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TIL The Commission on Presidential debates was founded by both Republican and Democratic parties. It has historically kept 3rd party candidates from getting facetime with ‘their’ audiences

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XE46r TIL In 2007, the science advocacy group Sense About Science contacted the manufacturers of 15 "detox" products. When pressed, not a single detox peddler contacted could come up with a definition of what they meant by detox
rNgx TIL that magic mushrooms can make you permanently more creative, curious, and inquisitive
mxY5o TIL Tom Wilson (Biff from Back to the Future) received the same questions about the movies so frequently, he made a song about them
loP5a TIL the term "meritocracy" was coined by Michael Young in his 1958 dystopian essay "The Rise of the Meritocracy" to demonstrate the social dysfunctions he predicted arising in societies where the elites believe that they are successful entirely on the basis of merit.
OxA7 TIL That scientists used a complex algorithm to gauge the level of bias in a media outlet by what quotes each outlet selected from a similar speech. It found that almost all forms of American media had statistically significant media bias.