Stuff You Should Know
Episodes
SYSK Selects: Saunas: More Interesting Than You Think!
02 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Although they seem pretty mundane, saunas are surprisingly fascinating inventions. Josh and Chuck break out all sorts of sweaty, sauna-related trivia,...
How Central Park Works
31 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Central Park in Manhattan was America’s first landscaped public park, built at a time when New Yorkers’ only option for getting some fresh air was...
Short Stuff: Johnny Appleseed
30 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Johnny Appleseed was real! And he was about as amazing as the legend paints him. He really did plant apple trees all over America and if the feds hadn...
How Ping Pong Works
29 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
While Asia is well-known for being cuckoo for Ping Pong, the game was actually invented by bored British Victorian aristocrats. Go back and forth abou...
SYSK Selects: Bioluminescence: A Bright and Shiny Fish
26 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Science has a handle on fireflies and glowworms, but most bioluminescent animals live in the ocean and are tough to study. Today, researchers are stil...
The Legend of Betsy Ross
24 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Betsy Ross is an American icon to many, the seamstress who sewed the first U.S. flag because of a personal commission from George Washington. But is i...
Short Stuff: Thread Count
23 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Is thread count all it's cracked up to be? Listen in and find out in today's edition of Short Stuff! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www....
SYSK Live: The Kellogg Brothers’ Wacky World of Health
22 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There’s no way you haven’t had one of their breakfast cereals, but we bet you don’t know the story behind the two brothers who brought the world...
SYSK Selects: How Lobotomies Work
19 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Lobotomies -- brain surgeries to relieve psychiatric problems -- are rarely performed today, but they were once fairly common. Tune in to learn more a...
The July 20th Plot to Assassinate Hitler
17 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of people in Hitler's inner circle wanted him dead toward the end of the war. But he proved impossible to kill from within. Listen in today as J...
Short Stuff: Olestra
16 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the 90s a fat free miracle food came out that promised we could eat all we wanted and not gain weight. But there was a caveat: it could also make y...
How Airbags Work
15 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It turns out that the inflatable bag of air that shoots out of your steering wheel or dashboard is the result of a controlled explosion of solid fuel,...
SYSK Selects: How Schizophrenia Works
12 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Up to 24 million people worldwide have schizophrenia. Despite the vast amounts of research, the disorder remains mysterious. In this episode, Josh and...
The Great Finger in the Wendy’s Chili Caper
10 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 2005 a woman named Anna Alaya discovered a length of human finger – nail and all – in her Wendy’s chili. Her cries of disgust would set off a...
Short Stuff: How Often Do You Need To Change Your Oil?
09 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
First things, first: Take that oil change reminder sticker off your windshield and throw it away forever and never look back! Learn more about your...
How the Spanish Flu Worked
08 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Spanish Flu killed anywhere from 20-100 million or more people over 1918/1919. All of this played out with World War I in the foreground, one big ...
SYSK Selects: How Munchausen Syndrome Works
05 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Why would someone fake an illness? Here's an even better question: Why would someone repeatedly make themselves sick? Join Josh and Chuck as they sepa...
What was the Tunguska event?
03 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 1908, the most powerful meteoroid explosion in recorded history happened over a remote area of Siberia. But the weird thing is there was no impact ...
Short Stuff: Khipu
02 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Listen in to learn all about the fascinating "language" of the Incan khipu knotted ropes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpod...
Rockettes: Still Kicking After All These Years
01 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Tune in today to learn all about the legendary NYC Rockettes, who actually got their start in Missouri. Learn more about your ad-choices at https:/...
SYSK Selects: How Fossils Work
29 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A fossil is a piece of once-living organic material that has undergone a transition from an organic state to an inorganic state. But what exactly is f...
Dr. Seuss: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
27 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Seuss is loose in this episode about legendary children's book author Ted Geisel. The funny thing is, he didn't ever want children of his own, and...
Short Stuff: The Brain-Bladder Connection
26 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How much do you know about the brain-bladder connection? In about 15 minutes, it'll be a lot more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www....
SYSK Live Christmas Spectacular!
25 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This year, Josh and Chuck go live for their annual Christmas Spectacular. Recorded from the Center Stage Theater in Atlanta, pour up some eggnog, ligh...
SYSK Selects: The Star Wars Holiday Special of 1978
22 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made. What happened on the night of November 17, 1978 ...
E.T.: Is It Really the Worst Video Game of All Time?
20 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If you play video games you probably have an easy answer to worst game of all time: ET. But it turns out there are no easy answers, especially when yo...
Short Stuff: Unique Snowflakes
19 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Amazingly, it turns out that every snowflake truly is unique. Math backs it up. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwor...
Geodesic Domes: The Wave of the Future That Wasn't
18 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes a good idea doesn’t pan out in real life. Take Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome: It requires less energy to heat and cool, it’s chea...
SYSK Selects: How Igloos Work
15 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Igloos were traditionally used by Inuit Indians as temporary shelter while on hunting and fishing trips. In this episode, Josh and Chuck look at the d...
Are good samaritan laws effective?
13 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Good samaritan laws have been around for many years, helping to provide legal protections for people who try to help other people. But do they work? D...
Short Stuff: Laughing Buddha
12 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know that the friendly, smiling Buddha we all know from bars and restaurants isn't really Buddha? Learn more about your ad-choices at https:/...
How Ayahuasca Works
11 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
One day in the Amazon Basin, a shaman put together a plant containing DMT with a vine that allows the body to absorb DMT. The combination, a foul-tast...
SYSK Selects: That Dang-old Goat Fell Over
08 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Due to a condition known as Thomsen's disease, the muscles of fainting goats tense up whenever the animal is startled. In this episode, Josh and Chuck...
Was the PMRC censorship in disguise?
06 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Parents Music Resource Center in the 1980s was really just censorship in disguise. But it kind of backfired. Learn all about Tipper Gore's crusade...
Short Stuff: Dolphin Detectors
05 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
They don’t actually disarm mines, but navies around the world use dolphins to find and tag sea mines so humans can disarm the mines themselves. But ...
How Search and Rescue Dogs Work
04 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
All dogs are great, but some dogs work harder than others. Or play harder, depending on your view. Learn all about the good boys and girls who find lo...
SYSK Selects: Can Your Grandfather's Diet Shorten Your Life?
01 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Epigenetics is a fascinating field of genetics that studies how the epigenome and environmental, nutritional and social factors affect gene expression...
Adidas v. Puma: A Sibling Rivalry
29 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Join Josh and Chuck today as they go down the sport shoe rabbit hole, detailing the strange tail of the brothers who brought Puma and Adidas to the wo...
Short Stuff: iSmell
28 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Two men once had a dream - to add smell to the internet. And they almost gave it to us. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcast...
How the Navajo Code Talkers Worked
27 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In WWII the US Marines devised an unbreakable code-within-a-code made from Navajo, one of the most linguistically difficult languages in the world. A ...
SYSK Selects: How Black Friday Works
24 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On the day after Thanksgiving, Americans go kind of crazy for the deep discount sales that kick off the holiday shopping season in stores. So crazy, i...
Fire twucks! Fire twucks! (sic)
22 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Who doesn't love fire engines? We certainly do. So much that we geeked out on this one in a big way. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad-choices at https...
Short Stuff: Safety Pins
21 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Safety pins are so ubiquitous, we take them for granted. But that’s the genius of their design – they work so intuitively they might as well have ...
Finders Keepers: Real Law
20 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
You know that heartbreak of the schoolyard – finders keepers, losers weepers? That’s actual law in a great many grown up places. Enter the murky l...
SYSK Selects: How Kleptomania Works
17 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Stuff You Should Know, Josh and Chuck discuss kleptomania, a disorder in which people have an overwhelming impulse to steal unneces...
Olive Oil: Mother Nature's Gift
15 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Olive oil is one of Mother Nature's greatest gifts to humanity. Learn everything you ever wanted to know about the NUMBER ONE OIL, right here, right n...
Short Stuff: Lemonade
14 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wonder where lemonade came from? Let’s up the stakes a little, what about pink lemonade? Well wonder no more! Join Josh and Chuck as they (brie...
Pando: Earth’s Oldest, Hugest Organism Is Trees!
13 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In Utah, lives a 106-acre stand of Quaking Aspen trees that are all genetically identical because they are all growing from the same massive root syst...
SYSK Selects: How Pizza Works
10 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sure it's everywhere and there's a more-than-90-percent chance you eat it once a month. But we'll bet you don't know the full history of that pizza (o...
Is yogurt a miracle food?
08 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Yogurt has been touted as a health food, but is it? Maybe. If you eat it every day. We get into the rich and creamy history of this supposed miracle f...
Short Stuff: Vomitoria
07 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A vomitorium was a place where ancient Romans went to make themselves throw up after gorging themselves at a sumptuous banquet. Everybody knows that. ...
What were war masks?
06 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
War masks were made for soldiers in WWI who had horrible accidents that left their faces sometimes unrecognizable. Though it may seem rudimentary toda...
SYSK Selects: How Grief Works
03 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
You can probably name the five stages of grief - from denial to acceptance - they've become pretty well known since being proposed in 1969. But later ...
How Easy Bake Ovens Work
01 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Easy Bake Ovens are as iconic as a toy can get, as American as apple pie or baseball. Learn all about these light bulb cooking, working ovens that end...
Short Stuff: Labor Day
31 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Labor Day, the day when most people in America paradoxically take off work, is actually rooted in some deeply radical and anarchistic thinking. Learn ...
SYSK’s 2018 Super Spooktacular
30 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It’s Halloween again and Chuck and Josh want to creep you out. Listen to two great classic horror stories, dripping with Jeri’s creeptastic audio ...
SYSK Selects: What's with the Winchester Mystery House?
27 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
After her daughter and husband died, heiress Sarah Winchester became obsessed with the idea that spirits haunted her and to appease them she had to ha...
How the Amityville Horror Worked
25 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In early 1975, the world was introduced to George and Kathy Lutz, a couple who had fled their home in Amityville, NY to escape a powerful, evil supern...
Short Stuff: Exploding Manholes
24 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If you live in a big city in a cold climate, you should keep an eye out for 100-pound cast-iron manhole covers suddenly launching 50 feet into the air...
How Epilepsy Works
23 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A seizure is like an electrical overload in the brain – when it gets overwhelmed, it just shuts down and resets itself. But imagine being susceptibl...
SYSK Selects: How Aphrodisiacs Work
20 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For thousands of years humankind has pursued the enhancement of sexual pleasure and performance through a plethora of medicines and practices -- but h...
Waterbeds: The Sexiest Bed?
18 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Waterbeds came and went pretty quickly in the United States, but despite their marketing as sex beds, they were actually invented to deliver a great n...
Short Stuff: Korean Fan Death
17 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a commonly-held belief in Korea that if you fall asleep with a fan blowing on your face you may die in your sleep from it. And while this id...
Was There A Real Robin Hood?
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Is it true that Robin Hood hung out in Sherwood Forest and stole from the rich to give to the poor? No. No, it’s not. Find out the real story in thi...
SYSK Selects: How Homelessness Works
13 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today, millions of people around the world are homeless. In this classic episode, Josh and Chuck take a look at homelessness in the United States, dis...
When inventions kill!
11 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Few things are more ironic than an invention killing its creator. The stories behind real life cases of death-by-invention are pretty interesting too....
Short Stuff: William King
10 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know that the United States has had one Vice-President who was sworn in on foreign soil? Well it turns out that may be the least interesting p...
How Marathons Work
09 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
You’d have to be crazy to try to run 26.2 miles in a single stretch, right? Right. But people still try it anyway. And a lot of them even survive! F...
SYSK Selects: Is lethal injection humane?
06 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Since the Supreme Court's ban on capital punishment was reversed, states have sought a humane method of killing sentenced criminals. They settled on l...
Algae: Food, Fuel, What?
04 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Just a couple years ago, algae was touted as the green, plentiful biofuel of the future. But that didn’t pan out. Why? And is algae down for the cou...
Short Stuff: Grandfather Clocks
03 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever wondered why a grandfather clock is called a grandfather clock and you have 12 minutes to spare, this is your lucky day. Listen in to t...
How the Concorde Worked
02 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The concorde was a wonderful thing, a super fast commerical airliner that got you across the pond in half the time. But it was small and cramped, nois...
SYSK Selects: Does the five-second rule work?
29 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
You know when you drop a piece of food and if you pick it up within five seconds it's still good to eat? Researchers have studied whether that's true ...
Seriously, What Is Dark Matter?
27 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Chuck and Josh take on astrophysics again and this time it pans out well. It turns out that there simply isn’t enough matter in the universe to acco...
What is colorblindness?
25 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Being colorblind doesn't mean you see in black and white, although in severe cases it can look a bit like that. The condition is on a spectrum ranging...
SYSK Selects: Was Malthus right about carrying capacity?
22 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas Malthus concluded that humanity is bound to outgrow Earth's carrying capacity. The prediction was based on humanity's exponential growth and th...
How Ranked Choice Voting Works
20 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the US, winner-take-all voting has created A LOT of political polarization. But what if rather than voting for one candidate, you could rank all of...
Roundabouts: The Problem Is You
18 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
They’re as American as Washington, DC yet most people in the US are terrified of them, hate them or both. What is it about traffic circles and round...
SYSK Selects: How Commercial Jingles Work
15 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
You probably can recite five right now. Commercial jingles are designed to hijack your working memory and implant a product or service and they really...
What are think tanks all about?
13 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Think tanks? More like stink tanks! We're kidding. Think tanks do valuable work, when they operate in a non-partisan way of course. Learn all about th...
SYSK Live: How Game Shows Work
11 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Join Josh and Chuck and a whole bunch of great people at the Gothic Theatre in Denver for this live show on game shows and their place in cultures aro...
SYSK Selects: How Circumcision Works
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Circumcision is a common practice in which the foreskin of a male's penis is removed, typically as a baby. In this classic episode, Josh and Chuck tak...
The Lava Lamp: Goes Great With Acid
06 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What started out as an egg timer at a London pub became a furnishing for bachelor pads before it took its rightful place as the most recognizable icon...
How Police Lineups Work
04 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Police lineups are something most people have never had any firsthand experience with. What you see on TV and in movies isn't so far off though. Learn...
SYSK Selects: How Patents Work
01 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What was originally designed to encourage innovation by rewarding the people who create technological advances, the U.S. patent system has become a bi...
How Elimination Diets Work
30 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Elimination diets are all about whittling down what you eat, then building it back up again in order to identify foods that don't work for your body. ...
Why There Aren't So Many Hotel Fires Anymore
28 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
1946 was a particularly deadly year for hotel fires in the US. Fires killed hundreds of people in Chicago, Dubuque, Dallas and, in Atlanta, the worst ...
SYSK Selects: What's the deal with Voodoo?
25 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Voodoo is a religion found in parts of Africa and Haiti that's often misunderstood. In this episode, Josh and Chuck separate the faction from the fict...
Pterosaurs: Not Flying Dinosaurs
23 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Almost everything you know about pterosaurs is wrong. They weren't birds, they weren't flying dinosaurs and they weren't all pterodactyls. Which makes...
Ballpoint pens? Heck yes, ballpoint pens!
21 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Get ready, folks. The ballpoint pen is far more interesting than you could ever imagine. For real. Brilliant in its simplicity. Took the world by stor...
SYSK Selects: How Electroconvulsive Therapy Works
18 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
With the exception of lobotomies, no other psychological treatment has a worse reputation. But thanks to some thoughtful tweaks, ECT has lately emerge...
Who is The Man of the Hole?
16 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In 2018, there's a man from a lost tribe still living deep in the jungles of Brazil who has been all alone since the mid 1990s. He's referred to as th...
How Board Breaking Works
14 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve ever seen someone break a stack of boards or concrete blocks with a single karate chop you know what it means to experience awe. Board bre...
SYSK Selects: How Traffic Works
11 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you've been stuck in a traffic jam or forced to merge and avoid road construction, everyone's had a few bad experiences with traffic. But how ...
How Attila the Hun Worked
09 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If you go to the Internet you'll see a few people championed as all-time greatest conquerors - Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and Atilla the Hun. L...
How Search and Rescue Works
07 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There are thankfully about as many ways to look for someone as there are ways to get lost. And the people who dedicate themselves to saving the lives ...
SYSK Selects: How Miranda Rights Work
04 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Back in 1966, the Supreme Court decided that suspects in criminal cases had the right to be reminded that they didn't have to talk to the fuzz if they...
How the U.S. Military Draft Works
02 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The U.S. military draft is far more interesting than you'd think. The process of conscription can get quite complicated, but we're here to clear it up...
How the Pony Express Worked
31 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For as long a shadow as it casts across the history of the Old West, the Pony Express was a failed business venture, doomed from the start, that only ...
SYSK Selects: How the Cannonball Run Worked
28 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Cannon Ball Run is a cross-country car race famously portrayed in the campy 1981 movie "Cannon Ball Run." But it isn't fictional. Tune in as Josh ...