81. Guide Dogs

Before a guide dog can help a blind person navigate the world, it has to pass a series of tests, then go through $75,000 worth of training. Zachary Crockett sniffs around.

SOURCES:Peggy Gibbon, director of canine development at The Seeing Eye.Charles Pat McKenna, assistant division director of the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired.RESOURCES:"Why Seeing Eye Dogs Are So Expensive To Breed and Train," by Abby Tang and Emily Christian (Business Insider, 2024)."For decades, the blind have used canes to get around. Now a special wristband gives them a ‘sixth sense.'" by Peter Holley (Washington Post, 2017).The Seeing Eye."History of Guide Dogs," by The International Guide Dog Federation."Facts and Figures" by The International Guide Dog Federation.EXTRAS:"Morris Frank," by The International Guide Dog Foundation (Vimeo, 2021).

Who decides which snacks are in your office’s vending machine? How much is a suburban elm tree worth, and to whom? How did Girl Scout Cookies become a billion-dollar business? In bite-sized episodes, journalist Zachary Crockett looks at quotidian things and finds amazing stories.

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• No. of episodes: 113
• Latest episode: 2025-06-23
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