A TV annual? No, an annual TV

Emily the Engineer, Wren Weichman and Kip Heath discussion a question about a suspiciously generous gift.
LATERAL is a weekly podcast about interesting questions and even more interesting answers, hosted by Tom Scott. For business enquiries, contestant appearances or question submissions, visit www.lateralcas...
GUESTS:
Emily Yarid:‪@EmilyTheEngineer‬, / emilydaengineer
Wren Weichman: ‪@SirWrender‬, / sirwrender
Kip Heath: / miceheath
HOST: Tom Scott.
QUESTION PRODUCER: David Bodycombe.
RECORDED AT: Podcasts NZ Studios.
EDITED BY: Julie Hassett at The Podcast Studios, Dublin.
GRAPHICS: Chris Hanel at Support Class. Assistant: Dillon Pentz.
MUSIC: Karl-Ola Kjellholm ('Private Detective'/'Agrumes', courtesy of epidemicsound.com).
FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott.
© Pad 26 Limited (www.pad26.com) / Labyrinth Games Ltd. 2023.

[@RFC-3514]

That teacher has since started telling random children: "You'll never have a Lamborghini", "You'll never own a private jet" and "You'll never get a job at Fort Knox".

[@agent0422]

The teacher is dead tho

[@RFC-3514]

@@agent0422 - "You'll never become a necromancer."

[@ArifRWinandar]

@@RFC-3514 Some of them did become a necromancer, they just choose not to resurrect her because she doubted them.

[@WackMaDino]

@@ArifRWinandarYou’ll never be a necromancer capable of resurrecting me

[@Gakulon]

Imagine sending her a Fort Knox every year

[@adamplace1414]

Seemingly like a lot of people, I went immediately to "petty revenge" instead of "nice gesture." I think the educational experiences I had merits my cynicism, and from the comments I'm reading, I'm not alone in that.

[@vara202]

Petty revenge was my first thought too. I wonder how that breaks down by country. If Americans have a particularly bad experience there.

[@korganrocks3995]

@@vara202 I'm Swedish, had great teachers, but my mind still went there, so it's entirely possible we're just petty, vengeful people! 😄

[@ZipplyZane]

For me it's more that I've heard celebs tell these types of stories before on talk shows.

[@ElectricFury]

I don't know what it says about me compared to the guests that my brain immediately went to spitefully proving a point when it took them a while to get there 😂

[@MF-fd2ug]

steve harvey seems like a very spiteful person

[@cybergeek11235]

Yeah, same - I'm sure it's totally fine and healthy and not at all worrisome though

[@romainsavioz5466]

​@@MF-fd2ug 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@ids1024]

Spite comes to mind because it reminds me of Alexander the Great, whose tutor told him to stop wasting spices, and that he could do so once he conquered the spice bearing regions. When he did, he sent a fortune worth of spices. (Kind of in spite... but it's also a rather valuable gift.)

[@techno1561]

​@@ids1024So is a yearly supply of televisions, to be fair

[@pfft5275]

That does sound like the kind of kid who would be a smart aleck every day in class. I could see that being the last straw for the teacher, so she finally phoned his parents about his behavior. Honestly, imagine how aggravating a young aspiring comedian would be as a student.

[@GyroCannon]

It's a coin flip whether the teacher was terrible (American education system, yay) to call Steve Harvey's parents over a small thing like a school assignment or if Steve Harvey was a consistent annoyance in class and this was the tipping point

[@opinionrat]

Traumatize a child, get free TVs. Seems like bad reward system.

[@CallieMasters5000]

The ultimate counter-revenge by the teacher is for her to say she doesn't even remember him as a student, he was that forgettable.

[@hafrialfian]

Thanks Tom, after awhile i like this format, I have an insight about so many type of character and their style to solve a problem, big insight for introvert

[@XeonXR6]

This series is terrific. Well done!

[@dennisrossonero]

I FULLY GOT IT FIRST 30 SECONDS!!! I don't believe it. This is a really fun show to play 'at home'.

[@Ziirf]

Not gonna lie. My teacher told me that the only thing I would ever accomplish in my life is to sit behind the counter at a supermarket. My biggest drive in my early days, was to prove him wrong. I am 33 years old now and make 3 times his salary, with a job I love, and I haven't ever thought about showing off to him. In a weird way, I am glad he rubbed me the wrong way, to really give me the drive I needed.

[@hairyairey]

On a similar subject, Wetherspoons is I believe named after a teacher who said that qualified Barrister Tim Martin would never amount to much (or similar). Watched a Foil, Arms and Hog video where they made this exact joke. That is, if anyone ever says you won't amount to much you'll probably do very well (I laughed because I know it's true!) 😂

[@lforlight]

This question was easy. "Spite" was the first word to come to my mind when the question was read.

[@gamesetmatt23]

Ok, that was completely obvious... got it right away, but hoped it would be something a little more obscure. Ah well. On-ya, Steve 👍👍

[@George_vv]

My guess was that it was a running joke where he would just send a fast food menu TV to that person. I didn't think of a reason.

[@archivist17]

My respect for Steve just went up.

[@dcltdw]

I feel like this was obvious at first, but by the same token, if I'm actually on a podcast/show, I would expect 90% of my brain capacity to immediately go out the window and I'd be like, uhhh, umm, urr... :D

[@walker1054]

Wow like 6 of these I instantly got now lol

[@empath69]

I've always said: "Spite is the most powerful force in the universe"

[@OwlRTA]

He just wanted to make that teacher a televisionaire (old school reference)

[@kipheath]

I quite enjoyed how many completely irrelevant questions I asked here. And how much time I spent keeping a cat out of shot. 😅

[@boaz6346]

She looks adorable, please pet her for me

[@Dave_Sisson]

At 5:14 it appears to be flying on the top left of the screen.

[@kipheath]

@@Dave_Sisson There is no such thing as an obstacle that cat has not tried to climb. Her favourite sleeping spot is on top of a curtain rail. (One that's above a door)

[@WyvernYT]

As soon as the cat comes into shot all the viewers want to look at the cat.

[@cybergeek11235]

But the cat would have been the most popular member of the cast! ....oh.

[@sheykenasababy]

Watching innocent souls try to decipher spite was very entertaining

[@nicojar]

Indeed! And it also shows a not-so-nice side of Steve Harvey, his obsession with money & fame, his toxicity if you don't fit his standards.

[@daerdevvyl4314]

nicojar You make it sound like he sent thugs to beat her up every yewr. If you're going to be spiteful, sending someone TVs is a pretty benign way of expressing it.

[@DaTimmeh]

​@@daerdevvyl4314Depending on the TV, that's a couple hundred bucks easy. I don't like the dudes but this definitely earned him some brownie points in my books lol. That teacher was out of her place and he pranked her in a hilarious way.

[@Doc_Fartens]

I can think of worse revenge plots to be on the receiving end of, honestly.

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

Immediately went to 'he's sending them annually out of spite because she said he would never make it on TV'. 😅 I feel that the guests were just trying to be too nice, with all the positive (and slightly morbid) answers at first.

[@michaelocyoung]

5:15 CAT CAT CAT

[@almostcertainlynotapotato6528]

meow yaay

[@kipheath]

Can you see the point I gave up keeping her out of shot? 😂

[@michaelocyoung]

@@kipheath See now I'm watching back and 3:14 THERE SHE IS. We want more cats in shot.

[@jessicakorte]

The most important comment on this video

[@TheKHUSH28]

I had heard about this story and I was so surprised to see how they were trying all logical angles behind it... When it was just a revenge story 🙃

[@dk14929]

Not a Steve Harvey fan, but I am a huge fan of spite, so I gotta admit he's been doing the right thing here

[@alveolate]

to fully engage in the spite, steve should ONLY send those ginormous old ass CRT TVs that are ridiculously heavy and take up a ton of space. just like the teacher does/did rent-free in his mind.

[@EdSigma]

I am suddenly reminded of that moment on The Technical Difficulties podcast, Gary's "MultimillionTelevisionaires" gaff.

[@bananawieldingorenji]

"Why would I want that!?"

[@Z_MIB]

I don't know what this is.

[@alexythemechanic8056]

I'm enjoying the random glimpses of cat in this video.

[@kipheath]

She is super thrilled to be noticed!

[@Imurai]

I am sorry for bragging but I got that immediately.

[@victoriaseawatch5407]

Same😂

[@grandetaco4416]

I'm not a Steve harvey fan, but good for him.

[@Z_MIB]

This story makes me a Steve Harvey fan

[@ShadowDrakken]

My initial thought is thinking about how petty and vindictive Steve Harvey is, he was probably told he'd never be on TV by the teacher, so he sends TVs as a "You were wrong, and I'm going to rub it in your face" kind of thing?

[@DiMono]

This is the most passive-aggressive revenge I've ever heard of, and I'm here for it.

[@TheScarvig]

true spite would be if those were the tvs with the integrated dvd player and they all came with a copy of his latest special inside and set to play it the moment it gets turned on.

[@Blananas2]

One of the best hypotheticals I've ever come up with is "If you had a 3x3 monitor setup, what do you put on each monitor?".

[@themoviedealers]

The Brady Bunch

[@munjee2]

What I'm getting from this is that it is within a teacher's best interest to shoot down all their students' dreams

[@munjee2]

@@NoName-zn1sb there were two other pluralisation mistakes in there too, thanks for pointing it out regardless

[@xpehkto]

Today I learned the expression "smart aleck"

[@gnaskar]

Somewhere out there is a teacher thinking to themselves "Reverse psychology gets them to put in a serious effort every time"

[@Z_MIB]

This makes me feel so bad for Steve Harvey, I used to stutter as a kid and it was awful.

[@ZipplyZane]

My guess would be that she told him he would never be successful or something like that. I've definitely heard that sort of "look at me now!" story from celebs. Alternatively, she was actually very supportive of his comedy, saying he would wind up on TV one day.

[@mst4705]

It kind of sounds a bit cruel, tormenting. But hopefully she was just humbled, and also glad she was wrong, and appreciative of the tv that she could give away.

[@WayneKitching]

Dan Povenmire (Co-creator of Phineas and Ferb, voice of Dr Doofenshmirtz) had the opposite happen to him. He mentioned in class that he wanted to be on TV. The teacher said something like, "Povenmire, you're a funny guy. If anybody could make it on TV, it's you." I don't want to spoil the rest of the story, so look it up.

[@ChrisWar666]

Unidentified Furry Object entering the camera space, take care!!!

[@JunkyardBashSteve]

I'm sorry, Wren? I genuinely did not expect to see him here 😅

[@panda4247]

Did you expect him on the Steven's Island?

[@davidzhuleiva]

Sorry to say this, I love all the other videos (I’ve watched so far of this series), but that was 6 wasted minutes. The answer was the obvious and immediate though I had, and I was hoping the entire time that it wouldn’t be it.

[@gintarazimu642]

I really expected that the teacher was famously atheistic or something

[@allanrichardson1468]

Think of the teacher who laughed at the Wright brothers!

[@maxpayne2574]

Well if she sends it to a charity something good comes out of it.

[@MR.GreenBird]

I need to start some beef with steve harvey lmao

[@ricardoludwig4787]

Steve Harvey is a terrible person, but he was so real for that one

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

Initial thoughts: she didn't believe Harvey would make it as a TV personality, or that it was a pointless, no success, no fame, no riches ... And to remind her that she was mistaken, he sends her a TV to see him "go big" and prove her wrong. Could be right, but a bit gloomy/petty for this show. So ... Maybe, on a more wholesome note, they made a bet like "I'm gonna support you anyway; go the extra mile for you. But if you make it, I want a new TV every year as back-payment and to see my investment flourish."

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

Results: first idea was right. Still petty. +1 for the cat appearance!

[@potatosordfighter666]

Jokes on that teacher, being a smart alec helps you on TV

[@ckq]

My initial guess is there was a bet about him being successful

[@ckq]

This is the 2nd one I got immediately

[@wolfelkan8183]

My theory (after only watching about the first half of the video): She want to keep up with her former student and see what he's been doing, especially now that he's become famous. But she's so bad with technology, that he can't send her a DVD of his shows, because she won't be able to figure out how to play it. Finally, he decided to get a SmartTV, load it with all of his content he thought she might like, and send it to her. She knows how to plug something in and turn it on, and now she can watch his Family Feud episodes.

[@Patrick_Bard]

Never heard of this story before, and the answers was exactly the first thing that crossed my mind (Alongside with the possibility that his mother or other family member was in fact his teacher).

[@havek23]

I like how all of them thought he liked this teacher... they all had wonderful grade school experiences I guess

[@RichardWinskill]

Yeesh, she got off lightly if that's how mean she was

[@AA_21861]

5:15 - Cat!

[@stevenharvey9170]

I need an annual tv.

[@mycolebrown4719]

I immediately knew the answer because I feel tons of celebrities have a spite story. Like Lewis Black's spite against his old teacher. Everyone knew this immediately right?

[@davidshi451]

Haha only about halfway through did I realize this was a "spite gift", since he sent it on Christmas!

[@pyrodblaze5550]

I KNEW THIS ONE!!!!!!!

[@burningknight7]

Chill guys, it's not that of a big deal. Maybe it was revenge at first but pretty sure after a point they both enjoyed that and she received free gifts that she might have sold for money.

[@lastnamefirstname8655]

excellent way to display success and spite, steve harvey. somehow it was natural and instant for me to assume that this act had to have been out of spite and vengeance, since this sounded impossible to be an act of kindness for me. interesting.

[@basoon]

I don’t like how many Americanisms Tom uses these days.

[@Slikx666]

My revenge to a headmaster is find his grave and use it as a toilet. Not a clue where he is. 😆

[@michaelmcchesney6645]

Hopefully, the teacher took the proper lesson from this and avoids mocking students because they have seemingly unrealistic expectations. I'm a recovering lawyer that became a high school social studies teacher. I had a 9th-grade student that once came up to me right before class and asked me, "Yo Mr. McChesney, you think I got the balls to be a judge?" Now this young lady was already 18 years old and hadn't finished 9th grade yet. She had thus far given me very little confidence she was going to pass my class. But I didn't mock her. I told her that I had no doubt she had the balls (she had a very forceful personality) but that in order to be a judge she would have to graduate from high school, college, and law school first. That student was Ketanji Brown Jackson and she is now a Justice of the United States Supreme Court is what I wish I could say. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, that student hasn't graduated from high school yet.

[@xcoder1122]

A teacher once gave me an F because I refused to take her point of view in an essay (a literary discussion). I read the book and I wrote the essay and I think the essay was really good, but the desired result of the discussion was given and after reading the book I came to a different conclusion. You have to imagine it like this: You read a book about a fictional court case and then you have to write an essay about it, in which you explain that this court case was fair despite all adversities. But now you have read the book and are of the opinion that the trial was anything but fair, and you can back this up with text passages from the book. However, she was not interested in how good the essay was or how well I proved my point of view; for the "impudence" of contradicting her alone, I immediately received an F. I wonder what I should send her for Christmas. Note that all teachers before and after her always praised my essays and in all the other years my grades where excellent in that subject. I'm still pissed about that as of today. I should have fought against such a treatment but I didn't and just told her she can stick that grade where the sun never shines. I got a reprimand for that; the only one in my entire school career.