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Decoder Ring

The Quest for a Homemade Hovercraft

Decoder Ring

Slate Podcasts

Documentary, History, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 August 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Slate’s Evan Chung was a kid, he was obsessed with a mysterious advertisement that ran for decades in the scouting magazine Boys’ Life. Under the enticing headline “You Can Float on Air,” the ad assured Evan—and generations of scouts—that a personal hovercraft could be theirs for just a few bucks. In this episode, the adult version of Evan journeys halfway across the country to wield power tools, summon his latent scouting skills, and conscript his father into a quest three decades in the making. Will Evan float on air? Scout’s honor: You’ll just have to listen. This episode was written by Evan Chung, who produced this episode with Decoder Ring’s Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. It was edited by Willa Paskin and Joel Meyer. Derek John is Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe and rate our feed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you’re a fan of the show and want to support us, consider signing up for Slate Plus. As a member, you’ll get to listen to Decoder Ring without any ads—and your support is crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, Tom Sharpling here, the host of the Best Show, and if you've never heard of the

0:06.0

Best Show before, everything you need to know is right there in the title.

0:10.4

Each week we put on the Best Live podcast you're ever going to hear, featuring live callers,

0:15.6

celebrity guests, music, plenty of surprises, who knows what's going to happen.

0:21.4

Last month alone we were joined by Conan O'Brien, Patricia Arquette, Jeff Tweety from Wilco,

0:27.5

Nathan Fielder, Sinan Archives, John Oliver, the list goes on and on.

0:32.3

So what are you waiting for?

0:34.0

Join us live every Tuesday night on Twitch at 6pm Pacific Time and find us the next day

0:39.3

on the Forever Dog podcast network and wherever you find podcasts.

0:54.8

Back in the 20th century, science fiction promised us all sorts of exciting technology,

0:59.6

like teleportation devices and jet packs and tractor beams.

1:03.7

But there's one device that's late senior producer Evan Chong dreamed about more than

1:08.2

all the others.

1:09.6

I always wanted a hovercraft.

1:13.3

When I say hovercraft, I don't mean something crazy, like a flying Jetsons car.

1:18.2

I'm talking about a personal vehicle that glides over the ground while levitating a perfectly

1:23.7

reasonable amount, like enough to avoid potholes but not disrupt the migratory patterns

1:29.1

of waterfowl.

1:30.5

I wanted something like Luke Skywalker's land speeder.

1:37.9

I know for me the quintessential hovercraft was in back to the future too, when Marty McFly

1:43.1

zips around on a levitating skateboard.

1:48.4

In the real world, people have been attempting to make vehicles like these for decades.

...

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