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Guaranteed Human.

Welcome to part-time genius, the production of IHeart Radio.

Guess what, Mango?

What's that, Will?

All right, I know you love shopping malls, so I'm sure you've noticed these

people, but you know the people who like to exercise by walking back and forth through the mall?

Sure, mall walkers. It's like half the country's grandparents.

At least, and as you've mentioned, it's especially popular with senior citizens, but they're actually

not the only ones doing this. There was this 2015 report from the CDC that shows that shopping malls are now the second

most popular place to go for a walk just behind neighborhoods.

How weird is this?

It's weird, but why is the CDC doing reports on mall walking?

Well, this isn't a small report either.

It's actually 56 pages long, and I'm reading every word of it is just riveting. But to be fair, taking walks is a way to prevent certain diseases, and the CDC is actually the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. I bet you forgot that silent pee at the end of the CDC. There's one funny thing that I learned. It actually turns out that most mall walkers don't actually shop at the mall.

At most, they might buy a coffee at the food court or something like that.

But according to the CDC report, they really just want the camaraderie, you know, to spend

some time strolling and socializing.

And that actually puts mall walkers right in line with the original idea

for shopping malls. So the architect who designed the first mall in America, his name

is Victor Gruen, he actually envisioned the mall as a place to, quote, find opportunities

for social life and recreation in a protected pedestrian environment.

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