Short Stuff: Modern Funerals
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, aka "The Elephant Man"
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
SYSK Selects: What is a hangover, really?
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
The Taliesin Massacre
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
Short Stuff: Cramming
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
How Class Action Lawsuits Work
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
SYSK Selects: 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. 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
John Lennon and the FBI
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
SYSK Selects: How Tea Works
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
Gobble Gobble: Turkeys!
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
Short Stuff: How Eyes In a Painting Follow You
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: Brainwashed or Bandit?
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
SYSK Selects: Whatever happened to acid rain?
Along with the hole in the ozone layer, acid rain was one of the first international environmental threats. It's fallen to the wayside in the face of climate change, but we have yet to lick it. Join Chuck and Josh as they revive the 80s drumbeat in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers
The Great War of the Worlds Panic Myth
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
Short Stuff: Squirrel Nuts
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
How Pain Works
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
SYSK Selects: Who Gets to Name Continents?
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
How Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Works
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
Short Stuff: Plastic Pink Flamingos
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
SYSK Selects: Geysers: Nature's Innuendo
The spectacular eruptions of steam and water we call geysers are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, the result of thousands of years of specific natural conditions and physical processes. Learn the Stuff You Should Know about geysers in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers