This week on The Deep Dive: Why witches’ shoes look like that, Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts is a cover and I want to know what else I’ve been lied to about, you’ll never believe what Tucker Carlson’s dad dedicated his entire career to saving, I guess Ohio is cool now, and if the only map you’ve ever seen is a subway map then everything’s a subway.

FASHION

How the Witch got her Shoes : Shoemaking & History by Nicole Rudolph (25:55)

It wouldn’t be a Deep Dive Halloween if I didn’t force you to think about how witches’ shoes got their shape! In this video, Nicole Rudolph explores the history of the pointy, heeled witch shoe (which may not be as straightforward as you think) while literally constructing a pair right before our very eyes. The caricature of witchy shoes may be vaguely reminiscent of 18th-century shoe fashions, which might make sense if you consider the timing of the Salem Witch Trials. But they didn’t become associated with witches until Halloween became commercialized in the early 1900s – and made witches sexy. However, the modern-day idea of the exaggerated witch shoe is even more recent than that, and it most likely came from an iconic movie that’s currently in your spooky season queue.

MUSIC

ONE HIT WONDERLAND: “Life Is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane by Todd in the Shadows (25:00)

I just want to know if any of you were ever planning on telling me that the single best song from a Pixar movie soundtrack was actually a cover of another song originally sung by some Canadian guy. That guy’s name is Tom Cochrane and according to Todd in the Shadows, he’s a pretty big deal up there. He’s also the poster child of an insular household name – wildly famous in his home country but basically unheard of just one border over. Tom Cochrane has a pretty standard story of a rock artist who rose to fame in the 1980s (with some serious help from content laws Canadian radio stations are required to follow). He came from a modest upbringing, joined a band, had a hit, named that band after himself, went solo, and had another hit before being swallowed up by grunge rock in the early 1990s. Life is a highway and apparently so is Tom Cochrane’s career.