Yellow Pencils and Dead Phone Lines

The Box of Oddities

John Elliott and Kat Walls

Comedy, Society & Culture, True Crime

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why did Henry David Thoreau care so much about pencils—and why did some phone numbers keep ringing long after they were disconnected? In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro wander into two stories that shouldn’t be connected… but somehow are. First, we look at the surprising industrial legacy of Henry David Thoreau, long before Walden Pond. As a young man working in his family’s pencil business, Thoreau applied chemistry, precision, and quiet rebellion to fix America’s worst pencils—changing how graphite was processed, how pencils were graded, and why most pencils are still yellow today. It’s a story about innovation, independence, and how financial stability made room for deep thinking… and eventually, deliberate living. Then, the episode takes a darker turn. During the 1960s and 70s, people across the U.S. reported receiving phone calls from businesses that had been closed—sometimes for decades. Funeral homes. Pharmacies. Local shops. Callers insisted they had just spoken to someone on the line. Engineers found nothing. Phone companies found no active service. The FCC investigated. No explanation stuck. What emerged instead was something stranger: the idea of telecom afterimages—echoes of human habit lingering in old copper wire. Conversations without ghosts. Voices without intent. Systems that didn’t quite know how to forget. This episode explores how infrastructure remembers, how absence isn’t always clean, and why the most unsettling stories are often the quietest ones—ordinary conversations that shouldn’t exist, but somehow do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Listen up.
0:01.0	Huh? That means you.
0:02.0	Yes, you. We know you're pointing at yourself. When it comes to Paddy Power Games, we've got a place made for all sorts. From the experts to the Drama Queens. It's me, the JC. The finance bros. Look at those stocks, lads. We'll stick with slots. It's what we're good at. And not forgetting you. Yes, you, the one listening. Because at Paddy Power Games, we've got all sorts of games for all sorts of treacles. Eligibility rules in terms of conditions apply. Please gamble responsibly. 8 plus gamboloware.org. Life's full of big money decisions. Dividend versus growth stocks. Tapping home equity, even navigating tariffs. And for every smart tip out there,
0:38.5	there's another one that sounds smart but isn't. That's where NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast
0:43.0	comes in. I'm Sean Piles, a certified financial planner professional. And I'm Elizabeth Ayola.
0:48.2	On NerdWallet Smart Money podcast, our finance journalists do the homework so you can make confident
0:52.8	wealth building moves.
0:58.5	Whether you're building your portfolio or protecting it, we've got the facts and a little fun along the way. Follow NerdWallet Smart Money Podcasts on your favorite podcast app.
1:03.4	What follows may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.
1:08.8	The world is full of stories.
1:11.6	Stories of mysteries, of curiosities, of oddities.
1:20.6	Join Cat and Jethro Gilligan Toth for the strange, the bizarre, the unexpected, as they lift the lid and cautiously peer inside the box of oddities.
1:37.2	Okay, the puppies are in position, so I guess they're ready.
1:39.9	They're all curled up in their spots for the recording session.
1:43.5	Should I post a picture of how cute they are? Yes, please do. Okay, I will do that. Excellent. We got to make this quick, though. And if we seem rushed, I do apologize. But I made a mistake. And I forgot that my appointment was at 1 and not 1.30. So we've got to get this done right quick. You're donating blood plasma or platelets or plasma?
2:03.7	Plasma.
2:04.5	Yes.
2:04.6	What's the difference between that and just a regular blood donation?
2:08.9	So a blood donation is like whole blood.
2:11.5	Plasma is just part of your blood, so they filter that out and take just that.
2:15.9	You can donate more often when you donate just plasma.
2:19.3	So it's like skim blood? It's like skim blood, yes. Or skimbed blood.
	...

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