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Stuff You Should Know

Short Stuff: Knuckle Cracking

27 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 3.763 Josh Clark

This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.

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5.228 - 21.811 Nick Jonas

Hey guys, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

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22.092 - 26.117 Nick Jonas

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but you know. Tired and sick. Tired and sick.

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26.458 - 33.227 Kevin Jonas

Listen to Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

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33.764 - 52.397 Unknown

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. On Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band with their between songs banter.

52.377 - 57.326 Chuck Bryant

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

57.546 - 65.179 Unknown

Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

68.305 - 80.128 Josh Clark

Hey, and welcome to the short stuff, Josh, Chuck, Jerry, sitting in for Dave. So this is short stuff. Chuck, I have a question for you. Are you cracking your knuckles right now?

80.628 - 81.569 Chuck Bryant

I am. Did you hear that?

Chapter 2: What is the main topic of knuckle cracking?

225.477 - 233.952 Josh Clark

There you go. Not your bones rubbing together. Okay. I want you to go to recess and tell your friends that is not your bones rubbing together.

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234.552 - 250.934 Chuck Bryant

Yeah. And then the cavitation you mentioned earlier, I think before we break, we should just clear that up. You said 20 to 30 minutes. That is how long it takes for that gas to re-dissolve into that joint fluid. And cavitation is possible again.

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251.274 - 254.499 Josh Clark

Yeah. Go watch me cavitate my knuckles.

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254.899 - 255.64 Chuck Bryant

Yeah, exactly.

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257.257 - 266.091 Josh Clark

Oh, I just did one again. Okay, I say we take a little break and come back and talk about how we know that cracking your knuckles doesn't give you arthritis.

266.651 - 267.413 Chuck Bryant

All right, we'll be right back.

270.337 - 280.092 Unknown

Oh, the stuff we learn from Josh and Chuck Stuff you should know

283.953 - 301.77 Nick Jonas

Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, Nate? Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Yeah, a pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special.

302.15 - 317.368 Joe Jonas

So how did we actually come up with the name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it, and... Well, we were thinking of originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers.

Chapter 3: Does cracking your knuckles cause arthritis?

366.663 - 373.208 Unknown

Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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388.797 - 393.808 Josh Clark

Chuck, I know we've talked about this guy before, Dr. Donald Unger. I think we did a video about him.

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394.309 - 394.87 Chuck Bryant

Yeah.

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394.89 - 418.291 Josh Clark

But he, you know what? I'll bet we talked about him in the Ignoble Prize episode because he won an Ignoble for this. But essentially, he conducted an experiment for 60 years because he wanted to prove his mother wrong. And he only cracked the knuckles on, I think, his left hand. Never cracked them on his right hand. That's crazy. And then after 60 years, he finally said, OK, it's time.

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418.771 - 420.133 Josh Clark

And he x-rayed his hands.

420.994 - 438.519 Chuck Bryant

Yeah. If he didn't have the compulsion to crack his knuckles, I could see how this happened. But if you are a knuckle cracker, you're kind of you feel compelled to do it. So I can't imagine what it would have taken to not crack knuckles. the knuckles on one hand for that many years. It must've been really tough.

439.38 - 440.041 Josh Clark

Yeah, sure.

440.682 - 455.862 Chuck Bryant

That's my guess. So yeah, he did this over his lifetime. He x-rayed himself on the reg and eventually decades later came to the conclusion that he doesn't have any arthritic difference in his hands. Case closed.

455.842 - 472.011 Josh Clark

He had NAD, no arthritic difference. That's right. That's not to say, though, that even if you don't get arthritis from cracking your knuckles, it's another thing you can tell your friends at recess. Do they even have recess anymore? I guess maybe hour-long screen time.

Chapter 4: What is the science behind the popping sound when cracking knuckles?

663.475 - 666.58 Josh Clark

So you're, you know, three for five.

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667.049 - 670.936 Chuck Bryant

Yeah, I don't manual labor, so we shouldn't count that one.

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670.957 - 693.891 Josh Clark

So there is some benefits to actually cracking your knuckles, though, too. We're not just hating on cracking your knuckles. There's something called the Golgi tendon organs, not the Golgi apparatus. That's a different episode altogether. The Golgi tendon organs sense muscle tension. And when you crack your knuckles, you're actually relieving some muscle tension.

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693.911 - 707.143 Josh Clark

So the muscles around the joints, when you crack them, get relaxed. So you can feel like, you know, your hands feel pretty mellow after cracking your knuckles. I saw it described as yoga for your knuckles.

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708.063 - 708.604 Chuck Bryant

Oh, interesting.

709.284 - 710.465 Josh Clark

Yeah, I thought so too.

710.485 - 712.007 Chuck Bryant

Is that like getting your back cracked or something?

712.367 - 714.589 Josh Clark

Basically, yeah, but for your knuckles.

715.16 - 727.215 Chuck Bryant

Yeah, we found one more thing, you know, like I'm at the age where, you know, if I kneel down to get something, you're going to hear a snap, crackle, and a pop maybe coming from some part of my body.

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