Twenty-two years ago, I found myself on various shows, talking about shark attacks which, while dangerous, were suddenly capturing an almost obsessive amount of public attention. In reality, they were happening at a rate on par with a statistical average.
In 2016, clowns were the rage. They supposedly were doing evil from New Zealand to Utah. People were terrified. Then, just as quickly, the clowns seemed to disappear.
In 2014, people began to dump buckets of ice over their heads to raise money for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The stunt brought in a 187% increase in funding that year, which helped research tremendously, according to the ALS Foundation. But no one seems to be dropping buckets on their heads any more, even though the disease is still with us.