Stuff You Should Know

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

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The town of Celebration, Florida was supposed to be a utopia. What it ended up as is a mediocre neighborhood on the outskirts of Disney World. 

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Who is Uncle Sam anyway? Was it a real person or just a marketing exercise? And why does he refuse to go away? Listen in to find out.

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Henry Ford was an odd guy, but one who had a vision for America that centered around a populist, affordable and reliable automobile. He was also a noted antisemite and not a great father. Today, we dive into the life of FMC's founder. 

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Science fiction writers have made some amazingly accurate predictions over the years, but in 1945 the pace of technological change created a field that spun off of sci-fi forecasting, futurology. Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Outside of Germany, King Ludwig II is relatively unknown. And, yet, he is one of history’s most tragic and romantic kings. He was a gay icon and a ruler who eschewed public appearances for turn inward into a fantasy realm of his own making.  

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You – yes, you! – can be a hero to neglected and abused animals. But there’s a right way to do it, and that does not involve sneaking onto a neighbor’s property and stealing their dog or cat. Learn how to do it real legal-like in this episode.

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When Napster reared its head in 1999, it marked the beginning of the end of the compact disc era. Today, we trace the history of the slowly evolving death of physical music media. 

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The '60s ended with a lot of turbulence, not the least of which was the Manson Family Murders. What made Charles Manson so alluring to his family? What makes one person kill for another? And what did The Beatles have to do with it all? Learn all this and more in this first part of our two part classic episode.

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Out of all the jobs a person can have, few are as overtly dangerous as making sure bombs don’t go off and if they do, making sure they’re away from people. Learn how bomb technicians do it safely, without a 100% turnover rate.

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How did a large section of downtown Los Angeles become a permanent fixture of unhoused individuals? Will it always be this way? Listen in to learn all about LA's famous Skid Row.

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The Olympic marathon of 1904 is an incredible story filled with wacky characters, cheating, heat and humidity, dust and dirt, and oh yeah, a few actual qualified athletes. 

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If you didn’t already know how amazing hummingbirds are, prepare to learn. Not only do they count among their numbers the smallest bird species, they are also lightning fast and have the endurance of a marathoner and a telethoner put together. Get up to speed on these wonderful creatures in this classic episode.

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Today we think of Luddites as people who don’t know how to use technology or are maybe even afraid of it. That’s pretty far from what the original Luddites were all about. They were the first workers to fight for fair treatment. They were not successful.

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

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There is A LOT of made-up stuff on the internet that gets passed off as true. But once in a while something truly odd comes along. Here are three stories of real mysterious events in the internet’s recent history that are yet to be fully explained. 

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Body language is how you communicate without words. Some say it bears more impact in communication than speaking words. In this classic episode, learn about how you say what you say could mean more than you think.

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Cher is an icon, with hits spanning an unbelievable SEVEN decades. So kick back as we laud the singer/actress/legend. 

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Being tarred and feathered is an old trope in America, but the actuality of it was pretty brutal, not the least of which included burning skin. Let's dive into history - now!

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It’s so simple, yet so compelling: you mine blocks and cut down trees to put things together to make cool new stuff. There isn’t really a point and there’s not really a way to win. Minecraft is a non-game and it’s the second-most popular game of all time. 

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Depending on who you talk to, Genghis Khan was either a sadistic madman or one of the great leaders in world history. One thing is sure, he was one of the most advanced military minds of all time. Learn all about him in this classic episode.

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Many of us have experienced the odd sensation that we shouldn’t trust ourselves not to simply jump from a high place for no reason. Some even feel an urge. Philosophers and psychologists have tried to make sense of this senseless urge for centuries now. 

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We know how our skin prunes, but we don't know for sure why. Chuck likes the leading theory, Josh does not. WHO WILL WIN? (nobody)

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Rudolf Diesel was a game changing inventor, though his most famous product was not used how he envisioned it. Listen in and learn about his life and mysterious death.

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Throughout much of the world, the forests are being managed through sustainable timber harvesting practices. This has come at the cost of much legal battling and a century of practice. Find out all about it in this classic episode.

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The car wash you get to ride through on a journey to sparklingness is made of a handful of different tools that have been developed over the last century. They have just now reached the point where it all works together so well the industry is booming.  

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

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

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In reality, the Tulsa "race riots" of 1921 was more like a massacre. Yet it was almost lost to history until 1997, and still not widely known outside of Oklahoma until HBO's The Watchmen put it on the cultural map. Learn all about this dark chapter in American history in this classic episode.

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

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Who were the Ritchie Boys? Listen in to find out. 

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Years ago the telephone network was like the internet is to us today: a vast, interconnected means of communicating and sharing information. And, like the internet today, it attracted people who were interested in learning how it worked by hacking it.  

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Caffeine is a heck of a drug - at the same time it's both good and bad for you. Learn the good, bad and ugly about this everyday stimulant in this classic episode.

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Human papilloma virus, HPV, is an unusually common bug among humans. Most of the time it’s benign and your body manages to overcome the infection. Sometimes it can linger and cause warts.  But in the worst cases, HPV infections can actually cause cancer.

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Sitzpinklers - men who sit down to pee - is a big thing in Germany, and a handful of other places. And if Josh and Chuck have any say it’ll catch on like wildfire around the world. 

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

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Becoming the first licensed woman physician in America was tough, convincing male surgeons to wash their hands between patients was even tougher. In this classic episode Josh and Chuck pay tribute to a genuine pioneer in medicine and society.

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Salsa is one of the great inventions of the culinary world. Here in the USA it's mainly a vehicle for tortilla chips. In Mexico, it's more like a sauce to add to, well, anything. Get ready to be hungry!

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If you’re a mobster and you can’t make money off of booze any longer what should you move to next? How about milk?

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There aren’t too many people walking around today who get a pass from the entire world for anything remotely negative they do or say. That’s just how the world receives Jane Goodall, and she’s earned that from a lifetime of building greater human understanding of our animal relatives.

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In this classic episode, we finish revisiting our 2017 tour of the best sights of the ancient world when we get deep into the history of a lighthouse that stood for 1200 years, an unsettling statue of Zeus, the world’s first mausoleum, and Chuck’s favorite, the Colossus of Rhodes!

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Women inventors have always had a tough time, for obvious reasons. So we're here today to pay tribute to those who persevered in the face of the laws and customs that prevented progress. 

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

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Dopamine is perhaps the most talked-about, most misunderstood biochemical in our bodies. It’s linked to not only addiction and depravity, but also focus, motivation, and living a productive life. How can one molecule be so many things to so many people?

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If you've ever worked in a restaurant, you know the feeling that occurs when the health inspector pays a visit. While nerve wracking, it's the best insurance patrons have that their food will be prepared and served in a proper environment. Learn all about how these inspections work, from their past history to current incarnation, in this classic episode.

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When paperboys stopped delivering a couple of very big newspapers in 1899 it was a big deal. Big enough that the two biggest publishers in the world got pretty scared. But did it actually accomplish anything? 

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The story of what happened to the car that James Dean crashed.

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Whistling is pretty cool when you think about it because it can mean many things, from simple happy tunes to legit communication. Learn all about this ubiquitous skill today. 

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Long before slide rulers and pocket protectors, civilizations across the world used their noggins to build some impressive structures. Almost all have crumbled to ruins over the millennium, but thanks to the earliest tourists, we admire them still today. Explore some of them with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Wikipedia changed the world. Before it came along, you had to go to the library to get the answers you sought. And you and your friends had to just agree to disagree on facts. And as the internet grew and commercialized, Wikipedia remains free and open.

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Those armrests in the middle of benches aren’t just for your comfort, they’re intended to keep the homeless from laying on them. Cities are filled with these mean-spirited inconveniences. But who’s to say how a person should use a bench?

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In almost every part of the world, in some form or fashion, widows have things harder than they did when their spouses were alive. In some places it means they pay higher taxes, in others it means they’re ostracized to live on the margins of society.

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About 5,300 years ago a Copper Age shepherd was murdered. He just happened to die in a place where his body was so well preserved that gave researchers an actual shot at determining the course of his final day on Earth. Josh and Chuck take you through their reconstruction in this classic episode.

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Today we take to the friendly skies to detail the fascinating history of air travel. From planes with piano bars and lounges to the current no frills varieties. 

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The peace sign is one of the most globally recognized symbols around today, but it’s only a few decades old. And it wasn’t the hippies who created it, it was a group of Brits dedicated to nuclear disarmament in the 50s.

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When we think of an abused spouse we tend to think of horrific physical or emotional violence. But over the last decade or so, it’s become clear that’s only a symptom – that domestic abuse is in fact an all-consuming form of interpersonal terrorism. 

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It's pretty obvious something's gone wrong when you get a sunburn, but did you know a tan means you've damaged your DNA? Dive into the three Ss of summer and learn all about how to protect yourself from the sun.

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In the last decade American schools became enrapt by a new psychological concept centered on persevering. Things went south when they started attaching funding to it.

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Learn all about the saddest phone notification in today's episode. 

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You've probably been to a symphony performance and wondered, what in the heck are conductors doing up there anyway? Well we're here to explain that as best we can.

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Think tanks? More like stink tanks! We're kidding. Think tanks do valuable work, when they operate in a non-partisan way of course. Learn all about the history of these heady institutions in this classic episode.

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If you grew up in the 70s and 80s in America, you probably have the image of your tattered Guinness Book of Records. The book was ubiquitous then, but is still thriving today in despite the internet. 

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Mudlarking is a uniquely British hobby, though you can dig through river mud anywhere there's a river. But the Thames has the good stuff. 

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Unit 731 was a secret group within the Japanese Army in WWII that committed unspeakable atrocities against humans in the name of scientific research. Listen with caution. 

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No one - no one - likes to vomit, but there are some people who would prefer to die rather than vomit, people who spend their days worrying they will vomit at any moment and become so obsessed they curtail their lives to prevent it from happening. Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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

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By definition hobos are people who travel from town to town taking odd jobs as they go. But some towns are friendlier than others, and hobos developed a system of symbols they left one another to know what to expect from a town.

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It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that J. Edgar Hoover was perhaps the most powerful American of the 20th century. By the time he established the FBI as America’s police force, presidents were afraid of him. Just exactly how did he get to be so puissant?

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On Halloween 1938 young radio star Orson Welles scared the pants off of America with a fictional news bulletin claiming Martians had landed and were destroying the country. People across the nation ran wild with panic in the streets – or did they? Listen to this classic episode to find out.

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The idea that we aren’t the first advanced civilization to live on Earth sounds like a fringe theory, but it raises a good question: How can we be so sure that a civilization didn’t arise and die on Earth so long ago that any trace of it has been erased?

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

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Taking care of 12,000 tons of residential trash every day is a hard job. But how does that even work? Listen in to marvel at the NYC sanitation system.

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Despite as much as one percent of the adult population having the condition, science doesn't actually know how stuttering works. The best it's come up with so far: there seems to be an issue between the physical process of speaking and the thought process that underlies it. Find out what science means by this in this classic episode.

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Sometimes you just have to turn it off for a while – all the thinking, and overthinking, analyzing, and figuring out. Sometimes it’s nice to just breathe through your mouth and talk about dumb things criminals do for an episode.

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We all know the story of the Titanic and the tragedy of lives lost. So hey, let's talk about the survivors for a change!

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Misophonia is a condition in which certain sounds trigger people in very negative ways that can really disrupt someone's life. Listen in today to learn all about this fairly recently recognized condition.

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As if being murdering SOBs weren’t enough, the Nazis were also thieving rats. During WWII, they stole billons in gold from countries they overran and moved it to Germany. But at the end of the war, only part of it was recovered. Where’s the rest? Find out the extent of our knowledge in this classic episode.

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The only thing more complicated than an atomic clock is researching how they work and then figuring out how to explain it to other people. But believe us, they are fascinating. Even if you don’t care about clocks or atoms you’ll still like this episode.   

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

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The Village People were a smash hit singing group that came and went in under two years. Then other people performed under that name for several decades. This is their story. 

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The Village People were a smash hit singing group that came and went in under two years. Then other people performed under that name for several decades. This is their story. 

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If you've ever been to an international airport, you've probably seen one of the keenest spotters of illegal contraband - The Beagle Brigade! These cute dogs aren't after drugs or bombs, they're carefully trained to sniff out agricultural products. Learn all about this furry group of crime stoppers in this classic episode.

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Georgia Tann was a bad human. We feel safe in saying that because she kidnapped babies from poor families to sell to wealthy ones. Listen in if you can stomach it.

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Not too much is known about Margaret Schilling. She was the kind of person whose memory might have been lost to time had she not left behind an indelible reminder of her. 

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You probably know wind energy projects have been around since the 90s, but did you know they now provide 10% of America’s energy, and more than that in other countries? Learn about what’s ahead for wind and what it’ll need to become a real star like coal.

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Special effects have been around since the first movies. In fact, the techniques the earliest filmmakers created are still around today, we just use computers to do them faster and cheaper. Hit play on this classic episode and then put on your beret and get ready for SYSK film class.

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

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Few people have been more qualified to survive a plane crash alone in the Amazon for almost two weeks than Juliane Koepcke. Let’s hear her story.

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Arson investigation has changed a lot over the years. There is actual science available now, but the word still hasn't totally gotten out. Listen in today, and don't play with matches!

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It's common knowledge that famines are usually caused by major droughts: Rain doesn't fall, crops don't grow, and people go hungry. But recent research suggests that while weather may trigger famines, they may actually be more of a human-made catastrophe. Find out more in this classic episode.

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We think of estrogen and testosterone as the female and male sex hormones and they may seem kind of gross (is that just Josh?), but that simple understanding is way off. A magical biochemical dance between the two creates everything from bones to moods.

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

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The 70s were the decade of the woman in the US. America finally was coming around to the understanding women and men are equals and the government sponsored a conference to advance women’s rights. The opposition that arose changed the fabric of America.

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When Fort Knox was built in the 1930s to house America’s gold supply, it was billed as an impenetrable, impregnable, don’t-even-think-of-trying vault. But as the world has moved further away from gold, the stockpile’s lost a bit of its luster. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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One of America’s most important ecosystems takes up more than half the state of Florida. It’s a river of grass, a cactus desert, and a saltwater bay all rolled into one. And there are alligators and crocodiles. And that’s just the beginning.

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What's the deal with knocking on wood? It's an action one takes to ensure good luck. Which doesn't exist. Yet we do it. Humans are funny that way.

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One of the things we rely on is for the companies who make the stuff we need to not stick it to us, the customer. But it’s become painfully clear that’s just what happened during the pandemic and that it’s still happening today. What can we do about it?

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We think of estrogen and testosterone as the female and male sex hormones and they may seem kind of gross (is that just Josh?), but that simple understanding is way off. A magical biochemical dance between the two creates everything from bones to moods.

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In 2018, there's a man from a lost tribe still living deep in the jungles of Brazil who has been all alone since the mid 1990s. He's referred to as the Man of the Hole, and has had no face-to-face with modern humans. Who is he? We'll answer that question as best we can in this classic episode.

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It doesn't get much bigger than the Pulitzer Prize if you're a journalist. Or a novelist. Or really any kind of writer. They even give them to podcasts now. We're not holding our breath.

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

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A man with an unfulfilled vision left a huge gash in the ground near Niagara Falls. Then a chemical company came along and filled it with toxic waste. Then people came along and built homes and an elementary school on top of it. Then things went badly.

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Believe it or not, in 1985 the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb from a helicopter onto a residential building in an African-American neighborhood. The fact that this story isn't more widely known says it all. Listen and learn about MOVE in this classic episode.

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

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Ten percent of people – in Japan at least – get the urge to poop when they visit bookstores. But it wasn’t until a courageous woman stepped up and became the voice of the phenomenon now named after her that they realized they were part of a movement.

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Today we pay tribute to one of the most iconic pieces of American culture. Listen in to hear us gush about Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang. 

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For a learning disability that everyone seems to know about, dyslexia is maybe the most commonly misunderstood and controversial cognitive difficulty there is. Some people think it’s a gift, some people think it doesn’t even exist. Learn more in this classic episode.

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It started with New Hampshire couple Betty and Barney Hill, who learned under hypnosis they’d been abducted and examined by aliens in 1962. Since then, possibly millions of people in the US alone came to believe they followed in the Hills’ footsteps. Why?

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There’s an ingredient in Skittles and lots of other food that Dunkin Donuts stopped using it in their powdered donuts. Skittles said they were phasing it out too back in 2016 but still haven’t and now the lawsuits flow like The Spice.

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The most reviled, hated, despised, no-good, low down, dirty rotten architectural style of all time is actually just the most misunderstood. Learn about this unfairly treated architectural movement and why it’s awesome. Learn to love brutalism.

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Breaking up is hard to do. Your brain might even think you're getting over a cocaine addiction. Learn all about the science behind break-ups in this classic episode!

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Llamas are pretty great. They smile! They also spit and if they feel overworked will just lay down. There's a lot to admire there.

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Roly Poly bugs go by many names. They look like tiny armadillos. They're great for your garden. And they're crustaceans. Yeah, you read that right. 

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Multitasking isn't really possible, because of the way the human brain works. We know you think you're getting more done, but you're really working slower and with worse results than working sequentially. We promise. 

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The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, two anarchists accused of murder, was one of the first "crimes of the century." But did they do it? To this day there is speculation that they did not. Learn all about this famous case in this classic episode. 

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You know all of those cords and cables and wires that we use to connect our stuff to the electrical grid so they’ll, you know, work? Imagine a day when energy flies through the air like wifi, utterly cord-free. Well, imagine no more! That day is coming!

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Smudging is the process of wafting around the smoke of burning white sage. What is it good for? Listen in and find out.

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If you grew up outside of Africa, you might know Haile Selassie’s name from reggae music - the man who ruled Ethiopia is considered a god in Jamaica. In Ethiopia opinions are more varied. 

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In 1968, Paul Erlich published The Population Bomb, predicting coming famine and mass death. Erlich's predictions didn't pan out but his ideas launched a debate still raging today. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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David Hahn was a kid who was really into science. So much that he built a nuclear reactor in his mother's potting shed. And it worked. 

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One of the world’s cultural treasure troves were created in West Africa. But for over a century they’ve been held in museums outside of Africa. In fact, an estimated 95 percent of Africa’s cultural heritage is kept in museums overseas.

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Charles and Ray Eames were superstar designers who dreamed up some of the most iconic pieces of furniture ever made. And they did much more than that.

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Sometimes a good idea doesn’t pan out in real life. Take Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome: It requires less energy to heat and cool, it’s cheap, and it’s durable enough to withstand a hurricane – but it’s also godawful ugly and that was its undoing. Learn more with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Like is a very divisive word. Purists think it's like, a filler word born in the 80s that's like, destroying the English language. Turns out none of these are like, true. 

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

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There was a brief period in America’s history – after people left the farm to work in the city and before the government started regulating it – when there was a total, lawless free-for-all in the food industry. Things were bad. Really, really bad.

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The Unabomber was one of the most notorious and longest lasting cases in the history of the FBI. Just because the manifesto reads like he was a fortune teller doesn't make his actions any less deplorable. Learn all about this fascinating case in this classic episode.

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Do teachers and managers give special treatment to those who they're told have great academic or professional promise? Does this create a self-fulfilling prophecy, regardless of the truth? That's just part of the fascinating Pygmalion Effect.

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

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Whether you know it as Clue or Cluedo, the whodunnit mystery board game is one of the best of all time. Learn all about the history behind the game’s development, and strategies on how to crush your fellow players as soundly as Chuck’s wife crushes him.

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Disgust is an odd thing. It makes sense that we would feel a sense of revulsion at the thought of putting rotten meat in our mouths – that’s pure evolution. But why would we feel the same emotion at the thought of weird sex or from hearing a racist rant? Find out more in this classic episode.

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How did the sleepy Nevada town of Las Vegas become LAS VEGAS? Well, we'll let you know over the course of about 45 minutes. 

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Wainscoting is a beloved and time-tested decorative way to spruce up your walls. But what is it anyway? Listen in to find out.

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

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We live in a time where computers can beat the best humans in the world at chess, checkers, poker and video games. But these games are really just demonstrations of how intelligent our machines are growing. They’re growing more intelligent by the hour. This classic episode features a special guest, Tech Stuff's Jonathan Strickland.

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One thing you could do is create your own language. Some people do and for lots of different reasons. LL Zamenhof created Esperanto to try to bring about world peace. It worked, but on a less-than-global scale.   

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Jumping into a cold pool after a long sauna or hot tub can be pretty great. Saunas have proven health benefits like lowering blood pressure; cold plunges are shown to reduce inflammation. Why not combine them? A bunch of safety reasons, bucko, that’s why.

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The murder of Ken McElroy comes off like a story from a cheap paperback book you’d get to read on a plane. But this is a true crime story, set in Missouri in the early 80s. And boy does it pack a punch.

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Yogurt has been touted as a health food, but is it? Maybe. If you eat it every day. We get into the rich and creamy history of this supposed miracle food in today's episode. Get an earful of the stuff in this classic episode.

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

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

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Dry cleaning is one of those things that we’re all familiar with but don’t actually know much about. That will hold true no more! Learn about all the ins and outs of the dry cleaning biz, some of its toxic secrets, and some spot removal tips too!

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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, in this classic episode Josh and Chuck examine some of the bigger turncoats to live -- and exonerate others.

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You’ve probably seen cranes moving elegantly in the sky, but did you know what an important role they play in their surroundings? Learn all about cranes in this episode on cranes.

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What kind of black magic goes into deciding who makes the NYT Bestseller List? Well you probably don't know the whole story unless you work there.

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Tune in today to listen to the amazing story of Colorado River guide Kenton Grua's wild 277 mile record-breaking speed run down the center of the Grand Canyon. 

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The Seuss is loose in this episode about legendary children's book author Ted Geisel. The funny thing is, he didn't ever want children of his own, and his past work was a bit problematic. Explore his entire legacy in this classic episode.

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When George W Bush and Al Gore ran against one another, most pundits predicted a tight race. Absolutely zero of them predicted the election would come down to a few hundred votes. Today, we still don’t know who won.

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The story of why blueprints were blue is more involved than you think. It involves a chemical process and the Prussian Army. Yeah you heard me right.

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Hello, friends! Join us today for our annual live show release, recorded in beautiful Nashville. On the docket? The Biosphere II Experiment!

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The nuclear waste we produce will be dangerous for a very long time. We’ve figured out how to safely store it in the earth until it’s no longer a biohazard. Now we just have to figure out how to warn humans 10,000 years in the future to stay away from it. Find out about our best ideas in this classic episode.

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It’s all fun and games to think about how backwards and misguided some things people did in the past were until you realize we’ll be “the past” one day. What do we do now that will seem primitive then and how will they be better in the future?

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Can you imagine a color so alluring that even though you know it’s toxic you’d still use it to your heart’s content? The Victorians certainly could.

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They seem gross and bothersome at first, but once you get down to ground level and get to know snails, we’ll bet you’ll grow quite fond of them. They are living in a whole world we’re largely unaware of. 

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They are dirty, harmful to your health, bad for the environment and utterly charming. Wood-burning fireplaces have been with us for centuries and, despite their many drawbacks, are sticking around. Learn more than you thought possible about the fireplace, in this classic episode.

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Happy Holidays, friends! Tune in today to listen to our annual ad-free holiday extravaganza. There will talk of merriment and joy!

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Just three years after the lightbulb was invented a compadre of Thomas Edison thought to use them to decorate his Christmas tree. It set off a sensation that’s gotten more popular each year since.

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The world has seen a lot of weird investment bubbles in its time, but few of them rival the fever that gripped the world in the 90s after Beanie Babies took off. Let’s visit this strange chapter in toy history together.

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Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made. What happened on the night of November 17, 1978 can never be fully explained, but we make our best effort in our annual special edition of SYSK. May the force be with us all.

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There are many types of dictators, from so called "benevolent" ones to the kind who rule with an iron fist. There are also many ways they can come into power, and they don't all include violence. Learn all about dictators past and present in this classic episode.

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The Skeleton Army was a rowdy group of folks in England who battled, sometimes violently, with the Salvation Army - largely against  their efforts to keep people from drinking and having a rowdy good time. Listen in today!

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

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The Matewan Massacre was a pivotal moment for the US mining industry and the labor movement as a whole. Learn about what happened in this sleepy West Virginia town today.

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Freedom Schools were set up in Mississippi in the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, with the aim of giving young black school children agency and a future. They remain one of the more inspiring and progressive programs in American History, yet so few know about them. We're hoping to change that. Learn all about them in this classic episode.

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On December 8th, 1980, John Lennon was shot and killed outside his apartment building in New York City, by Mark David Chapman. Music history was altered forever. Listen in to this tragic story.

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Boba tea is bubble tea. But what are the bubbles? Tapioca pearls! Listen in today to learn about the disputed history of this trendy beverage.

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J.D. Salinger was a complicated and problematic human who stopped publishing soon after creating one of the great works of literature. Listen in today to learn the good, bad and ugly sides of the man who got famous, then dropped out.

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Beavers are in fact, very busy. They're builders and solid family members, husbands and wives. Learn all about N America's largest rodent in this classic episode.

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

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The story of the Oxford English Dictionary is really something. From its origin to its crowd-sourced literary quotations. Dive in today to learn all about the best dictionary. 

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It’s time to get jazzed about Earth science again. It’s only been 60 or so years since we’ve known the continents move around and we’re still figuring out exactly how they do. But one thing is for sure, that super-slow movement is super important.

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Getting the rain and melted snow from upstate NY into the taps of every NYC resident and business is one of the great feats of engineering. Does it taste great and make perfect bagels and pizza crust? Sources say yes! Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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It’s astounding that with the exceptional navigational equipment aboard a cruise ship can run aground in the 21st century, and 32 passengers and crew can lose their lives within a thousand feet of land. Such is the power of incompetence and cowardice.

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Everyone once in a while, say a few hundred thousand years or so, the north and south poles of Earth’s magnetic field switch places. The result: Dogs and cats living together.

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If you’ve ever wanted to listen to two totally untrained, non-chemists who are fully unqualified to explain how the periodic table works nervously explain how the periodic table works, then this episode is for you. Chemistry majors, be warned.

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If you play video games you probably have an easy answer to worst game of all time: ET. But it turns out there are no easy answers, especially when you’re talking about a game so terrible it’s blamed for bringing the entire video game industry with it. Find out more in this classic episode.

 

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Diners may just be the most American establishment there is. They were born in the USA, thanks to European immigrants, and they only exist in the USA, unless it's a kitschy homage. So break open that 12-page menu and order up.

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The story of the Liberty Bell is far more confusing than we imagined.

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Natalie Wood was Hollywood royalty who tragically drowned after a long night of partying with her husband, Robert Wagner, and actor Christopher Walken. Over the last 40 plus years, stories have changed and the investigation has moved from closed to open. Listen in to learn this tragic story. 

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

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It’s a good, old fashioned how it works episode where we break down all of the nuts and bolts and threats to safety that make scuba diving such a unique and thrilling hobby. Dive in feet first with Josh and Chuck on the undersea adventure of a lifetime!

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

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It’s easy to think of people in the distant past as kinda dumb for believing things like that mice could spontaneously generate from old grain. But if you look a little deeper, you’ll find there was a sensibility to the odd beliefs that came before science.

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Are laws that are meant to protect the sanctity of the polling place in reality designed to make it harder for groups that traditionally vote Democrat to cast their ballots? Find out in this classic episode.

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The Harlem Globetrotters are an American entertainment institution. Their story may not be quite what you think either. Hint, they didn't originate in Harlem. Tune in now to learn their fun, fascinating story. 

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If you grew up from the 70s to the 90s you know white dog poop. It’s the old, crusty – yes, white – phase that dog poop goes through as it ages on a lawn. Or it used to. Where has all the white poop gone?

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As per tradition, today Josh and Chuck perform a spooky Halloween story reading to delight, amuse and FRIGHTEN YOU TO YOUR CORE. Will Meagle show up? Tune in to find out! Thanks to guest producer Ben Hackett for all the great sound effects.

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A mummy is a human being whose soft tissue has been preserved after death, and there are mummies around the world -- including natural mummies, as well as corpses that have been intentionally embalmed. Listen to this classic episode with Chuck and Josh to learn more.

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Naked mole rats are funny looking to be sure, but neither moles nor rats. So what are they? You'll have to tune in to find out.

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The simple bed sheet has provided countless kids and adults with an easy go-to Halloween costume. But why do we associate white sheets with ghosts anyway?

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Three years before the riots at Stonewall, the LGBTQ community of San Francisco's Tenderloin rose up. And the story was almost lost to time.  Learn how and why today. 

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We aren’t exactly sure who invented trick-or-treating – kids who realized they could extort adults for candy, or adults who bought off kids in exchange for laying off pranks? The bigger question is: Will trick-or-treating survive the 21st century? Learn more in this classic episode.

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In the tradition of our episodes on forgiveness and revenge, comes the third installment in the Emotional Roller Coaster trilogy. Kindness, it turns out, really does make the world go round.

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Is it vile? Is it delicious? It seems to be both! Hear all about the history of candy corn, how it’s made, and who likes it in this pre-Halloween episode!

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Eugene Francois Vidocq is without a doubt one of the most interesting figures in modern history. He’s a former criminal turned undercover informant who went on to found the French national police force and the world’s first private detective agency. 

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Pain is subjective; it is whatever the person experiencing it says it is. But to effectively treat pain, it helps to quantify it, which is why medicine came up with pain scales. Learn all about them in this classic episode.

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Intellectual property sounds as dry as can be, but it’s actually very interesting. It’s at the heart of the global economy and the center of a dispute over what should belong to the people who create things, from poetry to pharmaceuticals.

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What’s better than discovering a mysterious cavern? Discovering five!

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Parasocial relationships are fascinating and it turns out Chuck knows what it's like from both sides. Listen in today to your old friends. 

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Motion sickness is the worst and hits about 25 to 40 percent of humans when they ride in cars, boats, or simply watch the wrong 3-D movie. Join us as we break down the science behind this nausea-inducing affliction in this classic episode.

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You know Andy Warhol from his quip on being famous for 15 minutes and paintings of soup cans, but even as far as artists go he was an eccentric and misunderstood person. 

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Rhodium is one of the most valuable precious metals on Earth, though it has dropped in value by about 80% in the last year. Learn why by clicking play.

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Grizzly bears had never killed a person in Glacier National Park until the night of August 12, 1967. That's when everything changed for National Parks moving forward.

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You know how when you fly in an airline you usually don't die? You can thank the battalion of air traffic control professionals who studiously track every moment of your flight to ensure its safety. Learn all about this unsung field with Chuck and Josh in this classic episode.

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Someone cuts you off in traffic or makes fun of your friend and all you can think of is how to get back at them and then some. But wait! Research has found that taking revenge actually makes you feel worse in the long run. Learn about what to do instead.

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

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Christine Granville was about as James Bond as it gets. Stories of her life as a spy during World War II are legendary. Today we'll tell her story. 

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What is Cockney Rhyming Slang? It's complicated and its origins are unclear. Learn everything we know about it today in this classic episode.

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

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Have you ever stopped mid-pencil mark and realized to your astonishment where the plus sign came from? Then this one’s for you.

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It’s easy (and kind of fun) to laugh at the misfortune of CEOs and other high up business types when they bring it on themselves – so let’s do that now. Herein lies some of the worst business decisions ever made, hindsight being 20/20, of course.

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Floods happen when more water is introduced to an area than can be quickly removed. That's about it, but there's more to floods, what causes them and the havoc they can wreak. Join Josh and Chuck in this super-saturated classic episode of Stuff You Should Know.

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In 1981 America suffered the worst accidental structural collapse in its history. Listen in today to the tragic story of the fast-tracked building disaster that stills haunts Kansas City. 

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Face it, when you spill salt your life goes totally off the rails, maybe even forever. Fortunately, we humans stumbled upon the one reliable way to counteract that bad luck by tossing some over our left shoulder.

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It’s a listener request! Axolotls are one of the more amazing animals roaming the planet right now – they can regenerate parts of their brains, can fight off tumors, are found in the wild only in one single lake? And did we mention they smile all the time?

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It seems like we largely take it for granted these days, but the fact that we have humans living in space is the realization of a scientific dream a century old. Visit the space stations orbiting Earth past, present and future in this classic episode.

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Today we dive into the history and current state of Native American reservations. This serves as a nice follow-up to the Trail of Tears double-ep from 2017. 

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

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In WWII, Italy went through its own Jewish Holocaust, terrible at first then horrific as the Nazis took over the country. In Rome, a group of doctors hid Jewish refugees in plain sight in their hospital by giving them a highly contagious, highly fictitious disease.  

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Chuck and Josh end up making reduxes of past episodes on things like sweating and deodorant in this all-new episode on the science beneath what makes people smell. Learn all about your odor in this classic episode.

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

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

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Henry Ford tried to build a Midwestern American town in the Amazon rainforest in the 1920s. It's true. And yes, Chuck will say this should be a movie. 

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It's every kid's dream - a job playing with toys that pays in toys. It's a real thing and has been around for a long time. Then there's the other side of the testing process, companies who ensure that toys are safe. It takes both of these testing techniques to successfully bring a toy to market these days. Dive into the ball pit with us today and learn all about toy testing in this classic episode.

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Climate change is having sweeping effects on our climate and this is changing the world, not just for humans and other animals, but plants too. Will the Earth’s flora manage to find safe refuge in time?    

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

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The Farmer's Almanac has a long rich history that is more than just moon phases and long-term weather patterns. Tune in to learn all about it. 

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Today music sampling is a common practice, especially in electronic or hip-hop music. But how does it work? After all, other artists made the original music, and most of them would presumably like to be paid. Tune in to this classic episode to learn more about music sampling.

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One of the great Arctic mysteries was the disappearance of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition in search of a northwest passage between the Atlantic and Pacific. Not one man survived the trip, and they left precious little behind in the way of clues.

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In the 19th century news spread of an unfortunate man who was born with an evil second face on the back of his head that spoke to him. The real story is that people keep falling for it.

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If we could talk with the animals, grunt and squeak and squawk with the animals, what would we say? We’d better start thinking of something good because researchers are learning to speak sperm whale, prairie dog, and a bunch of other species' languages.

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You can stick them to the fridge or use them to transpose sound to tape, whatever they are used for magnets are surprisingly interesting. And knowing just exactly how and why magnets work will make you more interesting, which is why you should listen to this classic episode of SYSK.

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Science is just realizing the extent of the tiny pollutants that have entered ecosystems across Earth and inside all humans. We call them xenobiotics – substances foreign to our bodies – and what effects they have on us we’re only starting to learn.

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

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Diaries have been around for a long time. There are many famous ones, and tens of millions that will never see the light of day. Learn about the history and benefits of journaling today.

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Rainbows seem to defy nature, but they're really pretty simple when it comes down to it. Turns out it's just light reacting to water droplets in the air. But they sure do look cool. Learn all about how rainbows are formed in this classic episode.

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The last meal of the executed is a longstanding tradition. Listen in today to learn about the dark history and modern practice of this culinary curiosity. 

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Alpha, Bravo, Charlie. This is the NATO alphabet. But where did it come from?

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Borderline Personality Disorder has been described as emotional “third degree burns over ninety percent of your body.” It’s as close to a curse as a personality disorder can be: deep fear of being abandoned creates behaviors that end up driving people off.

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The Strad violin is noted for its tonal qualities and superior craftsmanship. And for its price tag. There are many theories why the Strad sounds so great, from the wood to the lacquer, to the simple fact that Antonio Stradivari was really good at what he did. Rosin up your bow and take a listen to this classic episode.

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Chuck and Josh grew up on MAD Magazine and we hope you did too. What started out as a comic book that spoofed comic books grew into the foundation of American satire and cultivated a healthy skepticism in generations of kids. Hail to the clods at MAD!

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In the US those ubiquitous blue highway signs that tell you which direction you’ll find a Burger King have an interesting backstory. 

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Today, Chuck and Josh dive into the ins and outs of language learning. 

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Hinduism and Buddhism are closely related in a number of ways, including their vision of what comes after we exit this mortal coil. Learn about the religions' interesting interpretation of the state of existence outside space-time, in this classic episode.

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What became the Magic Eye illusion fad of the 1990s was born by way of the stereogram of the 1950s (and even before that). It's a winding story that you'll love!

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Throwing a pie in someone’s face was groundbreaking comedy once upon a time.

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

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Police lineups are something most people have never had any firsthand experience with. What you see on TV and in movies isn't so far off though. Learn about how these tropes work for real in this classic episode.

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There is probably no drug more mythologized than PCP. It drives users insane and has the unfortunate side effect of bestowing superhuman strength thus sending them on a rampage. But does it though?

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The most famous cemetery in Paris has some of the most famous people in the world buried there. And it's quite lovely.

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This is a very special episode, the first one we've ever fully recorded a second time and decided to release. Why? Because it's good and a little different and we thought you'd enjoy this unheard of double dose. So enjoy!

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They are creepy, sure, but they are also useful, cute and in great danger of extinction. Get a new lease on life from a new view of bats in this classic episode.

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James Beard is well-known now for the annual awards named in his honor. But he used to be the most famous chef in America, and set the standard for what makes a celebrity chef.

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

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If truckers suddenly vanished the global economy would come to a grinding halt in a couple days. But as important as they are these highway heroes (mostly) are, they’re systematically mistreated by their industry. 

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The people of Flint, MI were horrified to find their drinking water was poisoned with lead. As we learn more about lead's effects and realize how persistent it is, the more worrying it becomes. What makes lead so toxic? Find out in this classic episode.

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If you thought caterpillars were awesome, just wait until you see them with colorful, iridescent wings!

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Fahrenheit or Celsius? Why not both? If they can agree - exactly at -40 degrees  - then it seems like we should all be able to agree they're both great as well.

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

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It's easy to overlook the importance of ocean currents - they move along out at sea, while we stay mostly on land. But we are globally affected by them every day. Currents form the base of the food chain, drive weather and keep life as we know it going. Explore them with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Black sci-fi writers were shut out of their genre in the 20th century so they created their own vision of the future. That sentiment spread to music and film and today it’s so engrained in pop culture it doesn't need its own label. 

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It has arrived, the most important podcast episode in the history of the world. 

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There is a good chance that in March of 2023, humans crossed a threshold into a transformative new era when a new, smarter type of AI was let loose in the wild and an AI arms race began.  

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For this special live benefit episode recorded in Atlanta, Josh and Chuck go back to the 70s and look at the decidedly ungroovy course of events that led to Ford recalling its Pinto after people started burning up in them.

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Humans made it through the Bronze Age and Iron Age, then we dabbled in steel, and now we are living in the Aluminum Age. The metal is so ubiquitous it seems like it’s been around forever, but we’ve only been really using it since the 20th century.

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The suicide forest in Japan is a beautiful place with a checkered reputation. Trigger Warning: This episode features a discussion of suicide. If you or anyone you know needs help, please call 988.

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Ever wondered when and why people started caring about body odors and cleanliness? Well look no further than today's episode. 

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Did you know some of our most beloved movies originally had different, sometimes better, endings? That is until they were tested in front of focus groups. Learn all about the how, what, and why of audience testing in this classic episode.

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Philosophers have been wondering whether we experience reality as it is for millennia now. They’ve pretty much settled on no, no we don’t. Now science has taken up the investigation and it’s proving the philosophers correct. So what is reality then?

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

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Keeping your elbows off the table, keeping your fingers out of the gravy boat – at some point these became very important rules of etiquette. But what purpose do manners serve? It turns out they just may be the glue that prevents society from unraveling.

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Almost everything you know about pterosaurs is wrong. They weren't birds, they weren't flying dinosaurs and they weren't all pterodactyls. Which makes this classic episode a great one for you to learn some new and amazing stuff about terrifying prehistoric beasts! 

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Could eating at only certain times of the day lead to weight loss? Possibly! 

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Everyone knows what a Rube Goldberg machine is, but what do you know about the cartoonist who they're named after?

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For a moment Milli Vanilli was the hottest musical act in the world. Then came the news that it was just that, an act, and the fall came swiftly and humiliatingly. Now, 30 years on, a look back yields not so much a cautionary tale as a very sad story.

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Science doesn't have a good explanation for why we sense color, yet it is everywhere and affecting us all the time. But why should minutely different wavelengths of light have such an impact on our moods and motivations? Explore these questions and more with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Humans exercising for better health has not been around that long. Today we dive into this fun history as we cover why and when we started this now commonplace pastime. 

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If you watch the news and hear the pollen count is high for some particular type of plant then it’s high time you learned how they do that.

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

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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 in this classic episode.

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It’s totally bonkers that in the US and other countries, the job of determining the guilt or innocence of an accused criminal – whose life may be at stake – is left not to experts in law but to a group of random citizens. Even crazier, it generally works!

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

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Not too long ago we thought that germs were the cause of most diseases, leading to germ theory. But when we look at maladies from heart disease to Alzheimer’s one commonality stands out: inflammation. Could it be we’ve found the root cause of all diseases?

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It has been called a "glorified spring", but Slinky is one of the best selling toys of all time. From accidental origins to an unlikely resurrection, Slinky has a pretty great back story. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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TV weather people can seem corny and maybe a little nerdy, but beneath that toothsome exterior lies the heart of a lonely warrior of science, one who is often overlooked as the hardest working member of the news team. Learn all about these unsung heroes.  

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Who is Frances Kelsey? Well, she's a semi-unsung hero of the FDA whose work helped save a lot of kids from congenital disorders and even death. Listen and learn!

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It's funny how similar The Colosseum in Rome is to modern day arenas. They really had it figured out. Tune in today to learn all about this early entertainment venue. 

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Does the human body really replace itself every few years? The answer is yes, but different parts of the body do so at different rates. Learn all about which parts of your body are the speediest, and which take the longest to regenerate, in this classic episode.

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Smell-O-Vision was a post-war movie theater gimmick that delivered well-timed scents to the noses of audiences to align with the movie. Did it work? Sort of. Did it ultimately fail? Yes. Does that mean it has gone away forever? No.

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There’s a theory that all of us have a maximum number of friendships that we can maintain – 150, to be exact. Suspiciously exact, really, if you think about it.

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

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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 are some founding principles to carrying out a successful manhunt and they actually include you. Learn about how the fuzz tracks down fugitives and how it's evolving in the age of social media in this classic episode.

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It might not be the sexiest topic we’ve ever covered (and by “might”, we mean “definitely”), but there are some things you just need to learn about and this deadly and undetectable gas that’s part of our everyday lives is one of them. So buck up.

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Botox can chase away the lines on your face, apparently it can chase away your depression, borderline personality disorder, and anxiety too.

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Today we dive in to celebrate the international treasure that is Dolly Parton. Why is she nearly universally loved? Listen in to find out. 

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Is it true that Robin Hood hung out in Sherwood Forest and stole from the rich to give to the poor? No. No, it’s not. Find out the real story in this classic episode.

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We've wanted to contact extraterrestrials for as long as we've suspected they're out there. But as we get better and locating potentially inhabited planets, beaming messages their way is suddenly posing a threat. 

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

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It sounds controversial, but there are persuasive arguments for the wealthy Global North to write off the debts lower-income nations have accrued. Some say the US and Europe actually owe it to them. This is one of those boring ones you shouldn’t skip.

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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 classic episode.

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John Brinkley was perhaps the biggest quack who ever claimed to be practicing medicine. Learn all about this not so good guy today!

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

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At 13,000 feet the ground is nothing but far-away squares of land, and you can even see some clouds below you. All of a sudden you find yourself plummeting downward. There are very few thrills like jumping out of a plane with a parachute.

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It turns out that the characters in your favorite TV shows and the like are actually dead, dreaming, dying or don't exist. Explore some strange fan theories with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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

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

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Humans’ first attempt at civilization went pretty well for the first thousand years. Important stuff like the wheel, writing, math, art, and diplomacy came out of it. But then, in the blink of an historical eye, it all mysteriously failed. What happened?

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It was only since 1958 that the Jet Age began, and jet lag became a real condition. Also known as desynchronosis, jet lag can lead to all manner of ailments, from sleeplessness to irritability to diabetes and cancer. In this classic episode, learn about how the body's natural clock runs normally and what happens when it gets out of whack when we cross time zones quickly.

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Dowsing, aka water-witching has been around a long time. And you might be surprised that's still a thing. We get into all the nitty gritty of this pseudo-science today. 

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There’s a little-discussed trend you might run into at your favorite theme park – people scattering the ashes of a loved one on rides. Here's hoping you don't literally run into it.

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Back when cars were a brand new thing, before people even knew they'd stick around, two men and a dog drove from San Francisco to New York. This is their story. 

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In 1970, roboticist Masahiro Mori wrote an essay that said the closer robots come to lifelike, the more they unsettle humans. His theory became the Uncanny Valley, and science has been evaluating it – and what makes something creepy - in recent years. Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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One of the all-stars of the hobby world is collecting baseball cards. Over time it’s gone from a kids’ hobby to a major investment vehicle, complete with its own bubble that recently burst. But at the heart of it is something both engrossing and endearing.

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

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Floyd Collins was a natural-born caver who met a terrible fate, becoming stuck underground where no one could get him loose. His unlucky, slowly unfolding plight also turned out to be one of the first national media sensations of the 20th century.

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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 classic episode with Josh and Chuck.

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Chuck and Josh were around during the Golden Age of the arcade. And look how they turned out! Join them on a trip down memory lane. 

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

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Amaro is a delicious traditional liqueur, usually from Italy, that has delighted diners and drinkers for centuries. Tune in to learn all about this wonderful digestif. 

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During World War II, Nazis invaded the United States with saboteurs bent on fomenting chaos. Three times. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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You may have heard your parents or – gasp – grandparents prattle on about how amazing the original 1969 Woodstock Festival was. It turns out that, as much as people who lived through the 60s like to talk them up, Woodstock really was that amazing.

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

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A noncompete agreement, a pledge not to work for a competitor for a set amount of time, makes sense – when the worker is well compensated and privy to company secrets. But that doesn’t describe the vast majority of workers who’ve signed noncompetes.

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In this classic show recorded live on January 5, 2017 at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, Josh and Chuck delve into the history and the heyday of the church of consumerism and what it means for local communities and our capitalist society at large when malls die.

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Crossword puzzles have an interesting history and are a lot of fun to do. Dive in today to learn about Chuck's latest obsession.

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In a bridal shop in Chihuahua, Mexico a mannequin has been standing in the window since the 1930s that’s so lifelike some say it’s actually a corpse.

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If you’ve ever thought, “What’s the Amazon rainforest ever done for me? Nothin, that’s what,” then you’re dead wrong, friend. It covers 1 percent of the Earth’s surface but houses perhaps 30 percent of its species and it’s invaluable to all life on Earth.

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In a small town in Iowa in 1912 eight people were murdered in the grisliest of ways while they slept. Local reputations were ruined when accusations flew, but could a drifting serial killer working across the Midwest have been behind it? Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Naps are great if you can manage to find the space to take them. The trick is to do it for the right amount of time. We get into all in the ins and outs of Chuck's favorite time of day. 

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It’s pretty well known that if you wait to make a big decision until after you get some sleep, you’re likelier to make a good one. But why should that be? Why, we’ll explain if only you’d listen.

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Chuck and Josh turn into the Hardy Boys for one of the great unsolved mysteries of WWII, a work of art worth a king’s ransom that went missing in 1945.

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In 1987, a very strange broadcast intrusion occurred in the city of Chicago. For just a couple of minutes, the odd TV character Max Headroom appeared onscreen in the middle of an episode of Dr. Who. He spoke in garbled tones, brandished a marital aid, and was spanked on the rear with a fly swatter by a person dressed in Annie Oakley garb. If this sounds weird, it is. It's the Max Headroom Incident. Find out all about it in this classic episode.

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The fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club was not in Los Angeles, but Kentucky. Which happened to be Las Vegas before Vegas was Vegas. Confused? Listen in and all will be clear.

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In 1981 a Mobile mother of six was forced into the role of civil rights activist when the Klan murdered her son and she was moved to fight back.

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

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There are extreme sports and then there is cave diving, the most extreme activity a person can engage in without leaving Earth. Cave divers stay underwater swimming miles into – that’s right – caves, where no human has ever been before. It’s pretty cool. Wade in with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Josh and Chuck take a listener’s suggestion – many, many suggestions – and learn that possums are pretty great and very much misunderstood. By the end of this episode you will too!

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You can thank your parents and grandparents for the longstanding ban against dining shirtless and shoeless. While the concept was around, it mushroomed when hippies came along.

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Honey is an amazing thing. Just ask any bee. They make a ton of it. So much that humans get what bees can't use and that's a lot of honey.

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Easy Bake Ovens are as iconic as a toy can get, as American as apple pie or baseball. Learn all about these light bulb cooking, working ovens that endanger children to this day, in this classic episode.

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Vets have been around for a long time, but mainly to care for horses. When horse travel went away, guess who saved the profession? Dogs!

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Where are all those birds flying anyway? How do they decide? When do they do it? All of these questions, and more, are answered in this week's ep.

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It’s part of the human condition, to feel the pain of sorrow, loss, embarrassment. But isn’t it kind of weird that an overwhelming emotion can cause you physical discomfort or even pain? Turns out that depends on how you think about the mind and the body.

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

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A theory in the field of psychology has become so pervasive, it’s generally taken on faith that it’s true. It says that how your parents respond to you during a short window in your infancy has lifelong effects on your personality. Could this be correct?

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This week's short stuff is all about throat lumps and Adam's apples.

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John DeLorean: visionary, car maker extraordinaire, buyer of large amounts of cocaine, provider of time machine chassis. There is a lot to understand about John DeLorean so let’s get busy.

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Join Josh and Chuck and a whole bunch of great people at the Gothic Theatre in Denver for this live show on game shows and their place in cultures around the world, recorded on June 28, 2018. You just come right on down, why don’t you?

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

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The Golden Age of Pirates didn’t have just men floating on the high seas. Some women became very successful pirates and today you’ll learn about two of them.

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Turns out the Louisiana Purchase was not so much a purchase, but the right to (steal) purchase it from indigenous peoples. But it did transform the United States as we know it. Listen and learn!

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Physicians noticed centuries ago that people exposed to cold temperatures often have amazing recoveries from serious medical emergencies. Now medicine is learning how to purposefully induce hypothermia in order to buy time to fix otherwise fatal trauma. Find out all about it in this classic episode.

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This is not a hit piece! Tarot helps plenty of people navigate their lives and reflect on their feelings – plus the art is unbelievable. We cover the backstory, real and imagined, and lure the innocent into tarot’s grip, er, offer basic tips for beginners.

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Forest Lawn is no ordinary cemetery. Why? Listen in and find out.

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Until the 2007, the largest single corporate bankruptcy was Enron, a $67 billion energy trading company. Its decline was breathtaking, and while it’s a fascinating story of corporate malfeasance and greed, it’s also about the lives of ruined workers.

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Women consistently rate scent as the most important factor in a man's attractiveness and men have been manipulating that for centuries with scents of all sorts. Learn about the fascinating history -- and, well, art -- of making perfumes in this classic episode.

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Mount St. Helen's is a lovely sight to behold, but was a pretty scary thing to be around in the Spring of 1980. Listen in to the harrowing story today!

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You don’t have to lie - everybody picks their nose. But did you know it can be life-threatening? It’s true and you can learn how in this episode.

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Today Josh and Chuck delve into the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Not the song, but the maritime accident. Though the song makes an appearance.

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People have believed something strange lives in Loch Ness for at least 3500 years. Thousands of people have sighted the Loch Ness Monster and dozens of expeditions have been launched. But does the fact that nothing’s been found mean it’s not real? Find out in this classic episode.

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

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Mesas, buttes and plateaus are all very similar. We'll break down the differences in each one just to be sure.

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Fried chicken is Chuck’s favorite food, and Josh sure doesn’t dislike it. It is with this appreciation that SYSK plunges into the hot grease of fried chicken history – and there’s a lot to it!

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Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made. What happened on the night of November 17, 1978 can never be fully explained, but we make our best effort in our annual special edition of SYSK. May the force be with us all.

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Another year comes to a close here at SYSK, which means our annual Holiday Spectacular is at hand. So light a fire, pour up a comforting beverage and gather the family for some good cheer!

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She was known for her quick wit and sharp tongue. But she was also a poet, screenwriter and activist. Tune in today to learn what outside her "vicious circle."

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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 to mean. Learn all about Nostradamus in this classic episode.

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We don’t think about the words and phrases we use all the time - until Josh and Chuck look into them and tell everyone what they found. That’s the gist of this episode! 

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One of the very first union strikes in US history was mounted by a group of African American women in the deep South. Listen in and learn all about this little known slice of history.

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For the holidays in 1986 (and ’87) (and ’88) the most stupendous, most wanted, most amazing toy any kid could possibly get – outside of a pony, *maybe* – was the NES. That year, video games came back from the dead and changed games forever.

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Polar bears are more than just lovable creatures that roam the ice in search of food. They're one of the most fascinating animals on planet Earth. Sadly, as ice shrinks, so does their habitat. Learn all about these huggable beasts in this classic episode.

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After the murder of a cop in southwest Germany in 2007 a massive hunt was launched across Europe. The suspect was a female serial killer who had left DNA behind during a number of crimes. She was so slippery, she was known as The Phantom of Heilbronn.

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The Birthday Paradox involves math, so you know this one will go perfectly.

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It’s not that the person who can never remember meeting you is snobby or even absent-minded; they may have a fascinating – and often difficult – neurological condition called prosopagnosia, known more commonly as face blindness.

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Rubik's Cubes. Ronald Reagan. Jerry Falwell. Just Say No. One of these things was awesome. Take a guess and hop on board this classic episode, aka the 80s train.

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People with Down syndrome lead rich, complex lives like any other human, but it’s only been in the last few decades that everyone else stopped persecuting them long enough to notice this. As a result, both their IQ and their life expectancy skyrocketed.

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Goosebumps are a pretty cool evolutionary holdover from our earlier days as furry beasts. Don't believe us? Listen in. 

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The space around you that you can reach with your arms is a very special place. It’s where we interact with reality. And although we are so good at using it we don’t give it a second thought, our ability to use it is one our most amazing abilities.

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For millennia humans have recognized four tastes, but in the 1980s a fifth taste first isolated in Japan gained worldwide acceptance - and took off like a rocket! Learn about meaty, musty, savory umami in this classic episode.

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The Victorians were the first to go bonkers for roller skating and since then the pastime has had bursts of popularity every few decades. Over the years skaters have come up with some amazing things to do on skates that go way beyond just going in circles.

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

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

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Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2010 in the Citizens United case that political contributions are speech and should be protected, the floodgates of anonymous political contributions have opened. But does absolute funding corrupt absolutely? Find out in this classic episode.

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The question of Shakespeare's authorship has been around since at least the mid-1800s. Is there anything to it? We'll dig in to this dense topic to find out.

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Is there anything – anything – worse than a yawn you can’t finish? It’s hard to think of anything else and as your obsession with yawning like a normal human being grows it only becomes more difficult. Why? Why?!

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When it comes to pre-wedding festivities, bachelor and bachelorette parties take the penis-shaped cake. Learn all about these sordid affairs today.  

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You know that heartbreak of the schoolyard – finders keepers, losers weepers? That’s actual law in a great many grown up places. Enter the murky legal world of finding something that belongs to someone else, from buried treasure to a misplaced ring. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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It’s time for another great animal episode and in this one we swoop into the world of owls – nature’s greatest silent predator who (hooo) also look very cute and intelligent. Not to mention they can turn their heads 270 degrees.

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It’s not everyday that a message from the 16th century appears on a computer from the 1980s, so when that happened it caught an English couple’s attention and launched a still-unresolved mystery  - across tiiiiiiime!

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Legal precedent is an odd thing. It matters, but it isn't codified. There are advantages and disadvantages. Let's all dive in and take at STARE DECISIS today. 

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Invasive species can mean a lot of things, from fungus to feral pigs and European starlings to kudzu vines. Basically, it's anything brought to a place, either by humans or nature, that didn't originate there. They aren't always a problem, but many times they can wreak havoc on the local ecosystem. Learn all about these invaders in this classic episode.

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In today's episode, you will learn everything you ever wanted to know about vaudeville, whether you like it or not. 

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It’s unjust but true – if you are an adoptee in the US you may not have the same right to access your birth certificate that someone who wasn’t adopted does. The quest to access a birth certificate can be a legal rigamarole that may or may not work.

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In August of 1980 a bomb containing 1,000 pounds of dynamite was quietly delivered to Harvey’s, a casino and resort at Lake Tahoe. This kicked off a whirlwind caper that lasted 30 hours and ended up nearly demolishing the 11-story resort.

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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. Explore the wild world of vampires in this spooky classic episode.

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It's hard to believe, but this is our 13th edition of the Halloween Spooktacular! So pour up a creepy brew and gather the kids for a dramatic reading of two horror shorts. 

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

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Long before we knew what serial killers were, a family in remote Kansas was disposing of victims at their family farm. Listen in to the Tale of the Bloody Benders if you dare!

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Some guys have all the luck, some guys have all the pain. So said Rod Stewart. And if this list is any indication, “guys” is gender neutral. Listen to this classic episode as Chuck and Josh cover some instances of amazingly bad fortune, most of it true!

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Fundamentalism is usually thought of as a problem religions have to deal with, but not all fundamentalists are religious. And no matter what their belief system, fundamentalism is inherently antisocial and a problem for everyone.

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Water towers are so ubiquitous you can look right past them, despite them being giant balls of water thrust triumphantly skyward. Learn about these surprisingly ingenious but simple inventions designed to keep you alive.

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There have been a lot of fake towns built throughout history for a lot of different reasons. Tune in to learn about some of these bogus burgs. 

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What must be one of the most famous natural disasters in history took place when Mt Vesuvius buried Pompeii in 79 CE. But when the town was resurrected 1700 years later, a new chapter in its history was written. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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There’s a lot that can go wrong when your identity is at question. Charged with abandoning a baby? Check. Years in prison? That too. Accused of assassinating the head of Hamas? Why not. Learn about the travails of some unlucky saps in this episode.

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

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

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Once in a while a movie comes along that's so forward-thinking it changes the way that horror is done. A new subgenre is spawned, new tropes are established, and audiences are more terrified than ever. Hear about these pivotal works in this classic episode.

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The first tags were required just a few years after the firs cars debuted, as a way to catch jerks scaring horses and running down pedestrians. A century on, they continue to protect both. Plus they’ve accrued some interesting history along the way.

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Listen in today as we salute turntablism, aka, record scratching.

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Despite reading all about how vinyl records are recorded and made, it's still a bit like black magic to us. Dive in and learn all about the coolest music medium.

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Jesters of some sort have been around since ancient Egypt and China. Our modern clown was invented around 1800 and ever since they have been getting steadily creepier. Learn all about clowns in this classic episode.

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In 1973 a study was published in Science where psychologist David Rosenhan revealed he had duped hundreds of psychiatric workers by planting perfectly sane pseudopatients within their hospitals and every last one went unnoticed.

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Curse tablets are exactly what you think - tablets with curses inscribed on them. But what were they used for, and when did people do this? Hit play and those answers shall be revealed!

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You can uncross your legs you big babies. Getting a vasectomy isn’t bad at all – recovery time is a breeze, pain is minimal, and you can consider it a gift to your partner. Learn the real deal on vasectomies (and get 20% off with our code: STUFF).

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In 1943 Swiss chemist Albert Hofman discovered he'd created what may be the most potent hallucinogen known to humankind. Then he took a bike ride. Learn about the chemistry, neurology, history and cultural impact of LSD-25 in this classic episode.

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Listen in now for part II of our homage to sitcoms. 

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Laugh tracks have been around since the early 1950s and it’s all thanks to one (reviled) sound engineer who invented them. But as much as people like to hate laugh tracks most shows wouldn’t be at all funny without them.

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Traditional multi-camera sitcoms have fallen out of style in recent years, but the golden age of the genre lives on with streaming services. Sitcom will never go away completely. Join us for part I.

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Frida Kahlo was a painter who transcended her own work to became an icon. Learn all about her fascinating and inspiring life and work in this classic episode.

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

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When you’re hungry, you’re not yourself. So say the good people at Snickers and it turns out science backs it up. Being hangry is a verifiable thing, we’re just not quite sure yet what’s going on.

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In 1980 the “rural as rural can be” town of Elberton, Georgia erected a granite monument with a bizarre set of instructions (commandments?) that touched on eugenics, population control, and living in harmony with nature. Conspiracy theorists went wild.

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As recently as 40,000 years ago we lived among humans from an entirely different species – Neanderthals. About the same time our species showed up, Neanderthals suddenly vanished. Just what happened to the other guys? Did our ancestors do something … bad? Find out in this classic episode.

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Squids are very closely related to our old friend the octopus, but there are some key differences. You can learn all of this and more by simply clicking the play button right now. 

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

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George Mallory was a member of the first three European expeditions to Everest, world’s tallest mountain. He wanted to summit it so badly, he gave his life trying. Since that fateful day in 1924, climbers have wondered – was Mallory the first to summit?

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For as long a shadow as it casts across the history of the Old West, the Pony Express was a failed business venture, doomed from the start, that only lasted 18 months. But since the last rider headed out with his bag of mail, its legend has only grown. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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Part celebration and part take down, this episode on Rolling Stone magazine dives into the highs and lows of one of America's iconic rags.

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

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Since the advent of single-use plastics, we’ve become awash in waste. Barrels of petroleum are extracted, turned into plastics that contain products, which are then opened and the containers thrown away. It’s a bonehead process start to finish.

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Sure knives can cut through a steak or slash through jungle vines, but probably the coolest thing you can do with a knife is throw it. At a person mounted to a wooden wheel. Spinning around. While you’re blindfolded. Learn all about the impalement arts in this classic episode.

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Despite the overall creepiness of it, marrying family members is way more common than you might think, both historically and today. Ewwww!

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The idea of "marrying up" is as old as the hills, but things are, and have been, changing for quite a while. And this episode explains it all.

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The world isn’t divided into cat people and dog people, or Beatles fans and Rolling Stones fans (or neither). What really divides us is introversion or extraversion, right? Turns out people just aren’t that binary and all of us are a little of both.

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You know what I heard? That Josh and Chuck hate each other and they're just faking being friends for the show. That's called gossip, folks and it can do serious damage. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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If you think about it, enemas are kind of gross. And if you don’t now you definitely will by the end of this wild ride of an episode. All who make it through the whole way earn SYSK bragging rights. We now wonder why we ever chose to record it.

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You've heard the phrase "If you believe that I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you." But did you know it's based in truth?

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Mariachi bands have a bad rap as nothing more than "restaurant music." But there is a rich and long cultural tradition many people are missing and the music deserves our respect. Listen in today!

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The chances are pretty low that you’ll find yourself lost in the desert, but on the off chance you do you’ll thank yourself that you listened to this classic episode, where we guide you to safety. 

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Who doesn't love breakfast? But do you know where most of the typical breakfast foods come from? Well listen in to find out.

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

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

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Droughts can be an inevitable feature of a local climate or a catastrophic result of human meddling. In this classic episode, learn the ins and outs of droughts including the American mother of them all, the Dust Bowl.

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Psychologist Julian Jaynes came up with a stunning hypothesis in 1976, that human consciousness only developed in the last 3000 years. And he seemed to have proof in ancient texts. Scholars have been picking it apart ever since and today we join the club.

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It really happens! But most people call it emancipation of a minor. Either way, there's some interesting legal stuff in here.

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

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An estimated 50,000 films were made worldwide in 2009 alone. Many are surely clunkers, but in this episode Chuck and Josh talk about the ones that emerged throughout cinema history to change the course of all movies that followed. Get your popcorn and lean back while you enjoy this classic episode.

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Two dudes talking about menstruation? You bet! And there’s no way you could be any more nervous to listen than we were to record it. But give it a listen, we think you’ll find it enlightening – whether you menstruate or not.

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In 1996, real-deal NASA scientists announced they had discovered signs of ancient microbial life in a rock that had broken off Mars and landed on Antarctica. The news set off a controversy still going today. Do we already have proof of alien life?

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We humans are smart, to be sure, but if we’re so smart then how come we can’t figure how we got so smart in the first place? Think about that! We sure did and we go over some theories in this super interesting episode.

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Economists love their data because somewhere in the numbers lies the answer to the ills of the country. They also love to frame data in a way people can relate to. Such is the case with the famous "misery index." Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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You may not have heard of it, but you’ve definitely seen it before – 50s buildings with bright, loud colors, roofs at crazy angles, and space-age shapes like starbursts. It turns out that Googie architecture is as fun to look at as it is to say.

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In 1975, yoga enthusiast Robert Antoszczyk retired to his room in a group house in Ann Arbor, MI to try a meditation technique that would allow him to astrally project his spirit. He died, never coming out of his meditative state. What happened?

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Face it, supernovae are the most interesting phenomena in the universe. Black holes are cool, but did you know they sprout from a supernova? What could be cooler than a star exploding so powerfully, the flash it creates shines for months after?

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It’s bad enough when the government knows you’re alive – there are taxes to pay, laws to be followed, all sorts of boring and unpleasant things. But each year, thousands of Americans find out life is far, far worse when the government thinks you are dead. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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

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Catatumbo lightning is one of nature's most amazing displays of showiness, with strikes occurring 28 times per minute for nine hours a day, 300 days a year. So take cover and take a listen.

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Mangroves are incredible survivors and adapters. They're also amazing at lessening the impact of tropical storms and climate change. And heck, they're cool looking. So jump into the brackish waters and have a listen.

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One day in the Amazon Basin, a shaman put together a plant containing DMT with a vine that allows the body to absorb DMT. The combination, a foul-tasting, wildly hallucinogenic brew called ayahuasca, has changed cultures throughout the Americas. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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

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

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Ultraprocessed is a new term for junk food, but it means much more than that – it’s also a cautionary tale for the way we’re supposed to cook and eat, using real food and sitting down with friends and family. But who has the time and money to do that?

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Not too long ago, people would pay money to gawk and stare at a performer with a physical disformity. They were called freak shows and they began in large part thanks to P.T. Barnum, whose circus we still enjoy today. Sounds awful, but some of these performers became rich folks as a result. Exploitive? You decide, after taking in this classic episode.

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

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There's an infant formula shortage. But infant formula is relatively new. So what did we do before it was perfected? Listen in and learn already!

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If we ever found evidence of intelligent alien life (or they found us) what would we say? Who would say it for us? These seemingly silly questions are vitally important depending on your view.

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Chiggers are tiny little mites capable of making your life miserable. Worse than mosquitoes? Maybe. But they aren't insects - mites are actually part of the arachnid family and behave a little like ticks. Learn all about these nearly invisible pests in this classic episode.

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Bariatric surgery can also be called weight loss surgery. Some people think it's a highly underused tool to fight obesity. Others think it's a shortcut. We discuss all the ins and outs in this week's episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

A few short years after the hiking trails from Maine to Georgia were connected into the world’s longest hiking-only footpath, a WWII vet walked the whole thing in one go. He kicked off a challenge that’s still taken on by thousands of people each year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There have been many inventions that have advanced filmmaking, but maybe none as important as the steadicam. Invented in the mid-70s, it literally changed the way movie making happened, and made the impossible possible. Learn about the fascinating history behind this amazing technology, in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the early 1980s, imprisoned IRA members went on a prolonged hunger strike, leading to the death of ten men. This is their story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we dive into HR8, a gun bill supported by 90% of Americans that will likely never get through the Senate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Beloved egghead Buckminster Fuller said the wind doesn’t blow, it sucks. And he was pretty much right, depending on your perspective. Find out how everything from the hurricane to summer breeze makes life on Earth possible. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hundreds of thousands of people drown around the world every year, and yet it can be easily prevented and is widely misunderstood – like how you can officially drown but live to tell the tale, or how you can drown but die days later. Learn all about it in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nobody thought the 4-minute mile was humanly possible, until it was. The story of how it happened is remarkable. So sit back and take a listen. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1974, the Cleveland (then Indians) baseball club held an unlimited 10 cent beer promotion to attract fans to the game. An actual riot broke out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Countries around the world – capitalist democracies to communist unitary states – guarantee a free press in their constitutions. It turns out, though, that there is a galaxy of methods for subverting a free press. Find out why that matters in this episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Satanism may be the most misunderstood "religion" in the world. Part of that is because there are, and have been, many offshoots of Satanism, from The Church of Satan to The Satanic Temple. One thing is sure though, none of them are filled with evil humans who perform ritual blood sacrifice and worship a cloven-hoofed devil. Learn all about Satanism in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kidneys are one of the few organs that you can donate while you’re alive. And the vast majority of donors experience no complications and their remaining kidney functions just fine. Yet thousands of people die each year waiting for a donated kidney. Why? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some foods make you happy. But they aren't necessarily comfort foods. You know what they call that? SCIENCE! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the Fed raises interest rates a half point, the world market reacts. But why does this tiny percentage make such a difference? Listen and learn! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waterbeds came and went pretty quickly in the United States, but despite their marketing as sex beds, they were actually invented to deliver a great night's sleep. Learn all about these super 70's beds in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Absinthe makes you hallucinate and possibly even have a seizure, right? Nope. It's all a part of the myth of absinthe, which is really just a bitter tasting liquor with a bad reputation.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Depending on where you are in the world, you either have an instinct to go left or right when entering a place. Learn all about this today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Josh and Chuck wade into dangerous waters with the debate over just how destructive cats are for local ecosystems (turns out it’s pretty bad) and some ideas on what to do about that (you may not want to know). Tune in and tense up! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1978, five friends set out for home from a basketball game. The next day, their car was discovered in a lonely mountain road. The next spring, their bodies began to turn up. What happened that night remains a mystery to this day. Explore what we know with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Surnames are way more interesting that you think, trust us. Just hit play and prepare to be wowed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the Watermelon episode, Chuck and Josh stumbled into a bit of little-known history about why artificial banana flavor doesn’t taste like bananas. Turns out it does; it just tastes like a banana you’ve probably never eaten. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Squirrels are rodents, sure, but they’re rodents with personalities the size of Las Vegas and Detroit put together. Get to know your bushy-tailed (and sometimes not so bushy) neighbors who live interesting hidden lives right out in the open. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everybody knows how many whacks Lizzie Borden gave her mother and father with that axe, but there is plenty about the infamous double homicide that remains unresolved, like who actually did it. Travel into the mystery of Lizzie Borden in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nose jobs have been around a lot longer than you think. And the process is pretty interesting. Tune in for all things rhinoplasty.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As many as 15% of people faint when they see blood! And it’s not just blood that gets them. It can be an injury or even a needle. Learn about this fascinating phobia in this episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Land acknowledgements are all the rage in some parts of the world. But they also open a can of worms if not done properly. Learn all about this increasingly common practice today.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sure we can all agree that champagne is probably the greatest thing humans have or ever will invent, but how much do we understand how it's made? Learn all about it in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the more controversial black leaders, Marcus Garvey divided black and white Americans with his assertion of black pride, and sowed division in the black community as well. Yet, possibly no one has had more global impact on black lives than him. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a mystery afoot! Almost all of the coal we use around the world was created in the same 60 million year period. Before or after that relatively short window of time, not so much. Just what exactly explains this geological mystery? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Other comedians cry on the inside, but Rodney Dangerfield built his entire act around his sad life. Get to know this legendary comic who was nearing 50 when he got his break, in this classic episode recorded live in LA. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Being an understudy is far more challenging than simply learning the lines of a lead actor in case of emergency. Learn all about these unsung stage heroes today.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Since his corpse was found in 1948, wearing a nice suit in summer on an Australian beach, an unidentified man has refused to fade into obscurity, gripping the imagination of sleuths around the world. Learn all about the mystery in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bottled water is huge business, and terrible for the environment. But where did this all start? Listen in and learn. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we pay tribute to the comfiest of comfort food, the grilled cheese sandwich. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does your house smell? No? What if we told you it’s impossible for you to know whether  it does or not? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Christine Collins' son disappeared in 1928, she thought that was the worst that could happen.  What followed was more upsetting than any parent could imagine.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 how these places go from money pit to death trap when mine companies simply walk away, in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us know Mensa’s a smart people club. And that Geena Davis is a member. But did you know it was originally intended as a rolodex when the government needed the UK’s most intelligent minds? And that the Kansas City chapter staged a revolt in the 60s? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Small towns around the world have a longstanding tradition of nominating – and voting for – animals in elected positions like mayor and some animals have made it to being nominated for president. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi, Stuff You Should Know fans! iHeartPodcasts and host M. William Phelps are excited to announce White Eagle. A brand new series that takes place in West Hartford, Connecticut. Home to a warehouse owned by armored truck giant Wells Fargo, a nondescript building housing more than $30 million in cash. On a balmy evening in late September 1983, Victor Gerena — a 25-year-old college dropout and Wells Fargo armored car guard making $4.50 per hour — sets in motion the largest cash heist in history. A thrilling true crime that continues to unravel with every clue. Don't just take our word for it, check out the...

If you've ever been to Philadelphia then you've probably walked right by a Toynbee Tile embedded in the street. But what's the meaning on these mysterious installations, and who is doing it? Listen in to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Action figures have a long and glorious history. From GI Joes to Star Wars figures, these offshoots of dolls came along at just the right time to capture the hearts and minds of children everywhere. Learn all about the partial history of action figures in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's episode, Chuck and Josh dive into the wonderful history of the public house. So pull up a stool, grab a pint and have a listen. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Perhaps the most amazing coincidence ever documented took place when a church in a tiny town in Nebraska exploded in 1950. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Turns out most people love watermelons. Why? Because they're delicious. And they also have a pretty interesting history. Check it out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They have become such a ubiquitous tool used by the UN and NATO to intervene in international crises, that it seems like no-fly zones have been around forever. But it was only the 1990s that the first one was enacted and they've only be used twice more since then. Learn about this peculiar military tool with Chuck and Josh in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NATO formed at a time when Russia threatened Europe as a potential invader. Then the Soviet Union broke up and NATO lost its way for a bit. Now Russia’s back to business as usual and NATO has found its purpose again, protecting peace in Europe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Greenbriar Bunker was a secret nuclear hideout for Congress, until it wasn't. Once it was exposed as a thing, it ceased to be a thing. Listen in to a fascinating short stuff today! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Artificial light at night, aka light pollution, affects almost everyone on Earth. And not just people – trees, plants, animals, insects, and marine life are affected by our propensity to light up everything we can. Learn what you – YOU! – can do to help. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The panic that began in Chicago spreads and begins to change the world. The investigation into the murders turns up leads and suspects, but still no one has ever been charged with the murders. It remains unsolved to this day. Find out the extent of what we know in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On one terrible day in Chicago in 1982, seven people died suddenly and mysteriously. In just a matter of hours, it becomes clear, someone has poisoned bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol, one of the most trusted and widely-used products in America. Learn all about it in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’d think terms like cage-free and free-range means the chickens we eat are frolicking happily in the fresh air under the shining sun, but you’d be so, so wrong. Cage-free is a huge improvement but free-range is lacking and both have a long way to go. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Magnet fishing has nothing to do with fish. It's more like metal detecting in waterways. Please enjoy our take! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Titicut Follies is a documentary made famous by its banning. But why was it banned? And what was it even about? Listen in to learn all you need to know about this infamous doc.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hate is generally defined as an extreme hostility to something or someone, usually stemming from fear, anger or a sense of injury. But how does it work? Join Josh and Chuck in this classic episode as they dig into the nature of hate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A big new push toward nature conservation (and saving the planet) is based on a simple premise: remove humans from the equation and let nature take its own course. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

There is presumably some very dark, very depressing stuff in the annals of America’s secret history. But perhaps the darkest classified document to see the light of day was the memo that called for faked attacks on the US to justify invading Cuba. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Punk rock really needs about 10 episodes to do it justice, but we'll try and tackle anyway. Learn all about this movement right now in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Aleister Crowley was known as the "wickedest man in the world." But was he really just a blowhard narcissist? You decide! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1952 London was gripped by a acrid smog that settled throughout the city so thickly residents couldn’t see their own feet on the sidewalk. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The National Park system is one of America's great achievements. We'll take you on a journey, from sea to shining sea, in today's episode.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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 Josh in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A branch of philanthropy led by philosophers is dedicated to finding the most impactful ways to help humans survive and thrive. Anyone can find that agreeable, but it can be tough to hear it also means your donations to local charities are kind of a waste. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The gay community had to use code not too many years ago and one way they identified was as “Friends of Dorothy.” So who was Dorothy? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Phantom pain is when you sense pain from a lost limb. We don't entirely know how why, but we have some ideas. Listen in to find out.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the German town of Hameln a tragedy that took place on a specific date in 1284 and befell specifically 130 children is commemorated every year. Aside from those two details, the event is cloaked in mystery. What about the Pied Piper fairy tale is real? Find out in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

What has become a buzz word for corporate retreats and a way to get a discount on your health insurance is, at its core, a powerful, centuries-old Buddhist method of moving through life and dealing with the suffering that inevitably comes along with it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

What's commensalism? Sort of nature's way of sponging off something, but that something doesn't mind. If that doesn't make sense, take 12 minutes to listen and find out for yourself. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Like most 16th-century French peasants, Martin Guerre’s life seemed likely to be lost to history. But a strange series of events took place that would so cement the legend surrounding him that we’re talking about him still today, 450 years later. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Think you have moss figured out? You probably don't. Join Josh and Chuck in this classic episode as they explore some of the surprising aspects of these most ancient and important plants on the planet. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Today we dive into the science behind the genetic condition albinism, which is not pronounced how you think it is.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Australia is home to a kind of bird that is the second largest in the world and can kill a human being, making it the closest living version of a velociraptor? Of course it is! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Leeches are pretty creepy. They feed on blood, they stick to you body. We get it. But they're also pretty fascinating and worthy of discussion.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Who wants fresh honey? We do! Learn all about the ancient art of beekeeping today in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The history of litter is in lock step with the history of disposable packaging. Learn all about this nasty habit today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you want to know how the pain from that yellowjacket sting on your arm compares to stings from other insects, you need look no further than the body of work of entomologist Justin O. Schmidt. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The largest ever kidnapping case in the United States went down in the small town of Chowchilla, CA. Learn all about it today.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Gazing too long upon another person is almost universally viewed as anywhere from impolite to hostile, which is odd considering science isn't fully certain why we stare - and why we're so good at knowing when we're being stared at. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The Nobel Peace Prize is perhaps the most prestigious award in the world, yet there are plenty of other similar awards. What is it about this one that makes it so honored? And how did the guy who invented dynamite end up creating a peace award? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

It’s pretty amazing to see a human walk over a bed of hot coals – until you learn the physics beneath it. Then it’s just fairly impressive. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In Hollow Falls, the past never stays buried... Einhorn’s Epic Productions and iHeartRadio present Lethal Lit: A Tig Torres Mystery Season 2! Tig tracks down the new killer stalking her hometown in the latest chapter of the scripted mystery podcast from Einhorn's Epic Productions and iHeartRadio! Coming to your favorite podcast app for free starting February 9th. Follow Lethal Lit on iHeartRadio or subscribe on Apple Podcasts. To share theories, discover new evidence, and follow case updates go to lethallitpodcast.com. And head to https://tinyurl.com/496y9bk7 to read Lethal Lit: Murder of Crows, an original novel by K...

It’s Taco Tuesday! If you like eating tacos, you’re going to love learning all about them in this delectable episode. You’ll realize how much you’ve taken tacos for granted and just what a debt we owe our friends in Mexico for inventing them. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Everyone knows sloths are super slow, but do you know they’re slow because their bodies produce an astoundingly small amount of energy? And did you know that might be an adaptation that protects them from predators? Sloths are awesome and we prove it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

For most of history, forgiveness fell under the domain of religion. But in the 1980s science started investigating it and found that forgiving someone is really, really good for you. Learn how anybody can be the better person in this really great episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The Arctic Fox is one of the cutest critters on the planet. It also has an amazing ability to survive the coldest temps on Earth. Dive into the snow and listen today! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Tug of War is a simple display of strength, but is there more to it than that? Listen in to find out.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

SETI stands for 'search for extraterrestrial intelligence,' and the term is used to describe both the SETI institute and the search for alien life in general. In this classic spaced-out episode, Josh and Chuck explore the origin, aims and challenges facing SETI. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The government loves to mark just about any information as secret, which wouldn’t be a big deal if it wasn’t so contrary to running a healthy democracy. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Jaywalking is a crime. Sort of. But why? Learn all about this weird law today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Rock Paper Scissors is a child's game. But it's more than that if you can believe it, and it has a pretty cool history as well.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1974 the CIA undertook one of its most brazen operations – secretly raising a sunken Soviet submarine lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean right under the noses of the Russian Navy. With the help of billionaire recluse Howard Hughes, obviously. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The black codes were proposed laws that basically tried to keep a form of slavery alive and well after the end of the Civil War. It didn't last long but the shadow of those codes still exist today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Everything you thought you knew about fortune cookies is wrong. Learn all the right stuff in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

For 20 years, a tiny town in Ohio was held enrapt by the prolific author of a series of unhinged letters. By the time they abruptly stopped, the letters – which revealed terrible secrets – had claimed a life and sent a possibly innocent man to prison. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Carl Sagan was the world's first mainstream media super scientist, capapble of breaking down complex ideas for the common folk. But what made him tick? Billions and billions of great ideas. Explore his life and legacy with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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

And you thought we were done with talking about funeral homes. Well guess again! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Ants are pretty much amazing. So we're gonna spend two episodes talking all about them. Please enjoy! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A lot of people read their daily horoscopes, but does anyone really take stock in them? Turns out the answer is yes, even though there is no evidence of their accuracy. Learn all about horoscopes today in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

No, we didn’t find another international distress signal we forgot to mention in our Mayday! Short Stuff, we’re just that jazzed about our episode on cookies. Are they even better than cakes? It’s up to you to listen and decide! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The history of traffic signals is way more interesting than you might think. Trust us.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Attorneys and judges get all the press. What about bailiffs, court reporters and sketch artists? Yeah, let's give them their due.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Tipping is commonly expected in some places, such as U.S. restaurants. Yet this practice varies across cultures. Join trivia gurus (and former waiters) Josh and Chuck in this classic episode as they take a closer look at the history, practice and controversy surrounding tipping. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Josh and Chuck’s holiday mojo has returned and they’re back in the saddle to rustle up some holiday cheer. So put on your comfiest sweater, ugly or otherwise, grab a mug of whatever makes you happy, gather round with your favorite people, and listen in. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

You ever thought about where those cards you send out during the holidays came from? Prepare to do just that! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The details may vary but building snowmen is pretty much universal where there’s snow. Humans have probably been making them for tens of thousands of years. But it wasn’t until the last century or two that they have become the winter icon they are today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made. What happened on the night of November 17, 1978 can never be fully explained, but we make our best effort in our annual special edition of SYSK. May the force be with us all. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Kidney stones are widely considered the most painful affliction a person can endure, even worse than labor. And in rare cases they can even kill. Learn all about how these things you really, really don’t want form and pass in this faint-inducing episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

It's the end of the year so we thought we might give you some advice on how to better pick out a charity, Short Stuff style. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Palm trees. You see them all over the world and for good reason. There are more than 2,500 varieties. Learn all about these giant plants today.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1974, Chinese farmers discovered the first of what would number 7,000 terracotta soldiers meant to protect China's first emperor in the afterlife. Learn all about them in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The famous blue people of Kentucky are no longer blue. But why were they like that in the first place?  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Hitting your funny bone doesn’t just hurt, it feels really weird too. That’s because you’re not hitting a bone at all, but instead the most vulnerable nerve in your body. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If look into the mythology of just about any culture in the world, you will find a myth about a great flood that destroyed humanity and submerged the Earth in the distant past. Does this mean that a great flood actually happened? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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? Find out in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Your gut – not your spare tire, but your digestive tract – is deceptively smart. Not only does it handle processing food and nutrients, but the hundreds of trillions of bacteria that live in your gut may actually be telling your brain what to do too. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the 1950s a group dedicated to clothing animals out of a sense or morality gained momentum. “A nude horse is a rude horse!” was their battle cry. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you think going to the dentist now is not fun, just wait until you hear about what they did in the Middle Ages.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

For at least the last 200,000 years, between 10-15% of the human population are left-handed and this fact has utterly left science baffled. In searching to explain handedness, all sorts of contradictory evidence has emerged, creating a fascinating mystery. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Pythons are big snakes. Really big. But there's more to them than their size. Learn all about these big daddies in today's episode.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Say it three times and help may arrive. But where did "Mayday!" come from? Listen in to find out.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

America’s longest-running war was between the US government and the loosely-confederated groups we know as the Apache. As their lands were encroached upon, the Apache pushed back with disastrous consequences, nearly becoming exterminated. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

You may be familiar with compulsive hoarding from TV, but something that’s often missing from those shows and the news is the deep and overwhelming shame that this disorder creates in its victims who are neurologically incapable of parting with their stuff. Find out all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The residents of Washington, D.C., the capital of the oldest democracy in the world, are not allowed to pass their own laws without the federal government agreeing with them first. That’s because DC is not a state, something DC residents want to change. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

There was a brief period when it was highly on trend to wear a super short dress made out of paper. Learn why right now! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

No, there aren’t snouts and anuses in your hot dogs, so go ahead and chow down. There are, however, plenty of other things that may give you pause so listen to this episode where we dissect the beloved hot dog and poke around inside. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Feng Shui is an Asian concept that strives to unlock your chi by how your home or office is arranged. Or at least that's the simplified "Western" version. It's a little more complicated than that in reality. We'll unlock your chi by explaining how feng shui works in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In December 1900 three lighthouse keepers vanished without a trace from a deserted island in Scotland. To this day no one knows exactly what happened to them. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Is your bed dirty? You bet it is. Are chimpanzee beds dirty? Not as dirty as yours! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Blue laws are laws that restrict certain activities on certain days. Are they antiquated? Yes! Are they still around? In some places, yes! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

America loves to go nuts over new food trends and it turns out that the 20th century was a boon time for them. Revisit them with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Cleveland rocks! So said the city of Cleveland when they lobbied for the "Rock Hall" way back in 1985. Since then the museum has grown and evolved amidst great support and controversy.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1992 more than 28,000 rubber ducks got loose in the ocean and began a decades-long experiment in oceanography. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The two mRNA Covid vaccines are the first vaccines to come out of a new field of immunology and represent such an amazing leap forward that they are taking us into a new era of medicine. Learn all about them so you can set your uncle straight. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

What is folklore? Turns out it's just about anything you can think of that's shared by more than two people. Art, literature, stories, dance, music, traditions, even those family heirlooms qualify. Turns out folklore is pretty neat. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Dim the lights and join Josh and Chuck for their annual spooky Halloween story reading.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the 1930s paranormal investigator declared Borley Rectory the “most haunted house in England” – and with good cause! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Looking back 300 years on, it’s easy to overgeneralize why the Salem Villagers decided to persecute (and execute) their neighbors. But as much as this story has become an American history chestnut, we still don’t understand why Salem lost its mind. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1960 physicist Freeman Dyson suggested that in the hunt for alien life, we should search for evidence of massive engineering projects that encapsulate stars with solar arrays to harness their energy. Could we humans ever make one ourselves? Find out in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Harry Houdini was a master magician. He was also a movie star. And an inventor. And an aviator. Listen and learn all about the late great illusionist. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In this edition of Short Stuff we may accidentally conjure a deadly spirt, so look out! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Heat waves are one of the easiest natural disasters to overlook yet they kill more people in the US than any other natural disaster (and maybe all others combined). And if climate predictions prove correct, they’re going to get longer and hotter. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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 classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you’ve ever found your blood pressure rising because some guy down the street doesn’t know how to keep the trigger on a leaf blower pulled all the way, then you’ve experienced noise pollution. Not only is it annoying, it turns out it’s deadly too! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

We launch our spooky October episodes with a little bit on Jack O' Lanterns and Sleepy Hollow. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

After looking into the Venus Flytrap, we quickly moved it to the top of our favorite plant list. Part plant, part monster? What's not to love? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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, in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The Church of the SubGenius is a religion, but really a parody of religion. Learn all about this group of weirdo outsiders in today's episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Are dingoes dogs? Not really? Then what are they? Listen in to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

There’s a sticky issue scientists have to deal with – science is carried out by humans. We humans have flaws (and how) and they can end up in our work. Fortunately, science is waking up to research bias. In the meantime, here’s what to look out for. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Empathy can often be confused with sympathy and regular old compassion. But it's not exactly either one of those. Some say a lack of empathy can indicate sociopathic tendencies, but that's not always true either. So what is empathy and what makes someone prone to empathize? Listen in to this classic episode to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Here at SYSK, we love alligators? Why? Because they're basically living dinosaurs. Dive in (metaphorically) and swim with these beasts today! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

There’s a long-standing legend that an Irish monk was the first European to sail to America - in 500 CE! Is there any evidence? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The premise of numerology - that numbers are responsible for our destinies and personalities - is plainly nuts, but the history and thinking behind it is too interesting to skip.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you’ve ever heard an old timer gripe that things aren’t built like they used to be, that old timer was right! In this classic episode, learn about the nefarious, possibly mythical, mechanism that’s responsible for the cruddy products and waste our consumer society is based on. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

You've seen her there in NY Harbor, standing tall. But do you know the story of how she came to be? Learn all about the Statue of Liberty today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The good people of Toledo, OH are leading the environmental pack by giving legal rights to Lake Erie to fight off polluters. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Everybody knows mail order marriages are at best a last resort for jerks looking to boss a foreign spouse around or, at worst, a front for human trafficking. Or are they? Yes and no. Mail order marriage comes with nuance and a surprisingly long history. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Freedom of speech and the press are values vital to American democracy. But the First Amendment doesn't really define free speech, and plenty of expressions are restricted. Learn all about the ins and outs of this cherished right in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Crash testing has been around since the 1930s, but only got serious in the 1970s. Today we dive in and learn all about why companies and the U.S. government purposefully wreck cars.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Pigs, hogs, boars and javelinas. What's the difference? Tune in to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The Death Suite continues! In this installment, Josh and Chuck go over what it takes to preserve a human body using chemicals and whether that’s such a good thing to do as far as the environment is concerned. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

There was a time when the lower classes of the American South were considered lazy and dimwitted, a stereotype that still somewhat survives today. But this stereotype was rooted in fact. Hookworms, it turns out, were sapping Southerners’ life force. Find out all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1215 at Runnymede (doo dah, doo dah) the nobles and the king agreed to end a rebellion against the power of the English throne. While the treaty that emerged contained all sorts of arcane Medieval details, it also contained the seeds of Western liberty and civil rights. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In today's short stuff, we bust a few myths about cute little chameleons. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The Hotel Cecil in downtown Los Angeles has had no less than 16 unnatural deaths, from suicides to murders and everything in between. Listen in to the history of this decidedly creepy hotel.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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 classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

And you thought our crime and punishment suite was finished. Not yet it isn't! Not before we cover criminal records. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Josh and Chuck finally put to rest the age old debate over which is better – and learn a little about themselves along the way. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

One of the oldest medical procedures in human history is also one of the riskiest. For thousands of years humans carried a type of proto brain surgery where a hole would be cut into the skull. And they were pretty good at it too. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

You may think composting is just a bunch of old banana peels rotting away into dirt but, friend, you're not looking closely enough. Inside that compost pile is a microcosmic universe doing some magical stuff. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Today we continue the story of Les Paul and Leo Fender, inventors, innovators and rivals. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Jackalopes aren’t real, right? Wouldn’t you like to know, city slicker. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The story of Les Paul and Leo Fender defines rock and roll music. Listen in to part one of the tale of these two musical rivals.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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 if a pet is ready to be put to sleep is becoming more commonplace, but is there any basis to pet psychics' abilities? Join Josh and Chuck as they investigate the pet psychic phenomenon, in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Y2K was a special time when we all thought nothing bad would really happen at the stroke of midnight, but secretly worried the world would end. Turns out the mitigation efforts worked and we hardly noticed.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Lazarus species were thought to be gone, but had something else in mind. Today we talk about 5 of them. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

At long last Chuck and Josh dive into the nuts and bolts of what makes the Wonder Machine so wondrous and find it actually lives up to the years-long hype they’ve given it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Whether called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glow worms, the tiny, bioluminescent bugs that light up the evening are universally beloved. Which makes their sudden and swift decline very distressing. Listen to find out how you – YOU – can save the firefly. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Humpty Dumpty is not a good nursery rhyme. And what was Humpty anyway? Listen in to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Child labor is no laughing matter. Even though we've taken care of it in the USA (mostly), it's still an issue around the globe. Listen and learn! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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 with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Every teenager in America knows the transcendentalists were a handful of goofy 19th century philosophers who were into walking in the woods, but they were also so much more. Anyone who focuses on the beauty and the good in the world can’t be too wrong. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Calamity Jane is group with the legends of the Wild West. Who was she really? A tough woman who made her way in a tough world from the age of 12. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the early 1960s, one of the most unethical experiments in psychology’s history was quietly conducted in a state hospital in Michigan. It sought to upend the delusions of the three patients involved, but ultimately disabused the experimenter of his own. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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 in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In this episode, we get to the bottom of why people sometimes talk like jerks some and how sarcasm isn’t all bad. Stand back everybody, this one is just soooo great.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Space hurricanes are officially a thing. What does that mean for us here on Earth? Probably not much. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Britney Spears has made a lot of noise lately in her bid to nullify her conservatorship. But what are they even? Listen in to find out! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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, in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Why exactly do we avoid walking under a ladder? Why is stepping on a crack in the sidewalk such a big deal? What kind of monster carries a rabbit’s foot in their pocket? The answers to these questions and more lie in wait ahead in this episode. Look out! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you’re even passingly interested in mobsters you’ve heard of the RICO Act, but most people don’t know how it actually works. Make your Goodfellas fandom more well-rounded with this explainer episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you grew up in the 1980s, you thought you had a 50% chance of getting kidnapped every time you left your house. But like with the Satanic Panic and other 80s hysteria, it was much ado about (almost) nothing. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Little-known fact: Ketchup, possibly the most all-American of condiments, evolved from fermented fish sauce people in Southeast Asia have been making for more than a thousand years. Learn more in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Can we save the future of the human race with some thin membranes riddled with ultra-tiny holes? Science says yes! Thanks to reverse osmosis filtration, we can turn saltwater to fresh and finally say, Water, water everywhere so let’s all have a drink! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The words "hanged, drawn and quartered" are an accurate description of the grizzly execution process. They're just not in the right order. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The Radium Girls painted watched with glow-in-the-dark radium in the 1920s and '30s. Most got sick, many died. This is their story.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A fascinating thing about Americans is that we can disagree on anything. Such is the case with historic districts – areas of historic importance protected by local laws. Seems innocuous, but are they also to blame for the affordable housing crisis? Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Recorded live before the pandemic in January 2020 at the Castro Theatre for San Francisco Sketchfest, Josh and Chuck explore the 70s movement that attempted to teach apes human language and the Ape Language Wars that erupted from it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the 1920s, before the era of consumer protection, a poison entered the medicine supply and killed more than 100 people before the pubic health disaster could be stopped. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Are geniuses made or born? Listen in today to the story of child prodigy William James Sidis. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Good samaritan laws have been around for many years, helping to provide legal protections for people who try to help other people. But do they work? Listen to this classic episode and decide for yourself today! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Josh and Chuck take a virtual walk through country music's legendary music venue.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The first truly international news story covered a beast that terrorized the French countryside, eviscerating dozens of villagers for three years in the 1760s. How about that? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Poison control centers are one of those things you don’t think about until you need it. With all the poisons in our homes you very well may someday. When you do there is a cadre of toxicological specialists ready to oversee the process of saving your life. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In some nations royals are so ingrained in the national fabric they are considered part of the country. In this classic episode, Josh and Chuck take a look backward in time at the ancient tradition of despotism and unbridled privilege. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Faraday cages are one of those peculiar miracles of nature that we can actually explain – not to mention, they save us from potentially fatal electrocutions and electronic eavesdropping which are bonuses. Learn about this amazing hidden technology here. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Were chastity belts real? Sort of. But not in the way you might think. Tune in to hear the real story. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Damascus steel and the recipe behind it remained a mystery for many years. But it turns out the key was a bygone ingredient. Listen in to this medieval mystery to learn all about it.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In World War II, a secret department of British ‘corkscrew thinkers’ hatched a plan to use the cadaver of an unclaimed homeless man to turn the tide of the war in the Allies’ favor. It worked. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Venus is so hot lead would melt on the planet’s surface. It spins backwards. Its year is shorter than its day. Venus is amazingly awesome.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

What is the Mojave Megaphone? Well, nobody really knows. Listen in today to learn about this desert mystery. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When you get a bunch of artistic types together into a community – aka, the art world – some intrigue and mystery are bound to arise. Listen in as Chuck and Josh cover strangeness around Van Gogh, Caravaggio, Raphael, and Vermeer – plus don’t miss Hilter! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Legends of sea monsters are as old as humanity, and some ancient cultures even credited them with creating the universe. Learn more about humanity's attachment to seeing monsters in the deep in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Today, Chuck and Josh go down a 90s rabbit hole with another in their classic toy series. This time, they tackle the odd sensation that was POGs. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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If you’ve ever wandered past what looked like a pile of dog barf on a log during a hike in the woods, you’d just seen slime mold - one of the most perplexing organisms on Earth.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

John Billington didn't just sign the Mayflower Compact -- he was also the colony's first criminal, and had the dubious honor of being the first European to be convicted of murder in this new place. But how did it happen? Tune in to this classic episode to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

John Muir loved being outside. So much so that he dedicated his life to helping preserve it, but not without some controversy. Listen in to this decidedly nature-centric episode today! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Listen in to today's short stuff to learn if a runner's high is really a thing. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Inflation seems super boring, but if you know how it works (important point: no one really does) you can exist as a functioning human being in a modern economy.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

For about 175 years people have been huffing nitrous oxide for everything from vision quests to anesthetic to get plain old high. And after all that time we are only now beginning to understand how it works on our brains. Get the scoop in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the early 90s a video game was released that changed the industry, despite poor sales and bad game play. That game was Night Trap. This is that story. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Your parachute won’t open – now what?! Listen up to Josh and Chuck and you may make it out of this in one piece. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Cleft lips and palates are common birth defects, but for the kids who have them (and their parents), its no small matter: Years of surgeries, therapy, and possibly lifelong health issues, not to mention the teasing that comes along with looking different. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you're an American who had a childhood, you probably have some nostalgia for Hot Wheels. Get your engines revved for this trip down memory lane as we discuss these fun and iconic toys in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

We put our research to the test and it turns out the Girl Scouts is a great organization. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Back in the 60s and 70s, a speed reading craze broke out. Tough luck that speed reading is bunk. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

During the depths of the Great Depression, Cleveland’s most vulnerable and destitute residents were prey for one of history’s most horrific serial killers. The killer’s identity remains a mystery to this day. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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 classic episode with Josh and Chuck. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you’ve never seen a huge truck with gigantic tires do backflips or roll backward perched only on its two front tires, you haven’t lived yet. Chuck and Josh are here to ignite your interest. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Garter snakes aren’t scary, they’re pretty great! Learn all the reasons why in this episode! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The Ivy League is technically a sports conference, but it's much more than that. Enjoy this special 3D episode with your earbuds on and learn all about these revered, elite universities. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Hey, SYSK fans! We know you already love great podcasts, so here's another we think you'll enjoy - Ephemeral season 2. Check out the trailer and see for yourself. About Ephemeral: The best source on our cultural identity is not the official, historical record — ask any anthropologist, it’s the town dump. Ephemera — those things that were just barely saved, and in some cases not saved at all — emanate with secrets we can only glimpse and mysteries we can never completely answer. The stories may be unfamiliar, but the themes are universal; this is a looking glass, a window into our own frag...

Snake handling ranges from professional snake milkers for antivenin to religious handlers who tend to get bitten and sometimes die from it. Either way, it can be a dangerous business. Learn all about snake handling in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Mining uranium is dangerous work. Not only does it involve mining, which is dangerous itself, uranium is also found alongside some very radioactive stuff. Learn the ins and outs of this thrilling endeavor in this episode of SYSK. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

One of the cutest animals on the planet is also the only one that squeezes out cube-shaped poop. Find out why today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The poor appendix. Despite findings that it serves a purpose, many people still cast it off as a second rate organ and the Rodney Dangerfield of organs. We aim to correct that notion. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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 culture thanks to the protective environments of caves. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

There are lots of reasons to tax corporations: as a check on their power, to help pay for infrastructure, as a wealth tax. But the biggest reason economists cite for why they've stuck around is that everyday people think companies should have to pay them too. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Was Ivar the Boneless a real Viking warrior? Probably. Did he really have no bones? Probably not. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Truffles are rare, expensive and apparently delicious. Learn all about these earthy fungi today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

At its base, criminal profiling is a legitimate investigatory tool. The Supreme Court has drawn a clear line that bans profiling when it includes race. So why do we still do it? Take a closer look with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Over the last two centuries philatelists – stamp collectors – have learned just about everything there is to know about every stamp ever printed. You won’t by the end of this episode, but you might be interested enough to start yourself. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Join us today as we dive into the story of the first female self-made millionaire, Madam C.J. Walker. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Mechanical bulls are kind of weird, but they have certainly made a place in American pop culture over the years. Largely due to one movie, Urban Cowboy. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Tupperware won immediate design acclaim when it was released in 1947, but it took a pioneering female executive to make a line of plastic food storage into an icon of the American postwar boom. Learn about the surprisingly intriguing history of Tupperware, in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Losing your hair is a situation that seems to be universally considered to absolutely stink. Unsurprisingly, humans have been trying all sorts of weird stuff to combat hair loss for millennia, but we’re only just now starting to get a handle on it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Chuck loves palindromes. So much that his very name is one. Oh wait... Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The electrical grid that provides power to the US is one of those things you don’t give a second thought to until it stops working – then it’s tough to think about anything else. Learn why this engineering marvel is past its prime and how to update it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1945 a house fire took the lives of five children - except that their bodies were never found. In this classic episode, dive into the longstanding mystery of the odd circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the Sodder children. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Muzak got a bad reputation as bland garbage music. We aim to set the record straight. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Step into today's short stuff to learn all about the armless wonder! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 2016, diplomats at the American embassy in Cuba began suffering weird neurological symptoms after hearing strange noises. Some say it was a sonic attack using a secret weapon, but the Havana Syndrome remains a baffling scientific mystery to this day. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Don't be confused - this one is about actual circus acts made of family members, not the controversial comic strip. Step right up to this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

After the Titanic sank recriminations and blame followed, sometimes ruining careers unjustifiably. As the decades wore on and she was found almost 2.5 miles down, history rehabilitated some people. The question still remains how to preserve the ship. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In order to figure out what the oldest book is, one has to define what a book actually is. Listen in as we discuss this debatable topic. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When the Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage in April 1912, the world was divided into two types of people: those who considered her unsinkable and those who weren’t so sure about that. Both types were aboard when she went down with 1500 souls. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The Philadelphia Experiment is a bad movie from the 1980s, and also the conpiracy theory that refuses to die, despite virtually zero evidence of its occurance. Learn all about this strange non-event in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Hi, SYSK fans! We know you love our podcast and we think you'll love this new show from iHeartMedia and actress Minnie Driver, Minnie Questions. The best part? Our very own Chuck Bryant is featured on episode 2 now available on the iHeartRadio app. Check out this trailer with a snippet into Minnie's conversation with Chuck! About Minnie Questions: Minnie Driver questions everything... and her acclaim as an actor and musician is undoubtedly rooted in her enraptured observations of the world around her. Now, Minnie sits down with experts and trailblazers across disciplines and asks them the same seven mini questions...

The orbits hundreds to thousands of miles above Earth are littered with garbage. Space garbage, sure, but it’s still garbage. Littering in space is bad enough but it poses practical problems too – like space junk crashing into satellites or astronauts. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Are we finally at the place where we can make cell phone calls on airplanes? PLEASE NO! Listen in to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Biophilic design is all about bringing the outside in. But it's also much more than that. Open your windows and have a listen! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

People have been burning fires on cliffs as long as other people have used boats, but after the Age of Exploration, lighthouses took their unmistakable form and the great stories of the people who kept the lights around the world began. Learn all about them in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1947 the port town of Texas City, Texas became the site of the largest industrial disaster in American history. An enormous explosion blew ships out of the water, created a tidal wave that flooded the town, and killed hundreds of people instantly. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the 1970s big news was made when some underwater artifacts were found in a bay by Rio de Janeiro that would have rewritten history. Then it just kind of petered out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you think parrots are simply mimics that fly, you're wrong. Tune in and learn about these colorful friends today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

There is a way to not only sustainably get rid of our household waste, but also produce enough energy from it to power the process and even create electricity for the grid. The future is here. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Listen in and learn all about the fascinating history of everybody's favorite pastime... karaoke! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Today we break down the history of everyone's favorite home invader, the tooth fairy. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Dragons are like mermaids in that they're not real. And that's about where the comparison ends. Learn all about dragons today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Mermaids aren't real. That much we know. But the history and lore of these magical and sometimes menacing creatures of the sea is pretty interesting stuff. Learn all about these half women/half fish in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The United States is one of only 28 countries in the world that doesn’t have equal protection for women under the law enshrined in its constitution. There was a moment in the 70s where it came very close, but then the conservative movement was born. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A bridge at the town of Dumbarton in Scotland has a terrible reputation as a site where dogs inexplicably leap to their death on the rocks 50 feet below. There is no shortage of theories why, but none fully explain it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the 1990s we thought we’d identified the root cause of aging: nasty molecules called free radicals that wreaked havoc on our cells. Even better, we’d figured out how to counteract them with loads of antioxidants. Then science started raising questions. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

From prehistoric logs across streams to the 102-mile Kunshan Grand Bridge, nature works ceaselessly to take down spans. In this classic episode, learn about the fascinating ins and outs of bridge design and building and the mind-boggling challenges structural engineers face. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Bruce Lee may have introduced more Westerners to Asian culture than any person in history. And, because he died young just as he became an international superstar, he’s become a legend. Josh and Chuck try to uncover the man underneath. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1945, residents of a Liverpool neighborhood found a desiccated body in a long cylinder they’d been using for years using as a bench. It launched a mystery that’s still alive today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The human population is expected to increase by a couple billion people in the next 30 years and those who are paying attention are wondering exactly how we’ll feed all those extra mouths. Will going high tech or getting back to nature save us? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Hey, SYSK fans! We think you might like this new iHeart original podcast, Black Cowboys. Check out the trailer to see for yourself! About Black Cowboys: Zaron Burnett’s dad didn’t want slavery to be his son’s only image of Black people in American history. So every night, he filled Zaron’s dreams with these incredible stories of Black cowboys. Despite what Hollywood taught us, one-in-four cowboys were Black. Their stories tell a bigger, braver, more honest history of America. Listen and subscribe to the Black Cowboys podcast on the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you get your podcasts! Learn mo...

Born and raised in South America, chilis were the earliest crop domesticated in the continent and among the first items brought back to Europe by Columbus. Today people are really, really into them. Find out all about 'em in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Geologists and biologists have recently realized that the planet’s oceans and coasts are littered with a unique type of ecosystem called blue holes, submerged sinkholes that were once dry caves. They are turning out to be weird and amazing places. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

As part of Black History Month, we wanted to share the little known story of the Freedom House Ambulance Service. Listen in to learn all about this seminal group of EMTs. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 2014, a young German man walked into an airport in Bulgaria with a flight booked, then suddenly ran out leaving all his posessions behind, never to be heard from again. This is the story of Lars Mittank. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Between 2007 and 2016, 17 disembodied feet - still wearing shoes - have washed ashore between Washington and British Columbia. What's behind the sudden influx of Vancouver's mystery feet? Find out in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Owning a home in the US is a way to pass wealth down from one generation to the next and lift families into a comfortable life down the road. But three have been barriers to buying homes that Black Americans have faced from the time of slavery to today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

California is a pretty cool name. And the story about where it came from is even cooler. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Sacagawea was only 16 when she joined the Corps of Discovery. That is one seriously impressive teenager. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Despite tons of people using cotton swabs each day to clean the earwax from their ears, cerumen (as earwax is clinically known) is actually quite beneficial to the health of your ears - and even kind of ingenious as your body's defense goes. Learn more in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The NAACP has long been one of the most robust and effective non-profits in the USA. And while it has faded a bit from its glory days, it still remains a vital cog in the battle for equality. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1986 Cleveland released more than a million helium balloons at once! It didn’t go at all according to plan! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

You know Groundhog Day – the holiday on February 2 when you wake up and have to go through the same day over and over again. It turns out the holiday has deep roots in a pagan past, and has survived in a surprisingly similar form. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Cultures around the world over the years have been inspired by, then repulsed, then inspired by maggots' ability to heal persistent wounds. We are in an inspired-by phase right now. Learn more in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Humans have been stealing energy from flowing water for at least two thousand years. It wasn’t until the advent of electricity that things really got cookin’. All we need to do now is to work out the harmful environmental impacts of this green energy. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

How black is vantablack? About as black as you could imagine. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The history of the KKK is rooted in hatred and racism, and it still is today. Learn all about these loathsome rednecks today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 2010 an eccentric art dealer hid a treasure chest with $2 million in valuables somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and published a poem with clues on where to find it. Hence began the most famous treasure hunt in modern times. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you think Necco Wafers are the most disgusting candy on the planet, you are not alone. But it turns out there’s a rich history behind those chalky discs that make them fascinating, if horrible. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The Michelin Guide is an institution. But why does the famous tire manufacturer even put this restaurant guide out? Listen in to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

It was America's most famous family feud, but the history of the Hatfields vs the McCoys is fraught with bias and inaccuracies. Dig into a disagreement in 19th-century Appalachia that became a very big deal around the world, in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

If you took our advice and looked up baby beavers a few episodes back, you probably found them sooooo cute you couldn’t stand it. Or you just wanted to eat them up, which is weird if you think about it. Friend, prepare for the science on that! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Should you be afraid of these creepy little creatures you find in your basement? Only one way to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

What is Hell? It's complicated and depends on which religion you're talking about. We dive into this fiery mess and do our best to explain it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 as you ollie over this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Orville and Wilbur Wright were not trained professionals, but they were rigorous experimenters who ended up changing the world. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Have you ever noticed sometimes theaters – we mean, theatres – oh, forget it – places where you see movies or plays – are sometimes spelled two different ways? You can thank Noah Webster, author of the first American dictionary, for that. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Did you know space has weather? It’s true! In our solar system, tons – literal tons – of highly charged gas and magnetized particles spew from the surface constantly, causing all sorts of weird stuff here on Earth. So far, nothing too bad has happened. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

What began as a challenge to an oil engineer to make a terrible singer into a pitch-perfect one, Auto-Tune has become a ubiquitous (and, to many, obnoxious) part of the musical soundscape. Learn more in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

No food is more all-American than peanut butter – 80 percent of homes in the country have a jar of it in the pantry right now. And while the rest of the world might find peanut butter peculiar, maybe even gross, the rest of the world is wrong. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The Eiffel Tower is one of the top destinations on Planet Earth. It turns out to be a pretty cool feat of engineering as well. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Turns out we have little kids from the 19th century, the Three Stooges, and an odd musical composer named Arthur Fields to thank for pig latin. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In 1919 a brilliant Russian scientist accidentally stumbled onto the first electronic musical instrument in history – the theremin – which you play not by strings, keys, or even percussion, but by moving your hand in the air around it. Prepare to science! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

It's here again! Our annual ad-free holiday spectacular. So pour up a hot toddy, throw a log on the fire and listen with the whole family! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

What started out as a tradition among Jewish people on the Lower East Side at the turn of the last century has become a full-blown American holiday custom. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Buffets are every kid’s dream – until they grow up enough to realize how gross communal spreads of food shared with strangers actually are. Then the dream is dashed, for most of us at least. Learn about the golden age of buffets and more right here! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made. What happened on the night of November 17, 1978 can never be fully explained, but we make our best effort in our annual special edition of SYSK. May the force be with us all. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Humans have been using a form of aspirin for pain relief since at least the Sumerians. But in recent years we’ve come to learn the wonder drug is indeed awe-inspiring, from preventing heart attacks to possibly protecting humans from cancer. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The way we deal with our dead has changed a lot over the past 50 years. Learn all about it in 12-15 minutes right here. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Joseph Merrick was known as The Elephant Man because of his suffering from what we now know was Proteus Synrome. Learn all about this brave man in today's episode.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

After a night of heavy boozing, many partygoers find themselves the victim of a hangover. But what exactly is a hangover, and what causes it? Join Chuck and Josh as they break down the science behind hangovers -- and how to avoid them, in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Everyone knows who Frank Lloyd Wright is, but did you know there was a grisly massacre at his home in 1914? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Cramming is no way to study. Learn why in today's short stuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Class action lawsuits seem a little odd – a bunch of people get together for a sue-fest against somebody – but in the legal world they’re a practical way of handing huge wrongs. And! They keep justice just in their way. Learn all about them today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Since the age of Descartes, science has put all of its eggs in the basket of determinism, the idea that with accurate enough measurements any aspect of the universe could be predicted. But the universe, it turns out, is not so tidy. Explore the final frontier with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Did you know that Richard Nixon had a FBI case file open on Beatle John Lennon? Well he did! Why? Listen in to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Pimento cheese was originally nothing like it is now: It was mass produced, it was made from cream cheese and it was conceived in New York. Today it’s something much better, thanks to the South! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Surprisingly, Cabbage Patch Kids have turned up on SYSK almost as much as the Nazis or Seinfeld. It’s finally time to dive all the way into CPKs, from their controversial origins to the Christmas craze of ‘83 to their alter egos, Garbage Pail Kids. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Legend has it that tea was discovered by a curious Chinese emperor after leaves blew into his boiled water. Now tea is the second only to water in popularity worldwide. And despite the varieties of tea, they all come from a single species of plant. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Turkeys are a very interesting bird as it turns out. Which may be why many people are leaving it off their Thanksgiving table this year. Learn all about them right now! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Ever noticed how eyes in a painting sometimes follow you around the room? It’s weird! But it’s also fully explainable and Josh and Chuck do just that here. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Patty Hearst was a young heiress living a quiet life studying art history at college when one Monday evening her home was invaded, she was kidnapped, and her life took a totally unforeseen turn that she would have trouble explaining for years to come. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

On Halloween 1938 young radio star Orson Welles scared the pants off of America with a fictional news bulletin claiming Martians had landed and were destroying the country. People across the nation ran wild with panic in the streets – or did they? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

We know squirrels hide nuts. But it's actually more complex a system than you think. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In recent decades we’ve come to understand that there’s a lot more to pain than: touch hot stove/feel burning hand. Pain is a far more sophisticated experience and, unfortunately, a system that can often go haywire, with terrible effects. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, right? Maybe not. And who named Australia? Find out the unusually uncertain origins of the continents and other interesting stuff in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

For almost a century, Macy’s department store has kicked off the holidays in America with a grand parade. And when you march thousands of clowns, lip synching celebrities, bands, and giant balloons and march them through New York things get remarkable. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Plastic flamingos started out as innocent yard art, transformed into folk art, and have become a (kind of mean) symbol of high campiness. There’s a lot to this particular plastic yard art. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The Bay of Pigs is one of the blackest of eyes on American foreign policy. Learn all about this dark spot of American history today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

When Fort Knox was built in the 1930s to house America’s gold supply, it was billed as an impenetrable, impregnable, don’t-even-think-of-trying vault. But as the world has moved further away from gold, the stockpile’s lost a bit of its luster. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Have you ever wondered why we do so much scientific testing on fruit flies? Turns out they make better models for humans than you’d think. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Roberto Clemente was what’s called a “complete” baseball player – he could hit, run and, man could he throw, so it’s no surprise he was made a Hall of Famer. But he was also a humanitarian, a civil rights icon, and a fiercely proud son of Puerto Rico. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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? In this classic episode airing for Halloween, Josh and Chuck explore both sides of the divide between belief and skepticism on the topic of ghosts and look at some pretty cool explanations for hauntings. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

It’s that time of year again! So turn down the lights, pull the sheets over your eyes and prepare to be thrilled and frightened with two great Halloween stories from Philip K. Dick and M.R. James. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

For at least sixty years a mysterious person (or persons) showed up at Edgar Allen Poe’s grave to toast the master on his birthday. No one ever found out who this legendary figure was. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In America, we've treated our senior citizens in very different ways over the years. Tune in to hear about how we've tackled compassionate care. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Hey, SYSK listeners! We wanted to make sure you heard Chuck on iHeartRadio’s Why I’m Voting podcast. Check it out and don’t forget to vote on November 3rd!  If you want to change, preserve, or build a better America, there’s one easy way to make your voice heard: Vote. This year, iHeartRadio is teaming up with over 20 incredible celebrities (plus a handful of our most popular podcasters) to get the country excited to go vote, broadcasting the personal, emotional and heartfelt stories behind why showing up to the ballot box means so much-- not just as individua...

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 classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Beavers are in fact, very busy. They're builders and solid family members, husbands and wives. Learn all about N America's largest rodent today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Do you have to disclose the notion that your house may be haunted upon sale? Listen in to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Voter suppression in the USA is as old as voting itself. Listen in to hear about 10 ways we stifle the vote. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 canon. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

We love animals. A lot. Especially underrated ones like the darling porcupine. Listen in today to learn all about these stabby little boogers. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

We love to keep up with the current terminology for groups of people. Learn about the origin of Latinx today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Without wind tunnels we may not have airplanes right now. Early aviationists built them to puzzle out how to get and stay airborne. But wind tunnels are used for so much more than flight – from microchips to wind turbines. Enjoy this breezy episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 from the SYSK archives. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Was the printing press a big deal? You bet it was. One of the biggest. Learn all about the early history of printing today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

After RBG passed away she had the honor of lying in state. Who decides this? Listen and you'll know. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Swing states are all the rage once again this election season, but the makeup has changed a bit. Learn all about what makes a swing state a swing state right now. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 president, in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The advent of nuclear weapons and the Cold War kicked off a craze in the US for building rec rooms with foot-thick reinforced walls and outfitted with survival rations and board games. Would they work? Probably not. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

It’s actually really strange that scratching your head is a widely understood sign that you’re puzzling over something. No one’s exactly sure why we do that, so interesting theories abound! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

After reaching their peak, conjugal prison visits are all but gone in the U.S. Learn all about these frisky visits in today's episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rabies may have gotten a lot of attention in the U.S. in the 70s and 80s, but it's still an issue in developing countries. Learn all about this nasty virus in this classic episode. And stay away from raccoons and bats.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

By longstanding listener request, we look at how Hawaii was basically stolen by the United States in the 19th century. Rather than reverse this bit of geopolitical fraud, the US ended up making Hawaii a state instead. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Petticoat rulers were women who ran the show long before anyone thought they could. We’re talking mayors and entire city councils comprised of women in the Old West. What happened since then? Listen to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Sweepstakes were invented as marketing tools to drum up interest for a product or sales. But winning them can be fun and as they’ve proliferated an entire subculture of people who enter hundreds of them a day. Enter the fascinating world of sweepstakes today! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Election polling had a pretty good rep until 2016. But it turns out they weren't far off even then. It's really the media driving the narrative. Learn all about how election polling works today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Most people don't realize that around a quarter of the cowboys found in the Old West during the golden age cattle driving were African American. Let's meet some of them, shall we? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Origami is an amazing art that consists of making folds in paper to create something beautiful. Learn all about it today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Despite our lengthy history of evacuating our bowels and bladders, it wasn’t until the relatively recent 1940s that we began to construct portable, self-contained toilets to accept our waste. Dive into the world of porta-potties in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

It’s time to get jazzed up for some Earth science of the waterlogged variety. Join Chuck and Josh as they tour some of the most interesting ecosystems on the planet and learn why we need to stop destroying them post haste. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

What does Barbra Streisand have to do with the internet? Listen and learn! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Frances Perkins was an incredibly influential American yet is virtually unknown. What did she do? A lot! For instance, Social Security was her brainchild. And that's just the tip of the old iceberg. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Learn all about the what, how, and why in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

When Tara Calico mysteriously vanished in 1988, suspected to be the victim of foul play, her case may have gotten lost with the countless other missing person cases in the US, were it not for the discovery of an alarming Polaroid photo in a parking lot 1500 miles away. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

We're back with another handful of phrase origins. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In 1962, three ordinary criminals transcended into folk heroes when they crawled out of their cells in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary took to the water in a homemade raft and were never heard from again. Could they have possibly survived? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In this classic episode of Stuff You Should Know, Josh and Chuck dive into the world of polyamory. Turns out polyamorists aren't aren't weirdos and deviants, they're just regular folks looking for love from more than one person. Learn all you ever needed to know about this unique, but not so modern arrangement. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Blacksmiths? You got that right. Learn all about this age old occupation in today's episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Join Chuck and Josh as they learn that one of the great childhood truths – that carrots help you see better in the dark was totally made up! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Unless you have an arcane disorder from a lesion on a very specific spot on our medulla, the chances are you sneeze. Turns out most animals do it, even lizards! Learn the whys and hows of this most interesting involuntary reflex. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 in this classic episode as they get to the bottom of panic attacks. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Chuck and Josh dive into the wacky world of 800 and 900 phone numbers. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In addition to all the lousy things that’s come out of the Coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. is also experiencing a coin shortage thanks to a stalled-out economic system that normally circulates coins. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

There’s a movement afoot that says we should all stop thinking about our weight and just enjoy food. No, it doesn’t help you lose weight…No, it’s not a diet…No, - just listen to the episode, okay? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 cannot live without. Learn more in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Back in the pre-pandemic days we had a sporting event called The Olympic Games. And at those games there was an opening ceremony that featured the lighting of a cauldron from a torch. Let's chat about that, eh? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Our old pal Bill Gates is back for a very special short stuff where we talk all about Covid vaccines and therapeutics. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Pirate radio started out in England as a way to sidestep the regulations of Big Radio. While outlawed, it still exists today in the UK and America. Learn all about it today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

When Michael Jackson debuted the moonwalk in 1983 the world was enrapt. The dance goes back farther, to the 1930s, and pops up again in the 50s, before reappearing via mimes and West Coast poppers in the 70s. Follow the circuitous route of an iconic move in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Playing miniature golf is a very fun thing to do and, you’re about to find, learning about its origin and history is very fun as well. Join Josh and Chuck as they tee off on the mini golf story! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Who doesn't love a good puzzle? Tune in to learn a few facts and figures about jigsaw puzzles right now. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Wasps have a bad rap. Because their sting really hurts and they don't make honey like their cousins. But they are super cool and you shouldn't kill them. Listen and learn! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. In this classic episode, learn about the international intrigue, rivalry to translate it and the luck that led to the founding of Egyptology. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Soap is a miraculous substance – and mysterious too: we have no idea how humans first figured out to make it. We lived with soap for millennia before we thought to use it to wash ourselves with it, but once we did a love affair with cleanliness was born. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The Habsburg Jaw is the result of inbreeding. But what is it? Click play and learn! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Hurricanes are perhaps the most destructive force of nature we have to deal with here on Earth. When a mind-boggling number of factors all fall into place just right, the outcome can be an enormous system of storms that is as awesome as it is powerful. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Lobbying is an entrenched part of American politics and one that many people think is breaking government. But petitioning the government is protected in the Constitution. How can this system be fixed? join Josh and Chuck as they explore the topic in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Today we deep dive on mobile phones, wonders of the modern world! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Sure, together Young Guns and Young Guns II form an exhaustive biography of Billy the Kid’s life. But did you know they also contain misleading information? Billy the Kid may not have lived to 100 under an alias after all! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

For more than half of the 20th century parents in the industrialized world were freaked out by an unseen waster of youth, the poliovirus. It spread easily and could paralyze children for life or even kill them. Its effects were so horrible that humanity set about ridding if from the Earth. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

If you've ever seen a flea circus, then count yourself among the few. It's a dying art, but back in the day they thrilled and delighted young and old alike. Learn all about the tiny big tops in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The robber barons were not a group of evil super villains. OR WERE THEY? Learn all about these titans of industry from the Gilded Age in today's episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

An old coal mine in Pennsylvania caught fire one day in the 60s and it’s been burning ever since. What’s crazy is this happens all the time. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The 1920s were just absolutely nuts. People got into weird fads really intensely and one of the strangest of all was flagpole sitting. It’s just what it sounds like – sitting on top of a flagpole for as long as you can. One man sat above them all. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Well-planned landfills have only recently come into widespread use. Recently, waste managers have found that they work a little too well and now the landfill is being reinvented. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Essential oils are from plants and they can help the human body in a lot of ways. There are also many false medical claims. Learn all the ins and outs today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

You know the at symbol? This thing: @? There’s a name for it, just not in English. We just call it the at symbol. But other countries – stand back! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The KGB was the notorious strong arm of the Kremlin. Run afoul and you died. Learn all about them today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Guessing is a weird thing. For millennia, it could have meant the difference between life and death. Now it's not as vital, but we still do it every day, whether behind the wheel of a car, or judging what another person might be feeling. In this classic episode, learn everything we know about the brain and how it manages this odd, very human act. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

There is maybe nothing that sounds more boring than hearing two people talk about soil, but friend, prepare to be amazed at the details of what makes this amazing substance the life blood of Earth itself! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Why are some words funnier than others? Well, one man has sought to figure that out. We'll tell you all about him and his project in today's episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Researchers have noticed that as incidence of anger increases so too has teeth grinding, known clinically as bruxism. That’s a problem because when people grind their teeth, especially when they’re sleeping, they can wear them down to nubs. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

There is a lot – A LOT – to juggling and Chuck and Josh go over the lion’s share of it in this classic episode. Delve into the deep history, physics, how-tos and different types of juggling in this surprisingly sweeping look at a putatively innocuous pastime. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Matcha is something else, healthy and delicious and all the rage. Learn all about this trendy beverage today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

A gaggle of geese. A murder of crows. Nouns of assemblage are awesome and we talk about them for about 12 minutes in today's Short Stuff installment. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Sure you know all about ultrasound. You can see pictures of little babies right there cozy in the womb just by waving a magic plastic stick over the mom’s tummy. And magic is basically right. Believe us. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

People often ask us how we do our research. We're not going to disclose all of our secrets, but we'll give you some tips on how to root out the bad studies from the good ones. Learn all about shady studies and reporting in this classic episode! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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Haint Blue is a kind of robin's egg color that you might commonly find on porches of the low country of the Southeastern United States. But what does it have to do with ghouls and ghosts? Listen and learn! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The Seven Countries Study was a fairly impressive, long-term study on the effects of fat in our diet, among other things. But it was very flawed and launched the misguided "War on fat." Learn all about today, then make up your own mind. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Who first decided that it would be a great idea to shoot flame at other people from a distance? Josh and Chuck talk about the (very) early origins, history and technology of the flamethrower in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

There’s a persistent insistence that you can ingest a tapeworm and as the parasite hijacks a lot of the calories you eat, the pounds will fall right off. In theory this could be true, but it’s also extremely dangerous. And has anyone ever really done it? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Foie gras means “fatty liver” in French, which makes sense because it’s made from the overripe livers of force-fed ducks and geese.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In yet another testament to how amazingly great the 70s were, in 1975 the US started a program that tried to harness the powers of clairvoyance to remotely spy on the Soviet Union. Since clairvoyance doesn’t seem to exist, it wasn’t super successful. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The Black Panther Party was a complex political movement that was unfairly painted as a militant group who hated white people. Far from it, they were actually men and women trying to affect change in their community. Their history is one of the more interesting American stories, from the early stages of policing the police to their community service efforts to their inevitable fall. Learn all about the Black Panther Party in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Tank Man. An indelible image burned in our brains. But what led to this extraordinary event? Chuck and Josh walk you through the days and weeks leading up to the massacre at Tiananmen Square, which is more of a cautionary tale than we realized. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The lake from one of the all-time great movies (search your feelings, you’ll find that it’s true) is turning into a dried up mudhole. Turns out it has some unusual features. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

We've covered a lot of drugs in our history, and today we tackle heroin, one of the most dangerous of all. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

It’s likely that without the invention of the pneumatic jackhammer, the Industrial Revolution wouldn’t have hummed along quite so smoothly. Certainly a lot more trains would go around mountains than through them. Learn about this essential tool in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Narcolepsy is one of those amazing rare disorders that everyone thinks they understand – people just fall asleep at random times, even in the middle of doing something. But there’s a lot more to it and – even better – we actually may be able to explain it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

There was a time when kids had to look out for flying darts that could pierce their skulls when they played in the backyard. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

If you didn’t already know how amazing hummingbirds are, prepare to learn. Not only do they count among their numbers the smallest bird species, they are also lightning fast and have the endurance of a marathoner and a telethoner put together. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The Enlightenment stands as the moment the West withdrew from superstition and found its faith in reason. Did it shift too far? In this classic episode, learn about this massive shift in thinking which we are still sorting through and coming to understand today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Hi listeners, in case you haven't heard already, iHeartRadio just released a brand new podcast called Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020, where we collected speeches from notable folks all over and asked them to give their best advice, thoughts and words of wisdom to graduating seniors. In this episode of Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020, Josh Clark, co-host of the Stuff You Should Know podcast, divulges secrets to graduates that their parents and teachers may have neglected to tell them. If you'd like to hear the other speeches, including ones from John Legend, Bill & Melinda Gates, Tim Cook...

Bras are loved and hated, sometimes at the same time. But as difficult and restrictive as they can be, they rescued women from a much cruel contraption: corsets. The question remains, though, do women need bras at all? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Did you know the little nursery rhyme is controversial? It’s true: Two towns in New England can barely stand to see one another on the map (kind of). Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Something spooky was born on the American frontier in the mid-19th century: the idea that people’s personalities survive death and that some gifted individuals can communicate with them. It developed into a religion that some still practice today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Hi listeners, in case you haven't heard already, iHeartRadio just released a brand new podcast called Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020, where we collected speeches from notable folks all over and asked them to give their best advice, thoughts and words of wisdom to graduating seniors. In this episode, our very own Chuck Bryant reminds graduates to not let this season define them, reminding them the world believes in their ability to craft a better future for themselves. If you'd like to hear the other speeches, including ones from John Legend, Bill & Melinda Gates, Tim Cook, Katie Couric, Ryan...

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, in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

No food is more all-American than peanut butter – 80 percent of homes in the country have a jar of it in the pantry right now. And while the rest of the world might find peanut butter peculiar, maybe even gross, the rest of the world is wrong. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

You know those terrible leg cramps that come out of nowhere? They may be named after a drunken baseball pitcher. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Herd immunity is an epidemiological concept that if enough people are inoculated against a disease the rest of us won’t get it. It’s been useful in holding back diseases like polio and measles, but we have vaccines for them. We don’t have one for Covid-19. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Get all this plus Chuck discussing his caving experience, in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The zipper may be the most unsung invention we humans have ever come up with. Prior to zippers, everyone walked around like idiots with nothing but buttons to hold their clothes together. The zipper changed all that. The zipper changed everything. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

There was a glorious time in American history when circus sideshow performers lived together in a small town in Florida. Learn about the fascinating history of Gibtown today! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Spartacus was a real dude. He led a slave revolt, and was pretty successful to boot. I'm Spartacus. You're Spartacus. We are all Spartacus. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

A dog that knows exactly when its owners will arrive home every day seems to have a human perception of time, but in fact, they perceive time very differently than we do. Find out more about how dogs view time in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Agatha Christie was a great writer of murder mystery novels and is probably the best selling author of all time. Listen in today to learn her story. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Business in the front, you know the rest. Listen in as we discuss the lifestyle choice that is the mullet. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

An existential risk is a special kind of threat that are different from other types of risks in that if one of them ever befalls us, it would spell the permanent end of humanity. It just so happens we seem to be headed for just such a kind of catastrophe. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Back when this episode aired, the USPS was teetering on the edge of going under and there were a lot of plans on the table to save it. With the USPS again at risk now for different reasons, join Chuck and Josh as they explore the history and future of the postal service in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

As part of a super 70s push to get Earth to a seat at the table of the Galactic Federation (in case there is, in fact, such a thing), astronomer Carl Sagan oversaw an ambitious project to launch a compilation of Earth’s greatest hits into deep space. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Today Chuck and Josh take a shallow dive in the warm pool that is the NY Times Crossword Puzzle. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Today, Chuck and Josh dive into the funky, cool world of the classic TV show, Sooooooooul Train. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

All that gross stuff we humans put in the water that gets flushed down the sewers has to be taken back out before that water is reintroduced to the environment. That’s the ideal, and it’s essential to staving off the imbalance people bring to the planet. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

It’s a typical human reaction: When you’re driving and you realize that you’re lost, you turn down the radio. On its face it makes no sense – or does it? (It does.) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

We all know the benefits of bidets. But with toilet paper in short supply, they're more important than ever before. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Learn more in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Becoming the first licensed woman physician in America was tough, convincing male surgeons to wash their hands between patients was even tougher. Today Josh and Chuck pay tribute to a genuine pioneer in medicine and society. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In the go-go 80s and 90s, American Airlines offered the AAirpass, a lifetime pass for unlimited first class travel. It was an amazing deal, but AA didn’t predict just how much some travelers would use it. They played with fire, they got burned. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

As if being murdering SOBs weren’t enough, the Nazis were also thieving rats. During WWII, they stole billons in gold from countries they overran and moved it to Germany. But at the end of the war, only part of it was recovered. Where’s the rest? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 its dark corners in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Student loans can be pretty complicated. Luckily Chuck and Josh are here to wade through the financial muck for you. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Today, Chuck and Josh dive into that scary number...666. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Chuck and Josh explore the age-old question: Should you train your dog by treating it like a living, feeling being or should you beat them up and break their spirit? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

We’re in the middle of an odd, tense time and Josh and Chuck are here to explain what’s going on and how to stay safe.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

One day in 1967, Sweden changed what side of the road its citizens drive on. It went surprisingly well, considering. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

An old idea – giving every resident of a country a set amount of money every month with no strings attached – became a hot item in Silicon Valley and on the 2020 campaign trail. Could it alleviate the impending job loss coming from automation? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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, in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 American became obsessed with perfect lawns - in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 of the Lake to Merlin the Magician, seem fictional some archaeologists believe that Arthur -- and much of his life -- was real. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The soda we get instantly mixed at a fast-food joint owes a lot to a rich history going back to the Roman baths, that features drugs, diseases and explosions. Learn all about soda and soda fountains in this surprisingly interesting episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Other comedians cry on the inside, but Rodney Dangerfield built his entire act around his sad life. Get to know this legendary comic who was nearing 50 when he got his break. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The battle between Britain and Argentina over the rocky, cold Falkland Islands is one of the weirder wars in history. Learn all about it today! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The American Pledge of Allegiance is much more interesting than you might think. Give us 12 minutes and we'll fill you in. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Today Chuck and Josh sit and converse on the simple, elegant chopstick.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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. Join Josh and Chuck as they chase it down in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

A few decades ago, some people who liked to climb mountains decided they wanted to make it even harder and ice climbing was born. If you think rock climbing is difficult, put on your base layer and join Josh and Chuck on the glacier. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In the annals of American justice there is a 1977 case where the police were tipped off to the identity of a murderer by a woman who said she was possessed by the victim. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The coyote truly is wily. Even after a century-long attempt to drive them to extinction, this close relative of domesticated dogs not only hung onto survival, but actually doubled its range and expanded its population. Coyotes are here to stay. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

As of early 2013, only 161,00 metric tons of gold had been mined in the entire history of the world. Considering about 85 percent of it is recycled, there's a decent chance your jewelry may once have been part of an Incan headdress or Mycenaean face mask. Dive in to gold in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In true SYSK fashion, Josh and Chuck are late to the game. But never fear, they will still detail Mardi Gras in all its colorful glory.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

We all use them! But did we always? NO!! Learn all about everyone's favorite punctuation mark today! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Biologist and science historian Rupert Sheldrake is known as a heretic of science, mostly for his deeply strange ideas about what connects all living things. But his pokes at science help keep the field from growing dogmatic and for that we salute him. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 to microsurgery techniques. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Today Josh and Chuck sit down and detail the complicated life of the late, great Sammy Davis Jr. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Get ready for some Hawaiian folklore, people. Today we discuss the Night Marchers. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Indigo is a color with a rich past. Learn all about it today.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The fear of cults in the 1970s drove Americans to look the other way on kidnappings, abuse and torture of cult members by deprogrammers – but did it even work? Find out in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

It’s a pretty safe assumption that people have been born with birthmarks since humanity began, and between then and now we’ve come up with some wacky, even dangerous, explanations for them – even a few that survive still today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Mexican jumping beans are a real thing and they really do move around. It’s not magic, it’s nature! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In July 1966, three women out for a day at the beach waded into the water of Lake Michigan, got onto a boat and were never heard from again. To this day, not a trace of them has ever turned up and theories of what became of them abound. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Few riots can be attributed to passing fashions, but zoot suits are top among them. After originating among the Harlem Renaissance crowd, the zoot suit came to symbolize political defiance. Find out why it's still illegal to wear a zoot suit in L.A. in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Josh and Chuck delve into the world of 911 in today's episode.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

A couple unknowingly spending the night above a dead body stuffed under their bed is a longstanding urban legend. And a true one. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

What if a genetic brain disease could be turned off simply by flashing a light in your eyes? What if your depression could be cured that way? Sounds amazingly wonderful, true, but what if your behavior could be controlled that way too? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

For thousands of years people have been taking normal trees and forcing them into miniature. Learn all about the history and art of this strangely engrossing pastime in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Pentecostals are seemingly taking over the world. Or at least they're making up a larger section of Christianity than every before. Why? We'll dig in on that in today's episode.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The Iowa Caucus is super important. But not really. Find out why.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

With the development of increasingly smart artificial intelligence and lots more cameras spread around than ever before, we have reached a critical point in the US and other countries where governments can easily track everyone, everywhere, all the time. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 what's taking so long for us to get aboard in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Josh and Chuck dive into history today to tell the story of the Buffalo Soldiers.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Listen in as we detail, in short, the legendary shootout at the O.K. Corral. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Regular animal stories are wonderful enough, but when animals lead amazing lives the stories become almost unbearably wonderful. You’ve been warned! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

What is barefoot running? I think you know. But we'll detail all of the ins and outs. Listen and learn! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In 1983, what may be the worst diving catastrophe in the history of deep sea oil exploration took place when a pressurized chamber was opened, instantly killing four divers inside. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

1993 was known as the peak of a disturbing trend in America: post office shootings, carried out by postal workers. A stunned country looked for answers and turned up a toxic workplace that seemed to be driving some workers past their breaking point. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

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 was studied. Learn all about how an inert substance can have a genuine impact on a patient's recovery, in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In reality, the Tulsa "race riots" of 1921 was more like a massacre. Yet it was almost lost to history until 1997, and still not widely known outside of Oklahoma until HBO's The Watchmen put it on the cultural map. Learn all about this dark chapter in American history today.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The Mona Lisa is a captivating work of art. But why? We'll try and figure it out in today's short stuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Transdermal implants are just one in a number of procedures under the banner of extreme body modification. We don't like to yuk yums, so we'll offer a fairly straightforward look at this niche art form.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Jellyfish are among the most adaptable, competitive organisms on the planet. They can grow back into their juvenile stage when resources are scarce, reproduce in massive groups and kill an adult human, among lots of other neat stuff. Learn all about em in this classic episode! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers