Stuff To Blow Your Mind

Listener Mail: Mirages and More

15 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Once more, it's time for a weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail... Learn more about your ad-choices at https://...

From the Vault: Biology of the Hobbit

13 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Not to question the wisdom of Gandalf the Grey, but a hobbit might seem like a poor choice for a continent-sprawling journey to rid the world of evil....

Weirdhouse Cinema: Dr. Cyclops

12 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe consider yet another mad scientist in the form of Dr. Thorkel from 1940’s “Dr. Cyclops.” Direc...

The Invention of the Spoon, Part 2

11 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time for another invention-based episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind. In this episode, Robert and Joe discuss a very old invention that we can s...

The Artifact: Glass Like Dough

10 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe discusses the legend of a lost recipe for glass that could bend without breaking. Learn more about you...

The Invention of the Spoon, Part 1

09 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time for another invention-based episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind. In this episode, Robert and Joe discuss a very old invention that we can s...

Listener Mail: Humbaba's Seven Terrors

08 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Once more, it's time for a weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail... Learn more about your ad-choices at https://...

From the Vault: Overconfidence, Part 2

06 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What is overconfidence? We tend to know it when we see it, but the concept is increasingly hard to nail down the more you think about it. In this Stuf...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Split Second (1992)

05 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week on Weirdhouse Cinema, world’s grumpiest detective Rutger Hauer investigates a series of monstrous murders in the climate change-ravaged fu...

Fata Morgana

04 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The horizon is an interesting netherworld of optical phenomena, where -- to the human eye -- ghost ships may sail the sky, phantom islands offer relie...

The Artifact: The Color of the Dot

03 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe contemplates the deep history of the color of the Pale Blue Dot. Learn more about your ad-choices at h...

The Halo, Part 2

02 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From glowing rings to flaming sun discs, the halo takes many forms in religious iconography. Why do angels, saints, gods and demigods love standing be...

Listener Mail: Avatar State, Yip Yip!

01 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Once more, it's time for a weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail... Learn more about your ad-choices at https://...

From the Vault: Overconfidence, Part 1

27 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What is overconfidence? We tend to know it when we see it, but the concept is increasingly hard to nail down the more you think about it. In this Stuf...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Santo in the Treasure of Dracula

26 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe dive into one of Mexican luchador El Santo's various horror cinema adventures -- and not just any Sa...

The Halo, Part 1

25 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From glowing rings to flaming sun discs, the halo takes many forms in religious iconography. Why do angels, saints, gods and demigods love standing be...

The Artifact: The Macuahuitl

24 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses the Mesoamerican weapon known as the Macuahuitl... Learn more about your ad-choices at ht...

The Moses Illusion

23 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How many animals of each kind did Moses take on the Ark? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss The Moses Illusion, one pe...

Listener Mail: The Corporeal Earth

22 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Once more, it's time for a weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail... Learn more about your ad-choices at https://...

From the Vault: Occam's Razor

20 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a standard tool of skeptical thinking: When presented with two hypotheses that explain the data equally well, choose the simpler of the two. In...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Demon Knight

19 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Yes, kiddies, in this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss Ernest Dickerson’s 1995 siege movie “Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight.”...

From the Vault: The Mighty Sarlacc

18 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Few places in the Star Wars universe are regarded with as much horror as the Great Pit of Carkoon, within the Dune Sea of Tatooine. In this episode of...

The Artifact: The Sword of Gōu Jiàn

17 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses an ancient Chinese sword noted for its unusual sharpness and resistance to tarnish... Lea...

Gold: Metal of the Sun

16 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the nature of gold, humanity’s history extracting it from the Earth and the amazi...

Listener Mail: Here There Be Dragons

15 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Here's your weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcast...

From the Vault: Lessons of Vesuvius, Part 2

13 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the year 79 CE, the Italian volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted with with the thermal energy of 100,000 atomic bombs. Ashen destruction rained down on P...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Freejack

12 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The bonejackers thought they could jack Alex Furlong, but now he's gone freejack in the future of 2009. Yep, in this installment of Weirdhouse Cinema,...

Monsters of the Shān Hǎi Jīng, Part 2

11 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the previous episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discussed the Shān Hǎi Jīng or “Classic of Mountains and Seas,” an ancient C...

The Artifact: Stone Mushroom Clouds

10 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe talks about mind-boggling prehistoric mineral formations. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://...

Monsters of the Shān Hǎi Jīng, Part 1

09 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the Shān Hǎi Jīng or “Classic of Mountains and Seas,” an ancient Chinese tex...

Listener Mail: Gravy, Sinkholes and Soviet Sci-Fi

08 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Here's your weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcast...

From the Vault: Lessons of Vesuvius, Part 1

06 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the year 79 CE, the Italian volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted with with the thermal energy of 100,000 atomic bombs. Ashen destruction rained down on P...

Weirdhouse Cinema: The Brain

05 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe cap off Brain Week with the 1988 Canadian monster movie “The Brain.” It’s kind of bargain-bin ...

Brain and Head Theft, Part 2

04 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

First they came for their heads. Then they came for their brains. In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe discuss the weird and fas...

The Artifact: The Heslington Brain

03 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses one of the oldest, best-preserved human brains. Learn more about your ad-choices at https...

Brain and Head Theft, Part 1

02 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

First they came for their heads. Then they came for their brains. In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe discuss the weird and fas...

Listener Mail: Nightmare Key

01 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time for more listening mail! Robert and Joe use the Nightmare Key to unlock a boss battle with YOUR e-mails... Learn more about your ad-choic...

From the Vault: Here Come the Warm Feels

30 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There’s often a gap between feeling and understanding, but language and classification provide us with tremendous tools for self-reflection. In this...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Teens in the Universe

29 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s Soviet work ethic versus the siren song of fun in 1975’s “Teens in the Universe,” a beautifully crafted and thoroughly weird space advent...

The Tempest Stele

28 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

During the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Pharaoh Ahmose I erected a stele detailing a great storm that destroyed tombs, temples and other structures....

The Artifact: Submoon Fever

27 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe sees visions of orbits within orbits within orbits within orbits... Learn more about your ad-choices a...

The Bonsai Tree

26 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Spanning centuries of human history, the iconic bonsai tree is a widely recognized example of Japanese mastery. Each miniature tree speaks to the beau...

Listener Mail: The Flood

25 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Here comes the STBYM listener mail, once again. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener f...

From the Vault: Horseshoe Crabs

23 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Their fossils date back 450 million years and their copper-rich blue blood continues to benefit various medical applications. In this episode of Stuff...

Weirdhouse Cinema: The Oily Maniac

22 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Yes, it’s time to grease up Weirdhouse Cinema with a Shaw Brothers horror film from 1976. “The Oily Maniac” is a tale of sleaze, revenge and a r...

Funeral for a Bug

21 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How do insects factor into our traditions of death -- and how do insects handle their own burials? Find out in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind...

The Artifact: The Cairo Toe

20 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses one of the oldest known human prosthetics. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://ww...

Sinkholes, Part 2

19 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the science and history of sinkholes. How have these impressive geographic features...

Listener Mail: Blue Öyster Cult

18 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Join Robert and Joe for even more STBYM and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com...

From the Vault: David Grinspoon on Pluto

16 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the book “Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto,” authors Dr. Alan Stern and Dr. David Grinspoon recount the riveting hi...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Arena

15 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time to lace up for a boxing movie -- but not just any boxing movie. In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss the 1989 sci-fi ...

Sinkholes, Part 1

14 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the science and history of sinkholes. How have these impressive geographic features...

The Artifact:The Psychedelic Blindfold

13 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe talks about a 2004 study of blindfolding and visual hallucinations. Learn more about your ad-choices a...

The Invention of the Lock & Key

12 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The lock and key are such a central part of modern life, both technologically and metaphorically, but when and how did this technological advancement ...

Listener Mail: Our Blessed Saint Poochie

11 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's time for more listener mail! Let's dig in. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener f...

From the Vault: The Psychology of Architecture, Part 2

09 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The natural world evokes various feelings in the mind, but humans spend a great deal of their time within spaces that they themselves designed and bui...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Doctor X

08 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the medical academy where EVERYONE is a suspect in the cannibalistic “Moon Killer” slayings. Yes, from the director of “Casablanca”...

From the Vault: Bandersnatch

07 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From its literary origins in the mirror realm of Lewis Carroll to its terrifying appearance in Charlie Brooker's “Black Mirror,” the frumious Band...

The Artifact: The Mirrors of Dr. Dee

06 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses the mirrors of English occultist Dr. Dee, including the so-called Devil’s Looking Glass....

From the Vault: Brian Greene on the End of Time

05 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Theoretical Physicist Brian Greene’s new book “Until the End of Time” contemplates the entirety of human history and the known universe in a sin...

Listener Mail: Holiday Hangover

04 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's listener mail time once more, so Robert and Joe catch up on some Stuff to Blow Your Mind holiday mail. Learn more about your ad-choices at https...

From the Vault: The Psychology of Architecture, Part 1

02 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The natural world evokes various feelings in the mind, but humans spend a great deal of their time within spaces that they themselves designed and bui...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Not of This Earth

01 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Don't switch the blade on the guy in shades -- because that guy might be a psychic alien sent to 1950s Earth to harvest its precious blood. In this ep...

STBYM: Electric Microbe Land

31 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It’s easy to think of electricity as the domain of Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and Street Fighter’s Blanka. But as Robert and Joe explore in this ...

The Artifact: Cones!

30 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe discusses why people in ancient Egyptian paintings sometimes have little cones on their heads. Learn m...

From the Vault: The Gerasene Demoniac

29 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“My name is Legion.” In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe consider the Biblical tale of exorcism and swine. What did the sto...

Listener Mail: Spin Kick!

28 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What's so great a bout a spin kick? Find out in this batch of Stuff to Blow Your Mind listener mail. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www....

Presenting Prodigy: The Polgar Sisters

27 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Can prodigies be created with early specialization? Laszlo Polgar was an educational psychologist who believed they could. He experimented with his ow...

From the Vault: Shrooms Like Cedars in the Devonian Wilds

26 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Did 20-foot-tall giant fungi rule the earth 400 million years ago? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the puzzling pro...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Robot Jox

25 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What if the nations of the Earth solved all their problems with giant robot gladiatorial battles? That’s the concept behind 1990’s “Robot Jox,”...

The Toaster Not Taken

24 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It’s obvious that our preferences guide our choices, but do our choices also determine our preferences? Join Robert and Joe as they explore this que...

The Artifact: Map of the Underworld

23 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses one of humanity's oldest maps -- from a coffin text detailing paths through the Ancient Eg...

Toy Guns

22 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For many of us, toy guns were part of our childhood, but how are we to think about them today? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and ...

Listener Mail: Holiday Beasts

21 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this batch of Stuff to Blow Your Mind listener mail, Robert and Joe catch up on Jim e-mails, Krampus talk and Leshy feedback. Learn more about you...

From the Vault: Is Santa a god? (parts 1 and 2)

19 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, but is Santa Claus merely a magical entity or doe...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Chopping Mall

18 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The shopping mall is a centerpiece of American holiday traditions -- cathedrals of consumerism, if you will. So in this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, ...

Heavy Water

17 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Nope, “Heavy Water” isn’t the new bottled beverage for headbangers. It’s actually an alternate form of water called deuterium oxide that plays...

The Artifact: The Tongue Stone

16 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM's The Artifact, Joe talks about a strange class of tongue-shaped rocks that were believed to have magical and medicinal power...

Holiday Inventions: Christmas Tree Lights, Tinsel and Angels

15 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Once more, Stuff to Blow Your Mind leans into the holidays -- this time for an invention-minded episode about some of the technologies that bring the ...

Listener Mail: Das Gravy Boat

14 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Time for more listener mail, with your thoughts on antimetaboles, pole dancing, gravy, weird movies and more. Learn more about your ad-choices at htt...

From the Vault: Devourer of Memories, Part 2

12 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“You are what you eat,” the saying goes -- but does that apply to memories as well? In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, join Robert and Jo...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Ghost in the Machine

11 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time for some early 90s cyber-panic! In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss 1993’s “Ghost in the Machine,” in which a ...

Like a Circle in a Spiral, Part 2

10 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

You might consider spinning around in a circle either great fun or a one-way ticket to barf town, but spinning and whirling are also tied to childhood...

The Artifact: The Poisoned Tooth

09 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses the fictional idea of the poisoned tooth and the real-life innovations that seem to have i...

Like a Circle in a Spiral, Part 1

08 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

You might consider spinning around in a circle either great fun or a one-way ticket to barf town, but spinning and whirling are also tied to childhood...

Listener Mail: Halloween Hangover

07 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

STBYM Listener Mail is now weekly! In this short installment, Robert and Joe catch up on some of your thoughts on various Halloween episodes from Octo...

From the Vault: Die Nacht des Krampus

05 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Heute Nacht ist Krampusnacht. Besprechen Sie mit Robert und Joe auf STBYM die beliebtesten Urlaubsmonster aller. (Originally published 12/5/2019) Lea...

Weirdhouse Cinema: The Battle for Endor

04 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Star Wars franchise is home to many cinematic entries some consider to be unnatural. In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss the...

Airships Over Venus

01 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Planet Earth a bit much for you right now? Well venture back out to Venus on Stuff to Blow Your Mind. Join Robert and Joe as they discuss recent news ...

From the Vault: Devourer of Memories, Part 1

28 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“You are what you eat,” the saying goes -- but does that apply to memories as well? In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, join Robert and Jo...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Boggy Creek II

27 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Weird movies are a Thanksgiving tradition, because Mystery Science Theater 3000's Turkey Day Marathon is a Thanksgiving tradition. So in this episode ...

Thanksgiving Smorgasbord: Turkey, Wishbones and Gravy

26 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In recognition of Thanksgiving, Robert and Joe devote this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind to the very topics that might float through your head at...

Antimetaboles: Sometimes You Eat the Bear

24 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Friedrich Nietzsche once observed that if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. That’s an antimetabole, a transpose...

From the Vault: Thankful: The Science of Gratitude

21 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Tis the season of thankfulness, so in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the science of Gratitude. (Originally published ...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Message From Space

20 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This time on Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe consider the 1978 Japanese space opera “Message From Space,” starring Sonny Chiba and Vic Morrow. It’...

Listener Mail: The Final Conflict

19 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Once more on Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe turn to the mailbot and read some listener mail from previous months. Learn more about your ad-c...

Invention: The Bed

17 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We sure do spend a lot of time in bed, but what exactly IS a bed and what were ancient beds like? In this invention-based episode of Stuff to Blow You...

From the Vault: Dangerous Foods: Adverse Additives

14 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As is tradition, Stuff to Blow Your Mind prepares for seasonal feasts with a look at dangerous foods -- this time with a focus on peculiar and sometim...

Weirdhouse Cinema: Mad Love (1935)

13 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this edition of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss one of the great weird films of the 1930s: “Mad Love,” in which Peter Lorre gives a stel...

Fireball with Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer

12 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this special interview episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe chat with legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog and volcanologist Clive Oppen...