{"id":2325,"date":"2009-01-30T08:55:31","date_gmt":"2009-01-30T13:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/?p=2325"},"modified":"2009-01-30T13:32:46","modified_gmt":"2009-01-30T18:32:46","slug":"put-down-your-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/?p=2325","title":{"rendered":"Put Down Your Weapons."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pop<\/a><\/p>\n

Trembling at the toxic and terrifying sight, above?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everybody knows what these two substances can do in combination with each other. That is, throw down a mouthful of Pop Rocks. Then, chase it with several gulps of soda. Wave goodbye to your family and your record collection, because your stomach is about to explode, killing you.<\/p>\n

Really?<\/p>\n

Andrea and Julia Ditkoff, 12 and 10, respectively, had a lot of questions like that one:<\/span><\/p>\n

Why do you get a headache when you eat ice cream too quickly?<\/span>
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

What’s that small, dewdrop-shaped thing in the back of your throat?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Why do people hiccup?<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

…not to mention the one that forms the title of their mother’s new book, Why Don’t Your Eyelashes Grow?: Curious Questions Kids Ask About the Human Body<\/em><\/a>, by Dr. Beth Ann Ditkoff.<\/p>\n

In fact, they came up with all the interrogatives Dr. Ditkoff uses in her text. She thought her daughters’ queries were, indeed, provocative, but commonplace. (That combining Pop Rocks and soda will kill you is a 30-year-old, urban myth<\/a>.) Other children, and other adults, would want to hear the answers.<\/p>\n

They will: Dr. Ditkoff is the guest today on my WBAI-NY \/ 99.5 FM radio show, NONFICTION, this afternoon, Friday, January 30, at 2 pm ET. We’ll be speaking with her, live, on the air, during the first half of the hour. Then, during the second half, we’ll take your calls over our master control studio line: (212) 209-2900.<\/p>\n

You can listen to this thoughtful writer \/ physician’s ideas by tuning in at 2 pm. If you’re outside of the New York tri-state, check out our stream<\/a> on the web. If you miss the live show, dig into our archives<\/a> for up to 90 days after broadcast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trembling at the toxic and terrifying sight, above? Everybody knows what these two substances can do in combination with each other. That is, throw down a mouthful of Pop Rocks. Then, chase it with several gulps of soda. Wave goodbye to your family and your record collection, because your stomach is about to explode, killing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[41,47,16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2325"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7471,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325\/revisions\/7471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}