A Little Bit Of Science - podcast cover

A Little Bit Of Science

A Little Bit Of Sciencewholesomeshow.com

From tales of historical idiocracy and scientific genius to weird and wacky cultural phenomena, Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant are here to take you on a wild conversational journey, deep diving into the crevices of science, history and culture that you never knew existed. 

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Episodes

Karl von Frisch and the Waggle Dance!

Symbolic communication is ours! Just for us humans! Or... maybe it's not... Will tells Rod the story of Karl von Frisch and the bee waggle dance! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 03, 20211 hr 6 min

Apotemnophilia!

So, simple question. If someone says their leg isn't really part of them, how should we help? Rod explains apotemnophilia to Will! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 27, 20211 hr 10 min

Bitcoin Is A Doomsday Device!

Doomsday devices suck. Just straight up not great. The Soviets built one at the Cold War, and now we've potentially got another one on our hands. Will asks Rod if we can get the bitcoin doomsday device back in the tube! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 20, 202157 min

Hitler's Seaside Resort!

Would you stay in Hitler's sea side resort? You can if you want, but it's a weird building... The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 13, 20211 hr

Mad Cow Disease :(

Prions are freaking horrible. Don't eat them if you can utterly avoid it. @willozap explains to @rodl what happens if you do. The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 06, 20211 hr 8 min

Karoshi Means Worked To Death (no exclamation mark)

So this is by far our most communist episode ever - and it's about people being worked to death. Cool cool! Rod tells Will all about karoshi! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly supported by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 30, 20211 hr 19 min

The Unicorn of Quedlinburg (Or, How We Discovered Extinction)

We're pretty used to the idea of extinction. Species live, species die, it sucks, but... it's kind of a fact of the modern world. But we didn't always think this way. In fact, the idea of extinction took a lot of work to get off the ground. Will tells Rod all about it! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Jul 23, 202140 min

Surgeons Behaving Badly!

Hey listener, are you having surgery anytime soon? Hugs if you are, it can be scary! Well, Rod is about to go under the knife... and to calm himself, he went and explored three (terrible) stories of surgeons behaving badly. Enjoy! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Jul 13, 202159 min

Gain of Function Research and the Lab Leak Hypothesis!

Ok listener, this is the big question: did the SARS-CoV-2 virus - you know, the goddamn bug that's making Australians wear masks even now - leak from a lab in Wuhan? Ok I lied. That's not even the big question. The big question is not whether it SARS-CoV-2 came from a lab leak, but whether research like that was opening dangerous doors... The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omny...

Jun 30, 202155 min

This Is Your Brain, Frozen In Time! (It's About Cryonics)

Ok, this is the question listener: after you die, would you be interested in being frozen for reanimation in the future? Or do you think that sounds like the biggest scam around? Rod tells Will the story of cryonics! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 25, 20211 hr 22 min

The Mad Scientists of Reddit!

So scientists, what science would you do if ethics were not an issue? We trawl through the mad scientists of Reddit to explore some options! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 19, 20211 hr

Unclenching Climate Communication with Randy Olson!

How scientists communicate is... not historically great. And Randy Olson's got opinions. We sit down to explore! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, and joined today by Randy Olson! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 11, 20211 hr 25 min

The Strange Saga of Aerosols vs Droplets

We all know the facts of Covid-19. Wash your hands, wear a mask, stay 1.5m away from the rest of the universe. This is good advice! But the science it's based on... is interesting. Rod tells Will the story of the aerosol vs droplets saga! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Jun 04, 20211 hr 10 min

The Translation of Hieroglyphics!

The Rosetta Stone is a byword for an amazing tool able to unlock a world... and it did give the modern world knowledge of hieroglyphics. But the translation wasn't exactly easy... Will tells Rod the story of the translation of hieroglyphics! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

May 28, 20211 hr 3 min

John Cade's Discovery of Lithium! (Via Urine!)

Lithium is a tiny tiny atom - it's basically the third tiniest! But it also helps enormously with mental health issues. Which is super weird. Even weirder was how it was discovered, and it involved guinea pigs and urine! Rod tells Will the story of John Cade's discovery of Lithium! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

May 21, 20211 hr 6 min

The Potato Blight (There Is No Such Thing As A Natural Disaster)

In the middle of the 19th century, Ireland's population declined by about 2 million people over the course of just a few years. Half of that number fled the country, the other half starved. What (or who) caused it? Will tells Rod all about the Great Famine! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

May 14, 202148 min

Condoms!

Condoms! What are they? Where did they come from? Where are they going next? Rod tells Will all about it! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 07, 20211 hr 8 min

Making Risky Decisions! (Like Going Over Niagara Falls In A Barrel)

Hey, would you go over Niagara Falls in a barrel? If you're on the fence, what would tip you the other way? Would it be peer pressure? Will tells Rod the story of teenage decision making, and the first trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Apr 30, 202153 min

Bandy Xenobia Lee and the Goldwater Rule

Should psychiatrists be able to contribute to political discussion? To considering who is or isn't fit for office? Should they... diagnose from afar? Rod tells Will the story of Bandy Xenobia Lee's fight against the Goldwater Rule! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Apr 21, 20211 hr 7 min

Understanding Animal Swarms!

There are times when animals... hit the wrong numbers. Like not just hundreds, not just thousands, but millions or billions or even trillions - and everything is ruined. Will tells Rod the story of animal swarms! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 02, 202151 min

Ethical Issues In A High Tech Society - with Adam Henschke!

New technologies have opened up a whole new range of things we can do - monitor each other from afar, trap our genitals in internet enabled chastity belts, make sex dolls somewhat like real life. But the big question now isn't 'can we', it's 'should we'. Rod and Will sit down for an exploration of key ethical issues in this high tech world, with our senior ethics correspondent Adam Henschke! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian Nationa...

Mar 26, 20211 hr 28 min

The Secret Spy Science of Poo!

Ok listener, this is it - right in the centre of the Venn diagram of Wholesome Show topics. We've got nasty racists, bad accents, the Soviet Union, terrible people and a whole lot of spies chasing turds! Will tells Rod a story that doesn't really need to be heard... The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Mar 19, 202159 min

Barry Marshall Drinks Something Weird!

It's not surprising that an Australian scientist got a Nobel prize for drinking something weird - but how he lined up the ducks to get there, that's the story... Rod tells Will the story of Barry Marshall, Nobel Prize winner! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, proudly brought to you by The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Mar 12, 20211 hr 18 min

The Fraudulent Bird of Washington!

In the early 19th Century, John James Audubon achieved something truly amazing - but he needed to commit a stupendous fraud to do it... Will tells Rod the story! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 05, 202148 min

A Brief History of Medical Leeches!

People have used leeches in medicine for thousands of years - but the story is not quite what you might think. Will tells Rod all about it! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 26, 20211 hr

The Healing Powers of Rat Poison (In Medically Supervised Doses!)

In the 1930s, a blizzard blew through Wisconsin, and some cattle got sick - what happened then is a story of the development of one of the world's most important drugs! Rod tells Will the story! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 19, 202152 min

440Hz! (Or, What's Going On With Conspiracy Theories!)

Did you know that the world is controlled by the tuning frequency of our music industry? (It's not). That this was deliberately designed by the Rothschilds and the US Navy and the Nazis to control our bodies? (It wasn't). Ok, this isn't true. But it's a fun conspiracy theory, and it lets us explore how conspiracy theories work with Professor Colin Klein from the ANU Philosophy Gang! The Wholesome Show is Dr Will Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts, joined today by Professor Colin Klein, and brought to you...

Feb 12, 20211 hr 19 min

Why The Government Made The Sky! (According To Steven Brandenburg!)

The Anti-Vaccination movement is... a broad church. Steven Brandenburg takes a leaf from every pew! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 05, 202155 min

Thou Art The Man! (Or, The Great Moon Hoax)

Here's a story about things (lies) going viral. It involves moon beavers, 24 tonnes of glass, and a scientist jumping into the air declaring 'thou art the man!'. Enjoy! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant, proudly brought to you by the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan 29, 202155 min

The Weird Thing About Body Temperature!

Here's a question for you - if you're healthy, what temperature is your body? Did you say 37 (or 98.6) degrees? Congratulations, you're kinda right! But also... kinda wrong... It turns out body temperature varies whether you're male or female, whether you're menstruating or not, whether you measure in the mouth or the ear or the forehead or the anus, or even - and here's the strange part - what decade you live in... Rod tells Will the story of body temperature! The Wholesome Show is Dr Rod Lambe...

Jan 21, 20211 hr 2 min
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