Why are high-quality clothes hangers, often made from cedar wood?

The answer to that at the end of the show.

My name is Tom Scott, and this is Lateral.

Welcome back to the show that finally provides the answers to the questions you never asked in the first place. On our panel today, returning after quite an incredible amount of teamwork last time,

we have three players who seem to have really got their eye in for this game. We start with

writer, presenter, mathematician, and writer of shortcuts maths. Katie Steckles, welcome back to the show.

Hello.

What I always ask at this point where we've got, I know quite a while before this show goes out

from recording, is what are you working on right now that is going to be out in a few months

time when this episode comes out?

Potentially, I've got a new book coming out with the Science Museum that's going to be

called 100 Ideas in 100 words. So I picked 100 things from maths, and between me and two other authors, we've each written 100 words summaries of things. It's really hard. It's not a lot of words. For a moment, I thought it was going to be one word per idea. A couple of people who said that, And I'm like, that is too few words. I can't do that.

Infinity. Terrifying.

Next up from her own channel, Sof's Notes, and from the seven deadly psychologists on BBC Radio 4. Sophie Ward, welcome back. Hi, Tom. Nice to be here. What are you working on at the minute? What's going to be out in a few months' time? Yeah, I'm trying to think this. I feel. I don't feel that far ahead. I'll have some videos on my

YouTube channel. I think there might be second series of mine and Simon's podcast called How to Make a Science video, but there'll be some stuff going on on my YouTube channel. We'll find out, see what happens. And the last one of our trio is from the Comedians, comedian's comedian podcast, comedian Stuart Goldsmith.

Hello, hello, it's lovely to be. And the last one of our trio is from the Comedians' Comedian podcast, comedian Stuart Goldsmith.

Hello, hello. It's lovely to be back. It's been so long.

It would be awkward if you weren't actually comedian on the Comedians' Comedian podcast.

I was trying to do an introduction that did not use the word three times. I could not find it.

That is the bane of my life. I have to do that to myself all the time. Because you're interviewing comedians. I thought it was funny if you say something three times. Is that not one of the rules? That is one of the rules. The third time has to be different. So technically, comedians, comedians, comedians, comedians, podcasts, fulfills the rule. It's just not a deliberate joke. Who are you interviewing then? Who's coming up in the next couple months as we record this? Well, by the time this comes out, people will be able to find like real kind of best in class interviews. It's the ones I'm really proud of with Josh Pugh, Leo Reich, Harriet Dyer, and Mouan Rizwan. Those are all safely on my hard drive at the moment. but by the time people hear this, they will be able to get to grips with what those people's creative process is and whether or not they're happy, and I'll sort of poke them until they admit they're not. That's a great selection. That's excellent. Thanks, mate. Thank you. Well, good luck to all three of you. To make things a little easier than usual. On today's show, we are going to make the questions multiple choice. I just choose the correct option from the

14 billion possibilities available, and I'll give you the points. Your first question is this.

This has been sent in by Redcray, thank you very much. Residents of a block of flats do something

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