Do sin taxes work?
08 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Taxing things like alcohol, tobacco and gambling is big money and has been for a long time. But are ...
A Partial History of Action Figures
03 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Action figures have a long and glorious history. From GI Joes to Star Wars figures, these offshoots ...
Ham Radio and the Hams Who Use Them
01 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
If you thought that Ham Radio enthusiasts were (mostly) men and boys who sit alone late at night in ...
SYSK The Podcast: Special Halloween Bonus Episode 2016, The Sequel – From Hell
31 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Lock your doors and grab something heavy to defend yourself, like a candlestick or something, becaus...
The Hinterkaifeck Axe Murders
27 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In 1922, a little farm in the woods of Bavaria became the site of what would become Germany’s most...
How Sleep Paralysis Works, or The Worst Thing That Can Happen While You're Sleeping
25 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
For as long as people have been sleeping, about half of us have probably suffered from sleep paralys...
Living Underground in Beijing
20 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Chairman Mao’s paranoia of a Soviet invasion led to hundreds of thousands of Beijing residents put...
What's the What with Fish Fraud?
18 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Fish fraud, misrepresenting a fish as a more expensive one, costs Americans $25 billion a year. And ...
How the Census Works
13 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Counting humans has been happening for a long, long time. It usually had to do with taxing them, but...
Hibernation: Not a Snooze
11 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When animals are faced with scarce food in the winter, they have two choices to stay alive: migrate ...
Why Did Easter Island's Civilization Collapse?
06 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When the first Europeans landed on Rapa Nui, which they renamed Easter Island, they were puzzled by ...
The Amazing History of Soda
03 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The soda we get instantly mixed at a fast-food joint owes a lot to a rich history going back to the ...
How Polar Bears Work
29 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Polar bears are more than just lovable creatures that roam the ice in search of food. They're one of...
How Ice Ages Work
27 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Believe it or not, we live in an ice age. The polar glaciers give it away. Those glaciers used to co...
All we know about Zika so far...
22 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Zika is all over the news these days, yet in America, people don't seem to be too concerned just yet...
How Cerebral Palsy Works
20 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Cerebral palsy isn’t a disease, but an umbrella term for conditions arising from brain damage suff...
What's the deal with Stradivarius violins?
15 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Strad violin is noted for its tonal qualities and superior craftsmanship. And for its price tag....
Alexander Hamilton: Most Influential American?
13 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Alexander Hamilton, the "ten dollar founding father," is more than the toast of Broadway. In fact, h...
Do Animals Have Natural Rights?
08 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Animals have had legal protection from unnecessary harm since the 19th century. Yet what harm is nec...
How Animal Testing Works
06 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The use of animals for commercial and scientific testing is a quietly controversial topic. That we h...
How the Negro Leagues Worked
01 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A decade before the U.S. officially segregated in 1896, baseball banned black players. A decade befo...
How Food Tasters Work
30 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Some people might think that tasting food for a living is the best job in the whole wide world. But ...
This Custom of Customs
25 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Customs may be a pain when you're traveling, but it's a necessary instrument the government uses to ...
Jellyfish: Even Cooler than Octopi?
23 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jellyfish are among the most adaptable, competitive organisms on the planet. They can grow back into...
The Delightful History of Steam Technology
18 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
One of the coolest things humans have ever figured out is how to use steam as power. It made the Ind...
How Woolly Mammoths Worked
16 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It was only 11000 years ago that the last true woolly mammoths died out, close enough to the modern ...
Evel Knievel Part II
11 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, we cover part two of our Evel Knievel suite. The man, the myth, the legend. Chec...
Evel Knievel Part I
09 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Evel Knievel was perhaps the world's most legendary daredevil. He came along at a time when the worl...
Mermaids: Not a real thing
04 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Mermaids aren't real. That much we know. But the history and lore of these magical and sometimes men...
How Night Terrors Work
01 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Night terrors, an uncommon sleep disorder, happen when the brain doesn't transition correctly to dee...
What is exploding head syndrome?
28 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Exploding head syndrome isn't nearly as weird as it sounds, and there are no brain parts being damag...
How Triage Works
26 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Triage is a system that provides immediate attention and categorization for medical emergencies that...
How the Moonwalk Works
21 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When Michael Jackson debuted the moonwalk in 1983 the world was enrapt. The dance goes back farther,...
How Chaos Theory Changed the Universe
19 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Since the age of Descartes, science has put all of its eggs in the basket of determinism, the idea t...
The Gettysburg Address: Short and Sweet
14 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Gettysburg Address is one of the most famous speeches in political history, despite only being a...
How Radiation Sickness Works
12 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Fortunately, science has very few instances where humans have been exposed to acute radiation poison...
What's with this "Internet of Things"?
07 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
You may have heard about the Internet of Things and not known what the term meant. It's basically a ...
Research tips from SYSK
05 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
People often ask us how we do our research. We're not going to disclose all of our secrets, but we'l...
How Lighthouses Work
30 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
People have been burning fires on cliffs as long as other people have used boats, but after the Age ...
How Underground Mining Works
28 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
People used to use deer antlers to beat the minerals out of rock hidden in the earth. Luckily, they ...
What's the misery index?
23 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Economists love their data because somewhere in the numbers lies the answer to the ills of the count...
How Space Stations Work
21 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It seems like we largely take it for granted these days, but the fact that we have humans living in ...
How Steadicams Work
16 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There have been many inventions that have advanced filmmaking, but maybe none as important as the st...
Why Are So Many Disembodied Feet Washing Ashore In British Columbia?
14 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Between 2007 and 2016, 17 disembodied feet - still wearing shoes - have washed ashore between Washin...
What's the deal with controlled burns?
09 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Starting a fire to prevent fire seems counterintuitive, but it makes a lot of sense once you underst...
How Motion Sickness Works
07 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Motion sickness is the worst and hits about 25 to 40 percent of humans when they ride in cars, boats...
How Gene Editing Works
02 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
With the discovery of a surprising immune response in E coli bacteria, we are facing a new era of fr...
How SuperBalls Work
31 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
You can thank Wham-O's SuperBall for inspiring the name of the NFL's Big Game (buh) and you can than...
How Crumple Zones Work
25 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever been in a bad accident in a newer car, you probably have crumple zones to thank for y...
Chiggers: The Phantom Menace
23 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Chiggers are tiny little mites capable of making your life miserable. Worse than mosquitoes? Maybe. ...
The Unsolved Mystery Disappearance of the Sodder Children
18 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In 1945 a house fire took the lives of five children - except that no trace of their bodies was ever...
How Bonsai Works
16 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
For thousands of years people have been taking normal trees and forcing them into miniature. Learn a...
True stories of survival cannibalism!
11 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Cannibalism is the macabre practice of eating other humans. But sometimes, people have no choice if ...
How Snake Handlers Work
09 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Snake handling ranges from professional snake milkers for antivenin to religious handlers who tend t...
How LSD Works
05 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In 1943 Swiss chemist Albert Hofman discovered he'd created what may be the most potent hallucinogen...
How Megalodon Worked
03 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Between 2 to 20 million years ago, the biggest shark with perhaps the most devastating bite of any a...
What was Operation Plowshare?
28 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
America had already used two nuclear bombs to devastating effect when researchers thought "maybe we ...
Myths and Truths About Tornadoes
25 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Tornadoes can make mincemeat out of houses, people, cars, you name it. So do you know what to do - a...
Does Kin Selection Explain Altruism?
21 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There's a curious puzzle unanswered by the theory of evolution: why do some animals give up their ch...
What Makes Lead So Poisonous?
19 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The people of Flint, MI were horrified to find their drinking water was poisoned with lead. As we le...
How Big Bang Theory Works, with Neil deGrasse Tyson
14 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There are a number of theories for how the universe evolved but none are more widely accepted than t...
How the Gender Pay Gap Works
12 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The gender pay gap is the amount of time into the next year a woman must work to earn as much as a m...
How Labor Strikes Work
07 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Labor strikes are the last resort of a workforce frustrated with low pay or dangerous working condit...
Our cats episode - right here, right meow
05 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Cats are the most popular pet in the United States, despite the fact that we've only been keeping th...
Nostalgia is not the most toxic impulse
31 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Nostalgia is a funny thing. It's not home sickness, it's more connected to emotions and a time in yo...
What Was the Deal With the Hatfields and McCoys?
29 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It was America's most famous family feud, but the history of the Hatfields vs the McCoys is fraught ...
How TED Talks Work: Featuring Roman Mars
24 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
TED Talks have been around longer than you think. They became really popular once YouTube came along...
Who Gets to Name Continents?
22 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, right? Maybe not. And who named Australia? Find out the unu...
How Makeup Works
17 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Humans have been wearing makeup for a few thousand years now and yet, here in the US the chemicals u...
Some Really Interesting Cases of Mass Hysteria
15 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Around the world and across time, people have fallen victim to one of the strongest contagions of al...
How Dark Money Works
10 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2010 in the Citizens United case that political contributions are s...
How The Iditarod Works
08 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Each year hundreds of dogs haul humans in sleds as part of the 1,100 plus mile Iditarod Trail Sled D...
How Freak Shows Worked
03 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Not too long ago, people would pay money to gawk and stare at a performer with a physical disformity...
How El Nino Works
01 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
El Nino may mean "the little boy" or "Christ Child" in Spanish, but this weather phenomenon really m...
(Approximately) 10 Things That Vanished Mysteriously
25 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes things - like dentures, airplanes or even people - go missing. And when they never turn up...
The Future of Renewable Energy, Featuring Bill Gates
23 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Renewable energy could be the key to ensuring the future prosperity and health of Planet Earth and h...
How Nitrous Oxide Works
18 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
For about 175 years people have been huffing nitrous oxide for everything from vision quests to anes...
How Jackhammers Work
16 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It's likely that without the invention of the pneumatic jackhammer, the Industrial Revolution wouldn...
What's the Deal With Poop?
11 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We are going to get down and dirty with all things poop in this episode: What a healthy poop looks l...
How Rabies Works
09 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Rabies may have gotten a lot of attention in the U.S. in the 70s and 80s, but it's still an issue in...
How Land Diving Works
04 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
On Pentacost Island the ritual that preceded bungee jumping is alive and well. Just why do these tri...
Operation Mincemeat: How A Corpse Fooled the Nazis
02 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In World War II, a secret department of British 'corkscrew thinkers' hatched a plan to use the cadav...
Does Whole-Body Cryotherapy Work?
28 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Forty years after a Japanese doctor began using whole body cryotherapy to treat patients with arthri...
How Personalized Medicine Works
26 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Hippocrates realized that it is even more important to understand the patient than to understand the...
Timber! How Timber Works
21 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout much of the world, the forests are being managed through sustainable timber harvesting pr...
Sir Isaac Newton: Greatest Scientist of All Time?
19 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There have been a lot of great scientist throughout history, but Sir Isaac Newton might just take th...
The Duality of Caffeine
14 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Caffeine is a heck of a drug - at the same time it's both good and bad for you. Learn the good, bad ...
How Futurology Works
12 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Science fiction writers have made some amazingly accurate predictions over the years, but in 1945 th...
Body Language!
07 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Body language is how you communicate without words. Some say it bears more impact in communication t...
The "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s
05 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the late 1980s, the United States experienced a "Satanic Panic," leading parents to fear for the ...
How Lizzie Borden Worked
31 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Everybody knows how many whacks Lizzie Borden gave her mother and father with that axe, but there is...
The Great Wall of China Episode
29 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Great Wall of China is one of the most visited tourist desinations in the world. How'd it get bu...
The Stuff You Should Know 2015 Jolly Christmas Extravaganza
24 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It's the most wonderful time of year again! Join Chuck and Josh as they explore Christmas traditions...
How Gossip Works
22 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
You know what I heard? That Josh and Chuck hate each other and they're just faking being friends for...
The Star Wars Holiday Special of 1978
17 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made...
How the Antikythera Mechanism Works
15 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In 1900 sponge divers found the wreck of a 2000 year-old treasure ship that contained within it a ma...
How Reverse Psychology Works
10 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
You have very likely used reverse psychology before, trying to persuade someone to do something you ...
Carl Sagan: American Hero
08 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Carl Sagan was the world's first mainstream media super scientist, capapble of breaking down complex...
How HIV/AIDS Works, Part II
03 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In part two of the series on HIV/AIDS, Chuck and Josh explore how the battle against the disease is ...
How HIV/AIDS Works, Part I
01 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
AIDS is one of the most well-known and most misunderstood diseases humans are susceptible to. In par...