dead man’s switch
n.— «On the subway and elevated lines it is found in the nearest doorman and a “dead man’s switch.”» —“Precautions of Railroads to Prevent Death at the Throttle” in New York Washington Post Magazine Jan. 19, 1908. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Responding to our discussion about thin places, those spots where the boundary between this world and other realities seems narrow or permeable, a listener in Kirkland, Washington, sent us some eloquent thoughts about her own experiences of that...
A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child’s letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stories are left untold by these forgotten...