In 1950 a radio host, Ralph Edwards, offered to broadcast his quiz show from any town willing to rename itself after it. Hot Springs, New Mexico, held a vote and said yes, and since then it has been Truth or Consequences. It’s an odd bargain to look at now: a whole town’s name traded for one evening on the air. But Edwards kept coming back, year after year, to a festival they held in his honour, and the name has outlasted the show it was borrowed from by a long way. Hardly anyone now remembers a quiz called Truth or Consequences. Plenty of people have driven past the sign. The town may be the longest-running part of the programme, which is a strange thing to become by saying yes to a stunt.