Stuff You Should Know

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 possible! Learn all about banking and personal finance i...

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-decked ride full of glad tidings right into the hear...

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 person willing to dig it up and sell it to surgeo...

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 recent 1940s that we began to construct portable, ...

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 evidence of massive engineering projects that encapsul...

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 the computer. We're talking video games, porn, gambl...

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 the answer is yes, even though there is no evidence ...

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 the day they thrilled and delighted young and old ...

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 have gotten more popular, so have frostbite cases....

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 spend advertising to them. But because of a quirk o...

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 and her neighbors didn't do much to help. It caused...

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 can add up to massive brain trauma later in life too...

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 fireplaces have been with us for centuries and, des...

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. Hang out as the duo dives into the "Beatles of Comed...

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 these "sin taxes" keeping people from indulging or...

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 of dolls came along at just the right time to capt...

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 order to scan frequencies searching for a human co...

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, because Josh and Chuck are going to scare the wits out o...

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 famous unsolved murder, when six people were brut...

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 paralysis. Thanks to an unusual fluke in the sleep cycle,...

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 to work for a decade building an 85-square-km und...

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 because less than 100 inspectors check for fraud i...

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 now census data can reveal a lot about a populati...

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 or hibernate. For hibernators, their bodies underg...

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 what happened there. Only a few thousand people li...

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 Roman baths, that features drugs, diseases and exp...

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 the most fascinating animals on planet Earth. Sad...

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 come clear down to New York. We now know the traces ...

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. Some say it's a case of the media crying wolf. O...

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 suffered in the womb or shortly after birth. The facto...

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. There are many theories why the Strad sounds so g...

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, he just may be the most influential American in his...

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 necessary is open to interpretation and animals conti...

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 humans have advanced as a species because we use an...

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 before the US integrated, baseball broke the color bar...

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 think again! The reality is, it can be a tedious, ...

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 regulate trade. And it has a very fascinating hist...

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 their juvenile stage when resources are scarce, r...

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 Industrial Revolution possible and even today, 88% of...

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 age that humans lived alongside them. But were hum...

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. Check in and listen to the latter stages of Evel's car...

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 world ate up this kind of entertainment, partially in ...

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 menacing creatures of the sea is pretty interesting s...

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 deep sleep. The result is terrifying, with the suffer...

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 damaged. But if you suffer from it, you will definitely...

How Triage Works

26 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Triage is a system that provides immediate attention and categorization for medical emergencies that hopefully will never be a big part of your life. ...

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, to the 1930s, and pops up again in the 50s, befor...

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 that with accurate enough measurements any aspect o...

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 few hundred words long. What was so special about...

How Radiation Sickness Works

12 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Fortunately, science has very few instances where humans have been exposed to acute radiation poisoning to study for clues to treating radiation sickn...

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 collection of object conected to your life and the...

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'll give you some tips on how to root out the bad st...

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 of Exploration, lighthouses took their unmistakabl...

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 got better at it, and now modern mining is a mind-...

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 country. They also love to frame data in a way people c...

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 space is the realization of a scientific dream a c...

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 steadicam. Invented in the mid-70s, it literally cha...

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 Washington and British Columbia. What's behind the sudde...

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 understand it. But controlled burns aren't just to help p...

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, or simply watch the wrong 3-D movie. Join us as ...

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 freedom from genetic mutations that lead to disease ...

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 thank the fear and the Soviet launch of Sputnik arouse...

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 your life. Much more interesting than you think, th...

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. But they aren't insects - mites are actually part ...

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 found. Dive into the longstanding mystery of the ...

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 all about the history and art of this strangely eng...

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 they want to survive. It's called survival canniba...

How Snake Handlers Work

09 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Snake handling ranges from professional snake milkers for antivenin to religious handlers who tend to get bitten and sometimes die from it. Either way...

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 known to humankind. Then he took a bike ride. Lea...

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 animal ever ruled the oceans with an iron jaw. Desp...

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 can use these bombs to dig big holes instead." Tha...

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 - and what not to do - when there's one headed your w...

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 chance to reproduce to help others reproduce instead...

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 learn more about lead's effects and realize how pers...

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 the Big Bang theory. Learn about the mind-boggling ...

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 man did the previous year. And it's narrowing at a ...

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 conditions. A big part of winning a wage war is having t...

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 them indoors for 50-60 years. Learn about more cat f...

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 your life. But is nostalgia worthwhile? Nascent scie...

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 with bias and inaccuracies. Dig into a disagreemen...

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 to bring their often inspirational messages to th...

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 unusually uncertain origins of the continents and oth...

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 used in them are still not understood and not reall...

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 all - the power of suggestion. Here are just a few e...

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 speech and should be protected, the floodgates of a...

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 Dog Race. It's grueling and not without controversy...

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. They were called freakshows and they began in la...

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 means crazy things for Planet Earth. We're talking ...

(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 again they become enduring, and engrossing, myste...

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 humankind. In this very special episode, we sit dow...

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 anesthetic to get plain old high. And after all that t...

How Jackhammers Work

16 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

It's likely that without the invention of the pneumatic jackhammer, the Industrial Revolution wouldn't have hummed along quite so smoothly. Certainly ...

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 like, how to poop your best, the history of using p...

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 developing countries. Learn all about this nasty ...

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 tribesmen risk life and limb? To ensure a hearty yam ...

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 cadaver of an unclaimed homeless man to turn the tide o...

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 arthritis; the technique has made its ways to med-spas a...

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 disease and now, 2000 years later, we are coming ...

Timber! How Timber Works

21 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout much of the world, the forests are being managed through sustainable timber harvesting practices. This has come at the cost of much legal b...

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 the cake. But while he was a certified genius, he wa...