Stuff You Should Know
By HowStuffWorks.com
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Description
How does poison ivy work? How do Hot Wheels work? Join Josh and Chuck as they explore the Stuff You Should Know about everything from genes to the Galapagos in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
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1 |
How Poison Ivy Works | Poison ivy, oak and sumac are all variations of the same plant and they all can make you itch... if you're susceptible that is. In this episode, you'll learn just about all there is to know about this itch-causing plant, including how to best avoid it. | 1/27/15 | Free | View In iTunes |
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2 |
Nostradamus: Predictor of the future? Not so much. | Nostradamus delighted us all in grade school, but it turns out the real guy wasn't quite as prescient as we were led to believe. In truth, he wrote a lot of purposefully confusing riddles that people have twisted into meaning exactly what they want them t | 1/22/15 | Free | View In iTunes |
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3 |
How the March on Washington Worked | 1963 was a huge year of conflict and progress for the American Civil Rights Movement and the March On Washington was the high water mark of that eventful year. Join Josh and Chuck as they get into the story behind the story we learned in school. | 1/20/15 | Free | View In iTunes |
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4 |
Juggling: What the Heck | There is a lot – A LOT – to juggling and Chuck and Josh go over the lion’s share of it. Delve into the deep history, physics, how-tos and different types of juggling in this surprisingly sweeping look at a putatively innocuous pastime. | 1/15/15 | Free | View In iTunes |
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5 |
How the Scientific Method Works | It evolved over centuries to become the gold standard for conducting scientific inquiry. Yet many people - including some scientists – don’t fully understand it. Learn about the basis of how we explore our world in this episode. | 1/13/15 | Free | View In iTunes |
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6 |
How Online Gambling Works | Pretty much immediately after the Internet was opened to the world online gambling sites sprang up. Over the last couple decades, U.S. law and online gambling have had an unusual and complicated relationship. Learn the ins and outs of this grey area. | 1/8/15 | Free | View In iTunes |
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7 |
How Jim Henson Worked | We’ve already recorded an episode on The Muppets, but Jim Henson was such a neat guy we delved into him even further. Learn all about the man behind the Muppets who was so much more than just a master puppeteer in this episode. | 1/6/15 | Free | View In iTunes |
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8 |
SYSK Live: How Bars Work | Join Josh and Chuck live from Vancouver as they dive in to the ins and outs of one of the oldest businesses in the world – the bar! Learn about the history of bars, cocktails and the good people who put them together in new and amazing ways. | 1/1/15 | Free | View In iTunes |
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9 |
How Sea Monsters Work | Legends of sea monsters are as old as humanity, and some ancient cultures even credited with with creating the universe. Even today when the sea washes something odd ashore we see monsters – we understand there’s much more than appears above the surf | 12/30/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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10 |
Josh and Chuck’s 2014 Christmas Extravaganza! | It’s that time of year again! Time to get cozy and tuck in with Josh and Chuck as they spread glad tidings and warm Christmas cheer. Tune in to hear about Letters to Santa, A Christmas Story, mulled wine and more neat stuff. | 12/25/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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11 |
How the GED Test Works | The GED test was once part of a non-profit organization. That all changed in 2014, when it was privatized, made more expensive and more difficult to pass. But that also brought about a couple of more testing options. Learn all about how high school dropou | 12/23/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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12 |
How Cinnamon Works | In another commodities edition of SYSK, Josh and Chuck dive into the world of cinnamon, once the world's most prized and pricey spice. But did you know it was really just dried up tree bark? | 12/18/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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13 |
Boomerangs: Magic Sticks of Physics | The physics behind returning boomerangs literally may be the most difficult concept to understand in the entire body of science. Join Josh and Chuck as they try their absolute best to describe how boomerangs work - and maybe even pull it off! | 12/16/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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14 |
Homeschooling: Not Just For Hippies and Religious People Anymore | Back in the 1970s, homeschooling was illegal in the U.S., but after activists of all stripes lobbied lawmakers, schooling kids at home has become a viable option for parents. And as more and more have chosen it, it’s become more mainstream. | 12/11/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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15 |
How The Hum Works | There is a mysterious droning sound often described as like a diesel engine idling that is severely impacting the quality of life of 2 percent of people in places around the world. The thing is, no one knows what’s causing it – or if it actually exist | 12/9/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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16 |
How X-Rays Work | Like many huge discoveries, X-rays were accidentally stumbled upon. That serendipity led to a medical breakthrough still in use today. Learn about how X-rays are created and why they make such delightful images of our bones. | 12/4/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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17 |
How Leper Colonies Worked | Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, used to mean a one-way ticket to banishment. But once medicine trained its sights on wiping out what might be the most ancient disease to afflict humans, it has become treatable and even accepted. | 12/2/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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18 |
How Terraforming Will Work | A lot of great thinkers are warning that if humans are to survive as a species we are going to have to find another planet to live on. Terraforming, or engineering a planet to maintain all of the ingredients to sustain life, seems to be the answer. | 11/27/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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19 |
How Kickstarter Works | With billions of dollars raised, Kickstarter has singled itself out as the go-to site for creative crowdfunding. But not without some controversy along the way. Learn all about how this artistic business model operates in today's episode. | 11/25/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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20 |
What is Collective Hysteria? | Throughout the history of the world, there have been many cases of what is known as collective hysteria - groups of people, usually young women, who all exhibit the same physical symptoms of non-existent conditions. Is it psychosomatic? Is it group think? | 11/20/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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21 |
How the Enlightenment Works | The Enlightenment stands as the moment the West withdrew from superstition and found its faith in reason. Did it shift too far? Learn about this massive shift in thinking which we are still sorting through and coming to understand today. | 11/18/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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22 |
What's the deal with crop circles? | For a while in the 1980s, people were fascinated and confused about what exactly crop circles were. Now we know that they aren't signs left from aliens, but art made by humans. Learn all about these stunning, large form art installations in today's episod | 11/13/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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23 |
How Patents Work | What was originally designed to encourage innovation by rewarding the people who create technological advances, the U.S. patent system has become a big mess. Wade into this surprisingly interesting mire to learn how to save this important institution. | 11/11/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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24 |
How Limousines Work | The first limousines weren’t even cars! Learn all about the history of limousines, how they’re made and some of the most creative and expensive amenities you can find inside them in this episode with Josh and Chuck. | 11/6/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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25 |
Can Nuclear Fusion Reactors Save The World? | The world’s energy consumption is ruining the planet but for decades physicists have been working on what could solve the world’s energy and climate change woes for centuries to come – nuclear fusion. Learn about building stars on Earth in this epis | 11/4/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 |
SYSK's Halloween Scare Fest | Get ready to be creeped out and join Chuck and Josh as they read you with two spooky classic horror stories, The Striding Place and The Pale Man in this special bonus Halloween episode. | 10/31/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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27 |
How Haunted House Attractions Work | Ever since the Egyptians, humans have been evolving toward haunted house attractions. The level of sophistication in the scares and gore effects continues to rise over time, but the purpose remains the same: to scare the pants off you. | 10/30/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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28 |
Is there a disease that kills by preventing sleep? | The strange disease of fatal familial insomnia was first recorded in the 18th century. Its victims lose their ability to sleep, slip into coma and die. The more we understand about FFI, the more mysterious it becomes. | 10/28/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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29 |
How Animal Camouflage Works | The wild kingdom is filled with examples of animals that can camouflage themselves into their environment, but the means and the methods are also wildly varied. Learn about the ins and outs of blending in through this episode. | 10/23/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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30 |
How Extinction Works | Scientists believe that 99% of the estimated 50 billion species that have ever lived on Earth have disappeared through extinction. This is a natural process typically, but it can also be cataclysmic and it’s becoming clear we are amid a massive one. | 10/21/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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31 |
How The Great Train Robbery Worked | In 1963, 15 men got together in England to pull off one of the most daring heists in history. The Great Train Robbery was the crime of the century, capturing the public's attention and leaving them torn on who to root for - the cops or the robbers. Learn | 10/16/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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32 |
Virus Talk with Josh and Chuck | Viruses are big jerks that invade regular cells and hold them hostage, making you sick while they're doing it. Learn everything you ever needed to know about viruses, including how the common cold works. | 10/14/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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33 |
How Skywriting Works | "Back in the 1920s, skywriting was invented to communicate with troops, but it quickly found its footing as a popular way for companies to advertise. Learn all about the aerial acrobatics and mental skill it takes to write mile-high letters backwards." | 10/9/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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34 |
How Karate Works | Karate, meaning "open" and "hand", was developed in Okinawa before being exported to Japan and then the rest of the world. It is one of the most widely practiced martial arts and one of the most difficult to master. Learn about it in this episode. | 10/7/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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35 |
How Panic Attacks Work | Almost three percent of Americans suffer from a debilitating disorder that causes them to suffer intense fear seemingly without reason and science hasn’t yet figured out what causes it. Join Josh and Chuck as they get to the bottom of panic attacks. | 10/2/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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36 |
How Rogue Waves Work | Rogue waves come out of nowhere and tower as much as 100 feet over hapless ships they encounter, breaking across the boat and frequently breaking the boat and its inhabitants. Investigate the mystery of rouge waves in this episode. | 9/30/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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37 |
How Animal Domestication Works | It's strange to hear, but the transition from hunting-gathering to agriculture, including the domestication of wild animals, is the single biggest thing to ever happen to humanity. You can thank it for everything from kingdoms to Ebola. | 9/25/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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38 |
How Police Interrogation Works | Every year, police across the U.S. get thousands of criminals to confess to their crimes. The trouble is, the procedure that almost all departments use is grounded in bad science and can produce false confessions. Learn about ways of making you talk. | 9/23/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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39 |
How Currency Works | Even if you entirely eschew the concept of money, we’ll bet you’d be hard pressed not to trade in some form of currency. Learn how everything from cows to cacao beans to tiny shells from Maldives have served as currency at some time or another. | 9/18/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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40 |
How Socialism Works | In America it's virtually a dirty word, but after being dragged through the mud for a century, socialism is still a part of the U.S.’s national character. Learn about this foil and complement to capitalism and why it might not be so bad. | 9/16/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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41 |
How Royalty Works | In some nations royals are so ingrained in the national fabric they are considered part of the country. Join Josh and Chuck as they take a look backward in time at the ancient tradition of despotism and unbridled privilege in this episode. | 9/11/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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42 |
How Stem Cells Work | Since scientists realized there is a type of cell that can grow into any other type, they have worked to use them to heal human conditions like Parkinson's and immune disorders. But because stem cells often come from embryos they remain controversial. | 9/9/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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43 |
How TV Ratings Work | Ever wonder why some great shows go off the air after a season or less? Blame it on the Nielsen company, which has for more than 60 years been the almost exclusive decider of what goes and what stays on TV. | 9/4/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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44 |
How Pinball Works | Pinball was actually illegal until the 1970s in NY and other cities, hidden in the backs of pornography shops. The game was finally legalized, thanks to a Babe Ruth-style shot by the best player in the world. Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck. | 9/2/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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45 |
How Blimps Work | After newsreels captured the Hindenburg erupting in fire in 1937, the promising development of airship aviation was cut short. Today companies and militaries are taking another look at blimps and the unique qualities that may revive them. | 8/28/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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46 |
What's the deal with headstones? | Headstones have quite an interesting history. From the beginnings of marking graves with simple wood carvings to the elaborate tombstones that would come in the Victorian era, Chuck and Josh break down the deal with all things headstone in this episode. | 8/26/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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47 |
How the Berlin Wall Worked | It's hard to believe now, but just over 25 years ago there was a giant concrete wall separating East and West Germany. In this episode, Chuck and Josh get into the fascinating story of the Berlin Wall. | 8/21/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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48 |
Going Up: Elevators | Elevators are way more interesting than you might think. In this week's episode, Chuck and Josh board the lift to elighten everyone as to the ins and outs, and ups and downs, of these handy people movers. | 8/19/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Ebola Works | A disease that was discovered and contained to Central Africa in the 1970s has revived and spread in 2014. Now there is an Ebola outbreak that has moved across borders and science still has no cure for it. | 8/14/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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50 |
How The NSA Works | Chuck and Josh dive into the secret world of the National Security Agency, from the origins of the snooping outfit, to the recent revelations from whistleblower Edward Snowden. | 8/12/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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51 |
What is a Numbers Station? | If you think secretly coded messages sent via short wave radio is Cold War relic, think again. Chuck and Josh are here to dispel that myth, along with many others relating to numbers stations, including why they might still be operational. | 8/7/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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52 |
How Play-Doh Works | Do you love Play-Doh? Chuck and Josh certainly love to talk about it, from its interesting history as a wall cleaner, to its more scientific chemical properties. It's everything you ever wanted to know about the pliable children's toy. | 8/5/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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53 |
How Morgellons Disease Works | There is a condition that can cause people to feel bugs crawling beneath their skin so acutely that they will use tweezers to pluck them from their eyeballs. It’s a terrible disorder made worse by medicine’s insistence it is all in sufferers’ heads. | 7/31/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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54 |
Is there a dark side of the moon? | Josh and Chuck explore the old notion that there’s a dark side of the moon. There is, but it turns out it’s not always the same side. And yes, there’s a side we never see, but it’s not always dark. Make sense? It will in this episode. | 7/29/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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55 |
The Skinny on Probiotics | You can find probiotics - bacteria thought to have healthful benefits for humans - in everything from pills to yogurt. But does any of it work? Listen as Josh and Chuck get to the bottom of the science (and need for it) of probiotics and health. | 7/24/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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56 |
How Trickle-Down Economics Works | The concept of trickle-down economics is tied to Ronald Reagan, but the idea’s been around and in use since the 20s. It’s simple: Give more money to the wealthy and they can use it to rev up an economy. But is the whole thing just a scam? | 7/22/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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57 |
How In Vitro Fertlization Works | In the U.S. alone, more than 6 million people are affected by infertility and science has taken up the mantle of helping them to conceive. Learn about the clever, though intuitive, methods of assisting infertile couples to have a child. | 7/17/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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58 |
How Sushi Works | Sushi grew out of a way to ferment fish a couple thousand years ago and in the late 20th century began to take the world by storm. What began as traditional, rigid food has come to evolve with new delicious innovations being added to the original cannon. | 7/15/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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59 |
How Grass Works? Yes, How Grass Works | There’s nothing more boring than watching grass grow, which is why Josh and Chuck aren’t asking you to do that. Instead, you can learn about all sorts of neat things about grass - like how Americans became obsessed with perfect lawns - in this episo | 7/10/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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60 |
Is brain size related to intelligence? | The idea that the larger the brain, the higher the intelligence is an old one, but it’s pretty much utterly false. Modern investigation into how the brain works suggests there’s a lot more to take into account when comparing brain biology to intellect | 7/8/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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61 |
How Monopoly Works | Since more than 1 billion people have played it, you’re probably familiar with the board game Monopoly, but we bet you don’t know its secret origins as a left-wing socialist teaching tool. Learn about the history, rules and cultural impact of Monopol | 7/3/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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62 |
How The Louvre Works | The most famous museum in the world, France’s Louvre, has been the seat of high art and culture for several centuries. Its history goes back farther than that, beginning in the 1200s as a fort and prison. Tour the Louvre and its collections in this epi | 7/1/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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63 |
How the MPAA Works | " You may be surprised to learn those ubiquitous ratings, from G to NC-17, put on movies in America are actually handed down by anonymous employees of a secretive organization that serves as a lobbying firm for Hollywood’s six biggest studios. | 6/26/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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64 |
How the La Brea Tar Pits Work | " It’s surprising that a few 12-feet-deep pools of asphalt have proven to be one of the most significant troves of Pleistocene fossils, but the La Brea Tar Pits, located in the heart of Los Angeles, are giving science a clear picture of a puzzling time. | 6/24/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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65 |
How Soccer Works | Maybe you hail from a soccer crazed country – or from the U.S. Either way, there’s lots to discuss about “the beautiful game”, from its prehistory, rules and strategy to, of course, the World Cup. Join Josh and Chuck as they wade into football, ak | 6/19/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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66 |
Is your employer spying on you? | Your employer may be secretly reading your emails, watching what websites you visit and tracking your whereabouts through your phone. And because of how the courts have ruled, there’s nothing you can do about it. Learn all about employer spying here. | 6/17/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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67 |
Sugar: It Powers the Earth | Since sugar spread from Polynesia a few thousand years ago, the world has been crazy for it. Insanely high prices, wars and even slavery couldn't undo world's need for a sugar fix. Today that fix is responsible for the obesity epidemic facing the West. | 6/12/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How the Placebo Effect Works | For centuries, doctors have prescribed drugs they knew weren't real – but that still somehow worked. It wasn't until the 1980s that the placebo effect, the phenomenon where an inert substance can have a genuine impact on a patient's recovery, was studie | 6/10/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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69 |
How the Space Race Worked | In the 1950s and 60s, the United States and the Soviet Union battled it out to see who would dominate the race for outer space. The Soviets got out to an early lead, but the U.S. would ultimately win. Learn all about the Space Race in this week's episode. | 6/5/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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70 |
Why Is Venice So Wet? | Venice, Italy has a problem. It's sinking, and the water around it is rising. Thankfully, some engineers are working hard on the MOSE project - huge gates that keep high tide from happening. Learn all about Venice in this episode. | 6/3/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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71 |
Archaeology in a Nutshell | If you thought Indiana Jones was the model archaeologist, you're pretty much right. Archaeologists are one part scientist, one part scholar, and one part adventurer. In this episode, learn all you need to know this fascinating field. | 5/29/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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72 |
How Temper Tantrums Work | When your kid boils over in the grocery store, it can be tough to stay calm and ignore it, but that's precisely what experts prescribe parents do to deal with temper tantrums. Learn about the anatomy of a tantrum and the best way to deal in this episode. | 5/27/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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73 |
How Avalanches Work | Each year, as snow builds on peaks across the world’s mountain ranges, the potential for avalanches builds. Learn about the science of how these natural disasters develop and are triggered – and how to survive one if you ever find yourself trapped. | 5/22/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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74 |
8 Reasons Why Your Body Is So Gross | Your body right now is home to a liter of mucous, countless fat-loving mites, acid that can dissolve metal and plenty of other gross and interesting stuff. Learn all about your body and its functions here. | 5/20/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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75 |
How the Paleo Diet Works | You may have heard of the Paleo Diet, also known as the Caveman Diet, but do you know the science it’s based on? And did you know that the saturated fat it and other diets avoid may be healthier than you were taught in school? | 5/15/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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76 |
How the Human Microbiome Project Works | If it was possible to take a full scan of all of the DNA of every cell in and on your body the results would be startling: Only 1 percent would be human. The other 99 percent comprises all of the bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microbes you literally c | 5/13/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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77 |
How Bipolar Disorder Works | Suffering from bipolar disorder means a lot more than your garden variety mood swings. Bouts of mania and depression are just the headlines. There are also theories that there's a link between bipolarism and creativity. Learn all about this disruptive, ye | 5/8/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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78 |
How Gypsies Work | Gypsies were called that because they were long ago mistaken as Egyptians. Even their more appropriate name, Roma, is a misnomer since they're not from Romania. Find out about the mysterious history of this nomadic and genuinely misunderstood ethnic group | 5/6/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Marijuana Works | For millennia people used marijuana for fun and medicine. Not until the 20th century that was it vilified, unfairly say many. Weed has done lots of good things, from alleviating cancer symptoms to unlocking secrets of the brain. Learn all about pot here. | 5/1/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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80 |
How the ACLU Works | Being a card-carrying member of the ACLU is tantamount to being a super liberal to some, but the ACLU ultimately displays no allegiance to any political philosophy, only to whomever's Constitutional rights are being infringed upon, from Nazis to the NAACP | 4/29/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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81 |
Halitosis: Worst Smell Ever? | Occasional bad breath is one thing, halitosis is another. Or is it? From its odd origins as a marketing ploy to modern weight loss diets that can induce this embarrassing condition, you can learn all about bad breath here. | 4/24/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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82 |
How Mars Works | Sure today Mars would kill you with its thin, toxic atmosphere and cold desert temperature swings of 100 degrees, but early on it and Earth were practically twins. Find out how the two planets diverged and if there might be life on the Red Planet. | 4/22/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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83 |
How Burlesque Works | What’s old is new again as far as burlesque is concerned. Come explore what was an old-timey outlet for empowering women that later gave rise to the striptease once men started running the show. Now, women have reclaimed the art and it is benefiting. | 4/17/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Dissociative Identity Disorder Works | Dissociative Identity Disorder was known as multiple personality disorder until a case of mass hysteria brought on by the movie-mad public and unscrupulous psychiatrists led to a stigma over the term. Now psychiatry has gotten serious about the condition. | 4/15/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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85 |
How Natural Selection Works | While evolution gets all the spotlight for moving species into better versions of themselves, but really it’s natural selection that is the engine driving the process. Learn all about this elegant scientific observation that forms the basis of life. | 4/10/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Charles Darwin Worked | Charles Darwin wasn't the first or only scientist to grasp the theory of evolution through natural selection, but he became its father and icon. Learn about the man who reluctantly but bravely became the source of the divide between religion and science. | 4/8/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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87 |
How Income Taxes Work | They are among the more reviled concepts of modern life, and yet they are as inevitable as death. Join Josh and Chuck as they look into the history and the basis of income taxes in the U.S. in this episode. | 4/3/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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88 |
How 3D Printing Works | With 3D printing you can print not just pictures and words, but actual objects from files. And as costs come down, the list of things you can print expand: from food, to organs, to guns. | 4/1/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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89 |
How Landslides Work | Landslides are a form of mass movement of the Earth, and with the amount of death and destruction they wreak on the people and towns they cover, their toll can be massive. Learn all about landslides in this episode with Josh and Chuck. | 3/27/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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90 |
How Amnesia Works | Those movies where someone gets hit on the head and can’t remember who they are anymore? They’re actually not too far off from the reality of amnesia. Learn everything about this bizarre and life-robbing condition with Josh and Chuck. | 3/25/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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91 |
How Electricity Works | It is literally all around you (and even inside you) – electricity makes up the basis of modern life. But what exactly is electricity and how does it work? Josh and Chuck chase away the darkness and explain electricity in their usual electrifying way. | 3/20/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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92 |
Tattoos: Not Just For Dirtbags Anymore | Most Europeans first encountered tattoos after sailors visiting the South Pacific returned covered in them. From then on, with a few notable exceptions, tattoos have been associated with fringe dwellers in the West. Learn all about tats in this episode. | 3/18/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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93 |
How Black Boxes Work | Black boxes are designed to be the only survivor of plane crashes so they can live to tell the tale of what went wrong to prevent future accidents. Learn about how these grim devices are made, how they’re tested and the tales they’ve told. | 3/13/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Skateboarding Works | Skateboarding started out as something bored surfers did when the waves weren’t breaking, but after a few improvements to the design, it took off like a rocket to become its own cultural phenomenon. Come gleam the cube with Josh and Chuck. | 3/11/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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95 |
How Online Dating Works | No longer weird, possibly still desperate and approaching normal, online dating’s been around almost as long as the Internet itself. So what exactly is the best way to find love online if one were so inclined to do so? Josh and Chuck hook you up. | 3/6/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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96 |
How the Spanish Inquisition Worked | The idea of pious monks imbued with unbridled power and with a penchant for dealing torture and death is a scary one indeed, and one both Spain and the Catholic Church have tried to reconcile since the Spanish Inquisition ended in the 19th century. | 3/4/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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97 |
What happened at Kent State? | On May 4, 1970, four days of anti-war protests at Kent State University in Ohio culminated in the unthinkable when Ohio guardsmen opened fire on protesters, killing four students. How could this tragedy take place? | 2/27/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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98 |
Termites: They Bore But They Aren't Boring | Their soft white bodies look creepy and, to be sure, they are, but termites are pretty amazing bugs. They build ventilation systems into their mounds, poop on their enemies and grow mushrooms. Learn all the neat stuff you didn’t know about termites here | 2/25/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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99 |
How Amputation Works | Amputation is one of the oldest surgeries and an even older punishment for crime, but it wasn’t until the American Civil War and its 50,000 amputations that the procedure began to hit its stride. Learn about amputation and who it attracts in this episod | 2/20/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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100 |
How Salt Works | A Roman senator once said, Mankind can live without gold, but not without salt. Right he was. The human body needs salt so much we have developed a taste for it specifically. But too much salt can be toxic. Learn about salt’s role in human history and | 2/18/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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101 |
How Cave Dwellers Work | You know the cavemen, a race of human cousins who lived exclusively in caves? They didn’t exist. Sure prehistoric hominids used caves sometimes but they lived in other places too. Luckily the time they spent in caves has given us a glance at their cultu | 2/13/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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102 |
Do objects or experiences make us happier? | Since Sartre classified things that make us happy into the categories of having and doing, science took up the investigation into materialism and experientialism. The results have been in for a while: experiences win by a wide margin, but why exactly? | 2/11/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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103 |
How Sign Language Works | It wasn’t until the 19th century that America’s dominant sign language was developed and despite its co-existence alongside English, a user would be hard-pressed to sign with a British person. Find out about the independent evolution of sign language | 2/6/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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104 |
Will computers replace doctors? | With savvy and health-conscious people taking control of their wellbeing through apps and sites, technology is meeting the desire for individuals’ responsibility for their health. But is the day coming soon when doctors will be obsolete, replaced by com | 2/4/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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105 |
What are crystal skulls? | Back in the early 20th-century mysterious skulls made from polished crystals began to enter the collections of private enthusiasts of the occult. Discovered by adventurers raiding sacred areas of the ancient world, these skulls were said to possess unusua | 1/30/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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106 |
What's the deal with the debt ceiling? | Lately it’s been common news fodder that Congress uses its ability to raise the debt ceiling to hold the executive branch hostage to its demands, but exactly how does that work, and what does the debt ceiling do? Learn about it in this fascinating episo | 1/28/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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107 |
How the Deep Web Works | Perhaps you didn’t realize that when you search the web you’re only skimming the surface. In fact, the types of web pages that turn up in your search engine results represent only a mere fraction of the total web. Immerse yourself in the Deep web and | 1/23/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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108 |
Chuck and Josh Bust a Few Everyday Myths | There are lots of common "facts" that everyone knows, but it turns out a lot of them are actually false. Join Josh and Chuck as they put on their berets and suspenders and take the hot air out of some common everyday myths to make this a slightly smarter | 1/21/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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109 |
How Pet Psychics Work | In the early 21st century a trend of people who claim to be able to telepathically and clairvoyantly communicate with animals has grown. Today, the concept of visiting a pet psychic to find a lost pet, find out why a pet is behaving badly or even to learn | 1/16/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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110 |
Was there a real King Arthur? | The legend of King Arthur is very old and very established. By the time the king who saved Britain and united it was first written about, his story was already hundreds of years old. And while many of the details of his life and adventures, from the Lady | 1/14/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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111 |
How Filibusters Work | Although lots of people incorrectly believe the filibuster was an intentional rule created by the founders of the U.S., this ancient method of stalling legislation was actually brought about in America by accident. Learn the ins and outs of this contentio | 1/9/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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112 |
Your limb is torn off - now what? | Were you to be the unfortunate victim of a limb removal of any sort, you could take hope. Here in the 21st century, doctors have gotten pretty handy at reattaching arms and legs, replacing thumbs with toes, rebuilding breasts, all to great success thanks | 1/7/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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113 |
Could you live without a refrigerator? | Do you know that hulking refrigerator in your kitchen emits CO2 thanks to the electricity it uses each year? It’s a comparatively small amount, in truth, but enough that some people have foresworn their fridge and adopted a life without one. Included ar | 1/2/14 | Free | View In iTunes |
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114 |
Will solar sails take us to the stars? | We have within our grasp here on Earth the technology that could make interstellar travel a reality within as little as a few decades and it doesn’t require any exotic fuel. In fact, it only requires sunlight and an initial blast into orbit to begin a s | 12/31/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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115 |
How Fire Breathing Works | As part of their strange, ongoing suite on circus arts, Chuck and Josh discuss one of the more dangerous crowd favorites, aspirating extremely flammable chemicals from one’s mouth onto a flame, creating a ball of fire. It’s straightforward, yes, and s | 12/26/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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116 |
Josh and Chuck's Warm and Cozy Christmas Extravaganza 2013 | It’s finally here, the best episode of the year! It’s time to settle in by a nice fire, wrap up in a blanket, heat up a toddy and gather your loved ones around the mp3 player to hear Chuck and Josh talk about all of the things that make Christmas so m | 12/24/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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117 |
Is lethal injection humane? | Since the Supreme Court’s ban on capital punishment was reversed, states have sought a humane method of killing sentenced criminals. They settled on lethal injection, but is this quasi-medical means of killing as quick and painless as we think? | 12/19/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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118 |
How Manhunts Work | When a suspect or prisoner goes on the lam there are plenty of ways to hide: in plain sight, in the mountains, in another country. There are as many types of ways law enforcement uses to track wanted people as their are ways to go on the lam, but there ar | 12/17/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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119 |
How Underwater Tunnels Work | It's a pretty amazing feat to dig a tunnel beneath a body of water that's big enough (and safe enough) to drive a train through. While humans have been digging underwater tunnels for thousands of years, it wasn't until the late 19th century that it became | 12/12/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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120 |
How HeLa Cells Work | After she was diagnosed with the cervical cancer that shortly killed her, a tissue sample was taken from Henrietta Lacks in 1951 without her knowledge. Those cells would go on to become the first immortal line of human cells, something of enormous benefit | 12/10/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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121 |
How Maglev Trains Work | Thanks to the amazing properties of magnets, clever engineers have figured out how to make entire trains levitate above their tracks, letting them move frictionlessly and allowing them to reach incredible speeds. Learn about how maglev trains work and wha | 12/5/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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122 |
How Castration Works | In this episode, Josh and Chuck teach you everything you ever wanted to know but were too freaked out to ask about castration. Learn about the history of removing male genitalia, why some parents had it done to their sons, how the state has become the mai | 12/3/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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123 |
How Black Friday Works | On the day after Thanksgiving, Americans go kind of crazy for the deep discount sales that kick off the holiday shopping season in stores. So crazy, in fact, at least four people have lost their lives and as many as 63 others have been injured during Blac | 11/28/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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124 |
Is there a scientific formula for funny? | Recorded live at the Los Angeles PodFest, this episode of SYSK delves into the longstanding attempt to break down what humans find funny into a scientifically reproducible formula. Join Josh and Chuck as they examine just why this extremely unfunny quest | 11/26/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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125 |
Who killed JFK? | For the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Josh and Chuck delve into the killing, the investigations and the conspiracy theories to get to the bottom of an enduring national question. | 11/21/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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126 |
How Chocolate Works | People have been consuming chocolate for at least a couple thousand years, but it's only been in the last hundred that humanity has arrived at its crowning achievement: the smooth, creamy milk chocolate bar. Find out about the history of chocolate, how it | 11/19/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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127 |
How Werewolves Work | If you've ever been bitten by a wolf, you're probably familiar with the anxiety of waiting for the next full moon to see if you become a werewolf. Learn all about the lore, mental illness and rules behind lycanthropy, one of civilization's oldest metaphor | 11/14/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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128 |
Some Interesting Things You Didn't Know About Stephen Hawking | Everybody knows that cosmologist Stephen Hawking has an enormous brain, but did you also know he has an equal wit? Learn about some of the lesser-known details about the celebrated physicist in this episode. | 11/12/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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129 |
How Lewis and Clark Worked | They may be the most famous explorers in U.S. history, but there are plenty of interesting details to the Lewis and Clark expedition that history has allowed to fade. Learn about the origin and the aftermath of America’s first early push Westward in thi | 11/7/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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130 |
How Chess Works | Despite its knights, bishops and castles, the game of chess has been around a lot longer since the Medieval Age. And it wasn't even invented in Europe - chess comes from 2nd-century India, when some unknown inventor created what has come to be considered | 11/5/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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131 |
What's with the Winchester Mystery House? | After her daughter and husband died, heiress Sarah Winchester became obsessed with the idea that spirits haunted her and to appease them she had to have a house continuously built for them. So she did - 24 hours a day for 38 years. | 10/31/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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132 |
The Empty House | It's Halloween, and Josh and Chuck are ready to creep you out with this year's spooky story, Algernon Blackwood's scary short story, The Empty House. Tune in, turn down the lights and prepare for chills to run down your spine as they read this classic bit | 10/30/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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133 |
How Ouija Boards Work | Although most people who’ve used Ouija boards don’t think they’re communicating with the beyond, there is something mysterious about how it works. Learn the ins and outs of the popular parlor game that sprang directly from the 19th-century spiritual | 10/29/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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134 |
How Revisionist History Works | Perhaps you equate the term to conspiracy theories and Holocaust denials, but revisionism is a genuine discipline in the field of historical study. And thanks to revisionists, we now include a lot more reality – and previously unsung people – in the h | 10/24/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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135 |
How Guide Dogs Work | You know how when you see a guide dog leading a blind person to their destination and you think, "There goes a truly great dog?" It turns out you are absolutely correct. Guide dogs are about as special as dogs can get and it's through years of hard work. | 10/22/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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136 |
10 Easy Ways To Save Money | Times are still kind of tough, but there are some time-tested and easy ways to get ahead and in this episode Josh and Chuck explore them. Learn about not only how to save, but also how to make your new-found dough grow. | 10/17/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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137 |
How the Maori Work | It's a familiar theme, an indigenous group's culture falls apart when exposed to European ideals, weapons and disease. For the Maori of New Zealand, however, a determined effort to preserve and revive its ancient identity has started to pay off. Join Josh | 10/15/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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138 |
How Handwriting Analysis Works | One of the fields of forensic investigation, handwriting analysis is based on the principle of uniqueness - that each person writes in their own peculiar way. Learn about this interesting area of crime fighting and how it's worked to advance itself as a r | 10/10/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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139 |
Did Archimedes build a death ray? | During the siege of Syracuse in 214 BCE, the city-state's resident genius, Archimedes, built a number of clever war machines to thwart the invading Roman fleet. One invention, the death ray, has been considered the stuff of legend. But could it have been | 10/8/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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140 |
Can NASA predict natural disasters? | The US has developed some great equipment for peering into deep space that can also be used to great effect when trained on Earth. Now NASA is using satellites to track natural processes around the globe in an effort to better predict natural disasters li | 10/3/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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141 |
What's the deal with diplomatic immunity? | You've heard all about diplomatic immunity, but we'll bet you don't really know how it works. Take some time to get into the nuts and bolts of this ancient and bizarre international custom and just how an embassy can be considered sovereign soil in this e | 10/1/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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142 |
Does owning a gun change your behavior? | Back in the 1990s, Congress effectively banned the scientific study of gun violence. Still, a handful of researchers plugged on and produced a small body of work about the effect of the presence of guns on the human psyche. Chuck and Josh look at the evid | 9/26/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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143 |
How Crack Works | Back in the mid-1980s a new and extremely potent drug hit the scene: crack cocaine. In short order, America was in the grip of both a sweeping addiction and a state of hysteria over use of the drug and the social consequences of crack, like crack babies. | 9/24/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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144 |
How Dying Works | Chuck and Josh have covered just about every aspect of death except dying itself. Here, they fulfill the death suite of podcasts with an in-depth look at just how people die, what happens to the body during the dying process and how people accept death -- | 9/19/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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145 |
How IEDs Work | Improvised explosive devices were the primary killer of American troops in Iraq and continue to top the list in Afghanistan. Their use is so prevalent among guerrillas and insurgents because they are so effective. They are easy to put together with parts | 9/17/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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146 |
Can you die of a broken heart? | In the early 1990s, Japanese researchers found a strange anomaly in their study subjects, five people who had inexplicable heart attacks. From this first investigation has come a scientific mystery: Is it possible that the sudden loss of a loved one can b | 9/12/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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147 |
How Breast Implants Work | The first attempt at breast augmentation surgery was on a dog. The second on a woman who went in for tattoo removal. From those weird origins hundreds of thousands of breast implant procedures are now carried out each year. Find out all about the advancem | 9/10/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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148 |
How much money is in the world? | There are few things more futile than trying to count all of the money in the world. Even many governments have no idea how much currency they have issued. But that won't stop Chuck and Josh from trying and explaining why we can't be sure how much money e | 9/5/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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149 |
How the Rosetta Stone Works | Sometimes providence smiles on historians. Thus is the case with the Rosetta stone, an ancient Egyptian tablet that served as the key for unlocking hieroglyphics, lost to time for a millennia. Learn about the international intrigue, rivalry to translate i | 9/3/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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150 |
How did 168 conquistadors take down the Inca empire? | Just before Francisco Pizarro arrived in South American in 1532, the Inca empire covered 350,000 square miles and boasted a million inhabitants. Yet Pizarro managed to take down this vast, powerful and advanced bureaucracy with only 168 men. Find out how | 8/29/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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151 |
How Broken Bones Work | It’s a pretty miserable thing to break a bone. There’s the initial blinding pain, all of the medical procedures during a trip to the hospital and then, in the best case example, you have to wear a cast for four months. Beneath all of this misery, thou | 8/27/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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152 |
History's Greatest Traitors | The annals of history hold a special place for people who have carried out treachery and betrayed their own. Thousands of years later, their names are still synonymous with being a scoundrel around the world. From Marcus Brutus to Vidkun Quisling and more | 8/22/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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153 |
How Ejection Seats Work | When the Jet Age came about, pilots found they had a brand new problem with their brand new planes: how to bale out when they found themselves in a pinch at 700 mph. In the mid-1940s, aerospace engineers got to work coming up with a fascinating and comple | 8/20/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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154 |
How Cockroaches Work | You've seen them in your home and probably squealed in terror, but now it's time to learn all about cockroaches. From their ability to run incredibly fast to the appendage that alerts them when you're about to whack them with your shoe, cockroaches are fa | 8/15/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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155 |
Why was Davy Crockett king of the wild frontier? | If there is an American legend who is both real-life and larger-than-life it is Davy Crockett. While he may not have ""kilt him a b’ar"" when he was three, he definitely did personify both the best and the worst of American individualism during the age | 8/13/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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156 |
How does a diving bell work? | About 2,400 years ago Aristotle mentions the use of diving bells, apparatuses that convey divers to the bottom of the sea -- or at least below the surface of the water -- and allows them to breathe -- at least until the air runs out. Learn about the physi | 8/8/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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157 |
The Shark Diaries | In this special episode of Stuff You Should Know, Chuck and Josh tip their hats to Shark Week with an old-fashioned radio play. Join the guys (and a few guests) as they present a dramatization of the 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks. | 8/7/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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158 |
How Horseshoes Work | That laziest of backyard games, horseshoes, is also a very ancient one, developed by people following Greek armies more than 2,000 years ago. Since then, the game of horseshoes hasn't evolved too much, which would indicate that it has reached perfection. | 8/6/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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159 |
How Fingerprinting Works | The Babylonians, one of the earliest civilizations, were the first to use fingerprints to differentiate people, but it wasn't until the 19th century that prints were used for crime fighting. Ever since, analyzing, classifying and collecting fingerprints t | 8/1/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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160 |
How LARP Works | Dressing up in duct tape-covered cardboard suit of armor and pretending you're an elf warrior for a weekend at a state park might sound like a pretty embarrassing thing to do, but that probably just means you've never done it. Join Josh and Chuck as they | 7/30/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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161 |
How Maps Work | Yes, your brain may have just flash-dried from boredom at the thought of learning about maps, but it turns out they are a lot more than just tools for navigation. Maps are two-dimensional representations of how we imagine our world, with imagine being the | 7/25/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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162 |
Why should you never scare a vulture? | Being ravenous eaters of decaying flesh, vultures have long been shunned by humans. But because of their disgusting habits, vultures provide a much-needed service to the rest of the organisms on Earth, making them the unsung heroes of their ecosystems. | 7/23/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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163 |
Who owns an abandoned house? | Ever since the real estate bubble in the U.S. burst in 2008, American cities have had to deal with a substantial uptick in abandoned houses. Faced with hundreds of thousands more than usual, new questions have arisen pertaining to who owns a house the own | 7/18/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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164 |
How Building Implosions Work | When you need to take down a 20-story building, a wrecking ball won't do. Instead, you'll need to turn to the handful of companies in the world that are capable of safely and successfully bringing down a building by blowing it up. | 7/16/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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165 |
How Hip-Hop Works | Now what you hear is not a test, instead it's Chuck and Josh discussing the cultural history of the Hip-Hop movement. Born out of the South Bronx, by way of Jamaica, Hip-Hop culture grew up suddenly as DJs learned to use two turntables at once. Check out | 7/11/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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166 |
10 Medieval Torture Devices | Warning: This episode on instruments designed solely to produce extreme human suffering during the Middle Ages in Europe is very graphic in nature. Seriously, if you're squeamish, maybe pass on this one. | 7/9/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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167 |
How Miranda Rights Work | Back in 1966, the Supreme Court decided that suspects in criminal cases had the right to be reminded that they didn't have to talk to the fuzz if they didn't want to, as stated in the 5th amendment. Since that ruling, scores of other cases have shaped and | 7/4/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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168 |
How Pollen Works | For about 375 million years, plants have been using pollen (aka plant sperm) to propagate their species. And the technique has stuck around because it works. Join Chuck and Josh for a cozy look at the ins and outs of plant reproduction. | 7/2/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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169 |
How Burning Man Works | You've probably heard about Burning Man, it's a week-long party in the middle of a desert made of 50 thousand people living pretty much without rules, pretty much without any exchange of money and often nude and on drugs. Get the background on this social | 6/27/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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170 |
What's the deal with Rasputin's death? | Grigori Rasputin, the Russian charismatic cleric and political advisor to the ruling Romanovs, is said to have been poisoned, shot, shot again, bludgeoned and drowned. Exactly how did he die and how would such a legend grow around a modern figure? | 6/25/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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171 |
How Ghosts Work | According to a 2009 poll, more Americans believe in ghosts than don't. But what are ghosts exactly? If they do exist, what are they made of and why are they hanging around? Josh and Chuck explore both sides of the divide between belief and skepticism on t | 6/20/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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172 |
How Bitcoin Works | In 2008 Bitcoin, the world's first decentralized, anarchistic all-digital currency, was introduced to the world. Its value has risen, fallen and risen again and speculators, techies, libertarians and economists alike are taking it seriously. | 6/17/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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173 |
Capgras Syndrome: You Are Not Who You Think You Are | There is an extremely rare condition where the sufferer is convinvced that everyone around him is an impostor posing as their friends and family. Learn about the neurology behind this strange and sad mental disorder in this episode. | 6/11/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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174 |
How Drag Queens Work | You can trace the origin of men dressing as women in public back to classic Greek theater, but modern drag queens own their real inception to vaudville. Dip your toe into the politics and culture of this unique phenomenon with Josh and Chuck. | 6/11/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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175 |
How do trees affect the weather? | Sure, you know that trees have an impact on climate change: to wit, fewer trees mean more atmospheric CO2. But did you know that trees can actually impact local and immediate weather? Learn about why you should love trees even more than you do. | 6/6/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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176 |
What happened to the lost colony at Roanoke? | Before Jamestown became the first successful English colony in the New World, an entire group of settlers vanished. For the last 430 years, Roanoke has been an American mystery. Learn the theories of what became of the lost colonists in this episode. | 6/4/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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177 |
How Coffins Work | Sure, you've probably laid in one at the store or a funeral home, but how much do you know about receptacles used to bury the dead? We'll bet you'll learn plenty - like the difference between a coffin and a casket - in this episode. | 5/28/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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178 |
How Police Chases Work | Entire TV shows are dedicated to them and Americans love to watch a live one, but police chases aren’t as routine as they seem. While police assert chases are important tools, critics say cops engage in chases too often and too easily. | 5/28/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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179 |
How PTSD Works | With Post-traumatic Stress Disorder the sufferer relives, over and over again, the worst moment of his life. What’s worse is medicine still doesn’t know how to treat it. Learn about this condition and how it’s leading to a n understanding of memory. | 5/23/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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180 |
How Cicadas Work | Cicadas are crawling out from underground, where they have been hiding in the darkness for almost two decades. As of May 2013, they're invading the East Coast From North Carolina to New York. But why? Learn more about cicadas with Josh and Chuck. | 5/21/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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181 |
How Aerosol Cans Work | In the 87 years since they were invented aerosol cans have protected soldiers, temporarily fixed flat tires, killed a boy who used too much deodorant and had their contents banned by most countries for wrecking the ozone layer. Tune in to learn more. | 5/16/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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182 |
How Electroconvulsive Therapy Works | With the exception of lobotomies, no other psychological treatment has a worse reputation. But thanks to some thoughtful tweaks, ECT has lately emerged from the dark ages and toward the respectable forefront of treatment for major depression. | 5/14/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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183 |
How Foot Binding Worked | Once in a while, all the necessary factors converge to produce a peculiar nationalized sexual fetish. In China, that fetish was foot binding and over a millennia three billion Chinese women’s feet were brutally disfigured for men’s pleasure. | 5/9/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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184 |
How Fair Trade Works | The West has gotten rich off the backs of underpaid labor living elsewhere; people who are dedicated to Fair Trade feel it’s time people at a disadvantage should stop being exploited. The concept is simple – just pay workers fairly for their labor. | 5/7/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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185 |
How Dungeons and Dragons Works | Despite what you’ve heard, Dungeons and Dragons isn’t just for geeks, it isn’t satanic and it’s actually a great way to exercise your imagination. Learn about the basics of D&D, its place in pop culture and the controversy the game has stirred. | 5/2/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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186 |
Is there such a thing as a truth serum? | Ever since people have had secrets, other people have been looking for ways to get it out of them. Law enforcement and chemistry alike have searched for a drug that can remove the ability to lie. Join Josh and Chuck as they check in to see how it’s goin | 4/30/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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187 |
What makes us yawn? | What is it that makes us suddenly draw in a deep breath through a wide-open mouth? researchers really don’t know. Whether the answer is physical, mental or even contagious there is pretty much no chance you won’t yawn during this episode. | 4/25/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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188 |
How Magnets Work | Whether you're sticking them to the fridge or using them to transpose sound to tape, magnets are surprisingly interesting. And knowing just how and why magnets work will make you more interesting, which is why you should listen to this episode of SYSK. | 4/23/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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189 |
Uses of the Insanity Defense | The idea that a person who can’t understand the crime they’ve committed should be inculpable is a longstanding pillar of Western criminal law. Learn about some of the prominent and overlooked cases where the accused has plead insanity in this episode. | 4/18/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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190 |
How Marriage Works | You can tell a lot about a culture through marriage statistics: what age people get married, how many divorce, who is excluded from legal marriage. It forms a picture of how a society interacts with itself. Learn more about marriage in this episode. | 4/16/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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191 |
Do men and women have different brains? | It’s a touchy subject – if you find gender-based differences between brains, does that mean there are differences in intellect? Surprisingly, though there are demonstrable differences, men and women use their brains differently to achieve the same end | 4/11/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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192 |
What’s the deal with duckbill platypuses? | It's pretty much impossible to describe duckbill platypuses without using the word “hodgepodge”. These mammals share features with birds, reptiles and even sharks. Learn about these peculiar little creatures in this episode. | 4/9/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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193 |
How Grief Works | Since 1969, the five stages of grief have become pretty well known. But later researchers are finding that grief is rarely cut and dried, and may not be as widely experienced as we thought. Join Josh and Chuck as they look at the sad science of grief. | 4/4/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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194 |
How the Panama Canal Works | The Panama Canal is one of the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken. First conceived of in the 1580s and completed in 1914, the canal's fascinating history includes a stint where it was considered U.S. soil. Learn all about it on this episode. | 4/2/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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195 |
How No-fly Zones Work | They have become such a ubiquitous tool for international interventions that it seems like no-fly zones have been around forever. But it was only the 1990s that the first one was enacted. Learn about this peculiar military tool with Chuck and Josh. | 3/28/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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196 |
What was the most peaceful time in history? | There's a lot of debate about whether pre-agricultural humans existed in a more harmonious state than we do today. Did we slip out of Eden when we began building large scale societies? Or is it possible that the most peaceful time in history is right now? | 3/26/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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197 |
Gesundheit! How Allergies Work | About 30-40 percent of humans suffer from some sort of allergy. The big joke, though, is that every sufferer is the victim of mistaken identity. Allergies are the result of a hypersensitive immune system mistaking a harmless protein for a foreign invader. | 3/21/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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198 |
How Apartheid Worked | After WWII, the government of South Africa turned inward to focus its attention on domination of the white minority over the non-white majority. It took an internal struggle and the voice of the world to finally end the terrible practice of “apartness. | 3/19/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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199 |
How the U.S. Postal Service Works | The USPS is currently teetering on the edge of going under and there are a lot of plans to save it, from cutting service to creating federally-protected email addresses. Join Chuck and Josh as they explore the history and future of the postal service. | 3/14/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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200 |
How Police Sketches Work | Creating composite drawings of suspected criminals from eyewitness accounts has been around since a Frenchman introduced it in the 19th century. Despite the introduction of new techniques and software it hasn’t changed all that much. | 3/12/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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TV Bonus: What will happen when we reach the singularity? | Futurists have unnervingly predicted an impending moment in human history: the Singularity, when a superhuman artificial intelligence is created. What will become of humans? Enslavement? Extermination? Utopia? Find out with Josh and Chuck. | 3/9/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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TV Bonus: Do zombies really exist? | In movies and stories, zombies are undead menaces that lurch around mindlessly, in search of flesh -- and braaaaaains! Where did the idea for zombies originate? Do they exist outside of fiction? Tune in to this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com to find out. | 3/9/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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TV Bonus: Can we build an elevator to space? | With the end of the shuttle program and an International Space Station still in need of supplies, the aerospace industry is working the kinks of out of a century-old idea to build a service elevator from Earth to outer space. | 3/9/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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TV Bonus: How Sleepwalking Works | Sleep behaviors are pretty fascinating. Some people snore, some grind their teeth -- and some take a little stroll, or perhaps a drive. In this episode, Josh and Chuck investigate how sleepwalking, or somnambulism, works. | 3/9/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Do people really run off to join the French Foreign Legion? | Anyone who knows anything about Jean-Claude Van Damme knows he played a French legionnaire in the movies. He was just one of many actors to star in films that romanticized this mercenary force. Check out the details in this episode with Josh and Chuck. | 3/7/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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What makes a one-hit wonder? | The term “one-hit wonder” gets thrown around a lot, but Chuck Bryant went to the trouble to really define what makes a one-hit wonder in the article this episode is based on. Join him and Josh as they get to the bottom of this disparaging term. | 3/5/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How the Papacy Works | In February 2013, Pope Benedict said he would become the first pope to retire in 600 years. Check out this episode of Stuff You Should Know to find out just what the pope does and the process of choosing a new one. | 2/28/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How CPR Works | You have a golden opportunity to make yourself into a worthwhile human being by learning how to perform CPR. The chances are you’ll never need to use it, but knowing how never hurts. Listen in and get primed to take a course on real-life life-savin’. | 2/26/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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TV Bonus: Stuff You Should Know, Live at Comic-Con | How does time travel work? Could it ever cross the line from science fiction into science fact? Join Josh and Chuck -- along with a live audience at the 2012 Comic-Con -- as they explore the ins and outs of time travel. | 2/23/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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210 |
TV Bonus: How Spies Work | Psst. You want to know how governments and corporations get the drop on one another? The frontline of intelligence is populated by spies. Learn about how spies get and transfer information (and why they do it) in this episode of Stuff You Should Know. | 2/23/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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What would happen if the world stopped spinning? | Over 400 million years, the day has grown two hours longer thanks to Earth's slowing axial rotation. While it will be a long time before it stops spinning, it never hurts to plan. Listen to Chuck and Josh discuss what a still Earth would look like. | 2/21/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Surfing Works | You know the Beach Boys and you’ve seen Hang Ten shirts, but there’s a lot more to surfing. Join Josh and Chuck to learn more about surfing, from how to pop up on the board to the physics of waves and the Sport of Kings’ Hawai’ian origin. | 2/19/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Myths About the Brain | As is usual for SYSK, Josh and Chuck go over some, but not all, of the entries in this list of ten myths about the brain. While it lives in your noggin you don’t really have much of a grasp on your brain and how it works. You think you do, but you don | 2/14/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Jet Lag Works | Jet lag has only been a real condition since 1958. Also known as desynchronosis, jet lag can lead to sleeplessness, irritability, diabetes and cancer. Learn about how the body’s natural clock runs and what happens when we cross time zones quickly. | 2/12/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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TV Bonus: How Weather Modification Works | It began with old-timey guys dropping dry ice on clouds. Since then weather modification was used to keep the 2008 opening ceremonies dry and flood the Ho Chi Minh Trail, but does it work? Learn about weather control plans, diabolical or otherwise. | 2/9/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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TV Bonus: How Flesh-eating Bacteria Work | Possibly the most horrifically-named disease anyone could contract, flesh-eating bacteria can lead quickly lead to amputations and death. Learn about how this disease works and how to prevent it in this episode with Chuck and Josh. | 2/9/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Willpower Works | You use it to overcome your lower self (which wants you to eat cake until your vision blurs) in pursuit of the goals of your higher self (which wants you to avoid diabetes). Yet it was only the 1990s that researchers have begun to understand willpower. | 2/7/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Garbage-powered Cars Could Work | We’re not so far off from being able to power cars using beer and banana peels, like Doc in Back to the Future. Rather than solving the energy crisis with Mr. Fusion, though, we’ll use the centuries-old technique of creating syngas through pyrolysis. | 2/5/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Gold Works | Over the course of history, humanity has only mined 161,00 metric tons of gold. Considering about 85 percent of gold is recycled, there’s a chance your jewelry may once have been part of an Incan headdress or Mycenaean face mask. Listen in to learn more | 1/31/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Stuntmen (and -women) Work | They get blown up, shot, drowned and thrown out of windows on the silver screen – and we don’t even know their names. Stuntpeople are the unsung heroes of the movie industry. Learn the ins and outs of the stunt world and how one becomes a stunt person | 1/29/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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TV Bonus: How Bees Work | With less than a million neurons in their heads, bees shouldn’t be able to do much. Yet bees are capable of high functions like population economics and navigating by the sun on overcast days. Learn about these fascinating insects in this episode. | 1/26/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Fecal Transplants: You Gonna Drink That Poop? | Medical ecology is concerned with understanding how microbes living inside us keep us healthy. The field’s first breakthrough is the fecal transplant, moving poop from a healthy person and into the gut of a sick person. It’s a real thing, and it works | 1/24/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How the Frick Fracking Works | Fracking, the process of breaking trapped resources like natural gas and oil from shale, has led to a revolution in energy production in the U.S. It’s also given rise to increasing worries that the process can have sweeping environmental impacts. | 1/22/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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TV Bonus: How Autopsies Work | How can experts determine a person’s cause of death? Join Josh and Chuck as they take a trip through the morgue and look over the shoulders of the often controversial coroners and medical examiners that open cadavers to determine how someone died. | 1/19/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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TV Bonus: How Alien Hand Syndrome Works | When a person has alien hand syndrome, his or her hand can move involuntarily, and seemingly of its own volition. Tune in and learn Stuff You Should Know about this misunderstood syndrome. | 1/19/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Does the five-second rule work? | If you drop a piece of food and pick it up within five seconds, is it still good to eat? Researchers have studied this and have also inadvertently shone a light on how utterly covered our world is with bacteria and germs. Prepare to shudder. | 1/17/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Death Masks Work | The Myceneans kicked off the habit of creating a mask of a deceased person’s face in deathly repose, and what began as an ancient rite has only recently fallen out of practice. Learn about this dignified but ghoulish custom with Josh and Chuck. | 1/15/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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228 |
Why do men have nipples? | They’re always right there, taunting you: why do you have me, they ask? Why do men have nipples? It turns out there’s a good answer why and nipples on men aren’t entirely useless after all.Join Chuck and Josh for this heady investigation. | 1/10/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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229 |
Can you outrun an alligator in a zig-zag? | You’ve heard the warning before: If you’re being chased on land by an alligator, run in a zig-zag. Of course, the average person should be capable of outrunning an alligator. Josh and Chuck take the opportunity to explore alligator safety anyway. | 1/8/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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What was America’s first terrorist threat? | From the moment it was established, the United States had headaches with terrorism of the pirate variety. For decades, the federal budget even include bribe money to pay them off. Learn all about this early threat on this episode of Stuff You Should Know. | 1/3/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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231 |
How Bigfoot Works | For centuries North American tribes have told stories of a hairy wild giant in the wilderness, and once Europeans arrived they claimed to see it, too. Chuck and Josh examine the claims of believers and the rebuttals of skeptics in this evenhanded episode. | 1/1/13 | Free | View In iTunes |
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232 |
How Dog Shows Work | You know those shows where people wearing sensible shoes jog dogs around in circles? They actually represent the pinnacle of a long and complex path to glory for dogs and their owners. Join Chuck and Josh as they peek inside the American dog show. | 12/27/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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233 |
Josh and Chuck’s Christmas Extravaganza 2012 | Kick back and raise a glass of eggnog to Josh and Chuck as they carry on a new holiday tradition of exploring the ins and outs of all things Christmas – and maybe even warm your heart along the way. Happy holidays, everybody! | 12/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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234 |
How Barbie® Doll Works | In this episode, Josh and Chuck explore the history, cultural impact and feminist ire raised by the Barbie doll. The boys are joined by Gordon Javna, the founder of the Bathroom Readers’ Institute and publisher of Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader. | 12/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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235 |
Lab-grown meat: Order up! | Since Winston Churchill predicted we’d grow meat in a lab by 1981, researchers have considered doing just that. And thanks to the current work of about 30 groups, we may be only years away from mass-produced artificial meat. But will anyone eat it? | 12/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Condoms Work | The earliest depiction of a condom is found in a 15,000-year-old cave painting. Ever since humans realized sex led to children, we’ve been using condoms to prevent pregnancy. Join Josh and Chuck for this comprehensive tour of all things condom. | 12/13/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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237 |
Why isn’t the U.S. on the metric system? | The U.S. stands proudly defiant and the world looks at Americans as dopes for the U.S.’s stubborn refusal to go metric. However, the States have been going metric for about 150 years. Find out what’s the haps in this weighty and measured episode of SY | 12/11/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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238 |
Will we reach peak oil? | A 2012 report showed that the U.S. may be energy-independent in just a few years, but not too long ago the specter of peak oil loomed large on the political and economic landscape. Join Chuck and Josh as they visit the consequences of running out of oil. | 12/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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239 |
How Vampires Work | Out of obligation, Chuck and Josh mention Twilight, but it is the longstanding vampire lore that gets the most attention in this examination of how the bloodsucking undead evolved from baby-stealing demonesses to suave counts in our collective psyche. | 12/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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240 |
How Caving Works | Entrances to the underworld have been places of wonder for eons, and humans have ventured into caves to sleep, hunt, create art and explore. Thanks to the hobby of caving, that tradition continues today. Bonus: Chuck discusses his caving experience. | 11/29/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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241 |
Why do leaves change colors in the fall? | Ah, autumn – arguably the most beautiful time of the year, thanks to the vibrant colors trees put on display as they close up for the winter. Ever wonder why and how trees change color in the fall? Chuck and Josh have it down pat and explain it here. | 11/27/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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242 |
Philanthropy: Humankind and Loving It | Sure the fatcats get all the credit for donating millions, but did you know US households making $20,000 or less contribute the highest percentage of their income to charity? Learn more (not to mention a sexy look at the U.S. tax code) in this episode. | 11/22/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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243 |
Should we be designing our children? | In 2009, a fertility clinic controversially offered parents the ability to customize their children. How will society take the idea of designing children? Do we have a moral obligation to design better people? Join Josh and Chuck for this heavy episode. | 11/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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244 |
How Meth Works | You know how when you do a lot of crystal methamphetamine you get meth mouth, where your teeth decay? Of course you don’t! So check out this in-depth look on the most widely-abused hard drug in the world. Even tweakers will learn something new. | 11/15/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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245 |
How close are we to holographic environments? | Star Trek was famous for its holodeck, a completely immersive holographic environment that could be any space a user wanted. Thanks to telemersion technology built for business conferencing, we’re starting to get close to that holodeck after all. | 11/13/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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246 |
What will happen when we reach the Singularity? | Futurists have unnervingly predicted an impending moment in human history: the Singularity, when a superhuman artificial intelligence is created. What will become of humans? Enslavement? Extermination? Utopia? Find out with Josh and Chuck. | 11/8/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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247 |
Yakuza: From Samurai to Slot Machines | The Yakuza trace their lineage back to the 18th century samurai, left masterless following political upheaval, who turned to lives of crime. After centuries, the Yakuza is still going strong, following both tradition and new avenues of illicit revenue. | 11/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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248 |
Is Stockholm Syndrome real? | Since a hostage standoff in Sweden took place in 1972 a peculiar and mysterious psychological phenomenon has had a name. But is Stockholm Syndrome real? And what conditions have to be present? Join Chuck and Josh as they look into this unusual condition. | 11/1/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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249 |
SYSK’s Halloween Horror Fiction Winner! | Josh and Chuck have been planning this thing since spring and it’s finally here! Tune in to hear which listener’s scary story won the SYSK Halloween Horror Fiction Contest -- and prepare to have your socks scared off just in time for All Hallow’s Ev | 10/30/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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250 |
Exoskeletons: How’s it coming? | Since the 1960s, the Pentagon has called for a suit that can make a soldier jump higher, run faster longer and generally be a badder dude. It’s only now that the materials needed are coming of age. Listen in to learn the state of exoskeleton technology. | 10/25/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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251 |
How Commercial Jingles Work | You probably can recite five right now. Commercial jingles are designed to hijack your working memory and implant a product or service and they really work. Learn about the history of these insidious and catchy advertising vehicles with Chuck and Josh. | 10/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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252 |
How Lion Taming Works | Bossing a lion around in front of a crowd at a circus has been an attraction for 200 years, but exactly how lion tamers get their captive wild animals to comply has evolved over time. Take a peek in the jaws of this odd profession with Josh and Chuck. | 10/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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253 |
How Black Holes Work | It wasn’t too long ago when black holes were strictly predictions in theoretical math. Over decades, astronomy has gotten better at uncovering these cosmic phenomena. Learn about how black holes form and their ability to spaghettify you in this episode. | 10/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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254 |
How Pizza Works! | Sure it’s everywhere and there’s a more-than-90-percent chance you eat it once a month. But we’ll bet you don’t know the full history of that pizza (or tomato pie) you’re about to chow down on. Join Chuck and Josh as they explain it to you, bite | 10/11/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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255 |
How Rainforests Work | It’s been called the world’s lungs, the world’s pharmacy and the world’s air conditioner. It takes up only 6 percent of Earth’s land, yet houses 50% of the world’s species. Find out the math behind why they may be gone in 40 years in this epis | 10/9/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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256 |
How Fire Works | Creating fire was possibly the most important human discovery, but it’s easy to take for granted. But. Josh and Chuck get to the bottom of the chemistry of fire in their quest to explain everything in the universe. | 10/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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257 |
How Whiskey Runners Worked | Sure, Chuck and Josh have discussed it before, but it’s worth revisiting: Running moonshine led to the creation of NASCAR. Chuck and Josh aren’t even NASCAR fans and they think that’s cool. Join them as the investigate moonshine runnin’. | 10/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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258 |
Subways: HUH! What are they good for? | As ubiquitous as they’ve become, it’s easy to overlook the marvels of engineering that are subways. Chuck and Josh go boring as they explore these systems of tubes that must circumnavigate rock, rivers, cables and more to get you where you’re going. | 9/27/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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259 |
Q: Are we in the midst of cyberwar? A: Yes | There’s a secret war going on around us, and it's happening on a daily basis. The Air Force recently launched a new unit specifically designed to carry out and defend against cyberwar. Go deep into this new and alarming type of war with Josh and Chuck. | 9/25/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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260 |
Why does music provoke emotion? | A well-crafted piece of music can bring us to incredible highs and crushing lows, sometimes within the same song. Why does music affect humans this way? Join Chuck, Josh and special guest cellist Ben Sollee as they get to the bottom of music and emotion. | 9/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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261 |
Are we all Martians? | There’s a very good question that no one has yet satisfactorily answered: Where did life on Earth come from? Some look to the Red Planet as the source of life here, which, if correct, would make us all Martians. Is there anything to this out there claim | 9/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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262 |
How Book Banning Works | If you want to control the masses, control what they read. After all, books are seeds that germinate new points of view. As a result, the struggle against banning books is contentious and continual. Learn more about banning books in this episode. | 9/13/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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263 |
How Asexuality Works | When Alfred Kinsey conducted his sex surveys he turned up, but ignored, a fourth sexual orientation: people who don’t experience sexual attraction. It took 60 years for Group X to gain a name and recognition, but with that has come increased scrutiny. | 9/11/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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264 |
Bioluminescence: A Bright and Shiny Fish | Science has a handle on fireflies and glowworms, but most bioluminescent animals live in the ocean and are tough to study. Today, researchers are still figuring out why some animals produce light. Dive with Josh and Chuck into this illuminating topic. | 9/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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265 |
Can you test a nuclear weapon without a fallout? | Over the course of human existence, thousands of nuclear weapons have been exploded on Earth and in space. With all of those tests, one can't help but wonder how much fallout has been produced. Learn the tricks of the nuke-testing trade in this episode. | 9/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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266 |
How Flesh-eating Bacteria Work | Possibly the most horrifically-named disease anyone could contract, flesh-eating bacteria can lead quickly lead to amputations and death. Learn about how this disease works and how to prevent it in this episode with Chuck and Josh. | 8/30/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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267 |
How the Electoral College Works | When you vote in an American presidential election, you’re not voting for your candidate – you’re voting for a group of people you hope will in turn vote for your candidate. Listen in to learn more about the strange process for electing the presiden | 8/28/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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268 |
What happens to abandoned mines? | Did you know there are as many as 500,000 abandoned mines in the US, but the federal government knows where only 30,000 of them are? Learn about these places go from money pit to death trap when mine companies simply walk away. | 8/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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269 |
Why You Probably Have a Criminal Record | If you're an American adult, there's a 1 in 4 chance you have a criminal record. While it's less likely you've committed any serious crime, there are still repercussions to having a rap sheet as more employers use them to decide between candidates. | 8/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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270 |
Did Reagan's Star Wars program win the Cold War? | Putting lasers in space to blast Soviet missiles out of the air was a very real part of Ronald Reagan's defense policy. While his "Star Wars" program was derided at home and abroad, historians are beginning to wonder if it didn't help win the Cold War aft | 8/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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271 |
The Shark Diaries | In this special episode of Stuff You Should Know, Chuck and Josh tip their hats to Shark Week with an old-fashioned radio play. Join the guys (and a few guests) as they present a dramatization of the 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks. | 8/14/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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272 |
How Shark Attacks Work | A shark attack is a terrifying experience for the victim -- but are sharks really man-eating monsters with a taste for human flesh? Join Josh and Chuck as they ask why sharks attack, how attacks occur and which sharks are most likely to attack someone | 8/9/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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273 |
How Ramadan Works | It's the holiest month of the Muslim calendar, and for good reason. It was during the month of Ramadan that Mohammed began to issue the Koran. Learn about the customs and traditions behind observing Ramadan in this episode of Stuff You Should Know. | 8/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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274 |
Can we build an elevator to space? | With the end of the shuttle program and an International Space Station still in need of supplies, the aerospace industry is working the kinks of out of a century-old idea to build a service elevator from Earth to outer space. | 8/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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275 |
How the Musketeers Worked | You know and love them as a fluffy chocolate nougat and maybe as a book and a movie, but musketeers were quite real and quite deadly. Visit with Josh and Chuck as they examine the elite special forces of 17th-century France. | 7/31/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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276 |
Stuff You Should Know, Live at Comic-Con | How does time travel work? Could it ever cross the line from science fiction into science fact? Join Josh and Chuck -- along with a live audience at the 2012 Comic-Con -- as they explore the ins and outs of time travel. | 7/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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277 |
How White-collar Crime Works | White-collar crime often involves fraud and other nonviolent acts. For most people, the term "white-collar crime" conjures up images of CEOs conniving their way to fortune. But what is it, really? Listen in as Josh and Chuck break down the facts. | 7/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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278 |
Did a cow start the Great Chicago Fire? | It's true: The newspapers of the day reported that a cow (or perhaps its owner) was responsible for a fire that burned half of Chicago in 1871. Yet in 1997 Mrs. O’Leary and her cow were exonerated. Join Josh and Chuck to find out who’s probably to bla | 7/19/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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279 |
How Disco Works | Fly, robin, fly indeed. No musical genre has risen and burned out as quickly as disco, and historians are still trying to unravel the animosity aimed at it. Join Chuck and Josh as they dig into disco’s underground roots and its sashay into the mainstrea | 7/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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280 |
How Lightning Works | You’ve seen lightning before, and maybe you’re even afraid of it. You should be. The air is ripped apart and a sudden electrical discharge burning six times brighter than the sun connects with Earth. Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck. | 7/12/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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281 |
Geysers: Nature’s Innuendo | The spectacular eruptions of steam and water we call geysers are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, the result of thousands of years of specific natural conditions and physical processes. Learn the Stuff You Should Know about geysers in this episode. | 7/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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282 |
How Tabloids Work | Having started as an egalitarian answer to 19th-century newspapers, tabloids came to peddle shock and sleaze. They’ve cleaned up a bit, but they remain the world’s guilty pleasure. Learn more about the fascinating history of tabloids with Chuck and Jo | 7/5/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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283 |
Is the Dead Sea dead? | An anomaly of geography, the shores of Dead Sea form the lowest dry spot on Earth. It’s been visited by millions, including King Herod and Cleopatra, all seeking the health benefits of this saline lake. Learn about this unusual spot with Josh and Chuck. | 7/3/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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284 |
What’s the deal with Executive Orders? | Depending on who’s in office, they’re either a presidential tradition or the acts of a despot. Executive orders are not spelled out in the Constitution, yet every president has issued them. Learn about these controversial edicts with Josh and Chuck. | 6/28/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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285 |
Lying Liars: How Lying Works, Liar | Studies find that absolutely everyone lies – some have found as much as a quarter of our daily interactions involve lies. What gives with everyone fudging? Chuck and Josh explore the philosophy, psychology and reality of lying and what constitutes liar. | 6/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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286 |
10 Accidental Inventions: By the Numbers | Every once in a while Chuck and Josh do things by the numbers and here’s a good example. Turns out a surprising amount of ubiquitous items in our everyday lives were stumbled upon by accident. This episode explores a few of the more noteworthy ones. | 6/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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287 |
How Icebergs Work (Very Cool) | " Icebergs: floating chunks of ice. True, but whoa there. Scientists are learning that there’s a lot more to icebergs. Appropriately enough, we’ve only come to understand the tip of the iceberg and recent research shows there’s plenty more to uncove | 6/19/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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288 |
Whatever happened to acid rain? | Along with the hole in the ozone layer, acid rain was one of the first international environmental threats. It’s fallen to the wayside in the face of climate change, but we have yet to lick it. Join Chuck and Josh as they revive the 80s drumbeat. | 6/14/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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289 |
Should we have a fat tax? | The concept of fighting unhealthy behavior like overeating by taxing unhealthy food has been around since 1994. But as the debate over a fat tax rages on in the U.S., Europe has begun to institute them and there’s talk of taxing overweight people as wel | 6/12/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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290 |
Fractals: Whoa | In the 1980s, IBM mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot gazed for the first time upon his famous fractal. What resulted was a revolution in math and geometry and our understanding of the infinite, not to mention how we see Star Trek II. | 6/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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291 |
How Moss Works | Think you have moss figured out? You probably don’t. Join Josh and Chuck as they explore some of the surprising aspects of these most ancient and important plants on the planet. | 6/5/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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292 |
Can it rain frogs? | If you’ve seen the movie Magnolia, you’ve seen what it looks like to rain frogs. While there are reports of frogs, fish and even squid raining down that are questionable, science has figured out how it can – and does – rain frogs sometimes. | 5/31/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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293 |
Do video games produce real-life violence? | The disturbing trend of school shootings around the world has dragged violence in video games into the hot seat. But are violent video games actually more capable of producing real violence in gamers or is it just the latest victim of societal hysteria? | 5/29/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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294 |
Are we obsessed with goals? | We’ve all been brought up to keep our eyes on the prize and our pedal to the medal when we go for that brass ring, but does the Western interest in goals verge on an insane obsession? Learn how goals work (and if they’re healthy) with Chuck and Josh. | 5/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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295 |
How Labor Unions Work | Yes, it’s true: Unions have a shady mob-related past and were originally championed by anarchists. Born from medieval trade guilds, these organizations also helped grow the American economy, and not only protected but established workers’ rights. | 5/22/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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296 |
What is the future of Earth? | What will the Earth be like in 5,000 or 50,000 years? In this far-sighted episode, Josh and Chuck explore how Earth may change over time. Listen in to learn more about humanity's odds of survival -- and how technology just might save us. | 5/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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297 |
Interpol: World Police | Interpol is an international police agency that helps other law-enforcement agencies track criminals who operate across national borders -- but how does it work, exactly? Join the guys as they delve into the world of global law enforcement. | 5/15/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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298 |
What is a shotgun house? | Shotgun houses are iconic pieces of American architecture: they're long, narrow, and filled with artistic flourishes. But where did they come from? In this episode, Chuck and Josh explore the mysterious origins of shotgun houses. | 5/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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299 |
Did the Dutch trade Manhattan for nutmeg? | Today nutmeg is commonplace, but this wasn't always the case. In the 17th century, the Dutch and the British fought a trade war over nutmeg. Join Chuck and Josh as they travel across continents and centuries to trace the story of nutmeg and Manhattan. | 5/8/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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300 |
How Bullfighting Works | When the Visigoths ruled Spain, they introduced the idea of battling bulls at festivals. Today matadors get paid $100,000 and perform in front of 50,000 fans. But is bullfighting an antiquated, abusive relic or a cultural tradition above reproach? | 5/3/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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301 |
How did language evolve? | " Sure animals talk in their own way, with chirps and grunts and the like, but only humans can form words. It is this, some evolutionary psychologists contend, that is what truly separates us from the rest of the species on the planet. But why us?" | 5/1/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 301 Items |
Customer Reviews
Very interesting.....
Who knew?? I found these podcasts to be very interesting and informative. It's refreshing to know that there are people out there who care enough to inform us of interesting facts that fuel our brains rather than the typical trash that floods us daily. Does anybody really care which celebrity went into rehab this week? This makes for much more interesting conversation around the "water cooler". Not to mention that it makes you sound smart :) Keep up the good work!
Great Podcast, stupid comments/listeners/reviews
Seriously, I'm annoyed at some of the comments and listeners posting here. First of all, if you really "want to learn" something, turn off your Ipod and pick up a book or do your own research. No, wikipedia doesn't count either. This Podcast is meant merely for entertainment purposes and to get your mind thinking, and perhaps get you to go to their website and read their articles on the subjects they're discussing. The chemistry between the 2 hosts is pretty good, and makes it fun to listen too, as if it's two friends shootin the breeze. While I do respect people's opinions of disliking this podcast (hey, we're all diff, right?), some of the reasons are unfounded. It's not supposed to be super in-depth research, how boring would that be? Apparently, the sarcastic segways and comments/jokes are lost on most people. Oh, and add in intelligent vocab, and you've lost 85% of iTunes users. This is a great podcast compared to all the crap out there on iTunes; just too bad the average listener is too stupid or devoid of a sense of humor to "get" the content, and instead leave stupid, inaccurate comments with bad grammar.
Interesting
I disagree with the comment above. These topics are interesting, and it's not because I'm old. These people talk about serious topics but in a way that is easliy digestible and entertaining. I like it-- keep up the good work!
