Summary
Overview
Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the quirky world of airline sick bags, with Michael revealing his personal collection of barf bags from various airlines. The episode combines the peculiar hobby of 'baggism' with fascinating insights into aircraft technology, motion sickness, cabin pressure, and the science behind turbulence. The discussion also tackles listener questions about Earth flags, AI consciousness, and the effects of Earth's rotation on the human body.
The World of Barf Bag Collecting
Michael Stevens reveals his unusual hobby of collecting airline sick bags, known as 'baggism,' which has an entire dedicated community. He shares highlights from his collection, including bags from Delta, Eurowings, Air Portugal, and an impressively large Air New Zealand bag. The conversation explores how different airlines approach sick bag design, from purely functional to humorous, with some bags offering entertainment value through clever messaging and alternative uses beyond their primary purpose.
- Michael collects airline barf bags and is officially a 'baggist' - part of an entire community of collectors
- The airsicknessbags.com museum contains 3,659 bags in its collection
- Eurowings bag says 'I wish I was a popcorn bag' with humor
- Air Portugal bag says 'Hope you won't need this bag' as a well-wishing message
- Air New Zealand provides significantly larger bags - roughly twice the standard size
- Sick bags can be repurposed for baby diapers, trash, doodling, or even wrapping presents
" I collect sick bags, barf bags from airplanes because they change periodically and it's a history. Someone needs to be documenting this. And some of them are quite cute. "
" While this website and hobby is an enormous waste of time, I like to think that it's a higher quality waste of time than many other places on the web. "
The History and Science of Motion Sickness on Aircraft
The discussion delves into why sick bags became necessary on early aircraft and how aviation technology has evolved to reduce motion sickness. Early planes in the 1920s-1930s flew at low altitudes without pressurized cabins, making passengers inhale gasoline fumes while bouncing through turbulence. The modern sick bag wasn't invented until 1949, post-World War II. Hannah explains how pressurized cabins revolutionized air travel by allowing planes to fly higher above turbulence and creating more comfortable conditions for passengers' bodies.
- Early aircraft passengers experienced terrible conditions: low altitude flying, unpressurized cabins, and gasoline fumes
- The modern sick bag wasn't invented until 1949, after World War II
- Pressurized cabins allow aircraft to fly higher, above most turbulence
- Standard aircraft pressurize cabins to equivalent of 8,000 feet altitude
- At 8,000 feet equivalent, digestive tract expands about one-third, contributing to nausea
" If you flew on some of the first aircraft, right, if you flew in the 1920s or the 1930s, I reckon even you with your stern stomach, your resilience to motion sickness, I think you still would have had trouble because the early planes, they flew at these really low altitudes. They didn't have pressurized air cabins. And so it was like bouncing through a continual storm cloud while inhaling fumes of gasoline. "
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