John Maynard

Songs about Thanksgiving and about giving thanks.

The tone for our episode is set by the down-and-out Johnson family, who have no turkey on the table but enough moralizing from Dad that no one has an appetite anyway.

There are many paths to happiness. Spirituality, relationships, community, a warm puppy. Writing a hit song also helps, if you believe that happiness can be bought.

This week we salute our veterans and the music they made before, during and after their military service.

The first one that comes to mind is this Vietnam War-era classic from Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, a real-life wounded Vietnam Vet. Even as protest was building against the war, it was the biggest single of 1966, spending 5 weeks at Number 1 on the charts.

Where do babies come from? We may be unqualified to answer that one, but we can tell you with confidence that there’s a sucker born every minute.

Some banks will pay you if you keep your foreclosed house in good condition. That includes things like  mowing your lawn and keeping your toilets and countertops spick and span.

Seattle-area Real Estate Appraiser and educator Richard Hagar tells KPLU's John Maynard that some lenders offer in the neighborhood of $2,000.00 to ex-homeowners  for keeping foreclosed property looking neat and tidy. 

Kids used to have their own holiday. It was called Halloween. But now 50% of adults are celebrating Halloween, too. Giving up Halloween means admitting you're getting old, and no one wants to do that.

Here are some Halloween-ie tunes to help you get your spook on…

It may be the first musical instrument ever: 40,000 years ago one of our ancestors blew into an animal bone and made music.

But were they fluting or flauting? There seems to be confusion, so let’s settle this right now.

COULROPHOBIA. Fear of clowns. More common than you might think. We got a bad case of it after hearing all the nasty stuff people dressed like clowns are doing.

Besides selling hamburgers and squeezing into Volkswagens, clowns have been committing robberies and even murders…

Scientifically crafted earworms, designed to make us buy things we didn’t even know we wanted, were invented in the early 1920’s. Since then, jingles have become an integral part of American culture.

And to think it all began with Wheaties …

It's a drawn out, frustrating process, but if you're willing to put in the time,  buying a home from a bank can save you a lot of money. Seattle-area real estate appraiser Richard Hagar tells KPLU's John Maynard that while it is mostly investors who seek out these properties, average home buyers can score great deals, too

Just in time for fund drive we ponder some eternal questions about money.

Can money buy you love? No, but it puts you in better bargaining position. Can money buy you happiness? No again. But you can rent it for awhile.

We’re going postal on you this week. Songs about letters and mail abound, and no wonder, with over 570,000 workers, the US Postal Service is the second largest employer in the US, behind Wal-Mart.

Capable of at least 5000 expressions, the human face has inspired at least that many songs, and we listened to most of them ...

Being married is hard enough, but combine that with working together and you’ve got a tough proposition, so to speak.  It didn’t work out well for Ike and Tina Turner or for Sonny and Cher, but there are many musical couples who stayed together til the end.

Great deals on new homes can be found on the plains and near the planes.

That's the word from Seattle-area real estate appraiser Richard Hagar. New developments on the  flatlands of  Quincy, Wash., and the "loud lands" near Sea-Tac Airport are being built and sold at a pretty fast clip. Hagar tells KPLU's John Maynard there are some interesting reasons for that.