territory in a legal sense. But on
the other hand, the locals have a culture that closely
mirrors part of the mainland lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
What do you think about Well, for one thing.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
American Samoans love football, and they're really good at it too.
American football, of course, so Christian missionaries introduced the locals
to rugby a long time ago. So when American television
brought the NFL to the region, many players made the
switch from a European pastime to a more American one.
In fact, there were twenty eight NFL players of American
Samoan descent at the start of the twenty fifteen twenty
(33:27):
sixteen season. They've really taken to it.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
That's awesome. I've also heard their avid web surfers because
the internet speeds are crazy fast. They're like faster than
they are here on the mainland. Oh and another really
telling fact about American Samoa is its military enlistment rate.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
It is pretty high, isn't it the highest?
Speaker 2 (33:43):
I mean, American Samoa has the greatest enlistment rate and
casualty rate of any US territory or state.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Wow, that is incredible.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
And the craziest part is that the American Samoans are
only considered American nationals, not full citizens. So they are
fighting and all too often dying for a country that
doesn't even recognize them as its citizens. Which is kind
of heartbreaking.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Yeah, that is heartbreaking, especially when you consider how strong
the sense of patriotism is there, like apart from a
shared love of football and fast food. By the way,
there are two McDonald's on the island. The people that
really take pride in being American. But what's the difference
between being a national and a citizen.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
It's confusing. So I'm going to quote Columbia law professor
Christina Duffy Ponza here. Congress originally refused to give the
inhabitants of the new territories citizenship, but the court decided
that they weren't quite foreigners either. Eventually, the State Department
came up with the labeled nationals, and while simons chose
to stay nationals at some point to protect their cultural identity,
(34:40):
it also meant they can't get civil service jobs in
the US, or vote here, or help their families immigrate,
even if they've served in the military. But on the
other hand, clearly there's a sense of shared history in
the territories that makes them feel more connected, unlike somewhere
like Canada or Australia, which have broad similarities to US
and a bit of over the territories are active parts
(35:02):
of American history. They were the sites of some key
battles in many of our wars, including Sipan in the
Northern Mariana Islands, which was the bloodiest twentieth century battleground
anywhere in the US, and today they still serve as
strategic outposts for the military, helping as monitor potential threats
from overseas well.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
That's a great point. So mainland Americans have a tendency
to overlook their connection to the territories, but the people
who live there could never be accused of ignoring American identity.
I mean, with few exceptions, there isn't even a major
push for independence or autonomy within the territories.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Most seem perfectly content, proud even to maintain their connection
to the US, even if it hasn't treated them completely
fairly in the past.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
That's right. Puerto Rico definitely stands the best chance of
achieving statehood and seems the most eager to do so,
but even that's uncertain and not likely to happen anytime soon.
There are few factors on its side, though, specifically the
population and the sheer size of its land mass. It's
much bigger than the other territories, and it's actually larger
than Delaware and Rhode Island as well. It's also home
(35:59):
to over three point five million people, which is ten
times the population of all the other territories put together.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
Yeah, and the size alone helps lend an American feel
to Puerto Rico. Like we mentioned earlier, the mainland US
is big, which gives it a lot of diversity in
terms of climate and geography. Puerto Rico is the only
territory that's big enough to have entire sections that look
and feel completely differently from one another, complete with their
own local vibes and cultural quirk.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
That definitely helps Puerto Rico feel more American. And while
I hate to steer us back to shopping, I really
want to mention that Puerto Rico is home to just
about every American brand you can think of, including Macaroni, Grill, Costco,
Sam's Club, cheesecake factory. They even have the first Macy's
department store outside the Connello US. Wow.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
So another taste of the American experience for tourists, right.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Well, that's the thing. Doug Max suggests that unlike Guam
or some of the other more crossly commercial parts of
the territories. Puerto Rico feels extra American because those are
the locals tastes, not the tourists.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Oh that is interesting.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
I know.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
It tells us that the reason Puerto Rico is home
to the highest concentration of walmarts in the world is
not because it's trying to appeal to outsiders with American tastes.
It's because they're trying to peel to Americans, or in
other words, to themselves. I like that.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
Still the most American places in the world, so those
are in America?
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Is that the cheating, Well, it's something we could all
probably stand to remember more often until we can easily
rattle off the territories and their capitals like we do
for states. I'm gonna have to give us a pass.
But one case where cheating is never tolerated, the part
time genius backed off. What do you say, will all right?
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Bring it on? So.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese sergeant during World War two, was
stationed in Guam when the war ended. The only problem
he didn't know the war ended and hidden the Jungles
for nearly twenty eight years. He survived on a diet
of frogs, rats, and other small animals. So what happened
when he was finally found by a couple of unters
in nineteen seventy two. He was allowed to return to
Japan and live out the rest of his life as
(38:04):
a celebrity.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
So what are some of the most American places in
the States? Going by name alone, there are quite a
few cities worthy of the title, including three named Independents,
two named Freedom, and a whopping nine named Liberty, not
to mention the ones that crib directly from the country's names,
such as American Fork, Utah, American Falls City, Idaho, and
American Canyon, California.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Do you know? In twenty thirteen, Samoa Era started a
very un American policy where they started charging people airfare
based on their weight.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Oh wow, well.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Their weight and their luggages. Wait. And when people were
furious about it, they just countered, well, you'll pay less
for your kids.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
So, according to Thrillist, in the mcguau neighborhood of Tokyo,
aspiring Japanese cowpokes and stetson and wranglers, Line danced to
the sound of Brad Paisley at the Little Texas Honky
tonk Bar.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
You know what a sucker I am for wranglers and
Honky tonk Bar, I know you are, so I hate
to say it, but I've got to give it to
you for this episode.
Speaker 3 (39:01):
Well, I'm thrilled to have won this week, but I
don't have to be the only one. Listeners, Remember to
send your submissions for our Territories Mnemonic contest. There are
big prizes on the line. And that's it for today's
episode of Part Time Genius. Thanks so much for listening,
(39:32):
Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius is a production
of how stuff works and wouldn't be possible without several
brilliant people who do the important things we couldn't even
begin to understand.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Christan McNeil does the editing thing.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
Noel Brown made the theme song and does the mixy
mixy sound thing.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Jerry Roland does the exact producer thing.
Speaker 3 (39:48):
Gabe Bluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the
Research Army including.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eves.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.
Speaker 4 (40:01):
Six d
Part-Time Genius News
Hosts And Creators
Will Pearson
Mangesh Hattikudur
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