Stuff To Blow Your Mind

Name Thy Demons: The Roots of Human Violence

20 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Is human civilization growing less violent? Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker argued the point in his 2011 book 'The Better Angels of Our Nature,' in ...

AI, Machine Learning and Human Creativity

15 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Just as manufacturing automation cuts into human jobs, the prospect of creative artificial intelligence raises the specter of robot writers, robot art...

Science Communication Breakdown

14 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Science enabled humans to ascend out of the darkness and tackle life’s problems with systematic, self-correcting rigidity. Yet, when faced with scie...

There But For Science: Blood Navigation

09 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine a world in which sailing ships navigate by the yelps of tormented dogs and nuclear submarines whisper to each other via the screams of rabbits...

The Tower of Babel

06 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

An ancient people build a tower to touch the heavens. A vengeful god disrupts the project through the splintering of human language. Everyone’s left...

Neurosecurity: Dawn of the Brain Hackers

01 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

While hackers and malware can certainly cause a great deal of damage and misery, these dangers can’t hurt us physically, right? In this episode of t...

Height, Health and Human Happiness

30 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Tall people. Short People. Somewhere-in-between people. What are we to make of human height and its relationship to overall health and personality? Ro...

Five Reasons to Never Take Your Space Helmet Off

25 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

You've consumed enough science fiction to know something the average red shirt doesn't: Never take your space helmet off on a foreign planet. But if y...

R. Scott Bakker: On Alien Philosophy and Fantasy

23 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Canadian author R. Scott Bakker is best known for his Second Apocalypse saga, a series of dark fantasy novels that explore philosophical and even neur...

Hook Suspension and the Complexity of Pain

18 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Hook suspension challenges our perceptions of pain. We see practitioners, pierced through the flesh with hooks, suspended by chains and yet smiling as...

Escape Velocity: Jack Parsons and the New Magick

16 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Jack Parsons wanted to break free, from both the limits of Earth and the boundaries of traditional early 20th century American thought. He devoted his...

Weird Wonders of House Gastropoda

11 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The world of slugs and snails is a grotesque circus of fever-dream horrors and biological marvels. Join Robert and Christian for a six-species dive in...

Jade Immortality: Burial Armor of the Han Dynasty

09 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Chinese aristocracy of the Western Han Dynasty embarked on their journey into the afterlife within garments of stone -- luxurious suits of jade armor ...

Push the Frontier

04 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

You’ve seen enough Westerns and Game of Throne episodes to know a frontier when you see it, but what exactly is this boundary between the laws of yo...

STBYM Live: Weird Science in the Windy City

02 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Robert, Christian and Joe transport you back to the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893, when the neoclassical architecture of Daniel Burnham’s Whi...

Listener Mail: In One Ear, Out the Third Eye

27 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Robert, Joe and Christian call in the mailbot for yet another dose of listener feedback. Join them as they read your thoughts on everything from the u...

H. R. Giger and the Biomechanical Soul

25 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve all seen the surreal biomechanical art of the late H.R. Giger, but the artist’s mainstream success and the undying appeal of his 'Alien' som...

Where is my mind?

20 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today, most humans accept the brain as the seat of human consciousness, but this was not always the case. Join Robert and Joe as they explore ancient,...

Fossil Action Scenes: Dino Birth and Prehistoric Combat

18 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Fossilized remains provide exciting insight into the biology and behavior of prehistoric beasts, but sometimes the fossil record gives us even more --...

Disease Takes Flight on Leathery Wings

13 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Bats have been demonized through history. Our folklore and horror stories tell us they’re something to be afraid of because they’re 'creatures of ...

The Demon-Haunted Mind

11 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Demons exist only within the human imagination, but that doesn’t make them harmless. If positive religious world views can result in a more positive...

Beyond the Uncanny Valley

06 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The far side of the uncanny valley rises steeply, assaulting our psyche as our artificial human likenesses creep ever closer toward perfection. But wh...

Into the Uncanny Valley

04 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

From bad CGI characters to creepy humanoid robots, everyone knows the uncanny valley effect when they see it. But where did this idea come from and to...

Sexbots: From Objectification to Therapeutic Surrogates

30 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Sex between humans and machines is nothing new in the world of science fiction. Their forms range from angelic mechanoids to victimized humanoids, but...

Fertility, Ovulation and Consumer Decision Making

28 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

For 50 percent of the population, ovulation plays a role in human behavior -- but to what extent? Marketing researcher and social psychologist Kristin...

Be a Better Guesser With Fermi Estimation

23 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How many eyeballs are in the jar? How many piano tuners ply their trade in Chicago and how many intelligent alien civilizations await us in the univer...

Far Below: The London Underground Mosquito

21 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Unnatural tunnels worm and weave their way beneath centuries of accumulated London sprawl, and here a few natural creature assume unnatural behaviors ...

Two Minutes To Midnight: The Doomsday Clock

16 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists continues to calculate humanity’s countdown to annihilation, but who calculates the doomsday clock and what fa...

The Necessity of Patient Zero

14 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Patient zero looms large in our collective consciousness. Through carelessness, impropriety or sheer twisted luck, they introduce highly contagious pa...

Life After Radiation: Sickness, Death and Sustenance

09 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

While fictional monsters and superheroes consume rads like video game power-ups, radiation is a trickier matter in reality -- from everyday radiation ...

One-Armed Bandits: The Science of Slot Machines

07 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

You may call it a slot machine, a fruit machine or a one-armed bandit, but the reality is the same: an algorithmically precise machine designed to dra...

Mandala: Memory Palace and Simulated Worlds

02 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The mandalas of Tibetan Buddhism entice us as artistic expressions, meta symbols and conscience expressions of a complex spiritual cosmology. In this ...

Books of Flesh: Anthropodermic Bibliopegy

28 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The libraries of horror fiction typically offer many a dark tome bound in human flesh, but do books like the ‘Necronomicon Ex-Mortis’ of ‘Evil D...

The Secret Intellect of Animals, Part 2

23 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the second of two episodes, Christian and Joe continue their discussion of animal cognition, including animal morality, tool use, mental time trave...

The Secret Intellect of Animals, Part 1

21 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the 18th century, David Hume wrote that “no truth appears to me more evident than that beasts are endow’d with thought and reason as well as me...

The Holy Black Stone of Mecca

16 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Kaaba marks the geographic center of the Islamic world, and here one finds Al-Hadjar Al-Aswad, the Holy Black Stone of Mecca. Islamic traditions h...

The Mystery of Crab Boxing

14 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Boxer crabs stand out amid their crustacean brethren due to their amazing tool use -- a mutualistic relationship between these tiny crabs and the livi...

Jump Into The Void

09 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wrestle with the illogical quasi-compulsion to throw yourself off a cliff or building? Don’t worry! You’re probably not suicidal, but merely ...

Scientific Reductionism

07 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

You might have read that 'love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs,' but would it really be better explained as the behavior of a large aggregati...

100 Days Later: Mathematics of a Zombie Apocalypse

02 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to the particulars of a fictional zombie apocalypse, the particulars are all over the place -- but it’s always fun to throw fantastic ...

Chinese Immortality: Elixirs and Enlightened Beings

31 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

From deathless beheaded warriors and sacrificial heroines to mystical hermits, Chinese mythology is rich with tales of the undying. After all, the not...

Chinese Zodiac: Superstition, Economics & Destiny

26 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As we celebrate Chinese New Year and enter the year of the fire rooster, join Robert and Joe for an encore Stuff to Blow Your Mind exploration of the ...

Interplanetary War

24 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Syfy’s 'The Expanse,' based on the James S. A. Corey book series, revolves around conflict between human-seeded planetary civilizations -- namely a ...

Sailors on a Dark Sea: Political Extremism, Child’s Play

19 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As we sail through this world of technological marvel and complex systems, it’s easy to assume we know the watery depths that yawn beneath our hull....

Sailors on a Dark Sea: Illusion of Explanatory Depth

17 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As we sail through this world of technological marvel and complex systems, it’s easy to assume we know the watery depths that yawn beneath our hull....

Mixologia: Potions, Cocktails & Deadly Spirits

12 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

While the cocktail is an inherently American invention, the history of combining alcohols with other substances to create potent, drinkable concoction...

The Science of Holy Butter

10 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

There's more to butter than meets the eye. Each yellow pat of fatty goodness is nothing short of processed solar energy, and its long history entails ...

The Myth of Green Tea Hallucinations

05 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Read the 1872 ghost story “Green Tea” and you might worry that a fresh cup of Sencha might summon visions of a demonic ghost monkey. But don’t f...

Exorcism/Adorcism

03 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

You’ve likely never attended an exorcism, but popular culture ensures that you know what one is. Yes, we’re talking the forced removal of a demoni...

What Mind Control Feels Like

29 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

If mind control is possible, whether enabled by hard neurotechnology or good old fashioned social and linguistic suggestion, what does it feel like? W...

The Body Illithid: Science of the Mind Flayers

27 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

If Dungeons and Dragons has ever touched your life, then you’re probably familiar with the tentacled, brain-sucking Illithids. Even in a fantasy wor...

Dangerous Foods II: The Second Course

22 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In a world… where few people know the source of their foods and everyday meals seem the safest refuge, some dishes have deadly designs. From the mas...

A Six Course Feast of Dangerous Foods

20 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Considering a holiday feast of toxic sushi and deadly casserole? Then this encore presentation is for you. Join Robert and Joe for a six-course meal o...

The Nature of Heroism

15 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Heroes permeate our culture, from mythic archetypes and pop-culture superheroes to real-life humans who risk their lives for others. But from where do...

Euphemisms: Linguistic Transmutation

13 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Sure, euphemisms allow us to talk about something unpleasant or taboo without actually invoking the dreaded word or words -- but what else is going on...

Artes Mathematicall: The Diviner John Dee

08 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Elizabethan scholar Dr. John Dee was one of the most learned men of the 16th century, applying his intense mathematical intellect to matters scientifi...

Artes Mathematicall: The Conjurer John Dee

06 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Elizabethan scholar Dr. John Dee was one of the most learned men of the 16th century, applying his intense mathematical intellect to matters scientifi...

Listener Mail VII: Fill Your Ears

01 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

It's listener mail time again! Join Robert, Joe and Christian for listener feedback on combat drugs, only child syndrome, technology without fire, gho...

The Creep

29 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

You've all witnessed and been witnessed by the Creep, but what attributes compose this unsettling character? Why do we fear the creep and what, indeed...

To The Escape Pod!

24 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wanted to climb into the safe, metal womb of an escape pod and blast yourself free of this doomed vessel called life? Sure you have, but in the m...

Is social media driving us insane?

22 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

If our collective social, cultural and political angst may be compared to a fire, then social media often seems the kiln that contains it. But are res...

I Was Eaten by a Giant Spider

18 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The spiders that occur in nature are not a creeping menace -- rather, they are a true invisible ally of humankind. But if one were to grow to 1950s sc...

A World Before Fire: The Human Flame

17 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Humans existed before their mastery of fire, albeit in a rather primitive state -- and yes, even Earth itself knew an age when fire itself was not onl...

A World Before Fire: The Terrestrial Anomaly

15 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Humans existed before their mastery of fire, albeit in a rather primitive state -- and yes, even Earth itself knew an age when fire itself was not onl...

Combat Stims: Better Warriors Through Chemistry

10 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Combat stims and pharmacological power-ups are a staple of our gun-blazing video games, enabling players to rack up atrocious body counts. But what’...

Only Child Syndrome: Brats, Myths and Little Emperors

08 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What sort of behavior, personality and life can we expect from an only child? A lot of cultural expectations persist about the singleton, from the spo...

Incu-succubi: Demon in the Halls of Sleep

01 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Incubi and succubi emerge from Western demonology as supernatural seducers who prey on human passion. But of course seductive demons and sexual ghosts...

Frankenstein: 200 Years of Scientific Dread

27 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” has terrified the world for nearly two centuries, thanks to countless adaptations and the timeless nature of the 18...

Creepypasta 3: The SCP Foundation

25 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Is there science behind the creepypasta? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Christian return to the realm of online folklore and c...

Now I am Become Death: Cotard's Delusion

20 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Consider Cotard’s Delusion, also known as Cotard’s Syndrome, that rare mental illness in which the patient comes to believe themselves a corpse. I...

Death Roots: Dreams and Science of Carnivorous Plants

18 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Are humans truly safe from the hunger of mean-eating plants? Can we trust the trees that loom over us? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Rob...

Will-o'-the-Wisp: A Light in the Swamp

13 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

There was a time when strange lights appeared in the marshlands. Commoners might have known the eerie luminescence as “Will-o’-the-Wisp” or “H...

The Creepypasta Experiments

11 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Surf the Internet long enough and you’ll happen upon creepypasta: little cut-and-paste snippets of horror that blur the lines between reality and th...

The 2016 Ig Nobels: Pale Horses, Dead Flies and Quantified Bullroar

06 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Each year, a magazine called The Annals of Improbable Research awards the Ig Nobel prizes to honor the weirdest and funniest scientific projects ever ...

The 2016 Ig Nobels: Rat Pants, Mooning and the Sincerity of Rocks

04 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Each year, a magazine called The Annals of Improbable Research awards the Ig Nobel prizes to honor the weirdest and funniest scientific projects ever ...

Conjoined Dreamers

29 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Is the dream world a solitary creation of the sleeping mind, or can we share these spaces of fear, wonder and desire with other dreamers? In this epis...

The Nine Dream Worlds of Frederik van Eeden

27 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever desired a map of the dream world? Look no further than the ideas and practices of Dutch psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden. Influenced by H...

Undead Genes: Genetic Activation After Death

22 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

While more elaborate visions of the afterlife view mortal existence as a sort of larval stage in a grander human timeline, science tells us that death...

Weird Mushrooms!

20 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Join Robert and Christian as they crack open the sacred book of the shroom and examine a half-dozen examples of magnificently weird mushrooms. Learn ...

Beyond this Vale of Testing: Post-Empirical Science

15 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Most scientists declare empirical falsifiability -- the notion that a theory may be proven right or wrong via scientific investigation -- to be the co...

Scalp Hunters and the Cobra Effect

13 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the perverse world of unintended consequences and the cobra effect. Learn more abo...

STBYM Live: Prime Directives & Planetary Contamination

08 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Prime Directive serves as the Federation’s philosophical backbone, no matter how often our favorite Trek heroes bend and break its values in ord...

Chinese Ghost Marriage: The Rite of Mínghūn

06 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, join Robert and Christian for an investigation into the practice, history and exploitation of ghost marria...

The Substance of Silence

31 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We all have a pretty good notion of noise, but what exactly is silence? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee o...

MSG: Umami and Chinese Restaurant Syndrome

30 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the history and science of MSG and explore just why we demonized it for so long. L...

The Great Transhumanist Rapture War: Part 2

25 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Join Robert and Joe as they explore the space for common ground — and conflict — between genetically modified cyborgs and heaven-teleported believ...

The Great Transhumanist Rapture War: Part 1

23 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What do the transhumanist visions and singularitarians have in common with Christian rapture doctrine, apocalyptic prophesies and far-future saviors? ...

Curious Incident of the Guinea Worm in the Dog

18 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Humans have waged a decade-spanning war of extinction against the parasitic Guinea worm. With cases down roughly 99.99 percent from 1986, it would see...

OSIRIS-REx: NASA's Journey to the Netherworld

16 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the year 2018, NASA's OSIRIS-REx will rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu, a 1,614-foot near Earth object that might just collide with our world at ...

Listener Mail VI: The Listener Mailbox of Babel

11 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Yet again, the mailbot brings forth the responses and queries of many loyal Stuff to Blow Your Mind listeners. Join Robert, Christian and Joe on a sac...

Welcome to the Mosquito Factory

09 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In humanity's ongoing war against mosquito borne illness, some of the most innovative offense comes in the form mosquito breeding programs. Yes, these...

Saturn's Brood: Beyond the Outer Ring

04 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The planet Saturn offers far more than rings to those who venture within its gravitational influence. This wind-swept gas giant also holds sway over n...

O Time Thy Pyramids: The Library of Babel

02 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In Jorge Luis Borges' masterful short story "The Library of Babel," librarians and cultists wander a vast honeycomb library of hexagonal rooms -- room...

Minds of Musical Emptiness

28 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We're all wired to enjoy different forms of music, but for some of us the wiring is missing entirely. Join Robert and Christian as they explore the cu...

The Great Flood

26 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

From tales of Utnapishtim and Noah to Yü and Manu, everyone loves a good mythical deluge. But why are flood myths so important? What sort of natural ...

The Failings of Forensic Science, Part II

21 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What if bad science put you in prison for a crime you didn't commit? How many guilty offenders are still out there because of pseudoscience, fraud or ...

The Failings of Forensic Science, Part I

19 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What if bad science put you in prison for a crime you didn't commit? How many guilty offenders are still out there because of pseudoscience, fraud or ...

Leaping Mullets! Flying Fish! Breaching Sharks!

14 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Fish belong in the water, right? What business do they have leaping out of their world and into ours? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robe...

Coral Sex in the Sea (With Guest Marah J. Hardt)

12 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Sure coral reefs are rich, vibrant ecosystems, but did you know they also have a kinky side? In this episode of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast, "...

Summer Reading 2016: Time Enough at Last

07 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

It's a summer tradition, so once more the hosts of Stuff to Blow Your Mind share their fiction and nonfiction reading recommendations with listeners. ...