This weekend, SpaceX and NASA successfully launched the first crewed spacecraft from U.S. soil in almost a decade. Preparing for a mission to space takes astronauts years, but listener Daniel wants to know — what does the other end of that journey look like? What happens when space travelers come home? Guest: record-holding NASA astronaut Christina Koch . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
We’re celebrating the little things you miss from life before quarantine. Those small joys you can’t stop thinking about, in the midst of such big sadness. Thanks to listeners Ron, Sophia, Karen, Hayden, Priyanka, Melissa, Kim, Kai, Will, and everyone who called in to share, shout, and sob into the void. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Listener Natalie had a dreamy question: can you change something in your waking life by dreaming about it? ELT talked to a lucid dream expert to find out if we can optimize our snooze time. Guest: Daniel Erlacher, sports scientist at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Thanks to Natalie for the call. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the time of “puzzle and chill,” listener Myco needs to know: how are jigsaw puzzles made? Plus, why are clouds of terrifying black birds gathering in listener Amanda’s neighborhood every evening? ELT puts the pieces together. Guests: Thomas Kaeppeler, President of Ravensburger North America, Inc.; bird expert Judith Bailey. Thanks to callers Myco and Amanda. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Are black holes really holes? In honor of 420, ELT takes a trip to black hole country. Thanks to caller Kyle. Guest: Clifford Johnson , professor of physics at the University of Southern California. Happy 420, dudes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If a baby couldn’t nurse, what did prehistoric parents do before baby bottles? Julie Dunne, a biomolecular archaeologist and pot lady, analyzed some adorable ancient artifacts to answer the question. Plus, a big day for niblings. Thanks to callers Kate and Michael. Guest: Pot lady Julie Dunne . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Fear, pride, relief, anger — what’s it like for the people out working so the rest of us can stay inside? Listeners who deliver packages and stock shelves tell us how their lives have changed. Thanks to Jacob, Megan, Ian, Lucy, Tamasha, Justin, Kaleb, Jane, Dawn, Rob, and everyone else who called in. And a gigantic thank you to everyone risking their own health to keep the rest of us safe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Listener Elizabeth always says “please” and “thank you” to her Google voice assistant, and her husband says she’s weird. ELT talks to former Alexa insider Daren Gill and expert in human-robot interactions Leila Takayama to find out just how weird Elizabeth is. Plus, we right a #noboe wrong. Thanks to caller Elizabeth. Guests: Daren Gill, director of product at Spotify; human-robot interaction researcher Leila Takayama; oboe player Marcus Phillips . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcast...
Does an orchestra’s triangle player get the same pay as a violinist? Do conductors ever fall off their podiums? Which section do the other musicians love to hate? ELT dishes symphony secrets from two orchestra insiders. Guests: violinist Akiko Tarumoto and conductor Rob Kapilow . Special thanks to Nathan Cole and danke schön to caller Laszlo. Correction: This episode has been updated to replace the #noboe music with oboe music. Additional thanks to Marcus Phillips for helping us right this wrong...
A troubling image of a flamingo family has the flam world in a frenzy. ELT’s resident flamingo expert tells us what’s really happening in that viral pic. Plus, listener Paul goes in for an appendectomy, and wakes up with a bizarre craving. What happened when he went under the knife? Guests: Flamingo expert Felicity Arengo and anesthetist Kate Leslie. Thanks to caller Paul. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
A police sketch artist reveals how she turns your fuzzy memory into a sharp drawing. Sketch artist Kelly Lawson from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation walks us through the process. Thanks to Gary Wells, Gil Zamora, and caller Lex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kate, a “hair is life” kind of person, asks about the invention that keeps her hair out of her face. Guests: Hair stylist and hair archaeologist Janet Stephens ; Scrunchie queen Rommy Revson. Thanks to caller Kate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Listener Emily is dying to know: what are actors actually using when they do drugs on screen? A prop czar takes ELT behind the scenes. Plus, a tribute to percussionist Emil Richards . Guest: prop master Lynda Reiss . Thanks to caller Emily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We asked you, the ELT family, to share your favorite underutilized words -- words that you love and want other listeners to love too. And you delivered. Now, with your help, we want to get one of those words into the dictionary. A professional word nerd tells us which of your submissions have the best chance of making it into the big book. Guest: former Merriam-Webster Dictionary editor Kory Stamper . Thanks to everyone who called in with a word. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch...
Did cavemen really carry clubs? Live in caves? Wear leopard-print one-shouldered dresses? Paleoanthropologists Melanie Chang and Genevieve von Petzinger help bust our biggest cavemen myths — and tell us what our ancestors were really like. Special thanks to caller Lauren, and to historian Matthew Goodrum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
We’re clearing out our inbox and answering some of your burning follow-up questions for our last episode of 2019. Guests: Captain Nick Anderson, retired Virgin-Atlantic airline pilot, Airline Pilot Guy Show ; microbiologist Jenny Hayden, Cedar Crest College ; Jason Torchinsky, senior editor at Jalopnik . Thanks to callers Mattie, Toku, Piper, Aviv, Meghan, Anna, Liz, Kathi and Carl. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Caller Shannon is at a loss for words when it comes to describing her favorite vegetable -- corn. ELT enlists a professional food describer to help expand Shannon’s tasting vocabulary. Guest: sensory evaluator Gail Vance Civille of Sensory Spectrum . Special thanks to Shannon for venturing outside of her palate’s comfort zone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Caller Lisa wants to know why her butt hurts whenever she sees someone else get injured. ELT finds out whether some people really can feel your pain. Guest: pain researcher Stuart Derbyshire . Thanks to queen of Chapped Cheeks Lisa, and to researchers Natalie Bowling, Melita Giummarra, Helena Hartmann, Marina López-Solà, Bridget Rubenking, Jamie Ward, Scott Vrana, and Jamil Zaki. May your cheeks be ever free — hashtag booboobottom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adcho...
Wendy Zukerman, host of Science Vs , has a burning question: Do ants help each other out? ELT goes down the anthole to find the antswer. Guests: ant researchers Erik Frank at Université de Lausanne and Christina Kwapich at Arizona State University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Do twins communicate in the womb? Can they read each other’s minds? ELT tackles listeners’ twin questions and investigates some burning twin-spiracies. Guest: Nancy Segal, psychology professor at California State University, Fullerton, and author of Twin Mythconceptions . Thanks to twins Kelly and Kristina, Reply All’s Phia Bennin, and everyone who called with twin questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
ELT tackles some animal, vegetable, mineral mysteries with special guest Amy Sedaris. Plus, caller Maria is troubled by a hole in front of her condo — will she be swallowed by the earth? And the scoop on spinach tooth. Guests: Comedian and rabbit expert Amy Sedaris ; Jim Correll , plant pathologist, University of Arkansas; geologist and sinkhole expert David Wilshaw . Thanks to callers Anthony, Eddie and Maria. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
A mass spider invasion at his office left accountant Steven with a burning question: How many can there be? ELT does some spider number-crunching, and meets the man who discovered one of the largest spider gatherings on record. Guests: Freddie Gowin, retired park ranger, Lake Tawakoni State Park , Texas; Linda Rayor , arachnologist at Cornell University . Thanks to caller Steven. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Why would a garden-gloved thief lift a water lily from a botanical garden in London? ELT gets to the root of a rare plant heist. Guests: Carlos Magdalena, botanical horticulturist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , London, and author of The Plant Messiah . Nick Johnson, horticultural manager of Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park , Grand Cayman. Thanks to caller Carl. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
How do nail polish colors get their names? ELT digs into this FAQ, and finds out how painting our nails became a thing. Plus, an update on Jeremy’s reported fruit fly infestation. Guests: Fashion historian Suzanne Shapiro , author of Nails: The Story of the Modern Manicure ; Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, co-founder and Brand Ambassador of OPI Products Inc., and author of I’m Not Really a Waitress ; chemical ecologist Kevin Cloonan, Acadia University , Nova Scotia, Canada. Thanks to caller Olivia and all...
Images of little green aliens are everywhere: Area 51, bongs , your ‘90s chain wallet. But why did we start depicting extraterrestrials that way? ELT uncovers the moment that beamed little green aliens into our homes (and hearts). Guests: sociologist of science Pierre Lagrange ; Kentucky resident Bill Thomas; literature professor Roger Luckhurst . Special thanks to caller Willie. Thanks also to Sarah Scoles and Geraldine Sutton Stith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/ad...
Where did the limbo first get off the ground? This week, ELT reveals how it went from funerals in the Caribbean to shag-carpeted basements across American suburbia. Guests: Performer, choreographer, and documentarian Sonja Dumas ; and Shane Vogel , professor of English and Theater at Indiana University. Special thanks to listener Aurelia. Thanks also to Kieron Sargeant and Ray Funk. To hear the songs featured in this episode, head over to our Spotify playlist at elt.show/limbo. Learn more about ...
Caller Austin had a fragment of a song stuck in his head, and he needed our assistance. ELT listeners help him name that tune and put this mystery to rest. Guests: Singer and songwriter Sondre Lerche . Thanks to Dave Heilman and all the listeners who tried to help Austin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
An earworm expert explains how to unstick that song that’s stuck in your head, and why it got lodged there in the first place. Plus, your earwormholes — the songs that transport you through time and space. To hear the songs featured in this episode, head over to our Spotify playlist . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Caller Jeremy has a problem: fruit flies have swarmed his apartment, and he needs to know where they came from. ELT finds out how Jeremy’s red-eyed roommates landed in his life. Plus, please help caller Austin name that tune. Guest: Biologist Marcus Stensmyr , Lund University. Thanks to callers Jeremy and Austin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
While they may look like dainty, dorky birds, flamingos deserve respect. Flora brings the flamingo facts, and launches ELT’s campaign to bring a flamingo mascot to professional sports. Guests: Comedian Prashanth Venkataramanujam; Producer Katherine Wells; Mascot maker Jennifer Smith of Avant Garb ; Renbert Mortimer, creator of the University of the Bahamas mascot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
