Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know


Latest Episodes

Selects: How Audience Testing Works
June 10, 2023

Did you know some of our most beloved movies originally had different, sometimes better, endings? That is until they were tested in front of focus groups. Learn all about the how, what, and why of audience testing in this classic episode.See omnystudio.co

Is Reality Real?
June 08, 2023

Philosophers have been wondering whether we experience reality as it is for millennia now. They’ve pretty much settled on no, no we don’t. Now science has taken up the investigation and it’s proving the philosophers correct. So what is reality then?See om

Short Stuff: DNA Data Storage
June 07, 2023

One of the more futuristic things around right now on Earth is research into encoding data into strings of genetic code.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why Manners?
June 06, 2023

Keeping your elbows off the table, keeping your fingers out of the gravy boat – at some point these became very important rules of etiquette. But what purpose do manners serve? It turns out they just may be the glue that prevents society from unraveling.S

Selects: Pterosaurs: Not Flying Dinosaurs
June 03, 2023

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 this classic episode a great one for you to learn some new and amazing stuff about terrifying prehistori

What's the deal with intermittent fasting?
June 01, 2023

Could eating at only certain times of the day lead to weight loss? Possibly! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Short Stuff: Rube Goldberg
May 31, 2023

Everyone knows what a Rube Goldberg machine is, but what do you know about the cartoonist who they're named after?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Saga of Milli Vanilli
May 30, 2023

For a moment Milli Vanilli was the hottest musical act in the world. Then came the news that it was just that, an act, and the fall came swiftly and humiliatingly. Now, 30 years on, a look back yields not so much a cautionary tale as a very sad story.See

Selects: How Color Works
May 27, 2023

Science doesn't have a good explanation for why we sense color, yet it is everywhere and affecting us all the time. But why should minutely different wavelengths of light have such an impact on our moods and motivations? Explore these questions and more w

The Semi-Recent History of Exercise
May 25, 2023

Humans exercising for better health has not been around that long. Today we dive into this fun history as we cover why and when we started this now commonplace pastime.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.