Strange by Nature Podcast

She had WORMS in her nose?

08 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This one is wild. Kirk brings us the disturbing tale of a woman in Greece who ended up with botfly maggots living up her nose. Rachel has a hard time ...

The Deepest Spot on Earth

01 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This week Victoria takes us to the depths of the Mariana Trench. After taking us to the deepest cave in the world she felt it was only fair to visit t...

How to Remove Your Own Appendix

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What a wild ride this week. We've all heard stories of someone needing their appendix removed but what if the only surgeon available is you? Rachel br...

The Everest of Caves

18 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk starts the show this week with an odd story about Perceptual Narrowing. The long and short of it is that babies are better at remembering monkeys...

5-Year Anniversary Show

11 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

It's that time again, our annual anniversary show. Guest naturalist and friend of the show Brett Sieberer takes control of the snow and quizzes us abo...

Zombie Snails for Lunch

04 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This episode was made possible by our Patrons. Thank you! Victoria starts off today's show with a completely bizarre parasite. Usually parasites are s...

The Wolves that Pollinate Flowers

25 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This episode was made possibly by our Patrons. Thank you! Rachel kicks off the show this week by talking about the strange pollinators of the beautifu...

The Fungus that Eats Radiation

18 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk starts us of this week with the bizarre story of a form of life that literally feeds on radiation. Found growing in Chernobyl, radiotrophic fungi...

Why Redheads Have Secret Powers

11 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria is back with us this week and she kicks things off with a doozy of a story about a species of bark lice that has undergone a complete swappin...

Flipping the Earth's Poles

04 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk kicks things off this week with a wild story about how the magnetic field of the Earth has completely flipped in the past. The European Space Age...

I Yam What I Yam

28 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel starts us off this week with the strange Box Jellyfish. This is an animal you don't want to get mixed up with. Kirk never wants to go in the oc...

Vampire Bats and Cinnamon Blood

21 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Hello Everyone and thanks for listening this week. Kirk kicks things off with a story about Vampire bats that just won't learn their lesson. In fact, ...

A Six Legged Whoopin!

14 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria starts us off this week with barnacles! I know, they may not sound that interesting but it turns out they are being used by researchers to he...

A Zombie Cockroach Baby Snack

07 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to 2026! Rachel starts off the year with horrifying wasps that sting cockroaches, turn them into zombies and then lay their eggs in them so th...

The Smallest Animals on Earth

31 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The final episode of 2025. Here's what we have for you: Kirk kicks off the show by looking into the very strange world of insect hearing. Turns out so...

Load the Fish Cannon!

24 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Look, we get it. This is a busy week with family for a lot of people. If you are one of those people, we sincerely hope this episode helps you hide fr...

The Only True Blue in Nature

17 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel keeps things light as we start off the show with a discussion of Botulism toxin just in time for the holidays. Watch out for those bulging cans...

A Nuclear Bunker of Cannibal Ants

10 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Kirk starts us off with a strange story about mushrooms being used as computer parts. he sincerely hopes he never has to pronounce the word...

Don't Stick Your Head in the Particle Accelerator

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria starts us off this week with a bizarre story about how some animals can see without having eyes. Kirk is up next and he tells us about Fugu, ...

When Fish Climb Cliffs

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to our 250th episode! Rachel kicks things off with a discussion of Carrion Beetles. Victoria then tells us about fish that can climb cliffs. S...

Visit the Spider Megacity

19 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What a wild show this week. Well, it finally happened. After approximately 700 topics, we finally had two hosts come with the same secret topic. Kirk ...

Can a Snake be Venomous AND Poisonous?

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria starts the show this week with a look at the cyclops (cyclopses?). From Greek legend to modern reality, Victoria traces a few of the possible...

Vampire Squid from Hell

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel starts the show this week with a topic that almost made the Halloween show last week. She brings us the Vampire Squid from Hell. That's literal...

Death by Potatoes

29 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We've been building to it all month, it is time for Halloween and we have some great topics. Kirk kicks off the show with a topic that may have you th...

Ghosts in the Lab

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria kicks things off this week with the terrifying topic of Prion diseases. These bizarre infections can take years to manifest, are incurable, a...

The Burning Crater of Fire

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week's show starts of with Rachel telling us about the Door to Hell. Seems like a fitting topic as we approach Halloween. But what is it? The Doo...

The Beetle with a Fake Termite on its Back

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk keeps the Halloween month theme going by talking a bit about Black Cats big and small. What makes them strange? Why do they exist? Why were they ...

Fixing Blindness with a Tooth in the Eye

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Happy October!  We've got quite a show for you this week. Victoria kicks Spooky Month off with the Worm Pearlfish. At first they don't sound too bad ...

Can Plants Hear Insects?

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week Rachel kicks things off with a discussion of Cloud Forests. This rare habitat is found only in specific parts of the world and many unique p...

Jewelry Poisonous Enough to Kill

17 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk kicks off this week with predatory fungus that hunts for animals. Say what? Rachel tells us about the massive northern elephant seal. Victoria le...

Robotic Mushrooms!

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Victoria takes us to the ocean to learn about a truly bizarre creature, Sea spiders! Kirk then shares a story about the scientists giving r...

Do Bees Play?

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Rachel starts us off with an interesting question. Can bees play? A team of researchers thinks they can. Find out what happens when they ga...

The Stone Cold Steve Austin of Wasps

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What a wild show this week. Kirk starts things off with a listener submitted story about how researchers created fake fiddler crabs to better understa...

Testing the Frog Glue

20 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What a wild ride this week! Victoria is up first with a bizarre story about how researchers looked into frog glue. Kirk then builds off last week by ...

Pharaoh's Curse Cures Leukemia

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week we explore the Pharaoh's tomb with Rachel and possibly discover the cause of the Curse of the Pharaoh. What's more, can it cure cancer? Rach...

Milky Way Migrating Moths

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk kicks off this week's show with the amazing migration skills of the Bogong Moth. They are the first ever recorded invertebrate that uses celestia...

The Dodo!

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Kirk is back and the crew pulled together another great show. Victoria kicks things off with a creature feature on an animal we can't belie...

This Episode Stinks (it's about skunks)

23 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hello Everyone, time for another weekly dose of weird. This week, Victoria kicks things off with a story about Brown-headed cowbirds and their amazing...

Earth Had Rings Like Saturn?

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week we've got two amazing stories that couldn't be more different. Rachel spins a tale that spans millions of years. Could the explosion of life...

The Bird with a Skull Crushing Kick

09 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria kicks off the show this week with yet another flying animal that usually can't fly. She's brought us flying snakes and flying spiders, how ab...

The Toad with Eyes in its Mouth

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel brings us the beautiful and disgusting Bradford pear this week. Thank you? Victoria takes us deep underground to discover mind-blowingly large ...

Stinking Smut of Rye

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk starts off the show with the mysterious story of the Basra Grain Poisoning of 1971, a terrible story of the dangers of methylmercury. Rachel is u...

A Pooper Scooper Claw

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria starts us off with a wealth of information about hermit crabs and the strange process of shell swapping. Kirk brings us the strange tale of C...

What's So Strange About Dandelions?

11 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What's so strange about Dandelions? That's a good question and Rachel gets to the bottom of it. Victoria is up next with some wild research into just ...

Planets Made of Diamonds

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk brings the strange tale of the King's Lomatia, quite possibly the oldest living plant on Earth. It is a strange tree that has lost the ability to...

The Fastest Jaws on Earth

28 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Victoria starts us off with a discussion probably not suitable for all ages by talking about the massive penis of the Serotine Bat. It's a ...

Giant Bird Eating Spiders

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel kicks off this week show with the strange colonial creatures of the sea known as "By the Wind Sailors." Victoria makes us all a bit uncomfortab...

Which Animal Smells like Buttered Popcorn?

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk tells us about how scientists finally discovered the identity of a frog that had puzzled the scientific community for 80 years. Rachel tells us a...

The Bone Collector Moth

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Anyone fancy a yawn? Victoria did some investigation into the strange phenomenon of social yawning. Are yawns really contagious? Kirk then brings us ...

The Lightening Tree

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria talks about the amazing tropical super-canopy tree the Almendro that actually seem to attract lightening in order to kill off the trees aroun...

Trees Older Than Written Language!

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk blows our minds with the age of Bristlecone Pines. Did you know there are living trees that predate the invention of written language? Victoria t...

A Tree Taller than the Statue of Liberty

16 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria starts us off this week with the surprising reason that blue-eyed white cats are often deaf. The reason is truly bizarre. Kirk brings us the...

Venus Flytrap...but it's actually a wasp!

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel is up first this week with a lighthearted study that investigated why banana peels are so slippery when stepped on. Victoria then swerves into ...

The Most Venomous Spider in the World

02 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are you ready for another wild episode? This week we have three wonderful stories for you. Kirk goes first with the astounding story of archerfish t...

The Horned Screamer

27 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Here's your weekly dose of weird. Up first, Victoria revisits slime molds so she can tell us about a truly massive single cell organism. Kirk is up ne...

The Walking Fish that Climbs Trees!

19 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the beginning of year 5 of the podcast. We're happy to have all of our amazing listeners along for the ride. Rachel kicks things off this ...

Whistlepig Waygu?

12 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's the end of our 4th year doing the show so that means it is time for our annual quiz show! Our Special guest Brett Sieberer is here once again to ...

Why is there a Grape Leaf in the Pickle Jar?

05 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk kicks things off the the Medlar, an ancient fruit with a decidedly NSFW nickname. Maybe this one isn't for the kids.  Rachel then gets to the bo...

Insect Suicide Defense Bombing

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria starts things off with a bang this week and that bang is ants that explode their bodies releasing a toxic yellow goo epoxy to trap their at...

Why is the Titanic Disappearing?

19 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel tells us an astounding fact, the metal of the Titanic is being eaten by bacteria and could collapse in just 6 years. Victoria helpfully lets us...

What is the Hot Chocolate Effect?

12 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk gets to start us out this week and he's all ears. Ears are weird but all those shapes actually mean something. Learn how the shape of an animal'...

Is Urination Contagious?

05 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria is up first with a mystery part of the cell and we have no idea what it does or why it is there but it is inside you right now. Learn more a...

Why Do We Celebrate Groundhog Day?

29 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On this week's show, Victoria kicks things off with a discussion of Chirality and how the study of the "handedness" of molecules could actually lead...

Weird Animal Defenses

22 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On this week's show 2/3 of us talk about animal defenses. Kirk starts us off with the Giant Vinegaroon, an acid shooting whip scorpion. Rachel then al...

Surprise! Defensive Genitalia

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria kicks things of this week with a fascinating new study on Potter wasps showing that the males actually can defensively "sting" even though th...

The Immortal Jellyfish

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel takes us to the zoo to meet a Lyre Bird. Sure, they are found in the wild too but this one learned to reproduce the evacuation alarm for the e...

Bone Eating Worms

01 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hey Everyone, it is our first show of 2025! Kirk starts us off this week with a medical mystery from Australia. Can Victoria guess what it is? Spoile...

Mammals Can Breathe through their Butts?

26 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to another exciting week of weird. Victoria starts off this week's show with the story of an Ignobel prize wining study showing that mammals c...

Can Plants Hear Water?

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week Rachel brings us the Bumblebee Bat which by some measures is the smallest mammal in the world. It weighs the same as two skittles candies....

Shocking Facts about Electric Eels

11 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to Episode 200. Thanks for being along on the ride. Victoria brings us the mysterious tale of Red Sprites. They sound like mythical creates b...

Solar Powered Hornets!

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We're almost to 200 episodes! Hold your horses though, we have one more episode here in ONEderland. This week, Kirk brings us a completely bizarre sto...

The Undertaker Bird

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We've got a full episode this week to get some of you though family time on Thanksgiving. Put in the ear buds and enjoy some anti-social you time. ...

Introducing Killer Wasps to Save Birds

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Kirk takes us back to the end of the dinosaur age and how the asteroid impact may have set up just the right conditions to create the worl...

Mysteries of the Ocean

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fresh off Halloween and still on a sugar high, Rachel and Kirk dive into the mysteries of the planet. Rachel heads back to the ocean to visit the Tw...

Put Some Placenta on That

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk kicks things off this week with a mysterious sound being heard in Tampa, Florida. What is it? Likely the sound of hundreds of mating black drum...

Halloween 2024! Flying Leeches, Vampires, Death Water

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's finally here, the Halloween Episode for 2024. Victoria starts things of with, brace yourself, flying leeches. That's right, we finally have confi...

The Crypt-keeper Wasp

23 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What an appropriate subject for the week before Halloween! Rachel brings us the very creepy Crypt-keeper Wasp. This parasitic wasp eats you alive ins...

The 656 Foot Tall Tsunami

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Kirk brings us a mystery. Last September, the Earth rang like a bell for nine days and a team of 56 scientists from around the world spen...

What's Living in Your Microwave?

09 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel kicks things off this week with the amazing Wombat butt. Sure, Kirk talked about the strange square shaped poo of the Wombat many episodes ag...

Too Many Nipples

02 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

So much to unpack here this week. Kirk starts us off with a story about bears in Yellowstone eating 40,000 moths to get ready for winter. Rachel then ...

The Antarctic River of Blood

25 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel starts us off with a mysterious river of blood in Antarctica. Okay, so not actually blood but what is causing this strange red river to flow ou...

Doritos Dye Makes Mice Transparent

17 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

You may have seen this one in the headlines. Kirk does a deep dive on the science behind this fascinating phenomenon. Scientists have turned the sk...

Did Giant Crabs Eat Amelia Earhart?

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria is with us this week and she brings us the tale of giant Coconut Crabs that just may have eaten Amelia Earhart. Not to be outdone, Kirk te...

The Disco Clam

04 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Having survived wild thunderstorms, your intrepid hosts return with tales of the strange. Rachel brings us a story of the coolest (coldest) lava flowi...

Using Karaoke for Science

28 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week Kirk starts us off with a bizarre story about the weirdly human trait of blushing when we are embarrassed. He then tells us about a wild ne...

Neurotoxins, Necrosis and News

21 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I can't believe I am about to type this sentence but Rachel's topic this week is Foot-long Neurotoxic Invasive Terrestrial Flatworms. Yeah. That's......

Going to the Ant Surgeon

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Kirk brings us a story about ants that perform surgery on injured colony members. Warning, the only surgery they know is amputation. Rach...

Flashing Your Butt to Attract a Mate

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Victoria talks about the bird pirates of the sea, the Great Skua. These birds have an incredible memory for people they don't like and they...

Training Sharks to eat Lions

31 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week it's back to the briny deep as Rachel talks about a program to train sharks to eat lion fish. It's the latest in a strange list of ways pe...

The Moss Chicken

24 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On this week's show, Kirk talks about the uncomfortable middle path. How does ambiguity shape our choices? Why do things that are not quite one thing...

The Mystery of the Glowing Wounds

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The gang's all together this week. Victoria kicks things off with a story about a bizarre fern that displayed a totally new concept in plants. Ladies ...

Leaf Blowers for Lizards

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hello Everyone, ready for another fun episode? Rachel kicks us off this week by talking about Alpha Gal. No, she's not a superhero. Alpha Gal is an a...

Why We Drop 14.7 million Screwworms from Planes Every Week

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk once again takes us back to space this week to talk about Schloz's Star. Incredibly, scientists discovered that 70,000 years ago, this star actua...

From the Ocean to Outer Space

26 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel goes back to the ocean to talk about bizarre, small, upside-down, solar powered jellyfish. Kirk goes the exact opposite direction and takes us ...

Stepping on Snakes for Science

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kirk tells us all about the amazing but extinct Elephant Bird, an incredible bird that could grow to a massive 2000 pounds. Rachel next brings us an a...

When years had 400 days...

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We're all over the place this week. Victoria is back and she brings a mind blower talking about how the length of the day and the number of days in a ...

When Everyone Looks Like a Dragon

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week Kirk starts us off with a fascinating story of PMO or Prosopometamorphopsia, a condition where people strangely see distortions to other peo...

Liquifying a Frog for Lunch

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week Rachel and Kirk share some incredible stories. Rachel starts us of with some amazing facts about the Albatross. They are truly giant and a...

Are Feathers Actually OLDER than Dinosaurs?

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On this week's show, Kirk tells us about a fascinating discovery that may mean feathers are older than dinosaurs. Rachel is up next with the story abo...

Beware the Raw Bacon

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria kicks things off this week with a bizarre question, is there anything we have three of in our body? This interesting question lead her on a...