I also have a limited number of small things from my childhood which I cannot throw away. I'm in my retired years now and have a sense of my end coming some day. Since I'm alone, I know that my saved childhood or early life things are going to be thrown away by someone some day. But I feel that there is an opportunity here for someone to come up with a place where such items may be held for the owner forever. I'm not referring to their casket or niche (but two possibilities), but a place where these items can be examined, recorded, saved under the deceased name, but retrievable for viewing by family or friends long into the future. What does anyone else think about such a place? Or is this just a terribly unique and unworkable idea? What say you?

I loved this story. We all carry these fragile memories around with us.

For the posters who hate the sugar egg story because it wasn't tied to (For example) "children dying crossing deserts to reunite with parents" - have you ever listened to Radiolab before? It is a light program, geberally a humorous one. I'm aware that there is a lot of strife and tragedy in the news, but must every program devote every moment to such things? I thought we had enough of the narrow minded term "Relevance" in 20th C. academia.

Entertaining story! Thanks!

I enjoyed the story about the sugar egg and the box and the tree.

I had many reactions listening to the sugar egg segment. First off, I was a "military brat" (never understood that term. . .) whose family moved and moved, before settling down in Colorado (not a good experience for me, since I was spiritually in love with the ocean). Secondly, I am older, disabled now (but back near an ocean). I live in an apartment nearly ready to be featured on 'Hoarders', it is so brimmed with 'things'.

But, as I listened my first feeling was the memory of my time working in a museum. In fact, as they were speaking of objects and feeling their history, I could feel my pulse quickening!

I spent several years working on projects, including a physical inventory of the tens of thousands of objects stored in an off-site warehouse of this large museum. What an awesome experience!

Our museum possessed one of the largest collections of west coast Native American basketry. There were intricately woven baskets smaller than a thimble, to ones that were large enough to hold two people! We had an old west jailhouse from the gold rush era; Admiral Peary's sled from his North Pole expedition; a bi-centennial time capsule (a coffin painted with an American flag); art, toys, architectural pieces, natural science objects, and on and on. Holding these things allowed me to sense, feel, experience something that I can't even put into words (although "putting into words" was a major part of our project that I thoroughly enjoyed).

I guess it is because over the years, as another poster here mentioned, even those items that were dear to me as a child, teen and young adult, ended up being 'lost' in various moves. Additionally, everyone in my immediate family has passed on and I probably have fewer than a dozen photos altogether of my family or youth. I have no children, spouse, or extended family, except one aunt who is 87 and lives halfway across the country. In essence, I have 'things', each one that I can pick up and recall experiences, people, lessons, love and more. It's not often that I do, but at least these things are *mine*. None of them are "valuable" in a monetary sense; most are paper (notes, letters, stories, drawings, etc.), art (by friends), books, textiles, baskets, boxes, etc., but they're the few things that tangibly allow me to remember the multifaceted terrain of my life.

I thought it was horrible that people treated the egg so carelessly, and even that they wanted to scan it in the first place. Once the damage was done, every effort should have been undertaken to restore it. One thing I've come to know is that unfortunately, others rarely treat borrowed items with care and respect. I did love the story behind the egg and I actually got teary-eyed. I so knew that feeling as a child, of always moving and if you did make a friend, it was then time to move on. The fact that he was able to maintain that sugar egg for 40 years was beautiful.

I work at a science museum and would be interested to know if you ever put together the exhibition? I would be interested in helping and maybe getting it shown. Please contact me if you are interested.

Who's making the documentary about this s
Topic? They ,entombed his name but I missed it.

Am I the only one who is driven crazy by the fact that we didn't find out what, if anything was inside the egg? It was inferred at the beginning that these eggs were sealed up after having some kind of jellybeans or treat or something in the egg. Was it in fact empty? Since it wasn't mentioned I want to assume it was empty but it's gnawing just a little at me...

Interesting that R Daneel Olivaw feels no empathy with a story clearly used to illustrate how tokens can have meaning and resonate throughout our lives, while he uses the pseudonym of a humaniform robot incapable of feeling empathy. A strong sense of irony, or none at all?

I completely understand the importance of the sugar egg. As an adult, I have found peace and closure in revisiting the numerous places my family lived (state side and overseas). We moved so much that my childhood became more of a dream than a reality. Visiting the places we lived solidified my childhood, allowed me to say, "I was here, this was real." Listening to your podcast made me cry because I found a kindred spirit in your story. Thank you.

Yes, we become emotionally attached to things that represent a memory or memories and sentiments.
I totally understand it.
However, in my own little world,I was so anticipating that Robert would have attempted to locate his old friend David after the egg was destroyed.

It is somehow strange coincidence, but PLA plastic used in 3D printing is basically sugar. Technically any egg from this scan, produced in PLA is also a shugar egg.

"... I feel that an egg breaking from a childhood memory to a privileged man is revolting." I had much the same reaction. There must be ten thousand podcasts full of human-interest stories. I assume; I don't know. When I want a human-interest story, I'll talk to an actual human, in person. There are seven billion people on this planet. Probably most of them have stories like this, about some obsessive emotional attachment. What's special about this one?

I listen to podcasts to learn about the world, about how things work. ("Things" in a broad sense, including politics, economics, and psychology, among others.) If this story had connected to anything broader, such as maybe the psychology and neurology of attachment, or the philosophy that teaches that attachment causes suffering, that might have been interesting. But that didn't happen.

I had to stop listening after Radiolab crew apologized profusely for the egg breaking. At this moment there are children dying crossing deserts to reunite with parents, so many more hard realities innocent children are experiencing that unfortunately I feel that an egg breaking from a childhood memory to a privileged man is revolting. Radiolab how about you get out of your comfort-zone and ask a more diverse group of people from diverse backgrounds for story ideas. Please, speak about making media in a bubble. Bleh.

Did the scan produce a valid file? I have 2 3d printers at home and a fleet in my highschool, and by printing the cracked egg I feel like I could be a part of the story.

Every day at lunch I walk the nearby bike trail for 40 minutes. Usually I listen to music, but every so often I listen to radiolab. I just got a new phone, so I had to go looking around to find radiolab, but I find it and start listening to this story on things. The sugar egg story was pretty good and then their was the seed vase story. So I'm walking back up the bike trail to the office, listening to them trying to find it 11 years later, and the next thing I know, I'm at the next cross street. I had walked a half mile past the office listening to the story!
keep up the good work.

I honestly thought this was playing out such that you gave him a broken 3D printed copy of the egg to see how he'd react and then give him back his real egg. Would have been kinda terrible, but at least it would have had a happy ending!

Thanks for the show - just found it and I'm loving it already.

Cheers

I thought this was a beautiful and sad story. I cannot understand how some commenters cannot remember the fragile state of their own 8 year old heart and how even as an adult, the fragile egg could hold such profound feelings from childhood.

I loved this story. It made me cry- but out of relief that I am understood; I'm not the only one made sentimental about something physical that symbolizes something much more profound. We are "America's Gypsies" also known as military families. I have moved so many times. Once, I actually moved to Idaho from Washington where I had planted some beloved maples, just like David in the story. I feel tired and bone weary of the newness of every experience. After hearing this story, I am reminded of why I so want OUT of this lifestyle. I would like to try living with roots instead of wings. I want to be planted, myself! Wings take you a lot of places, but roots allow you to pull sustenance from your surroundings.

Sugar eggs are edible to the same degree that sugar cubes are edible. Eating them is not the point. The ones I remember had little scenes inside them, built with sugary icing. Later the scenes were made with cardboard. They were often given at Easter. They only things that would destroy them were pressure and moisture. They would last forever in a desert tomb.

I was very happy to learn that you found someone who can fix Rick's broken egg. Before today I thought that food repair was a joke from a 30-year-old John Candy sketch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCxscU0hWok&feature=kp

"Hello, Roy's Food Repair ... Uh-huh ... Yeah, eggs? Yeah, we fix 'em."

Beautiful stories, just one question. What is the music that starts playing at about the 13 minute mark and cuts out at about 14:10?

My father has a half eaten lasagna he has kept in our cupboard for nearly 30 years. It now looks much like tar coated baking pan. When I asked my mother why she never threw it out she replied with a sort of resigned contempt, "Because it would be grounds for a divorce."
Needless to say this episode hit close to home.

Does anyone know the music used in this story?

I wasn't a fan of the sugar egg story either. I've never gotten attached to objects. Having said that, though, I did feel horrible when they broke the egg. Although I wasn't invested in the object, I did feel myself having empathy for the guy who WAS invested.

I can relate with Rick, the owner of the egg. While I was a kid, my family relocated from country to country, because my father was in the military. I have fond and unpleasant memories for which I assigned those memories to many items. Unfortunately because of moving most, if not all items, were lost. I still continue to move around as an adult, and I generally don't like to keep things. But listening to this story I couldn't help think that of all the things I would most want to keep it would be at least one item that held great significance to my brother. He passed away 10 years ago. His death was sudden and such a shock that my family gave little thought to knowing what to really keep. I have at least photos, but I would love to have what he found to be most special to him in his life. So even if someone thinks of an item having insignificance it sure has significance to another. The sugar egg has much meaning to Rick and that's all that matters. I would tend to think of it as part of your history and culture that played a role in who you are today. Thanks for sharing the story Rick and Radiolab.

I find it interesting that we assume that an anecdotal story loses all importance and meaning just because it is not meta enough, or because it doesn't have any bearing on culture, science, history, etc. The reality is that we need these personal stories to understand the world around us. If we merely look to analytical information and never see how it is lived out we miss out on the most important information that would help us think about the way that we live our lives. This is a great example of how Radiolab takes a lofty idea such as object permanence, or object physiology and apply it to our lives. Great work everyone. Loved the episode.

I can't believe so many people commented that they don't empathize with this mans affection for this egg. The egg symbolizes something profoundly deep for him that radiolab did a great job of communicating. I definitely have objects like that and if hurts to lose it!

Such a touching and sweet story. I think most of us have objects that hold meaning for us which would make strangers go "ooookay". Doesn't mean he's creepy or weird.

Should be titled creepy nostalgia. Breaking the o so special egg saved it for me though....

The egg story was very boring, I did not care for the egg, story or the man. Just because some dude really likes this thing does not make it any interesting to me, just like Robert's wife does not share his enthusiasm of things. No matter how big the words he uses are or how profound his feelings for the things are, she simply do not share it. Why would listeners feel any different about the egg story, especially when the object is some pointless thing that has no impact on history, culture or society other than some guy's feelings, which is quite the opposite of the aforementioned objects? I get the point of it, but the story does not make up for how boring its content is.

You guys fucked up a man's sugar egg... that's the kind of thing that can't be forgiven.

http://candy.about.com/od/sugarcandy/r/sugar_eggs.htm

Frankly, I find the idea of any food item being kept for 40 years weird and even kind of creepy. Sharing the STORY of the egg, however, is priceless, especially to a member of the next generation! I think it is also likely to much longer than 40 years.
This is, in fact, the reason I love and value these shows! Neither memories nor even electronic bytes may be forever, but seem that much more valuable to me than the objects they inspire.