Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Episodes
Selects: How Narcolepsy Works
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. Josh and Chuck run it down in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Rope, yeah ROPE!
Rope is one of the unsung heroes of the world of inventions. Think about it. Then let us tell you about it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Did a shipwreck double the size of the United States?
Did a shipwreck double the size of the United States? Sort of. Listen in to find out what the heck that means.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Isn't It Ironic, Dontcha Think?
Irony is one of those things that you know when you see it, but it’s almost impossible to define. Well, that’s not quite right – there are a ton of definitions for irony but none of them quite capture it fully. Want to know what irony is? So do we!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: The Manhattan Grid
Ever wanted to know more about how the Manhattan grid was made? Well this is your chance. Find out all about it in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Who was Robert Maxwell?
Robert Maxwell was a lot of things, publisher, mogul, spy, politician, crook. But was he murdered when he fell from his yacht?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Nero and His Fiddle
Did Nero play his fiddle while Rome burned during the Great Fire of 64 CE? Absolutely not. Find out how we know when Chuck and Josh bust a two thousand year-old myth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Bonnie and Clyde
You've probably seen the movie, but what else do you know about this legendary crime couple? Listen in to find out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: Iran-Contra Affair: Shady in the 80s, Part 2
As the operation expands it also begins to unravel. Word starts to leak out of the illegal stuff the Reagan administration was up to, Congress and the press investigate and people start to point fingers. Spoiler alert – they all got off scot free. Find out how it all wraps up in part 2 of this classic story.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: Iran-Contra Affair: Shady in the 80s, Part 1
When Ronald Reagan was president, America got involved in some deeply shady stuff, not the least of which was the Iran-Contra scandal – a convoluted operation that managed to combine an illegal covert war in Nicaragua with secretly selling arms to Iran. Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Reggae: Kingston’s Gift to the World
Although it was built atop some musical styles that came before, reggae is mostly its own thing. It evolved as local music in the Trenchtown neighborhood in Kingston, Jamaica but after Bob Marley and the Wailers came along, it became a global phenomenon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Phone Books
Once upon a time there were these things called phone books. Inside you could find the phone number and address of just about everyone in your town. Can you imagine?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Beans and Rice Feeds the World
To call beans and rice a staple is to undersell the importance of beans and rice. Today we break down the ubiquity of this beloved food combo.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: How Peanut Butter Works
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. Enjoy a smooth ride through one of our top condiments in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Russia Shapes What the World Thinks
Operation Doppelganger was a Russian propaganda project discovered in 2022, a minor part of the enormous, ongoing disinformation and chaos-sewing campaign Russia spreads across the world through social media. And some of your views may have come from it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Shark Arm Murders
Get yer info on one of Australia’s great true crime cases he-re! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Beloved Judy Blume
Judy Blume is more than an author. She's a legend in teen literature for her frank and honest portrayals of adolescence. Today we pay tribute to her.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: Plant Migration
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? Josh and Chuck run down the odds in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What's the deal with Swiss neutrality?
We all know Switzerland is neutral. But why? Listen in and you might learn something.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Sardines!
Josh implored Chuck to try sardines. Did he? Listen in to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Tobacco Master Settlement: That Time We Got Em
By the 1990s, cigarette makers had been hooking and killing off their customers for about a century. And they’d gotten good at both as well as covering up their harms. In 1994 they were still denying cigarettes were addictive. Then, the 50 Attorneys General of the US rode into town to take them on.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: The Soul Train Episode
In this classic episode, Chuck and Josh dive into the funky, cool world of the classic TV show, Sooooooooul Train.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
White Boy Rick
Would you believe that Detroit’s crack epidemic in the mid-80s was overseen by one 16 year-old white kid who supplied all the coke? No? Well, that’s not quite true, so okay. The actual story is even more nutso than that.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: The Voice of God
Today we salute the great Don LaFontaine, aka The Voice of God in movie and TV trailers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
You Are Not Alone With Postpartum Depression
Most new moms get the baby blues soon after giving birth. Postpartum depression is something much different - the symptoms are similar, but their intensity can have sweeping effects on mom, baby, and the whole family. Fortunately, it’s highly treatable but the catch is moms usually have to ask for help.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: The First Road Trip
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 classic episode has their story.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Eleanor Roosevelt: Best First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt was something else. We can't get into it here, but just wait until you listen to this episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Great Britain
Now that it’s been 250 years since America split from England, we figure enough time has passed that we can finally learn the difference between the UK, Great Britain, and the British Isles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Kola: The World’s Deepest Hole
During the Cold War all eyes were on the Space Race between the US and USSR. But there was another, overlooked race too and it went in the opposite direction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: Chopsticks > Forks
In this classic episode, Chuck and Josh sit and converse on the simple, elegant chopstick.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Alaska Earthquake of 1964
When a 9.2 quake shoook Alaska in 1964 it was the 2nd largest earthquake ever recorded. This is that story.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Toronto Clown Riot
Those are three words you probably never thought you’d see together. And the true story is just as interesting as it sounds.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Hillsborough Disaster
When a crush of football fans killed 97 people in England in 1989, police and officials engaged in a massive cover-up to blame it on drunken fans. Today we tell that story.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: How Enron Fooled the World
Until 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. Learn all about it in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Freetown Christiania
The sort of commune of Freetown Christiania in Denmark may not be what it used to be, but it's still true to many of its original values. Learn all about this unique neighborhood today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Why does it feel good to be scared?
Fear is different than being scared, most notably because fear is generally a negative thing and being scared can cause an enjoyable thrill. We'll get into the difference in today's episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Some Interesting Curses
Even though curses aren’t real – and we go to great pains to make that clear – they are pretty interesting, especially ones you haven’t heard of before. So we dug deep and found some of the curses that don’t always hog the spotlight for this fun episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: Birthmarks: Probably Not the Mark of the Devil
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 all about them in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How Chaos Theory Changed the Universe
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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How Global Warming Works
It's a confusing part of climate change when it seems winter is as cold as ever, but as global temperatures creep ever so slightly higher, a cascade of catastrophic events will almost surely follow. The ball is in humanity's court.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How X-Rays Work
Like many huge discoveries, X-rays were accidentally stumbled upon. That serendipity led to a medical breakthrough still in use today. Learn about how X-rays are created and why they make such delightful images of our bones.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: Elastics: Where God and Science Smooch
You could be forgiven for thinking the story behind elastics was boring. You’d still be wrong, though. The story of what’s holding up your underwear is a global drama, replete with war, industrial espionage, colonialism, destitute inventors – everything!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: Can Nuclear Fusion Reactors Save The World?
The world's energy consumption is ruining the planet but for decades physicists have been working on what could solve the world's energy and climate change woes for centuries to come - nuclear fusion. Learn about building stars on Earth in this episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How Occam's Razor Works
You know the rule that says the simplest explanation is probably the correct one? That’s called a razor and it’s meant to guide logic. But over time it’s become a broadsword used to disprove opposing arguments. Learn how to spot a faux skeptic in this episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: Things We Believed Before the Scientific Method
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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How Big Bang Theory Works, with Neil deGrasse Tyson
There are a number of theories for how the universe evolved but none are more widely accepted than the Big Bang theory. Learn about the mind-boggling details of the early universe and hear Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson talk about what it will take for us to know its origins.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How the Scientific Method Works
It evolved over centuries to become the gold standard for conducting scientific inquiry. Yet many people - including some scientists - don't fully understand it. Learn about the basis of how we explore our world in this episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: Legs! Legs! Legs! (The Periodic Table)
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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
M*A*S*H: The Story of the 4077th
Chuck loved M*A*S*H. Josh didn't. Listen in as they fight to the death.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Does singing make you happy?
Does singing make you happy? Yes, yes it does.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Did 24-Hour Cable News Kill America?
You can make a pretty good case that the rise of opinion “news” and filter bubbles on cable tv created the current cultural and political schism that plagues American society. How did it start? Where did it come from? And what the heck can we do about it?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: How the Fairness Doctrine Worked
Back in the day, broadcasters were bound by law to provide contrasting opinions on political matters. Why? Because of the Fairness Doctrine. What happened to it? Listen to this classic episode and find out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The NY Subway Vigilante
Today we dive into the unremorseful life of NYC Subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Rain Barrels!
Harvesting rainwater has tons of upsides and not many downsides – you just need to take a few precautions first. Don’t miss this episode, which features some Josh Math™.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Smile
They say that smiling requires fewer muscles than frowning, so why not smile? That doesn’t seem to be true, or at least unproven, and there is lots more about smiling that will keep you glued to your earbuds in this fun episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: 911 Is Not a Joke
Josh and Chuck delve into the world of 911 in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Three Mile Island
The disaster at Three Mile Island thankfully did not cost any lives directly, but the notion that it didn't harm people is very much up in the air. Learn all about the worst nuclear disaster in the history of the United States today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: 1955 Le Mans Disaster
In 1955, the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance motor race took a very dark turn when a terrible accident on the track continued into the crowd.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Tragic Life of Vincent Van Gogh
Van Gogh lived a troubled life and did not garner attention as a painter until after his death by suicide. Today we dive into this complicated journey as an artist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: Did Shakespeare really write all that stuff?
The question of Shakespeare's authorship has been around since at least the mid-1800s. Is there anything to it? In this classic episode, we dig in to this dense topic to find out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Howard Hughes in Las Vegas
From 1968 to 1972 Howard Hughes holed up in a suite in the Desert Inn casino in Las Vegas. Addicted to morphine and living on candy bars and milk, he was in bad shape. When he was told to leave, he bought the hotel and stayed. Soon he owned half of Vegas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Knuckle Cracking
Does knuckle cracking give you arthritis? It doesn't appear to. But that doesn't mean it's harmless.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Story of Starvation Heights
There are quacks and then there is Linda Hazzard. Not only did she starve her patients to death, but she took their family fortunes as she did it. This is the story of Starvation Heights.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: How Flight Attendants Work
Flight attendants have come a long way. From having to put up with rampant sexism, to the current incarnation as your first line of defense in case of an incident, they are valued airline employees. Learn all about this cool job in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The 1993 Waco Siege
One of the darkest days in the history of American law enforcement came on April 19, 1993, when the FBI’s 51-day siege of the Branch Davidian religious sect’s compound in Waco, Texas ended with a fire and 75 men, women, and children dead inside.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: All about BPAs
Are BPAs safe? Of course not. Does the FDA care? Of course not. Learn all about what and why today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Eels Alive!
Eels are pretty much objectively unsettling. They’re not quite fish (although they are) and if they’re snakes, they’re messed up snakes (they aren’t). But they’re fascinating too! There are even little cute eels. It’s time you got acquainted with eels!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: Did Mallory Make it to the Top of Everest First?
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? Listen as Josh and Chuck explore that question and lots more in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati
The Hindenburg Disaster
Hard to believe we haven't covered this one yet, but here we are. Why did the Hindenburg crash and burn? We still don't really know.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Did Tippi Hedron start the Vietnamese manicure industry?
Strange but true, actor Tippi Hedron kickstsarted the Vietnamese manicure industry in the United States in the 1970s. This is that story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Humanists, the Happy Heathens
If you don’t believe in any kind of god or afterlife - or even that there’s a meaning to life – does that mean you’re doomed to a life of gloom and doom? Heck no!, say humanists. Their philosophical movement says you can make your own meaningful life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: Can movies be cursed?
First of all, movies can't be cursed because curses aren't real. However, that can't stop Josh and Chuck from taking a look at some movies throughout history that have had a disturbing number of bad things surrounding their production and release. Dive into the world of cursed movies in this very fun classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Let's Go to Camp... David!
Camp David is awesome. But not all presidents have liked it. We'll dig into this historic property in today's episiode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Why do kangaroos hop?
Kangaroos are the only marsupial to hop, which is pretty weird. We'll investigate why. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Boeing's Nosedive: The 737-MAX
Boeing used to be one of the most respected engineering firms in the world. Then it changed its focus from making great airplanes to increasing its stock value. The result was the 737-MAX, a plane that took the lives of 346 people in two avoidable crashes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: Thrill to the Stunning Bicameral Mind Hypothesis
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 in this classic episode we join the club.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How to Drink a Tree's Blood
Of course we're talking all about maple syrup today - the tapping, the processing, the eating.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Short Stuff: Wisdom Teeth
By all rights there should be three sets of molars in your mouth. But it turns out that our skulls aren’t really set up to accommodate that many anymore. Exactly why depends on who you ask.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Save the Whales!
In the 1970s, conservation groups around the world rose up to protect dwindling whale populations, some on the verge of extinction. They all worked under the same banner: Save the Whales! It turned out to be one of the most successful campaigns ever.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Selects: How Fever Dreams Work
Fever dreams can be unsettling experiences. These ramped up nightmares are vivid, detailed and only happen when the human body experiences a fever. What is it about the combination of fevers and dreams that make these night terrors so hellish? Learn all that and more in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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