How Stuttering Works
15 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Despite as much as one percent of the adult population having the condition, science doesn't actuall...
SYSK Selects: How McCarthyism Works
12 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, if you're accusing someone of disloyalty or subversion without d...
How Bioarchaeology Works
10 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Thanks to advancements in fields like genetics, and molecular chemistry, archaeology is undergoing a...
Do motivational speakers motivate people?
08 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There are all kinds of motivational speakers, from people who have overcome incredible hardships to ...
SYSK Selects: Why do men have nipples?
05 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, they're always right there, taunting you: why do you have me, th...
Who Committed the 1912 Villisca Ax Murders?
03 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In a small town in Iowa in 1912 eight people were murdered in the grisliest of ways while they slept...
How Public Broadcasting Works
01 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Public broadcasting works a bit differently depending on where you are in the world. American TV mad...
SYSK Selects: How Disco Works
29 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In today's SYSK Select episode, fly, robin, fly indeed. No musical genre has risen and burned out as...
A Dry Look at Toilet Paper
27 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Over or under? One ply or two? How about six? TP has not been around that long, but is has been embr...
What is Ghost Fishing?
25 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It sounds cool, but ghost fishing is actually a tragic byproduct of modern fishing practices, where ...
SYSK Selects: How the Sun Works
22 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, amateur astrophysicists Josh and Chuck break out the stats and a...
All We Know About Guessing
20 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Guessing is a weird thing. For millennia, it could have meant the difference between life and death....
Sunburn, Suntans and Sunscreen
18 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It's pretty obvious something's gone wrong when you get a sunburn, but did you know a tan means you'...
SYSK Selects: Why can't we find Amelia Earhart?
15 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, famed aviator Amelia Earhart's disappearance in 1937 is a myster...
How Fever Dreams Work
13 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Fever dreams can be unsettling experiences. These ramped up nightmares are vivid, detailed and only ...
Why is There a Battle Over Net Neutrality?
11 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Net neutrality is the idea that the internet is a public good and that everyone should have equal, u...
SYSK Selects: How HeLa Cells Work
08 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, after she was diagnosed with the cervical cancer that shortly ki...
Josh and Chuck's List of Horror Movies that Changed the Genre
06 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Once in a while a movie comes along that's so forward-thinking it changes the way that horror is don...
What exactly is stoicism?
04 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The word stoic has taken on its own meaning apart from the philosophical movement which gave it life...
SYSK Selects: Why isn't the U.S. on the metric system?
01 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, the U.S. stands proudly defiant and the world looks at Americans...
How Standardized Patients Work
29 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Even the most brilliant medical minds need a good bedside manner, and thanks to standardized patient...
Remembering Stonewall
27 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
One of American history's darker moments, the Stonewall Riots were also the event that galvanized th...
SYSK Selects: Scooby Dooby Doo, Where Are You?
24 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, for decades, Scooby Doo has captivated children across the world...
How Ketchup Works
22 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Little-known fact: Ketchup, possibly the most all-American of condiments, evolved from fermented fis...
How Seed Banks Work
20 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Since the advent of agriculture, humans have been storing seeds. But as sea levels rise and climates...
SYSK Selects: Do you stay conscious after being decapitated?
17 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, historically speaking, decapitation was a popular means of execu...
What was Camp X?
15 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the early days of World War II, there was a secret training program in Canada that taught Allied ...
How the Beagle Brigade Works
13 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever been to an international airport, you've probably seen one of the keenest spotters of...
SYSK Selects: How Maps Work
10 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, yes, your brain may have just flash-dried from boredom at the th...
Why Are Whale Strandings Still a Mystery?
08 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For millennia, mass strandings of whales have confounded us. Why should dozens or more whales come o...
How Coelacanths Work
06 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Coelacanths are incredibly interesting as far as fish go. For one, they were thought to have gone th...
SYSK Selects: What's the deal with Rasputin's death?
03 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, Grigori Rasputin, the Russian charismatic cleric and political a...
The Stories Behind A Few Food Fads
01 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
America loves to go nuts over new food trends and it turns out that the 20th century was a boon time...
Are Election Laws Designed to Suppress Voting?
30 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Are laws that are meant to protect the sanctity of the polling place in reality designed to make it ...
SYSK Selects: How Beer Works
27 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, at long last, Josh and Chuck take on perhaps their most importan...
How Schoolhouse Rock Rocked: Featuring Bob Nastanovich of Pavement
25 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Schoolhouse Rock is possibly the best children's program of all time. Join Josh and Chuck as they te...
Is a head transplant really a thing?
23 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"Head transplant" is a bit of a misnomer, because it's more like a body transplant. But either way, ...
SYSK Selects: How Magic Mushrooms Work
20 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, for thousands of years, humans have used hallucinogenic mushroom...
How the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis Work
18 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It wasn't too long ago that humans thought the polar lights were signs from the afterlife. Thanks to...
How Champagne Works
16 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sure we can all agree that champagne is probably the greatest thing humans have or ever will invent,...
SYSK Selects: Gesundheit! How Allergies Work
13 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, about 30-40 percent of humans suffer from some sort of allergy. ...
How Charismatic Megafauna Work
11 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Charismatic Megafauna is not just a great band name. It's really just a fancy word for the cutest an...
How Itching Works
09 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It was only in the last few decades that science became aware that itches aren't just low-level pain...
SYSK Selects: What's the 10,000 Year Clock?
06 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, in a desert in Texas a 200-feet-tall clock is being constructed ...
Some Nutso Fan Theories
04 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It turns out that the characters in your favorite TV shows and the like are actually dead, dreaming,...
How Poetry Works
02 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Poetry is a broad and expansive art form. From dramatic verse to haiku, rhyming poetry and spoken wo...
SYSK Selects: How Revisionist History Works
29 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, perhaps you equate the term to conspiracy theories and Holocaust...
How Multiple Sclerosis Works
27 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When the immune system mistakes the tissue covering neural connections as foreign invaders, the resu...
How the National Security Council Works
25 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Until recently, most people probably never paid much attention to the National Security Council. It'...
SYSK Selects: How Breast Implants Work
22 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, the first attempt at breast augmentation surgery was on a dog. T...
How Swearing Works
20 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Swearing is something that's been done across all cultures, virtually since humans began speaking. W...
How Corsets Work
18 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sure, we're doing an episode on corsets. Why do you ask? Learn more about your ad-choices at https:...
SYSK Selects: Lying Liars: How Lying Works, Liar
15 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, studies find that absolutely everyone lies - some have found as ...
How Supervolcanoes Work
13 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Until recently, volcanologists thought supervolcanoes were simply massive volcanoes. But further res...
How Supreme Court Nominations Work
11 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Being nominated as a Supreme Court Justice is no small thing, and it doesn't always go as planned. W...
SYSK Selects: Can you die of a broken heart?
08 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, in the early 1990s, Japanese researchers found a strange anomaly...
How Empathy Works
06 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Empathy can often be confused with sympathy and regular old compassion. But it's not exactly either ...
Composting: Nature's Most Interesting Process
04 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
You may think composting is just a bunch of old banana peels rotting away into dirt but, friend, you...
SYSK Selects: How Filibusters Work
01 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's SYSK Select episode, although lots of people incorrectly believe the filibuster was a...
The Shroud Of Turin: No Ordinary Bed Sheet
30 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Shroud of Turin is no ordinary bed sheet. Some think it's the burial cloth of Jesus. Others thin...
How Foreign Accent Syndrome Works
28 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Foreign accent syndrome isn't when your mom talks funny when she goes abroad. It's an actual conditi...
How the Hyperloop Will Work
23 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re out there, Elon Musk, this one’s for you (although you already know everything in this...
Solitary Confinement: Cruel and Unusual
21 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In our continuing exploration of crime and punishment, we take a look at the practice of solitary co...
Southerners Aren’t Lazy and Dumb, They Just Had Hookworm
16 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There was a time when the lower classes of the American South were considered lazy and dimwitted, a ...
Pain Scales: Yeeeow!
14 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Pain is subjective; it is whatever the person experiencing it says it is. But to effectively treat p...
History of the Trail of Tears, Part II
09 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the second of two parts, what was once a voluntary resettlement program becomes a violent, forced...
History of the Trail of Tears, Part I
07 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this first of two episodes on the Trail of Tears, learn about the forces that converged to create...
How Optical Illusions Work
02 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Now you see it, now you don't — optical illusions can fool us into seeing what's not actually ther...
How Free Speech Works
28 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Freedom of speech and the press are values vital to American democracy. But the First Amendment does...
How Famines Work
23 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It’s common knowledge that famines are usually caused by major droughts: Rain doesn’t fall, crop...
The ins and outs of the DEATH TAX
21 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The estate tax, also known as the death tax, is not new. It's actually been around in some form sinc...
The Black Panther Party
16 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Black Panther Party was a complex political movement that was unfairly painted as a militant gro...
Tardigrades: Nature's Cuddly, Indestructible Microanimal
14 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
You can burn them, freeze them, shoot them into space – they wouldn’t bat an eyelash, even if th...
Live from San Francisco: How Malls Work
09 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this show recorded live on January 5, 2017 at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, Josh and Chuck de...
The Quinoa Revolution!
07 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Quinoa is a trendy food, right alongside kale and anything else farm to table. But it's really an an...
What's the future of virtual sex?
02 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the not too distant future, sex may not involve being in the same room as your partner. In fact, ...
Elastics: Where God and Science Smooch
31 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
You could be forgiven for thinking the story behind elastics was boring. You’d still be wrong, tho...
How Pacifism Works (And Could It?)
26 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There is deep disagreement over whether humans are essentially peaceful or essentially warlike. Depe...
How Dictators Work
24 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There are many types of dictators, from so called "benevolent" ones to the kind who rule with an iro...
How Soylent Works
19 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Soylent is a meal replacement drink, but not really. So what is it? Total sustenance in a glass? Som...
Are Artificial Sweeteners Really Bad For You?
17 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Artificial sweeteners have gotten a bad rap in the press for as long as they’ve been in use. But i...
How Watersheds Work
12 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Unless you happen to be standing on a hilltop or swimming in the ocean right now, you are on a water...
What's the deal with Baby Boomers?
10 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Baby Boomers are probably the most talked about generation in American history. But who are these pe...
How Feeding Babies Works: The Bottle
05 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The decision to bottle feed a baby instead of breast-feeding is a weighty one these days, fraught wi...
How Feeding Babies Works: The Breast
03 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Breast milk is considered a perfect food for infants, so much so that for the first four to six mont...
Human Blockheads: A Real Thing
29 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Human blockheads are performers who hammer nails and things into their noses. Yup. That's a thing. A...
Can you live without a bank account?
27 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Seems like it would be nearly impossible to live without a bank account these days. But it is possib...
The Stuff You Should Know 2016 Christmas Extravaganza in 3-D!
22 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the most wonderful time of year again! Time for Josh and Chuck to take you on a cozy, hall-de...
The Golden Age of Grave Robbing: Stuff You Should Know Live in London
20 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There was a brief period in the US, UK and Ireland when a dead body could fetch a pretty penny for a...
How Porta-Potties Work
15 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Despite our lengthy history of evacuating our bowels and bladders, it wasn’t until the relatively ...
Will We Find Evidence of Aliens by Their Engineering Projects?
13 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In 1960 physicist Freeman Dyson suggested that in the hunt for alien life, we should search for evid...
Is computer addiction a thing?
08 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Computer addiction is really an umbrella term for the various addictions that can come along with th...
Horoscopes: Written in the Stars?
06 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of people read their daily horoscopes, but does anyone really take stock in them? Turns out th...
How a Flea Circus Works
01 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever seen a flea circus, then count yourself among the few. It's a dying art, but back in ...
Frostbite: Yeeeow!
29 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Up to the 1950s most reports of frostbite came from the world’s militaries, but as outdoor sports ...
Should Advertising to Kids Be Banned?
24 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As kids’ buying power in America has exploded in recent decades, so too has the amount companies s...
The Kitty Genovese Story
22 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Most people have heard of the story of Kitty Genovese. She was murdered near her apartment in 1964 a...
What's the Deal with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?
17 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Concussions are bad enough for football players, but research has found all of those smaller hits ca...
How Fireplaces Work
15 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
They are dirty, harmful to your health, bad for the environment and utterly charming. Wood-burning f...
How Monty Python Worked: SYSK Live from LA Podfest
10 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Things get awesome when Josh and Chuck do a live show on Monty Python at the LA Podcast Festival. Ha...