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Stuff You Should Know

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#52
Language: en-US Society & Culture
Last Checked: 2024-12-05 02:14:54

Short Stuff: Franca Viola

Wed, 04 Dec 2024

One of the world’s unsung heroes – at least outside of Italy – is a brave woman who stood up t...

Solipsism: This Is All In My Mind?

Tue, 03 Dec 2024

As the philosophical holds, there’s a chance you don’t exist, that not only you, but this episod...

Selects: Star Wars Holiday Spectacular

Sat, 30 Nov 2024

Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made...

LIVE: Minneapolis - The Madd Gasser of Mattoon

Thu, 28 Nov 2024

Please enjoy our 2024 live show about the wild tale of the Madd Gasser of Mattoon. See omnystudio.c...

Short Stuff: Erfurt Latrine Disaster

Wed, 27 Nov 2024

A terrible thing happened in Germany in the summer of 1184.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

The Wild History of Tetris

Tue, 26 Nov 2024

Tetris is an iconic game with a fascinating history. Dive in today to learn all about this classic p...

Selects: How the Stanford Prison Experiment Worked

Sat, 23 Nov 2024

The infamous Stanford Prison Experiment wasn't really much of an experiment as it turns out. It was ...

The Story of Tavern on the Green

Thu, 21 Nov 2024

Tavern on the Green is a legendary NY eatery that has never rated particularly well with food critic...

Short Stuff: The Gaslighting of Martha Mitchell

Wed, 20 Nov 2024

Martha Mitchell, the wife of Nixon's Attorney General, was well-known to spread a juicy rumor. That'...

The Saga of Silk Road

Tue, 19 Nov 2024

The US government took a thumb in the eye with the creation of the Silk Road website. Right there on...

Selects: The Cleveland Torso Murders

Sat, 16 Nov 2024

During the depths of the Great Depression, Cleveland’s most vulnerable and destitute residents wer...

The Fascinating History of Dandelions

Thu, 14 Nov 2024

Dandelions are way more interesting than you think. Trust us and click play. See omnystudio.com/lis...

Short Stuff: The wAve

Wed, 13 Nov 2024

It’s a thrill to stand and, raise your arms, maybe give a woo! then sit down again, especially if ...

Kids' Chemistry Sets: KABOOM!

Tue, 12 Nov 2024

A surprising number of Nobel Prize winners credit their childhood chemistry set for sparking their i...

Selects: What's a quinceañera anyway?

Sat, 09 Nov 2024

A quinceañera is the celebration of a girl of Hispanic heritage becoming a young woman on her 15th ...

ADHD pt 2

Thu, 07 Nov 2024

Today, the conclusion of the two-part episode on ADHD.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

Short Stuff: Tornado Alley

Wed, 06 Nov 2024

North America gets as many as 1400 tornadoes a year. The place with the next highest is the UK at 33...

ADHD pt 1

Tue, 05 Nov 2024

Today, Josh and Chuck dive into part one of their two-part suite on ADHD.See omnystudio.com/listener...

Selects: The Strange Story of Sea Monkeys

Sat, 02 Nov 2024

Anyone who ever picked up a comic book as a kid probably marveled at the ads for the mysterious Sea ...

15th Annual SYSK Halloween Spooktacular!

Thu, 31 Oct 2024

Buckle up folks, it's time for another of our favorite traditions, the SYSK Halloween Spooktacular! ...

Short Stuff: Two Scary True Shorties!

Wed, 30 Oct 2024

Josh and Chuck dive into two spooky true stories in today's Short Stuff.See omnystudio.com/listener ...

The Mystery of the Skeletons of Roopkund Lake

Tue, 29 Oct 2024

One of the greatest unsolved historic mysteries is found in a lake atop a mountain glacier high up i...

Selects: Why Landmines Are The Deadliest Legacy Of War

Sat, 26 Oct 2024

One of the worst legacies of war are the millions of landmines left behind. They hide for decades af...

Spend Some Time with Fairies

Thu, 24 Oct 2024

Most people think of Tinkerbell when we think of fairies, but the Disney versions capture only the l...

Short Stuff: The Story of Spirit Halloween

Wed, 23 Oct 2024

Every August, abandoned storefronts across America are filled with the spirit of Halloween, by way o...

Q Anon: When Wild Conspiracy Went (sort of) Mainstream

Tue, 22 Oct 2024

Q Anon believes many things, including that Tom Hanks is a Satan-worshipping, child-eating pedophile...

Selects: Porcupines: Little Stabby Cutie Pies

Sat, 19 Oct 2024

We love animals. A lot. Especially underrated ones like the darling porcupine. Listen in to this cla...

Kudzu: The Vine That Just Won't Stop

Thu, 17 Oct 2024

If you're from the American South, then kudzu is something that cannot be avoided. But how did this ...

Short Stuff: Redacted!

Wed, 16 Oct 2024

The process of redacting sensitive information is long and storied. But are there even any rules tha...

The Anarchist Cookbook: Funny but Dangerous

Tue, 15 Oct 2024

You might have owned the Anarchist Cookbook once, but you probably didn’t use it to turn a shotgun...

Selects: How Paramedics Work

Sat, 12 Oct 2024

Paramedics are not EMTs. Or fire fighters. Or cops. But they do ride around in ambulances (and drive...

Swatches!

Thu, 10 Oct 2024

The story of the Swatch is super cool and one of the great retail successes. Listen in today to find...

Short Stuff: Mystery of the Sarah Jo

Wed, 09 Oct 2024

In another chapter of our continuing mysteries of the sea theme, we deliver a truly baffling mystery...

Gobekli Tepe

Tue, 08 Oct 2024

Gobekli Tepe is a profoundly ancient spiritual site that shouldn’t exist, according to conventiona...

Selects: How the Escape from Alcatraz Worked

Sat, 05 Oct 2024

In 1962, three ordinary criminals transcended into folk heroes when they crawled out of their cells ...

The Strange Story of Lysol

Thu, 03 Oct 2024

The Lysol we know now is sold as disinfectant only. But at one time it was also marketed as a means ...

Short Stuff: Flower Power

Wed, 02 Oct 2024

What we equate with acid, hippies, and garish polyester prints actually began as a theatrical way of...

The Shadow Biosphere: Is There Other Life on Earth?

Tue, 01 Oct 2024

As far as we know life evolved once in the universe – here on Earth in the form of life as we know...

Selects: Rosa Parks: Agent of Change

Sat, 28 Sep 2024

Rosa Parks finishes out our Black History Month episodes in grand fashion. While most know her from ...

The Judas Priest Suicide Trial

Thu, 26 Sep 2024

A greatest hit of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s came when the metal band Judas Priest was put on tr...

Short Stuff: The SS Ourang Medang

Wed, 25 Sep 2024

We love our ghost ships here at SYSK and this is one of the better ones. But did it really even exis...

Four Eyes Good: The History of Glasses

Tue, 24 Sep 2024

Glasses as we know them have only been around for a few hundred years. So what did people do before ...

Selects: How Government Shutdowns Work

Sat, 21 Sep 2024

Every year Congress decides how the federal government will spend money. Simple enough, but in pract...

Tom Slick: Not the Cartoon

Thu, 19 Sep 2024

There's a good chance that if you don't live in San Antonio, Texas, you may not know who scientist/a...

Short Stuff: The Killing Stone

Wed, 18 Sep 2024

The Killing Stone looms large in Japanese folklore, so when it split in half in March 2022, people w...

Would A Love Drug Be Ethical?

Tue, 17 Sep 2024

What if science could create a drug that made you connect with people more deeply, let your emotions...

Selects: The Manson Family Murders Part 2

Sat, 14 Sep 2024

Listen in to this classic episode for the conclusion of the story of the Manson Family Murders.See o...

Celebration Florida: The Story of a Utopia that Never Was

Thu, 12 Sep 2024

The town of Celebration, Florida was supposed to be a utopia. What it ended up as is a mediocre neig...

Short Stuff: Uncle Sam Wants YOU!

Wed, 11 Sep 2024

Who is Uncle Sam anyway? Was it a real person or just a marketing exercise? And why does he refuse t...

Henry Ford: The Good, Bad and Ugly

Tue, 10 Sep 2024

Henry Ford was an odd guy, but one who had a vision for America that centered around a populist, aff...

Selects: How Futurology Works

Sat, 07 Sep 2024

Science fiction writers have made some amazingly accurate predictions over the years, but in 1945 th...

Ludwig II: The Only Real King of the 19th Century

Thu, 05 Sep 2024

Outside of Germany, King Ludwig II is relatively unknown. And, yet, he is one of history’s most tr...

Short Stuff: Rescuing Mistreated Pets

Wed, 04 Sep 2024

You – yes, you! – can be a hero to neglected and abused animals. But there’s a right way to do...

The History of Streaming Music

Tue, 03 Sep 2024

When Napster reared its head in 1999, it marked the beginning of the end of the compact disc era. To...

Selects: The Manson Family Murders Part 1

Sat, 31 Aug 2024

The '60s ended with a lot of turbulence, not the least of which was the Manson Family Murders. What ...

How Bomb Disposal Works

Thu, 29 Aug 2024

Out of all the jobs a person can have, few are as overtly dangerous as making sure bombs don’t go ...

Short Stuff: Skid Row (not the band)

Wed, 28 Aug 2024

How did a large section of downtown Los Angeles become a permanent fixture of unhoused individuals? ...

The Strange Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon

Tue, 27 Aug 2024

The Olympic marathon of 1904 is an incredible story filled with wacky characters, cheating, heat and...

Selects: Hummingbirds: Ornery Helicopters of the Animal Kingdom

Sat, 24 Aug 2024

If you didn’t already know how amazing hummingbirds are, prepare to learn. Not only do they count ...

The Luddites: Misunderstood Working Class Heroes

Thu, 22 Aug 2024

Today we think of Luddites as people who don’t know how to use technology or are maybe even afraid...

Short Stuff: Chupacabra

Wed, 21 Aug 2024

What in the world is a chupacabra? Is it even real or is it the stuff of legend? Listen in to find o...

True Mysteries of the Internet

Tue, 20 Aug 2024

There is A LOT of made-up stuff on the internet that gets passed off as true. But once in a while so...

Selects: Body Language!

Sat, 17 Aug 2024

Body language is how you communicate without words. Some say it bears more impact in communication t...

The Cher Episode

Thu, 15 Aug 2024

Cher is an icon, with hits spanning an unbelievable SEVEN decades. So kick back as we laud the singe...

Short Stuff: Tarring and Feathering

Wed, 14 Aug 2024

Being tarred and feathered is an old trope in America, but the actuality of it was pretty brutal, no...

Minecraft! Minecraft! Minecraft!

Tue, 13 Aug 2024

It’s so simple, yet so compelling: you mine blocks and cut down trees to put things together to ma...

Selects: Genghis Khan: Madman or Genius?

Sat, 10 Aug 2024

Depending on who you talk to, Genghis Khan was either a sadistic madman or one of the great leaders ...

The Call of the Void: Don’t Pick Up!

Thu, 08 Aug 2024

Many of us have experienced the odd sensation that we shouldn’t trust ourselves not to simply jump...

Short Stuff: Pruney Skin

Wed, 07 Aug 2024

We know how our skin prunes, but we don't know for sure why. Chuck likes the leading theory, Josh do...

The Story of Rudolf Diesel

Tue, 06 Aug 2024

Rudolf Diesel was a game changing inventor, though his most famous product was not used how he envis...

Selects: Timber! How Timber Works

Sat, 03 Aug 2024

Throughout much of the world, the forests are being managed through sustainable timber harvesting pr...

The One About Car Washes

Thu, 01 Aug 2024

The car wash you get to ride through on a journey to sparklingness is made of a handful of different...

Short Stuff: ZIP Codes!

Wed, 31 Jul 2024

ZIP codes are pretty self-explanatory, but there are all kinds of fun facts around the topic. Listen...

Who was Dr. Bronner?

Tue, 30 Jul 2024

You may have his soap in your shower, but what do you know about the man himself? Buckle up, here co...

Selects: The Tulsa 'Race Riots'

Sat, 27 Jul 2024

In reality, the Tulsa "race riots" of 1921 was more like a massacre. Yet it was almost lost to histo...

The KILLDOZER Rampage

Thu, 25 Jul 2024

The Killdozer rampage is one of those stories you just couldn't make up. Yet it happened. And we're ...

Short Stuff: The Ritchie Boys

Wed, 24 Jul 2024

Who were the Ritchie Boys? Listen in to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

Phone Phreaking: The Advent of Hacking

Tue, 23 Jul 2024

Years ago the telephone network was like the internet is to us today: a vast, interconnected means o...

Selects: The Duality of Caffeine

Sat, 20 Jul 2024

Caffeine is a heck of a drug - at the same time it's both good and bad for you. Learn the good, bad ...

HPV and You

Thu, 18 Jul 2024

Human papilloma virus, HPV, is an unusually common bug among humans. Most of the time it’s benign ...

Short Stuff: Sitzpinklers Unite

Wed, 17 Jul 2024

Sitzpinklers - men who sit down to pee - is a big thing in Germany, and a handful of other places. A...

The Puritans in America

Tue, 16 Jul 2024

The founding of New England by the Puritans is quite a story. Today, we dive into who those people w...

Selects: Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Feminist Physician

Sat, 13 Jul 2024

Becoming the first licensed woman physician in America was tough, convincing male surgeons to wash t...

Salsa: NOT THE DANCE

Thu, 11 Jul 2024

Salsa is one of the great inventions of the culinary world. Here in the USA it's mainly a vehicle fo...

Short Stuff: Milk Wars

Wed, 10 Jul 2024

If you’re a mobster and you can’t make money off of booze any longer what should you move to nex...

Jane Goodall: All Good

Tue, 09 Jul 2024

There aren’t too many people walking around today who get a pass from the entire world for anythin...

Selects: How the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Work, Part II

Sat, 06 Jul 2024

In this classic episode, we finish revisiting our 2017 tour of the best sights of the ancient world ...

Salute to Women Inventors

Thu, 04 Jul 2024

Women inventors have always had a tough time, for obvious reasons. So we're here today to pay tribut...

Short Stuff: POW Olympics

Wed, 03 Jul 2024

While it sounds like something out of a movie, some POWs in WWII really held an Olympics. And it hap...

How Dopamine Works

Tue, 02 Jul 2024

Dopamine is perhaps the most talked-about, most misunderstood biochemical in our bodies. It’s link...

Selects: How Restaurant Health Inspections Work

Sat, 29 Jun 2024

If you've ever worked in a restaurant, you know the feeling that occurs when the health inspector pa...

EXTRA! EXTRA! The Newsboy Strike Episode!

Thu, 27 Jun 2024

When paperboys stopped delivering a couple of very big newspapers in 1899 it was a big deal. Big eno...

Short Stuff: James Dean's Car

Wed, 26 Jun 2024

The story of what happened to the car that James Dean crashed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...

Whistling!

Tue, 25 Jun 2024

Whistling is pretty cool when you think about it because it can mean many things, from simple happy ...

Selects: How the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Work, Part I

Sat, 22 Jun 2024

Long before slide rulers and pocket protectors, civilizations across the world used their noggins to...

The Big Episode on Wikipedia

Thu, 20 Jun 2024

Wikipedia changed the world. Before it came along, you had to go to the library to get the answers y...

Short Stuff: Hostile Architecture

Wed, 19 Jun 2024

Those armrests in the middle of benches aren’t just for your comfort, they’re intended to keep t...

Why Must Widowhood Be So Difficult?

Tue, 18 Jun 2024

In almost every part of the world, in some form or fashion, widows have things harder than they did ...

Selects: The Murder Mystery of Ötzi the Iceman

Sat, 15 Jun 2024

About 5,300 years ago a Copper Age shepherd was murdered. He just happened to die in a place where h...

A Brief History of Air Travel

Thu, 13 Jun 2024

Today we take to the friendly skies to detail the fascinating history of air travel. From planes wit...

Short Stuff: Peace Sign

Wed, 12 Jun 2024

The peace sign is one of the most globally recognized symbols around today, but it’s only a few de...

Coercive Control, the Invisible Basis of Abuse

Tue, 11 Jun 2024

When we think of an abused spouse we tend to think of horrific physical or emotional violence. But o...

Selects: Sunburn, Suntans and Sunscreen

Sat, 08 Jun 2024

It's pretty obvious something's gone wrong when you get a sunburn, but did you know a tan means you'...

The Ballad of Grit

Thu, 06 Jun 2024

In the last decade American schools became enrapt by a new psychological concept centered on perseve...

Short Stuff: Amber Alerts

Wed, 05 Jun 2024

Learn all about the saddest phone notification in today's episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for ...

Conductors: What the heck is going on there?

Tue, 04 Jun 2024

You've probably been to a symphony performance and wondered, what in the heck are conductors doing u...

Selects: What are think tanks all about?

Sat, 01 Jun 2024

Think tanks? More like stink tanks! We're kidding. Think tanks do valuable work, when they operate i...

The Guinness Book of Records

Thu, 30 May 2024

If you grew up in the 70s and 80s in America, you probably have the image of your tattered Guinness ...

Short Stuff: What's a mudlarker?

Wed, 29 May 2024

Mudlarking is a uniquely British hobby, though you can dig through river mud anywhere there's a rive...

The shameful and harrowing story Unit 731

Tue, 28 May 2024

Unit 731 was a secret group within the Japanese Army in WWII that committed unspeakable atrocities a...

Selects: How Vomit Phobia Works

Sat, 25 May 2024

No one - no one - likes to vomit, but there are some people who would prefer to die rather than vomi...

J. Edgar Hoover: Evil G-Man Pt. 2

Thu, 23 May 2024

In the exciting conclusion of our two-part episode on Hoover, we come in at the Cold War and end on ...

Short Stuff: Hobo Signs

Wed, 22 May 2024

By definition hobos are people who travel from town to town taking odd jobs as they go. But some tow...

J. Edgar Hoover: Evil G-Man Pt. 1

Tue, 21 May 2024

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that J. Edgar Hoover was perhaps the most powerful American...

Selects: The Great War of the Worlds Panic Myth

Sat, 18 May 2024

On Halloween 1938 young radio star Orson Welles scared the pants off of America with a fictional new...

The Silurian Hypothesis

Thu, 16 May 2024

The idea that we aren’t the first advanced civilization to live on Earth sounds like a fringe theo...

Short Stuff: Zambonis!

Wed, 15 May 2024

Even the dullest hockey game is worth seeing when the Zamboni comes out to resurface the ice.See omn...

NYC Trash: A study in persistence

Tue, 14 May 2024

Taking care of 12,000 tons of residential trash every day is a hard job. But how does that even work...

Selects: How Stuttering Works

Sat, 11 May 2024

Despite as much as one percent of the adult population having the condition, science doesn't actuall...

10 - Yes, 10! - Dumb Criminals

Thu, 09 May 2024

Sometimes you just have to turn it off for a while – all the thinking, and overthinking, analyzing...

Short Stuff: Titanic Survivors!

Wed, 08 May 2024

We all know the story of the Titanic and the tragedy of lives lost. So hey, let's talk about the sur...

Misophonia: More Than an Annoyance

Tue, 07 May 2024

Misophonia is a condition in which certain sounds trigger people in very negative ways that can real...

Selects: The Legends of Lost Nazi Gold

Sat, 04 May 2024

As if being murdering SOBs weren’t enough, the Nazis were also thieving rats. During WWII, they st...

Atomic Clocks, Ahoy!

Thu, 02 May 2024

The only thing more complicated than an atomic clock is researching how they work and then figuring ...

Short Stuff: Getting Winded

Wed, 01 May 2024

Getting the wind knocked out of you is scary, but passes quickly. Learn exactly what's happening wit...

The Village People Episode

Tue, 30 Apr 2024

The Village People were a smash hit singing group that came and went in under two years. Then other ...

Selects: How the Beagle Brigade Works

Sat, 27 Apr 2024

If you've ever been to an international airport, you've probably seen one of the keenest spotters of...

The Awful Crimes of Georgia Tann

Thu, 25 Apr 2024

Georgia Tann was a bad human. We feel safe in saying that because she kidnapped babies from poor fam...

Short Stuff: The Sad, Strange Tale of Margaret Schilling

Wed, 24 Apr 2024

Not too much is known about Margaret Schilling. She was the kind of person whose memory might have b...

The Power of the Wind

Tue, 23 Apr 2024

You probably know wind energy projects have been around since the 90s, but did you know they now pro...

Selects: Special Effects: A Short History

Sat, 20 Apr 2024

Special effects have been around since the first movies. In fact, the techniques the earliest filmma...

Hitchhiking: Two thumbs out!

Thu, 18 Apr 2024

Today we go down the road a bit, thumbs out, to explore the rich history of hitchhiking. See omnyst...

Short Stuff: The Amazing Tale of Juliane Koepcke

Wed, 17 Apr 2024

Few people have been more qualified to survive a plane crash alone in the Amazon for almost two week...

The Dubious Science of Arson Investigation

Tue, 16 Apr 2024

Arson investigation has changed a lot over the years. There is actual science available now, but the...

Selects: How Famines Work

Sat, 13 Apr 2024

It's common knowledge that famines are usually caused by major droughts: Rain doesn't fall, crops d...

Testosterone and Estrogen: Wondrous Hormones

Thu, 11 Apr 2024

We think of estrogen and testosterone as the female and male sex hormones and they may seem kind of ...

Short Stuff: Straitjackets

Wed, 10 Apr 2024

Straitjackets aren't really a thing anymore unless you're watching a movie or TV show. Or in prison....

The 1977 Women's Conference That Changed America

Tue, 09 Apr 2024

The 70s were the decade of the woman in the US. America finally was coming around to the understandi...

Selects: All the Gold In Fort Knox: Meh

Sat, 06 Apr 2024

When Fort Knox was built in the 1930s to house America’s gold supply, it was billed as an impenetr...

The Everglades: Wowee

Thu, 04 Apr 2024

One of America’s most important ecosystems takes up more than half the state of Florida. It’s a ...

Short Stuff: Knock on Wood

Wed, 03 Apr 2024

What's the deal with knocking on wood? It's an action one takes to ensure good luck. Which doesn't e...

Greedflation Is Real

Tue, 02 Apr 2024

One of the things we rely on is for the companies who make the stuff we need to not stick it to us, ...

Selects: Who is The Man of the Hole?

Sat, 30 Mar 2024

In 2018, there's a man from a lost tribe still living deep in the jungles of Brazil who has been all...

The Pulitzer Prize: A major award!

Thu, 28 Mar 2024

It doesn't get much bigger than the Pulitzer Prize if you're a journalist. Or a novelist. Or really ...

Short Stuff: Ramree Island Crocodile Massacre

Wed, 27 Mar 2024

The strange thing about the story of the Ramree Island Crocodile Massacre is that it didn't happen. ...

Love Canal: Even Dirtier Than It Sounds

Tue, 26 Mar 2024

A man with an unfulfilled vision left a huge gash in the ground near Niagara Falls. Then a chemical ...

Selects: MOVE: Or When the Philly Police Dropped a Bomb on a Residential Neighborhood

Sat, 23 Mar 2024

Believe it or not, in 1985 the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb from a helicopter onto ...

Peanuts (the comic) Part II

Thu, 21 Mar 2024

Today is part II of our tribute to one of the most iconic pieces of American culture.See omnystudio....

Short Stuff: Mariko Aoki Phenomenon

Wed, 20 Mar 2024

Ten percent of people – in Japan at least – get the urge to poop when they visit bookstores. But...

Peanuts (the comic) Part I

Tue, 19 Mar 2024

Today we pay tribute to one of the most iconic pieces of American culture. Listen in to hear us gush...

Selects: How Dyslexia Works

Sat, 16 Mar 2024

For a learning disability that everyone seems to know about, dyslexia is maybe the most commonly mis...

The Alien Abduction Phenomenon of the Mid-20th Century

Thu, 14 Mar 2024

It started with New Hampshire couple Betty and Barney Hill, who learned under hypnosis they’d been...

Short Stuff: Skittles and TIO2

Wed, 13 Mar 2024

There’s an ingredient in Skittles and lots of other food that Dunkin Donuts stopped using it in th...

Leave Brutalism Alone!

Tue, 12 Mar 2024

The most reviled, hated, despised, no-good, low down, dirty rotten architectural style of all time i...

Selects: The Science of Break-Ups

Sat, 09 Mar 2024

Breaking up is hard to do. Your brain might even think you're getting over a cocaine addiction. Lear...

The Smiley, Stubborn Llama

Thu, 07 Mar 2024

Llamas are pretty great. They smile! They also spit and if they feel overworked will just lay down. ...

Short Stuff: Roly Poly...Bugs?

Wed, 06 Mar 2024

Roly Poly bugs go by many names. They look like tiny armadillos. They're great for your garden. And ...

Multitasking: Working slower with worse results

Tue, 05 Mar 2024

Multitasking isn't really possible, because of the way the human brain works. We know you think you'...

Selects: The Case of Sacco and Vanzetti

Sat, 02 Mar 2024

The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, two anarchists accused of murder, was one of the first "crimes of t...

Wireless Electricity: When Can We Unplug Our TVs?

Thu, 29 Feb 2024

You know all of those cords and cables and wires that we use to connect our stuff to the electrical ...

Short Stuff: Smudging: Not just for hippies

Wed, 28 Feb 2024

Smudging is the process of wafting around the smoke of burning white sage. What is it good for? List...

Haile Selassie: Statesman, Colonizer, God?

Tue, 27 Feb 2024

If you grew up outside of Africa, you might know Haile Selassie’s name from reggae music - the man...

Selects: How Zero Population Growth Works

Sat, 24 Feb 2024

In 1968, Paul Erlich published The Population Bomb, predicting coming famine and mass death. Erlich'...

The Story of the Nuclear Boy Scout

Thu, 22 Feb 2024

David Hahn was a kid who was really into science. So much that he built a nuclear reactor in his mot...

Short Stuff: Benin Bronzes

Wed, 21 Feb 2024

One of the world’s cultural treasure troves were created in West Africa. But for over a century th...

Ray and Charles Eames: More than Chairs

Tue, 20 Feb 2024

Charles and Ray Eames were superstar designers who dreamed up some of the most iconic pieces of furn...

Selects: Geodesic Domes: The Wave of the Future That Wasn't

Sat, 17 Feb 2024

Sometimes a good idea doesn’t pan out in real life. Take Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome: It ...

Like, here's the episode on "like"

Thu, 15 Feb 2024

Like is a very divisive word. Purists think it's like, a filler word born in the 80s that's like, de...

Short Stuff: The Original Snake Oil Salesman

Wed, 14 Feb 2024

There’s a great origin story behind snake oil salesmen, and it has to do with just one guy who sin...

What Americans Ate When There Were No Food Laws

Tue, 13 Feb 2024

There was a brief period in America’s history – after people left the farm to work in the city a...

Selects: The Unabomber: Misguided to say the least

Sat, 10 Feb 2024

The Unabomber was one of the most notorious and longest lasting cases in the history of the FBI. Jus...

What's the Pygmalion Effect?

Thu, 08 Feb 2024

Do teachers and managers give special treatment to those who they're told have great academic or pro...

Short Stuff: School Bus Yellow

Wed, 07 Feb 2024

Why are all school buses the same color? Because one man made it so. This is that story. See omnyst...

Clue(do): Third Best Board Game Ever

Tue, 06 Feb 2024

Whether you know it as Clue or Cluedo, the whodunnit mystery board game is one of the best of all ti...

Selects: How Disgust Works

Sat, 03 Feb 2024

Disgust is an odd thing. It makes sense that we would feel a sense of revulsion at the thought of pu...

The History of Las Vegas

Thu, 01 Feb 2024

How did the sleepy Nevada town of Las Vegas become LAS VEGAS? Well, we'll let you know over the cour...

Short Stuff: Wainscoting: When Half a Wall is Enough

Wed, 31 Jan 2024

Wainscoting is a beloved and time-tested decorative way to spruce up your walls. But what is it anyw...

The Harrowing Story of the North Hollywood Shootout

Tue, 30 Jan 2024

Tune in today to listen to the story of when North Hollywood became a war zone after a brazen bank r...

Selects: A List Of Games You Would Surely Lose to a Computer

Sat, 27 Jan 2024

We live in a time where computers can beat the best humans in the world at chess, checkers, poker an...

Esperanto: Tre Mojosa

Thu, 25 Jan 2024

One thing you could do is create your own language. Some people do and for lots of different reasons...

Short Stuff: Hot Cold Plunge

Wed, 24 Jan 2024

Jumping into a cold pool after a long sauna or hot tub can be pretty great. Saunas have proven healt...

The Strange Unsolved Murder of Ken McElroy

Tue, 23 Jan 2024

The murder of Ken McElroy comes off like a story from a cheap paperback book you’d get to read on ...

Selects: Is yogurt a miracle food?

Sat, 20 Jan 2024

Yogurt has been touted as a health food, but is it? Maybe. If you eat it every day. We get into the ...

Jonestown

Thu, 18 Jan 2024

We all know what happened at Jonestown, but who was Jim Jones before the tragedy at the People's Tem...

Short Stuff: Frozen Dead Guy

Wed, 17 Jan 2024

Back in 1994, Nederland, Colorado found out it had a resident it hadn’t accounted for.See omnystud...

Dry Cleaning: Not Really Dry(!)

Tue, 16 Jan 2024

Dry cleaning is one of those things that we’re all familiar with but don’t actually know much ab...

Selects: History's Greatest Traitors

Sat, 13 Jan 2024

The annals of history hold a special place for people who have carried out treachery and betrayed th...

How Cranes Work

Thu, 11 Jan 2024

You’ve probably seen cranes moving elegantly in the sky, but did you know what an important role t...

Short Stuff: NYT Bestseller List

Wed, 10 Jan 2024

What kind of black magic goes into deciding who makes the NYT Bestseller List? Well you probably don...

Kenton Grua: Grand Canyon Legend

Tue, 09 Jan 2024

Tune in today to listen to the amazing story of Colorado River guide Kenton Grua's wild 277 mile rec...

Selects: Dr. Seuss: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Sat, 06 Jan 2024

The Seuss is loose in this episode about legendary children's book author Ted Geisel. The funny thin...

The 2000 Presidential Election: A Real Cluster

Thu, 04 Jan 2024

When George W Bush and Al Gore ran against one another, most pundits predicted a tight race. Absolut...

Short Stuff: Blueprints

Wed, 03 Jan 2024

The story of why blueprints were blue is more involved than you think. It involves a chemical proces...

SYSK Live in Nashville: The Biosphere II Experiment

Tue, 02 Jan 2024

Hello, friends! Join us today for our annual live show release, recorded in beautiful Nashville. On ...

Selects: Nuclear Semiotics: How to Talk to Future Humans

Sat, 30 Dec 2023

The nuclear waste we produce will be dangerous for a very long time. We’ve figured out how to safe...

How Primitive Will Our Descendants Find Us?

Thu, 28 Dec 2023

It’s all fun and games to think about how backwards and misguided some things people did in the pa...

Short Stuff: Scheele's Green

Wed, 27 Dec 2023

Can you imagine a color so alluring that even though you know it’s toxic you’d still use it to y...

How Snails Work

Tue, 26 Dec 2023

They seem gross and bothersome at first, but once you get down to ground level and get to know snail...

Selects: How Fireplaces Work

Sat, 23 Dec 2023

They are dirty, harmful to your health, bad for the environment and utterly charming. Wood-burning f...

The 2023 SYSK Ho-Ho-Holiday Spectacular!

Thu, 21 Dec 2023

Happy Holidays, friends! Tune in today to listen to our annual ad-free holiday extravaganza. There w...

Short Stuff: Christmas Lights

Wed, 20 Dec 2023

Just three years after the lightbulb was invented a compadre of Thomas Edison thought to use them to...

Beanie Babies: Reigning Toy Craze Champion

Tue, 19 Dec 2023

The world has seen a lot of weird investment bubbles in its time, but few of them rival the fever th...

Selects: Star Wars Holiday Spectacular

Sat, 16 Dec 2023

Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made...

Selects: How Dictators Work

Fri, 15 Dec 2023

There are many types of dictators, from so called "benevolent" ones to the kind who rule with an iro...

What was the Skeleton Army?

Thu, 14 Dec 2023

The Skeleton Army was a rowdy group of folks in England who battled, sometimes violently, with the S...

Short Stuff: Pickles

Wed, 13 Dec 2023

Josh loves pickles but hates cucumbers. Chuck loves cucumbers but hates pickles. WHO WILL WIN?See om...

The Matewan Massacre

Tue, 12 Dec 2023

The Matewan Massacre was a pivotal moment for the US mining industry and the labor movement as a who...

Selects: What were the Freedom Schools?

Sat, 09 Dec 2023

Freedom Schools were set up in Mississippi in the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, with the aim o...

The Murder of John Lennon

Thu, 07 Dec 2023

On December 8th, 1980, John Lennon was shot and killed outside his apartment building in New York Ci...

Short Stuff: Boba Tea

Wed, 06 Dec 2023

Boba tea is bubble tea. But what are the bubbles? Tapioca pearls! Listen in today to learn about the...

The Life and Works of J.D. Salinger

Tue, 05 Dec 2023

J.D. Salinger was a complicated and problematic human who stopped publishing soon after creating one...

Selects: Beavers: Tail Slapping Fun

Sat, 02 Dec 2023

Beavers are in fact, very busy. They're builders and solid family members, husbands and wives. Learn...

You Down With OED?

Thu, 30 Nov 2023

The story of the Oxford English Dictionary is really something. From its origin to its crowd-sourced...

Short Stuff: The Zipper Merge

Wed, 29 Nov 2023

When you switch lanes on the highway after noticing that the lane you’re in is ending up ahead, yo...

Plate Tectonics Are What Makes Earth Inhabitable

Tue, 28 Nov 2023

It’s time to get jazzed about Earth science again. It’s only been 60 or so years since we’ve k...

Selects: NYC Water: An Engineering Marvel

Sat, 25 Nov 2023

Getting the rain and melted snow from upstate NY into the taps of every NYC resident and business is...

The Wreck of the Costa Concordia

Thu, 23 Nov 2023

It’s astounding that with the exceptional navigational equipment aboard a cruise ship can run agro...

Short Stuff: Magnetic Pole Switcheroo

Wed, 22 Nov 2023

Everyone once in a while, say a few hundred thousand years or so, the north and south poles of Earth...

Legs! Legs! Legs! (The Periodic Table)

Tue, 21 Nov 2023

If you’ve ever wanted to listen to two totally untrained, non-chemists who are fully unqualified t...

Selects: E.T.: Is It Really the Worst Video Game of All Time?

Sat, 18 Nov 2023

If you play video games you probably have an easy answer to worst game of all time: ET. But it turns...

Diners: The Most American Establishment?

Thu, 16 Nov 2023

Diners may just be the most American establishment there is. They were born in the USA, thanks to Eu...

Short Stuff: Liberty Bell

Wed, 15 Nov 2023

The story of the Liberty Bell is far more confusing than we imagined.See omnystudio.com/listener for...

The Tragic Death of Natalie Wood

Tue, 14 Nov 2023

Natalie Wood was Hollywood royalty who tragically drowned after a long night of partying with her hu...

Selects: Who were the Buffalo Soldiers?

Sat, 11 Nov 2023

Josh and Chuck dive into history in this classic episode to tell the story of the Buffalo Soldiers.S...

How Scuba Works

Thu, 09 Nov 2023

It’s a good, old fashioned how it works episode where we break down all of the nuts and bolts and ...

Short Stuff: Petrified Wood

Wed, 08 Nov 2023

Petrified wood isn't just hard wood. Listen in today to learn all about this unique process. See om...

Things We Believed Before the Scientific Method

Tue, 07 Nov 2023

It’s easy to think of people in the distant past as kinda dumb for believing things like that mice...

Selects: Are Election Laws Designed to Suppress Voting?

Sat, 04 Nov 2023

Are laws that are meant to protect the sanctity of the polling place in reality designed to make it ...

The Harlem Globetrotters: American Treasures

Thu, 02 Nov 2023

The Harlem Globetrotters are an American entertainment institution. Their story may not be quite wha...

Short Stuff: White Dog Poop

Wed, 01 Nov 2023

If you grew up from the 70s to the 90s you know white dog poop. It’s the old, crusty – yes, whit...

The 14th Annual Halloween Spooktacular!

Tue, 31 Oct 2023

As per tradition, today Josh and Chuck perform a spooky Halloween story reading to delight, amuse an...

Selects: How Mummies Work

Sat, 28 Oct 2023

A mummy is a human being whose soft tissue has been preserved after death, and there are mummies aro...

Naked Mole Rats: A Face Only a Mother Could Love

Thu, 26 Oct 2023

Naked mole rats are funny looking to be sure, but neither moles nor rats. So what are they? You'll h...

Short Stuff: Bed Sheet Ghosts

Wed, 25 Oct 2023

The simple bed sheet has provided countless kids and adults with an easy go-to Halloween costume. Bu...

The Compton Cafeteria Riot

Tue, 24 Oct 2023

Three years before the riots at Stonewall, the LGBTQ community of San Francisco's Tenderloin rose up...

Selects: Where Did Trick-Or-Treating Come From?

Sat, 21 Oct 2023

We aren’t exactly sure who invented trick-or-treating – kids who realized they could extort adul...

Kindness: Do It

Thu, 19 Oct 2023

In the tradition of our episodes on forgiveness and revenge, comes the third installment in the Emot...

Short Stuff: Candy Corn

Wed, 18 Oct 2023

Is it vile? Is it delicious? It seems to be both! Hear all about the history of candy corn, how it’...

The Criminal Father of Criminology

Tue, 17 Oct 2023

Eugene Francois Vidocq is without a doubt one of the most interesting figures in modern history. He’...

Selects: Pain Scales: Yeeeow!

Sat, 14 Oct 2023

Pain is subjective; it is whatever the person experiencing it says it is. But to effectively treat p...

How Intellectual Property Works

Thu, 12 Oct 2023

Intellectual property sounds as dry as can be, but it’s actually very interesting. It’s at the h...

Short Stuff: Longyou Caves

Wed, 11 Oct 2023

What’s better than discovering a mysterious cavern? Discovering five!See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Parasocial Relationships: That Podcaster is Your Friend!

Tue, 10 Oct 2023

Parasocial relationships are fascinating and it turns out Chuck knows what it's like from both sides...

Selects: How Motion Sickness Works

Sat, 07 Oct 2023

Motion sickness is the worst and hits about 25 to 40 percent of humans when they ride in cars, boats...

How Andy Warhol Worked

Thu, 05 Oct 2023

You know Andy Warhol from his quip on being famous for 15 minutes and paintings of soup cans, but ev...

Short Stuff: Rhodium

Wed, 04 Oct 2023

Rhodium is one of the most valuable precious metals on Earth, though it has dropped in value by abou...

Night of the Grizzlies

Tue, 03 Oct 2023

Grizzly bears had never killed a person in Glacier National Park until the night of August 12, 1967....

Selects: Social Security Numbers: Less Boring Than You'd Think

Sat, 30 Sep 2023

Do you know that up until July 2011 an ambitious hacker with a good software program could deduce yo...

Revenge: Bitter, Not Sweet

Thu, 28 Sep 2023

Someone cuts you off in traffic or makes fun of your friend and all you can think of is how to get b...

Short Stuff: The Dakota

Wed, 27 Sep 2023

The Dakota is one of New York City's great buildings. And its backstory is pretty great to boot. Se...

The Amazing Life of Christine Granville

Tue, 26 Sep 2023

Christine Granville was about as James Bond as it gets. Stories of her life as a spy during World Wa...

Selects: Cockney Rhyming Slang: Beautiful Gibberish

Sat, 23 Sep 2023

What is Cockney Rhyming Slang? It's complicated and its origins are unclear. Learn everything we kno...

Kombucha: Fizzy Goodness

Thu, 21 Sep 2023

Kombucha is pretty popular right now. But what is it exactly and where did it come from? The answers...

Short Stuff: Origin of Math Signs

Wed, 20 Sep 2023

Have you ever stopped mid-pencil mark and realized to your astonishment where the plus sign came fro...

10ish Worst Business Decisions Ever

Tue, 19 Sep 2023

It’s easy (and kind of fun) to laugh at the misfortune of CEOs and other high up business types wh...

Selects: How Floods Work

Sat, 16 Sep 2023

Floods happen when more water is introduced to an area than can be quickly removed. That's about it,...

The Hyatt Regency Skywalk Disaster

Thu, 14 Sep 2023

In 1981 America suffered the worst accidental structural collapse in its history. Listen in today to...

Short Stuff: Why Spilling Salt is Unlucky

Wed, 13 Sep 2023

Face it, when you spill salt your life goes totally off the rails, maybe even forever. Fortunately, ...

Axolotls: The Smiling Salamander from Mexico

Tue, 12 Sep 2023

It’s a listener request! Axolotls are one of the more amazing animals roaming the planet right now...

Selects: How Space Stations Work

Sat, 09 Sep 2023

It seems like we largely take it for granted these days, but the fact that we have humans living in ...

Native American Reservations

Thu, 07 Sep 2023

Today we dive into the history and current state of Native American reservations. This serves as a n...

Short Stuff: History of OK

Wed, 06 Sep 2023

Is OK the best word? It's certainly one of the most versatile. Check the interesting history of this...

The Made-up Disease of Syndrome K

Tue, 05 Sep 2023

In WWII, Italy went through its own Jewish Holocaust, terrible at first then horrific as the Nazis t...

Selects: Body Odor: You Stink

Sat, 02 Sep 2023

Chuck and Josh end up making reduxes of past episodes on things like sweating and deodorant in this ...

Laurens Hammond: The Non-Musical Genius Who Changed Popular Music

Thu, 31 Aug 2023

Laurens Hammond invented the Hammond organ and in the process changed music history. But he was much...

Short Stuff: Evil Eye

Wed, 30 Aug 2023

You've seen the evil eye. Many Middle Eastern cultures have a long history with it. Learn how to thw...

Fordlandia: Brazil Isn't Michigan

Tue, 29 Aug 2023

Henry Ford tried to build a Midwestern American town in the Amazon rainforest in the 1920s. It's tru...

Selects: How Toy Testing Works

Sat, 26 Aug 2023

It's every kid's dream - a job playing with toys that pays in toys. It's a real thing and has been a...

Plant Migration

Thu, 24 Aug 2023

Climate change is having sweeping effects on our climate and this is changing the world, not just fo...

Short Stuff: Saturn's Rings

Wed, 23 Aug 2023

Friends, treasure Saturn’s rings while they are young. They won’t be around forever.See omnystud...

Farmer's Almanac: Literature to Poop To

Tue, 22 Aug 2023

The Farmer's Almanac has a long rich history that is more than just moon phases and long-term weathe...

Selects: How Music Sampling Works

Sat, 19 Aug 2023

Today music sampling is a common practice, especially in electronic or hip-hop music. But how does i...

The Mysterious Disappearance of the Franklin Expedition

Thu, 17 Aug 2023

One of the great Arctic mysteries was the disappearance of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition in sear...

Short Stuff: Edward Mordake

Wed, 16 Aug 2023

In the 19th century news spread of an unfortunate man who was born with an evil second face on the b...

How We’re Learning to Talk to Animals

Tue, 15 Aug 2023

If we could talk with the animals, grunt and squeak and squawk with the animals, what would we say? ...

Selects: How Magnets Work

Sat, 12 Aug 2023

You can stick them to the fridge or use them to transpose sound to tape, whatever they are used for ...

Xenobiotics

Thu, 10 Aug 2023

Science is just realizing the extent of the tiny pollutants that have entered ecosystems across Eart...

Short Stuff: History of English

Wed, 09 Aug 2023

Who spoke English first and what was it like? Nothing like it is today. Listen in to learn all about...

Dear Diary...

Tue, 08 Aug 2023

Diaries have been around for a long time. There are many famous ones, and tens of millions that will...

Selects: Rainbows: Delighting humanity since forever

Sat, 05 Aug 2023

Rainbows seem to defy nature, but they're really pretty simple when it comes down to it. Turns out i...

The Last Meal Ritual

Thu, 03 Aug 2023

The last meal of the executed is a longstanding tradition. Listen in today to learn about the dark h...

Short Stuff: NATO Alphabet

Wed, 02 Aug 2023

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie. This is the NATO alphabet. But where did it come from?See omnystudio.com/list...

BPD: The Worst Disorder or Not a Disorder at All?

Tue, 01 Aug 2023

Borderline Personality Disorder has been described as emotional “third degree burns over ninety pe...

Selects: What's the deal with Stradivarius violins?

Sat, 29 Jul 2023

The Strad violin is noted for its tonal qualities and superior craftsmanship. And for its price tag....

MAD Magazine: A Tribute

Thu, 27 Jul 2023

Chuck and Josh grew up on MAD Magazine and we hope you did too. What started out as a comic book tha...

Short Stuff: Blue Highway Signs

Wed, 26 Jul 2023

In the US those ubiquitous blue highway signs that tell you which direction you’ll find a Burger K...

Learning a Foreign Language

Tue, 25 Jul 2023

Today, Chuck and Josh dive into the ins and outs of language learning. See omnystudio.com/listener ...

Selects: Nirvana: Not The Band

Sat, 22 Jul 2023

Hinduism and Buddhism are closely related in a number of ways, including their vision of what comes ...

Magic Eye Illusions

Thu, 20 Jul 2023

What became the Magic Eye illusion fad of the 1990s was born by way of the stereogram of the 1950s (...

Short Stuff: Pie-In-The-Face Gag

Wed, 19 Jul 2023

Throwing a pie in someone’s face was groundbreaking comedy once upon a time.See omnystudio.com/lis...

Insomnia: Why you can't sleep

Tue, 18 Jul 2023

Insomnia is rough stuff. Listen in and learn all about why you can't fall asleep and what you can do...

Selects: How Police Lineups Work

Sat, 15 Jul 2023

Police lineups are something most people have never had any firsthand experience with. What you see ...

How PCP Works

Thu, 13 Jul 2023

There is probably no drug more mythologized than PCP. It drives users insane and has the unfortunate...

Short Stuff: Père-Lachaise Cemetery

Wed, 12 Jul 2023

The most famous cemetery in Paris has some of the most famous people in the world buried there. And ...

Birth Order: So nice, we did it twice

Tue, 11 Jul 2023

This is a very special episode, the first one we've ever fully recorded a second time and decided to...

Selects: How Bats Work

Sat, 08 Jul 2023

They are creepy, sure, but they are also useful, cute and in great danger of extinction. Get a new l...

James Beard: Food Legend

Thu, 06 Jul 2023

James Beard is well-known now for the annual awards named in his honor. But he used to be the most f...

Short Stuff: Hollywood Sign

Wed, 05 Jul 2023

The Hollywood sign is an iconic landmark that started out as a real estate billboard. Can you believ...

How Trucking Works

Tue, 04 Jul 2023

If truckers suddenly vanished the global economy would come to a grinding halt in a couple days. But...

Selects: What Makes Lead So Poisonous?

Sat, 01 Jul 2023

The people of Flint, MI were horrified to find their drinking water was poisoned with lead. As we le...

Butterflies: Caterpillars with Wings!

Thu, 29 Jun 2023

If you thought caterpillars were awesome, just wait until you see them with colorful, iridescent win...

Short Stuff: Fahrenheit or Celsius

Wed, 28 Jun 2023

Fahrenheit or Celsius? Why not both? If they can agree - exactly at -40 degrees  - then it seems li...

Caterpillars: Nature's Magicians

Tue, 27 Jun 2023

Caterpillars are simply the best. Don't think so? Well listen in and you'll soon agreeSee omnystudio...

Selects: How Ocean Currents Work

Sat, 24 Jun 2023

It's easy to overlook the importance of ocean currents - they move along out at sea, while we stay m...

How Afrofuturism Works

Thu, 22 Jun 2023

Black sci-fi writers were shut out of their genre in the 20th century so they created their own visi...

Short Stuff: Chia Pet

Wed, 21 Jun 2023

It has arrived, the most important podcast episode in the history of the world. See omnystudio.com/...

Large Language Models and You

Tue, 20 Jun 2023

There is a good chance that in March of 2023, humans crossed a threshold into a transformative new e...

Selects: SYSK Live: Back When Ford Pintos Were Flaming Deathtraps

Sat, 17 Jun 2023

For this special live benefit episode recorded in Atlanta, Josh and Chuck go back to the 70s and loo...

How Alumin(i)um Works

Thu, 15 Jun 2023

Humans made it through the Bronze Age and Iron Age, then we dabbled in steel, and now we are living ...

Short Stuff: Suicide Forest

Wed, 14 Jun 2023

The suicide forest in Japan is a beautiful place with a checkered reputation. Trigger Warning: This ...

The Stinky History of Human Hygiene

Tue, 13 Jun 2023

Ever wondered when and why people started caring about body odors and cleanliness? Well look no furt...

Selects: How Audience Testing Works

Sat, 10 Jun 2023

Did you know some of our most beloved movies originally had different, sometimes better, endings? Th...

Is Reality Real?

Thu, 08 Jun 2023

Philosophers have been wondering whether we experience reality as it is for millennia now. They’ve...

Short Stuff: DNA Data Storage

Wed, 07 Jun 2023

One of the more futuristic things around right now on Earth is research into encoding data into stri...

Why Manners?

Tue, 06 Jun 2023

Keeping your elbows off the table, keeping your fingers out of the gravy boat – at some point thes...

Selects: Pterosaurs: Not Flying Dinosaurs

Sat, 03 Jun 2023

Almost everything you know about pterosaurs is wrong. They weren't birds, they weren't flying dinosa...

What's the deal with intermittent fasting?

Thu, 01 Jun 2023

Could eating at only certain times of the day lead to weight loss? Possibly! See omnystudio.com/lis...

Short Stuff: Rube Goldberg

Wed, 31 May 2023

Everyone knows what a Rube Goldberg machine is, but what do you know about the cartoonist who they'r...

The Saga of Milli Vanilli

Tue, 30 May 2023

For a moment Milli Vanilli was the hottest musical act in the world. Then came the news that it was ...

Selects: How Color Works

Sat, 27 May 2023

Science doesn't have a good explanation for why we sense color, yet it is everywhere and affecting u...

The Semi-Recent History of Exercise

Thu, 25 May 2023

Humans exercising for better health has not been around that long. Today we dive into this fun histo...

Short Stuff: Pollen Count

Wed, 24 May 2023

If you watch the news and hear the pollen count is high for some particular type of plant then it’...

What is the Bechdel Test?

Tue, 23 May 2023

The Bechdel Test is a is a measure of the representation of women in film. You'd be surprised how ma...

Selects: How Dog Shows Work

Sat, 20 May 2023

You know those shows where people wearing sensible shoes jog dogs around in circles? They actually r...

How Juries Work

Thu, 18 May 2023

It’s totally bonkers that in the US and other countries, the job of determining the guilt or innoc...

Short Stuff: Mood Rings

Wed, 17 May 2023

Mood Rings were all the rage in the 1970s. Then they went away, and fast. What's your color today?Se...

The Inflammation Theory of Disease

Tue, 16 May 2023

Not too long ago we thought that germs were the cause of most diseases, leading to germ theory. But ...

Selects: How Slinky Works

Sat, 13 May 2023

It has been called a "glorified spring", but Slinky is one of the best selling toys of all time. Fro...

How TV Weathercasters Work

Thu, 11 May 2023

TV weather people can seem corny and maybe a little nerdy, but beneath that toothsome exterior lies ...

Short Stuff: Frances Kelsey: Hero of the FDA

Wed, 10 May 2023

Who is Frances Kelsey? Well, she's a semi-unsung hero of the FDA whose work helped save a lot of kid...

The Colosseum

Tue, 09 May 2023

It's funny how similar The Colosseum in Rome is to modern day arenas. They really had it figured out...

Selects: Does the body replace itself?

Sat, 06 May 2023

Does the human body really replace itself every few years? The answer is yes, but different parts of...

Introducing Smell-O-Vision!

Thu, 04 May 2023

Smell-O-Vision was a post-war movie theater gimmick that delivered well-timed scents to the noses of...

Short Stuff: Dunbar's Number

Wed, 03 May 2023

There’s a theory that all of us have a maximum number of friendships that we can maintain – 150,...

Nerf!

Tue, 02 May 2023

Another classic toys edition is at your collective feet. Today, we dive into the soft, padded world ...

Selects: How Manhunts Work

Sat, 29 Apr 2023

When a suspect or prisoner goes on the lam there are plenty of ways to hide: in plain sight, in the ...

Carbon Monoxide: Please Just Listen Anyway

Thu, 27 Apr 2023

It might not be the sexiest topic we’ve ever covered (and by “might”, we mean “definitely”...

Short Stuff: Botox Brain

Wed, 26 Apr 2023

Botox can chase away the lines on your face, apparently it can chase away your depression, borderlin...

Why does everyone love Dolly Parton?

Tue, 25 Apr 2023

Today we dive in to celebrate the international treasure that is Dolly Parton. Why is she nearly uni...

Selects: Was There A Real Robin Hood?

Sat, 22 Apr 2023

Is it true that Robin Hood hung out in Sherwood Forest and stole from the rich to give to the poor? ...

METI: Existential Threat? Probably Yes

Thu, 20 Apr 2023

We've wanted to contact extraterrestrials for as long as we've suspected they're out there. But as w...

Short Stuff: Routines

Wed, 19 Apr 2023

Routines are a key part of a successful life. Ask anybody about theirs and they'll be happy to share...

Should Rich Countries Cancel Poor Countries’ Debt?

Tue, 18 Apr 2023

It sounds controversial, but there are persuasive arguments for the wealthy Global North to write of...

Selects: How Coffins Work

Sat, 15 Apr 2023

Sure, you've probably laid in one at the store or a funeral home, but how much do you know about rec...

John Brinkley: The Quackiest Quack in History?

Thu, 13 Apr 2023

John Brinkley was perhaps the biggest quack who ever claimed to be practicing medicine. Learn all ab...

Short Stuff: Red Snow

Wed, 12 Apr 2023

Thanks to green algae, there's such a thing as red snow. And we've recently found it can accelerate ...

How Skydiving Works

Tue, 11 Apr 2023

At 13,000 feet the ground is nothing but far-away squares of land, and you can even see some clouds ...

Selects: Some Nutso Fan Theories

Sat, 08 Apr 2023

It turns out that the characters in your favorite TV shows and the like are actually dead, dreaming,...

Playing Cards? You Got That Right!

Thu, 06 Apr 2023

If you've ever wanted to learn more about playing cards, now is your big chance. See omnystudio.com...

Short Stuff: Beethoven’s DNA

Wed, 05 Apr 2023

It's been all over the news, Beethoven's DNA has revealed some interesting things about his health.S...

What Caused the Late Bronze Age Collapse?

Tue, 04 Apr 2023

Humans’ first attempt at civilization went pretty well for the first thousand years. Important stu...

Selects: How Jet Lag Works

Sat, 01 Apr 2023

It was only since 1958 that the Jet Age began, and jet lag became a real condition. Also known as de...

What's the deal with dowsing?

Thu, 30 Mar 2023

Dowsing, aka water-witching has been around a long time. And you might be surprised that's still a t...

Short Stuff: Theme Park Cremations

Wed, 29 Mar 2023

There’s a little-discussed trend you might run into at your favorite theme park – people scatter...

The First Road Trip

Tue, 28 Mar 2023

Back when cars were a brand new thing, before people even knew they'd stick around, two men and a do...

Selects: Is The Uncanny Valley Real?

Sat, 25 Mar 2023

In 1970, roboticist Masahiro Mori wrote an essay that said the closer robots come to lifelike, the m...

An Interesting, Vastly Incomplete Look at Baseball Cards

Thu, 23 Mar 2023

One of the all-stars of the hobby world is collecting baseball cards. Over time it’s gone from a k...

Short Stuff: Semantic Satiation

Wed, 22 Mar 2023

You know when you read a word over and over it starts to lose its meaning? There’s a term for that...

The Tragic Tale of Floyd Collins

Tue, 21 Mar 2023

Floyd Collins was a natural-born caver who met a terrible fate, becoming stuck underground where no ...

Selects: Do People Really Run Off to Join the French Foreign Legion?

Sat, 18 Mar 2023

Anyone who knows anything about Jean-Claude Van Damme knows he played a French legionnaire in the mo...

Arcades: Nostalgia Abounds

Thu, 16 Mar 2023

Chuck and Josh were around during the Golden Age of the arcade. And look how they turned out! Join t...

Short Stuff: John Cage's 639 Year Concert

Wed, 15 Mar 2023

John Cage was a unique artist to say the least. Learn all about this avant-garde composer today.See ...

That's Amaro!

Tue, 14 Mar 2023

Amaro is a delicious traditional liqueur, usually from Italy, that has delighted diners and drinkers...

Selects: The Time Nazis Invaded Florida

Sat, 11 Mar 2023

During World War II, Nazis invaded the United States with saboteurs bent on fomenting chaos. Three t...

Woodstock: The Festival for Stardust, Golden Hippies

Thu, 09 Mar 2023

You may have heard your parents or – gasp – grandparents prattle on about how amazing the origin...

Short Stuff: Paprika

Wed, 08 Mar 2023

Paprika is more than a smoky Hungarian spice. Actually, that's not true, that's exactly what it is. ...

Noncompete Agreements, Come On

Tue, 07 Mar 2023

A noncompete agreement, a pledge not to work for a competitor for a set amount of time, makes sense ...

Selects: Live From San Francisco: How Malls Work

Sat, 04 Mar 2023

In this classic show recorded live on January 5, 2017 at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, Josh and ...

Crosswords episode, perhaps?

Thu, 02 Mar 2023

Crossword puzzles have an interesting history and are a lot of fun to do. Dive in today to learn abo...

Short Stuff: La Pascualita

Wed, 01 Mar 2023

In a bridal shop in Chihuahua, Mexico a mannequin has been standing in the window since the 1930s th...

The Awe-Inspiring, Absolutely Crucial Amazon

Tue, 28 Feb 2023

If you’ve ever thought, “What’s the Amazon rainforest ever done for me? Nothin, that’s what,...

Selects: Who Committed the 1912 Villisca Ax Murders?

Sat, 25 Feb 2023

In a small town in Iowa in 1912 eight people were murdered in the grisliest of ways while they slept...

Naps: Chuck's Secret Talent

Thu, 23 Feb 2023

Naps are great if you can manage to find the space to take them. The trick is to do it for the right...

Short Stuff: Sleeping On It

Wed, 22 Feb 2023

It’s pretty well known that if you wait to make a big decision until after you get some sleep, you...

The Mystery of the Lost Amber Room

Tue, 21 Feb 2023

Chuck and Josh turn into the Hardy Boys for one of the great unsolved mysteries of WWII, a work of a...

Selects: The Max Headroom Affair

Sat, 18 Feb 2023

In 1987, a very strange broadcast intrusion occurred in the city of Chicago. For just a couple of mi...

The Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire

Thu, 16 Feb 2023

The fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club was not in Los Angeles, but Kentucky. Which happened to be...

Short Stuff: Beulah Mae Donald

Wed, 15 Feb 2023

In 1981 a Mobile mother of six was forced into the role of civil rights activist when the Klan murde...

The Glorious Flamingo

Tue, 14 Feb 2023

Flamingos are much more than just pretty pink birds. They are in fact, quite remarkable! Listen and ...

Selects: Cave Diving: Totally Nuts

Sat, 11 Feb 2023

There are extreme sports and then there is cave diving, the most extreme activity a person can engag...

How (O)possums Work

Thu, 09 Feb 2023

Josh and Chuck take a listener’s suggestion – many, many suggestions – and learn that possums ...

Short Stuff: No Shirt, No Shoes, WTF

Wed, 08 Feb 2023

You can thank your parents and grandparents for the longstanding ban against dining shirtless and sh...

Honey: Nature's Wonder Sugar

Tue, 07 Feb 2023

Honey is an amazing thing. Just ask any bee. They make a ton of it. So much that humans get what bee...

Selects: How Easy Bake Ovens Work

Sat, 04 Feb 2023

Easy Bake Ovens are as iconic as a toy can get, as American as apple pie or baseball. Learn all abou...

The Largely Equine History of Veterinary Medicine

Thu, 02 Feb 2023

Vets have been around for a long time, but mainly to care for horses. When horse travel went away, g...

Short Stuff: Bird Migration

Wed, 01 Feb 2023

Where are all those birds flying anyway? How do they decide? When do they do it? All of these questi...

Must We Suffer Emotional Pain?

Tue, 31 Jan 2023

It’s part of the human condition, to feel the pain of sorrow, loss, embarrassment. But isn’t it ...

Selects: Elephants: The Best Animals?

Sat, 28 Jan 2023

Elephants are pretty much the best. Why? Josh and Chuck will let you know in great detail in this cl...

How Attachment Theory Works

Thu, 26 Jan 2023

A theory in the field of psychology has become so pervasive, it’s generally taken on faith that it...

Short Stuff: Adam's Apples and Throat Lumps

Wed, 25 Jan 2023

This week's short stuff is all about throat lumps and Adam's apples.See omnystudio.com/listener for ...

Let's Talk About John DeLorean

Tue, 24 Jan 2023

John DeLorean: visionary, car maker extraordinaire, buyer of large amounts of cocaine, provider of t...

Selects: How Game Shows Work

Sat, 21 Jan 2023

Join Josh and Chuck and a whole bunch of great people at the Gothic Theatre in Denver for this live ...

Toast: As in browned bread

Thu, 19 Jan 2023

Toast is bread that has been browned by heat. It's delicious. This is our ode to toast.See omnystudi...

Short Stuff: Women Pirates

Wed, 18 Jan 2023

The Golden Age of Pirates didn’t have just men floating on the high seas. Some women became very s...

The Louisiana Purchase: Not a Purchase

Tue, 17 Jan 2023

Turns out the Louisiana Purchase was not so much a purchase, but the right to (steal) purchase it fr...

Selects: How Therapeutic Hypothermia Works

Sat, 14 Jan 2023

Physicians noticed centuries ago that people exposed to cold temperatures often have amazing recover...

How Tarot Works?

Thu, 12 Jan 2023

This is not a hit piece! Tarot helps plenty of people navigate their lives and reflect on their feel...

Short Stuff: Forest Lawn Memorial Park

Wed, 11 Jan 2023

Forest Lawn is no ordinary cemetery. Why? Listen in and find out.See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

How Enron Fooled the World

Tue, 10 Jan 2023

Until the 2007, the largest single corporate bankruptcy was Enron, a $67 billion energy trading comp...

Selects: How Perfume Works

Sat, 07 Jan 2023

Women consistently rate scent as the most important factor in a man's attractiveness and men have be...

When Mount St. Helens Blew Its Top

Thu, 05 Jan 2023

Mount St. Helen's is a lovely sight to behold, but was a pretty scary thing to be around in the Spri...

Short Stuff: Dangers of Nose Picking

Wed, 04 Jan 2023

You don’t have to lie - everybody picks their nose. But did you know it can be life-threatening? I...

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (not the song)

Tue, 03 Jan 2023

Today Josh and Chuck delve into the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Not the song, but the maritime a...

Selects: Could There Be A Loch Ness Monster?

Sat, 31 Dec 2022

People have believed something strange lives in Loch Ness for at least 3500 years. Thousands of peop...

The Rocky Horror Picture Show Podcast Episode

Thu, 29 Dec 2022

This one goes out to the SYSK Army as a special request. Let's do the time warp again!See omnystudio...

Short Stuff: Mesas: Flat

Wed, 28 Dec 2022

Mesas, buttes and plateaus are all very similar. We'll break down the differences in each one just t...

Juicy: The Fried Chicken Story

Tue, 27 Dec 2022

Fried chicken is Chuck’s favorite food, and Josh sure doesn’t dislike it. It is with this apprec...

Selects: Star Wars Holiday Spectacular

Sat, 24 Dec 2022

Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made...

2022 Holiday Spectacular!

Thu, 22 Dec 2022

Another year comes to a close here at SYSK, which means our annual Holiday Spectacular is at hand. S...

Short Stuff: Snow Globes

Wed, 21 Dec 2022

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who was Dorothy Parker, really?

Tue, 20 Dec 2022

She was known for her quick wit and sharp tongue. But she was also a poet, screenwriter and activist...

Selects: Nostradamus: Predictor of the future? Not so much.

Sat, 17 Dec 2022

Nostradamus delighted us all in grade school, but it turns out the real guy wasn't quite as prescien...

Interesting Origins of Everyday Phrases

Thu, 15 Dec 2022

We don’t think about the words and phrases we use all the time - until Josh and Chuck look into th...

Short Stuff: The Atlanta Washer Woman Strike

Wed, 14 Dec 2022

One of the very first union strikes in US history was mounted by a group of African American women i...

How the Nintendo Entertainment System Changed Gaming Forever

Tue, 13 Dec 2022

For the holidays in 1986 (and ’87) (and ’88) the most stupendous, most wanted, most amazing thin...

Selects: How Polar Bears Work

Sat, 10 Dec 2022

Polar bears are more than just lovable creatures that roam the ice in search of food. They're one of...

True Crime: The Phantom of Heilbronn

Thu, 08 Dec 2022

After the murder of a cop in southwest Germany in 2007 a massive hunt was launched across Europe. Th...

Short Stuff: Birthday Paradox

Wed, 07 Dec 2022

The Birthday Paradox involves math, so you know this one will go perfectly.See omnystudio.com/listen...

How Face Blindness Works

Tue, 06 Dec 2022

It’s not that the person who can never remember meeting you is snobby or even absent-minded; they ...

Selects: The Rubik's Cube Episode

Sat, 03 Dec 2022

Rubik's Cubes. Ronald Reagan. Jerry Falwell. Just Say No. One of these things was awesome. Take a gu...

How Down Syndrome Works

Thu, 01 Dec 2022

People with Down syndrome lead rich, complex lives like any other human, but it’s only been in the...

Short Stuff: Goosebumps

Wed, 30 Nov 2022

Goosebumps are a pretty cool evolutionary holdover from our earlier days as furry beasts. Don't beli...

Peripersonal Space: Humans’ Got Talent

Tue, 29 Nov 2022

The space around you that you can reach with your arms is a very special place. It’s where we inte...

Selects: How Umami Works!

Sat, 26 Nov 2022

For millennia humans have recognized four tastes, but in the 1980s a fifth taste first isolated in J...

Roller Skating: Fun and Cool

Thu, 24 Nov 2022

The Victorians were the first to go bonkers for roller skating and since then the pastime has had bu...

Short Stuff: Liquid Paper

Wed, 23 Nov 2022

Correction fluid goes by many names, but the OG was Liquid Paper. And it has a pretty cool origin st...

Typewriters: Mechanical Brilliance

Tue, 22 Nov 2022

Chuck loves typewriters because he loves mechanical brilliance. Dive into the cool history of these ...

Selects: How Dark Money Works

Sat, 19 Nov 2022

Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2010 in the Citizens United case that political contributions are s...

Did Shakespeare really write all that stuff?

Thu, 17 Nov 2022

The question of Shakespeare's authorship has been around since at least the mid-1800s. Is there anyt...

Short Stuff: Incomplete Yawns

Wed, 16 Nov 2022

Is there anything – anything – worse than a yawn you can’t finish? It’s hard to think of any...

The Sordid History of Bachelor/Bachelorette Parties

Tue, 15 Nov 2022

When it comes to pre-wedding festivities, bachelor and bachelorette parties take the penis-shaped ca...

Selects: Finders Keepers: Real Law

Sat, 12 Nov 2022

You know that heartbreak of the schoolyard – finders keepers, losers weepers? That’s actual law ...

How Owls Work

Thu, 10 Nov 2022

It’s time for another great animal episode and in this one we swoop into the world of owls – nat...

Short Stuff: Dodleston Messages

Wed, 09 Nov 2022

It’s not everyday that a message from the 16th century appears on a computer from the 1980s, so wh...

What's so important about legal precedent?

Tue, 08 Nov 2022

Legal precedent is an odd thing. It matters, but it isn't codified. There are advantages and disadva...

Selects: What is an invasive species?

Sat, 05 Nov 2022

Invasive species can mean a lot of things, from fungus to feral pigs and European starlings to kudzu...

Vaudeville: Step Right Up!

Thu, 03 Nov 2022

In today's episode, you will learn everything you ever wanted to know about vaudeville, whether you ...

Short Stuff: Birth Certificate Access

Wed, 02 Nov 2022

It’s unjust but true – if you are an adoptee in the US you may not have the same right to access...

The Harvey's Casino Bombing of 1980

Tue, 01 Nov 2022

In August of 1980 a bomb containing 1,000 pounds of dynamite was quietly delivered to Harvey’s, a ...

Selects: How Vampires Work

Sat, 29 Oct 2022

Out of obligation, Chuck and Josh mention Twilight, but it is the longstanding vampire lore that get...

The 13th Annual Halloween Spooktacular!

Thu, 27 Oct 2022

It's hard to believe, but this is our 13th edition of the Halloween Spooktacular! So pour up a creep...

Short Stuff: Robert the Doll

Wed, 26 Oct 2022

Robert the Doll is decidedly creepy. So is his story. Listen in to this spooky tale right now!See om...

The Tale of the Bloody Benders

Tue, 25 Oct 2022

Long before we knew what serial killers were, a family in remote Kansas was disposing of victims at ...

Selects: 10ish Cases of Really Bad Luck

Sat, 22 Oct 2022

Some guys have all the luck, some guys have all the pain. So said Rod Stewart. And if this list is a...

Fundamentalism: Menace II Society

Thu, 20 Oct 2022

Fundamentalism is usually thought of as a problem religions have to deal with, but not all fundament...

Short Stuff: Water Towers

Wed, 19 Oct 2022

Water towers are so ubiquitous you can look right past them, despite them being giant balls of water...

The History of Fake Towns.

Tue, 18 Oct 2022

There have been a lot of fake towns built throughout history for a lot of different reasons. Tune in...

Selects: How Pompeii Worked

Sat, 15 Oct 2022

What must be one of the most famous natural disasters in history took place when Mt Vesuvius buried ...

10 Cases of Mistaken Identity

Thu, 13 Oct 2022

There’s a lot that can go wrong when your identity is at question. Charged with abandoning a baby?...

Short Stuff: Blaschko's Lines

Wed, 12 Oct 2022

Did you know you have stripes? It’s true, you just can’t see them. Learn all about these little-...

Doppelgängers: Hey you, you're me!

Tue, 11 Oct 2022

Seeing your near twin is probably pretty weird. But could there be a genetic commonality as well? Yo...

Selects: Josh and Chuck's List of Horror Movies that Changed the Genre

Sat, 08 Oct 2022

Once in a while a movie comes along that's so forward-thinking it changes the way that horror is don...

How License Plates Work

Thu, 06 Oct 2022

The first tags were required just a few years after the firs cars debuted, as a way to catch jerks s...

Short Stuff: Scratching

Wed, 05 Oct 2022

Listen in today as we salute turntablism, aka, record scratching.See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

Vinyl Records: Black Magic at Work

Tue, 04 Oct 2022

Despite reading all about how vinyl records are recorded and made, it's still a bit like black magic...

Selects: How Clowns Work

Sat, 01 Oct 2022

Jesters of some sort have been around since ancient Egypt and China. Our modern clown was invented a...

How The Rosenhan Experiment Worked

Thu, 29 Sep 2022

In 1973 a study was published in Science where psychologist David Rosenhan revealed he had duped hun...

Short Stuff: Curse Tablets

Wed, 28 Sep 2022

Curse tablets are exactly what you think - tablets with curses inscribed on them. But what were they...

Vasectomies: Stop Being A Wimp

Tue, 27 Sep 2022

You can uncross your legs you big babies. Getting a vasectomy isn’t bad at all – recovery time i...

Selects: How LSD Works

Sat, 24 Sep 2022

In 1943 Swiss chemist Albert Hofman discovered he'd created what may be the most potent hallucinogen...

Sitcoms Part II

Thu, 22 Sep 2022

Listen in now for part II of our homage to sitcoms. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

Short Stuff: Laugh Tracks

Wed, 21 Sep 2022

Laugh tracks have been around since the early 1950s and it’s all thanks to one (reviled) sound eng...

Sitcoms Part I

Tue, 20 Sep 2022

Traditional multi-camera sitcoms have fallen out of style in recent years, but the golden age of the...

Selects: Frida Kahlo: Painter, Icon, Genius

Sat, 17 Sep 2022

Frida Kahlo was a painter who transcended her own work to became an icon. Learn all about her fascin...

Pearls: Second Best Thing About Oysters

Thu, 15 Sep 2022

Pearls are super cool. And humans figuring out how to make them is even cooler. Learn all about the ...

Short Stuff: Hangry?

Wed, 14 Sep 2022

When you’re hungry, you’re not yourself. So say the good people at Snickers and it turns out sci...

The Georgia Guidestones: The Elite Have a Laugh

Tue, 13 Sep 2022

In 1980 the “rural as rural can be” town of Elberton, Georgia erected a granite monument with a ...

Selects: What Happened to the Neanderthals?

Sat, 10 Sep 2022

As recently as 40,000 years ago we lived among humans from an entirely different species – Neander...

Everything We Know About Squids

Thu, 08 Sep 2022

Squids are very closely related to our old friend the octopus, but there are some key differences. Y...

Short Stuff: RIP Man of the Hole

Wed, 07 Sep 2022

The Man of the Hole has died and we're pretty sad to hear it. Listen in to our tribute to this solit...

Did Mallory Make it to the Top of Everest First?

Tue, 06 Sep 2022

George Mallory was a member of the first three European expeditions to Everest, world’s tallest mo...

Selects: How the Pony Express Worked

Sat, 03 Sep 2022

For as long a shadow as it casts across the history of the Old West, the Pony Express was a failed b...

Rolling Stone Magazine

Thu, 01 Sep 2022

Part celebration and part take down, this episode on Rolling Stone magazine dives into the highs and...

Short Stuff: Mason-Dixon Line

Wed, 31 Aug 2022

The dividing line between the North and South is purely political. But the story of its creation is ...

We Need More Sustainable Packaging, Like, Yesterday

Tue, 30 Aug 2022

Since the advent of single-use plastics, we’ve become awash in waste. Barrels of petroleum are ext...

Selects: Knife Throwing: Super Cool

Sat, 27 Aug 2022

Sure knives can cut through a steak or slash through jungle vines, but probably the coolest thing yo...

Kissing Cousins: A History of Marrying Family

Thu, 25 Aug 2022

Despite the overall creepiness of it, marrying family members is way more common than you might thin...

Short Stuff: Marrying Up

Wed, 24 Aug 2022

The idea of "marrying up" is as old as the hills, but things are, and have been, changing for quite ...

Introvert or Extravert: Which are you? (Probably both)

Tue, 23 Aug 2022

The world isn’t divided into cat people and dog people, or Beatles fans and Rolling Stones fans (o...

Selects: How Gossip Works

Sat, 20 Aug 2022

You know what I heard? That Josh and Chuck hate each other and they're just faking being friends for...

How Enemas Work

Thu, 18 Aug 2022

If you think about it, enemas are kind of gross. And if you don’t now you definitely will by the e...

Short Stuff: Selling the Brooklyn Bridge

Wed, 17 Aug 2022

You've heard the phrase "If you believe that I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you." But did you k...

Mariachi: The Rodney Dangerfield of Music

Tue, 16 Aug 2022

Mariachi bands have a bad rap as nothing more than "restaurant music." But there is a rich and long ...

Selects: Desert Survival: Josh and Chuck Save Your Tookus

Sat, 13 Aug 2022

The chances are pretty low that you’ll find yourself lost in the desert, but on the off chance you...

The Origins of Breakfast Foods

Thu, 11 Aug 2022

Who doesn't love breakfast? But do you know where most of the typical breakfast foods come from? Wel...

Short Stuff: The Berners Street Hoax

Wed, 10 Aug 2022

A full 200 years on, we're still talking about one of the most sweeping hoaxes of all time. See omn...

What's the deal with energy drinks?

Tue, 09 Aug 2022

Chuck hates them, Josh has flirted with them. Energy drinks. Listen in to learn all about this canne...

Selects: How Droughts Work

Sat, 06 Aug 2022

Droughts can be an inevitable feature of a local climate or a catastrophic result of human meddling....

Thrill to the Stunning Bicameral Mind Hypothesis

Thu, 04 Aug 2022

Psychologist Julian Jaynes came up with a stunning hypothesis in 1976, that human consciousness only...

Short Stuff: Divorcing Your Parents

Wed, 03 Aug 2022

It really happens! But most people call it emancipation of a minor. Either way, there's some interes...

Silly String: Disaster in a Can

Tue, 02 Aug 2022

It's been a while since we tackled a classic toy, so here we go with all you ever wanted to know abo...

Selects: Some Movies That Changed Filmmaking

Sat, 30 Jul 2022

An estimated 50,000 films were made worldwide in 2009 alone. Many are surely clunkers, but in this e...

How Menstruation Works

Thu, 28 Jul 2022

Two dudes talking about menstruation? You bet! And there’s no way you could be any more nervous to...

Short Stuff: The Mars Rock with Signs of Life?

Wed, 27 Jul 2022

In 1996, real-deal NASA scientists announced they had discovered signs of ancient microbial life in ...

Where Did Human Intelligence Come From?

Tue, 26 Jul 2022

We humans are smart, to be sure, but if we’re so smart then how come we can’t figure how we got ...

Selects: What's the misery index?

Sat, 23 Jul 2022

Economists love their data because somewhere in the numbers lies the answer to the ills of the count...

Googie: The Architecture of the Space Age

Thu, 21 Jul 2022

You may not have heard of it, but you’ve definitely seen it before – 50s buildings with bright, ...

Short Stuff: Death from Astral Projection

Wed, 20 Jul 2022

In 1975, yoga enthusiast Robert Antoszczyk retired to his room in a group house in Ann Arbor, MI to ...

Supernovae: Best Around, Case Closed

Tue, 19 Jul 2022

Face it, supernovae are the most interesting phenomena in the universe. Black holes are cool, but di...

Selects: What Happens When the Government Thinks You're Dead?

Sat, 16 Jul 2022

It’s bad enough when the government knows you’re alive – there are taxes to pay, laws to be fo...

Why Bowling is Awesome

Thu, 14 Jul 2022

Bowling is awesome. It just is. And if you don't think so, maybe take a listen to today's episode. ...

Short Stuff: Catatumbo Lightning

Wed, 13 Jul 2022

Catatumbo lightning is one of nature's most amazing displays of showiness, with strikes occurring 28...

Mangroves: Nature's Best Tree?

Tue, 12 Jul 2022

Mangroves are incredible survivors and adapters. They're also amazing at lessening the impact of tro...

Selects: How Ayahuasca Works

Sat, 09 Jul 2022

One day in the Amazon Basin, a shaman put together a plant containing DMT with a vine that allows th...

The Maya Civilization

Thu, 07 Jul 2022

After inspiration from Chuck's recent trip to the Yucatan, the fellas dive into the Maya Civilizatio...

Short Stuff: Alligator Gar

Wed, 06 Jul 2022

The alligator gar is one scary looking fish. Learn all about these monsters in today's episode.See o...

How Ultraprocessed Foods Work

Tue, 05 Jul 2022

Ultraprocessed is a new term for junk food, but it means much more than that – it’s also a cauti...

Selects: How Freak Shows Worked

Sat, 02 Jul 2022

Not too long ago, people would pay money to gawk and stare at a performer with a physical disformity...

A Dispassionate Review of Roe v Wade

Thu, 30 Jun 2022

Given the landmark undoing of Roe v Wade, Chuck and Josh lay out all the relevant facts of the 1973 ...

Short Stuff: What did we use before infant formula?

Wed, 29 Jun 2022

There's an infant formula shortage. But infant formula is relatively new. So what did we do before i...

How Alien Contact Might Work

Tue, 28 Jun 2022

If we ever found evidence of intelligent alien life (or they found us) what would we say? Who would ...

Selects: Chiggers: The Phantom Menace

Sat, 25 Jun 2022

Chiggers are tiny little mites capable of making your life miserable. Worse than mosquitoes? Maybe. ...

What's up with bariatric surgery?

Thu, 23 Jun 2022

Bariatric surgery can also be called weight loss surgery. Some people think it's a highly underused ...

Short Stuff: Do Fish Get Thirsty?

Wed, 22 Jun 2022

One of the greatest questions we’ve ever heard, answered (in a roundabout way).See omnystudio.com/...

The Appalachian Trail: A Heckuva Hike

Tue, 21 Jun 2022

A few short years after the hiking trails from Maine to Georgia were connected into the world’s lo...

Selects: How Steadicams Work

Sat, 18 Jun 2022

There have been many inventions that have advanced filmmaking, but maybe none as important as the st...

What were the IRA hunger strikes?

Thu, 16 Jun 2022

In the early 1980s, imprisoned IRA members went on a prolonged hunger strike, leading to the death o...

Short Stuff: HR8 Gun Legislation

Wed, 15 Jun 2022

Today we dive into HR8, a gun bill supported by 90% of Americans that will likely never get through ...

How Wind Works

Tue, 14 Jun 2022

Beloved egghead Buckminster Fuller said the wind doesn’t blow, it sucks. And he was pretty muc...

Selects: How Drowning Works

Sat, 11 Jun 2022

Hundreds of thousands of people drown around the world every year, and yet it can be easily prevente...

The 4-minute Mile: Greatest Sports Story?

Thu, 09 Jun 2022

Nobody thought the 4-minute mile was humanly possible, until it was. The story of how it happened is...

Short Stuff: Cleveland’s Infamous 10-Cent Beer Night

Wed, 08 Jun 2022

In 1974, the Cleveland (then Indians) baseball club held an unlimited 10 cent beer promotion to attr...

How Freedom of the Press Works

Tue, 07 Jun 2022

Countries around the world – capitalist democracies to communist unitary states – guaran...

Selects: How Satanism Works

Sat, 04 Jun 2022

Satanism may be the most misunderstood "religion" in the world. Part of that is because there are, a...

Kidney Donation: You Could Be A Saint!

Thu, 02 Jun 2022

Kidneys are one of the few organs that you can donate while you’re alive. And the vast majorit...

Short Stuff: Happy Foods!

Wed, 01 Jun 2022

Some foods make you happy. But they aren't necessarily comfort foods. You know what they call that? ...

The Scintillating World of Interest Rates

Tue, 31 May 2022

When the Fed raises interest rates a half point, the world market reacts. But why does this tiny per...

Selects: Waterbeds: The Sexiest Bed?

Sat, 28 May 2022

Waterbeds came and went pretty quickly in the United States, but despite their marketing as sex beds...

The Myth of Absinthe

Thu, 26 May 2022

Absinthe makes you hallucinate and possibly even have a seizure, right? Nope. It's all a part of the...

Short Stuff: Do people move in predictable directions?

Wed, 25 May 2022

Depending on where you are in the world, you either have an instinct to go left or right when enteri...

Cats: Invasive Species?

Tue, 24 May 2022

Josh and Chuck wade into dangerous waters with the debate over just how destructive cats are for loc...

Selects: The Disappearance of the Yuba County Five

Sat, 21 May 2022

In 1978, five friends set out for home from a basketball game. The next day, their car was discovere...

What's in a surname?

Thu, 19 May 2022

Surnames are way more interesting that you think, trust us. Just hit play and prepare to be wowed.Se...

Short Stuff: Artificial Banana Flavor

Wed, 18 May 2022

In the Watermelon episode, Chuck and Josh stumbled into a bit of little-known history about why arti...

Squirrels, Ahoy!

Tue, 17 May 2022

Squirrels are rodents, sure, but they’re rodents with personalities the size of Las Vegas and ...

Selects: How Lizzie Borden Worked

Sat, 14 May 2022

Everybody knows how many whacks Lizzie Borden gave her mother and father with that axe, but there is...

Rhinoplasty, aka Nose Jobs

Thu, 12 May 2022

Nose jobs have been around a lot longer than you think. And the process is pretty interesting. Tune ...

Short Stuff: Fainting At The Sight Of Blood

Wed, 11 May 2022

As many as 15% of people faint when they see blood! And it’s not just blood that gets them. It...

What are land acknowledgments?

Tue, 10 May 2022

Land acknowledgements are all the rage in some parts of the world. But they also open a can of worms...

Selects: How Champagne Works

Sat, 07 May 2022

Sure we can all agree that champagne is probably the greatest thing humans have or ever will invent,...

Marcus Garvey: Black Moses

Thu, 05 May 2022

One of the more controversial black leaders, Marcus Garvey divided black and white Americans with hi...

Short Stuff: Shar Pei

Wed, 04 May 2022

Today we dive into the lovable folds of the Shar Pei.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

The Mystery of Coal

Tue, 03 May 2022

There’s a mystery afoot! Almost all of the coal we use around the world was created in the sam...

Selects: How Rodney Dangerfield Worked, Live From LA

Sat, 30 Apr 2022

Other comedians cry on the inside, but Rodney Dangerfield built his entire act around his sad life. ...

Understudies: Hardest Workers on Broadway?

Thu, 28 Apr 2022

Being an understudy is far more challenging than simply learning the lines of a lead actor in case o...

Short Stuff: Smelly Homes

Wed, 27 Apr 2022

Does your house smell? No? What if we told you it’s impossible for you to know whether  i...

“Postmodernism:”

Tue, 26 Apr 2022

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Selects: The Baffling Case of the Body On Somerton Beach

Sat, 23 Apr 2022

Since his corpse was found in 1948, wearing a nice suit in summer on an Australian beach, an unident...

Just Say No to... Bottled Water

Thu, 21 Apr 2022

Bottled water is huge business, and terrible for the environment. But where did this all start? List...

Short Stuff: Salute the Grilled Cheese

Wed, 20 Apr 2022

Today we pay tribute to the comfiest of comfort food, the grilled cheese sandwich.See omnystudio.com...

The Christine Collins Story

Tue, 19 Apr 2022

When Christine Collins' son disappeared in 1928, she thought that was the worst that could happen. &...

Selects: What happens to abandoned mines?

Sat, 16 Apr 2022

Did you know there are as many as 500,000 abandoned mines in the US, but the federal government know...

How Mensa Works

Thu, 14 Apr 2022

Most of us know Mensa’s a smart people club. And that Geena Davis is a member. But did you kno...

Short Stuff: Animal Politicians

Wed, 13 Apr 2022

Small towns around the world have a longstanding tradition of nominating – and voting for &nda...

The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

Tue, 12 Apr 2022

If you've ever been to Philadelphia then you've probably walked right by a Toynbee Tile embedded in ...

Selects: A Partial History of Action Figures

Sat, 09 Apr 2022

Action figures have a long and glorious history. From GI Joes to Star Wars figures, these offshoots ...

The Delightful History of Pubs

Thu, 07 Apr 2022

In today's episode, Chuck and Josh dive into the wonderful history of the public house. So pull up a...

Short Stuff: The Church Choir That Didn't Explode

Wed, 06 Apr 2022

Perhaps the most amazing coincidence ever documented took place when a church in a tiny town in Nebr...

Watermelons: Nature's Gift to the World

Tue, 05 Apr 2022

Turns out most people love watermelons. Why? Because they're delicious. And they also have a pretty ...

Selects: How No-fly Zones Work

Sat, 02 Apr 2022

They have become such a ubiquitous tool used by the UN and NATO to intervene in international crises...

What’s NATO All About?

Thu, 31 Mar 2022

NATO formed at a time when Russia threatened Europe as a potential invader. Then the Soviet Union br...

Short Stuff: Greenbrier Bunker

Wed, 30 Mar 2022

The Greenbrier Bunker was a secret nuclear hideout for Congress, until it wasn't. Once it was expose...

How Light Pollution Works

Tue, 29 Mar 2022

Artificial light at night, aka light pollution, affects almost everyone on Earth. And not just peopl...

Selects: The Tylenol Murders, Part II

Sat, 26 Mar 2022

The panic that began in Chicago spreads and begins to change the world. The investigation into the m...

Selects: The Tylenol Murders, Part I

Sat, 26 Mar 2022

On one terrible day in Chicago in 1982, seven people died suddenly and mysteriously. In just a matte...

The Truth Behind Cage-Free and Free-Range

Fri, 25 Mar 2022

You’d think terms like cage-free and free-range means the chickens we eat are frolicking happi...

Short Stuff: Magnet Fishing

Wed, 23 Mar 2022

Magnet fishing has nothing to do with fish. It's more like metal detecting in waterways. Please enjo...

Why was Titicut Follies banned?

Tue, 22 Mar 2022

Titicut Follies is a documentary made famous by its banning. But why was it banned? And what was it ...

Selects: How Hate Works

Sat, 19 Mar 2022

Hate is generally defined as an extreme hostility to something or someone, usually stemming from fea...

How Rewilding Works

Thu, 17 Mar 2022

A big new push toward nature conservation (and saving the planet) is based on a simple premise: remo...

Short Stuff: Nose Breathing

Wed, 16 Mar 2022

Nose breathing > mouth breathing for many reasons. Listen and learn!See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Operation Northwoods: The False Flag Op That Never Was

Tue, 15 Mar 2022

There is presumably some very dark, very depressing stuff in the annals of America’s secret hi...

Selects: A Brief Overview of Punk Rock

Sat, 12 Mar 2022

Punk rock really needs about 10 episodes to do it justice, but we'll try and tackle anyway. Learn al...

Aleister Crowley: Blowhard Narcissist?

Thu, 10 Mar 2022

Aleister Crowley was known as the "wickedest man in the world." But was he really just a blowhard na...

Short Stuff: Great Smog of London

Wed, 09 Mar 2022

In 1952 London was gripped by a acrid smog that settled throughout the city so thickly residents cou...

Behold, National Parks!

Tue, 08 Mar 2022

The National Park system is one of America's great achievements. We'll take you on a journey, from s...

Selects: How Tabloids Work

Sat, 05 Mar 2022

Having started as an egalitarian answer to 19th-century newspapers, tabloids came to peddle shock an...

How Effective Altruism Works

Thu, 03 Mar 2022

A branch of philanthropy led by philosophers is dedicated to finding the most impactful ways to help...

Short Stuff: Friends of Dorothy

Wed, 02 Mar 2022

The gay community had to use code not too many years ago and one way they identified was as “Frien...

What's the deal with phantom pain?

Tue, 01 Mar 2022

Phantom pain is when you sense pain from a lost limb. We don't entirely know how why, but we have so...

Selects: Is the Pied Piper About a Real Historic Tragedy?

Sat, 26 Feb 2022

In the German town of Hameln a tragedy that took place on a specific date in 1284 and befell specifi...

How Mindfulness Works

Thu, 24 Feb 2022

What has become a buzz word for corporate retreats and a way to get a discount on your health insura...

Short Stuff: Commensalism

Wed, 23 Feb 2022

What's commensalism? Sort of nature's way of sponging off something, but that something doesn't mind...

The Improbable Story of Martin Guerre

Tue, 22 Feb 2022

Like most 16th-century French peasants, Martin Guerre’s life seemed likely to be lost to history. ...

Selects: How Moss Works

Sat, 19 Feb 2022

Think you have moss figured out? You probably don't. Join Josh and Chuck in this classic episode as ...

The Ins and Outs of Albinism

Thu, 17 Feb 2022

Today we dive into the science behind the genetic condition albinism, which is not pronounced how yo...

Short Stuff: Cassowary

Wed, 16 Feb 2022

Australia is home to a kind of bird that is the second largest in the world and can kill a human bei...

Leeches: Oh Hell No!

Tue, 15 Feb 2022

Leeches are pretty creepy. They feed on blood, they stick to you body. We get it. But they're also p...

Selects: The Ins and Outs of Beekeeping

Sat, 12 Feb 2022

Who wants fresh honey? We do! Learn all about the ancient art of beekeeping today in this classic ep...

Littering: Not Cool

Thu, 10 Feb 2022

The history of litter is in lock step with the history of disposable packaging. Learn all about this...

Short Stuff: Schmidt Stinging Pain Index

Wed, 09 Feb 2022

If you want to know how the pain from that yellowjacket sting on your arm compares to stings from ot...

The Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping

Tue, 08 Feb 2022

The largest ever kidnapping case in the United States went down in the small town of Chowchilla, CA....

Selects: What's the Deal With Staring?

Sat, 05 Feb 2022

Gazing too long upon another person is almost universally viewed as anywhere from impolite to hostil...

How the Nobel Peace Prize Works

Thu, 03 Feb 2022

The Nobel Peace Prize is perhaps the most prestigious award in the world, yet there are plenty of ot...

Short Stuff: Firewalking

Wed, 02 Feb 2022

It’s pretty amazing to see a human walk over a bed of hot coals – until you learn the physics be...

How Tacos Work

Tue, 01 Feb 2022

It’s Taco Tuesday! If you like eating tacos, you’re going to love learning all about them in thi...

Selects: How Sloths Work

Sat, 29 Jan 2022

Everyone knows sloths are super slow, but do you know they’re slow because their bodies produce an...

How Forgiveness Works

Thu, 27 Jan 2022

For most of history, forgiveness fell under the domain of religion. But in the 1980s science started...

Short Stuff: Arctic Fox

Wed, 26 Jan 2022

The Arctic Fox is one of the cutest critters on the planet. It also has an amazing ability to surviv...

Tug of War

Tue, 25 Jan 2022

Tug of War is a simple display of strength, but is there more to it than that? Listen in to find out...

Selects: How SETI Works

Sat, 22 Jan 2022

SETI stands for 'search for extraterrestrial intelligence,' and the term is used to describe both th...

How Classified Information Works

Thu, 20 Jan 2022

The government loves to mark just about any information as secret, which wouldn’t be a big deal if...

Short Stuff: Jaywalking

Wed, 19 Jan 2022

Jaywalking is a crime. Sort of. But why? Learn all about this weird law today. Learn more about you...

Rock Paper Scissors: Decider of Things

Tue, 18 Jan 2022

Rock Paper Scissors is a child's game. But it's more than that if you can believe it, and it has a p...

Selects: Project Azorian: The CIA's Super 70s Mission To Steal A Sunken Soviet Sub

Sat, 15 Jan 2022

In 1974 the CIA undertook one of its most brazen operations – secretly raising a sunken Soviet sub...

What were the black codes?

Thu, 13 Jan 2022

The black codes were proposed laws that basically tried to keep a form of slavery alive and well aft...

Short Stuff: Fortune Cookies

Wed, 12 Jan 2022

Everything you thought you knew about fortune cookies is wrong. Learn all the right stuff in this ep...

The Circleville Poison Pen Letters Mystery

Tue, 11 Jan 2022

For 20 years, a tiny town in Ohio was held enrapt by the prolific author of a series of unhinged let...

Selects: Carl Sagan: American Hero

Sat, 08 Jan 2022

Carl Sagan was the world's first mainstream media super scientist, capapble of breaking down complex...

Ants! Part 2!

Thu, 06 Jan 2022

The exciting conclusion of Ants Part 2! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodca...

Short Stuff: The Casket Racket

Wed, 05 Jan 2022

And you thought we were done with talking about funeral homes. Well guess again! Learn more about y...

Ants! Part 1!

Tue, 04 Jan 2022

Ants are pretty much amazing. So we're gonna spend two episodes talking all about them. Please enjoy...

Selects: Horoscopes: Written in the Stars?

Sat, 01 Jan 2022

A lot of people read their daily horoscopes, but does anyone really take stock in them? Turns out th...

Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!

Thu, 30 Dec 2021

No, we didn’t find another international distress signal we forgot to mention in our Mayday! Short...

Short Stuff: Traffic Signals

Wed, 29 Dec 2021

The history of traffic signals is way more interesting than you might think. Trust us.  Learn more...

Unsung Heroes of the Court

Tue, 28 Dec 2021

Attorneys and judges get all the press. What about bailiffs, court reporters and sketch artists? Yea...

Selects: How Tipping Works

Sat, 25 Dec 2021

Tipping is commonly expected in some places, such as U.S. restaurants. Yet this practice varies acro...

SYSK’s 2021 Glad Tidings Bonanza Holiday Special

Thu, 23 Dec 2021

Josh and Chuck’s holiday mojo has returned and they’re back in the saddle to rustle up some holi...

Short Stuff: Christmas Cards

Wed, 22 Dec 2021

You ever thought about where those cards you send out during the holidays came from? Prepare to do j...

How Snowmen (And Snowwomen) Work

Tue, 21 Dec 2021

The details may vary but building snowmen is pretty much universal where there’s snow. Humans have...

Selects: Star Wars Holiday Spectacular

Sat, 18 Dec 2021

Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made...

Kidney Stones: No! Please, NO!

Thu, 16 Dec 2021

Kidney stones are widely considered the most painful affliction a person can endure, even worse than...

Short Stuff: Charity Tips

Wed, 15 Dec 2021

It's the end of the year so we thought we might give you some advice on how to better pick out a cha...

Palm Trees: Technically, Giant Plants

Tue, 14 Dec 2021

Palm trees. You see them all over the world and for good reason. There are more than 2,500 varieties...

Selects: How the Terracotta Army Works

Sat, 11 Dec 2021

In 1974, Chinese farmers discovered the first of what would number 7,000 terracotta soldiers meant t...

What's the deal with blue people?

Thu, 09 Dec 2021

The famous blue people of Kentucky are no longer blue. But why were they like that in the first plac...

Short Stuff: Funny Bone

Wed, 08 Dec 2021

Hitting your funny bone doesn’t just hurt, it feels really weird too. That’s because you’re no...

Why Do Great Flood Myths Seem To Be Universal?

Tue, 07 Dec 2021

If look into the mythology of just about any culture in the world, you will find a myth about a grea...

Selects: What Is Collective Hysteria?

Sat, 04 Dec 2021

Throughout the history of the world, there have been many cases of what is known as collective hyste...

Your Gut Is Also A Brain

Thu, 02 Dec 2021

Your gut – not your spare tire, but your digestive tract – is deceptively smart. Not only does i...

Short Stuff: SINA

Wed, 01 Dec 2021

In the 1950s a group dedicated to clothing animals out of a sense or morality gained momentum. “A ...

The Twisted History of Dentistry

Tue, 30 Nov 2021

If you think going to the dentist now is not fun, just wait until you hear about what they did in th...

Selects: Why Do Lefties Exist?

Sat, 27 Nov 2021

For at least the last 200,000 years, between 10-15% of the human population are left-handed and this...

Python-a-palooza!

Thu, 25 Nov 2021

Pythons are big snakes. Really big. But there's more to them than their size. Learn all about these ...

Short Stuff: Mayday!

Wed, 24 Nov 2021

Say it three times and help may arrive. But where did "Mayday!" come from? Listen in to find out.  ...

The Apache Wars

Tue, 23 Nov 2021

America’s longest-running war was between the US government and the loosely-confederated groups we...

Selects: How Hoarding Works

Sat, 20 Nov 2021

You may be familiar with compulsive hoarding from TV, but something that’s often missing from thos...

Why Is DC Not A State?

Thu, 18 Nov 2021

The residents of Washington, D.C., the capital of the oldest democracy in the world, are not allowed...

Short Stuff: The Paper Dress Fad

Wed, 17 Nov 2021

There was a brief period when it was highly on trend to wear a super short dress made out of paper. ...

Hot Dog!(s)

Tue, 16 Nov 2021

No, there aren’t snouts and anuses in your hot dogs, so go ahead and chow down. There are, however...

Selects: How Feng Shui Works

Sat, 13 Nov 2021

Feng Shui is an Asian concept that strives to unlock your chi by how your home or office is arranged...

The Flannan Isles Mystery

Thu, 11 Nov 2021

In December 1900 three lighthouse keepers vanished without a trace from a deserted island in Scotlan...

Short Stuff: Your Dirty Bed

Wed, 10 Nov 2021

Is your bed dirty? You bet it is. Are chimpanzee beds dirty? Not as dirty as yours! Learn more abou...

What are blue laws?

Tue, 09 Nov 2021

Blue laws are laws that restrict certain activities on certain days. Are they antiquated? Yes! Are t...

Selects: The Stories Behind A Few Food Fads

Sat, 06 Nov 2021

America loves to go nuts over new food trends and it turns out that the 20th century was a boon time...

The Rock Ampersand Roll Hall of Fame

Thu, 04 Nov 2021

Cleveland rocks! So said the city of Cleveland when they lobbied for the "Rock Hall" way back in 198...

Short Stuff: Friendly Floatees

Wed, 03 Nov 2021

In 1992 more than 28,000 rubber ducks got loose in the ocean and began a decades-long experiment in ...

How mRNA Vaccines Work

Tue, 02 Nov 2021

The two mRNA Covid vaccines are the first vaccines to come out of a new field of immunology and repr...

Selects: What is folklore?

Sat, 30 Oct 2021

What is folklore? Turns out it's just about anything you can think of that's shared by more than two...

2021 Halloween Spooktacular!

Thu, 28 Oct 2021

Dim the lights and join Josh and Chuck for their annual spooky Halloween story reading.  Learn mor...

Short Stuff: Most Haunted House in England

Wed, 27 Oct 2021

In the 1930s paranormal investigator declared Borley Rectory the “most haunted house in England”...

Salem Witchcraft Trials: More Bonkers Than You Know

Tue, 26 Oct 2021

Looking back 300 years on, it’s easy to overgeneralize why the Salem Villagers decided to persecut...

Selects: Will We Find Evidence of Aliens by Their Engineering Projects?

Sat, 23 Oct 2021

In 1960 physicist Freeman Dyson suggested that in the hunt for alien life, we should search for evid...

Harry Houdini: More than Magic

Thu, 21 Oct 2021

Harry Houdini was a master magician. He was also a movie star. And an inventor. And an aviator. List...

Short Stuff: Bloody Mary

Wed, 20 Oct 2021

In this edition of Short Stuff we may accidentally conjure a deadly spirt, so look out! Learn more ...

Heat Waves!

Tue, 19 Oct 2021

Heat waves are one of the easiest natural disasters to overlook yet they kill more people in the US ...

Selects: Why is Venice so wet?

Sat, 16 Oct 2021

Venice, Italy has a problem. It's sinking, and the water around it is rising. Thankfully, some engin...

Noise Pollution: Arrrgh!

Thu, 14 Oct 2021

If you’ve ever found your blood pressure rising because some guy down the street doesn’t know ho...

Short Stuff: Jack O'Lanterns and Sleepy Hollow

Wed, 13 Oct 2021

We launch our spooky October episodes with a little bit on Jack O' Lanterns and Sleepy Hollow. Lear...

Venus Flytraps: Plant or Monster?

Tue, 12 Oct 2021

After looking into the Venus Flytrap, we quickly moved it to the top of our favorite plant list. Par...

Selects: How X-Rays Work

Sat, 09 Oct 2021

Like many huge discoveries, X-rays were accidentally stumbled upon. That serendipity led to a medica...

The Tale of the Church of the SubGenius

Thu, 07 Oct 2021

The Church of the SubGenius is a religion, but really a parody of religion. Learn all about this gro...

Short Stuff: Dingoes!

Wed, 06 Oct 2021

Are dingoes dogs? Not really? Then what are they? Listen in to find out. Learn more about your ad-c...

Research Bias: Sort It Out, Science

Tue, 05 Oct 2021

There’s a sticky issue scientists have to deal with – science is carried out by humans. We human...

Selects: How Empathy Works

Sat, 02 Oct 2021

Empathy can often be confused with sympathy and regular old compassion. But it's not exactly either ...

All About Alligators

Thu, 30 Sep 2021

Here at SYSK, we love alligators? Why? Because they're basically living dinosaurs. Dive in (metaphor...

Short Stuff: Exploring Irish Monk

Wed, 29 Sep 2021

There’s a long-standing legend that an Irish monk was the first European to sail to America - in 5...

How Numerology Works

Tue, 28 Sep 2021

The premise of numerology - that numbers are responsible for our destinies and personalities - is pl...

Selects: Planned Obsolescence: Engine of the Consumer Economy

Sat, 25 Sep 2021

If you’ve ever heard an old timer gripe that things aren’t built like they used to be, that old ...

The Statue of Liberty

Thu, 23 Sep 2021

You've seen her there in NY Harbor, standing tall. But do you know the story of how she came to be? ...

Short Stuff: Lake Erie's Rights

Wed, 22 Sep 2021

The good people of Toledo, OH are leading the environmental pack by giving legal rights to Lake Erie...

How Mail Order Marriages Work

Tue, 21 Sep 2021

Everybody knows mail order marriages are at best a last resort for jerks looking to boss a foreign s...

Selects: How Free Speech Works

Sat, 18 Sep 2021

Freedom of speech and the press are values vital to American democracy. But the First Amendment does...

What's the deal with crash testing?

Thu, 16 Sep 2021

Crash testing has been around since the 1930s, but only got serious in the 1970s. Today we dive in a...

Short Stuff: The Javelina

Wed, 15 Sep 2021

Pigs, hogs, boars and javelinas. What's the difference? Tune in to find out. Learn more about your ...

How Embalming Works

Tue, 14 Sep 2021

The Death Suite continues! In this installment, Josh and Chuck go over what it takes to preserve a h...

Selects: Southerners Aren't Lazy and Dumb, They Just Had Hookworm

Sat, 11 Sep 2021

There was a time when the lower classes of the American South were considered lazy and dimwitted, a ...

How the Magna Carta Worked

Thu, 09 Sep 2021

In 1215 at Runnymede (doo dah, doo dah) the nobles and the king agreed to end a rebellion against th...

Short Stuff: Chameleons

Wed, 08 Sep 2021

In today's short stuff, we bust a few myths about cute little chameleons. Learn more about your ad-...

The Creepy Legacy of the Hotel Cecil

Tue, 07 Sep 2021

The Hotel Cecil in downtown Los Angeles has had no less than 16 unnatural deaths, from suicides to m...

Selects: How Temper Tantrums Work

Sat, 04 Sep 2021

When your kid boils over in the grocery store, it can be tough to stay calm and ignore it, but that'...

Criminal Records: No Thanks!

Thu, 02 Sep 2021

And you thought our crime and punishment suite was finished. Not yet it isn't! Not before we cover c...

Short Stuff: Handwashing vs Dishwashers

Wed, 01 Sep 2021

Josh and Chuck finally put to rest the age old debate over which is better – and learn a little ab...

How Trepanation Worked

Tue, 31 Aug 2021

One of the oldest medical procedures in human history is also one of the riskiest. For thousands of ...

Selects: Composting: Nature's Most Interesting Process

Sat, 28 Aug 2021

You may think composting is just a bunch of old banana peels rotting away into dirt but, friend, you...

Les Paul & Leo Fender Part II

Thu, 26 Aug 2021

Today we continue the story of Les Paul and Leo Fender, inventors, innovators and rivals. Learn mor...

Short Stuff: Jackalope

Wed, 25 Aug 2021

Jackalopes aren’t real, right? Wouldn’t you like to know, city slicker. Learn more about your a...

Les Paul & Leo Fender Part I

Tue, 24 Aug 2021

The story of Les Paul and Leo Fender defines rock and roll music. Listen in to part one of the tale ...

Selects: How Pet Psychics Work

Sat, 21 Aug 2021

In the early 21st century a trend of people who claim to be able to telepathically and clairvoyantly...

Y2K: Much Ado About Something

Thu, 19 Aug 2021

Y2K was a special time when we all thought nothing bad would really happen at the stroke of midnight...

Short Stuff: 5 Lazarus Species

Wed, 18 Aug 2021

Lazarus species were thought to be gone, but had something else in mind. Today we talk about 5 of th...

How MRI Works

Tue, 17 Aug 2021

At long last Chuck and Josh dive into the nuts and bolts of what makes the Wonder Machine so wondrou...

Selects: How Animal Domestication Works

Sat, 14 Aug 2021

It's strange to hear, but the transition from hunting-gathering to agriculture, including the domest...

How Fireflies and Lightning Bugs Work

Thu, 12 Aug 2021

Whether called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glow worms, the tiny, bioluminescent bugs that light up...

Short Stuff: Humpty Dumpty

Wed, 11 Aug 2021

Humpty Dumpty is not a good nursery rhyme. And what was Humpty anyway? Listen in to find out. Learn...

Child Labor: Not Funny

Tue, 10 Aug 2021

Child labor is no laughing matter. Even though we've taken care of it in the USA (mostly), it's stil...

Selects: How Landslides Work

Sat, 07 Aug 2021

Landslides are a form of mass movement of the Earth, and with the amount of death and destruction th...

How Transcendentalism Works

Thu, 05 Aug 2021

Every teenager in America knows the transcendentalists were a handful of goofy 19th century philosop...

Short Stuff: Calamity Jane

Wed, 04 Aug 2021

Calamity Jane is group with the legends of the Wild West. Who was she really? A tough woman who made...

The Three Christs of Ypsilanti Experiment

Tue, 03 Aug 2021

In the early 1960s, one of the most unethical experiments in psychology’s history was quietly cond...

Selects: How Police Interrogation Works

Sat, 31 Jul 2021

Every year, police across the U.S. get thousands of criminals to confess to their crimes. The troubl...

How Sarcasm Works

Thu, 29 Jul 2021

In this episode, we get to the bottom of why people sometimes talk like jerks some and how sarcasm i...

Short Stuff: Space Hurricanes

Wed, 28 Jul 2021

Space hurricanes are officially a thing. What does that mean for us here on Earth? Probably not much...

Conservatorships: #freebritney

Tue, 27 Jul 2021

Britney Spears has made a lot of noise lately in her bid to nullify her conservatorship. But what ar...

Selects: How Mars Works

Sat, 24 Jul 2021

Sure today Mars would kill you with its thin, toxic atmosphere and cold desert temperature swings of...

The Origins of Some Everyday Superstitions

Thu, 22 Jul 2021

Why exactly do we avoid walking under a ladder? Why is stepping on a crack in the sidewalk such a bi...

Short Stuff: RICO Act

Wed, 21 Jul 2021

If you’re even passingly interested in mobsters you’ve heard of the RICO Act, but most people do...

Stranger Danger!

Tue, 20 Jul 2021

If you grew up in the 1980s, you thought you had a 50% chance of getting kidnapped every time you le...

Selects: How Ketchup Works

Sat, 17 Jul 2021

Little-known fact: Ketchup, possibly the most all-American of condiments, evolved from fermented fis...

How Reverse Osmosis Will Save the World

Thu, 15 Jul 2021

Can we save the future of the human race with some thin membranes riddled with ultra-tiny holes? Sci...

Short Stuff: Hanged, Drawn and Quartered

Wed, 14 Jul 2021

The words "hanged, drawn and quartered" are an accurate description of the grizzly execution process...

The Radium Girls

Tue, 13 Jul 2021

The Radium Girls painted watched with glow-in-the-dark radium in the 1920s and '30s. Most got sick, ...

Selects: How Historic Districts Work

Sat, 10 Jul 2021

A fascinating thing about Americans is that we can disagree on anything. Such is the case with histo...

SYSK Live: Koko, the Gorilla Who Talked

Thu, 08 Jul 2021

Recorded live before the pandemic in January 2020 at the Castro Theatre for San Francisco Sketchfest...

Short Stuff: Sulfanilamide Disaster

Wed, 07 Jul 2021

In the 1920s, before the era of consumer protection, a poison entered the medicine supply and killed...

The Sad Story of William James Sidis

Tue, 06 Jul 2021

Are geniuses made or born? Listen in today to the story of child prodigy William James Sidis. Learn...

Selects: Are good samaritan laws effective?

Sat, 03 Jul 2021

Good samaritan laws have been around for many years, helping to provide legal protections for people...

The Grand Ole Opry Cast

Thu, 01 Jul 2021

Josh and Chuck take a virtual walk through country music's legendary music venue.  Learn more abou...

Short Stuff: Beast of Gevaudan

Wed, 30 Jun 2021

The first truly international news story covered a beast that terrorized the French countryside, evi...

Poison Control Centers: A Good Thing

Tue, 29 Jun 2021

Poison control centers are one of those things you don’t think about until you need it. With all t...

Selects: How Royalty Works

Sat, 26 Jun 2021

In some nations royals are so ingrained in the national fabric they are considered part of the count...

How Faraday Cages Work

Thu, 24 Jun 2021

Faraday cages are one of those peculiar miracles of nature that we can actually explain – not to m...

Short Stuff: Chastity Belts

Wed, 23 Jun 2021

Were chastity belts real? Sort of. But not in the way you might think. Tune in to hear the real stor...

The Mystery of Damascus Steel

Tue, 22 Jun 2021

Damascus steel and the recipe behind it remained a mystery for many years. But it turns out the key ...

Selects: Operation Mincemeat: How A Corpse Fooled the Nazis

Sat, 19 Jun 2021

In World War II, a secret department of British ‘corkscrew thinkers’ hatched a plan to use the c...

How Venus Works

Thu, 17 Jun 2021

Venus is so hot lead would melt on the planet’s surface. It spins backwards. Its year is shorter t...

Short Stuff: Mojave Megaphone

Wed, 16 Jun 2021

What is the Mojave Megaphone? Well, nobody really knows. Listen in today to learn about this desert ...

Seven - No, Wait, Five - Mysteries of the Art World

Tue, 15 Jun 2021

When you get a bunch of artistic types together into a community – aka, the art world – some int...

Selects: How Sea Monsters Work

Sat, 12 Jun 2021

Legends of sea monsters are as old as humanity, and some ancient cultures even credited them with cr...

POGs: The 90s in a Bottle Cap

Thu, 10 Jun 2021

Today, Chuck and Josh go down a 90s rabbit hole with another in their classic toy series. This time,...

Short Stuff: Chinatowns

Wed, 09 Jun 2021

If you live in a major city in the USA, you probably have a Chinatown. Listen in and learn all about...

Slime Mold: 0% Mold, 100% Amazing

Tue, 08 Jun 2021

If you’ve ever wandered past what looked like a pile of dog barf on a log during a hike in the woo...

Selects: Who was America's first murderer?

Sat, 05 Jun 2021

John Billington didn't just sign the Mayflower Compact -- he was also the colony's first criminal, a...

John Muir: Outdoor Enthusiast

Thu, 03 Jun 2021

John Muir loved being outside. So much so that he dedicated his life to helping preserve it, but not...

Short Stuff: Runner's High

Wed, 02 Jun 2021

Listen in to today's short stuff to learn if a runner's high is really a thing. Learn more about yo...

What Causes Inflation?

Tue, 01 Jun 2021

Inflation seems super boring, but if you know how it works (important point: no one really does) you...

Selects: How Nitrous Oxide Works

Sat, 29 May 2021

For about 175 years people have been huffing nitrous oxide for everything from vision quests to anes...

Night Trap: The Video Game Failure that Changed the Industry

Thu, 27 May 2021

In the early 90s a video game was released that changed the industry, despite poor sales and bad gam...

Short Stuff: Parachute Emergency!

Wed, 26 May 2021

Your parachute won’t open – now what?! Listen up to Josh and Chuck and you may make it out of th...

How Cleft Lips and Palates Work

Tue, 25 May 2021

Cleft lips and palates are common birth defects, but for the kids who have them (and their parents),...

Selects: How Hot Wheels Work

Sat, 22 May 2021

If you're an American who had a childhood, you probably have some nostalgia for Hot Wheels. Get your...

Girl Scouts: More than cookie sellers

Thu, 20 May 2021

We put our research to the test and it turns out the Girl Scouts is a great organization. Learn mor...

Short Stuff: Speed Reading

Wed, 19 May 2021

Back in the 60s and 70s, a speed reading craze broke out. Tough luck that speed reading is bunk. Le...

The Cleveland Torso Murders

Tue, 18 May 2021

During the depths of the Great Depression, Cleveland’s most vulnerable and destitute residents wer...

Selects: How Limousines Work

Sat, 15 May 2021

The first limousines weren’t even cars! Learn all about the history of limousines, how they’re m...

How Monster Trucks Work

Thu, 13 May 2021

If you’ve never seen a huge truck with gigantic tires do backflips or roll backward perched only o...

Short Stuff: Garter Snakes

Wed, 12 May 2021

Garter snakes aren’t scary, they’re pretty great! Learn all the reasons why in this episode! Le...

The Ivy League

Tue, 11 May 2021

The Ivy League is technically a sports conference, but it's much more than that. Enjoy this special ...

Selects: How Snake Handlers Work

Sat, 08 May 2021

Snake handling ranges from professional snake milkers for antivenin to religious handlers who tend t...

How Uranium Mining Works

Thu, 06 May 2021

Mining uranium is dangerous work. Not only does it involve mining, which is dangerous itself, uraniu...

Short Stuff: Squarer Than Wombat Poop

Wed, 05 May 2021

One of the cutest animals on the planet is also the only one that squeezes out cube-shaped poop. Fin...

The Appendix: No Respect

Tue, 04 May 2021

The poor appendix. Despite findings that it serves a purpose, many people still cast it off as a sec...

Selects: How Cave Dwellers Work

Sat, 01 May 2021

You know the cavemen, a race of human cousins who lived exclusively in caves? They didn’t exist. S...

How Corporate Taxes Work

Thu, 29 Apr 2021

There are lots of reasons to tax corporations: as a check on their power, to help pay for infrastruc...

Short Stuff: Ivar The Boneless

Wed, 28 Apr 2021

Was Ivar the Boneless a real Viking warrior? Probably. Did he really have no bones? Probably not. L...

Truffles: Underground Treasures

Tue, 27 Apr 2021

Truffles are rare, expensive and apparently delicious. Learn all about these earthy fungi today. Le...

Selects: How Profiling Works

Sat, 24 Apr 2021

At its base, criminal profiling is a legitimate investigatory tool. The Supreme Court has drawn a cl...

How Stamp Collecting Works

Thu, 22 Apr 2021

Over the last two centuries philatelists – stamp collectors – have learned just about everything...

Short Stuff: Madam C.J. Walker

Wed, 21 Apr 2021

Join us today as we dive into the story of the first female self-made millionaire, Madam C.J. Walker...

Mechanical Bulls!

Tue, 20 Apr 2021

Mechanical bulls are kind of weird, but they have certainly made a place in American pop culture ove...

Selects: How Tupperware Works

Sat, 17 Apr 2021

Tupperware won immediate design acclaim when it was released in 1947, but it took a pioneering femal...

Hair Loss: The Pits

Thu, 15 Apr 2021

Losing your hair is a situation that seems to be universally considered to absolutely stink. Unsurpr...

Short Stuff: Palindromes

Wed, 14 Apr 2021

Chuck loves palindromes. So much that his very name is one. Oh wait... Learn more about your ad-cho...

How the Electrical Grid Works

Tue, 13 Apr 2021

The electrical grid that provides power to the US is one of those things you don’t give a second t...

Selects: The Unsolved Mystery Disappearance of the Sodder Children

Sat, 10 Apr 2021

In 1945 a house fire took the lives of five children - except that their bodies were never found. In...

Muzak: Easy Listening Goodness

Thu, 08 Apr 2021

Muzak got a bad reputation as bland garbage music. We aim to set the record straight. Learn more ab...

Short Stuff: Venus de Milo

Wed, 07 Apr 2021

Step into today's short stuff to learn all about the armless wonder! Learn more about your ad-choic...

Havana Syndrome: ¿Qué Diablos?

Tue, 06 Apr 2021

In 2016, diplomats at the American embassy in Cuba began suffering weird neurological symptoms after...

Selects: How Circus Families Work

Sat, 03 Apr 2021

Don't be confused - this one is about actual circus acts made of family members, not the controversi...

How the Titanic Worked: Part Two

Thu, 01 Apr 2021

After the Titanic sank recriminations and blame followed, sometimes ruining careers unjustifiably. A...

Short Stuff: What's the oldest book?

Wed, 31 Mar 2021

In order to figure out what the oldest book is, one has to define what a book actually is. Listen in...

How the Titanic Worked: Part One

Tue, 30 Mar 2021

When the Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage in April 1912, the world was divided into two types o...

Selects: What was the Philadelphia Experiment?

Sat, 27 Mar 2021

The Philadelphia Experiment is a bad movie from the 1980s, and also the conpiracy theory that refuse...

Space Junk, Ahoy!

Thu, 25 Mar 2021

The orbits hundreds to thousands of miles above Earth are littered with garbage. Space garbage, sure...

Short Stuff: Cellphones on Airplanes

Wed, 24 Mar 2021

Are we finally at the place where we can make cell phone calls on airplanes? PLEASE NO! Listen in to...

What is biophilic design?

Tue, 23 Mar 2021

Biophilic design is all about bringing the outside in. But it's also much more than that. Open your ...

Selects: How Lighthouses Work

Sat, 20 Mar 2021

People have been burning fires on cliffs as long as other people have used boats, but after the Age ...

The Texas City Disaster of 1947

Thu, 18 Mar 2021

In 1947 the port town of Texas City, Texas became the site of the largest industrial disaster in Ame...

Short Stuff: Brazilian Jars

Wed, 17 Mar 2021

In the 1970s big news was made when some underwater artifacts were found in a bay by Rio de Janeiro ...

The Parrot Episode

Tue, 16 Mar 2021

If you think parrots are simply mimics that fly, you're wrong. Tune in and learn about these colorfu...

Selects: Please Listen to How Plasma Waste Convertors Work

Sat, 13 Mar 2021

There is a way to not only sustainably get rid of our household waste, but also produce enough energ...

Karaoke: Tuesday Night Fever

Thu, 11 Mar 2021

Listen in and learn all about the fascinating history of everybody's favorite pastime... karaoke! L...

Short Stuff: Tooth Fairy: Not Real

Wed, 10 Mar 2021

Today we break down the history of everyone's favorite home invader, the tooth fairy. Learn more ab...

Dragons: As Real as Mermaids

Tue, 09 Mar 2021

Dragons are like mermaids in that they're not real. And that's about where the comparison ends. Lear...

Selects: Mermaids: Not a real thing

Sat, 06 Mar 2021

Mermaids aren't real. That much we know. But the history and lore of these magical and sometimes men...

Why is the Equal Rights Amendment still not ratified?

Thu, 04 Mar 2021

The United States is one of only 28 countries in the world that doesn’t have equal protection for ...

Short Stuff: Dog Suicide Bridge

Wed, 03 Mar 2021

A bridge at the town of Dumbarton in Scotland has a terrible reputation as a site where dogs inexpli...

Is the Free Radical Theory of Aging Wrong?

Tue, 02 Mar 2021

In the 1990s we thought we’d identified the root cause of aging: nasty molecules called free radic...

Selects: Bridges: Nature Abhors Them

Sat, 27 Feb 2021

From prehistoric logs across streams to the 102-mile Kunshan Grand Bridge, nature works ceaselessly ...

How Bruce Lee Worked

Thu, 25 Feb 2021

Bruce Lee may have introduced more Westerners to Asian culture than any person in history. And, beca...

Short Stuff: The Body in the Cylinder

Wed, 24 Feb 2021

In 1945, residents of a Liverpool neighborhood found a desiccated body in a long cylinder they’d b...

What Will Farming 4.0 Look Like?

Tue, 23 Feb 2021

The human population is expected to increase by a couple billion people in the next 30 years and tho...

Selects: How Chili Peppers Work

Sat, 20 Feb 2021

Born and raised in South America, chilis were the earliest crop domesticated in the continent and am...

How Blue Holes Work

Thu, 18 Feb 2021

Geologists and biologists have recently realized that the planet’s oceans and coasts are littered ...

Short Stuff: Freedom House Ambulance Services

Wed, 17 Feb 2021

As part of Black History Month, we wanted to share the little known story of the Freedom House Ambul...

The Disappearance of Lars Mittank

Tue, 16 Feb 2021

In 2014, a young German man walked into an airport in Bulgaria with a flight booked, then suddenly r...

Selects: Why Are So Many Disembodied Feet Washing Ashore In British Columbia?

Sat, 13 Feb 2021

Between 2007 and 2016, 17 disembodied feet - still wearing shoes - have washed ashore between Washin...

How Housing Discrimination Works

Thu, 11 Feb 2021

Owning a home in the US is a way to pass wealth down from one generation to the next and lift famili...

Short Stuff: How California Got Its Name

Wed, 10 Feb 2021

California is a pretty cool name. And the story about where it came from is even cooler. Learn more...

Sacagawea: Impressive Teen

Tue, 09 Feb 2021

Sacagawea was only 16 when she joined the Corps of Discovery. That is one seriously impressive teena...

Selects: Earwax: Live With It

Sat, 06 Feb 2021

Despite tons of people using cotton swabs each day to clean the earwax from their ears, cerumen (as ...

The NAACP

Thu, 04 Feb 2021

The NAACP has long been one of the most robust and effective non-profits in the USA. And while it ha...

Short Stuff: Balloonfest

Wed, 03 Feb 2021

In 1986 Cleveland released more than a million helium balloons at once! It didn’t go at all accord...

How Groundhog Day Works

Tue, 02 Feb 2021

You know Groundhog Day – the holiday on February 2 when you wake up and have to go through the sam...

Selects: Maggots: Good For Healing Wounds, Turns Out

Sat, 30 Jan 2021

Cultures around the world over the years have been inspired by, then repulsed, then inspired by magg...

How Hydropower Works

Thu, 28 Jan 2021

Humans have been stealing energy from flowing water for at least two thousand years. It wasn’t unt...

Short Stuff: Vantablack

Wed, 27 Jan 2021

How black is vantablack? About as black as you could imagine. Learn more about your ad-choices at h...

The KKK: Loathsome Cosplay Rednecks

Tue, 26 Jan 2021

The history of the KKK is rooted in hatred and racism, and it still is today. Learn all about these ...

Selects: How Blimps Work

Sat, 23 Jan 2021

After newsreels captured the Hindenburg erupting in fire in 1937, the promising development of airsh...

Finding the Fenn Treasure

Thu, 21 Jan 2021

In 2010 an eccentric art dealer hid a treasure chest with $2 million in valuables somewhere in the R...

Short Stuff: Necco

Wed, 20 Jan 2021

If you think Necco Wafers are the most disgusting candy on the planet, you are not alone. But it tur...

What does a tire company know about food?

Tue, 19 Jan 2021

The Michelin Guide is an institution. But why does the famous tire manufacturer even put this restau...

Selects: What Was the Deal With the Hatfields and McCoys?

Sat, 16 Jan 2021

It was America's most famous family feud, but the history of the Hatfields vs the McCoys is fraught ...

The Science of Cute

Thu, 14 Jan 2021

If you took our advice and looked up baby beavers a few episodes back, you probably found them soooo...

Short Stuff: Silverfish

Wed, 13 Jan 2021

Should you be afraid of these creepy little creatures you find in your basement? Only one way to fin...

Hell! Hell! Hell!

Tue, 12 Jan 2021

What is Hell? It's complicated and depends on which religion you're talking about. We dive into this...

Selects: How Skateboarding Works

Sat, 09 Jan 2021

Skateboarding started out as something bored surfers did when the waves weren't breaking, but after ...

The Wright Brothers

Thu, 07 Jan 2021

Orville and Wilbur Wright were not trained professionals, but they were rigorous experimenters who e...

Short Stuff: Is It Theater or Theatre?

Wed, 06 Jan 2021

Have you ever noticed sometimes theaters – we mean, theatres – oh, forget it – places where yo...

Space Weather - What's That?!

Tue, 05 Jan 2021

Did you know space has weather? It’s true! In our solar system, tons – literal tons – of highl...

Selects: How Auto-Tune Works

Sat, 02 Jan 2021

What began as a challenge to an oil engineer to make a terrible singer into a pitch-perfect one, Aut...

La Dame de Fer (Eiffel Tower)

Thu, 31 Dec 2020

The Eiffel Tower is one of the top destinations on Planet Earth. It turns out to be a pretty cool fe...

Short Stuff: Ig-pay Atin-lay (Sorry)

Wed, 30 Dec 2020

Turns out we have little kids from the 19th century, the Three Stooges, and an odd musical composer ...

Theremins: World's First Electronic Music

Tue, 29 Dec 2020

In 1919 a brilliant Russian scientist accidentally stumbled onto the first electronic musical instru...

SYSK Selects: Sugar: It Powers the Earth

Sat, 26 Dec 2020

Since sugar spread from Polynesia a few thousand years ago, the world has been crazy for it. Insanel...

The SYSK 2020 Holly Jolly Extravaganza!

Thu, 24 Dec 2020

It's here again! Our annual ad-free holiday spectacular. So pour up a hot toddy, throw a log on the ...

Short Stuff: Chinese Food on Christmas

Wed, 23 Dec 2020

What started out as a tradition among Jewish people on the Lower East Side at the turn of the last c...

How Buffets Work

Tue, 22 Dec 2020

Buffets are every kid’s dream – until they grow up enough to realize how gross communal spreads ...

SYSK Selects: The Star Wars Holiday Special of 1978

Sat, 19 Dec 2020

Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made...

Aspirin: The Wonder Drug

Thu, 17 Dec 2020

Humans have been using a form of aspirin for pain relief since at least the Sumerians. But in recent...

Short Stuff: Modern Funerals

Wed, 16 Dec 2020

The way we deal with our dead has changed a lot over the past 50 years. Learn all about it in 12-15 ...

Joseph Merrick, aka "The Elephant Man"

Tue, 15 Dec 2020

Joseph Merrick was known as The Elephant Man because of his suffering from what we now know was Prot...

SYSK Selects: What is a hangover, really?

Sat, 12 Dec 2020

After a night of heavy boozing, many partygoers find themselves the victim of a hangover. But what e...

The Taliesin Massacre

Thu, 10 Dec 2020

Everyone knows who Frank Lloyd Wright is, but did you know there was a grisly massacre at his home i...

Short Stuff: Cramming

Wed, 09 Dec 2020

Cramming is no way to study. Learn why in today's short stuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at ...

How Class Action Lawsuits Work

Tue, 08 Dec 2020

Class action lawsuits seem a little odd – a bunch of people get together for a sue-fest against so...

SYSK Selects: How Chaos Theory Changed the Universe

Sat, 05 Dec 2020

Since the age of Descartes, science has put all of its eggs in the basket of determinism, the idea t...

John Lennon and the FBI

Thu, 03 Dec 2020

Did you know that Richard Nixon had a FBI case file open on Beatle John Lennon? Well he did! Why? Li...

Short Stuff: Pimento Cheese!

Wed, 02 Dec 2020

Pimento cheese was originally nothing like it is now: It was mass produced, it was made from cream c...

Cabbage Patch Kids: Must-Have Toy of the Century

Tue, 01 Dec 2020

Surprisingly, Cabbage Patch Kids have turned up on SYSK almost as much as the Nazis or Seinfeld. It’...

SYSK Selects: How Tea Works

Sat, 28 Nov 2020

Legend has it that tea was discovered by a curious Chinese emperor after leaves blew into his boiled...

Gobble Gobble: Turkeys!

Thu, 26 Nov 2020

Turkeys are a very interesting bird as it turns out. Which may be why many people are leaving it off...

Short Stuff: How Eyes In a Painting Follow You

Wed, 25 Nov 2020

Ever noticed how eyes in a painting sometimes follow you around the room? It’s weird! But it’s a...

Patty Hearst: Brainwashed or Bandit?

Tue, 24 Nov 2020

Patty Hearst was a young heiress living a quiet life studying art history at college when one Monday...

SYSK Selects: Whatever happened to acid rain?

Sat, 21 Nov 2020

Along with the hole in the ozone layer, acid rain was one of the first international environmental t...

The Great War of the Worlds Panic Myth

Thu, 19 Nov 2020

On Halloween 1938 young radio star Orson Welles scared the pants off of America with a fictional new...

Short Stuff: Squirrel Nuts

Wed, 18 Nov 2020

We know squirrels hide nuts. But it's actually more complex a system than you think. Learn more abo...

How Pain Works

Tue, 17 Nov 2020

In recent decades we’ve come to understand that there’s a lot more to pain than: touch hot stove...

SYSK Selects: Who Gets to Name Continents?

Sat, 14 Nov 2020

America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, right? Maybe not. And who named Australia? Find out the unu...

How Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Works

Thu, 12 Nov 2020

For almost a century, Macy’s department store has kicked off the holidays in America with a grand ...

Short Stuff: Plastic Pink Flamingos

Wed, 11 Nov 2020

Plastic flamingos started out as innocent yard art, transformed into folk art, and have become a (ki...

The Bay of Pigs Disaster

Tue, 10 Nov 2020

The Bay of Pigs is one of the blackest of eyes on American foreign policy. Learn all about this dark...

SYSK Selects: Geysers: Nature's Innuendo

Sun, 08 Nov 2020

The spectacular eruptions of steam and water we call geysers are only the tip of the proverbial iceb...

All the Gold In Fort Knox: Meh

Thu, 05 Nov 2020

When Fort Knox was built in the 1930s to house America’s gold supply, it was billed as an impenetr...

Short Stuff: Fruit Flies, Why?

Wed, 04 Nov 2020

Have you ever wondered why we do so much scientific testing on fruit flies? Turns out they make bett...

The Amazing Roberto Clemente

Tue, 03 Nov 2020

Roberto Clemente was what’s called a “complete” baseball player – he could hit, run and, man...

SYSK Selects: How Ghosts Work

Sat, 31 Oct 2020

According to a 2009 poll, more Americans believe in ghosts than don't. But what are ghosts exactly? ...

SYSK’s Scare Your Pants Off (and Back On) Halloween Spooktacular

Thu, 29 Oct 2020

It’s that time of year again! So turn down the lights, pull the sheets over your eyes and prepare ...

Short Stuff: Poe Toaster

Wed, 28 Oct 2020

For at least sixty years a mysterious person (or persons) showed up at Edgar Allen Poe’s grave to ...

A History of Nursing Homes

Tue, 27 Oct 2020

In America, we've treated our senior citizens in very different ways over the years. Tune in to hear...

Chuck Bryant On The Why I’m Voting Podcast

Sun, 25 Oct 2020

Hey, SYSK listeners! We wanted to make sure you heard Chuck on iHeartRadio’s Why I’m Voting podc...

SYSK Selects: How Book Banning Works

Sat, 24 Oct 2020

If you want to control the masses, control what they read. After all, books are seeds that germinate...

Beavers: Tail Slapping Fun

Thu, 22 Oct 2020

Beavers are in fact, very busy. They're builders and solid family members, husbands and wives. Learn...

Short Stuff: Haunted Real Estate

Wed, 21 Oct 2020

Do you have to disclose the notion that your house may be haunted upon sale? Listen in to find out. ...

10 Voter Suppression Methods

Tue, 20 Oct 2020

Voter suppression in the USA is as old as voting itself. Listen in to hear about 10 ways we stifle t...

SYSK Selects: How Sushi Works

Sat, 17 Oct 2020

Sushi grew out of a way to ferment fish a couple thousand years ago and in the late 20th century beg...

Porcupines: Little Stabby Cutie Pies

Thu, 15 Oct 2020

We love animals. A lot. Especially underrated ones like the darling porcupine. Listen in today to le...

Short Stuff: What is Latinx anyway?

Wed, 14 Oct 2020

We love to keep up with the current terminology for groups of people. Learn about the origin of Lati...

Wind Tunnels: More Important Than You Realize

Tue, 13 Oct 2020

Without wind tunnels we may not have airplanes right now. Early aviationists built them to puzzle ou...

SYSK Selects: How Bigfoot Works

Sat, 10 Oct 2020

For centuries North American tribes have told stories of a hairy wild giant in the wilderness, and o...

Printing press? Big deal!

Thu, 08 Oct 2020

Was the printing press a big deal? You bet it was. One of the biggest. Learn all about the early his...

Short Stuff: Lying in State

Wed, 07 Oct 2020

After RBG passed away she had the honor of lying in state. Who decides this? Listen and you'll know....

What's the deal with swing states?

Tue, 06 Oct 2020

Swing states are all the rage once again this election season, but the makeup has changed a bit. Lea...

SYSK Selects: How the Electoral College Works

Sat, 03 Oct 2020

When you vote in an American presidential election, you're not voting for your candidate - you're vo...

Fallout Shelters: Probably Useless (Let’s Never Find Out)

Thu, 01 Oct 2020

The advent of nuclear weapons and the Cold War kicked off a craze in the US for building rec rooms w...

Short Stuff: That's A Head Scratcher

Wed, 30 Sep 2020

It’s actually really strange that scratching your head is a widely understood sign that you’re p...

Conjugal Visits: Not exactly what you think

Tue, 29 Sep 2020

After reaching their peak, conjugal prison visits are all but gone in the U.S. Learn all about these...

SYSK Selects: How Rabies Works

Sat, 26 Sep 2020

Rabies may have gotten a lot of attention in the U.S. in the 70s and 80s, but it's still an issue in...

At Long Last: Hawaiian Overthrow Episode

Thu, 24 Sep 2020

By longstanding listener request, we look at how Hawaii was basically stolen by the United States in...

Short Stuff: Petticoat Rulers

Wed, 23 Sep 2020

Petticoat rulers were women who ran the show long before anyone thought they could. We’re talking ...

How Sweepstakes Work

Tue, 22 Sep 2020

Sweepstakes were invented as marketing tools to drum up interest for a product or sales. But winning...

SYSK Selects: How White-collar Crime Works

Sat, 19 Sep 2020

White-collar crime often involves fraud and other nonviolent acts. For most people, the term "white-...

How Election Polling Works and Doesn't Work

Thu, 17 Sep 2020

Election polling had a pretty good rep until 2016. But it turns out they weren't far off even then. ...

Short Stuff: Black Cowboys

Wed, 16 Sep 2020

Most people don't realize that around a quarter of the cowboys found in the Old West during the gold...

Origami: Folding Goodness

Tue, 15 Sep 2020

Origami is an amazing art that consists of making folds in paper to create something beautiful. Lear...

SYSK Selects: How Porta-Potties Work

Sat, 12 Sep 2020

Despite our lengthy history of evacuating our bowels and bladders, it wasn’t until the relatively ...

Wetlands! Wetlands! Wetlands!

Thu, 10 Sep 2020

It’s time to get jazzed up for some Earth science of the waterlogged variety. Join Chuck and Josh ...

Short Stuff: Streisand Effect

Wed, 09 Sep 2020

What does Barbra Streisand have to do with the internet? Listen and learn! Learn more about your ad...

Frances Perkins: Influential and Unknown

Tue, 08 Sep 2020

Frances Perkins was an incredibly influential American yet is virtually unknown. What did she do? A ...

SYSK Selects: How Police Chases Work

Sat, 05 Sep 2020

Entire TV shows are dedicated to them and Americans love to watch a live one, but police chases aren...

The Disturbing Disappearance of Tara Calico

Thu, 03 Sep 2020

When Tara Calico mysteriously vanished in 1988, suspected to be the victim of foul play, her case ma...

Short Stuff: More Phrase Origins

Wed, 02 Sep 2020

We're back with another handful of phrase origins. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www....

How the Escape from Alcatraz Worked

Tue, 01 Sep 2020

In 1962, three ordinary criminals transcended into folk heroes when they crawled out of their cells ...

SYSK Selects: Polyamory: When two just won't do

Sat, 29 Aug 2020

In this classic episode of Stuff You Should Know, Josh and Chuck dive into the world of polyamory. T...

Blacksmiths? You got that right!

Thu, 27 Aug 2020

Blacksmiths? You got that right. Learn all about this age old occupation in today's episode. Learn ...

Short Stuff: Carrots and Your Eyes

Wed, 26 Aug 2020

Join Chuck and Josh as they learn that one of the great childhood truths – that carrots help you s...

How Sneezing Works

Tue, 25 Aug 2020

Unless you have an arcane disorder from a lesion on a very specific spot on our medulla, the chances...

SYSK Selects: How Panic Attacks Work

Sat, 22 Aug 2020

Almost three percent of Americans suffer from a debilitating disorder that causes them to suffer int...

1-800-PODCAST

Thu, 20 Aug 2020

Chuck and Josh dive into the wacky world of 800 and 900 phone numbers. Learn more about your ad-cho...

Short Stuff: The Great American Coin Shortage of 2020

Wed, 19 Aug 2020

In addition to all the lousy things that’s come out of the Coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. is also ...

How Anti-Dieting Works

Tue, 18 Aug 2020

There’s a movement afoot that says we should all stop thinking about our weight and just enjoy foo...

SYSK Selects: How The Human Microbiome Project Works

Sat, 15 Aug 2020

If it was possible to take a full scan of all of the DNA of every cell in and on your body the resul...

Olympic Torches: Remember Those?

Thu, 13 Aug 2020

Back in the pre-pandemic days we had a sporting event called The Olympic Games. And at those games t...

Short Stuff: The Return of Bill Gates!

Wed, 12 Aug 2020

Our old pal Bill Gates is back for a very special short stuff where we talk all about Covid vaccines...

Pirate Radio: Mavericks on the High Seas

Tue, 11 Aug 2020

Pirate radio started out in England as a way to sidestep the regulations of Big Radio. While outlawe...

SYSK Selects: How The Moonwalk Works

Sat, 08 Aug 2020

When Michael Jackson debuted the moonwalk in 1983 the world was enrapt. The dance goes back farther,...

How Miniature Golf Works

Thu, 06 Aug 2020

Playing miniature golf is a very fun thing to do and, you’re about to find, learning about its ori...

Short Stuff: Jigsaw Puzzles

Wed, 05 Aug 2020

Who doesn't love a good puzzle? Tune in to learn a few facts and figures about jigsaw puzzles right ...

Wasps: Not as cute as bees

Tue, 04 Aug 2020

Wasps have a bad rap. Because their sting really hurts and they don't make honey like their cousins....

SYSK Selects: How the Rosetta Stone Works

Sat, 01 Aug 2020

Sometimes providence smiles on historians. Thus is the case with the Rosetta stone, an ancient Egypt...

How Soap Works

Thu, 30 Jul 2020

Soap is a miraculous substance – and mysterious too: we have no idea how humans first figured out ...

Short Stuff: Habsburg Jaw

Wed, 29 Jul 2020

The Habsburg Jaw is the result of inbreeding. But what is it? Click play and learn! Learn more abou...

How Hurricanes Work

Tue, 28 Jul 2020

Hurricanes are perhaps the most destructive force of nature we have to deal with here on Earth. When...

SYSK Selects: How Lobbying Works

Sat, 25 Jul 2020

Lobbying is an entrenched part of American politics and one that many people think is breaking gover...

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Mobile Phones

Thu, 23 Jul 2020

Today we deep dive on mobile phones, wonders of the modern world! Learn more about your ad-choices ...

Short Stuff: The Death of Billy the Kid

Wed, 22 Jul 2020

Sure, together Young Guns and Young Guns II form an exhaustive biography of Billy the Kid’s li...

How We Almost Got Rid of Polio

Tue, 21 Jul 2020

For more than half of the 20th century parents in the industrialized world were freaked out by an un...

SYSK Selects: How a Flea Circus Works

Sat, 18 Jul 2020

If you've ever seen a flea circus, then count yourself among the few. It's a dying art, but back in ...

Robber Barons!

Thu, 16 Jul 2020

The robber barons were not a group of evil super villains. OR WERE THEY? Learn all about these titan...

Short Stuff: Centralia Coal Fire

Wed, 15 Jul 2020

An old coal mine in Pennsylvania caught fire one day in the 60s and it’s been burning ever since. ...

Flagpole Sitting: A Real Fad

Tue, 14 Jul 2020

The 1920s were just absolutely nuts. People got into weird fads really intensely and one of the stra...

SYSK Selects: How Landfills Work

Sat, 11 Jul 2020

Well-planned landfills have only recently come into widespread use. Recently, waste managers have fo...

Essential Oils: Nature's Cure?

Thu, 09 Jul 2020

Essential oils are from plants and they can help the human body in a lot of ways. There are also man...

Short Stuff: The @ Symbol

Wed, 08 Jul 2020

You know the at symbol? This thing: @? There’s a name for it, just not in English. We just call it...

What was the KGB?

Tue, 07 Jul 2020

The KGB was the notorious strong arm of the Kremlin. Run afoul and you died. Learn all about them to...

SYSK Selects: All We Know About Guessing

Sat, 04 Jul 2020

Guessing is a weird thing. For millennia, it could have meant the difference between life and death....

Oh Yes, How Soil Works

Thu, 02 Jul 2020

There is maybe nothing that sounds more boring than hearing two people talk about soil, but friend, ...

Short Stuff: The Science of Funny Words

Wed, 01 Jul 2020

Why are some words funnier than others? Well, one man has sought to figure that out. We'll tell you ...

Bruxism: Grinding Your Teeth Is the Pits

Tue, 30 Jun 2020

Researchers have noticed that as incidence of anger increases so too has teeth grinding, known clini...

SYSK Selects: Juggling: What the Heck

Sat, 27 Jun 2020

There is a lot – A LOT – to juggling and Chuck and Josh go over the lion’s share of it in this...

Matcha: That Ain't Just Tea

Thu, 25 Jun 2020

Matcha is something else, healthy and delicious and all the rage. Learn all about this trendy bevera...

Short Stuff: Nouns of assemblage... assemble!

Wed, 24 Jun 2020

A gaggle of geese. A murder of crows. Nouns of assemblage are awesome and we talk about them for abo...

How Ultrasound Works

Tue, 23 Jun 2020

Sure you know all about ultrasound. You can see pictures of little babies right there cozy in the wo...

SYSK Selects: Research tips from SYSK

Sat, 20 Jun 2020

People often ask us how we do our research. We're not going to disclose all of our secrets, but we'l...

The Manhattan Grid

Thu, 18 Jun 2020

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listene...

Short Stuff: Haint Blue

Wed, 17 Jun 2020

Haint Blue is a kind of robin's egg color that you might commonly find on porches of the low country...

The War on Fat: The Seven Countries Study

Tue, 16 Jun 2020

The Seven Countries Study was a fairly impressive, long-term study on the effects of fat in our diet...

SYSK Selects: How Flamethrowers Work

Sat, 13 Jun 2020

Who first decided that it would be a great idea to shoot flame at other people from a distance? Josh...

Can You Eat A Tapeworm To Lose Weight?

Thu, 11 Jun 2020

There’s a persistent insistence that you can ingest a tapeworm and as the parasite hijacks a lot o...

Short Stuff: Foie Gras

Wed, 10 Jun 2020

Foie gras means “fatty liver” in French, which makes sense because it’s made from the overripe...

How Project Star Gate Worked

Tue, 09 Jun 2020

In yet another testament to how amazingly great the 70s were, in 1975 the US started a program that ...

SYSK Selects: How The Black Panther Party Worked

Sat, 06 Jun 2020

The Black Panther Party was a complex political movement that was unfairly painted as a militant gro...

The Massacre at Tiananmen Square

Thu, 04 Jun 2020

Tank Man. An indelible image burned in our brains. But what led to this extraordinary event? Chuck a...

Short Stuff: Disappearing Dirty Dancing Lake

Wed, 03 Jun 2020

The lake from one of the all-time great movies (search your feelings, you’ll find that it’s true...

Heroin: The Drug

Tue, 02 Jun 2020

We've covered a lot of drugs in our history, and today we tackle heroin, one of the most dangerous o...

SYSK Selects: How Jackhammers Work

Sat, 30 May 2020

It’s likely that without the invention of the pneumatic jackhammer, the Industrial Revolution woul...

How Narcolepsy Works

Thu, 28 May 2020

Narcolepsy is one of those amazing rare disorders that everyone thinks they understand – people ju...

Short Stuff: Lawn Darts

Wed, 27 May 2020

There was a time when kids had to look out for flying darts that could pierce their skulls when they...

Hummingbirds: Ornery Helicopters of the Animal Kingdom

Tue, 26 May 2020

If you didn’t already know how amazing hummingbirds are, prepare to learn. Not only do they count ...

SYSK Selects: How The Enlightenment Works

Sat, 23 May 2020

The Enlightenment stands as the moment the West withdrew from superstition and found its faith in re...

Josh Clark's Speech from Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020

Fri, 22 May 2020

Hi listeners, in case you haven't heard already, iHeartRadio just released a brand new podcast calle...

How Bras Work

Thu, 21 May 2020

Bras are loved and hated, sometimes at the same time. But as difficult and restrictive as they can b...

Short Stuff: Mary Had A Little Lamb

Wed, 20 May 2020

Did you know the little nursery rhyme is controversial? It’s true: Two towns in New England can ba...

How Spiritualism Works

Tue, 19 May 2020

Something spooky was born on the American frontier in the mid-19th century: the idea that people’s...

Chuck Bryant's Speech from Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020

Mon, 18 May 2020

Hi listeners, in case you haven't heard already, iHeartRadio just released a brand new podcast calle...

SYSK Selects: How Fire Works

Sat, 16 May 2020

Creating fire was possibly the most important human discovery, but it's easy to take for granted. Bu...

How Peanut Butter Works

Thu, 14 May 2020

No food is more all-American than peanut butter – 80 percent of homes in the country have a jar of...

Short Stuff: Charley Horse

Wed, 13 May 2020

You know those terrible leg cramps that come out of nowhere? They may be named after a drunken baseb...

How Herd Immunity Works

Tue, 12 May 2020

Herd immunity is an epidemiological concept that if enough people are inoculated against a disease t...

SYSK Selects: How Caving Works

Sat, 09 May 2020

Entrances to the underworld have been places of wonder for eons, and humans have ventured into caves...

Zippers: Humans’ Greatest Invention? No, But Still Good

Thu, 07 May 2020

The zipper may be the most unsung invention we humans have ever come up with. Prior to zippers, ever...

Short Stuff: Gibtown: Sideshow Central

Wed, 06 May 2020

There was a glorious time in American history when circus sideshow performers lived together in a sm...

I'm Spartacus!

Tue, 05 May 2020

Spartacus was a real dude. He led a slave revolt, and was pretty successful to boot. I'm Spartacus. ...

SYSK Selects: How do dogs perceive time?

Sat, 02 May 2020

A dog that knows exactly when its owners will arrive home every day seems to have a human perception...

Agatha Christie: Queen of the Murder Mystery

Thu, 30 Apr 2020

Agatha Christie was a great writer of murder mystery novels and is probably the best selling author ...

Short Stuff: Mullets: 'Nuff Said

Wed, 29 Apr 2020

Business in the front, you know the rest. Listen in as we discuss the lifestyle choice that is the m...

How Existential Risks Work

Tue, 28 Apr 2020

An existential risk is a special kind of threat that are different from other types of risks in that...

SYSK Selects: How the U.S. Postal Service Works

Sat, 25 Apr 2020

Back when this episode aired, the USPS was teetering on the edge of going under and there were a lot...

How the Voyager Golden Records Work

Thu, 23 Apr 2020

As part of a super 70s push to get Earth to a seat at the table of the Galactic Federation (in case ...

Short Stuff: The NY Times Crossword

Wed, 22 Apr 2020

Today Chuck and Josh take a shallow dive in the warm pool that is the NY Times Crossword Puzzle. Le...

The Soul Train Episode

Tue, 21 Apr 2020

Today, Chuck and Josh dive into the funky, cool world of the classic TV show, Sooooooooul Train. Le...

SYSK Selects: How Labor Unions Work

Sat, 18 Apr 2020

Yes, it's true: Unions have a shady mob-related past and were originally championed by anarchists. B...

How Wastewater Treatment Works

Thu, 16 Apr 2020

All that gross stuff we humans put in the water that gets flushed down the sewers has to be taken ba...

Short Stuff: Turning Down the Radio When You're Lost

Wed, 15 Apr 2020

It’s a typical human reaction: When you’re driving and you realize that you’re lost, you turn ...

Bidets: Now More Than Ever

Tue, 14 Apr 2020

We all know the benefits of bidets. But with toilet paper in short supply, they're more important th...

SYSK Selects: How Dissociative Identity Disorder Works

Sat, 11 Apr 2020

Dissociative Identity Disorder was known as multiple personality disorder until a case of mass hyste...

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Feminist Physician

Thu, 09 Apr 2020

Becoming the first licensed woman physician in America was tough, convincing male surgeons to wash t...

Short Stuff: AAirpass

Wed, 08 Apr 2020

In the go-go 80s and 90s, American Airlines offered the AAirpass, a lifetime pass for unlimited firs...

The Legends of Lost Nazi Gold

Tue, 07 Apr 2020

As if being murdering SOBs weren’t enough, the Nazis were also thieving rats. During WWII, they st...

SYSK Selects: How the Deep Web Works

Sat, 04 Apr 2020

Perhaps you didn’t realize that when you search the web you’re only skimming the surface. In fac...

Student Loans: UGH!

Thu, 02 Apr 2020

Student loans can be pretty complicated. Luckily Chuck and Josh are here to wade through the financi...

Short Stuff: 666

Wed, 01 Apr 2020

Today, Chuck and Josh dive into that scary number...666. Learn more about your ad-choices at https:...

How Dog Training Works

Tue, 31 Mar 2020

Chuck and Josh explore the age-old question: Should you train your dog by treating it like a living,...

SYSK Selects: Can Nuclear Fusion Reactors Save The World?

Sat, 28 Mar 2020

The world’s energy consumption is ruining the planet but for decades physicists have been working ...

How COVID-19 Works

Thu, 26 Mar 2020

We’re in the middle of an odd, tense time and Josh and Chuck are here to explain what’s going on...

Short Stuff: Dagen H

Wed, 25 Mar 2020

One day in 1967, Sweden changed what side of the road its citizens drive on. It went surprisingly we...

Could A Robot Tax Win the War on Poverty?

Tue, 24 Mar 2020

An old idea – giving every resident of a country a set amount of money every month with no strings...

SYSK Selects: Virus Talk with Josh and Chuck

Sat, 21 Mar 2020

Viruses are big jerks that invade regular cells and hold them hostage, making you sick while they're...

SYSK Distraction Playlist: How Jim Henson Worked

Fri, 20 Mar 2020

We’ve already recorded an episode on The Muppets, but Jim Henson was such a neat guy we delved int...

SYSK Distraction Playlist: SYSK Live: How Bars Work

Fri, 20 Mar 2020

Join Josh and Chuck live from Vancouver as they dive in to the ins and outs of one of the oldest bus...

SYSK Distraction Playlist: How Grass Works? Yes, How Grass Works

Fri, 20 Mar 2020

There’s nothing more boring than watching grass grow, which is why Josh and Chuck aren’t asking ...

SYSK Distraction Playlist: How Terraforming Will Work

Fri, 20 Mar 2020

A lot of great thinkers are warning that if humans are to survive as a species we are going to have ...

SYSK Distraction Playlist: How Rogue Waves Work

Fri, 20 Mar 2020

Rogue waves come out of nowhere and tower as much as 100 feet over hapless ships they encounter, bre...

SYSK Distraction Playlist: Was there a real King Arthur?

Fri, 20 Mar 2020

The legend of King Arthur is very old and very established. By the time the king who saved Britain a...

SYSK Distraction Playlist: The Amazing History of Soda

Fri, 20 Mar 2020

The soda we get instantly mixed at a fast-food joint owes a lot to a rich history going back to the ...

SYSK Distraction Playlist: How Rodney Dangerfield Worked, Live From LA

Fri, 20 Mar 2020

Other comedians cry on the inside, but Rodney Dangerfield built his entire act around his sad life. ...

SYSK Distraction Playlist: How Pinball Works

Fri, 20 Mar 2020

Pinball was actually illegal until the 1970s in NY and other cities, hidden in the backs of pornogra...

SYSK Distraction Playlist: Sugar: It Powers the Earth

Fri, 20 Mar 2020

Since sugar spread from Polynesia a few thousand years ago, the world has been crazy for it. Insanel...

What was the Falkland Islands War all about anyway?

Thu, 19 Mar 2020

The battle between Britain and Argentina over the rocky, cold Falkland Islands is one of the weirder...

Short Stuff: The Pledge of Allegiance

Wed, 18 Mar 2020

The American Pledge of Allegiance is much more interesting than you might think. Give us 12 minutes ...

Chopsticks > Forks

Tue, 17 Mar 2020

Today Chuck and Josh sit and converse on the simple, elegant chopstick.  Learn more about your ad-...

SYSK Selects: How Monopoly Works

Sat, 14 Mar 2020

Since more than 1 billion people have played it, you’re probably familiar with the board game Mono...

How Ice Climbing Works

Thu, 12 Mar 2020

A few decades ago, some people who liked to climb mountains decided they wanted to make it even hard...

Short Stuff: Teresita Basa

Wed, 11 Mar 2020

In the annals of American justice there is a 1977 case where the police were tipped off to the ident...

How Coyotes Work

Tue, 10 Mar 2020

The coyote truly is wily. Even after a century-long attempt to drive them to extinction, this close ...

SYSK Selects: How Gold Works

Sat, 07 Mar 2020

As of early 2013, only 161,00 metric tons of gold had been mined in the entire history of the world....

Mardi Gras! One month late

Thu, 05 Mar 2020

In true SYSK fashion, Josh and Chuck are late to the game. But never fear, they will still detail Ma...

Short Stuff: Exclamation Points!

Wed, 04 Mar 2020

We all use them! But did we always? NO!! Learn all about everyone's favorite punctuation mark today!...

How Morphic Fields Work?

Tue, 03 Mar 2020

Biologist and science historian Rupert Sheldrake is known as a heretic of science, mostly for his de...

SYSK Selects: Your limb is torn off - now what?

Sat, 29 Feb 2020

Were you to be the unfortunate victim of a limb removal of any sort, you could take hope. Here in th...

Sammy Davis Jr: National Treasure

Thu, 27 Feb 2020

Today Josh and Chuck sit down and detail the complicated life of the late, great Sammy Davis Jr. Le...

Short Stuff: Hawaiian Night Marchers

Wed, 26 Feb 2020

Get ready for some Hawaiian folklore, people. Today we discuss the Night Marchers. Learn more about...

What's the deal with indigo?

Tue, 25 Feb 2020

Indigo is a color with a rich past. Learn all about it today.  Learn more about your ad-choices at...

SYSK Selects: How Cult Deprogramming Works

Sat, 22 Feb 2020

The fear of cults in the 1970s drove Americans to look the other way on kidnappings, abuse and tortu...

Birthmarks: Probably Not the Mark of the Devil

Thu, 20 Feb 2020

It’s a pretty safe assumption that people have been born with birthmarks since humanity began, and...

Short Stuff: Mexican Jumping Beans

Wed, 19 Feb 2020

Mexican jumping beans are a real thing and they really do move around. It’s not magic, it’s natu...

The Unsolved Indiana Dunes Disappearances

Tue, 18 Feb 2020

In July 1966, three women out for a day at the beach waded into the water of Lake Michigan, got onto...

SYSK Selects: A Podcast on Zoot Suits? Yes

Sat, 15 Feb 2020

Few riots can be attributed to passing fashions, but zoot suits are top among them. After originatin...

911 Is Not a Joke

Thu, 13 Feb 2020

Josh and Chuck delve into the world of 911 in today's episode.  Learn more about your ad-choices a...

Short Stuff: Body Under The Bed

Wed, 12 Feb 2020

A couple unknowingly spending the night above a dead body stuffed under their bed is a longstanding ...

Optogenetics: Controlling Your Genes with Light

Tue, 11 Feb 2020

What if a genetic brain disease could be turned off simply by flashing a light in your eyes? What if...

SYSK Selects: How Bonsai Works

Sat, 08 Feb 2020

For thousands of years people have been taking normal trees and forcing them into miniature. Learn a...

Why are Pentecostals growing so rapidly?

Thu, 06 Feb 2020

Pentecostals are seemingly taking over the world. Or at least they're making up a larger section of ...

Short Stuff: The Iowa Caucus

Wed, 05 Feb 2020

The Iowa Caucus is super important. But not really. Find out why.  Learn more about your ad-choice...

How AI Facial Recognition Works

Tue, 04 Feb 2020

With the development of increasingly smart artificial intelligence and lots more cameras spread arou...

SYSK Selects: How Maglev Trains Work

Sat, 01 Feb 2020

Thanks to the amazing properties of magnets, clever engineers have figured out how to make entire tr...

Who were the Buffalo Soldiers?

Thu, 30 Jan 2020

Josh and Chuck dive into history today to tell the story of the Buffalo Soldiers.  Learn more abou...

Short Stuff: The O.K. Corral

Wed, 29 Jan 2020

Listen in as we detail, in short, the legendary shootout at the O.K. Corral. Learn more about your ...

Amazing Animal Stories!

Tue, 28 Jan 2020

Regular animal stories are wonderful enough, but when animals lead amazing lives the stories become ...

SYSK Selects: How the Scientific Method Works

Sat, 25 Jan 2020

It evolved over centuries to become the gold standard for conducting scientific inquiry. Yet many pe...

Barefoot Running: The Best Podcast Episode in History

Thu, 23 Jan 2020

What is barefoot running? I think you know. But we'll detail all of the ins and outs. Listen and lea...

Short Stuff: Byford Dolphin Incident

Wed, 22 Jan 2020

In 1983, what may be the worst diving catastrophe in the history of deep sea oil exploration took pl...

Why Postal Employees Go Postal

Tue, 21 Jan 2020

1993 was known as the peak of a disturbing trend in America: post office shootings, carried out by p...

SYSK Selects: How the Placebo Effect Works

Sat, 18 Jan 2020

For centuries, doctors have prescribed drugs they knew weren't real – but that still somehow worke...

The Tulsa 'Race Riots'

Thu, 16 Jan 2020

In reality, the Tulsa "race riots" of 1921 was more like a massacre. Yet it was almost lost to histo...

Short Stuff: The Mona Lisa

Wed, 15 Jan 2020

The Mona Lisa is a captivating work of art. But why? We'll try and figure it out in today's short st...

Transdermal Implants: Body Art or Nightmare Fuel?

Tue, 14 Jan 2020

Transdermal implants are just one in a number of procedures under the banner of extreme body modific...

SYSK Selects: Jellyfish - Even Cooler Than Octopi?

Sat, 11 Jan 2020

Jellyfish are among the most adaptable, competitive organisms on the planet. They can grow back into...

The Disappearance of Flight MH370, Part II

Thu, 09 Jan 2020

In the absence of an official explanation of why flight MH 370 disappeared in 2014, conjecture and c...

Short Stuff: Corduroy

Wed, 08 Jan 2020

Learn 12 minutes worth of stuff about corduroy today! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://w...

The Disappearance of Flight MH370, Part I

Tue, 07 Jan 2020

In 2014, a Boeing 777 airliner disappeared. Despite two full years of searching an area of ocean cov...

SYSK Selects: Will Computers Replace Doctors?

Sat, 04 Jan 2020

With savvy and health-conscious people taking control of their wellbeing through apps and sites, tec...

How Safecracking Works

Thu, 02 Jan 2020

Burglars have come up with a whole range of ways to get into a safe. There’s lock manipulation –...

Short Stuff: Why Does Time Speed Up As You Age?

Wed, 01 Jan 2020

It’s not just you – time really does seem to pass faster for people as we age. But exactly why r...

Are broken arrows a problem?

Tue, 31 Dec 2019

Are broken arrows are a problem? After all, they are incidents and accidents involving nuclear warhe...

SYSK Selects: How Wine Fraud Works

Sat, 28 Dec 2019

Wine fraud may be a case of rich con artists tricking wealthy people into parting with money, but it...

SYSK Live: Andre the Giant

Thu, 26 Dec 2019

Andre the Giant was a giant both figuratively and literally. Sure he was a wrestler, but more than t...

Short Stuff: The Santa Claus Association

Wed, 25 Dec 2019

If a con man manages to make needy Christmas wishes come true is he still a con man? (Also, Merry Ch...

The SYSK Holiday Spectacular

Tue, 24 Dec 2019

It's an annual treat, folks. Our holiday special is back and better than ever, and as always, brough...

SYSK Selects: The Star Wars Holiday Special of 1978

Sat, 21 Dec 2019

Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made...

Cave Diving: Totally Nuts

Thu, 19 Dec 2019

There are extreme sports and then there is cave diving, the most extreme activity a person can engag...

Short Stuff: Obituaries

Wed, 18 Dec 2019

Learn everything we know about obituaries in 12 minutes! Learn more about your ad-choices at https:...

MC Escher and His Trippy Art

Tue, 17 Dec 2019

We love us some MC Escher. Turns out his story is pretty fascinating too. Tune in today.  Learn mo...

SYSK Selects: How Currency Works

Sat, 14 Dec 2019

Even if you entirely eschew the concept of money, we'll bet you'd be hard pressed not to trade in so...

How Anorexia and Bulimia Work

Thu, 12 Dec 2019

Anorexia and bulimia - those twin eating disorders that seem so common and maybe even just a phase f...

Short Stuff: Whisky or Bourbon?

Wed, 11 Dec 2019

What's the difference between whisky and bourbon? We'll tell you if you care to listen. Learn more ...

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Gin

Tue, 10 Dec 2019

If there's one thing we've learned about Chuck over the years it's that he loves his gin. And he lov...

SYSK Selects: How Amnesia Works

Sat, 07 Dec 2019

Those movies where someone gets hit on the head and can't remember who they are anymore? They're act...

What's a gap year anyway?

Thu, 05 Dec 2019

Chuck thought a gap year was post college. Turns out, it's a post high school year off from academic...

Short Stuff: Macadamia Nuts

Wed, 04 Dec 2019

Macadamia nuts aren't nuts! They're seeds! And they are delicious. And good for you in the right amo...

Did Climate Cause the Collapse of the Maya?

Tue, 03 Dec 2019

After millennia of development, the Maya culture suddenly collapsed at its peak. Why is one of the b...

SYSK Selects: Fractals - Whoa

Sat, 30 Nov 2019

In the 1980s, IBM mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot gazed for the first time upon his famous fractal. ...

How Conversion Therapy Doesn't Work

Thu, 28 Nov 2019

Conversion therapy is a misguided attempt by religious zealots to convert people from gay to straigh...

Short Stuff: Niagara Falls Dewatered

Wed, 27 Nov 2019

In 1969, the Army Corps of Engineers turned off one of the main waterfalls at Niagara Falls to see w...

How Carbon-14 Dating Works

Tue, 26 Nov 2019

Some of the carbon dioxide in your body is radioactive! Don’t worry, it won’t harm you (not sure...

SYSK Selects: Have all the good ideas already been discovered?

Sat, 23 Nov 2019

It's no secret that human beings have an obsession with innovation -- but has our species already fo...

What Makes a Must-Have Christmas Toy?

Thu, 21 Nov 2019

Ever since Cabbage Patch Kids came along in 1983, there’s been an annual holiday frenzy around one...

Short Stuff: Backyard Burials

Wed, 20 Nov 2019

Time was that you’d bury a deceased relative in your yard; now it’s just weird. But it’s still...

The Murder Mystery of Ötzi the Iceman

Tue, 19 Nov 2019

About 5,300 years ago a Copper Age shepherd was murdered. He just happened to die in a place where h...

SYSK Selects: How Salt Works

Sat, 16 Nov 2019

A Roman senator once said, "Mankind can live without gold, but not without salt." Right he was. The ...

NYC Water: An Engineering Marvel

Thu, 14 Nov 2019

Getting the rain and melted snow from upstate NY into the taps of every NYC resident and business is...

Short Stuff: The Conch Republic

Wed, 13 Nov 2019

Back in 1982, Key West seceded from the United States. Don’t believe us? It’s true! Just listen ...

Augmented Reality: Coming Soon?

Tue, 12 Nov 2019

Augmented reality adds a digital layer over the real world and soon it will revolutionize how we liv...

SYSK Selects: Can you Treat Mental Illness with Psychedelics?

Sat, 09 Nov 2019

Hallucinogenic drugs are currently illegal, but they were once commonly used in psychological treatm...

Cockney Rhyming Slang: Beautiful Gibberish

Thu, 07 Nov 2019

What is Cockney Rhyming Slang? It's complicated and its origins are unclear. Learn everything we kno...

How Ironman Triathlons Work

Wed, 06 Nov 2019

Sure, you could train for months to finish a marathon, but why not make things interesting? Ironman ...

Short Stuff: The History of Paternity Testing

Wed, 06 Nov 2019

Paternity testing. It wasn't science for many years, yet they still tried to do it. Learn all about ...

SYSK Selects: Halitosis - Worst Smell Ever?

Sat, 02 Nov 2019

Occasional bad breath is one thing, halitosis is another. Or is it? From its odd origins as a market...

SYSK’s Scare Your Socks Off Halloween Spooktacular 2019

Thu, 31 Oct 2019

Josh and Chuck chose a truly unsettling story by one of the greatest science fiction authors of all ...

Short Stuff: Our Shortie Halloween Spooktacular

Wed, 30 Oct 2019

Join us today as we read three short horror selections from Ambrose Bierce.  Learn more about your...

Where Did Trick-Or-Treating Come From?

Tue, 29 Oct 2019

We aren’t exactly sure who invented trick-or-treating – kids who realized they could extort adul...

SYSK Selects: How Haunted House Attractions Work

Sat, 26 Oct 2019

Ever since the Egyptians, humans have been evolving toward haunted house attractions. The level of s...

How Historic Districts Work

Thu, 24 Oct 2019

A fascinating thing about Americans is that we can disagree on anything. Such is the case with histo...

Short Stuff: The Toxic Death of Gloria Ramirez

Wed, 23 Oct 2019

In 1994 the body of a woman who died in a California ER somehow became toxic and sickened 24 people....

What's the deal with subpoenas?

Tue, 22 Oct 2019

Subpoenas are all the rage. But what do they even mean if someone can just ignore it? Learn this and...

SYSK Selects: The 'Satanic Panic' of the 1980s

Sat, 19 Oct 2019

In the late 1980s, the United States experienced a "Satanic Panic," leading parents to fear for the ...

How Project Blue Book Worked, Pt II

Thu, 17 Oct 2019

A rash of UFO sightings kicks off a new spike in America’s UFO fever and new headaches for the Air...

Short Stuff: The Disappearance of Ambrose Bierce

Wed, 16 Oct 2019

Ambrose Bierce was a journalist and writer of short stories. He also disappeared rather mysteriously...

How Project Blue Book Worked, Pt I

Tue, 15 Oct 2019

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listene...

SYSK Selects: How Black Boxes Work

Sat, 12 Oct 2019

Black boxes are designed to be the only survivor of plane crashes so they can live to tell the tale ...

The Ins and Outs of Beekeeping

Thu, 10 Oct 2019

Who wants fresh honey? We do! Learn all about the ancient art of beekeeping today. Learn more about...

Short Stuff: The Devil's Den

Wed, 09 Oct 2019

The Devil's Den is the sight of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. Is it haunted? Nope. ...

How Environmental Psychology Works

Tue, 08 Oct 2019

In the 60s, psychology expanded from exploring inside the mind to exploring the inside of buildings....

SYSK Selects: How Pez Works

Sat, 05 Oct 2019

PEZ began in Vienna as a mint meant to help people quit smoking. But once American kids got ahold of...

What were the Freedom Schools?

Thu, 03 Oct 2019

Freedom Schools were set up in Mississippi in the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, with the aim o...

Short Stuff: Fish n' Chips

Wed, 02 Oct 2019

How did these two wonderful strangers meet up and become best friends? The answers lie within today'...

Guardian Angels: Behind the Red Beret

Tue, 01 Oct 2019

If you grew up in the 1980s, then you know who the Guardian Angels are. If you don't then you're in ...

SYSK Selects: What Happened at Kent State?

Sat, 28 Sep 2019

On May 4, 1970, four days of anti-war protests at Kent State University in Ohio culminated in the un...

What are paraphilias?

Thu, 26 Sep 2019

Josh and Chuck dive into the world of paraphilias so you can get the skinny in 45 minutes or less. ...

Short Stuff: Dare Stones

Wed, 25 Sep 2019

What happened to the Lost Colonists who disappeared from Roanoke Island in the 1580s remains a myste...

We Are Running Out of Sand and That Actually Matters

Tue, 24 Sep 2019

Sand, we’re beginning to realize, is a non-renewable resource - and we are consuming it at a vorac...

SYSK Selects: Could You Live Without a Refrigerator?

Sat, 21 Sep 2019

Do you know that hulking refrigerator in your kitchen emits CO2 thanks to the electricity it uses ea...

How the US Interstate System Works

Thu, 19 Sep 2019

Wait! This is actually a good episode! It turns out that America’s 48,000 miles of superhighways –...

Short Stuff: Scurvy

Wed, 18 Sep 2019

Scurvy seems like a terrible way to go: Your gums swell so you can’t eat, your teeth fall out and ...

The Skinny on Lyme Disease

Tue, 17 Sep 2019

If you live in the Northeastern U.S. then you may know someone who has had Lyme disease. But it's sp...

SYSK Selects: How Wills Work

Sat, 14 Sep 2019

Whether it's oral, scrawled in blood or signed on a deathbed everyone should have a will. But how do...

Special Effects: A Short History

Thu, 12 Sep 2019

Special effects have been around since the first movies. In fact, the techniques the earliest filmma...

Short Stuff: Papasan Chairs

Wed, 11 Sep 2019

Oh, the papasan. What a chair! But where did it come from? And what does the name mean? The answers ...

How Government Shutdowns Work

Tue, 10 Sep 2019

Every year Congress decides how the federal government will spend money. Simple enough, but in pract...

SYSK Selects: How Ouija Boards Work

Sat, 07 Sep 2019

Although most people who've used Ouija boards don't think they're communicating with the beyond, the...

What's the deal with MSG?

Thu, 05 Sep 2019

MSG got a bad rap in the 70s and 80s. But what is it exactly and how bad is it for you? The answers ...

Short Stuff: Barbed Wire

Wed, 04 Sep 2019

Barbed wire changed the Western US as much as the railroad and the six-shooter. Before barbed wire a...

Ed Gein: The Serial Killer's Serial Killer

Tue, 03 Sep 2019

Any movie featuring a deranged killer who’s perversely devoted to his mother and makes things out ...

SYSK Selects: How Icebergs Work

Sat, 31 Aug 2019

Icebergs: floating chunks of ice. True, but whoa there. Scientists are learning that there's a lot m...

The Rubik's Cube Episode

Thu, 29 Aug 2019

Rubik's Cubes. Ronald Reagan. Jerry Falwell. Just Say No. One of these things was awesome. Take a gu...

Short Stuff: Dead Bodies and Airline Codes

Wed, 28 Aug 2019

Did you know there are airline codes for pilots and flight attendants? And some of them have to do w...

A Brief Overview of Punk Rock

Tue, 27 Aug 2019

Punk rock really needs about 10 episodes to do it justice, but we'll try and tackle anyway. Learn al...

SYSK Selects: How Sleepwalking Works

Sat, 24 Aug 2019

Sleep behaviors are pretty fascinating. Some people snore, some grind their teeth -- and some take a...

How Ventriloquism Works

Thu, 22 Aug 2019

Ventriloquism – where a skilled performer “throws” their voice, making it seem like a dummy on...

Short Stuff: Horseshoe Crab Blood

Wed, 21 Aug 2019

Perhaps the most expensive liquid on the planet is the blue blood that comes from horseshoe crabs. R...

Nuclear Semiotics: How to Talk to Future Humans

Tue, 20 Aug 2019

The nuclear waste we produce will be dangerous for a very long time. We’ve figured out how to safe...

SYSK Selects: Are We in a Cyberwar?

Sat, 17 Aug 2019

There's a secret war going on around us, and it's happening on a daily basis. The Air Force has a un...

How Peyote Works

Thu, 15 Aug 2019

Josh and Chuck have tackled a lot of drugs on the show, but peyote has loomed like a bad Jim Morriso...

Short Stuff: Petrichor

Wed, 14 Aug 2019

You know that amazing smell when it rains? Kind of clean, kind of earthy, one of a kind? It turns ou...

Solar Power: The Future or What?

Tue, 13 Aug 2019

We’ve been promised solar energy for a while now – where is it? Turns out, it’s been quietly a...

SYSK Selects: What Is a Shotgun House?

Sat, 10 Aug 2019

Shotgun houses are iconic pieces of American architecture: they're long, narrow, and filled with art...

Iran-Contra Affair: Shady in the 80s, Part 2

Thu, 08 Aug 2019

As the operation expands it also begins to unravel. Word starts to leak out of the illegal stuff the...

Short Stuff: Time Zones

Wed, 07 Aug 2019

Time zones are a pain. Let's get rid of them! Can we? Sure! Learn more about your ad-choices at htt...

Iran-Contra Affair: Shady in the 80s, Part 1

Tue, 06 Aug 2019

When Ronald Reagan was president, America got involved in some deeply shady stuff, not the least of ...

SYSK Selects: How the Black Death Worked