The Daily Upgrade
By Jason Ford
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Podcast Description
Learn something new!
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
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1 |
Ep 116: The Japanese Bombing of Oregon | Was the US mainland ever attacked during WWII? Most people would say no other than Pearl Harbor, but the answer is yes. The man above, Fujita Nobuo, twice successfully bombed the west coast. The full story of his bombing runs is today’s Daily Upgrade. | 5/31/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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2 |
Ep 115: Largest Accidental Man-Made Explosion | Above is a picture of the world's largest accidental man-made explosion. Where and when did it occur? Was anyone injured? Listen to today's episode to learn all about the explosion that clocked in at 20% the size of the Nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, | 5/30/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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3 |
Ep 114: Mouse Traps | What is the best way to catch a mouse? Conventional wisdom would say put out a mouse trap with some cheese like the picture above. Is this really the best way, though? What if mice don't even like cheese?! | 5/29/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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4 |
Ep 113: The Money Pit | Interested in finding some buried treasure? Try looking in The Money Pit. This is the true story of buried treasure yet to be found. Even President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was said to have taken a stab at digging for this treasure. | 5/25/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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5 |
Ep 112: Rosa Parks | Today is all about Rosa Parks and why on December 5, 1955 she decided not to move. There is a lot more to the story than you've probably been told. Then for the back half of the show I talk about Alzheimers. | 5/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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6 |
Ep 111: No news is good news? | Your speakers aren't broken. We had some audio trouble today. - Imagine if CNN said there was no news. It would be kind of creepy right? How could there be no news? That's what today's episode is about. Plus I dive into a little Star Wars trivia. | 5/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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7 |
Ep 110: Weird Amazon Products | Can you buy milk (Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz) on Amazon.com? The answer is yes and I bet you can't guess how much it costs! What else can you buy? Today we'll focus on the weird things and if you have any of your own that you have found I w.. | 5/22/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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8 |
Ep 109: The Republic of West Florida | Believe it or not there was a time when West Florida was its own country! The story of how this country came to be (and how quickly it folded) is today's Daily Upgrade along with a strange fact about ancient math. Not sure about today's music choice, | 5/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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9 |
Ep 108: Immortality | Humans may not have achieved immortality, but that doesn't mean other species haven't figured it out yet. Check out this Jellyfish whcih can quite literally live forever. How does it do this? That is today's story along with an explanation about Octopu.. | 5/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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10 |
Ep 107: One of the most superstitious people in the world. | Some people take superstitions to a whole new level. Even the rich and famous can be extremely superstitious. The gentleman picture above even became world renowned for his superstitions. | 5/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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11 |
Ep 106: Frozen then brought back to life! | The Wood Frog pictured above has the ability to completely freeze and then thaw months later and come back to life completely unfazed. Can we as humans do the same? - Interested in learning about frost flowers? | 5/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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12 |
Ep 105: The Burning Bush is real! | Check out the real burning bush. You can even buy seeds here if you are interested in growing your own shrub! | 5/15/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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13 |
Ep 104: George Bush and Sarah Palin are related! | What does the historically famous house pictured above have to do with the two sharing an ancestor? You'll be shocked at how many other people you've heard of that share this same ancestor too. Plus a bonus fact. | 5/14/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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14 |
Ep 103: What do you do when an actor doesn’t come back? | How do you make a movie when some of the actors refuse to come back for the sequels? | 5/11/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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15 |
Ep 102: St. Patrick’s Battalion | The story of the largest defection of US tropps in American history. | 5/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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16 |
Ep 101: Door to Hell | Some call it the Door to Hell. The eternal flame pit has been burning in the desert for more than 40 years. More pictures here or check out the satellite image to see just how remote this place is. Here in the states we have this at Eternal Flame Falls. | 5/9/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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17 |
Ep 100: Louie Zamperini | The first 100 episodes have been a pleasure to share with you. Here is to 100 more! Today we feature the remarkable and unbelievable story of Loui Zamperini as written by Daily Upgrade listener Charley Spencer. | 5/8/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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18 |
Ep 99: The Scream and a Volcano | The island of Krokatoa and the explosion that rocked the world. Here is a drawing of the island's size after the eruption. | 5/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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19 |
Ep 98: Nuclear Chicken Mines | The intriguing story of how the British intended to make nuclear mines with chickens. How would they do this? Listen and learn! - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 5/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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20 |
Ep 97: The most mysterious book in the world | The book is called the Voynich Manuscript and the story behind it is one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries. - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 5/3/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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21 |
Ep 96: How to pirate maps | MAP PIRATES! Yarrrrrr!!!!! The non-existent town of Argleton and how map makers catch map pirates. - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 5/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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22 |
Ep 95: Finding Nemo | What if Finding Nemo had been scientifically accurate? It turns out the movie would have looked more like Jurassic Park. - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 5/1/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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23 |
Ep 94: Representation without taxation… | ...and how many chicken nuggets can you eat in 3 minutes? - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 4/30/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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24 |
Ep 93: Why do Lemmings follow each other off a cliff? | Plus, a little known fact about the video game from the 90's that will leave you with an ironic chuckle. - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 4/27/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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25 |
Ep 92: What is the first picture of a person? | The image above is the first picture of a person. Can you find him? Click the image to go to a bigger version. Check out the first pictures of a solar eclipse or Abraham Lincoln too. All were taken with the same original camera technology. - | 4/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 |
Ep 91: What is the deepest manmade hole? | Above is the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia. If you're curious where your antipode (exact opposite point on earth) is you can use this map. - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 4/25/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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27 |
Ep 90: Miss USA for a Day | The strange story of Leona Gage. - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 4/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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28 |
Ep 89: How to commit the perfect crime. | If you're interested in learning more about how to commit the perfect crime I recommend the following paper. - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 4/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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29 |
Ep 88: Are you smarter than a bee? | It turns out bees are incredibly adept at solving a problem that has stumped mathematicians for over a century. Can you solve the problem? - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 4/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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30 |
Ep 87: Why are books the size they are? | What came before paper? The picture below is a hint. Also, how many times can you fold paper before it becomes "impossible"? - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 4/19/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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31 |
Ep 86: The Bajau | The Bajau (pronounced Bajaw) are a people who live off the coast of Malaysia, as in literally right off the coast of Malaysia on the water. Featured below is a home known as a lepa-lepa. - ...and here is the ridiculously expensive book about the Bajau. | 4/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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32 |
Ep 85: Don’t shoot the messenger! | How fast can a Homing Pigeon fly? 20 mph? 50 mph? Nope, even faster.... - Sponsor: GoToMeeting with HD Faces, try it free! http://bit.ly/xp4FFv | 4/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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33 |
Ep 84: The Origins of American Football | Fact: Teddy Roosevelt was a badass. - Also, let us take in the great irony of my snafu the other day when I uploaded the non-bleeped episode by accident resulting in a giant f-bomb (if you're in the dark it's the F in snafu). | 4/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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34 |
Ep 83: Obi-Wan Kenobi | The true story of the man behind the character along with a trip through time. | 4/13/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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35 |
Ep 82: The German Tank Math Problem | How many tanks did Germany produce per month during WWII? Here is a link to the math that eventually led to the correct answer. | 4/12/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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36 |
Ep 81: Shoot for the legs | Where on earth? | 4/11/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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37 |
Ep 80: The NHL and Japan | Who was the first Japanese player drafted into the NHL? | 4/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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38 |
Ep 79: The Mercator Map Dilemma | The world isn't exactly as it seems. | 4/9/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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39 |
Ep 78: Confederate Flag Flies in Brazil | Having grown up in the South I have a hard time believing this story is true, but apparently it is and not that big of a deal. Listen in to learn more about the Confederates of Brazil. | 4/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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40 |
Ep 77: Nuclear Survival | The story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi and his survival of two nuclear bombs. | 4/5/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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41 |
Ep 76: Slugfest | I consider them gross, but it turns out some slugs have some pretty cool redeeming qualities. | 4/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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42 |
Ep 75: The Stinky Cheese Man | A piece of cheese that grabbed the headlines away from Hitler and started a war between two towns in America. The true story of Limburger cheese in 1935. | 4/3/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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43 |
Ep 74: Boston Molasses | What does a fifteen foot high wave of molasses do? For starters its deadly and takes forever to clean up. Pictures from 1919 here. | 4/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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44 |
Ep 73: Pineberries | Pineberries are the magical fruit. The more you eat the more you... taste Pineapple. | 3/30/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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45 |
Ep 72: Wilmer McLean | What if I told you the American Civil War started and ended at Wilmer McLean's house? | 3/29/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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46 |
Ep 71: Jeopardy! | How Jeopardy works behind the scenes. | 3/28/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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47 |
Ep 70: Underground Coal Fires | What if I told you there were fires that have been burning for over 40 years and we don't know how to put them out. Here is one of them. | 3/27/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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48 |
Ep 69: Ants Go Marching | ...2x2 hoorah! hoorah! - We're all about ants today. | 3/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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49 |
Ep 68: Tall and Abandoned | What state has the shortest tallest building? I was shocked how short it was! | 3/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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50 |
Ep 67: Rainbow River | You've heard of Rainbow Road in Mario Kart, but did you know there is a Rainbow River in real life? | 3/22/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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51 |
Ep 66: State of Franklin | Close, but no cigar. This is the story of the closest a state came to be without ever making it... and how North Carolina p****d off a bunch of settlers. | 3/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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52 |
EP 65: The Wagah Dance | A town with so much anger and contempt that a stadium was built along the street so people could watch! | 3/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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53 |
Ep 64: Nuclear Bananas | Bananas are a bunch of radioactive clones. A fascinating and possibly soon to be extinct fruit! | 3/19/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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54 |
Ep 63: Dragon’s Blood Tree | The tree that can cure all, an elephant's leg, and the little dragon that could. | 3/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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55 |
Ep 62: Paint All The Things! | The story of Dafen, China and all the world's paintings. | 3/15/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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56 |
Ep 61: The Darien Gap | Can you get from Alaska to the middle of South America by car? | 3/14/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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57 |
Ep 60: Giraffes | Why do Giraffes have such long necks? It's probably not what you think. | 3/13/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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58 |
Ep 59: Mexico’s Cave of Crystals | Here are more pictures. | 3/12/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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59 |
Ep 58: Kitty City | ...and a $164,243 rat problem that is related to this guy. | 3/9/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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60 |
Ep 57: World’s largest pool | ...and how far would a CD stretch if the tracks burned into the CD were stretched out. I bet a lot farther than you think! | 3/8/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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61 |
Ep 56: A geopolitical Babushka Doll | ...and a place in Iowa that has made organic food the law. | 3/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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62 |
Ep 55: Kindergarten at Guantanamo | The story of the military's oldest school where America also keeps their known or suspected terrorists. | 3/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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63 |
Ep 54: Helium is going, going, gone | Earth is running out of helium. | 3/5/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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64 |
Ep 53: It’s all about Pinball | Turns out there is only one pinball maker left in the world. | 3/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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65 |
Ep 52: Why do pirates wear eye patches? | Clue: It's not because they get a kick out of poking each others eyes out. | 3/1/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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66 |
Ep 51: February 30th is real | This is the story of how Sweden once had a February 30th on their calendar. | 2/29/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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67 |
Ep 50: Mystery Object and Beavers | How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood? | 2/28/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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68 |
Ep 49: Marian Anderson and how carrots improve your vision | The inside scoop on how carrots can improve your vision! | 2/27/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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69 |
Ep 48: Jack Daniels and the battle that never happened | The story of Jack Daniels and Tennessee Whisky. | 2/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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70 |
EP 47: Texas once had a navy and Two headed snakes | Texas is the only state to previously have its own Navy ...and two headed snakes exist in the wild. | 2/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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71 |
Ep 46: Calendars and Runways | Why did the calendar jump ahead 11 days in 1752? ...and what's the deal with 1 in every 5 miles of interstate supposedly being a straightaway? | 2/22/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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72 |
Ep 45: Phone books and Heinz 57 | Why does Heinz ketchup have a 57 on it? | 2/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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73 |
Ep 44: You’ve got mail and can you break a $1? | What is the most amount of coinage you can have while still not being able to make change for a dollar? | 2/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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74 |
Ep 43: Tied – Al Gore and George Bush weren’t first | ...and the magnetron in your house. | 2/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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75 |
Ep 42: Snake Island and 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 | I can't stand the Rubik's Cube, but thats probably because as a kid my brother was always so good at them and I wasn't. | 2/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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76 |
Ep41: 911 and Bloemfontein | How did 911 get chosen as the three numbers that represent emergency services? | 2/15/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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77 |
Ep 40: The world’s tiniest sculptures | Check out Willard Wigan. | 2/14/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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78 |
Ep 39: A dying people | I highly recommend the BBC series Human Planet (2010). It is by the same people who made Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series. | 2/13/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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79 |
Ep 38: Orange and Human Navals | Attack of the clones! And how best to tell identical twins apart. | 2/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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80 |
Ep 37: 100 Trillion Dollar Bill (Zimbabwe) | ...and America has a $100,000 bill. The real question is how do you get your hands on one!? | 2/9/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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81 |
Ep 36: Boy Scouts and Hangman | Want to win at Hangman every time? I've got the answer! | 2/8/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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82 |
Ep 35: Mania and Ketchup | Why is it called Tomato Ketchup and not just Ketchup? The answer may surprise you. | 2/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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83 |
Ep 34: Queen at 27 and the Secret Service | If only Abraham Lincoln had known what the Secret Service would become. | 2/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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84 |
Ep 33: The day the music died | ...and why does the founder of Wikipedia have two birthdays? | 2/3/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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85 |
Ep 32: You’ve heard of this guy and a photo a day. | "All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure." - The gentleman this episode is about. | 2/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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86 |
Camping with Lawyers and Flies | Drop me a line if you experiment with the fly trick. I'll put your story on the show so we can learn from you experience. | 2/1/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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87 |
Ep 30: Why does the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean? | ...and what will social security be when you retire? | 1/31/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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88 |
Ep 29: Congressboys – Men? No, boys. | I can see now how much material John Stewart always has at his fingertips. | 1/30/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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89 |
Ep 28: Abraham Lincoln and a sorority | What would college be like without sororities? Ask Abe, he'd know. | 1/27/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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90 |
Ep 27: How to win at Rock Paper Scissors | Psychology FTW! | 1/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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91 |
Ep 26: Around the World in 80 Days and Chimp War | Who wants to go on a round-the-world trip with me? Anyone game? | 1/25/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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92 |
Ep 25: Uranus and Thomas the Tank Engine | Radiolab is my all time favorite radio show. Great for learning about the cutting edges of science spoken in plain English that you and I can understand. You can find the show on NPR. | 1/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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93 |
Ep 24: The 24th Amendment and Urinals | There are flies on all the urinals! What the?! | 1/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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94 |
Ep 23: The Beatles and chest pain | This is about the day chest pain turned up. | 1/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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95 |
Ep 22: Antarctica and the country of Sealand | Apparently there is in fact a movie coming out. I think I saw it on IMDB for a 2013 release. | 1/19/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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96 |
Ep 21: Sandwich Islands, the Colts, and Polar Bears | Polar bears and Colts always enjoy a good sandwich together on their own little island. | 1/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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97 |
Ep 20: Cable Cars and Mug Shots | If you rode a cable car drunk you would probably lose your head. Ride a San Francisco cable car and you'll know. | 1/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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98 |
Ep 19: Ivan the Terrible and Google | Ivan the Terrible is a terrible compliment. Google it. | 1/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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99 |
Ep 18: Friggatriskaidekaphobia and the original Nintendo | Oh no! We're out of tinfoil at the house! | 1/13/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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100 |
Ep 17: Museums and Gas | Add gas, get cash. | 1/12/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 100 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
5 minutes of daily awesoe
A friend told me about this show and after a few episodes it really grew on me. Every episode is about something random and surprisingly interesting. Who knew Giraffes had long necks because of sex and that carrots used to be purple!
I like that the shows are short and too the point. No longer than five minutes.
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