1.) LifeNet Health - Gordon's Former Company
LifeNet Health is the world's most trusted provider of transplant solutions — from organ recovery and technologically advanced clinical biologics and cellular therapies, to life sciences solutions that support drug discovery and medical innovation — a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, while always honoring the donors, healthcare professionals, and scientists who enable the healing process. Their website can be found here.
2.) Organ & Tissue Donation
There are two main types of organ donation: deceased donation, which includes tissue donation, and living donation.
Through deceased organ donation, donors can donate their liver, heart, pancreas, intestines, and either one or both of their kidneys and lungs, meaning that one person can save up to eight lives. The organ allocation process is very extensive; there are long waiting lists and organs must be transplanted within hours of recovery making it very time-sensitive.
Another subtype of deceased organ donation includes tissue donation, which is separate from organ donation. This includes the donation of things such as bones and tendons, heart valves, veins/arteries, skin, and corneas. There is no waiting list for most tissue transplants, so the tissues are available when someone needs them. Tissue donations can be packaged and kept for up to five years.
Living organ donation occurs when the donor is still alive and healthy, therefore can donate one kidney or part of the liver, lung, intestine or pancreas to another person in need of a transplant.
Sources: Geisinger, LifeSource, and Types Of Donations
The National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) was approved in 1984 and established the framework for the U.S. organ transplant system. Many states have added the “organ donor” designation on their driver’s licenses, with only three states lacking it: Arizona, Texas and Vermont.
When you register to be a deceased organ donor, you are also registering to be a tissue donor, there isn’t a separate registration. If you are interested in becoming an organ donor, you can register the next time you get your license renewed at the DMV or you can register now online here.
There are currently over 100,000 individuals in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant, with a new person being added to the list every nine minutes. Unfortunately, the need for new organs outweighs the number of organs available for transplantation. This has led to the development of the illegal organ trade. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), organ trade is a commercial transplantation where there is a profit, or transplantations that occur outside of national medical systems. This commercial trade of organs is illegal in every country except Iran. Despite the fact that these activities are outlawed, the organ trade and organ trafficking is still very widespread. (Although data on the extent of the black market trade in organs is difficult to obtain)
On a global scale, organ trafficking is not a new problem. In the 1980s, experts began to notice a practice that was later dubbed “transplant tourism”, where wealthy individuals would travel to other countries to obtain organs from poor donors. While this is sometimes consensual, for example, when both the donor and the recipient of the organ travel to a country with adequate facilities to perform a legal surgery or a recipient travels to receive the organ of a relative living abroad, a large portion of transplant tourism involves organ trafficking, or the non consensual taking of one’s organs.
In this episode, I believe Chris is talking about the case of Donald Greene, a man in Illinois who was found to be illegally selling human remains. He was the owner of the company Biological Resource Center, which was responsible for procuring bodies from individuals who wished to donate their bodies to science. However, unbeknownst to family members, he would instead sell their loved ones body parts and organs on the black market, some of which were infected with things like HIV and Hepatitis.
If you are interested in learning more about the illegal organ trade, there is a documentary series by National Geographic called “Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller” that did an episode of organ trafficking. It is called “Black Market Organs” and can be found here.
Sources: Wikipedia, Donate Life America, PBS, ACAMS Today, and ABC News
4.) Pig Powder: What is it?
Pig powder is a type of extracellular matrix powder derived from the lining of pig intestines and bladder. The extracellular matrix is generally composed of well-organized networks of carbohydrates and proteins, and serves as a physical scaffold to the cell. It supports the cells in a tissue and helps regulate intercellular adhesion and communication. Pig powder is used as part of regenerative medicine, which is the process of replacing or "regenerating" human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function. This pig ECM can be applied to wounds and helps promote healing and tissue regeneration.
Sources: Owlcation, National Institutes of Health, and Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies
5.) Chinese liquor "maotai?"
In China, moutai (also called maotai) is known as 'the national liquor'. It is made from a grain called red sorghum at Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd, the country's most famous distiller of baijiu (Chinese spirits). Moutai is served at all Chinese state banquets and often presented as a diplomatic gift.
Source: Christie's
6.) 1974 Plane Crash In Pittsburgh
On January 6th, 1974, Commonwealth Commuter Flight 317, traveling from Pittsburgh, PA to Johnstown, PA crashed short of the runway after it failed to maintain flying speed and made a premature descent below the safe approach slope for undetermined reasons. Of the 15 passengers and two crew members on board, 11 passengers and the captain were killed.
Source: Wikipedia
7.) Sigma Chi Fraternity
Sigma Chi is one of the oldest and most prestigious fraternities in North America. It was founded on June 28th, 1855 at Miami University in Ohio after the founding members had a falling out with their brothers from the fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon. This disagreement among fraternity brothers ended in several of the men being expelled from Delta Kappa Epsilon, and those are the men that started Sigma Chi.
With a mission to foster a brotherhood of transformational leaders who are committed to friendship, justice and learning, the fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated over 350,000 members. Some notable Sigma Chi Alumni include: Brad Pitt, John Wayne, Tom Selleck, Ted Bundy, Brian Dennehy, Woody Harrelson, David Letterman, and Ty Burrell.
Interesting/disheartening fact: Sigma Chi’s membership policy was racially discriminant (whites only) until 1971.
Sources: Sigma Chi, Wikipedia, and University of Georgia Greek Life
8.) U.S Army Officer Candidate School: How Bad Is It?
The United States Army's Officer Candidate School (OCS) is a school that trains, assesses, and evaluates potential commissioned officers of the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserve, and Army National Guard. Commissioned officers are the managers, problem solvers, key influencers and planners who lead enlisted Soldiers in all situations. They plan missions, give orders and assign Soldiers tasks. The entry-level rank for most commissioned officers is Second Lieutenant.
Officer candidates are former enlisted members, warrant officers, inter-service transfers, or civilian college graduates who enlist for the "OCS Option" after they complete Basic Combat Training (BCT). The program consists of 12 weeks of training.
Officer Candidate School is known for being very rigorous, being hard both physically and mentally. Most people describe it as being part college, part basic training, and part Ranger school. The days are long, sleep is not guaranteed, and it is overall a stressful situation. The failure rate of OCS is consistently over 40%.
9.) Requirements To Join Officer Candidate School
Whether you are a civilian, active-duty noncommissioned officer, or in the U.S. Army Reserve or U.S. Army National Guard, basic training must be completed before entering Officer Candidate School. Some other general requirements are:
Be a U.S. citizen
Be between 19 and 32 years old
Eligible for secret security clearance
Meet height and weight requirements
Be in top physical condition and pass physical examinations
No convictions in civil or military court
Score very well (at least 110) on the general technical portion of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) exam
If you are a civilian, you have to be a college graduate with at least a four-year degree. If you are an active duty soldier or in the Army Reserve, you have to at least be on track to complete a bachelor’s degree within a year of enrolling in the OCS. If English is a second language for a candidate, a score of 80 or better on the English Level Comprehension Test is required since strong communication skills are essential in good leaders. Some requirements, such as a college degree or the age limit, may be waived based on the candidate’s history and potential. U.S. Army officer candidate school accepts about 65 % of applicants.
Sources: U.S Army, U.S Department of Defense, and Indeed
10.) Vietnam War Years
The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia that started on November 1st, 1955 and ended on April 30th, 1975. The United States, after indirectly helping war efforts for several years, officially joined the war on March 8th, 1965 by deploying 3,500 combat troops to Da Nang. After the signing of the Vietnam peace agreement, the U.S pulled the last of their combat troops from Vietnam on March 29, 1973, ending their involvement in the war.
Sources: Wikipedia, Britannica, History, and Wikipedia
11.) Air Cavalry Definition
The term “air cavalry” is defined by Merriam-Webster as:
an army unit that is transported by aircraft and carries out the traditional cavalry missions of reconnaissance and security.
Source: Merriam-Webster
The air cavalry is a division of the U.S. Army that is utilized for visually locating enemy ground positions and attacking them from the air. They are also used to airlift soldiers into battle, medical evacuation, and fire support for troops in contact with the enemy. Air cavalry were used widely during the Vietnam War, with it being the first large-scale use of helicopters in a combat role. The first air cavalry unit to see duty in Vietnam was the 1st Air Cavalry Division, and is considered the most decorated combat divisions of the United States.
Sources: Wikipedia and Britannica
12.) Helicopter Lingo: Sortie and Huey
Sortie: A sortie (from the French word meaning exit or from Latin root surgere meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. Source: Wikipedia
Huey: The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helicopter in service with the United States military. Sources: Wikipedia
13.) Vũng Tàu - Beach Town In Vietnam Where They Spent Their R&R Breaks
Vũng Tàu is the largest city of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province in southern Vietnam. Vũng Tàu was the capital of the province until it was replaced by the much smaller Bà Rịa city on 2 May 2012. The city is also the crude oil extraction center of Vietnam. It has traditionally been a significant port. During the Vietnam War, the 1st Australian Logistics Support Group was based in Vũng Tàu – as were various United States military units at different times. Vũng Tàu also became popular for R&R, amongst in-country US, Australian and New Zealand personnel.
After the war, due to Vietnam being put under debilitating trade embargoes by the United States, Vũng Tàu was a common launching place for the "Vietnamese boat people" – refugees escaping the post-war Communist regime. On 30 May 1979, Vũng Tàu town was made the capital of Vũng Tàu-Côn Đảo Special Administrative Zone. On 12 August 1991, Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province was officially founded and Vũng Tàu town officially became Vũng Tàu City
Sources: Wikipedia
14.) Gordon References Hearing Popular Song "If You're Going To San Francisco" By Scott Mckenzie
The video for the song “San Francisco” by Scott McKenzie can be found here.
15.) How many G.I.'s were killed in Vietnam?
According to the U.S. National Archives, there were a total of 58,220 military casualties of the Vietnam War.
Source: National Archives
16.) Odds of Dying In Vietnam War
Approximately 2.7 million American men and women served in Vietnam. Of the 2.7 million, there were 58,220 casualties, meaning that 2.2% of the people that served were killed. Of the 58,220 casualties, 38,224 of them were Army casualties, making the chances of dying if you were in the Army branch during the Vietnam War 65.7%.
Sources: National Archives
17.) Canadian Podcast Chris Mentioned That References Punchline A Lot
The podcast is called “Master Your Mix Podcast” and can be found on Spotify here.
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