Truck Nutz is a brand name for the dangling plastic testicles some people affix to the bumpers or hitches of their vehicles. Also sold as Bulls Balls, Your Nutz, and other brand names, these plastic novelties have a powerful symbolic charge and are often associated with a crass, macho, red state audience. But truck nuts are a surprisingly complicated signifier whose symbolic power is increasingly divorced from their real-world usage.
On this episode, we talk to owners and users of truck nuts, investigate the origins of the accessories, and deconstruct the meaning of these oft-joked-about symbols. Weāll also take a tour of other novelty testicle products, including Bike BallsĀ (testicular bike lights), Gunsticles (plastic testicles for guns), and NeuticlesĀ (prosthetic testicles for neutered pets), to better understand the maligned symbolism of truck nuts.
Links and further reading on some of the things we discussed on the show:
Ad for Monster Truck NutsĀ
Truck Nutz Prank CallĀ
Elie Mystalās writing on truck nuts for Above the LawĀ
Austin Vasectomy in Austin TexasĀ
This episode was written by Willa Paskin and edited and produced by Benjamin Frisch. Decoder Ring is produced by Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman. Evan Chung is our supervising producer.
If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at
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