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Jun 23 2015

How Landfills Work

41 min 5 movies discussed
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Well-planned landfills have only recently come into widespread use. Recently, waste managers have found that they work a little too well and now the landfill is being reinvented.

AI Summary

In this Stuff You Should Know episode, Josh and Chuck dive into the surprisingly complex world of landfills, exploring how modern waste management works from the inside out. They trace the evolution from the terrible "dump it in the ocean" days to today's sophisticated sanitary landfills, breaking down everything from bottom liners and leachate collection systems to methane harvesting and the newer "bioreactor" landfills that speed up decomposition. The hosts also tackle some fascinating tidbits, like sports stadiums built on old landfills and the emerging economics of interstate garbage trucking that's turning some states into trash magnets.


Movies Discussed

Hellraiser
Hellraiser
1987 1h 34m
★ 6.9
"you raised that one lady from Hellraiser from the dead — Made a joke about a mattress stain looking like it could summon the supernatural." — Josh
Hey Dude
Hey Dude
1989
★ 6.8
"stars of the cult classic show HeyDude — Mentioned as a jumping off point for a 90s nostalgia podcast featuring the show's stars."
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
★ 6.9
"like the Beverly Hillbillies thing, where Jed shot and missed that rabbit — Used to describe what leachate bubbling up from landfills looks like." — Chuck
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
1969
★ 6.7
"when Sam the butcher brought Alice the meat — Used as an example of how meat used to be wrapped in biodegradable paper rather than plastic." — Josh
The Flintstones
The Flintstones
1960
★ 7.4
"Fred Flintstone driving around with two feet — Referenced when discussing the Brady Bunch and old-fashioned ways of transporting things." — Chuck

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