Why are some babies born through surgery instead of by natural delivery? Is a Caesarean section better for the mum and baby? What is the dark history behind the C-section? Let's explore the miraculous and icky world of how we come into the world! Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/explainthiscast.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explainthiscast/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@explainthiscas...
May 01, 2025•29 min•Season 5Ep. 10
How does our economy work? What does it mean to seize the means of production? How is late stage capitalism ruining my life? And why did so many people lose their jobs in 2008? Jin takes you down the windy rabbit hole of the most prevalent economic system in the world, the history behind how it came about, and whether it's good or evil (or both). CAPITALISM · Céline Tshika Ken Liu - The Perfect Match IMDB - The Big Short Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ex...
Apr 03, 2025•56 min•Season 5Ep. 9
Did you know.... that many of your fun facts are just plain wrong? Come join us for a spirited session of "well, actually"s and learn about factoids: facts that aren't, in fact, facts! Thorn Kurzgesagt - We Fell For The Oldest Lie On The Internet Jin's blog - Jineral Knowledge Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/explainthiscast.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explainthiscast/ Yo...
Mar 06, 2025•38 min•Season 5Ep. 8
How do you know which Chinese Zodiac animal's year is when? Why is there no Year of the Cat or Year of the Capybara? What's the sexagenary cycle? Let's learn about the Asian counterpart to the Western Zodiac, how it's related to the calendar, and the cute origin story of why the zodiac animals are in the order that they are! Photo of the twelve animals in anthropomorphised statue form at the National Folk Museum in Seoul, Korea Order of zodiac animals, along with the Twelve E...
Feb 06, 2025•40 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Why does cancer happen? How come chemotherapy kills cancer but not us? What does my doctor mean when he says I have a "lesion"? We learn all about the emperor of maladies in today's episode, what makes it terrifying, and some of the exciting new ways science has figured out how to fight against it. (Apologies for the shoddy audio quality - I've rearranged my office and my setup is still being optimised! Will try to fix some of the mic booming issues as well...) Email: explain...
Jan 09, 2025•54 min•Season 5Ep. 6
What's the best anti-aging cream available? Which is better - physical or chemical sunscreen? Can you get sunburnt through a glass window? What does SPF even mean? Get ready for the coming summer by Slip Slop Slapping some knowledge about how sunscreen works and why you should use it! Electromagnetic radiation spectrum Diagram of UV absorption in sunscreen molecules More detailed explanation of how sunscreen works - Lab Muffin Example of photoaging on a truck driver's face Email: expla...
Dec 05, 2024•36 min•Season 5Ep. 5
What is electricity made up of? How do power plants use magnets to generate electricity? What is the largest machine in the world? How can you make a mountain into a battery? Join us for our first one-hour-plus episode as we cover a lot of ground in helping you understand the complex and deep world of electrical physics! Basic circuit Current, voltage, resistance as garden hose courtesy of Freeing Energy Voltaic pile - pictures courtesy of Ted-Ed Electric eel electrocyte anatomy Veritasium video...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 5Ep. 4
What does it mean to be functionally literate? How does reading help protect you from being manipulated and controlled? Why are books burned and banned in dystopias? Let's delve deep into understanding the sinister social threat of rising illiteracy rates, and why you should give a hoot about reading and writing! Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExplainThisCast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explainthiscas...
Oct 03, 2024•54 min•Season 5Ep. 3
What is the REAL story behind penicillin? How do antibiotics treat infections? Should we be worried about superbugs taking over the world? Jin geeks out on one of his favourite medical topics and teaches you about our table-turning super weapons against humanity's bane - bacteria. Relevant XKCD comic Alexander Fleming's original petri dishes showing the effect of penicillin Anatomy of bacteria Beta-lactam ring structure Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.co...
Sep 05, 2024•50 min•Season 5Ep. 2
How do you fly in the sky? What do swoll pecs have to do with flying? Is it true that physics says that bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly? We're back from our hiatus with an exciting episode on how planes, birds and bees take to the sky and soar freely! Airfoil, camber, angle of attack and how Newton's Third Law of Motion creates lift Bernoulli's principle visualised with a wine bottle Video of how various birds move their wings during flight Diagram of how leading edge vor...
Aug 01, 2024•45 min•Season 5Ep. 1
How can you use the Sun, the stars, and time to measure your location on Earth? Why were clocks instrumental in conquering the seas? How can you use shadows and wells to prove that the Earth is round? Today, we learn all about the science of location, location, location! And the fascinating history of how sailors navigated the high seas before satellites and Google Maps. Latitude and longitude visualised Using latitude and longitude as coordinates Eratosthene's method for calculating Earth&...
Apr 04, 2024•49 min•Season 4Ep. 22
How do infections kill us? What happens when my immune system overreacts? Why is horseshoe crab blood important in medicine? All these questions and more are answered in today's episode, covering the often misunderstoon topic of sepsis. Step inside my world of emergency medicine, and how we fight against infectious diseases! Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExplainThisCast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ex...
Feb 29, 2024•42 min•Season 4Ep. 21
How can you split a supposedly indivisible atom to release a lot of energy? Why was this discovery so controversial in the context of history? What does Einstein have to do with nukes? Are nuclear reactors good or evil? We dive into the nature of the fundamental particles that make up everything in the world, and how we came to harness the awesome yet terrible power that is nuclear energy! Anatomy of an atom Nuclear chain reaction visualised Gun-type vs implosion-type nuclear weapon designs Half...
Feb 01, 2024•48 min•Season 4Ep. 20
What can star signs tell me about my personality and love life? (spoiler: nothing.) How did the Zodiac come about? Who is the mysterious, hidden thirteenth Zodiac sign? Let's kick off 2024 not with pseudoscience, but some real astronomical science and fascinating Greek mythololgy stories! Image of what the Zodiac band looks like, and each constellation Rod of Asclepius vs Caduceus Example of The Mentalist cold reading Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/expla...
Jan 04, 2024•50 min•Season 4Ep. 19
Why do smokers live 10-18 years fewer on average than non-smokers? What is in cigarette tar and why is it deadly? How can smoking cause impotence? Should I vape? In today's episode, we do a deep dive and tackle the world's greatest cause of preventable death in human society: smoking tobacco! Graph showing relationship between smoking and lung cancer prevalence Diagram of lung anatomy Photo comparison of healthy vs smoker's lungs Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://...
Nov 30, 2023•48 min•Season 4Ep. 18
How can you squeeze in infinite people into an already full hotel? Are some infinities bigger than others? What's the relationship between infinity and zero? Come explore the boundless, magical world of infinity with the help of some fantastical thought experiments! Zig zag method to convert a grid into a line Cantor's diagonal argument visualised Möebius Strip II, 1964 - M.C. Escher Ouroboros Lemniscate symbol in Roman mosaics Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.fac...
Nov 02, 2023•47 min•Season 4Ep. 17
How do doctors put you to sleep for surgery? How do medicines and poison work on our body? What are the anaesthetic medications doing to your brain to keep your unconscious and paralysed? What do you mean we don't know??? Today we continue on from our special 50th episode by talking about ANOTHER topic that you'd be surprised to know that we don't know fully about - the mechanism of general anaesthesia! Phospholipid bilayer diagram Lipid bilayer expansion hypothesis diagram Email:...
Oct 05, 2023•41 min•Season 4Ep. 16
Why do we sleep? How do bicycles stay upright? Why does gravity exist? Wait...what do you mean you don't know??? For our 50th episode, we have a special topic - concepts that we don't fully understand yet! And why it's okay to say "I don't know". Thank you for being a patron of Explain This for so long! We're looking forward to continuing to explain complex concepts in simpler ways for people of all ages. <3 Caster wheels Hammer and feather drop on the Moon ...
Sep 07, 2023•43 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Why do people sometimes say things that they don't mean? What is the difference between irony and a coincidence? What is wrong with Alanis Morissette's hit song "Ironic"? Let's take a deep dive into irony - one of the most misunderstood concepts in English! Rene Magritte - The Treachery of Images Alanis Morissette - Ironic Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExplainThisCast Instagram: https://ww...
Aug 10, 2023•39 min•Season 4Ep. 14
How does Youflixbook know to recommend the perfect content for me, so I can continue doomscrolling and binging? What makes ChatGPT such a powerful, scary new piece of tech? Will AI kill us all? We're back with a fresh new topic! Come learn all about algorithms, neural networks and large language models, so you can stay informed in all the interesting party and water cooler discussions! ChatGPT Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Twitter: https...
Jul 06, 2023•42 min•Season 4Ep. 13
How did Romans use calendars for political purposes? When do we have leap years? Where do the names of the months come from? Let's learn about the weirdly fascinating history of the Gregorian calendar, and what can go wrong when calendars aren't made accurately! Knuckle method for figuring out if a month has 30 or 31 days Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExplainThisCast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/...
May 04, 2023•30 min•Season 4Ep. 12
How can I use a mirror to make a death ray? What is the colour of a mirror? Why do mirrors flip left and right, but not top and bottom? Let's step in through the looking-glass to learn about the simple yet amazing invention that is the mirror! Diagram showing light's angle of incidence and angle of reflection - MinutePhysics Enantiomers - John Wiley and Sons Inc Hand with Reflecting Sphere by MC Escher How a telescope works Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.faceboo...
Apr 06, 2023•34 min•Season 4Ep. 11
How can I level up my gaming with mental shortcuts? Why do smart people make stupid mistakes and believe outrageous things? What the hell ARE vibes? Come learn about our amazing yet very imperfect brains, and how to know when to think fast and when to think slow. Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExplainThisCast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explainthiscast/...
Mar 02, 2023•43 min•Season 4Ep. 10
What ARE electrolytes? Why do we need them, and do sports drinks give us enough of it? How do nerve cells conduct electricity? What do plants crave? Come get roasted as Jin calls you a meatbag full of salty water! And learn about how cells can waterbend. Sodium/Potassium pump in action - Crash Course Idiocracy - Electrolytes, it's what plants crave scene Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExplainThisCast Instagram...
Feb 02, 2023•42 min•Season 4Ep. 9
What does science have to say about the possibility of aliens existing? Why haven't we come across any aliens yet? What if we're truly alone? How significant are we in the grand scheme of things? All of these existential questions and more in today's episode about the strange paradox of how aliens SHOULD exist! Yearly Theme (Episode 4 - New Year's Resolution) Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Twitter: https://twitter.com/Expla...
Jan 05, 2023•30 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Why is everything getting pricier? Why did German bread cost billions of marks in the 1920's? What do interest rates have to do with inflation? How has COVID-19 affected the economy? It's time to learn some Economics 101 to understand all of the news posts about inflation and interest rates, and why everything seems to get more expensive each year! Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExplainThisCast Instagram:...
Dec 01, 2022•49 min•Season 4Ep. 7
What are the vital signs? Why is the nurse checking out my pecs, while choking my biceps with a very tight band? What can go wrong when your blood pressure is too low? All this and more as we learn about how physiological monitoring helps healthcare workers look out for dangerous, life-threatening events while caring for you! Lynn, L.A., Curry, J.P. Patterns of unexpected in-hospital deaths: a root cause analysis. Patient Saf Surg 5 , 3 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1186/1754-9493-5-3 Email: explai...
Nov 03, 2022•45 min•Season 4Ep. 6
What is happening in the brain when someone is depressed? How can an electric shock to the brain treat depression? Why is ECT still used in medicine, when movies such as One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest show how horrible it is? Today we talk about a controversial medical treatment with a rather terrible public image. We'll discuss how it works, how effective and safe it is, and try debunk some widespread myths about ECT! Watch this video for a visual example of what ECT looks like nowad...
Oct 20, 2022•46 min•Season 4Ep. 5
How do magnets stick to metals? Why isn't the Iron Throne magnetic? How can we use magnets to record and play sound, or levitate a frog? Let's learn about one of the fundamental physical forces that glues the world together, by learning about how magnets work! Bar magnet field lines Iron filing experiment Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExplainThisCast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explainthiscast/...
Sep 01, 2022•31 min•Season 4Ep. 4
What is DNA and how does it work? How can scientists tweak DNA with molecular scissors, and why would they want to? How could genetic engineering create an unfair society? All this and more on this episode of Explain This, where we learn about how this cool new technology has completely revolutionised the world of genetics! Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explainthiscast Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExplainThisCast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explaint...
Aug 04, 2022•31 min•Season 4Ep. 3
